Unheard Literary Magazine Needs You!

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

Arizona Middle School Students In Low-Income School Embrace Literary Magazine And Look To Create It Themselves!

My students aren't apt to complain about their obstacles, but they absolutely love to talk about their opportunities. Last year, my students and I formed the literary magazine "Unheard" and published three issues containing honest and emotional poetry. What surprised readers about the magazine was the quality of the poetry which, according to many readers, was light years beyond what they would expect middle school students to produce. While the students were excited by the success of the magazine (which currently has over 100 subscribers in 7 countries around the world), they wanted more. Specifically, they wanted to edit, compile, and design the magazine THEMSELVES. For the first three issues, I selected the poems, compiled the issues, and created the basic design, but now the students want to make "Unheard" a totally student-oriented and student-produced literary magazine. For this purpose, I have assembled a staff of around fifteen dedicated young poets who are looking to take on this new responsibility with the gusto and zeal of true poets-in-training. The problem: we need a few resources to make the transition to a totally student-produced magazine a reality.

Firstly, we need a single copy of Microsoft Publisher 2007 to load onto several of my classroom computers. We need Publisher 2007 because many of the features that give "Unheard" its professional look are exclusive to the 2007 version. In addition, I am extremely familiar with this version and will be using it to teach the students the basics of good design. Secondly, I have requested fifteen copies of "Poetry 180", a collection of poems compiled by former poet laureate Billy Collins for the explicit purpose of awakening high school students to poetry. Although my students are in middle school, I have read the collection myself and am quite certain they will be able to engage in discussions on the poems. We will use these books to gain a greater understanding of the diversity of the poetic art and to make the new staff of the magazine as knowledgeable as an average high-school senior on how to properly deconstruct and appreciate a poem. In addition, the more poems they read, the more confident they will be in identifying the merits of submissions during the selection process.

With your donation, the staff of "Unheard" will be able to do something truly revolutionary - they will be able to self-produce a high-caliber literary magazine that proves that the middle school years do not have to represent an educational or developmental black hole. These students are capable, and they are aching to show the world. Only your generosity will afford them this truly limitless opportunity.