Seven first graders from Den 6 of Pack 200 of Springhill Elementary recently visited the offices of the Lamorinda Weekly. The first grade Tiger Cubs are working to complete their Tiger Cub Rank achievements of: Making My Family Special, Where I Live, Keeping Myself Healthy and Safe, How I Tell It and Let’s Go Outdoors. Each achievement includes a family, a den and a fieldtrip (or Go See It) component. The visit to the Lamorinda Weekly fulfilled the Go See It component of the How I Tell It achievement - the objective being to learn about communication.

Publishers Wendy and Andy Scheck greeted the eager group on the front steps of their home and invited them into the kitchen. The happy feet of little boys and immediate shouts of “Oh!” and “Can I have some?” were fueled by the four bowls of M&Ms sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. The boys calmed down (as calm as first grade boys could possibly be with four bowls of M&Ms in front of them) and took seats around the table. A second look at those M&Ms led to a good question: Why were some of them black? One bowl of M&Ms was all black, one blue, one yellow and one magenta. Andy Scheck explained that those are the only four colors used to make newsprint. He demonstrated this by passing a copy of the Lamorinda Weekly and a magnifying glass around the table. Sure enough, the ink on the page was black, blue, yellow and magenta. After the fieldtrip, Cub Scout Jon Davis said “I found it interesting that newspapers only use four colors of ink to make all the colors in the newspaper.” Eating the M&Ms was saved until the end, on the condition of good behavior.

Next, Lamorinda Weekly photographer Doug Kohen delighted the boys with his incredible camera. The camera and lenses are so extensive that Kohen uses a padded backpack to safely carry them. Kohen was generous enough to allow the boys to handle the camera and look through the lenses. The big hit was Kohen’s “fisheye” lens.

The Schecks’ daughter, Amanda Griggs, does some of the graphics for the Lamorinda Weekly and she showed the boys how she creates them. Amanda studies art at Campolindo High School and says she prefers drawing on the computer now that she’s used to it. Accompanying parent Carol Davis particularly liked Amanda’s work. She said, “The staff was so friendly and eager to teach the boys about how a newspaper is produced. I enjoyed watching the graphics designer use her digital drawing tablet.”

Scheck even walked the boys through a picture tour of the facility in Santa Rosa where the paper is printed. The entire paper is printed in just one hour by a 3-story printing press. The Cub Scouts really tried to get their heads around its size. As the tour came to an end, the Schecks agreed that the boys had behaved well enough and their self-control went out the window as they eagerly dug into the bowls of M&Ms.