This year, the Wheeler Squealer celebrates its 25th anniversary! The newsletter is the voice of the Wheeler Avenue School student body and provides a unique venue for student publication. Under the guidance and direction of club founder and faculty advisor Guy Jacob, students capture the moments that leave indelible marks as they craft articles about the special events and everyday happenings that shape their elementary school years.
Fifth- and sixth-grade journalists meet after school to plan, draft, revise and edit their pieces. Reporters practice peer conferring and word process their articles until they are suitable for publication. The joy of authorship and the sense of audience are the common motivating factors for students who work diligently to capture the imagination and interest of their schoolmates.
With each publication, student reporters see the fruits of their labor in the eyes of their peers who read and share their stories. The larger student body benefits from the school publication as much as those who write for it. They see the relevance of the printed word in their immediate world, quality peer writing is modeled for them, and everyone celebrates the stories of their shared school lives.
A tried and true educational venture, the Wheeler Squealer has stood the test of time. Each issue takes on a new, aesthetically pleasing look. This year, the Wheeler Squealer published a historically relevant crossword puzzle for the first time!
An extension of the school curriculum, the club is student-centered, differentiated, open-ended, student interest-based and multidisciplinary. Unusual in elementary school settings, this student publication celebrates the talents and creative energies of young minds as it pays homage to the people who help make their world meaningful.
Several Wheeler Squealer reporters were interviewed by Andrew Hackmack, editor of the Valley Stream Herald, about their role as reporters for the school newsletter. An article was published in the Valley Stream Herald on May 17, 2013. A quarter century of storytelling: Wheeler student newspaper hits milestone is the article about the interview Mr. Hackmack had with Mr. Jacob and four of his reporters.
Check out the Wheeler Squealer online! Go to http://wheelerpta.org and click on the Wheeler Squealer link. Special thanks go to the Wheeler Avenue PTA and its editor, Mrs. Smith, for creating a space for the Wheeler Squealer on its website.
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