(Over the course of the next few weeks, the Lincoln Parish Journal is republishing some of its most memorable stories from the past year … some of our readers favorites).
by Hanna Singh
An aspiring writer has put his passion on paper at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School.
Fourth grader Hank Carmical and his classmates have started a class newspaper, distributed each week with news and stories from their very own school.
Hank, along with other contributors — Carson Terry, Hollis Horvath, Clark Riegelman, Parker Sutton, Lucas Haynie, and his sisters Barbara and Diana — have been reporting on findings around A.E.P and the surrounding Louisiana Tech campus.
“The Daily Phillips” focuses on school and local reports, and on feature stories about school figures and opinions.
“My friends and I try to find things going on around campus to write about and put in our newspaper,” Hank said. “If bigger things are happening nationally, then we will put them in the news, but we mainly try to keep it about our school and Ruston. We also do things like food and movie reviews, teacher interviews, and surveys.”
Although the students are only in elementary school, the creative process mirrors very professional organizations. They start each week by brainstorming ideas, followed by their thoughts on how to turn the ideas into presentable stories. After going out and writing their stories, Hank collects the works and edits the paper with his father. They screen the stories for errors and accurate information, format it into a newspaper print, and hand the copies out at school the next day.
Despite the intense work that goes into producing and printing a weekly newspaper on top of being a fulltime student, Hank and his friends love creating “The Daily Phillips.”
“My favorite part is when I am editing the paper with my dad. I also like brainstorming with the crew,” Hank said. “My friends say they look forward to coming to school and hanging out with the group as well.”
Watching his passion project come to fruition has been a proud moment for Hank’s parents.
His mother, Sarah Carmical, shared that he has shown specific interests from an early age. Showing a passion for information and discussion, along with a strong sense of fairness and inclusion of others, the newspaper was a fitting project for Hank to pursue.
“I think the newspaper sort of marries those two interests,” Sarah said. “He gets to seek information with his friends, they share that information with others, and they all get to learn and have fun in the process. I love how the kids work together to bring the newspaper to life.”
Sarah Carmical also touched on her son’s growing skillset pertaining to journalism and how his close-knit friend group has joined him in that journey.
“I’m proud to say that not only does he seek information, but that he is learning how to do research and how to present credible information to others,” Sarah said. “I’m proud of how he seeks out opportunities to learn and applies that learning by helping create something fun. Hank is so incredibly lucky to be a part of a group of friends who not only love to brainstorm ideas but also work together to bring those ideas to life. I love that the kids find things they are interested in sharing with their classmates and think of how they can write about it in a way that grabs the interest of others. Their classmates seem to really look forward to reading ‘The Daily Phillips’.”
Hank’s efforts have also caught the attention of some of the A.E. Phillips staff, along with the support of Hank’s ELA teacher, Sarah Pender, who helps to distribute the paper to the students each week.
“Hank is such a special student. Highly intelligent, but also kind with wonderful integrity,” Pender said. “Truly a dream in the classroom to teach. He is very creative, so it’s not a surprise to me that he created something so special. We all look forward to reading the newsletter and I just admire him so much for being so confident in his work. I cannot wait to see who he becomes as an adult with all the talent he has and I’m thankful I get to be his teacher.”
The students intend to continue working on the paper throughout the school year, adding new ideas and improving their writing skills as they work. With an entire newspaper publishing organization on his resume, it’s safe to say that Hank has a bright future in journalism ahead of him.
