Something Witty and Relevant Goes Here
November 28, 2006 5:24 PM Subscribe
I need 250 words of filler, or a decent photograph/drawing for a middle school newspaper. Some last minute submissions came in, and now I've got a big blank spot in the middle of the last inside page.
I've been as strategic as possible, and the school system's publishing group wants to limit the production of the PTO middle school newsletters to 10 pages at a pop. We're at 10 pages, and I've got a third of a blank page in the middle of page 9.
Any suggestions? I was thinking of using a photograph, but I'd have to be careful that the work wasn't copyrighted (which is a hard thing to determine online, sometimes) and it would have to be clear enough to show up on black and white output.
If not a photograph, where could I find free "of interest" content for a middle school PTO newsletter in short order (read: I have to email this to the publisher in the morning)?
I've been as strategic as possible, and the school system's publishing group wants to limit the production of the PTO middle school newsletters to 10 pages at a pop. We're at 10 pages, and I've got a third of a blank page in the middle of page 9.
Any suggestions? I was thinking of using a photograph, but I'd have to be careful that the work wasn't copyrighted (which is a hard thing to determine online, sometimes) and it would have to be clear enough to show up on black and white output.
If not a photograph, where could I find free "of interest" content for a middle school PTO newsletter in short order (read: I have to email this to the publisher in the morning)?
How about a house ad for the paper itself? Like a call for submissions for the next issue?
posted by dshargel at 5:35 PM on November 28, 2006
posted by dshargel at 5:35 PM on November 28, 2006
Recipes? Maybe call a teacher or parent or two to share their faves?
Scores of the school's sports games so far?
Short little history of the school's name, mascot name, history?
Reference article for parents to clip and save with pertinent school phone numbers, dates, email addresses for teachers?
Names of the kids in the honor society?
posted by GaelFC at 5:35 PM on November 28, 2006
Scores of the school's sports games so far?
Short little history of the school's name, mascot name, history?
Reference article for parents to clip and save with pertinent school phone numbers, dates, email addresses for teachers?
Names of the kids in the honor society?
posted by GaelFC at 5:35 PM on November 28, 2006
I'm not sure what you consider "of interest". What kind of subject matter are you looking for?
posted by Glitter Ninja at 5:37 PM on November 28, 2006
posted by Glitter Ninja at 5:37 PM on November 28, 2006
Best answer: I don't know how helpful these suggestions will be, but I would often end up with blank sections when doing a newsletter for a summer camp I was working for (the same age group). We would either do a collection of kid-friendly/inspiring quotes or poems, a simple crossword (that can be created online pretty easily and sometimes even built to a certain size) or do a list of links to related websites. If we were really desperate, we'd make up a "Did You Know?" section with interesting tidbits about the history/location of the camp.
posted by Ugh at 5:39 PM on November 28, 2006
posted by Ugh at 5:39 PM on November 28, 2006
Response by poster: Thanks for the quote suggestion. Since it's Jefferson Middle School based here in Madison, Wisconsin, I managed to find an education-related quote from Jefferson in a letter he wrote to Madison in 1787. I bordered the quote, and stuck an image of Jefferson next to it. Filled up the space nicely.
PDF emailed, and I'm free, FREE for the rest of the night. Ahhhhahahahaha....
posted by thanotopsis at 5:50 PM on November 28, 2006
PDF emailed, and I'm free, FREE for the rest of the night. Ahhhhahahahaha....
posted by thanotopsis at 5:50 PM on November 28, 2006
Something else you can do in the future: fakeish ads.
"Buy candy to support the band's trip to X!"
"Ever feel like you need to talk to someone? Guidance will listen."
"The library has just received its shipment of award-winning new fiction -- check it out in your free period!"
"The next soccer game is at home on December 1. Come out to support our Fighting Jeffersons against the Hamiltons!"
There's always, always something like that going on that will appreciate the support. For a blurb like the Guidance one above, I'd run it past a counselor to make sure it wasn't a really busy time for them. Most stuff you can just go with.
And as someone mentioned, you can always ask for letters to the editor, tell readers where they can send corrections, beg them to recycle when they're done reading, pimp a columnist -- and hell, since this is a middle-school affair, you can probably thank contributors. Slapping the school's mascot in the middle of the page is a perennial favorite, too.
If you ever need to resort to more than one of these, just break it up as much as possible. And remember you can get away with quite a lot in the name of white space.
posted by booksandlibretti at 8:20 PM on November 28, 2006
"Buy candy to support the band's trip to X!"
"Ever feel like you need to talk to someone? Guidance will listen."
"The library has just received its shipment of award-winning new fiction -- check it out in your free period!"
"The next soccer game is at home on December 1. Come out to support our Fighting Jeffersons against the Hamiltons!"
There's always, always something like that going on that will appreciate the support. For a blurb like the Guidance one above, I'd run it past a counselor to make sure it wasn't a really busy time for them. Most stuff you can just go with.
And as someone mentioned, you can always ask for letters to the editor, tell readers where they can send corrections, beg them to recycle when they're done reading, pimp a columnist -- and hell, since this is a middle-school affair, you can probably thank contributors. Slapping the school's mascot in the middle of the page is a perennial favorite, too.
If you ever need to resort to more than one of these, just break it up as much as possible. And remember you can get away with quite a lot in the name of white space.
posted by booksandlibretti at 8:20 PM on November 28, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
For 'free' text: Jokes? Quotes?
posted by Memo at 5:31 PM on November 28, 2006