Pomperaug Regional School District 15

PHS Literary Magazine Abraxas Wins Recognition by National
Council of Teachers of English

The Pomperaug High School literary magazine, Abraxas was rated “Above Average” by the Program to

Reward Excellence in Student Literary Magazines of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

The Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines (PRESLM) honors quality literary
magazines from middle schools and high schools in the United States, Canada, and American schools abroad.
The program’s mission is to encourage all schools to develop literary magazines, seeking excellence in writing
and school-wide participation in production.

In 2007, 453 schools nationwide submitted entries; of those, 62 magazines were nominated for highest award
and of those, 20 were selected to receive highest award, 79 Superior, 226 Excellent, and 72 Above Average.
Magazines scoring 70 or fewer points are not included in this list. Only 21 magazines in Connecticut had enough
points to be ranked and Pomperaug’s Abraxas was one.

Students Jeremy K., Mario L., and Christina P. edited Abraxas in 2007-08 and were led by
Margaret Hartshorn, Faculty Advisor.

The categories range from “Highest Award” to “Above Average” for the magazines listed. PHS’s magazine was
ranked “above average” for its writing, varieties of genres and subject areas, editing, and design and layout.

All the writing and artwork in Abraxas is created by the PHS students. When the editorial staff evaluates
submitted work, the work is anonymous. The staff is in charge of requesting submissions from the student body
regularly throughout the year. They design and post “request for submission” flyers, and maintain three boxes
throughout the school and an email address for submissions. The staff designs the layout and works with the
printer throughout the printing and proofing process. The art editor makes the cover decisions.

“Because we did not include all types of texts that the program requires, we knew that we would not receive the 
highest rating but the staff wanted to submit anyway. We became aware of this program after we had produced 
last year’s magazine and therefore had not intentionally set out the meet specific criteria,” said Mrs. Hartshorn. 
“All in all, winning this recognition is a testament to the creativity of our students and the high caliber of their work 
at PHS.”

The PRESLM Advisory Committee strives to recognize quality but offers no critique of the magazines. State coordinators assemble judging teams and arrange for every entry to be reviewed and scored. The judges, who
are English teachers at the middle school, high school, or college level, examine each magazine submitted, using a scoring sheet and pertinent information provided by the school.

This year, the Abraxas magazine hopes to attach a compact disk of student-generated songs.

“We are asking for original works,” said co-editor Liz S., 18, of Southbury. “Once our staff has chosen from the submissions, the student records the song onto a laptop. We’ll compile the songs onto a CD and distribute them with the magazine in the spring.”

The program is intended as a means of recognition for students, teachers, and schools producing excellent literary magazines, as an inducement for improving the quality of such magazines, and as encouragement for all schools to develop literary magazines, seeking excellence in writing and school-wide participation in production.

“Now that we are aware of this program, the students are considering ways, like the student-produced music CD, to achieve an even higher ranking in the future. We have always known that PHS students’ writing was exemplary; now the rest of the world will be finding out as well!” said Ms. Julie Luby, PHS English Department Chair.