Pomperaug's Literary Magazine Receives Excellent Ranking

The 2010-11 issue of Abraxas, the student-run literary magazine of Pomperaug High School, received a ranking of "excellent" by the National Council of Teachers of English.

In past years, PHS ranked in the "above average" category. This year, PHS placed in the excellent category, along with 10 other schools across the state.

The 2010-11 student editors, under last year’s advisor Margaret Hartshorn, were Madison Clough, Colleen Francke and Cierra Rouse.

Students shared their creative pieces including photographic art, drawings, poems or short fiction pieces with the members of Abraxas, who review them as a group. At the end of the school year, the team publishes a collection of student work to be released and distributed to the students.

According to the editor’s notes, the 2011 issue encouraged individuality for the high school student.

"In this magazine," the editors wrote, "you will find a collection of writing that has topics ranging from history to heartbreak, travel to childhood and even subjects as trivial as the SATs. We hope you find Abraxas 2011 original and we encourage you to strive to be the same."

The NCTE recognizes literary magazines and ranks these school publications based on various criteria -- percentage of student participation, interdisciplinary writing, use of technology, artwork and quality of the prose.

A total of 391 schools entered the 2011 program. Greenwich Academy received the highest award and Convent of the Sacred Heart and St. Luke’s School received the "superior" rank.

This year’s advisor is PHS English teacher James Randall and head editors are Alex Danieli and Christopher Russo. Every Tuesday afternoon, Randall and more than a dozen students meet to debate, discuss and decide which pieces meet the publication’s standards.

Pomperaug High School principal Lorrie Rodrigue is proud to share such exciting news with the school community.

"In the world of literary prose and school magazines, having Abraxas named in the excellence category is quite an honor," she said. "Having been a former literary magazine advisor myself, I am aware of the distinction this program brings."