Middle school literary and art magazine, The Tenth Muse, was published and shared with the school community in the spring. Throughout the course of the school year, students met on Thursdays during break to design the magazine with the guidance of faculty advisor Jen Bladen.
Prior to winter break, a form was sent out to the middle school requesting submissions of art and writing from anyone willing to share. Once a wide variety of pieces were collected, the staff began to layout the magazine and finalize the design decisions.
Bladen shares that the goal of the Tenth Muse is to provide a space for all students to share their creativity, regardless of their involvement in HW Media, the communications program offered at HW.
“It’s an important way for students to express themselves,” Bladen said. “I think the best part for me was getting to know students that are interested in art and poetry and short stories, but that aren’t in HW Media yet, so that was very cool. I got to know kids that I wouldn’t know any other way.”
Isleen Lee ‘26 said that being on the staff of the Tenth Muse opened many creative doors and offered a space to collaborate.
“It was pretty relaxing and exciting to input my creative works, as well as see what others contributed. I found it very interesting to see the various works that all the participants brought,” Lee said. “It was a great experience overall.”
Towards the beginning of the layout process, the staff decided on a theme for this year’s magazine: The Tenth Muse(um), gallery edition. The staff incorporated visual elements that resembled an exhibition throughout the magazine, differentiating this edition from those of previous years.
Bladen shares that through discussion and collaboration, the team was able to craft new ideas to innovate the magazine.
“The process of coming up with the theme for ‘Tenth Muse(um) was really fun. We were brainstorming at break one day and the second it came up, it all got really exciting,” Bladen said.
Lee said that by working with her peers, the staff created a cohesive magazine, full of unique pieces.
“I’m proud of being able to have one of my pieces in the Tenth Muse, but I also feel very proud of the entire cohort being able to chime in with their ideas,” Lee said. “I believe that’s how we were able to get really diverse with all of our pieces.”
Abby Landres ’26 said that being a part of the staff was a very memorable experience.
“Being a part of the Tenth Muse staff was really cool because I got to not only see the inner workings of the magazine, but I got to work on it myself and share my own input and ideas; which are reflected in the magazine,” Landres said. “The whole team worked really well together and I think all of us had a lot of fun.”
After months of revisions and editing, the final printed copies arrived on campus just in time for Grandparents and Special Friends Day. Bladen shared that it was very meaningful to show students’ hard work to the guests.
“We handed it out this year on grandparents and special friends day and it was so fun to watch people look at it with their families,” Bladen said. “I think that student expression that is safe like that is really important. We had so much tragedy this spring that it was really nice to bring something beautiful to the school.”
