On any given Wednesday afternoon, while most classrooms have emptied out and students have retired home for the day, Lab 15 can be found filled with activity. Inside, members of the prestigious art and literary magazine Solstice collaborate, discuss, and decide which pieces are worthy of being published in the annual issue.  

The award-winning magazine, distributed each May along with the Yearbook, is produced to showcase students’ writing pieces, artwork, and photography. Although Solstice comes out at the end of the year, there is still plenty of work to be done at the club’s weekly Wednesday meetings.

“At the meetings we work on the various stages of creating the publication, beginning with determining the theme for the year through final layout and design of the magazine before it goes to publication,” said Ms. Burrell, club co-sponsor.

Throughout the year,English and art teachers encourage students to submit their work to Solstice.

“I met with my photography teacher Mrs. Potokar about some photos I took because she was a sponsor of the club before she retired,” said Natalie Spitzer, junior. “She helped me pick out photos that would work well in the book, and I would help her take photos of the artwork and help her with layout pages too.”

Not only did Spitzer submit artwork to Solstice, but she is also a member of the club. All submissions are made anonymously, so she had no idea her work would be chosen.

Submissions are chosen by students in Solstice, after the pieces have gone through Ms. Burrell and Mr. Cousineau, the other co-sponsor, to ensure the writer, artist, or photographer submitting the work is unknown.

“[Students] review the anonymous submissions and have discussions to determine what works are best suited for the publication,” Ms. Burrell said.

This year, Solstice is undergoing a major design change as opposed to previous years in the publication’s history. Mr. Cousineau is in charge of the student graphic design aspect of the art and literary magazine.

“Solstice is going to be structured much more like a professional magazine on the design side,” said Adam DeDobbelaere, senior. “There’s a ladder of positions in the organization with clearly defined roles, something that did not exist last year.”

This is DeDobbelaere’s first year in Solstice, and he is the creative director of design.

“Being Creative Director will involve setting the standards for the design of the magazine,” DeDobbelaere said.

Overall, as a club member and someone with photographs selected for Solstice, Spitzer was able to share what draws her to the club the most.

“I definitely recommend that people submit to Solstice, it’s super easy and at the end of the year it’s really cool to see your own artwork, photos, or poems in the magazine,” Spitzer said.

Solstice can be reached at [email protected] or in Lab 15 on Wednesday afternoons.