FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO,

something remarkable appeared for the first time on the front steps of Arizona schools. Hot off the press, they were bundles of a local newspaper called Bear Essential News for Kids!

Innovative, Fun Reading

This first edition was much more than a tripping hazard on the front steps. The nifty new newspaper was created to get kids reading and to spark their interest in keeping up with the news.

Like the Arizona Republic and other daily newspapers back then, Bear Essential News was printed in black and white (black ink only). But other aspects of this new publication made it stand out. To this day, it’s a monthly newspaper. It comes in a tabloid format (each page was about 11 1/2” wide by 13 1/2” tall) so a young person can hold it more easily than a daily paper! But it was the CAMPY artwork for kids, news blurbs and funtastic games and activities that made for thousands of young fans.

Time Warp Back to 1979!

Ask your parent what year they were born, and they’ll most likely give you a year that’s much later than 1979.

In fact, you’ll go back eight US Presidents, to President Jimmy Carter, who was in the White House from 1977 through 1981. The federal minimum wage way back then was just $2.90 an hour!

Mailing a letter with a First Class stamp cost just 15¢ in 1979. But prices at the gas pump were spiking at 90¢ per gallon.

TV, Music & Technology

The three major networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, dominated the TV ratings. And ABC had another hit sitcom on its hands with a show about an alien visitor landing in a small town in Colorado to observe humans. The show “Mork & Mindy,” and comedian Robin Williams playd Mork from the planet Ork. ABC also had top sitcoms “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley” and “Three’s Company.”

On cable TV on Sept. 7, a new sports channel called ESPN aired its first show, “SportsCenter.”

Like Bear Essential News, singing sensation Pink was born in September 1979. Some top songs on Billboard magazine’s “Hot 100” list were pop hits like “Don’t Bring Me Down,” by the Electric Light Orchestra, and Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough.” Hip Hop had some big hits, and disco was at its peak. New Wave music (like the band Blondie creates) was a fresh sound and style spinning off of punk rock.

Taking your music with you was both a big and a little trend in 1979. Big meant the boombox—a music POWERHOUSE that used a bunch of batteries to play either cassette tapes or the radio. Little was the just released Sony Walkman, also a cassette player, but with lightweight headphones and a compact design so you could run or rollerskate to your tunes!

By 1979, desktop computers were beginning to make their way into homes and small businesses. The Apple II had primitive color graphics and sold for $1,195. RadioShack offered a much more affordable black-and-white computer called the TRS-80, which was $600. Today’s smartphones are thousands of times faster and more powerful than computers from 45 years ago!

Be a Bear Essential Young Reporter!

Bear Essential still delivers the news directly to Arizona schools.  A year after it launched, it expanded to cover young readers in both Phoenix and Tucson and started a writing program so kids could cover news stories for the paper. Students in grades 3 through 8 can join the free Young Reporters Program and see their stories printed in Bear. Young Reporters are our eyes and ears at their school, on their team or wherever they go. They can even specialize as Science Reporters, covering STEM-related stories. For more info or to print out the Sign-up Form, go to BearEssentialNews.com and look under “Young Reporters” or give us a call toll free: 1-866-NEWS KID.

Taking Flight in 1979

When Bear Essential News launched in 1979, disco music ruled the radio airwaves. and at the movies, “Superman” was flying high! The Christopher Reeve blockbuster released in December 1978, but like a bird or a plane, “Superman” SOARED above all other cinema. It was the top box office champ for 1979. The Millenium Falcon was flying in movie theaters, too! While “Star Wars” debuted in 1977, it flew back into theaters for a limited time in 1979 to get fans excited for the release of “The Empire Strikes Back” the following year.  In outer space, the Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to fly by Saturn. It reached the ringed planet in September 1979, where it discovered a new moon and Saturn’s F ring.

WIN a Pizza Party for Your Classroom!

Make a birthday card for Boomer Bear!

Send Boomer a birthday card or a letter. Classrooms can make a group card or individual cards, or each student can write a letter. Kids can tell Boomer what they like best about Bear Essential News and what they have learned from reading Bear. Also, have them tell Boomer what kind of pizza is their favorite!

Can You Identify the Iconic Items from 1979? Click below.