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The X-Team wants you!
By GRETCHEN LETTERMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 6, 2002
Take it from some current members of the X-Team: If you love to write and have a nose for news, being on the X-Team may be just the thing for you!
X-Teams have been writing for Xpress, the St. Petersburg Times' special section aimed at readers ages 9-18, since 1995. Now we begin the search for Team No. 8.
Here are some of the things this year's team has been writing about: how kids at a Muslim school are coping after 9/11; manatees in our own back yard; teenage entrepreneurs; training house rabbits; the Legislature's budget vote that killed antitobacco education funding; a rescue dog at ground zero; the stress of college applications; and teachers' lame essay topics, to name only a few.
But reporting and writing interesting stories is not ALL the X-Team gets to do. Members spend the year learning the art and craft of writing from seasoned Times journalists at monthly writing workshops.
So if you're already stifling the urge to pick up a pen and notebook and go out and interview somebody for a story, apply THIS INSTANT to be considered for the 2002-2003 X-Team. Applicants (that's YOU, not your PARENTS!) must follow all the instructions below or their applications will not be accepted.
Here's the first instruction: Before you start, please read this list of musts to see if you qualify:
- You must have a talent and love for writing.
- You must be full of good story ideas about people, places, things and events (no fiction!) and be comfortable interviewing people for your stories.
- You must be able to meet deadlines without being nagged by your editor.
- You must be comfortable talking with editors, who will need to converse with you regularly by phone and e-mail, as well as in person for editing sessions.
- You must be able to attend X-Team workshops once a month on Thursdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m., usually at the downtown St. Petersburg Times building. Please consider your time obligations with school and extracurricular commitments before applying.
- You must have a parent or guardian willing to drive you to and from X-Team assignments and workshops or, if you are old enough, be able to drive yourself. (Keep in mind, you might have to travel outside your county, so this is very important.)
- You must have access to e-mail. (You don't have to OWN a computer, just be able to use one and check it regularly.) You will be sending your stories to the Times via computer, and we communicate workshop reminders and other important information via e-mail.
- You must be age 9 to 18.
If you aced the above test, we want you to apply! The competition is tough, so we need to know as much about you as possible. Please fill out the attached coupon and include it and a photo of yourself with a letter covering the following points (sorry, we can't return material):
- What being a member of the X-Team would mean to you;
- Why you'd be the best person for the job;
- Plus five absolutely fabulous story ideas, two examples of deadlines you have met and some samples of your writing (nonfiction stories if you have any).
- Please list all the activities you're involved in outside of school hours and how often they meet.
Please use your best handwriting and follow directions. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Send your application coupon and the above information to:
I DREAM of the X-TEAM
c/o Gretchen Letterman
St. Petersburg Times
P.O. Box 1121
St. Petersburg, FL 33731
DEADLINE IS JUNE 3. The team will be chosen and notified over the summer. Those not selected also will be notified. Please be patient; the selection process takes time!
We look forward to meeting you!
Here's the rest of today's Xpress
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