Eleven-year-old Maria Ordoñez helped organize a school bake sale that raised $409 for victims of the Haitian earthquake. Then the Sunset Elementary fifth-grader got a chance to do something more far-reaching: use her mighty pen -- or, in this case, keyboard -- to tell youngsters across the country about her community's response to the disaster.

Maria and Air Base Elementary School fifth-grader Kiera Fobb are South Florida members of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps, a nationwide group of student journalists, ages 9 to 14, who report for the website of the educational publisher Scholastic (www.scholastic.com/kidspress).

``The goal for Scholastic is to present the world to kids in a way they can relate to, and the Haiti earthquake is a prime opportunity for that,'' said press corps director Suzanne Freeman. ``It's a potentially scary story, but it's also something that can be understood by seeing it through the eyes of the children.''

Maria took part in a conference call with Red Cross officials and wrote a piece about how the relief organization is distributing aid.

``At the moment,'' she wrote, ``camps are being set up for families to have shelter. The next step will be to provide activities for the children and schooling.''

``Everyone was asking about the buildings and the airport and the supplies, and I thought, what about the children?'' she said in an interview.

Kiera covered Vice President Joe Biden at Homestead Air Reserve Base. Though Biden didn't take questions, she was able to interview Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

``Biden visited Homestead Air Base to meet with leaders of the Haitian-American community,'' she wrote. ``Homestead is the main hub where relief supplies are being flown out of the U.S. on their way to Haiti.''

Kiera says she didn't feel intimidated at the press conference.

``There were many news organizations there and they were very nice and supportive,'' she said.

There are more than a dozen student-written earthquake stories on the Scholastic website covering a range of angles, from how a U.S. Haitian community is coping to creative ways to raise money for relief efforts.

Freeman sent an e-mail assignment to all 54 of her reporters Jan. 15, three days after the 7.0 earthquake, asking them to venture into their communities to report on relief efforts. The stories were due three days later. She expected half a dozen articles but got 20.

``Overall the common theme [in the stories] was that one person can make a difference,'' Freeman said. ``Kids can do something to help and when they read these reports they're empowered to do so.''

Maria, born in Colombia, is in Sunset's International Studies magnet program, and writes in both Spanish and English. She and Kiera -- who will represent Scholastic at Tuesday's Super Bowl Media Day at Sun Life Stadium -- both applied to the program at the behest of teachers.

In their applications, the girls wrote about their communities -- Maria about the cultural potpourri of Miami, Kiera about how the economy has affected South Miami-Dade farms. Editor Freeman selected them from about 250 applicants.

``I'm looking for passion and curiosity because we can teach other things like interviewing and taking notes and using quotes,'' she said. ``I saw that both in Kiera and Maria, and they also had a different way of looking at what was happening in their community.''

The young writers say covering Miami's response to the Haitian crisis has taught them invaluable lessons.

``I've learned that America is more helpful than some people think,'' Kiera said. ``Americans want to help Haiti and we're doing a lot.''

Says Maria: ``I feel like the luckiest person in the world after seeing what they're going through.''