MUSINGS named “Most Outstanding” for second time in school history
Starr’s Mill’s literary-art magazine MUSINGS was named “Most Outstanding” by the American Scholastic Press Association last year. The ASPA receives high school literary-art magazines each year and judges the magazines based on content coverage, organization, design, presentation, and creativity.
October 29, 2016
Winning one title is amazing, but earning the same title twice in three years is even more impressive. For the second time in history, MUSINGS, the Starr’s Mill High School literary-art magazine, was named “Most Outstanding” by the American Scholastic Press Association.
“To have the magazine evolve from something that was basically just photocopied papers and spiral bound to something that we professionally do that is recognized as containing really good work is kind of nice,” MUSINGS co-sponsor Jillian Bowen said.
MUSINGS submitted its 12th edition to ASPA in May of the 2015-16 school year. The ASPA considers content coverage as the biggest criteria for judging the magazine, making up almost half of the total points. The MUSINGS received an overall score of 975 out of the possible 1000 points.
MUSINGS performed well in all areas of the competition, especially creativity and presentation. They scored 390 out of 400 in content coverage, which evaluates magazines on the variety of literary styles. The magazine received 195 out of 200 for organization, falling just shy of a perfect score. The five deducted points were taken off for not containing pertinent publication data on the title page. MUSINGS also received 140 out of 150 for the design portion, which was determined by the number of large, wasted, or cluttered areas.
Despite the minor point reductions, MUSINGS staff appreciates what the accolade means for the school. “[Making the magazine is] like leaving a mark on the school, and getting most outstanding for the second time, that’s just like another addition to being really good, and it tells us that we really did a good job,” MUSINGS editor-in-chief Walker Allen said.
The magazine is sent off before spring break for publication, which takes about two to three weeks to print. The creative writing class then sells copies of the magazine for three weeks. This year, the magazine will be available for purchase in late April and will be sold through students in the creative writing classes, and in Bowen’s classroom or MUSINGS co-sponsor Justin Spencer’s classroom.
