By Isabella Elzon
West Hills Press
West Hills MS
1st Place Division MS, News Writing
Informative Feature
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Leads capture attention, arouses curiosity
- Topic relevant to interests and/or welfare of school or students
- Thorough investigation through research and interviews
- Combines basics of good news and feature writing
- Organized with smooth transitions
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Uses proper diction and grammar
- Balanced and fair presentation
Losing something and not finding it is no fun. But you are not alone. This obviously happens to a lot of kids at West Hills, because the lost and found here has been overflowing with coats, hats, gloves, snow pants and even snow boots. As winter begins, students are bringing a lot of snow gear with them, and many items don’t fit into their lockers. This is one reason that snow gear can be easily lost and ends up in the lost and found. Lost and found items at West Hills that are not claimed within a few months are donated to charity a couple times a year. Students are reminded to check the lost and found for missing items by their teachers and PA announcements, and notices are posted in the weekly newsletter to parents. Where does all the stuff go? “The outerwear and hoodies go to the Dixon Educational Learning Academy in Detroit,” said Mrs. Keidan, a former West Hills parent who volunteers at the school. “Water bottles go to a summer camp in Avalon Village in Highland Park. The remainder goes to the Salvation Army in Keego Harbor.” It’s not a small amount of unclaimed stuff. “I would guess that we typically have 10 to 12 garbage bags full of clothing to donate,” Mr. Gignac said. “It always amazes me how much clothing goes missing during the school year!” What can we do to cut down on that load? One solution is to start putting labels on our clothing. “If items have a name tag on them, we try to get items back to the child’s family,” said Mrs. Keidan. Another option is for students to keep better track of their belongings by checking their things at the end of the day.