GOOD

LEADS,

BAD LEADS,

AND E

VERYTHING

IN

BETWEEN.

BAD LEADS

She spent three weeks living as a bag on the streets of Washington, D.C.

“I think if every American spent a week on the streets, we wouldn’t this problem,”

Pamela Lund said.

BAD LEADS

She spent three weeks living as a bag on the streets of Washington, D.C.

“I think if every American spent a week on the streets, we wouldn’t this problem,”

Pamela Lund said.

Who is Pamela Lund???

(Title)

BAD LEADSRecently National Council of Teachers

of English gave Pamela Lund an award for her article on teen suicide. She is 50 years old and works at Lansing North High. National Honor Society is sponsored by Ms. Lund and is a member of the schools newspaper’s editorial board.

BAD LEADSRecently, the National Council of

Teachers of English gave Pamela Lund an award for her article on teen suicide. She is 50 years old and works at Lansing North High School. National Honor Society is sponsored by Ms. Lund and is a member of the school newspaper’s editorial board.

How is any of this related?Why is any of this newsworthy?Why should readers care?

BAD LEADSPamela Lund a poor teacher in

Lansing MI, got an award from National Council of Teachers of English for her article on teen suicide.

BAD LEADSPamela Lund a poor teacher in

Lansing, MI, got an award from the National Council of Teachers of English for her article on teen suicide.

So what???

BAD LEADS

Pamela Lund was an English teacher at Lansing North High. Who wrote articles about teen suicide. She came up with an idea to be in a homeless situation for three weeks just to experience.

BAD LEADS

Pamela Lund was an English teacher at Lansing North High. Who wrote articles about teen suicide. She came up with an idea to be in a homeless situation for three weeks just to experience.

Vague and confusing.Did you even read this?

BAD LEADS

A brave stunt pulled off by an English teacher at Lansing North High.

BAD LEADS

A brave stunt pulled off by an English teacher at Lansing North High.

So vague…

BAD LEADS• Award winning English teacher

spends Christmas living on the streets

• A teacher’s sleepless nights on the streets of Washington, D.C.

• Interviewed LNHS teacher dresses as a bag lady for three weeks and spends Christmas day in a soup line. That’s a headline,

not a lead

BAD LEADS

Award winning teacher spent her Christmas in a soup kitchen. While she witnessed drug abuse, sever alcoholism, and mental illness.

BAD LEADS

Award winning teacher spent her Christmas in a soup kitchen. While she witnessed drug abuse, sever alcoholism, and mental illness.

Not full sentences.No specifics.Misleading presentation. Spelling and grammar errors.

BAD LEADS

Pamela Lund decided to quit her job and live as a bag lady.

A working class woman gave up her job to live life as a bag lady

BAD LEADS

Pamela Lund decided to quit her job and live as a bag lady.

A working class woman gave up her job to live life as a bag lady. FALSE!!

GOOD LEADS

“I wanted to do something that would challenge me physically, intellectually, and emotionally,” English teacher Pamela Lund said. “I am 50 years old, I need something to pull me out of my rut.”

GOOD LEADS

“I’ll never forget the feeling of those scissors against my throat,” English teacher Pamela Lund said.

GOOD LEADS

Dressed in ragged clothing, carrying only an old, beat up sleeping bag and $2, English teacher Pamela Lund wandered the streets of Washington, D.C.

She has won awards for her writing. She has taught the youth of our nation. This winter, she was homeless.

GOOD LEADS

How did a winner of the National Council of Teachers of English end up homeless?

English teacher Pamela Lund decided to spend three weeks as a bag lady on the streets of Washington D.C.

GOOD LEADS

Pamela Lund is dressed in ragged clothing. She wanders down the frigid streets of Washington D.C. with a beat up sleeping bag and $2 dollars in a wool sock. She is 50 years old, and to spice up her life, she has chosen to be homeless.

GOOD LEADS

English teacher Pamela Lund has always been an aggressive, intuitive person, but nobody thought she was serious when she brought up the idea of spending time living on the streets.

She was.

50-year-old Lund wanted a challenge in life to pull her out of her rut, and for three weeks in December, Lund spent her nights looking for shelter and spent Christmas in a soup line.

GOOD LEADS

There are 610,042 homeless people living in the United States at any given time. Nine percent of these people- about 57,849- are veterans, and no one seems to care. Except Pamela Lund, who spent a three weeks this December living on the streets of Washington DC to experience what life is like for these forgotten Americans.

GOOD LEADS

GOOD LEADSTurning your alarm off in the morning. A cold shower when there is no hot water. Taking out the garbage. These daily events may be an annoyance for you, but for others they are simple blessings. In Washington D.C. alone, there are 7,000 individuals living without a home and for three weeks, English teacher Pamela Lund was one of them.

GOOD LEADS

English teacher Pamela Lund needed something to get her out of her rut, so she chose to spend three weeks living as a baglady on the streets of Washington, D.C.

GOOD LEADS

Pamela Lund wanted to do something that would challenge her physically, intellectually, and emotionally, so she spent three weeks living as a baglady on the streets of Washington, D.C.

Pamela Lund shuffles down the street, bundled up in her ragged clothes. She carries a beat up sleeping bag under her arm. She has two dollars hidden in a sock.

GOOD LEADS

GOOD LEADS

English teacher Pamela Lund traveled to Washington, D.C. for her Christmas vacation. Rather than enjoying the three weeks seeing famous landmarks and visiting friends, Lund chose to experience the life of the homeless, and spent her vacation living on the streets of the nation’s capital.

GOOD LEADSShe has a steady paying job. A warm

house with food, heat, and water – all of the essentials for comfortable living. She is an award-winning teacher with a husband and a life of promise. Yet Christmas day, she stood in a soup line clutching a beat up old sleeping bag and just $2 in a wool sock.

GREAT LEADSHer numb purple fingers clutch the tattered old

sleeping bag. Snow flurries fall down from the night sky and Christmas carols are drifting with the wind from the churches nearby. The cold air stings her lungs as she shuffles along with the heard of the people. Huddled together for warmth, sharing their breath. She panics and feels for the old wool sock, which holds the only money she owns. Just $2. The warmth from the building ahead drifts across the crowd, along with the smell of warm soup. The group shuffles forward, desperately seeking warmth, elbowing each other to get closer. Unlike the others, she chose this life.

GREAT LEADSPamela Lund sat in the women’s shelter, cold and

lonely. It had been a long 10 days, a very long 10 days, and she needed rest. To lie down and sleep comfortably…that was a luxury so rare these days. But as her eyes began to flutter closed, something wasn’t right. She felt something cold against her neck.

“You shut your eyes one more time and you ain’t ever going to open them again,” said a woman standing over her with scissors pressed against her throat.

Lund was terror stricken.

GREAT STARTEnglish teacher Pamela Lund is trying to teach our

nation a lesson – one on kindness, respect, and generosity. The trouble is, we’re failing.

 This winter, Lund spent three weeks living as a homeless person on the streets of Washington DC to experience life on the other side. During her stint, she discovered that the stigma of homelessness is not as true as most believe it to be.

“There’s a misconception that the people out on the streets want to be there,” Lund said. “That’s the furthest thing from the truth. These people are there either because of their own mistake or a mistake of the system.”