Plainfield South literary magazine earns top national rank
The Plainfield South High School literary magazine, "Metamorphic Expressions in Blue & White," has received a rank of "Excellent" in the 2009 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) program that recognizes student literary magazines.
"Metamorphic Expressions in Blue & White" is in its fourth year of production. The NCTE award was given to last year's edition. This is the second consecutive year the NCTE has given an "Excellent" award to the literary magazine.
"This award means a lot to me and my staff," Plainfield South senior and Editor-in-chief Cole Jumper said. "It is concrete, finite proof that our hard work paid off."
The annual publication also won 23 awards from the Southwest Prairie Literary Conference for individual poems and stories submitted in the 2009 issue, including first place for poetry for the third consecutive year, and two first place awards for dramatic scene.
"The award not only inspires students to write more poetry and stories, but also validates the importance of creative expression and getting involved in activities beyond sports and academics," literary magazine co-sponsor Amy Brown said.
The NCTE award is important to the entire Plainfield South school community because poetry and art is collected from the entire school population.
"Student artists and poets contribute to the magazine, so this is an award for them as well," Brown said. "The magazine is a true representation of who we are at Plainfield South, and to be nationally recognized for this is an honor."
Members of the PSHS magazine staff begin working on "Metamorphic Expressions in Blue & White" in October. The staff meets weekly to read and decide on the poetry and art that will be included in the magazine as well as what pieces to send to the SPC Literary Festival.
As the year progresses, student staff members meet bi-weekly to choose the theme, title page, layout, pieces, and to design the pages, edit and sell the magazine so it can go to press in May.
Staff members are in the process of choosing pieces for this year's issue and will begin designing the issue in March.
"Our new goal is to not only raise the bar, but to set the standard for literary magazines everywhere," Jumper said. "Let lesser magazines admire us, and greater magazines learn from our mistakes, so that everyone is benefitted by our work."