Welcome back, Educators!
Bear Essential News’ January edition just distributed to Phoenix and Tucson schools, and libraries should have received theirs. We just posted the new standards-based worksheets for the January issue to our website.
If you’d like newspapers for your school or organization monthly, please call toll free: 1-866-NEWS KID (639-7543).
These worksheets and our free classroom presentations on writing and reporting are provided by the non-profit Bear Essential Educational Services. A beary big THANKS for utilizing the newspaper and the worksheets with your students!
The statewide Arizona SciTech Festival is kicking off, and Bear offers a special 12-page pullout section with STEM stories and all sorts of inspiring free events great for kids, classroom field trips and families. There are over 3,000 exhibitions, tours and presentations all over the state now through April. This special section includes a list of some fun-n-fabulous festival events that encourage your students to explore their STEM interests. The Festival will also have a 4-page pullout section in Bear’s February Edition. For a full listing of Festival fun, visit SciTechInstitute.org/calendar.
Arizona’s education savings plan, AZ529, launches it’s big Dream. Draw. Win. Contest on Jan. 27. See the Office of the State Treasurer’s ad on page 8 of the Phoenix edition and page 10 of the Tucson edition. Kids in K thru 6th grade can enter, so have them start dreaming and getting ready to draw. Contest ends March 9, 2025 and details are at AZ529.gov/2025ArtContest.
Bear Essential News is thrilled to bring readers more adventures of Sunset and Meteor from Fan Fusion Phoenix again! Starting with this issue, we’ll have two pages every month, plus some creative contests for kids are coming up online and in the newspaper. The big event happens June 6–8, and kids can win Fan Fusion passes for their families!
Please encourage your students in grades 2–8 to join our free, literacy award-winning Young Reporters Program—with the new year, now’s a great time for young people to sharpen their writing and communication skills. Click here for the printable Sign-Up Form.
Young Reporters can choose the stories they cover or you can help make suggestions. Or kids can specialize in covering STEM-based stories as Science Reporters as we partner with Nova the gecko, mascot of the SciTech Festival.
Please call 1-866-NEWS KID if your school or organization would like free presentations on writing or different aspects of reporting!
Have a great 2025,
Stephen B Gin, editor