AHS Literary Magazine Receives Excellent Ranking from NCTE

The AHS Literary Magazine received a ranking of Excellent in the 2018 NCTE Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) Program.

The award was given through The National Council of Teachers of English. The mission of the NCTE REALM Program is to recognize outstanding literary magazines produced by students and supported by teachers. The program is designed to inspire high schools to create their own literary magazines to celebrate the art of writing.

In an email to Elizabeth Jorgensen (Arrowhead’s literary magazine’s faculty advisor), Emily Kirkpatrick, the NCTE Executive Director, said, “You have inspired a love of writing and built a community around the written word that your students will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Last year’s literary magazine’s senior editors were Isabella Wartzenluft, Amanda Stahl, and Brooke Birkland. They read through submissions, selected pieces for publication as well as designed and laid out the literary magazine.

According to her bio in 2018 Literary Magazine, Wartzenluft was not only the editor for the literary magazine, but also the editor for the school newspaper. She had several pieces published in The Lake Country Reporter and is currently attending the University of Minnesota with a plan to major in journalism and minor in Spanish.

Stahl, after graduation, wrote she planned on attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to major in journalism and minor in zoology and environmental studies. Stahl’s professional goals include writing about global environmental issues.

Birkland is currently attending Columbia College Chicago. Birkland plans to major in contemporary, urban, and popular music and minor in creative writing.

As the faculty advisor for the AHS literary magazine, Jorgensen says she promotes “the publication in my classes. Bella, Amanda and Brooke were interested in putting the publication together. The three girls worked great as a team and I am so proud of their efforts.”

Jorgensen says, “I emailed Bella’s mom because I don’t have the girls’ current email addresses. She said, “Thank you so much for sending the message about the girl’s literary magazine! How exciting…and it could not happen if it were not for you and your guidance over her four years at Arrowhead. You would be so proud of her now, Liz! She is making a difference in the lives of others, especially those that have been marginalized in our society, through her words and her actions, and is absolutely loving MN!”

Jorgensen said she had to submit several copies to NCTE to be considered for the REALM program. The copies were handed in submitted in hard copy and electronically. Jorgensen says she plans on submitting the 2019 AHS literary magazine to the REALM program this year.

This year, the AHS literary magazine is put together by senior Rachel Kriehn.

Jorgensen says, “The main goal of the AHS literary magazine is to feature Arrowhead’s talented artists. We publish poems, short stories, vignettes, art, photography or anything appropriate for publication in a literary magazine. It’s a collection of creativity, so we encourage students to be creative.”

If students would like to submit their own pieces, they can email [email protected] with their submission.