By Nathan Duke
A 10-year-old Bayside fifth-grader with a nose for news has been chosen to write as a journalist for the Scholastic Kids Press Corps, where he will report on everything from red carpet events to coverage of the five boroughs throughout the next year.
Joseph O’Connor, who lives in Bayside and attends Sacred Heart School, was the only Queens student in a group of 37 young writers who were chosen out of250 applicants to write for the youth-oriented press.
“I’m so excited to be a Scholastic reporter,” he said. “My friends at school all congratulated me. I love to write and I’m really good at talking to people. Writing makes me feel good.”
O’Connor, who acts as sports editor for his school’s newspaper, was chosen for the program after having submitted a biography, cover letter and a 400-word article about what made his community special.
“Joseph turned in what I consider to be one of the top applications,” said Suzanne Freeman, director and editor of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. “He sent in clips, if you can believe it, and had ideas for articles. It said that his head was already in the game. He has an eye for details.”
She said she was impressed by his description of Bayside’s Fort Totten in his essay because he not only wrote that he enjoyed his visit to the site, but also detailed how he played with toys from the 1800s and viewed clothing from that era.
O’Connor, a huge baseball fan who dreams of eventually playing in the majors, has already completed his first assignment for Scholastic: a profile of Kay WalkingStick, a Brooklyn-based Native American artist.
“It was my first interview and I was so nervous,” he said. “But she brought me into a room with all her paintings, which were fantastic.”
The story can be read at teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/press_corps.
“He got the idea of how to use quotes right off the bat,” Freeman said. “That’s a tough thing I usually have to teach kids.”
O’Connor will cover city news for the next year, writing blog posts and at least one 500-word story per month. He and his fellow Scholastic reporters will next work on stories on the struggling economy and how it is affecting children.
He will be able to continue writing for the online publication following his participation in the year-long program, Freeman said.
“Joseph is a prime example of what kids can do as far as understanding the world around them,” she said. “Somebody of his caliber is going to interest other kids to read what he’s writing and inspire them to do it themselves.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
