Each week, The Mini Page covers a different topic. The Mini Page will teach your readers about that week's topic using word puzzles, connect the dots, recipes, drawings and pictures.
Appearing in over 500 newspapers weekly, The Mini Page is loved by children, parents, teachers, and anyone who wants to learn a little more while having a lot of fun.
The Mini Page was created by Betty Debnam (UNC Class of 1952). Ms. Debnam gave her complete archive from the years she was creator and editor to the UNC Library and the financial support necessary to create this electronic archive.
An online finding aid with details about the contents of The Mini Page Archive is available at the Southern Historical Website.
From 1969 to 2007, Betty Debnam taught the nation's children - and many adults, too - as creator and founding editor of The Mini Page, an award-winning weekly feature syndicated in more than 500 newspapers across the United States. Debnam considers the Mini Page a form of mass media education, written in simple, easy-to-understand terms. In thirty seven years, she never missed a deadline.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Betty Debnam boasts a strong background in journalism and education. Her grandmother, grandfather, and father (W.E. Debnam, a popular radio and television commentator) were all newspaper editors. Ms. Debnam holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina ('52) and a Master's degree in education from Duke University ('63). Following graduation from UNC, Debnam worked as an advertising copywriter, alumni secretary, and public relations professional. But it was during her twelve year career as an elementary school teacher that Debnam developed the idea for what would become The Mini Page.
Debnam has been awarded many distinguished achievement awards for her contributions to education and journalism, including more than 20 from the Educational Press Association. She has also received a Newspaper Association of America Lifetime Achievement Award, the North Carolina Award (the highest honor that the State of North Carolina can bestow), and has been inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame, the Newspapers in Education Hall of Fame, and the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame.
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