Spectrum Magazine Presentation

(My voice-over was based on an article I wrote about Spectrum Magazine in October. Here’s the full length article.)

Penn is gifted with many creative students–students drawn to making art, stories, poetry, and more. There is so much talent at Penn, and Spectrum wants to showcase it.

Spectrum is a creative writing class, and makes Penn’s very own literary magazine. Between the pages of a Spectrum magazine, readers find short stories, artwork,

photography, and poetry made by Penn students. Caelea Armstrong, Penn’s librarian and a lover of literature, teaches the Spectrum class.

“Spectrum is a group of students who love writing and art,” she told PNN, “and they want to bring self expression of the student body to the student body. It’s basically giving a voice to the Penn students.”

Said Penn students can submit their work to Spectrum all throughout the year, for the chance for it to get into the magazine. Submitting work comes with many benefits, including being able to say “I was published” on college applications. But it also comes with the satisfaction of having a published piece, of putting one’s art out for all to see.

Students in the class heartily enjoy it. They appreciate the creative outlet, and all of them

told PNN that Spectrum is like a family.  Corrina Hicks, a senior in the class, lit up when asked what Spectrum meant to her.

“Spectrum is everything to me,” she said. “It’s a place to be creative with other creative people…it’s like a family.”

Priya Patel, a senior and also Spectrum’s art editor, shared this sentiment. “Spectrum is family,” she explained.

And Jonathan Jackson, a co-editor for the magazine, had this same view. “To me, Spectrum is more than a class–we’re kind of like one big family,” he said. “What’s special about this class is how well we all connect, and how well we all treat each other no matter what.”

And this family hopes to grow. Students are welcome to join the creative writing class–in fact, they are encouraged to. And anyone can submit their creations to the magazine. To submit, you can email your work to spectrum@phm.k12.in.us, or turn in a physical copy of it in the ‘Submissions’ box located in the IMC. Some creative writing and art classes also have folders dedicated to Spectrum submissions–turning in pieces that way is an option as well. And students can submit anything.

“Anything written or art goes into the magazine,” Mrs. Armstrong explained. “We take all genres, we take short stories, we take poems, we take love letters, breakup letters, grocery lists…anything that is an expression of the heart, we will take and consider.”