School tends to be very stressful for many students in Skyline; after all, there is a lot to lose when your future is on the line. In Journalism, however, teacher Annie Blais keeps spirits high with a friendly writing competition featuring no stakes and high rewards. 

Every trimester, sections work together to create fake, humorous stories that are designed to help writers learn the process of writing news-style articles. This contest facilitates team bonding and gives everyone practice in a very fun way. 

Some of the more recent prompts consisted of reporting on a friend group as a sports team, signing new friends and trading with other friend groups, while another required a report on an outrageous new fake trend. From a student dying of embarrassment due to calling his teacher mom, to a nuclear bomb obliterating the audience at a play, there really is no telling what the power of an entire table of minds can do. Even if every table received the exact same prompt, the results would vary wildly, which makes it quite entertaining when it is time to see what others have come up with. 

After a few periods of writing and editing, Skyline teacher Megan Stark is invited from across the hall to choose the funniest one for the ultimate prize: Pop-Tarts. 

“I think Dr. Blais just asked if I wanted to [be the judge] once when I first started at Skyline. I said sure, and I’ve been doing it for years now,” says Stark. ”I don’t know if I can pinpoint an exact favorite story. Whichever ones can make me snort or laugh or that just seem so out of it are probably my favorites. I love that they’re short, and they have to be short and to the point, but it gives kids and students a chance to showcase their writing ability and be funny, but in a journalistic fashion. And I really like that.”

Over the course of the four years that the competition has taken place, Stark has remained an unbiased judge when choosing who should receive the prize, which creates an aura of tension in the room while she deliberates, as nobody knows who will win until the results are announced. 

A unique contest such as this had to have come from somewhere. 

“I have always been a big fan of The Onion myself,” replied Blais when asked about where the idea came from. “And as I was beginning to teach Journalism here, I realized that … all their humor is not only very funny, but it’s in perfect objective style.”

“One of the things teachers do after we model something is we ask people to practice it. … So this competition seemed like a fun way to practice. This class has always had a good competitive spirit. They’ll do anything for Pop-Tarts.”

Both the competition itself and the reward are extremely good motivators; people love a good competition with a reward on the line. The combination of first hand practice and team bonding also creates a much better sense of familiarity than any lecture could provide, which is shown when it’s time for everyone to write their first story. 

“We have a lot of space to take creative liberty in the story which is fun,” said student Reed Jemison-Blais (28’). “I’m a review person, so I didn’t really know how to write an objective story, so it was great learning how to do that in a fun way, and then also learning to collaborate with people who are also very creative.” 

New writers aren’t the only ones benefiting from this practice, either. This competition can also give newer editors experience with editing, refining, and giving feedback on people’s work, which are very important skills when improving others’ work in Journalism. 

“I think it’s a really good way to introduce writers into writing in the journalistic style, because … it’s just a miniature version of a story,” explained Print Editor-in-Chief Eda Kirca (‘26). “So I think it’s a great way to dip their toes in. I think it helps editors a little bit, because it’s like the first assignment in class with editing a whole story. It’s a good way to teach editors the process they will lead their writers through when doing their first real stories.”

This contest is just another piece of evidence toward why Journalism can be such a fun class – whether it’s working with your friends, having fun, or just enjoying the chill environment, Journalism can be a great spot in your schedule if you are up for it!