Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Lewis and the School Newspaper

When Lewis was in fifth grade, he was every teacher's worst nightmare. When the answer key to the history exam was stolen, Lewis was to blame. When the class fish tank got knocked over and the fish trampled underfoot, that was also Lewis' fault.

"A smart kid," his teachers all agreed, but then they would shake their heads and sigh.

Things changed for Lewis when he arrived at the grand old status of "sixth grade". The sixth grade students were given the responsibility of creating the monthly school newspaper. Lewis discovered the joy of being a newspaper reporter.

He never left behind the sense of mischief that had propelled him through five years of elementary school, but now he had a direction and a focus through which to channel that mischief.

Students, teachers and administrators - and even bus drivers, janitors, and cafeteria workers - all learned quickly that it was dangerous to be on the receiving end of Lewis' clever and biting wit.

Not that Lewis would ever misquote or misrepresent what his interviewees said; he would merely present their words in a way that would produce the greatest laugh at the expense of whoever happened to be the easiest target.

One day, for example, he was interviewing the crossing guard about safety concerns at the school. The poor man made the mistake of complaining about how fast people drive past the school, and in the same sentence complaining about the potholes and cracks in the road and sidewalk. The headline read (and to those who knew Lewis well it seemed inevitable): Too Much Pot, Crack, and Speed At West Heights Elementary. Mrs. K., the newspaper editor, caught that one in time, and it was changed to the more boring title: Road Safety at West Heights Elementary.

Another time Lewis was interviewing the school principal (the first and last time Mr. Carver agreed to an interview for the school newspaper) and the principal took a phone call from his wife in the middle of the interview. Since he didn’t tell Lewis he was going "off the record", Lewis decided it was within his rights to use information from that call in his article. Since the phone conversation was all about Mr. Carver explaining to his wife why he was going to be late for supper, the newspaper article contained the quote: "Those stupid whiny teachers are going to drag out our idiotic faculty meeting all afternoon, Sugar Pie."

Lewis buried that quote so deep in the article that Mrs. K. never spotted it.

By the time Lewis was finished with his elementary school career, he had more or less been banned from the newspaper; Mrs. K. let him deliver copies to the different classrooms, but that was as close as he would get to the school newspaper. It was too late, though; Lewis had been bitten by the journalism bug, and he would never forget the delight and pure joy of chasing down a story.

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