Community Corner

Check the Atlantic Compass for Middle School News

Twenty-five Swampscott Middle School students assembled the electronic newspaper.

The spring edition of the Swampscott Middle School’s electronic newspaper the Atlantic Compass hit the web Monday.

The Compass’s wide-ranging stories chronicle the second half of the year at the school.

The lead story tells about Swampscott seventh graders working with students from other schools in an oil-spill clean-up re-enactment — the Sea Perch project, said Compass co-advisor Natalie Paine, the school’s computer teacher.

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Two students who took part in Sea Perch, held at MIT in May, also wrote the Compass story.

They are Rebecca Cerra and Shannon Brawley.

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“Their writing is great,” Paine said. “They were able to explain the event at a level that anyone could understand.”

Compass stories range from book and movie reviews to interviews with school staff, as well as current events and sports.

Twenty-five students worked on the Compass, meeting after school once a week for an hour from after February vacation until May, Paine said.

Paine and co-advisor Brandon Lewis, a 6th grade English teacher, have run the afterschool Compass club for three years.

Especially rewarding was seeing leadership skills emerge among the veteran news kids, Paine said.

“Some eighth graders have been part of this since they were in the sixth grade,” she said.

The veterans suggested newsworthy events for coverage and led discussion on current events, she said.

Current events the students wrote about included the Humphrey Street fire in early March, unrest in the Middle East and the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Paine said the Compass is one of the few venues for students to showcase their work outside of school.

To see their work click here: Atlantic Compass.


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