A week or so ago, I opened up my Chronicle-Telegram newspaper, which is delivered to me daily. This northeast-Ohio paper serves the Lorain-county area, and, though it's considerably smaller than big city heavyweights The Plain Dealer and the Beacon Journal, I prefer the Chronicle because of its position of leadership within its community.

Case in point: The Newspapers in Education program, which is administered by the Chronicle and a number of commercial sponsors, uses the newspaper in school activities to help students engage in community affairs, understand journalism, and stay on top of current events.

Recently, the paper held a contest to see who among the students in the Lorain-county area could write the most compelling editorials, and who could design the best newspaper ad. The results are astounding. The kids, who range from elementary to high school ages, put together some great stuff.  Submitted entries were published in the paper, and some of the advertisers like the student-designed ads so much that they decided to use them.

This ad, for a local Honda dealership in Elyria, OH, features a Honda with a clock superimposed over the sunrise, a great metaphor for the ad's slogan, "Hondas last a long time". Check out some of the other submissions here. The Chronicle has made them available in PDF format.