BEFLAST — As warmer days start rolling in, Belfast Area High School continues to develop its first-ever Literary Journal: Rites of Passage.
After five years as only an idea lodged in an English teacher’s mind, the Literary Journal commenced this past January. Three staff members — Cassandra Kromer, Scarlett Peebles and Nevyn Harvey — were selected from the senior class to unite visual and written arts by BAHS and BCOPE students.
Belfast Area High School English teacher Douglas McIntire is the project adviser.
“Ideally, it’s going to be a reflection of the artistic abilities, the thoughts, and the feelings of the students here in this community,” McIntire said. “I want it to reflect not only the students, their work, and their art, but I want them to see their art as a quality product.”
McIntire had looked through college-level literary journals before. This past year he got the opportunity to help judge a national competition among high school student journals, inspiring him to launch the first Literary Journal at BAHS.
The journal’s name, Rites of Passage, was chosen by the group to represent the transition from adolescence to young adulthood in high school. It will highlight themes of coming-of-age and life experiences.
All mediums of art are being considered, whether they be stories, poetry, photography, sculpted work, paintings… The list goes on!
Students are learning using Google and Adobe software, including InDesign and Photoshop. Because it is the first year, the staff members make sure to log their work in a spreadsheet. The goal is to have the Literary Journal printed and bound in actual magazine material, rather than regular 8.5 by 11-inch printer paper.
The three staff members can only work with McIntire for two periods every other day, so they make sure to do as much as they can out of class as well. They expect to be busier as weeks go by and more submissions come in.
To the group’s benefit, there have been a lot of positive student and staff responses to the Literary Journal. Students have actively engaged with the journal’s Instagram page and teachers continue to contribute a lot to advertising and encouraging their classes to consider the opportunity.
Rites of Passage staff member Cassandra Kromer has big aspirations for the journal. “I hope that it makes students feel proud and accomplished in their work because so many people in this school community are so talented but aren’t comfortable or have never been invited to share that talent,” she said.
The project opens another opportunity for students interested in the arts. Writing and sharing art make students feel vulnerable, but it is also rewarding, so the group hopes that students will take advantage of this.
Since the journal’s start in January, the staff members are happy to note that they have learned many life skills that will help them through post-secondary education, careers, and beyond. Teamwork, working under pressure, leadership, marketing, communication and resilience were mentioned in particular.
Rites of Passage staff member Scarlett Peebles said, “Learning to work together as a cohesive, but small group is really valuable to take into life, especially for the future when you have to work on other group projects and work in small groups.”
Rites of Passage will pave the way for future opportunities in the collaboration of language and arts, recognize the beauty of arts in school, and build life skills for those involved in the Belfast school community.
Check out the Literary Journal’s Instagram page: @bahsritesofpassage