The 20 or so students who work to produce the “Hawks on the Hills” newsletter at Orchard Hill Elementary School might not realize it but, by being a part of the newspaper club, they’re contributing to the civic responsibility on which America was founded.

School librarian Tara Jones, who with assistant Amanda Campbell has been leading the third- through fifth-graders for a year now, says the effort has picked up steam.

“This year we knew what we were doing better,” Jones said. “Organization came from necessity.”

The two-page newsletter doesn’t contain in-depth analysis of critical issues facing education — then again, the Rogue Valley Times isn’t likely to give you tips on how to draw a car, or ferret out your teacher’s favorite color.

Still, the principle is the same: The open and protected exchange of news and information relevant to its readership.

Today marks the culmination of National Sunshine Week, the yearly reminder that access to public information and the need for transparency from government officials and agencies are an integral part of our democracy.

Newspapers have drawn attention to this tradition since it was instituted in 2002, as a reminder that the ability of a free press to shine light fully on the matters most affecting our communities is more than a right secured under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

More than ever, as constituencies internal and external attempt to eradicate the lines between truth and “alternative facts,” the work of true news organizations is one that must persevere … even as access to the objective reporting has shrunk nationally, and those who work to preserve this freedom have come under attack.

On a local level, the exercise of that freedom takes many forms — from filing Freedom of Information requests; to seeking out Jackson County’s financial projections should voters pass the ballot measures that would restructure the Board of Commissioners; to working to gain access to reports relevant to the ongoing investigation at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center and the death last year of a caregiver in an east Medford group home.

It’s dangerous to take this freedom for granted, and National Sunshine Week serves as a reminder of how close a community can come to losing its right to know — as Southern Oregon did last year with the deaths of the newsrooms of the Mail Tribune and KTVL.

Sunshine Week coincides with the March 16 birthdate of President James Madison, also known as National Freedom of Information Day.

It was Madison who, when advocating for the elements of the First Amendment, said the following:

“The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.”

The young journalists putting together the next issue of “Hawks on the Hill” might have to look up a few of those words — and James Madison — in reference books (we looked up “inviolable”), but for now they’re getting their feet wet while the stakes are still small.

Jones, whose favorite color is periwinkle, doesn’t want the newspaper club to be “homework,” but an activity they can enjoy.

“It’s cool,” third-grader Danika Greenwood said while reporting a story about an upcoming Book Fair. “It’s fun.”

You could quote us on that, too, Danika.