GRADES 6-7-8 NEWS FEATURE
Teacher: Please print out and copy this form for each student entry. Assist students in completing their entry forms. We can not accommodate online entries at this time. See General Contest Guidelines for submitting entries.

Student Name: __________________________________________________ Grade: _______
Teacher ____________________________________________________________
School _________________________ District _________________________
Telephone _________________________ Non-Public  
Title: _________________________________________________ Total Number of words:_____
not to exceed 250 words

Student Directions:
A good news feature must make a point, be timely, and must get reader attention. It includes who, what, where, when, and why; and avoids first and second person pronouns--I, we, you. News features are not creative writing activities, essays, narrative tales, or poetry. Sentences and paragraphs should be concise, without a lot of unnecessary words. At the same time, a news feature does allow for more adjectives and colorfully descriptive words to project a picture.

  1. Select a topic of public interest and of interest to you. Ideas can be found in Lancaster Newspapers or your school newspaper.
  2. Keep the news feature concise. It should not exceed 250 words. The entries may be hand-written or typed. It is preferable that the entry be typed. Entries must be written in English.
  3. Prepare the news feature for the contest. Edit it for content, spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
  4. Attach the entry to this form and submit it to Lancaster Newspapers.

All entries become the property of Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. Teachers should make their own copies before submitting entries.