10 Story Ideas for March, 2025

Dave Davis, director of the ASB Workshop, advised a high school newsmagazine for 34 years. He will post 10 story ideas for student journalists the first day of each month, September - May.

Break Time: It’s the month of spring breaks around the country. Time to find an angle for a great feature. This might include the cost of travel for teens—how are they staying on a budget? Suggestions from a travel agent?  Do parents go along as chaperones? What are the popular spots young breakers are heading to this year? For most teenagers, traveling over the break with their families is probably more common than heading south with friends. Here are some of the best destinations for families: https://raisingteenstoday.com/spring-break-vacations-for-families-with-teens-and-tweens/

Sports Beat:  ’Tis the season of winter sports post-season playoffs and state champions. If you have a team chasing a title, cover it. Find a feature element instead of just reporting game results. Example: If your school had a state champion in the same sport 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, or whenever, find a player or coach (or both) from that team to reminisce.  Old yearbook photos, maybe even old news coverage, could be found for b-roll.  If your team is chasing what would be the school’s first championship in that sport, cover it thoroughly, and even if they fall short, there is a story to tell. Everything from a pep assembly, to kids painting their faces and following the team…capture the sites and sounds like this segment did a few years ago:  https://htv.buzz/2010-champs-revisited/ Sports provide a visual element we often struggle to find in other things we cover. Take your viewers there for all the drama.

College Decisions:  Many seniors are getting ready to choose a college and this is such a huge decision for their future. A story about what factors went into their choices, plus some solid advice from counselors, can serve as a great lesson for underclassmen who will soon be in the shoes of the 12th graders.

Sniffs and Sneezes:  Spring brings with it a new round of “allergy season” thanks to tree pollen, grass pollen, mold and ragweed, coming from birches, oaks, elms and maples. So many teenagers battle allergies of all kinds. It’s pretty eye-opening. It is a topic rarely covered, but these problems afflict so many young people. Check out this link for a ton of information: https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/allergies.html

Past Its Prime?  Baseball was America’s favorite sport from the 1920s to around 1960. Then American professional football started taking hold. As a new season approaches, an in-depth piece about why baseball has been losing young fans could be enlightening. B-roll is easy as your high school teams begin working out. We know the biggest baseball fans are “boomers” over 55, with 64% of that age group saying they follow the game. That drops to only 34% of 18-24 year olds. You can read an examination by one writer here: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/baseball-shake-up-the-game-or-risk-a-slow-death/#:~:text=Fans%20in%20the%20seats%20and,will%20come%E2%80%94has%20proven%20problematic   For balance, some good news about youth participation. Kids are starting to play baseball and softball again:  https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/record-baseball-participation-numbers-in-the-united-states

Dude, You Smell: It’s called “smellmaxxing,” and boys in middle school through high school are starting to spend big bucks on designer colognes. There are social media influencers pushing these pricy potions, and guys are buying it. They are even asking for their favorite scents for their birthdays, and spending as much as $100 bucks at places like Sephora, once the dominion of female shoppers only. Of course there are online influencers like theCologneBoy encouraging the smellmaxxing crowd. This is a topic just ripe for covering, and I bet you can find a few guys who are into it at your school. By the way, who is footing the bill for all this fancy cologne? Some background: https://www.fragrantica.com/news/The-Sudden-Smellmaxxing-of-Gen-Z-20888.html

Getting Testy:  Mandated testing in our schools usually happens in the spring. Here is a wide-ranging article with plenty of history and background: https://www.britannica.com/procon/standardized-tests-debate  The Pros and Cons at a Glance section as you scroll down might assist you as cover testing in your school. Some things to look at: Do kids at your school take the tests seriously? What are the stakes for your school? What are the stakes for the teachers? How does your school prepare, and is too much class time used to prepare for these tests? Or do students feel they have not had enough prep?  Lots of angles, and a chance to let parents know what it is all about—many do not understand the testing, and how it impacts a school and an entire district.  

Madness:  Another sports topic of interest to many is the annual NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament to determine a national champion. It has led to a new word in the lexicon: Bracketology. Many students and teachers will fill out a bracket to see if they can predict the winners along the way. Yes, some put money on it, but many just do it for fun. Maybe your TV staff members can fill out brackets this year and you can report later who the class champ is.

Rate Hike: The last quarter of the school year is when some students who fell far behind in their studies make a push to get their grades up so they can graduate. Schools and especially administrators often bend over backwards so seniors can walk at commencement. SO…is it fair that students who have been slacking off maybe for years, or who have had lousy attendance, get to “rally” the last two months and get a diploma? To what extent does your school go to get them through? Special classes? Tutoring? Is a school’s graduation rate a true indicator of academic success?  This article examines, among other things, how the No Child Left Behind act has pushed graduation rates up the last two decades:  https://www.brookings.edu/articles/are-americas-rising-high-school-graduation-rates-real-or-just-an-accountability-fueled-mirage

On the Way Out:  Not just seniors at your school are going away soon—some of your teachers are as well. Teachers leave the profession more and more these days. Now would be a good time to find one or two at your school who will explain why there are moving on. The teachers not just changing schools, but getting out of the profession, should have perspectives many need to hear.