WYOMING, Mich. — With hundreds of media platforms to choose from, access to information has never been easier, even if that information might not be the truth. It's why elementary school students at AnchorPoint Christian School in Wyoming are learning the ins and outs of news literacy.
What began as a class field trip to WKTV Journal in Wyoming has now turned into an educational collaboration between managing editor Deborah Reed and Kimberly Omanchi's third- and fourth-grade classes.
"I think news literacy is on the decline, and it has been for quite some time. I think it's very recently that we've realized just how far in decline it's gotten, and that we really need to reverse that decline," said Reed at AnchorPoint last week.
According to a 2024 survey conducted by the News Literacy Project, 8 in 10 teens reported seeing social media posts that spread or promoted conspiracy theories. Eighty-one percent of those teens said they were inclined to believe one or more of them.
"With more stuff online, there's less that they spend time, like writing, paper and pencil writing. And so, it seems like there's a lot at their fingertips that they can get online, but they don't always know how to determine fact from fiction," Omanchi said.
It's why Omanchi and Reed have graduated the students from creative writing projects to producing news and journalism stories over the past school year.
"Being able to come into classrooms, even at a young age like elementary age, not only are we building enthusiasm for writing and for researching and learning about careers in writing and journalism by working on news stories, they're learning how to research facts," Reed said.
The students conducted interviews and produced news articles on their recent field trip to H.O.P.E. Gardens in Byron Center.
"They can tell me about, like, what happened in their life, how was their life, what their life was like," said fourth grader Alan Perez.
Fourth grader Toby Lehnan said the experience has changed his perspective on journalism.
"It's kind of cool, because we have the concept in our brain, but we still ... learning the little details about it, because I didn't know that they helped people give food and stuff up until we wrote about them," Lehnan said.
Third grader Joseph Vasquez said he's enjoying the process as well.
"Learning about new stuff, it helps you, like, read more. Because it's about, like, what's happening in the real world," said Vasquez.
Omanchi has also made it a point include the subject of news literacy within her class curriculum.
"I have them react to the world in their notebooks, where they read a news article, and then they have to think about what they're seeing so that they're exposed to that," Omanchi said. "The more they practice and learn about the news and writing and what's out there, the more hopefully they'll start to explore on their own."
Omanchi and Reed's hard work is paying off as it's created a positive impact on their students.
"I kind of ... like writing a lot more than I did a couple of months ago," added Lehnan.
Reed is also working with teens at Wedgwood Christian Services in Grand Rapids to critically analyze stories. Plans are in the works to hold instructional sessions for adults. She hopes to educate as many as possible.
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