“Do you have haircuts a lot?” a preschooler in Liberty, Missouri, asked a TV reporter on Monday. Morgan Riddell of KCTV5 took the question in stride. “You know, I should get haircuts a little bit more often,” she said. “But I do get them like twice a year, probably.” Then she turned it around: how often did the child get one? “Once a day,” came the answer.
The exchange happened at the Goddard School in Liberty, which marked World News Day by turning its youngest students into reporters for a morning. The lessons covered newspaper writing, meteorology and interviewing, and Riddell was the one on the hot seat.
Asked what they had done at school that day, one child offered a one-word answer: “Learning.” Asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, another said “Scientist.” KCTV5 noted that nobody was aiming for the anchor desk quite yet. Many of the children wanted to be firefighters or police officers.
Becca Bricker, the school’s education director, said the day helps small children see why their parents watch the news. She had put the question to the class directly. “When I asked them, do you even know what the news is? And they said, well, it’s when we get tornado warnings and stuff,” Bricker said. Her verdict: “That’s good. They do help us when we get tornado warnings and other things.” Storms became part of the lesson too.
A nationwide school project
Liberty was one stop in a wider effort. The Goddard School, a franchise system based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, announced on September 28, 2026 that its schools nationwide would spend World News Day treating students as “junior journalists.” Activities included interviewing classmates and teachers, holding press conferences and reporting on school events. Select schools also invited professional journalists in, so the children could ask things like “Why did you become a journalist?” and “What’s the coolest story you’ve ever covered?”
The company ties the day to its inquiry-based program, Wonder of Learning. “Children may not know what a journalist is yet, but they’re already doing what great journalists do: asking questions and seeking answers,” said Dr. Lauren Loquasto, senior vice president and chief academic officer of Goddard Systems, LLC.
Goddard also teamed up with Julian Shapiro-Barnum, creator of the Recess Therapy interview series, who sat down with Goddard students for a set of World News Day videos. “I’ve learned more about the world from talking to children than almost anyone else,” he said. “They’re honest, curious and completely authentic.”
World News Day is a global initiative that celebrates the role journalists play in providing trustworthy news. For the families in Liberty, it meant a morning where a reporter answered questions about haircuts and the children weighed in on tornado warnings.
Sources
- Liberty preschoolers step into reporters’ shoes for World News Day
- The Goddard School Celebrates World News Day with the Next Generation of Journalists | Markets Insider
