ST. PETERSBURG — Three fifth-grade students from Midtown Academy, tasked with writing and illustrating a front-page story, answered the call and showcased their talent and creativity.
Tampa Bay Newspapers managing editor Logan Mosby George spoke to two classes of fifth-graders Nov. 12 as a part of the Great American Teach In, a program that encourages members of the community to take a day to teach local students about their job or industry.
George spoke to the students about life as a newspaper journalist, highlighting the different types of jobs available in the newspaper industry, from writing and copy editing, to photography and graphic design.
At the end of the presentation, she asked students to write a story and design a front page on any topic of their choosing.
Ryan Lessey, Nora Holley and Gianna Boyd were selected by TBN staffers as having the most creative front-page entries.
Lessey harnessed the power of AI when illustrating his story about a zombie apocalypse, fueled not by the need to eat human flesh, but the unquenchable thirst for jelly doughnuts. Unfortunately, by the end of the story, it’s revealed that the world is completely out of doughnuts.
“I wanted to write a news story, but I also wanted to make it really funny,” Lessey said. “What’s funnier than zombies who only eat doughnuts?”
Judges’ comments: “We’re not sure what’s more terrifying — a zombie apocalypse or a future without jelly doughnuts. But we know one thing for sure — Lessey’s storytelling had us hanging on every word.”
Boyd may have a future in tech writing as her story gives readers a glimpse into a future where cats are just as smart as humans. In her story, Jonny McCat got the surprise of his life when he asked his cat how to make a spacesuit for Mars and it not only answered, but its recommendation of solar-powered air conditioning was just the answer NASA needed.
“I wanted to do something about cats because I know a lot of facts about cats,” Boyd said. “I mean, what if cats were as smart as humans? Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Judges’ comments: Boyd’s story tells us what most of us already know — cat’s will one day rule the world.
Holley is a science writer in the making with her story about a cosmic weather event that causes it to rain ice cream cones. An alien spacecraft, filled to the brim with ice cream, cones and an array of delicious toppings, explodes near Earth, raining down frozen goodness from the heavens.
“I wanted this to be a fictional, entertaining and humorous story that sparked imagination in kids and grown-ups,” Holley said about the inspiration for her story. “It was fun, thinking of the impossible and telling a story like it was real.”
Judges’ comments: Honestly, Floridians would be enjoying hurricane season a lot more if the prospect of ice cream was on the table.
All three students are in Emily Carley-Craig’s class at Midtown Academy and received gift cards for their work.