A fourth grade class from Bangor will be the first students from Maine to participate in an initiative from the New York Times to publish the opinions of students from across the country.
Over the course of two days, New York Times editors worked with a fourth grade class from Fairmount School through virtual workshops to speak about what opinions are, why they’re important, and the difference between fact and opinion, according to Ray Phinney, a spokesperson for the Bangor School Department.
Students were asked to think of three topics they have opinions on, then met individually with an editor from the New York Times who helped them choose one they’d like to write about, Phinney said.
After that, the fourth graders wrote an opinion piece on their chosen topic as homework, before meeting again with the newspaper’s editor to fine-tune their writing the following day.
The Bangor students’ writing pieces will be published in the May edition of New York Times for Kids. The section, founded in 2017, features news, opinions and more specifically for children on the last Sunday of every month. The Opinion section features writings submitted by children from across the country and is designed to amplify their thoughts and feelings.
The New York Times has worked with students from 45 other states, and the Fairmount School students are the first from Maine to participate in the initiative, Bangor Superintendent Marie Robinson told the department’s school committee in their April 4 meeting.
Lydia Murphy, the fourth grade teacher at Fairmount School whose students are participating in the initiative, said it was “inspiring” to watch her students apply their opinion writing skills to a “real-world platform like The New York Times.”
“Their fresh ideas and perspectives reminded me how much we can learn from the voices of this younger generation,” Murphy said. “It was truly a memorable experience for my students, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of the process.”
Previous student opinion pieces range from arguing that students should get paid to go to school to advocating for hotels to be built in space.
The Bangor School Department declined to say what the students from Fairmount School chose to write about before they’re published.
The newspaper will also mail copies of the paper to the school so students can share their work with their families, Phinney said.
The New York Times did not return requests for comment.
