Soundings, the school’s student-run creative literary and arts magazine, will host its annual exhibition on April 18 from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. in the school library.
For the first time, the Soundings is collaborating with Los Gatos High’s literary magazine, The Wildcat Review, to showcase works from both schools at the exhibition.
One of the driving factors for this extended invite to LGHS, according to editor-in-chief Anika Kapasi, was to increase cross-district collaboration and involve more Los Gatos community members at the event. Additionally, she felt that this decision would uplift the arts community at Saratoga High, as it typically receives less emphasis.
The event, originally scheduled to take place on March 18, was postponed a month due to a lack of effective publicity.
“We didn’t have enough time to promote it and were rushing to get everything out,” said senior Annette Li, one of the publication’s three editors-in-chief. “But we realized we should take some more time to improve the quality.”
This year, Soundings extended their spring submissions deadline to Feb. 28, which was one week before the exhibition, due to a lack of submissions. Since the editors-in-chiefs — Li, Kapasi and senior Isabelle Wang — hoped to also feature the selected spring works, the limited timeline proved infeasible for editing and voting on works, in addition to hosting the exhibition.
To raise publicity and increase the number of student attendees at the exhibition, Soundings’ adviser, Amy Keys, coordinated with a number of English teachers who agreed to give students supplemental credit if they attend the exhibition.
The main goal for the eventis to raise money for their annual spring print issue, while providing some buffer funds for the next year’s staff to use. Prices for the March 18 date, according to Kapasi, were originally $10 for students and $15 for parents, with costs raising $5 the day of the exhibition.
However, at the same time Soundings decided to postpone the event, the magazine secured enough funding after totaling grant money from the PTSO, the Friends of the Saratoga Library and last year’s leftover funds. As a result, prices have lowered by $5 for both parents and students.
This decision to lower the price is meant to invite more students and the community to stop by to enjoy the creative works students have spent time and crafted, Kapasi said.
This school year, the print magazine is based on the theme “The Little Things,” which focuses on exploring the small moments in life. The staff received 52 theme-related submissions, many of which were writing contributions particularly from Key’s seventh-period Creative Writing class.
The magazine also plays an important role in helping students get their work published and giving them opportunities to have their voices be heard. Said Li: “Being part of the Soundings community, I really like looking through what people have to say through these stories and artworks. I really love seeing these glimpses of people’s lives and their thought processes. Working to publish this magazine is fun because everyone cares so much about putting it out there for the school to see.”
