Several years ago Kyle Schwartz, a third grade teacher in an inner city Denver, Colorado Elementary school wanted to become better informed. In an attempt to learn more about her students, she made a simple assignment: students were challenged to write a short, anonymous essay titled, “I wish my teacher knew.”

“Ninety-two percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch,” Schwartz told an ABC News affiliate. “As a new teacher, I struggled to understand the reality of my students’ lives and how to best support them. I just felt like there was something I didn’t know about my students.”

What Ms. Schwartz learned were insights she couldn’t have imagined.

“I wish my teacher knew I didn’t have a friend to play with me,” one student wrote. “I wish my teacher knew I didn’t have pencils at home to do my homework,” said another. “I wish I my teacher knew how much I miss my dad because he was deported to Mexico when I was three years old and I haven’t seen him in 6 years” or “I wish my teacher knew that sometime my reading log isn’t signed because my mother isn’t around that much.”

Schwartz, who posted some of the responses on Twitter at #wishmyteacherknew.

“Building community in my classroom is a major goal of this lesson,” Schwartz continued. “After one student shared that she had no one to play with at recess, the rest of the class chimed in and said, ‘we got your back.’”

According to Schwartz, schools from across the country and around the globe reacted and provided their own student’s responses. And it made me wonder, what do our readers wish we knew?

Do our readers feel comfortable in their skin when they go out in their communities? Are they pleased with their communities’ progress? Do they wish for better job growth or a specific type of service? Does this newspaper, or any media, ask the right questions or provide them the answers they seek?

I understand that these questions could bring up some difficult issues, but I believe a successful paper gets to know its audience beyond the subscriber or the public servants that we cover. So, what do you wish this newspaper knew?

For those with social media skills, tweet to us @RCDailyJournal using to #wishmynewspaperknew, go to The Richmond County Daily Journal Facebook page or comment online at yourdailyjournal.com by opening this column. For those with less computer literacy, drop me a card or write a letter to the editor, pick up the phone or send me a message via carrier pigeon (okay, that would be cool).

There are no wrong answers — it would only be wrong if you didn’t have an avenue to share something that was important to you.

You can reach me at: The Richmond County Daily Journal, c/o Brian Bloom, 607 East Broad Ave, Suite B, Rockingham, NC 28379 or email me at the address below.

Brian Bloom is publisher of The Richmond County Daily Journal. He can be reached at 910-817-2667 or [email protected].

Brian Bloom

Regional Publisher