Teachers heading back to the classroom this year are looking at learning through a new lens. Educational initiatives nationwide are pushing schools, and the teachers within, to align curriculum with real world expectations – skills needed for success in college and on the job. Teaching has always been about building skills upon skills, like a sturdy tower of blocks, as students move from kindergarten to graduation. But now, those blocks are changing. The new skills include STEM areas — science, technology, engineering and math, and a different approach to literacy — more informational and nonfiction reading, writing based on evidence and deeper analysis of what’s being read. The goal, the experts say, is to teach students to think critically in a global environment with 21st century knowledge and skills. For several years, The Warren County Record has been a tool for resourceful teachers investing class time to take concepts one step further to real-life applications. Now, that’s the core of the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), also called Missouri Learning Standards. Through its Record In Education program, The Record seeks partners in community businesses, individuals and organizations to provide classroom newspapers at no cost to area schools. Last year, 50 teachers in 6 area schools used more than 1,000 copies of The Record each week during the school year. Resources for Teachers Beyond providing newspapers to the classrooms, Record In Education provides teacher training and resources. The Record distributed a new teacher resource, “Using the Newspaper to Meet Common Core Standards” to educators who requested classroom newspaper this year. The guide illustrates how the newspaper can be a timely, relevant and affordable source of nonfiction text to help students master these new skills. The guide provides student activities using the newspaper to teach the skills of the Common Core Anchor Standards. The Anchor Standards are the end goals in ensuring all students are prepared to enter college or work force-training programs ready to succeed. Grade-specific standards build on the Anchor Standards, cultivating literacy skills across the curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade. The Record's membership to the Newspaper In Education Institute provides local educators online access to more than 300 instructional resources, including teacher guides, student supplements, character education materials, many subject-specific resources, video and audio teacher training modules, and an instructional calendar. “We’ve been subscribing to NIE Institute for several years and I think it’s a hidden gem on our website,” said Dawn Kitchell, educational services director for the Warren County Record. “This is basically a clearinghouse for hundreds of terrific Newspaper In Education features that have been created by newspapers and vendors over the years.” The NIE Institute can be accessed directly from the Record In Education pages on warrencountyrecord.com. The Record also supports the educational use of the newspaper with weekly features written specifically for young readers. Newspaper In Education features are published in every issue of The Record. Much of the content is provided by the Missouri Press Association and is used by community newspapers across the state. New This Year Information on science, technology, engineering and math will be featured in a STEM series published in The Record’s third issue each month. The series will include an experiment that can be done in the classroom, math applications and ideas for using the newspaper to extend the learning. The series will cover physics, static electricity, the biology of nutrition, computer programming, inventors, geology, topology, how eyes function and the science of acceleration. “The St. Louis American created this terrific series last year and offered it to about 4,000 students in the city,” Kitchell said. “It had a tremendous reception —and that makes sense, because it’s really good stuff. The newspaper generously agreed to let Missouri Press adapt pieces of the full-page feature for use in community newspapers across the state. Kitchell said she elected to publish one feature each month to stretch those learning opportunities through the entire school year, rather than run them all at once. Many civic features throughout the school year will offer teachers the opportunity to incorporate English-language arts into history/social studies. Topics will include the Constitution, 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright which established the Right to Counsel, Veterans Day, Bill of Rights, and 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “I was talking to a high school government teacher who said he was anxious to share some of these monumental Civil Rights commemorations with his students,” Kitchell said. “I told him he’d find everything he needed right inside his community newspaper and that was available to his classroom at no charge.” The rich history of Missouri journalism will be shared with young readers during National Newspaper Week (Oct. 6-13) with two features on Famous Missouri Journalists, including  Eugene Field and Mark Twain scheduled to publish Oct. 24 and Oct. 31. During Geography Awareness Week, Nov. 17-22, a two-part series will begin and include features on Candy Bar Geography and All About Maps. Local young readers will join students from across the state in January’s Reading Across Missouri project. The Record will publish an eight-chapter serial story about Lily, a search and rescue dog from Joplin, who helped in the aftermath of the 2010 Joplin tornado. The story was written by Carolyn Mueller, a keeper at the St. Louis Zoo, and author of “Bubbles the Dwarf Zebu,” a story about a cow’s journey from India to the United States. A series highlighting presidential wives, “First Ladies of America,” will feature eight of the early women and will begin during Women’s History Month in March. Kid Scoop will continue to be featured in the newspaper each weekend with a simple activity and links to The Record’s online subscription, which has articles, activities, puzzles and games for students, and resources for parents and teachers. Record In Education program kickws off with classroom newspaper delivery  Sept. 12. Book Buzz, a project of The Record's sister newspaper, The Missourian, begans its 11th year in September.  The Record publishes Newsbee’s Book Buzz Picks, recommending books from preschool through eighth grade, the first issue of each month. The Bee, the regional spelling competition organized by The Missourian and sponsored by hth companies, inc., will be held on Saturday, March 22, at East Central College. All schools in the area are invited to send their school spelling bee champion, grades four to eight, to participate in The Bee. Several Warren County schools have been participating in The Bee. Kitchell said schools will receive registration information to participate in The Bee in a few weeks. Kitchell said as schools seek new resources to help them adapt their teaching to the Common Core State Standards and try to fit those resources into their budgets, she hopes The Record will rise to the top as a timely, relevant and affordable source of nonfiction text that can help students to master the skills while connecting them to their community in a way no other resource can.