News Staff
DEADLINE WRITING
Palm Beach Post

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Just before the final bell on the last day of school, a 13-year-old student shot to death a popular teacher, Barry Grunow, in a hallway at Lake Worth Middle School.

Minutes later, the Palm Beach Post had eight reporters on the scene, led by veteran schools reporter Stephanie Desmon. Ten other reporters worked the phones, tracking down every shred of information they could gather for the next morning's paper.

By 10 p.m., the Post had put together a powerful page one. It featured a main story about the shooting; what was known about the shooter; and a compelling profile of the victim. Another five pages of stories ran inside.

Desmon's lead article was a classic deadline news story about an all-too-familiar American tragedy, notable for its clarity and readability despite covering so much ground.

"The Lake Worth Middle School shooting was particularly tragic, coming on the last day of school from a student who teachers agreed was a good kid sent home for something as minor as a water balloon fight," said John Bartosek, the Post's managing editor.

"The school district responded with a task force to discuss fencing schools, placing video cameras in all schools and using hand-held detectors. School officials also developed a new program, called 'Tell a Friend,' to encourage students to tell adults when a crime is in the works.

"Another program called 'Aggressors, Victims and Bystanders,' which is supposed to show students how to deal with bullies and control their own aggressive behavior, will be placed in all the middle and high schools.

"Lake Worth Middle also hosted a seminar for parents and students that featured gun statistics, experts and the trauma scene photos. Free trigger locks were given to more than 140 people. "In addition, the state's education commissioner is pushing an $18 million statewide safety audit of school campuses prompted by the shooting which would work with community police officers with school police and other local officials to eliminate weak spots in each school's security and make sure every campus has an emergency safety plan."