Once a beacon of student creativity, The Filament—the school’s literary magazine won’t be making an appearance this year.
While the news may come as a disappointment to some, English teacher Lillian Craig, who tried to relaunch the publication, wants readers to know: the effort was there, but the stars just didn’t align.
“Around halfway through the year, we realized that it’s not something I was able to jump start,” Craig explained with a laugh. “So… it’s not coming out this year.”
Originally, The Filament was tied to the school’s creative writing class and had a solid presence about four or five years ago. But with that class no longer offered and no current plans to bring it back, the infrastructure that once supported the magazine simply isn’t there anymore.
Craig still took on the challenge knowing it wouldn’t be easy.
“The original vision was a student-led production,” she said. “While that was an awesome idea, we were building from no preexisting kind of student base. And it’s kind of hard to coordinate with a group of students you don’t see on the daily.”
Still, she gave it her best shot, hosting meetings, gathering interested students (about ten in total), and seeking support.
“I had awesome support from Kathleen Mathis (English 11 teacher) she was wonderful. But we just couldn’t quite get it off the ground.”
It wasn’t just the logistics or time constraints. There were deeper challenges, too.
“There’s this loss of institutional knowledge [about the magazine] that I don’t even have,” Craig said. “And so it’s kind of hard, as a person without that, to bring it back.”
Another hurdle? Funding: “Students would have to pay for it because the idea is, you make it, you fundraise, so it’s free, and you give it away.”
Despite everything, Craig’s passion for student creativity shines through.
“It’s sad that it didn’t work out for those students who were interested,” she said. “It shows that if this were an offered course or something someone with more time could really throw their weight into, it could be a really cool space.”
She still believes The Filament is something worth fighting for. “There are a lot of kids slipping through the cracks who aren’t quite yearbooked, who aren’t quite A-Blast, but still want this creative outlet.”
And while this year’s issue won’t hit the presses, Craig isn’t shutting the door.
“I’d love to help from the side if it comes up again,” she said. “It’s a great idea. It just needs the right moment to spark.”