Menagerie sweeps literary contests

The Lyons Township High School literary magazine, Menagerie, was awarded high marks by three national associations ranking it in the top 10% of all literary magazines in the United States.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded Menagerie a Gold Medal. One judge said, “The prose and poetry in this publication are top rate. Students have a varied and unique style that translates well on the page. Even those stories that appear to be typical 'teenage angst' have a sophisticated spin. The magazine definitely promotes a unique and eclectic collection of work--no two works are alike.” Another said, “The images work on more than one level with composition, angle, distance and point of view all contributing to the overall effect.”

In the American Scholastic Press Association competition, Menagerie was awarded Most Outstanding Literary-Art Magazine for the first time in LT history. The Association also presented LT with a 1st Place with Special Merit, an award Menagerie has earned five out of the past six years.

Finally, the National Council of Teachers of English critique recommended Menagerie for its highest award, ranking the issue among the best in Illinois high school magazines.

LT advisor Joseph Maffey said, “The editors used black and white photographs of textures they found around the school to create the backgrounds of the pages, such as tile from the roof, wood grain from a classroom door or the detail from the cafeteria floor. It was incredibly clever of them to use the school itself as a background for the great art and writing students produce. We also included a QR code that links to videos of plays we wanted to include but just didn’t have the space. It was a sneaky way of getting even more submissions included into the magazine and into the hands of the readers.”

To read the 2017 award-winning literary magazine, log on to www.lths.net and search Menagerie.

2017 Editors include:

Dheeksha Ranginani, Editor-in-Chief, 2017 Grad (Burr Ridge)

Graham Voetberg, Editor-in-Chief, 2017 Grad (LaGrange Park)

Caroline Garrow, Poetry Editor, Home schooled 2017

Abby Cundiff, Assistant Poetry Editor, 2017 Grad (Western Springs)

Emily Flores, Prose Editor, 2017 Grad (LaGrange Park)

Laruen Trail, Assistant Prose Editor, Senior (Western Springs)

Caroline Wuerl, Art Editor, 2017 Grad (Indian Head Park)

Brie Voetberg, Photo Editor, Junior (LaGrange Park)

Laura Flores, Layout Editor, 2017 Grad (LaGrange Park)

Literary Faculty Advisors: Angela Gutierrez and Joseph Maffey

Art Faculty Advisor: Mary Rohlicek