BIO

MEI is founder and Editor-in-chief of KID NEWS. She is the one who came up with the KID NEWS slogan: “When you’ve got something to say, you’ve got to say it for the world!” Mei’s favorite pastime is talking with people—which is why being a kid reporter suits her so well! She speaks English, French and Japanese. And right now she thinks that she probably wants to grow up to be an OBGYN (or as she used to say when she was younger) “a baby deliverer in a hospital.” She absolutely loves reading, reading, reading, reading. She also spends many hours dancing ballet and swimming.

INTERVIEWS

VARIOUS EDITIONS
Bill Louis, muralist
Officer Cook, Police officer
Brent Jackman, Street cleaner truck driver
Ron Roberts, a person with blindness
Nathan Turnbow, Dentist

AUTUMN EDITION
Carol Turnbow, Rancher

EARTH DAY EDITION
Jerica Tullis, Zookeeper Hogle Zoo

SCHOOL EDITION
Brienna, Child/Peer
Emmett, Child/Peer

PET EDITION
Yvonne Peterson, SCVT Banfield Pet Hospital

WINTER EDITION
Sam Spector, Rabbi Congregation Kol Ami
Justina C. Ray, President & Sr. Scientist Wildlife Conservation Society Canada
August Mennell, Competitive ski racer

FASHION EDITION
Marcella Armstrong, custom seamstress/ sewing teacher
Kirsten Sherman, custom dressmaker/seamstress
Michelle C., owner of Louis Vuitton goods

MUSCLE CAR OWNERS for the CARS EDITION
Trevor Patten, owner of Polaris Slingshot
James Bible, owner of Dodge Challenger
Chris Holt, owner of Subaru WRX adapted for racing
Scott Smith, owner of Maserati
Dave Wright, owner of 1965 Ford Mustang

BIO

REN is a kid reporter. Once his sister got older and busier he made most of the in-person neighborhood newspaper deliveries for a whole year—with Mom nearby but not going up to the doors. He especially likes delivering the paper to his “extra grandmas”—the older women who give him treats and hugs. He loves art and draws, draws, draws all day. All of the art on this website is by kids, and most of it is by him. He speaks English and Japanese and this year he starts learning French 3 hours a day! Ren thinks the ideal careers are biologist, mailman or ice-cream-truck driver—I mean it is hard to choose! Ren’s press badge features a drawing of his favorite animal: a red panda. Ren recently decided quite strongly on his own that he wants to be a vegetarian like the Pachycephalosaurus dinosaur. His Mom is quickly trying to learn more veggie-only reciepes!

INTERVIEWS

WINTER EDITION
Mary Jensen, Librarian

EARTH DAY EDITION
Jerica Tullis, Asian Highlands Zookeeper Hogle Zoo

FOR UPCOMING EDITIONS
Dalaney, Shelburne Farms
Thomas Leavitt, Previsualization Animation Artist

HOW IT ALL STARTED

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL KID + A VERY, VERY OLD $25 copIER

In 2018 a frustrated (but extremely determined) three-year-old girl named Mei stated to her mother over and over and over and over an over and over and over and over and over and over:

“I want my own job.
I want my own business.
When can I have a business?”

Baffled, her Mom wondered, what started this business talk? Had there been a storytime or class that had recently mentioned businesses? Maybe it came from a conversation she’d overheard somewhere? Maybe it simply meant that Mei was interested in how money works?

Still puzzled, but motivated by her daughter’s persistence, Mei’s Mom set up a tiny chore chart with allowance and Mei dutifully completed it (and still does to this day). Mei is a good kid! However, it wasn’t long until Mei pointed out that doing chores is not a business and so she continued repeating to her parents:

“I want my own job.
I want my own business.
When can I have a business?”

What could be done?

One day as a language tutor was leaving the house, Mei explained that she wanted a real job like teaching or maybe a babysitting job. Mei was too young for those kind of jobs though. This was a tough situation! And honestly (between you and me) Mei’s parents, who are not entrepreneurs, thought this was all a long phase and if they waited long enough then it would probably go away.

They were wrong.
Mei took action on her own.

One day, about a year after she started talking about a business, Mei came up with her own idea. While her Mom was standing outside having a conversation with a friend, Mei went door-to-door selling her kid art to the neighbors! From where her Mom was standing it looked like Mei was simply making her usual porch visits: pet the puppy at the house with dogs, receive candy from the elderly couple, look in the fish pond at the home with the nice grandkids and give a high-five to the house with an officer dad. Four houses total.

The very next afternoon, Mei’s mother heard noise by the front door and found Mei preparing more art sheets to take and sell to the exact same neighbors as the day before. Realizing again how important this was to her daughter, Mei’s mom made a true promise, spoken out loud, right then that she would really, really try to think of something. If Mei would be patient, she would try. Mei agreed to wait a little more for the perfect business, one that would really suit her extroverted personality to the max.

Luckily she didn’t have to wait too long!

Mei loves, loves, loves animals! And a short time later she started quizzing her Mom about the names of the neighbors’ pets. She wasn’t impressed at all when her Mom recited only a few. Mei wanted a comprehensive list! She was adamant and so soon her mom was dialing phone numbers while Mei did all the talking!

In the end, Mei compiled a list of 80 pets in 23 households.
She was very happy about it!

The list was informative and could be helpful knowledge if an animal escaped. It was also entertaining to read, since people had named their pets humorous things like:

As Mei’s Mom looked over the list, a tiny idea started to grow. What if Mei added some of her artwork (that she apparently already loved selling) and a few of her unique kid thoughts to the list? Then it could be a simple neighborhood newsletter of sorts—an expansion on Mei’s original paper/art/markers/drawing kind of idea—but it would pace things out (could be bimonthly). Maybe the neighbors would like copies? Maybe Mei could sell them?

And that is just what they tried.
And it went so well!

But there was a problem.

The cost of making copies was expensive! This was especially true for Mei’s first paper because she’d glued her work to a non-standard sized piece of paper—a manilla envelope. After paying for those copies the cost was higher than Mei’s mom thought most people would pay for a kid created newspaper. Mei’s Mom was worried she’d have to tell her daughter it was the end before she’d really had a chance to begin. If only they had their own copy machine, surely that would lower the costs from the copy center’s prices? Mei’s Mom started to check the classified ads but most working machines cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars! Impossible!

Then there was one very special listing.
A listing for a $25 copy machine.

Mei and her Mom went to check it out. The copy machine was 14 years old, but it worked! And the ream of 11” x 17” paper the nice elderly man included with the purchase was a huge win too! Mei’s Mom handed over $25 and somehow managed to load the very, very large and very, very heavy machine in the family van with some—but not all—of the toner spilling out.

Finally, Mei was in business!
Real, creative, validating, interesting KID business.

Since then there have been a lot of ups and downs. The copy machine needed servicing five months later. And it needed servicing again another time after that. Then it broke altogether and Mei’s Mom bought another used copier for a $100. With kid fueled enthusiasm and tenacity KID NEWS keeps going. The profits are tiny but the experiences are huge, the new friends kind, and the work rewarding! It is important work to the kid reporters because after all, as Mei likes to say,

“When you’ve got something to say,
you’ve got to say it for the world!”

PS: Any money ever made is put directly in the kid reporters’ college funds and is matched 100% by their parents.