First class

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

One recent afternoon, I had the great pleasure of speaking to Miss Horne’s fifth grade class over at Mount Rose K-8 Academy of Languages, conveniently located just three blocks from the RN&R office. My stepdaughters attend elementary school there—including Josephine, who’s in Miss Horne’s class—and I was there to describe my job to the class for career day. It was a hoot.

I’ve taught some university courses the last few years, and talking to fifth graders is both remarkably similar and distinctly different from teaching undergrads. The fifth graders are much quicker to shoot their hands up with enthusiastic questions.

One student told me that he reads the paper every week, which was nice to hear. I’m not always sure we’re reaching that younger demographic.

“I saw a cartoon in there that was all about making fun of Donald Trump,” said one boy sitting near the front. “Who gets to do that job?” He was grinning hopefully, like I might hire him on the spot.

“Does Josephine like to read the paper?” asked one girl.

I replied that she did, especially when I wrote about her. And I promised the class that the RN&R was their source for all the local news, arts reporting, and all the latest gossip about Josephine.

She later suggested that I be sure to write about my visit to the class, so that she could tell her classmates, “Be sure to check out the Brad Bynum section of the Are Inn And Are.”

Anyway, it was a real pleasure to visit the class, and I want to thank Miss Horne for having me, and the students for tolerating me.

And here it is: Despite repeated admonishments over the weekend, Josephine still needs to clean her room. It looks like a disaster area in there.