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Schools

Middle School Publication Earns National Recognition

Intermedia, a literature and arts publication produced by students at Lewis F. Cole Middle School, was one of only two middle school publications in the country to receive the Gold Crown award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Intermedia, a student-produced arts and literature magazine at Lewis F. Cole Middle School, was one of only two publications in the country recognized last month for a Gold Crown, the top award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA).

The magazine, now in its 41st year in print, has been recognized by the CSPA before, but this is its first time winning the top award. The other school recognized with the award was Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland.

“They judge an individual issue on creativity and organization of the book, as well as he content and the overall design,” said Cean Spahn, the faculty literary advisor for the publication.

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Student literary editors Alexandra D’Ambrosio and Christina Ping, along with art editor Gabriella Higgins, coordinated the content, all of which is student driven and produced. The magazine strives to match artwork with literary compositions along a common theme, which for last year’s winning publication was time: past, future, and present.

“We have the kids brainstorm ideas for a theme,” Spahn said. “The overall theme was to live in the present moment.”

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The hundred page magazine, filled with content submitted and selected by students, is supported by fundraisers and distributed free of charge throughout the school.

Although Spahn, who has advised the publication for eight years, and Nina Anderson, who has been the art advisor for 17 years, supervise the production process, the content and design are student led.

“They get together and they pretty much lay out the book and how it will all progress,” Anderson said. “We are the advisors, literally. We don’t do the book.”

For the 42 students on the staff of the award winning issue, the CSPA citation is a recognition of a full school year of work in producing and arranging the artistic and literary content.

“For some kids that are shy and want to express themselves, this is an outlet for them,” Anderson said.

The next issue, which will have a theme focusing on the ways communication has changed over time, will come out in June.

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