BANGOR — Given education and guidance, kids will read. The trick for many educators is getting them to enjoy it. For more than 30 years, the Newspapers in Education program has been mastering this trick, reaching children in classrooms throughout Maine.

“Newspapers can be used to teach anything,” said Donna Fransen, NIE coordinator at the Bangor Daily News for the last 10 years.

Of the six NIE programs in Maine, the NEWS has the largest, supplying 500 participating classes newspapers and reaching more than 9,000 students a day. And the number is growing, said Fransen, thanks to sponsorship from businesses that make it more affordable for teachers to use. And according to NEWS NIE collaborator Monique Bolduc, the kids enjoy it, too.

“You can tell by looking at what they do. The kids really love to work on this,” said Bolduc, pointing to photos sent in by teacher Patricia Sanders of fourth-graders at North Orrington School reading the serialized story “Orphan Journey Home” and participating in a scavenger hunt.

Now a worldwide program, Newspapers in Education strives to make learning about current events an everyday experience for children. At the same time, pupils hone reading skills and analytical ability by using newspapers to complete classroom assignments.

“It’s not learning about newspapers that’s the key, although that’s part of it,” said Fransen. “It’s learning with and from the newspaper that is really important.”

Sophomores at Bucksport High School read selected NEWS articles and write position papers each week. They also write letters to the editor and create political cartoons. Some topics are extended to full-fledged research projects.

“I try to keep it as interdisciplinary as possible,” said Scott Woodward, instructor of current issues and literature at Bucksport High School.

A participant in the program for about five years, Woodward believes the variety of topics and available projects is what keeps the students interested. The class is popular, too; more than 85 percent of every sophomore class enrolls in Woodward’s current events course.

Not limited to the traditional classroom, NIE has found a place with instructors of special and adult education classes. Barry Crocker of Bangor High School makes a worksheet every week which students in his Project Transition course use the newspaper to complete. Project Transition is a special education course for students who need assistance with reading skills.

“It’s a practical classroom tool to get the students involved,” said Crocker. “And there is a high interest level for the kids.”

Another positive result of having children open a newspaper every day is the reading habit it helps instill, said Fransen.

“The program serves to encourage kids to develop good reading habits, good thinking habits, and will help them become good citizens,” said Fransen.

Ned Collins, who teaches an alternative education program at Hermon High School, says NIE helps students who have never learned to read the newspaper.

“The students actually now enjoy it, and read a lot of stuff that they never would have,” said Collins.

Every teacher has a different plan for teaching. The NIE program helps them meet their needs, Fransen said, by providing materials to aid with NIE projects that are printed in every issue of the NEWS.

In the spring, the NEWS runs a story series designed to appeal to children. Last year’s feature was a five-part Penobscot Riverkeepers series written from the point of view of a beaver. This year’s eight-part sequence will focus on Indians. A Job Center page helps older students and adults work together to learn about career opportunities.

Every Tuesday’s edition from September to February carries a page with serialized children’s books and activities for children to use at school and at home. And every March, regional sponsors and schools work together to publish a special NEWS insert showcasing the editorial work of the children themselves.

Critical to NIE’s success, said Bolduc, is sponsorship. Regional businesses donate half the cost of providing the newspapers and educational materials to the school. The NEWS pays the other half of the cost, enabling any school to participate in the program.

“We help match teachers with local sponsors, which in turn become partners with the teachers,” said Bolduc.

C & K Variety of Hermon, for example, donated a year’s worth of newspapers to Collins’ class, which allows his class to participate without cost.

“The NEWS has been very supportive, as well as our sponsors,” said Bucksport instructor Woodward.

Bolduc and Fransen are aided each year by three teachers who collaborate with them to add new course and reading materials to the program.