By Abby Glazer
West Hills Press
West Hills MS
1st Place Division MS, News Writing
Alternative Story Form
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Should be a story told in a unique, alternative way
- This is not a traditional story as in inverted pyramid, news, anecdotal, analysis or feature narrative
- Story is told with quick facts—it’s a quick read that provides readers with a unique approach to a story
- While the read is quick, ASF should provide reader with complete information. Readers should not be left asking questions
- Organization is such that story is easy to follow and logical, even though it’s in an alternative way
- ASF is visually engrossing, bringing readers in through strong use of typography and other types of visuals
- Should not be packaged with another story or part of another story.
- Stands totally alone as a storytelling device
- Submission only considered if submitted with entire page on which it was featured
Welcome to West Hills. There are so many new experiences and people you will get to meet at West Hills. Here are a few with welcoming messages for you. Mr. Durecka, your principal, says, “Welcome, incoming 3rd-graders. Getting to see lots of new people is one of my favorite times of the year. I enjoy seeing all the smiles, and enthusiasm. It always provides me with a great surge of renewed energy, and reminds me of why we choose to be educators in the first place.” We also have an assistant principal Mr. Gignac, who reminds you that WHMS has a few things in common with Lone Pine. You’ll still have one main teacher. “Third grade students should know that we are very excited to meet them, and welcome them to the new school,” Mr. Gignac says. At WHMS you also have a counselor, someone who you can sign up to see in the office if you are having trouble with friendships. Your counselor will talk your problem out with you and show you ways to fix your problem. Our counselors are Mrs. Westerby and Mr. Castellani. They are excited to meet you this fall. Mrs. Dale is a social worker at West Hills. She can’t wait to get to know you and see you grow socially and emotionally. Besides getting to know new staff members at West Hills you will have many new experiences, such as eating lunch in a cafeteria. You start eating at a table with your classmates that are the same gender as you. Then they mix you at assigned tables with kids in other classes by gender. You will be able to meet and make new friends this way. Finally by your second or third month you can sit by your friends. This next thing may not make you so happy, but having the cafeteria, we also have a responsibility to clean it. It is similar to how at Lone Pine you had to clean your desk when you were done eating. Four classes take turns cleaning the tables, So it’s not like you have to clean all year, and it’s not as bad as you think. Another new experience is having a locker. You can decorate your locker on the inside just the way you like it. At first you may have difficulty opening your locker with the combination, but everyone learns their combo in the first couple of weeks, and if you forget, you can have an adult or friend help you. One other thing is the school start time. West Hills starts school at 8:15 a.m. This is a big change that you have to adjust to. I personally know people who have not adjusted yet. And, since we start earlier than Lone Pine, we end school earlier: 3:05 p.m. A good thing about that is having more time in the afternoon at home for homework and stuff. I know that I enjoy having time to do my homework and I still have lots of time to play. There lots of clubs you can join at West Hills: newspaper club, art club, knitting club, robotics club and many more. Depending on your interests, there is most likely to be a club you can enjoy. Hope you enjoy coming to West Hills Middle School. We are all very excited to welcome you as part of the school family.