The Slice: A report from the young consultants

They say the newspaper industry is in dire straits.

So I knew where to turn for a glimpse of the future. The other morning I went up to beautiful Westview Elementary in northwest Spokane to talk to the third-graders in Tiffiny Santos’ class. I had a question.

What content adjustments should the S-R and other newspapers make if they want to stave off extinction?

The kids jotted down their suggestions. Here is an excerpted sampling.

“I would like more sience please,” wrote Donovan.

“Dogs and puppies,” said a pupil named Journey.

“Kitten piters and cat piters…more crosward,” suggested Gabby.

“More ways to help starving and homeless kids,” wrote Heidi.

“Pitchers of dogs and animals in the newspapers that are lost or found,” wrote Jozalyn.

“More sience!!!!” wrote an emphatic Egan.

“I would like some more sports,” wrote Evan. “Becaus Im going to be a football player and I need to learn.”

“More jokes, less stories please,” offered Tristan.

“More cartoons,” urged William.

“More dog pictures and cat pictures and animal pictures,” wrote Makenzie.

“I would love to have more sports columns and more outdoor columns,” wrote Andrew.

“Pictures of brand-new super fancy cars,” wrote Owen. “Fancy houses. Lego models.”

“More sience to discover more planits,” wrote Hanna.

“I would like the newspaper to talk about animals and K-9s and animals in danger,” suggested Cara.

And an astute young scholar named Elorah shared this. “I think their should tell less comics and add a Discovery section for dinosaur bones and volcanos, but not to much of it. Also they should have less stuff about that day and add more of Paul Turners writing.”

Ahem.

The kids also proposed potential Slice questions. Here are just a few, which shall collectively take the place of Today’s Slice question on this Sunday.

“Who makes the best macaroni in your family?”

“Was it fun when there were no electronics? Why do you think that?”

“Hoo in your family packs the best school lunch?”

“What was the best camping trip?”

“What was school like when you had ink and a feather?”

“Remember when you had no smart phones and had to use home phones?”

“Have you ever wanted to be able to go bake in time?”

“What was school like without computrs? I know you had to look in books all day just to find one answer.”

“Who is the best Seahawk player in the NFL? I think best mode.”

“What happened to the dinosaurs?”

“What do you say when your girl frend wants to break up with you?”

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Spokane would be the most populous city in how many states?