FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Feb. 27, 2008
CONTACT:  Marvene Riis, (605) 773-4233, Marvene.Riis@state.sd.us

State Historical Society highlighting Newspaper in Education Week

PIERRE, S.D. -- The South Dakota State Historical Society is highlighting National Newspaper in Education (NIE) Week on March 3-7. 

NIE is a joint program of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation and the International Reading Association. It is observed during the first full school week of March each year. The goal of NIE is to reinforce a positive and relevant lifetime reading habit in students by engaging them with an authentic text – the newspaper. It is primarily geared toward middle and high school students. The theme this year is “Connect to the World with Newspapers”.

“Newspapers are a great learning resource for students,” said Marvene Riis, archives librarian for the State Historical Society at the Cultural Heritage Center. “They can improve their reading comprehension by making connections to self, to the world and to text through newspaper activities. The newspaper is the perfect resource for helping students make these connections because it matches their prior knowledge, interests and experiences.”

This year the State Archives is inviting students to come to the Cultural Heritage Center to look through newspapers on microfilm. In the past, students have looked at the newspaper from their home town for the issue published on their date of birth to see what the news was on that day. The archives will be open on Saturday, March 1, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is offering a free copy of the title page of the newspaper for a student’s birth day.

The State Archives has more than 15,000 reels of microfilmed state newspapers -- the largest known collection of South Dakota newspapers today. The State Historical Society began microfilming newspapers in the 1950s and continues to film current newspapers from throughout the state.

The State Archives is open Monday through Friday and the first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call (605) 773-3804 for more information or e-mail archref@state.sd.us