Kid Reporter Ideas
You can pitch your own stories, too!
Last November, I was chosen to be a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. I was excited and happy when I received the news that my application had been chosen.
At first I was given assignments chosen by Scholastic. For instance, my first assignment was to find someone in my hometown of Seattle who had been affected by the earthquake in Haiti. I ended up interviewing a woman who had family in Haiti and had recently lost her aunt in the earthquake.
Next, I received an assignment to interview Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, who happens to live right here in Seattle. He talked to me about the 40th anniversary of his project.
I enjoyed these assignments, but it wasn’t until I started pitching my own ideas to Scholastic that the job became more exciting to me. I found that when I did a story that was of personal interest to me, that I got more involved in each story.
For example, I love fashion, so I came up with an idea to do a video of summer fashions that would fit a kid’s budget. Some of my friends were models in the video.
I also learned that my next door neighbor is the head engineer at Boeing, so I did another video on the new plane he helped design, the 787 Dreamliner. Kids aren’t usually allowed to go behind the scenes where the airplane test models are kept, but I got a special sneak peek.
The ultimate was when I got to fly down to Los Angeles and go on the set of a new Disney show called Pair of Kings. I interviewed stars Mitchel Musso, Doc Shaw, Ryan Ochoa, and Kelsey Chow in their own dressing rooms. I also met the stars of Hannah Montana when I went to a press event about the show’s last season.
I’ll never forget my experiences this year, and I would recommend that any kid interested in reporting apply to be part of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. Click here for details on how to apply. Deadline is October 12, so get started now!
PHOTO: Kid Reporter Isabelle Quinn with actor Emily Osment, who plays Miley Cyrus's best friend Lily in the Disney TV show Hannah Montana. (Photo courtesy Isabelle Quinn)
