1st Place, News Brief
2023-24, Division 3, News Writing
By Hayden Purvis
Focus
Midland HS
Period poverty, the inability to access safe and hygienic menstrual products, affects almost 25% of teenagers who menstruate in the US. To attack this issue inside of the school district, Midland High National Honors Society Advisors and Executive Officers Jenifer Pedelty, Amy Guzman, Paloma Jolly, Grace Riddle, and Kennedy Thurlow formed the Midland Public Schools Period Hygiene Committee. Their mission is to provide quality menstrual products to the students of MPS, and to end the stigma that surrounds periods.
“Often women feel shame around [periods],” Pedelty said. “That’s something we want to eliminate or reduce.”
On Jan. 9th, at the Women’s 100 Club meeting, the MPS Period Hygiene Committee held a curbside period products drive, collecting 3,851 menstrual products worth roughly $1,100. They also received an additional $415 in donations to purchase more supplies.
The Strosacker Foundation granted the committee $10,000 for future purchasing of products. They hope to use the money to supply upper elementary schools as well as middle and high schools.
”The other pieces we may be able to fund are period kits for middle schools,” Pedelty said. “The black leggings that many girls keep in their backpacks, disposable underwear too.”
NW-04. News Brief
News briefs should be 150-200 word stories that report on events and issues that have news value and timeliness to the publication’s readers. Coverage should include quotes or other attributed information from at least one human source.
Judging Criteria
- Meets word count limit
- Does not sacrifice accuracy for the sake of timeliness
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance
- Uses inverted pyramid
- Sentences are carefully constructed to be as concise as possible
- Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence
- Uses direct quotes or attributed information from at least one source