Junior Nicole Wolkov doesn't live in a shoe, but she did write a prize-winning news story about the old woman who did.

Old woman who lived in a shoe faces arrest in junior Nicole Wolkov’s first-place story

During Octagon Boot Camp a week before school started, new staffers learned about the 5 W’s and the H (who, what, when, where, why and how) and the inverted pyramid style, which outlines how to prioritize information in news stories (from most to least important). After becoming familiar with the journalistic basics, they were presented with an unusual assignment: Write a brief news story about a nursery rhyme. 

Former editor-in-chief Emma Williams, ’15, (now a freshman at Cornell University) chose the top four stories. Every day this week we’ll be posting the winners’ assignments.

Junior Nicole Wolkov won first place for her newsy interpretation of the nursery rhyme about the old woman who lived in a shoe.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,

She had so many children,

She didn’t know what to do,

She gave them broth without any bread;

She whipped them all soundly and put them to bed. 

Anne Smith, 81, was arrested and charged with child abuse yesterday evening after a neighbor reported the sound of screaming children to the police.

Upon investigating Smith’s home in the bucolic town of Shoeville, the police found a bloody cat o’ nine tails along with 15 badly beaten and malnourished children.

They were lying three in a bed without sheets or blankets despite the frigid temperature.

The only food found in the house was broth.

The children were taken to a nearby hospital, treated for their wounds and given food.

Currently, the children are looking for foster homes.

At first, Smith, who was noncompliant with the police during her arrest, yelled, “I had so many children, I didn’t know what to do!”

Smith was taken to the county jail and is being held there with a $1 million bail.

If found guilty, Smith faces 30 years in prison.

Her case is expected to go to court within the next two months.

By Nicole Wolkov


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