What better place for a newspaper than in the classroom? For more than 20 years, Utah teachers have connected their lessons to the real world around them with the Deseret News.
But the convenient and inexpensive Newspaper in Education program has something even better to report: Newspapers for schools will now be free of charge to Utah teachers.
"Free newspapers is probably the best news we could give teachers in a state that struggles to fund education," said Carolyn Dickson, manager of the Deseret News NIE program.
The printing and circulation arm of the paper, the Newspaper Agency Corp., has agreed to find corporate sponsors and education grants to fund all copies of the Deseret News for education use.
Up until now, teachers have paid half of the actual cost of the papers at an 18-cent education rate.
Every teacher in the state should receive a brochure within the next week outlining how they can start using free newspapers in their classroom this school year.
Teachers need only call the Deseret News NIE program to order. They should indicate the number of newspapers they want delivered, the date they want to receive them, the school name, district and phone number.
Educators can call 237-2172 or 1-888-DESNEWS, then press 9.
They can also fax requests to 237-2528 or e-mail nie@desnews.com
Orders must be received by 5 p.m. on Wednesday for the next week's delivery. Teachers will be asked to sign a form that will be provided, indicating their education use.
Teachers can also order from the NIE Web site, (www.deseretnews.com/nie), where they can also find lots of ideas for incorporating newspapers into their curriculum.
Mondays' Deseret News always includes the education section, with full coverage of public and higher education issues, fascinating feature stories and serialized children's books.
The section also includes Kid Scoop, an interactive information and activities page for young people.
In addition to these regular features, NIE produces periodic pull-out sections (see chart) and credit classes for teachers.
The Web site has a Monday online News Quiz for elementary and secondary students.
NIE also sponsors the annual No Books Day in early March, a day dedicated to learning about the world through the newspaper.
The Desert News' NIE program was established more than 20 years ago to provide an educational service arm for the newspaper. NIE's goal is to help schools, teachers and parents develop future newspaper readers, in the belief that the newspaper can enrich students' lives and encourage them to participate responsibly in their community, state and nation.
E-MAIL: mtitze@desnews.com