Read the Script:
[Rick] This next special story features one of our very own NewsDepth classes, Ms. Burkhalter's class at Evening Street Elementary School. Andy Chow has this story about Highlights, the magazine for kids that's put together right here in Ohio and has been ever since it began in 1946. I used to read this when I was a kid! Take a look.
[Andy] That infectious laugh belongs to Josie Bailey. She's a rambunctious four-year-old who loves playing with her younger brother in her backyard just outside of Columbus. It's sometimes a challenge though to get Josie to slow down and take a break. But one thing that manages to capture her attention is a magazine.
- It is so pretty.
[Andy] It's called High Five, and it's the younger sister publication to the long-running Highlights magazine. Something that the Baileys love is that they also read Highlights growing up.
- I think the coolest thing about Highlights magazine is it still looks the same, it still feels the same. So, whereas a lot of other things have kind of changed over time, I feel like they're enjoying the same magazine that we enjoyed as kids.
[Andy] That same look and feel Mallory describes isn't an accident.
- There are certain things that appear in every issue of Highlights. We call those our legacy features and they're non-negotiable; they're in each issue. So, for example, we always have a Hidden Picture in every issue of Highlights. In fact, there's been a Hidden Picture in every issue of Highlights since June 1946, the very first one.
- You heard it right, June 1946. Nearly 75 years ago, Highlights debuted its first magazine and its longest running feature, Hidden Pictures, the visual puzzle that pushes kids to focus and find small pictures inside a larger scene. And that's not the only feature to stay consistent for generations. Still in every issue is The Timbertoes, a simple illustrated story centered around a wood-carved family, which debuted in Highlights in 1951. And of course, the wholesome Goofus and Gallant, a comic featuring two contrasting characters: Goofus, modeling bad behavior, and Gallant, modeling good. They first appeared in the pages of Highlights in 1948 and are still a legacy feature today. Goofus and Gallant in 1951. Goofus and Gallant in 2019. There's an evolution in animation and everything, but there's still a very common theme between the two of them.
- Part of its appeal to young children is its lack of ambiguity. I mean, it's a little black and white. It's practice for the big, harder moral decisions that are gonna come later.
- We're always aspiring to be our Gallant. But also, if I do something that's a little Goofus, how do I make up for it? How do I apologize? How do I make things right?
[Andy] Highlights CEO Kent Johnson knows a thing or two about Goofus and Gallant. His great-grandfather, Dr. Garry Cleveland Myers, created the comic and founded Highlights magazine with his wife Caroline just after World War II. According to Johnson, the mission of the business he runs today, headquartered in Columbus, has essentially stayed the same.
- The foundational values and principles, our commitment to children remains the same as it was at day one.
[Andy] Something else that hasn't changed, according to Johnson: kids.
- I think adults believe that everything's changed for kids. We've got devices and it's busy and all of these things. But what we know is kids still have some of the same issues they've had since 1946. "How do I get along with my siblings? "What happens when I have a falling-out "with my best friend?" So, those things are universal. Those things aren't changing.
- Rather than take their word for it, we decided to visit our own panel of experts. Well, we have a bunch of Highlights magazines for you to read today. And then, after a little bit, we're gonna talk to you a little bit more. Does that sound good to you?
- Yeah.
- Okay, cool. Ms. Burkhalter's third grade class at Evening Street Elementary School, not too far from Highlights headquarters, had a lot to say about the magazine.
- Kurt, look at it!
- I learned about this sea slug 'cause I didn't know about this yet.
- I liked how it has articles and then it also has stuff that you can make and it has little word searches.
- I like Goofus and Gallant because Goofus shows you him misbehaving and Gallant is showing you how to behave.
- They always a couple silly things in there. There's also some serious things. I don't know, this is funny.
[Andy] But they were pretty unanimous about what they liked best.
- I like the Hidden Pictures.
- There's the butterfly back there. Well, I like 'em because you have to focus on the little things instead of just the big things around.
- For the Hidden Pictures, it's not easy. It's not in a corner, like a corner. It's in people or on people.
[Andy] Hidden Pictures, the longest running feature in the magazine, was also the most popular among this crowd.