Vicki Whiting

President, Editor and Founder

Vicki Whiting is president, editor and founder of Kid Scoop, a weekly newspaper feature geared to children ages 7 to 12 that appears in over 300 newspaper with a combined circulation of more than 7.5 million. A former elementary school teacher, she also is a consultant to newspapers on the topic of developing youth readership and educational partnerships. She is a corporate educational services consultant to Freedom Communications Inc., and has been a consultant or writer for The New York Times, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey, The National Golf Association, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, in addition to numerous educational publishers.

Her mission:

To enable children to become informed about and active participants in their local communities. Kid Scoop promoted this by starting children reading a newspaper at a young age. Each week, Kid Scoop offers entertaining and educational content, as well as scavenger hunts and other interactive games that lead young readers to other parts of the newspaper.

Elena Toscano

Educational Consultant

An educator for over 30 years, Elena Toscano currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction in Napa Valley, California. Her experiences as a classroom teacher, site administrator and educational consultant have provided a rich background in standards-based teaching and learning. As a teacher, she was one of the first to pioneer newspapers to support her curriculum and has been a strong advocate for the use of primary resources in the classroom. "Kid Scoop engages students in a way that is both instructive and constructive. The activities in weekly lessons support standards-based instruction across multiple grade levels in a way that makes learning powerful and fun. Classroom discipline is never an issue when students center their attention on the news of the day. Kid Scoop "scoops" kids into the "grown up" world of current events in a way that is relevant and engaging."

Elena Toscano is the proud mother of three "Kid Scoop" graduates and currently lives in Sonoma, California.