Eisenhower Student Magazine 'The Cardinal' Recognized With REALM Award

BLUE ISLAND, IL — Dwight D. Eisenhower High School’s student literary magazine – the Cardinal – has been recognized as a REALM First Class magazine by the National Council of Teachers of English.

This year, schools in 46 states and five countries nominated 422 student magazines. Magazines from middle school, high school, and higher education were welcomed for the 2024 contest; 125 magazines were awarded the contest’s highest distinction, REALM First Class.

“Upon receiving an ‘Excellent’ rating last year, we set our sights higher and worked to improve upon what our book featured and what it looked like. That hard work paid off. Extremely proud of this group and this book,” said Adam Ebert, faculty advisor of Eisenhower’s Creative Writing Club, which collaborates to produce and publish the book.

The Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines program publicly recognizes excellent literary magazines produced by students with the support of their teachers. REALM is designed to encourage all schools to develop literary magazines that celebrate the art and craft of writing. Schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, US territories, Canada, and American schools abroad are eligible to nominate magazines.