'Is there drama in the newsroom?' Fourth graders grill editor

We did a Zoom interview with Nancy Nickerson's fourth grade class at Capt. Albert Stevens School Oct. 2. But this time, for the most part, the roles were reversed, with the students interviewing the reporter.

The kids had a good idea of what reporters do, and said they wanted to start a class newspaper to let people outside the school know what was happening there, a traditional aim of journalism.

We chatted about the importance of freedom of the press, how COVID-19 has changed reporting and newspaper operations, how story ideas are generated and what makes a good reporter, among other topics.

The class had prepared a wide range of interesting and thoughtful questions and were eager to answer a few questions from their guest.

The Republican Journal published a story from the class in its Oct. 1 issue, and plans additional stories Oct. 15 and Nov. 5.