Three of The Forest Scout’s very own editors, Reese Harper, Lyla Carney, and Ryan Valentincic, last Monday traveled down memory lane to their alma mater, Lake Bluff Elementary School. They spent the day teaching the students on an essentialLake Forest High School tradition: The Forest Scout.
The three seniors led the fifth-grade class through an inspiring presentation as a part of the students journalism unit, encouraging them to one day become staff writers for The Forest Scout.
“Seeing Reese, Lyla, and Ryan back inside an LBES classroom was really special,” LFHS baseball coach and LBES teacher Michael Nilles said. “Their enthusiasm for writing gave the kids a much needed end of the year spark.”
The impact that these high school seniors have on these students was apparent to the editors involved. They were impressed by the students and their interest in journalism, as well as all of the elements involved.
“I think it was really exciting for the fifth graders to have older students come in and talk to them about our experience as journalists, ” Harper said. “The kids were all really interested in what we do and what it’s like, which really impacted me as a student. I’m still learning and growing too, so it was cool to see such young people who also want to keep learning and growing.”
Valentincic shared his knowledge with the students while reflecting on his own experience as a staff writer and student editor.
“I really enjoyed talking about what I’ve learned from my two years in Journalism at LFHS and sharing that with the younger students,” Valentincic said. “We taught the kids how The Forest Scout goes through the process of creating, editing, and publishing articles, as well as what makes a good story.”
Carney was similarly impacted by the experience, having been an aspiring writer at LBES herself and now serving as an editor for The Forest Scout. “Visiting the elementary school and getting to share my passion for Journalism was an incredibly rewarding experience,” Carney said. “I was so impressed by how engaged the students were, and their questions showed how genuinely curious they were about what we had to say.”
The fifth-grade students were in awe of the creation of a journalism piece. Greatly interested in the process of publishing a piece, one remarked, “It was really cool hearing how they choose the topics they write about. I didn’t know what The Forest Scout was until today, and I’ll want to join it when I’m in high school,” Nilles’ student said.
Harper reflected on the day and the importance of learning different writing techniques at a young age. As young students, many learn unique writing styles, though journalism is one that goes untouched.
“It’s fun to see that they’re learning such a unique writing style in fifth grade,” said Harper. “It was interesting for them to see the process of what it takes to think of a story idea, think of who to interview, and all the steps in between in order to create a good piece.”
Each fifth-grade student will write an article to submit to a contest. From each of the four classes, one article will be selected to be featured on The Forest Scout! The students will also go through an editing process with Reese, Lyla, and Ryan to mirror the production of a real story.
“It will be very exciting to see which 5th-grade articles they choose to include in The Forest Scout over the next month or so,” Nilles said. “We are very grateful that Mr. Del Fava and Mr. Leyden coordinated this visit!”
As former Lake Bluff Elementary School students, these seniors have now left an impact on young aspiring writers and future journalists. Carney stated, “It’s crazy to think that I was sitting in that exact classroom just seven years ago, thinking writing was nothing more than essays and assignments. To come back now and help them realize that writing can be something much more captivating and creative made the experience so meaningful.”
