TEEN WRITERS PLANT SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE

Environmental writers wanted: Must be in high school, write fairly well, and have a compassion for younger kids and the environment. Optimistic outlook a plus.

Ana Correa, Lisa DeMaria and Melissa MacDonald are three Boston-area 18-year-olds who responded to an invitation to write for Greentimes, an environmental newspaper that complements the science curriculum of elementary and middle schools in Boston.

"I remember reading Greentimes -- it was called Greenspeak back then -- when I was in elementary school. I looked at the back of an issue, and I read the different writers and the different high schools they went to, and I imagined myself as one of these kids," said Ana. "It's great being a role model for little kids."

Greentimes is published by the Global Habitat Project, a nonprofit organization committed to educating children about the environment.

It started about 10 years ago with 10 writers and a few Boston-area schools participating. It now has 45 writers and is distributed free to about 35,000 students ages 8 to 14 in the Boston area, four times a year -- in October, January, March and May. Students nationwide can access the publication on the Web at www.greenscreen.org.

Greentimes recruits high school writers in the fall. Lisa and Melissa got involved after talking with their biology teacher. Ana became involved after being approached by her guidance counselor who knew of Ana's love for both science and writing.

Writers, who aren't paid, are allowed a lot of creativity in their stories. They are given a basic theme for an issue, such as recycling or endangered animals, then can choose to report about anything that falls under that theme. They are given a deadline.

"Since we're allowed to pick whatever we want to write about, we can just pick whatever interests us the most at the moment. Sometimes it's what we're learning in high school, but sometimes it's just whatever we're interested in and would like to convey to younger kids," Ana said.

The writers at Greentimes research their articles in a variety of ways. For Lisa, the Internet is a primary source.

"For the most part, I do articles on things that I'm interested in but don't know too much about, so the Internet plays a very big role. And usually in the mailing that we get from Global Habitat saying what the issue is about, they will provide us with Internet sources that will be helpful to us," she said.

Melissa prefers to get her information from her high school science department, where she finds a lot of resources and books on different environmental topics. Ana supplements the information she finds online with visits to the children's section of the library.

"I like to use children's books based on science to write my articles. Since they're written for children, children will be able to understand it," she explained.

Once the teens have written their stories, they send them to Greentimes headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., where they are edited and published. Some Greentimes writers attend group meetings but otherwise do their work independently. When communication between adult advisers and youth writers is needed, it is done mostly by written correspondence.

The teens agree that writing for Greentimes is worthwhile and rewarding.

"Writing for Greentimes for the past three years has been such an incredible experience. The idea that I get to send out a message to the younger kids that are coming after me and the fact that I've gotten to meet so many great people has been so much fun," Lisa said.

"It's definitely rewarding knowing that you're reaching over 30,000 elementary school kids just by writing an article in the Greentimes newsletter, and they're learning about things that they probably wouldn't (learn about) in their own classroom," Melissa said.

But Greentimes articles pose unique challenges to the writers, such as knowing what information is appropriate for school-age children.

"One of the most challenging issues for me was last year when we did an issue dedicated to health and the environment. It was kind of difficult to present certain things, like a hole in the ozone layer, in a way to make the kids aware without actually making them afraid," said Lisa.

For Melissa, the most difficult aspect is taking a scientific concept and writing it in such a way that it can be grasped by elementary and middle school students. But she's found a solution.

"I have a younger sister, and every time I write an article, I give it to her and make sure that she can understand it," she said. "If she gets what I'm trying to get across, other readers will kind of understand."

It's important for children to care about environmental issues, the teens agree.

"The environment is a big part of our life, and we have to take care of it," Ana said.

Melissa appreciates that Greentimes offers its writers an opportunity to reach a large readership.

"If you're reaching that much of an audience by writing an article, you can definitely change kids' outlook on what they do," Melissa said. "Even if it's something simple, like recycling, you at least make them aware of it. You might not make every kid who actually reads Greentimes recycle, but even if you do reach a few hundred and they actually take the advice that you give them, then you're helping out in some way."

"I would like to think that we're helping them to think that they can help change the world a bit," Lisa added.

ASSISTANT EDITORS : Gabrielle Bibeau, 14; Chad Dyar, 14.