South Orange Middle School Debuts Literary Magazine

SOMS Sketch debuted this year. The literary magazine was authored by sixth grade students under the direction of teacher Katerina G. Karis. 

"The Achieve Foundation made this possible," says Karis, noting that the magazine was professionally printed by Signal Graphics.  "When I received information for grant funding, I immediately applied.  The funding allowed us to have students' work professionally printed in an attractive format.  It also allowed us to hold publishing pizza parties!"

Sixth grade students worked on the magazine during advisory period.  They solicited writing, artwork, and other pieces from all grade levels. They typed all writing pieces, and scanned all artwork and photography.  Finally, says Karis, students had control of the cover design, layout, and artistic license for each page of the publication. 

Students worked under rotating directors:  Editor, Layout, Art, Recruiting and so on. 

"I believe that the students found this to be a rewarding experience, based on their excitement when we received the publication from the printers," recalls Karis.  "In addition, demand for the magazine from students in all grades increased throughout the year.  Many students and teachers commented on how successful the magazine was in achieving its goal:  increasing student pride in their writing and artistic abilities."

The entire issue is attached as a PDF file. Be sure to click through and see it all.