Recently, Flint Hill’s very own literary magazine, the Rough Draft, was nominated for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s High School Print Literary Magazine Crown Award. 

This is the first time Flint Hill has won the prestigious award, and the staff is rightfully overjoyed about it. Senior Kayla Moxley, the Paper’s Editor in Chief, shared her thoughts, 

“Our staff is really proud of the work we put in over quarantine to make our lit mag as good as ever, but we’re also proud of our student body for submitting excellent art and writing that made our publication stand out.”

According to Ms. Allred, a faculty sponsor of the Magazine, 

“The Award is given by a panel of CSPA (Columbia Scholastic Press Association) judges who’ve had the opportunity to review every entrant in what the CSPA describes as a ‘head-to-head comparison and contrast.”‘ 

Like the students, the adult sponsors of the Rough Draft are naturally proud of the accomplishments, with Ms. Allred sharing her excitement over the nomination, 

“I’m delighted that the extraordinary vision and effort of the 2019-2020 editorial board and the quality of their resulting publication have won national recognition.”  

Lastly, on behalf of the whole staff, Junior Anna Guethoff shared her thoughts on the importance of the award and what it means for Flint Hill, 

 “I think this nomination is as much of approbation for The Rough Draft team as it is for the rest of the school. Through this recognition, the remarkable artistic talent demonstrated by Flint Hill – that is to say, all of you – has been validated and verified by one of the most prominent high school journalistic organizations, the CSPA.” 

According to Guethoff, at the core of the Rough Draft is a mission to “grant students the ability to share their writing, paintings, photos without a fear of judgment, to take pride in their work and have a platform to convey this pride.” 

Both the award and the statements presented today showed readers that victories like this one aren’t simply victories of a couple of people. Also, they represent the combined talent and successes of the Flint Hill community. Thus, we ought to take some time to appreciate those who take that meaningful risk, like those in the Rough Draft.