Who We Are
For over two decades Simpson Street Free Press has demonstrated that academic support programs can be delivered in very cost-efficient ways. And that when challenged, kids will buy in and respond. From humble beginnings
in 1992 as a modest neighborhood newspaper and after-school academic program, the Simpson Street Free Press (SSFP) has grown into an impressive example of effective nonprofit strategies at work.
Bringing Real Broadband to Our Newsroom and Learning Center
Running a network of after-school academies requires hard work. It also requires modern, high-speed Internet service. We serve over 200 students across the community, and there are often up to 25 students at a time
sharing a very slow DSL connection that barely meets the criteria of what can be labeled as "broadband."
Our newspapers exist in both physical printed editions and
online. Communication between our various newsrooms is also critical. This reality of modern media distribution requires us to foster an understanding—as
well as promote the use—of current tools and methods of access, content creation and distribution among our student reporters. To this end, it is our goal to create the best environment possible for our students to communicate with peers and share and access
information. Making the process of posting their articles online as seamless as possible for our young reporters and editors will improve SSFP efficiency and allow us to better focus on what’s most important—writing, learning, and academic achievement.
What We Are Doing to Achieve This Goal
Due to the physical location of our main newsroom, we only have one viable alternative to the slowest DSL speeds offered by the local phone carrier. We are working with a local cable provider to build a new circuit
to our South Towne location. SSFP student reporters deserve true business class broadband speeds of over 20 megabits per second. Unfortunately, there are not enough of our neighbors who are willing to switch or sign up for services in order for the cable company
to build the circuit for free. The circuit will cost $8,000.00 just for the build. The cable company has agreed to pay the first $5,000 of this if we can come up with the remaining $3,000.00. We would also like to raise enough funds to cover the cost of phone
and broadband Internet service to our South Towne newsroom, for the next two years. This is where we will need your help.
Where We Are
The SSFP South Towne newsroom is an incubator and laboratory. It’s a valuable facility with a proven track record. It’s where innovative, local instructional methods are pioneered. Today
we operate five newsrooms and our strategies are spreading. Our satellite newsrooms include sites at:
-Capital Newspapers, between
Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times (Wright
Free Press)
-Two local elementary schools (Glendale
Free Press and
Falk Free Press)
-Our anchor facility at South Towne Mall (Simpson Street Free Press and La
Prensa Libre).
We are neighborhood-based, streamlined, and efficient. Known for rigorous academics, SSFP is popular in schools and neighborhoods across Dane County. We believe that actively engaged local
young people are valuable partners in any achievement gap fight.
What We Do
We publish student newspapers. Our writers are kids. In early years SSFP students were about half middle, half high school. Today our student body is decidedly younger. We hire program
grads, now in college, as teachers and editors. Experienced volunteers provide robust forms of assistance. High school students, as they gain experience, assume leadership roles. They serve as book club captains and section editors. This innovative staffing
system increases our capacity to enroll younger students. We grow our own after-school instructors. These young people work in neighborhoods where they grew up, and are well-versed in award-winning SSFP curriculum. SSFP has become a well-known pipeline for
young professionals of color.
SSFP also operates a book club network. Students in grades 3-9 participate. Older students serve as club captains. SSFP began organizing book clubs in 1998. We’ve developed dozens of book
review lesson plans aimed at a middle school audience. These reviews are widely read and popular. Our students publish a series called “My Favorite Library.” SSFP students produce book trailers and publish their videos online.
How We Do It
Writing for Publication: Writing, skill acquisition, and academic confidence are central to our mission. SSFP students produce five separate youth publications – including a bilingual paper
called La Prensa. SSFP methods nurture imagination. Our reporters conduct research (close reading), take notes, plan and outline. Our newsrooms are full of history texts, science magazines, and atlases. We teach a multi-step writing process that students
understand and master. Initial source material is always written text. Outlines, notes and first drafts are done using pencils and legal pads. Subsequent drafts are revised at keyboards using a wireless network. Writing conferences with editors occur throughout
the process. We also use peer review. Because students write about core subject areas (science, geography, history, books) content area understanding improves. Skills learned in a newsroom are practical and transferable. Student grades and attendance improve.
We carefully measure school grades and attendance. Students acquire practical academic skills and learn to transfer these skills. Measurement tools we use are school report
cards and school attendance. Performance evaluations conducted by teachers and parents are also taken into account. SSFP students submit school report cards each academic quarter. More than 80% of students improve overall core subject GPA within two semesters.
We measure writing assignments published and book reviews completed. All (100%) students complete assignments in at least two of our four lesson plan categories. At least
60% of students complete assignments in three to four lesson plan categories. All (100%) students complete one science assignment and one history assignment per semester.
We measure hours of extra instruction time in core curriculum and literacy. Students receive, on average, 4.25 hours of extra instruction time per week.SSFP conducts in-house
student evaluations on a trimester schedule (fall, spring, summer).
Why You Should Help
The Simpson Street Free Press is a 100% non-profit organization. All of our funding comes from a combination of traditional grants that are pursued by members of our staff (including students
who have benefited from the program themselves) and individual donations from members of the local community. As our program expands to touch the lives of more and more young people, it becomes more of a challenge to raise the funds that we need to support
our program. We currently serve over 200 students at our various locations and the Free Press is so popular with parents, teachers and principals at the local schools that there is a waiting list of well beyond that number who have applied for the program.
Our program is growing. The word is spreading and we want to help make sure that the kids who come to us to improve their confidence and increase their opportunities to attain higher levels
of academic success have the resources that they need. In this case, having the full benefit of fast broadband Internet speeds to bridge the digital divide so that they will be able to more easily close the academic achievement gap.
When
Now. There is no better way to put it. At the very least, we would like to raise enough funds to get the new broadband circuit built and reach our tipping point of $3,000.00. Beyond that
we are asking you to generously support our broadband and telephone services at our main South Towne newsroom for the next two years. Our campaign will last for 30 days. Please help us make this dream a reality. Thank you!
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