Amanda Taylor, graphic designer and writer for

I’ve always loved to share my life experiences, both large and small. Many of my patient co–workers at The Columbia Star will attest to this, and I suspect at times they wish I would just shut my mouth – especially on deadline days. So when we got a request from Ms. Brooke Scott, a teacher at Rice Creek Elementary School, for one of our writers to come talk to third graders about journalism writing, I happily volunteered.

On the morning of Thursday, February 10, 2005, I spoke with three groups of third–grade students at Rice Creek, with about 40 students per group. They all greeted me with a hearty “good morning!,” warm smiles, and attentive attitudes. After I told them a little about what I do at The Columbia Star , I asked if they had any questions. And did they ever! I was quite impressed with just how many intelligent and thoughtful questions they asked.

Considering our topic of discussion that morning, I thought it was appropriate to ask Ms. Scott if any of her students would be interested in writing about my visit and having it published in the paper. Several of her students were, and here are their accounts of my visit.

The Columbia Star visits Rice Creek Elementary