MHS social studies teacher Rick Purrington talked about the ways students use local newspapers in his Current Issues classes. Purrington participates in the Newspapers in Education program to get daily issues of the Independent for Marshall students.

MARSHALL — Current events and issues are the major focus of some of Rick Purrington’s classes at Marshall High School. But when you want to learn about current events affecting the Marshall area, there aren’t many sources to turn to, Purrington said.

That’s why Purrington, a social studies teacher at MHS, has used the Newspapers in Education program for the past few years. Through the program, high school juniors and seniors in Purrington’s Current Issues classes get copies of the Marshall Independent.

“They get a newspaper on their desk every day,” Purrington said. Students spend a few minutes reading the paper each day during class, and go on to talk about what they read, he said.

Through the Newspapers in Education program, local sponsors offset the cost of newspaper subscriptions, so teachers can use newspapers in the classroom. Purrington said he has been participating in Newspapers in Education for about three or four years.

MHS has Current Issues classes aimed at students in ninth and tenth grade, and at students in eleventh and twelfth grade, Purrington said. He teaches classes for eleventh and twelfth-grade students. Much of his class is focused on international news and issues, and students read the New York Times Upfront magazine to learn more about current events. But students look at local news, too.

“Often, local events have more of an impact on our lives, and on students’ lives, than something going on in Washington, D.C.,” Purrington said. One of the best ways to learn about those local events, he said, is through local newspapers.

Topics like local government and politics tend to be new to most high school students, Purrington said.

“It’s very easy not to be exposed to that stuff,” he said. Having a free local newspaper helps students get that exposure to local news.

Newspapers are also one of the only sources of local news in many communities today, he said. Many people now get a lot of their news online, or through bigger news outlets that don’t often cover communities like Marshall.

“As news reporting has changed over the past 10 years . . . we are in danger of not valuing our local news reporting,” Purrington said. “If that goes away, how are we going to learn about this stuff?”

Purrington said students are sometimes drawn to national and international news in the paper as well, but he tries to emphasize the local coverage.

Purrington said he teaches two sections of the class a year, of around 30 students. They all receive newspapers for class.

For other parts of the Current Issues class, Purrington said students take a “world tour” of current news and issues in different parts of the globe. Students also participate in a classroom debate project on a current issue.

“It’s something they really like doing,” Purrington said. “They feel in a debate, they’re motivated to learn.”

“I do hear from students, ‘Everyone should take this class,'” Purrington said.

Besides using newspapers in class, Purrington said he gets additional copies of the Independent that he puts out for students in the senior locker banks. Those get read as well.

“If the paper’s in front of them, they’ll open it,” and read through it, he said.

There are also parts of the newspaper that students read for enjoyment, Purrington said. High school sports coverage is popular with students — “They can read about their friends,” he said. Students also love to pull out and use coupons that come with the paper, Purrington said.

Teachers who are interested in participating in Newspapers in Education can email the Independent’s circulation department, at cchamberlain@ marshallindependent.com.