She said using the Pflag in her classroom helps improve the students’ reading skills in part because the newspaper is non-fiction.

“If you use something that directly impacts the kids … it makes it more real to them and it also makes them have a vested interest in this, ” Winn said.

Pflugerville Middle School librarian Mary G. Zell also finds the newspaper useful.

“I use it for supplemental material in the library. For example, if a student can’t participate in classroom activities for a period and is sent to the library, I can easily pull together something from the Pflag to keep them occupied,” she said.

Pflag publisher Sandy Flora said starting the NIE program was a learning process at first but her background as a former teacher helped her understand what the teachers need. She created a curriculum binder with activities and lessons that she distributes to her NIE teachers to use in the classroom with the newspaper.

Flora started small with just one middle school. Austin Community College funds partial sponsorships for the copies for language arts students and the Pflag pays the rest. But Flora is ready to expand the program.

“The word is spreading to some of the other schools,” she said.

“I’m ready to kick it up a notch.”