The Royal Gazette's strides to educate young people have been recognised internationally by the National Newspaper Association.

Up against other community newspapers in the United States, The Royal Gazette's Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme proved to be a cut above the rest, taking home first place for the category of Educational Support in the Best of Newspaper in Education Contest.

Education Services Coordinator Jennifer Hind explained that she entered the competition for several reasons. "One, to get feedback on the programme at an international level," she said. "In other words, to see how our local NIE programme stands up to programmes overseas, especially in the United States. And to garner recognition for what The Royal Gazette does to support education, and more specifically literacy, in Bermuda.

"The other reason for entering is to help dispel the negative impression people have of The Royal Gazette. 'There's nothing ever positive in the Gazette, they never feature any government schools, they never say anything nice about black males'. This is just to make people aware of what the Gazette is doing to promote young people and the positive."

During the school year, 4,000 papers are given free of charge to the Island's schools twice a week to encourage young people to read the newspaper and start looking at issues critically.

According to Mrs. Hind, people have to be taught at a young age how to read a newspaper and how to judge the accuracy and quality of the reporting. "Too many people accept things at face value," she said. "Children need to be taught how an article is composed, for example, how many sources the reporter has used, who the sources are, and how valid they are.

"Young people, especially young adults, need to read the newspaper to be aware of what's going on in their world and not rely solely on the broadcast media. They need to get their information from a variety of sources."

In addition to the reading material, "classroom ready" worksheets are emailed to teachers each week with a suggested list of questions. Though they are not required to follow these worksheets, it serves as a guide to discussions so "teachers don't have to go into the classroom blind", explained Mrs. Hind.

Next month will mark the ninth anniversary of The Royal Gazette's NIE programme and Mrs. Hind is excited local author Darren Lowe has come on board with his stories about Keisha the Mermaid. What makes these short stories, adapted by Mrs. Hind, special is that they not only feature a Bermudian character but they also deal with environmental issues that affect Bermudians.

Before taking on the position at The Royal Gazette, Mrs. Hind was a qualified educator with 18 years of classroom experience. She believes it is important for young people to read the newspaper and hopes that the NIE programme can grow to the point that young people are writing the Young Observer features in the paper as well as more Letters to the Editor. Most importantly she wants young people to feel that this is a paper for them.

"It's a very satisfying job because I feel that it provides me with the opportunity to support education in Bermuda by providing teachers with useful, accurate and up-to-date teaching materials."