News Writing
Regional Meet • 2024
Leaguetown High School has 523 students enrolled in grades 9-12. For the
past six years, the district has reported that 76% of its student population is
considered “economically disadvantaged,” meaning those students receive free
or reduced-price lunch or other type of public assistance. Last year the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention added League County to its list of food
You are a reporter deserts, based on its lack of available fresh produce and large grocery stores in
the county.
for the Leaguetown
To combat student hunger, Superintendent Heyden Mayers announced
Press, the student the district would partner with the large supermarket chain Real Big Foods
newspaper of to open a small grocery store on the high school campus. Students on the
Leaguetown High free and reduced-price lunch program will be eligible to shop and purchase
School.
grocery items for their family using points that the district will assign to each
student. The store, called The Leopard Spot, will sell fresh meat and produce,
selected grocery items and other essentials such as toilet paper and toothpaste.
From the given Students who are not on the free and reduced-price lunch program can
information, write purchase items using cash.
a news story as The store, located on the front corner of the building, will be open six days
a week and allow for street access during off-hours. The store will be staffed
you would for
by students in the Life Skills classes and members of National Honor Society.
the high school All workers will operate as paid employees of Real Big Foods. Employees must
newspaper. You complete a food safety course and employee training to work in the store.
may use statements The store will have its grand opening celebration when school starts April
attributed to 29. You are writing for the issue of the press to be distributed Friday, April 26.
individuals as direct
■ HEYDEN MAYERS, superintendent
or indirect quotes. “We know that hunger affects students’ cognitive abilities. When students
You may not change come to school hungry, they can have trouble focusing in class and issues with
the meaning of a concentration, memory and problem-solving. Many people don’t believe that
statement. You schools should be concerned with whether or not our students are being fed,
but the fact is, hunger is very much our problem and affects our district on a
have 45 minutes.
daily basis.
“After seeing Real Big Foods and all the charitable giving they’ve done over
Do not write your the past decade — providing food and housing for hundreds of families after
name or the name of hurricanes, giving jobs to people experiencing homelessness, not to mention
countless scholarships — I began writing letters to them to let them know
your school on this
how much of a problem hunger can be for a student’s education. I’ve been
sheet or your entry. keeping it quiet, but last year, they finally agreed to meet with me to see what
Put your number on could be done.
your paper. “We’ve been making plans for the past year, and I’m excited to say that
constuction began in January to renovate an old suite of conference rooms.
2024 REGIONAL MEET NEWS • PAGE 2
■ HEYDEN MAYERS, continued
Our hope is that this project will not only allow families in our community some much-needed access
to fresh food but also will provide work experience for students in our Life Skills classes. Last night was
the first time I’ve actually gotten a full night of sleep since I began working as a school administrator. The
project will make a huge difference for our students. And it will be easier for all educators to do our jobs
knowing some of our students now know where their next meal will come from.”
■ MAXINE WILKES, regional manager at Real Big Foods
“Real Big Foods met with Mr. Mayers and agreed that we could make a huge impact on this
community by providing facilities and inventory for an on-campus store. Our company provided funding
to set up the facility. It includes freezers and refrigerator racks for produce and groceries. We have a point
of sale system set up to help our employees maintain inventory and sell merchandise.
“Our closest store is about 40 miles away, so our biggest expense will be sending a truck to the school
every Sunday with fresh meat and produce to stock the Leopard Spot with fresh food every week. We
have a system of regional managers who will rotate visiting to train new employees and make sure things
are running smoothly. Overall, this partnership will bring great things to the community and maybe even
prepare some students for a career in retail.”
■ BRESCIA ANDERS, junior
“This store opening could help my family a lot. My mom works as a school nurse’s aide at an
elementary school during the day and sometimes takes shifts at night working for a call center. She works
incredibly hard to make sure my sister and I have everything we need. Since she works such long hours,
sometimes she doesn’t even have time to go all the way out to a real grocery store. I will be eligible to
receive some points to spend at the store each month. Hopefully, I can help her out by picking up food to
bring home and make us dinner a couple times a week. If I can do anything to make things easier for my
mom, I want to do it.”
■ TAWNIA TELLON, NHS president
“The Leopard Spot isn’t just a good opportunity for NHS students to build their resume. It’s also going
to be a wonderful way for some students to make a little extra cash and give back to this community that
has given us so much over the years. I’ve already completed my part of the training. We’ve been stocking
the shelves all week, and I’ll be ready to help other students run the register on opening day. This will be a
real source of pride for our school.”
■ KYLE DOYLE, sophomore
“I’m on a waiting list to get a job at The Leopard Spot. I’m still new to NHS, but there aren’t a lot of
jobs around here for 16-year-old kids, so it’s a high-demand position. Even if I never get one of the jobs,
it will be awesome to have a little store on campus. It’s crazy that we have to drive at least 30 minutes to
get to a real grocery store. Having something here will help out my parents a lot.”
■ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
In the state of Texas accountability system last year, most schools rated D or F came from districts
with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students. A recent study by the Education
Research Foundation revealed that food insecurity causes an overall lack of participation in school and
extracurricular activities.
2024 REGIONAL MEET NEWS • KEY PAGE 1
DO NOT DISTRIBUTE TO STUDENTS BEFORE OR DURING THE CONTEST!
Regional Meet • 2024
News Writing Contest Tips and Sample Story
Contest Director: Give one copy to each judge to use during critiquing/judging. Also,
staple one copy of the contest and one copy of the contest tips to each student’s
returned entry. The purpose of the tips is to provide immediate feedback to students.
However, it is not meant to replace written comments from the judge.
1. Open with a future lead under the present circumstances. In this instance, the story
will be published the Friday before a new on-campus grocery store will open.
Students on the free and reduced-price lunch program can purchase grocery
items using district-assigned points at an on-campus grocery store, called The
Leopard Spot, which will open Monday. All other students can shop at the store
using cash.
2. Use direct quotes and use those quotes early in the story. After you introduce
quotes, use the transition/quote formula. Be sure you attribute the quote. An attribution
should be: subject of attribution followed by the verb of attribution (“Mayer said,” not
“said Mayer.”) Avoid stacking quotes. Avoid putting two or more quotes from different
people together without placing a transition between them. Also, make sure transitions
provide information to help the action of the story, and the quote does not repeat
information revealed in the transition.
transition
The store will operate in partnership with the supermarket chain Real Big
Foods, which set up the facility and will train employees and provide fresh meat,
produce and grocery items to sell at the store.
direct quote
“We agreed that we could make a huge impact on this community by
providing facilities and inventory for an on-campus store,” Real Big Foods
regional manager Maxine Wikes said. “Overall, this partnership will bring
great things to the community and maybe even prepare some students for a
career in retail.”
transition
Junior Brescia Anders said her mom works long hours as a nurse’s aide for an
elementary school during the day and takes shifts at night working for a call center,
leaving little time for grocery store trips.
direct quote
“Hopefully, I can help her out by picking up food to bring home and make us
dinner a couple times a week,” Anders said. “If I can do anything to make things
easier for my mom, I want to do it.”
2024 REGIONAL MEET NEWS • KEY PAGE 2
3. Use third person. Don’t say “our students” or “our principal” or “Some of our
students.” Also, do not editorialize. For instance, you should not say “This idea probably
won’t work...” or “The district should ...” without attributing that quote to someone. These
statements are personal opinions and cannot be made in a news story.
4. Note how in the earlier example of transition/quote, each quote is its own
paragraph. Journalistic writing consists mostly of one- and two-sentence paragraphs.
2024 REGIONAL MEET NEWS • KEY PAGE 3
SAMPLE STORY
Students on the free and reduced-price lunch program can purchase grocery items
using district-assigned points at an on-campus grocery store, called The Leopard Spot,
which will open Monday. All other students can shop at the store using cash.
The Leopard spot will hire students in Life Skills classes, as well as National Honor
Society members, to run the store.
“We know that hunger affects students’ cognitive abilities,” Superintendent Heyden
Mayers said. “When students come to school hungry, they can have trouble focusing in
class and issues with concentration, memory and problem-solving.”
League County was added to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of
food deserts based on the lack of available fresh produce and large grocery stores. The
closest large grocery store is 40 miles away, and while looking for a solution, Mayers has
been writing to the supermarket chain Real Big Foods to see if they could help.
“We’ve been making plans for the past year, and I’m excited to say that constuction
began in January to renovate an old suite of conference rooms,” Mayers said. “Our hope
is that this project will not only allow families in our community some much-needed
access to fresh food but also will provide work experience for students in our Life Skills
classes.”
The store will operate in partnership with the supermarket chain Real Big Foods,
which set up the facility and will train employees and provide fresh meat, produce and
grocery items to sell at the store.
“We agreed that we could make a huge impact on this community by providing
facilities and inventory for an on-campus store,” Real Big Foods regional manager Maxine
Wikes said. “Overall, this partnership will bring great things to the community and maybe
even prepare some students for a career in retail.”
Junior Brescia Anders said her mom works long hours as a nurse’s aide for an
elementary school during the day and takes shifts at night working for a call center,
leaving little time for grocery store trips.
“Hopefully, I can help her out by picking up food to bring home and make us dinner
a couple times a week,” Anders said. “If I can do anything to make things easier for my
mom, I want to do it.”
Student employees will operate as paid employees of Real Big Foods.
“We’ve been stocking the shelves all week, and I’ll be ready to help other students run
the register on opening day,” NHS president Tawnia Tellon said. “This will be a real source
of pride for our school.”
With the on-campus store opening, Mayers said he expects to see positive changes in
students and staff.
“Last night was the first time I’ve actually gotten a full night of sleep since I began
working as a school administrator,” he said. “The project will make a huge difference for
our students. And it will be easier for all us educators to do our jobs knowing some of our
students now know where their next meal will come from.”