JUNIOR GRAPHIC IS MY BIBLE - JOEL (JG, SEPT 14-20, 2011, PAGE 6)

SIXTEEN-YEAR old Joel Boakye has been reading the Junior Graphic since 2003, when he was about seven years. He was then in class three at the Central International, now Central Lyceum, in Tamale. He told this paper that initially he was not aware of the paper until his father introduced it to him and encouraged him to read it. “Each week, my father would bring two copies home and guide me through it. We would read some of the articles together and then do the brain tests,” Joel stated when he, in the company of his daddy, visited the offices of Graphic in Tamale upon a request by the editorial team. Realising that Joel’s father, Mr Samuel Boakye came to the office regularly to acquire copies of the paper for his son, the editorial team invited Joel and his father for an interview. The elated Joel, who is a former student of Dahin Sheli JHS, waiting to proceed to SHS, carried along with him all the editions of the Junior Graphic since 2003, which he had been compiling anytime he finishes reading. “Junior Graphic is like a bible to me. I like reading it because it gives me a lot of knowledge, especially the one on ‘rack your brain’,” Joel stated, adding that he also likes reading news and other sections. Apart from being a faithful reader of this paper, Joel has made some contributions to the content of the paper. In the August 18-24, 2010, edition, Joel’s artwork was published on the “Colour me” column on page two of the paper. Master Joel expressed his wish that more of the pages in the paper could be in colour, because “children like colourful things.” He also urged the editor of the paper to maintain the ‘I’ll tell my story’ column and tell more facts about the environment and other subjects. The habitual reader said he had already begun to reap some benefits from reading the Junior Graphic and other materials, citing his performance in ‘The Spelling Bee’ contest. Master Joel contested in ‘The Spelling Bee’ in 2010 and progressed from the inter-schools and inter-regions to the national level, where he fell out in the final stages. He attributed his success at the contest to his reading habit, explaining that it has helped in building his language and spelling prowess. He entreated other young people to read the Junior Graphic and other literary materials, because, in his opinion, “reading takes you to places you have never been to.” Joel’s father mentioned that he introduced his child to the paper because he realised it contained interesting writings and some information on examination questions and answers. Mr Boakye said he usually bought two copies each of the paper so that, whiles his young lad reads to his hearing, he too could follow the article in the copy he was holding. “Sometimes after reading portions like the news in brief, I’ll ask him to rewrite it from his mind in a separate paper and he always did so very well,” he stated. Mr Boakye, who believes that parents have a part to play in helping their children generate interest in reading, said apart from JG, he had been encouraging Joel to read other newspapers and literature, because “reading gives depth knowledge and builds language and articulacy.” During their visit, the proud father and son had the opportunity to interact with the Northern Zonal Manager of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Michael Kofi Baga. The manager praised the young chap for his reading habit, but heaped more commendations on his father for being the one who nurtured his son to appreciate reading. “You are not wasting your money. You are investing it prudently and you would surely reap the benefits with time,” he stated.