Alt Ledes: Write With (AP) Style

A few AP style goofs in this assignment. While we're still learning AP style, it's never too soon to start making note of some of the more frequent AP style rules, like these:

Number usage has its own specific style under AP rules. Here's the most basic AP guideline, in your style book under numerals: In general "Spell out whole numbers below 10, use figures for 10 and above."

So two should be two, not 2. And 10 should be 10, not ten.

So then, is it six-year-old girl with six spelled out, or is six in numeric form, like this: 6-year-old girl.

It's the latter. It's one of many exceptions to the general AP number rule. In AP Style under ages:

Always use figures.

Moving on, let's talk about names. On first reference, you use a first and last name: Megan Perakiss. But what do you do on a second and subsequent references?
Here is AP Style, under names:

In general, use only last names on second reference.

But what if there is more than one person with the same last name? AP Style has that covered, too. Also under names:

When it is necessary to distinguish between two people who use the same last name, as in married couples or brothers and sisters, use the first and last name.

So in the case of any member of the Perakiss family -- who has the same last name -- it would be first and last names in all references, if more than one Perakiss is referred to in the story. If there's only one Perakiss in the story, it would simply be Perakiss in all references after the first.

Either way, try not to use just a first name on any reference.