Scholastic's Kid Reporter To Cover Super Tuesday In Arlington

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington voters heading to the polls Tuesday morning may be greeted by a young journalist seeking their opinion about the Democratic primary. Sidonie Gillette, a 13-year-old middle schooler at H-B Woodlawn, will be covering Super Tuesday as a reporter with Scholastic Kids Press.

"One of the local polling stations is right down the street at an elementary school," Sidonie said. "I plan to go down there and interview attendees as they walk in or walk out, ask them why the election's important to them, who they're going to support, things like that. I'm really excited."

This is Sidonie's second school year as a reporter for Scholastic Kids Press, which has been training and publishing young journalists for 20 years. She first learned about the program from her fifth grade teacher at Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria. After applying to the program, she was accepted and started reporting in sixth grade. She reapplied and was accepted as a seventh grader.

"We have kids around the world," said Suzanne McCabe, Scholastic Kids Press editor. "The objective is to have them report news for young readers — news for kids by kids. We see by doing that, we engage our readers more, especially in the political process."

Scholastic's kid reporters cover a wide variety of subjects, from global warming to gun control. But the big story in 2020 is the presidential election, and about a dozen kid reporters will be out at the polls on Super Tuesday, talking to voters and young people who may be accompanying their parents.

"Electing a president is a big deal, and the more that we can engage young people in informing themselves, getting involved in the political process, the better," McCabe said. "Along the way, our reporters gain invaluable experience in terms of self confidence, critical thinking, their writing skills, interviewing skills, all of that. We see that on display all the time."

Super Tuesday won't be Sidonie's first big assignment in connection with the 2020 presidential race. She recently covered a campaign event in Virginia for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). When she heard the candidate was going to be speaking at a high school near where she lived, Sidonie pitched the story to McCabe.

"It was too short notice to get an interview with Warren, but I could interview some attendees and just hear what she says and write an article about the event as a whole," Sidonie said. "It was really cool. There was over 4,000 people there. It was really cool to see everyone come together and support one candidate."

Sidonie also had the opportunity to interview Vice President Pence about NASA’s space exploration efforts. This time around, she received the assignment from McCabe, who'd heard about a ceremony sponsored by The Moon Tree Foundation taking place at the Vice President's Residence in Washington, D.C. Pence and other dignitaries were going to be planting a tree seed that had traveled to the Moon aboard Apollo 14.

"It was really amazing to meet him," Sidonie said. "We got to go inside his house. He talked some and there were some honorable guests like Buzz Aldrin and the head of the foundation."

What originally interested Sidonie most about Scholastic Kids Press was the chance to use her creative writing skills. Having been in the program for two years, she's come to enjoy talking to new people and learning about different perspectives on issues.

"I've interviewed people like Chelsea Clinton, Jennifer Wexton," she said. "I like to talk about lots of different issues. I've had stories about gun control, diversity in books. I learned a lot more from this than I think I would have not doing it. And I've gotten some really cool experiences."

While Sidonie values the opportunities she's gotten through the Scholastic Kids Press, journalism might not be the career she ultimately pursues.

"Right now, I'm really interested in psychology," she said. "That's something that's one of my other interests to learn about. So I think journalism is something that I really enjoy doing, but I don't think of it as a career for the long term."

Even though a career in journalism may not be in Sidonie's future, her journalistic efforts so far have impressed her editor.

"Sidonie is a remarkable reporter," McCabe said. "She asks tough questions. She's not afraid of anyone and she gets the details. She looks for great stories about really what matters, whether it's social justice, gun control, or politics. She's so impressive. "