Written By Jensen Garcia |

All year long on Tuesday after school, a group of students have met in Ms. Frydenborg’s room. These creative students have been writing short stories and poems and sharing them with the group. Some of the group’s pieces are published in this year’s lit magazine. Other pieces in this year’s lit mag are SHED writing contest submissions and pieces created in Creative Writing and other English classes.  This is Lit Mag of 2013 – 2014, A Pack of Gum: Stories & Poems to Chew On, which happens to the be the first Morgan School literary magazine with a cover in color.

The staff is a variety of members from different grades. A lot of the poems and stories have to do with angst and teen love. Other students can connect to the poetry and how the speaker of the poem expresses how he or she feels. However, some of the short stories are really dark.

All the members help out in the selection process, and they have a very unique sorting process, which contains the three piles called “Good”, “Sucks”, and “If We’re Desperate!!!”. They also get their artwork from people in the Art Club and people who want their artwork in the Lit Mag.

The Faculty Advisor and English Teacher, Ms. Frydenborg, says that Lit Mag is “all creative writing and poems people create.” Frydenborg is very involved with the group saying that “she’d rather not play babysitter.” Ms. Frydenborg says that she loves to work with kids outside of class. It is good for students because in class it is so restricted.

The two editors, Junior Hayley Haggerty and Sophomore Stephanie Smallshaw, work as leaders of the club. They recruit members. They were chosen mostly because they were the oldest in the club. Some of the members joined just because they said they should. Others heard about it in class or through friends.

Sophomore Tim Mathieu is a proud member of lit mag. As one of the only authors to write a dark horror story in the Lit Mag, he explained what inspired him to write: “I get my inspiration from everything I see or hear everyday. If I really care about it, that is.”When asked about the content in the lit mag, Mathieu stated, “There are some that are happy and some that are depressing then there is my horror story.”

Haggerty was happy to talk to me about the lit mag. She has been a member since she was a freshman and is currently the oldest in the club. “I like that here, in lit mag, we can share out any type of story we want. There is no shame. We can share out anything as long as it is not very,very bad,” said Haggerty.

Junior Justin Escobales joined lit mag in the middle of the year. He says that if he felt strongly about something, he would write about it and music helps through the writing process. “It is a great way to just do something with your writing. It is good to have a real outlet. It was very rewarding,” said Escobales.