Summer 2004 Edition

Covering the Election     Fair Lawn's 15 year old interviewing Peter Jennings.  ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings found himself in the hot seat this week when Fair Lawn's 15-year-old Jane Jeong interviewed the veteran anchor for Weekly Reader magazines (a national publication designed for students). Jane put her writing skills to the test and even traded places with Jennings, firing questions from his anchor chair. "What are the biggest issues in the 2004 election?", asked Jane. "War, the economy, and leadership," answered Peter Jennings. "I got interested in writing in TJ Middle School, when I started writing for the TJ newspaper", Jane told Fair Lawn News. "I really enjoyed writing soon afterwards, and my passion has only grown since I've entered high school." Jane moved to Fair Lawn in the summer before seventh grade and attended TJ Middle School for two years. Now, she's a student at the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack (a school designed for gifted students across Bergen County). Peter Jennings was Jane's first interview for Weekly Reader. Mia Toschi an editor at Weekly Reader told Fair Lawn News, "Jane Jeong is a remarkable young lady - she is one of the publication's Kid Correspondents. It is a fairly selective list - the students must be able to write well and interview well." Weekly Reader and ABC News teamed up this year to educate the next generation of voters about the democratic process. Many of the ABC News anchors have provided valuable insights about reporting during an election year and will write introductions for Weekly Reader's election resource guides, which will be distributed to millions of elementary, middle, and high school students in the fall. In addition, every teacher will receive a special election kit which will also contain material from ABC News. "I've never met anyone before with such passion and fervor in reporting as Mr. Jennings," commented Jane "He emphasized the importance of loving what you do in order to achieve success." "I'm more interested in becoming a better journalist after meeting Mr. Jennings," said Jane. "But I think the most important thing he explained was that you should always persist and strive for greater goals."