A good idea worth sharing
July 14, 2022 | By Lisa ScagliottiTo our readers:
Running a hyper-local news site like Waterbury Roundabout means my focus most of the time is my own backyard - Waterbury, Duxbury, the Harwood school district. Scroll through our website and you’ll find there is no shortage of newsworthy items to report most weeks, too.
But Vermont is a small place, and we all make connections with colleagues in whatever field we work in. It’s not uncommon for my inbox to have messages from reporter and editor friends around Vermont and beyond as we share stories, ideas and tips.
The Good Citizen Challenge scorecard. Click to enlarge.
I’m happy to share news from a message I received from Seven Days Deputy Publisher Cathy Remser asking Vermont newspaper editors to consider spreading the word about her paper’s student civics project underway this summer. Designed with a bingo format, it poses a number of challenges for kids to do and document for a chance to win prizes including a trip for two to Washington, D.C.
Similar to Waterbury Winterfest’s Wanderlust Challenge, it suggests ways for kids to learn about and get involved in their communities, learn about history and government … while also suggesting that kids read their local newspapers, listen to public radio, and watch a local TV news broadcast. The fact that it acknowledges the important role of local news in knitting communities together and helping people be engaged in the process to choose their elected leaders is the kicker for me.
The Good Citizen Challenge’s target audience is kids aged 18 and under. While most are too young to vote, it’s hardly too early for them to learn about what it means to be informed and engaged members of their communities and our state.
Reading the list of activities made me think it might be fun to have an adult category, too. Kudos to the Seven Days staff for coordinating this with its multiple partners.
So, I happily share this project below. I hope we gain some new young readers along the way.
And I especially hope some will send us letters to the editor. (Remember to sign your name and email to waterburyroundabout@gmail.com. Send any handwritten or printed hard-copy letters with a contact email or phone number to Waterbury Roundabout, P.O. Box 626, Waterbury, VT 05676)
Thanks for reading,
Lisa Scagliotti, editor
From the Seven Days deputy publisher: Hopeful signs
By CATHY RESMER With less than a month to go before the primary election, political lawn signs are popping up all across Vermont, including for the Congressional candidates featured in this week's Seven Days cover story. Despite the drumbeat of grim national and international news — from the shootings in Uvalde and Highland Park to the war in Ukraine and the assassination of Shinzo Abe — the signs remind us that there are still people here who believe in democracy and are willing to work for it.
Another hopeful indicator: Kids are taking the summer Good Citizen Challenge, a youth civics project organized by Seven Days and our parenting publication, Kids VT, along with partners including the Vermont Historical Society and the Vermont Community Foundation.
The Challenge encourages kids to engage in their communities, learn about Vermont history and government, and follow local media. It's an attempt to get them excited about civics by turning it into a kind of game. And it's working!
Last Thursday I saw a note in Winooski's Front Porch Forum from a dad whose son is doing the Challenge. On Saturday, I ran into a grandmother helping her grandkids with it at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier. And I got two entries recently from 10-year-old Charlotte Krueger of Jeffersonville.
Charlotte Krueger reading the News & Citizen. Courtesy photo
To complete the Challenge, participants do five activities in a row on a bingo-like scorecard. There are 25 activities to choose from. Charlotte opted to help a neighbor improve trails at a nature preserve (activity #9), research Snowflake Bentley and draw a portrait of him (#1), and read her community newspaper, the News & Citizen (#22). "My favorite article was on kids that painted murals on a walkway for their summer camp program," she wrote on the submission form.
On Sunday, I spoke with Nichole Wolfgang of Peacham, whose kids, August, 13, and René, 11, have completed past Challenges — we've organized several since 2018. The siblings are aiming to do all of the activities this time around, partly because they're motivated by the grand prize: a free trip to Washington, D.C. Every participant who completes a row of activities is entered in a drawing for the trip along with other prizes, including a globe and a $100 gift card to Phoenix Books. Everyone who enters gets a pocket-size copy of the U.S. Constitution.
René's take on the Good Citizen Challenge? "I think it's pretty fun."
His favorite task so far was learning the origin of the name of a hill near his house (#4), which he found in a book of Vermont place names at the Peacham Library. "Devil's Hill got its name because it was a 'devil of a hill' for the settlers to climb," he declared.
August enjoyed drawing a map of Peacham (#2) and visiting Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester (#3). He and his dad stopped by on the way home from a trip to Burlington and read the historical marker about the Buffalo Soldiers once stationed there.
Nichole appreciates that the Challenge motivates her family to do and talk about things that they might not otherwise. She admits that they often avoid the national news because "it's kind of negative," but the Challenge has prompted them to read local newspapers and watch "Vermont This Week" on Vermont Public, which has led to discussions of local issues.
"I like the conversations we're having," she said. "It gets us outside our bubble and makes us think about things a little differently."
There's still plenty of time to start the Good Citizen Challenge: The deadline to enter is Labor Day, September 5. Find more information including the scorecard and submit entries at goodcitizenvt.com.
Cathy Resmer is deputy publisher at Seven Days newspaper.