Example of outstanding writing from Northwest Florida Daily News

Sometimes I like to pass along examples of outstanding writing in addition to the usual pieces about writing. This story is by Cal Powell of the Northwest Florida Daily News (and thanks to his online editors for setting it outside their subscription-only moat, at my request):

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/sports/desire.shtml

I asked Cal to tell me a little about how he did the story. His response (condensed a bit because I like to keep these tip notes short):

I visited the 4-H camp, site of Desire Street's new boarding school setup, twice. The first visit was about 4-5 hours. The next visit, an all-day affair, was a week later after things had gotten situated somewhat. What works best for me as a reporter is the traditional, observational technique. I sat in on classes, walked around campus with some teachers, administrators and students, trying to draw them into more of a conversational tone as opposed to a "Q and A" type session. I also got as close to football practice as I could, which helped me a lot. By the end of the second visit, I still had not settled on a lead. I just started walking down the row of cabins and saw the two kids sitting on the porch. I plopped down by them and just listened, and that ended up being the scene I chose to start the piece. I was surprised at how eager the kid was to talk to me. I began writing the next day and finished the bulk of it by that night, did some re-writing the next day and turned it in.