Where can you get a well written newspaper that includes the latest in science research, in-depth sports coverage and analysis, and intelligent debates on today’s hottest issues? PS 8’s newspaper, that’s where.

In the brand new publication, which debuted on May 16, PS 8’s students showed that good journalism comes in all sizes.

Diamonique June, one of the paper’s student editors, said the production of the inaugural issue of the paper was not without its challenges. The 4th graders, said Diamonique, had to learn how to import image files onto their Microsoft Word document, and then adjust the images to make them fit into the space they were allotted, a task which she said, “wasn’t always easy.”

Still, Keila Reyes, a staff writer for the paper, said the project was “very fun to do.”

Most of the students who wrote for the paper were 4th graders, and Diamonique and Keila said that while in 5th grade, they would be interested in “maybe trying to do this again.”

Robin Rosen, the school’s librarian, who worked with the students on the project, said she “felt there was a need” for the paper at PS 8. Rosen said she, and the students, “wanted to get the word out” about what was going on in and around the school.

While Rosen oversaw the project, it was the students who did everything, she said. “I didn’t know how to use the ‘newsletter’ feature on Microsoft Word,” said Rosen, “but I asked the kids if they could figure it out, and they did in no time at all. They were so determined. It’s a tribute to the human spirit.”

Juan Dalo, who wrote a debate column arguing for the allowance of cellular phones in school, said participating in the paper “was very fun.” Juan said he enjoyed doing research most of all. “I liked best that we got to go on the computers and search for information,” he said.

Also included in the paper was an article about incubated eggs that became chicks, the biological processes which made that happen, and a detailed account of a struggle between the school’s “Blue” and “Black” basketball teams, which battled through a tenuous game which was decided by merely two points. That article’s authors, Jorge Fernandez and Mensur Cekic, noted in the piece, that while the game was a nail-biter, in the end, both teams’ captains “agreed that everyone had fun.”