Used ink cartridges will help pay for newspapers in the schools
By Bobbi Mlynar
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Used ink cartridges will help provide newspapers to Emporia school children this year.
The Gazette again is taking part in Newspapers in Education, a program that encourages teachers and parents to use newspapers to help teach children, both in and out of the classroom.
“Last year, we provided 70,000 free newspapers to Emporia schools,” said Melissa Heinitz, Gazette circulation manager.
The paper also provided teaching aids and materials with suggestions on how to use the papers as teaching tools for children at all grade levels.
“It provides teachers with an updated textbook every single day,” Heinitz said.
To help finance the project this year, The Gazette will collect used print cartridges and sell them to a recycling company, Global Resource Funding.
“We’re going to take all kinds of print cartridges so they don’t have to worry about if they have the right model number,” she said.
The used cartridges do not have to be in individual boxes.
People who want to donate used cartridges may bring them to The Gazette.
Heinitz said that businesses are encouraged to participate by collecting cartridges within the company or by acting as a drop-off point for others who want to donate cartridges. The Gazette will pick up the boxes when they are full. All money received from sale of the cartridges will be used for the NIE distributions.
Studies have shown that students who use newspapers in school score 10 percent better on standardized reading tests than students who do not. Additionally, scores of low-income, non-English speaking or minority students in the program have shown as much as a 29 percent increase over students who did not use the newspaper regularly in school.
The Newspaper in Education web site, www.kidscoop.com contains a variety of ideas for using newspapers to teach youngsters, Heinitz said. Pages on the web site are designated for teachers, parents and children. Grade levels and topics also are divided into specific types of categories, such as drawing conclusions and following directions.
“It can work for anybody,” said Heinitz, an education major who uses newspapers to teach her pre-school daughter. “That’s what I think is important. People can do it at home with their kids.”
Heinitz said that the cost of the annual Newspapers in Education project is about $10,000, including newspapers and materials. Donations to help defray costs last year totaled $460.32.