While I was in Germany this summer I tutored kids in English. Each morning I taught the same two kids two lessons, and each afternoon the students in the program would break up into different clubs. Each club had a specific theme, like sports, dance, board games, baking or video production. I helped out with the newspaper club. As a group we decided to call our newspaper The Alien Herald because our camp had an outer space theme.
There were four students in the newspaper club. I gravitated toward (no pun intended) a young man who I’ll call “Wayne.” Wayne was a really smart kid. His English skills were among the most advanced of any of the children at the camp. But when it came time to participate in the club activities he tended to act out rather than go along with what we were doing. The truth was he was bored. I finally realized that what Wayne needed was a challenge, something that he’d have to put a lot of time and effort toward, and something he could brag about when he finished. And I knew just what would pique his interest. I asked Wayne to write our front-page article.
