Betty Heath, a long-time volunteer in St. Vrain Valley Schools, currently at Legacy Elementary School, has been providing mentorship to a group of five fourth-grade students once a week. These students, who call themselves the “Aspiring Writers,”expressed interest in learning how to write articles for their school newspaper. Drawing on her journalism experience, Heath provided students with the ins and outs of article writing.

Recognizing the importance of establishing a strong grammar foundation, Heath acquired dictionaries from the local Rotary Club to assist students in their learning process. Additionally, she compiled a list of common writing terms to support students and utilized the dictionaries to look up words, enhancing their writing skills as they worked on drafting their articles.

The Aspiring Writers’ first assignment with Heath was to practice writing letters. “The students learned how to write sentences and create paragraphs,” explains Heath. “We then reviewed how to address envelopes and affix stamps so they could mail the letters.”

As they progressed to learning how to write newspaper articles, Heath enlisted community member Angie Bustillos as an interviewee for the students. “Angie’s impressive academic background as a St. Vrain Alumni and Boettcher Scholar, her pursuit of a master’s degree in economics, and her recent work with a global bank in Vienna made her an ideal choice for this collaboration,” explained Heath.

During the interviews, students asked Bustillos one prepared question initially, but as the interview progressed, they naturally thought of more questions to ask, leading to an engaging and in-depth discussion.

Throughout the interview process, students embraced the opportunity to work with Bustillos and showcase the writing skills they learned through the project. “Talking to Angie was really exciting,” shared fourth-grader Leila Carrazco. “She was so nice, and it was interesting to ask her questions to get to know her.” Colton Lewis, another fourth-grade student, exclaimed, “Working on this newspaper project was fun! We got to learn a lot about writing and interviewing.”

Bustillos enjoyed working with the Aspiring Writers, “Engaging with these students during the interviews was an energizing experience. Their boundless enthusiasm and brilliance were infectious. It’s been rewarding to witness their growth in the short time I’ve known them.”