You may have noticed two new bylines in our pages over the last few weeks.
Aiden Jacobs and Iris Pope are both soon-to-be seniors at Lincoln Academy who also happen to be staff members of The Eagle’s Talon, the school’s newly reestablished student newspaper. I had the pleasure of helping out with the publication last year, during which I got to know these two students pretty well. When they reached out asking if there was any possibility that they could write some features for us over the summer – around their full-time jobs, mind you – the answer was a pretty quick yes.
Aiden made his debut with a feature on the Long Cove Farmer’s Market in Waldoboro, pitched and executed a story about a new Ultimate Frisbee game in Boothbay, and logged his first above-the-fold byline last week with a spotlight on Uprooted Farm in Waldoboro.
Iris tagged along on a Whitefield Library field trip to Sheepscot Valley Farm, profiled the Wiscasset Art Walk, and swung for the fences with a front-page feature on A Twist of Moody’s with a pitch-perfect headline.
Both students have natural storytelling abilities and produce copy so clean that their English teachers should be proud. Thankfully, they are both committed to graduating from high school, otherwise I’d be more than a little worried about my job security.
We’re a month out from school starting, and now seems like as good a time as any for a reminder about The Lincoln County News’ dedication to student engagement. We value the voice of youth in our community, and we want to help amplify it to the best of our abilities.
“GSB Students Investigate,” a collaboration with Great Salt Bay Community School, has been the cornerstone of these efforts for over half a decade. We’re proud to report our outreach efforts grew last year, as we worked with LA on The Eagle’s Talon, gave advice to GSB as it started its own student newspaper, The Cougar’s Tale, and offered column space for South Bristol School students to report on goings-on at their school through “SBS Gazette.”
It’s a good start, but there’s still more to do.
We would welcome letters to the editor from students from around Lincoln County. We would enjoy seeing standalone photos from readers of all ages. We would love to help start newspapers in all schools.
With temperatures still in the 80s, it seems silly to think about school in the throes of summer, but for any teacher or administrator planning their lessons for the year, please don’t hesitate to email editor@lcnme.com if you have even a passing interest in collaborating this year. We want to engage with the county’s next generation, and if there’s any way we can help them tell their stories, we’re all in.
Our many thanks to Aiden and Iris for their hard work this summer, and we can’t wait to see what you turn in next.
