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There’s a new print publication in Winchester, produced by several members of Ashley Shie Semones-Howe’s family. She calls it “148 Neighborhood Reporter” after the family’s home address.
It has a print run of two — one that Ashley keeps in a folder, and one that her children can share with their friends.
“We always do a summer project,” she says. “I thought maybe this year we could do a cookbook, but that was too hard. I also tried reading worksheets for the kids so they wouldn’t backslide over school vacation, but they hated it. They said, ‘Mom the teacher’s just giving us more work.’”
She and her husband, Marcus Semones-Howe, have six children, ranging in age from 8 months to 13 years.
“I sometimes feel bad,” she says, “that I can’t make the time or all the kids, but everyone has a role in this project. We work as a team.”
The family’s new to Winchester, having moved here a year ago. Marcus is an organic chemist which brought them to Boston from California during the pandemic.
“The children don’t realize they’re doing homework, basically,” says Ashley. “I give them their assignments and now they’re really observant of their surroundings. It’s a great team-builder.”
The Semones-Howe family moved to Winchester a year ago and they are now producing their own neighborhood newspaper as a family project. COURTESY PHOTOS/ ASHLEY SHIE SEMONES-HOWE
Aurora is the oldest and Ashley says, “She’s a wonderful talented kid and a good writer, plus she has a great sense of humor. Eight-year-old Isabelle brought the Reporter to read in her second-grade Muraco School’s show and tell. She was so excited to read it to the class.”
They send a PDF of the Reporter to family and friends.
“I’m really interested in engaging with the community,” Ashley says. “Being engaged starts in your own backyard.”
