Three members of the editorial staff of The Fanscotian have been awarded a grant by the Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA) to develop a full-scale quarterly newspaper at Park Middle School, The Park Press. Junior Michelle Conway was inspired to begin the project after attending a summer journalism workshop at Monmouth University.

After speaking to GSSPA President Stephen Chiger about her idea to give Park a genuine newspaper to replace their newsletter, which had been printed on standard letter- size paper, Conway was advised to send a proposal for a grant to the association's executive board. "I told them that I felt that the students had a lot of potential," said Conway, "but as 12-year-olds and 13-year-olds they were getting distracted, and I thought that if we could give them a real newspaper, they'd be really motivated."

The GSSPA's $350 grant will be put to use in producing the first issue of The Park Press on full-size newsprint, scheduled for distribution to students and faculty by the end of May.

Conway was joined in her endeavor by juniors Caitlin Campbell and Martin Sweeney, at least one of whom visits the middle school every week to work with the 14 students on The Park Press staff.

In the letter informing Conway of the proposal's acceptance, Chiger wrote, "Not only will your efforts resonate with the students you help, but they have inspired us to develop a sustained program for mini-grant requests like yours... We plan to develop and publish a formal structure for this program so that projects like yours will be better able to connect with us when appropriate."