This year, The Harriton Banner will be introducing its very own printed magazine, filled with intriguing and enjoyable articles and sections, which range from the history of the infamous Harriton ram statue, to DIY articles, and even fun crossword puzzles! think will be the first of its two printed editions this year, and will feature an in-depth look at stress at Harriton. I had the opportunity to ask think’s three co-editors- Victoria Alfred-Levow, Gillian Bobnak, and Alexandra Branscom- about the upcoming magazine and their main articles, sections, and plans for the future.

**Be sure to follow and like think on Twitter and Facebook!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/thInk/688208453300733

-What will the main article of think be about? 

The main article is the longest and most in-depth piece of a magazine, and think’s main article is about stress – a topic any Harriton student is familiar with. We’re hoping to shed some light on the reasons students are stressed – parents, college planning, hard classes, for example; subjects both academic and non-academic – as well as to ask the question that people might not be expecting: Is stress bad?

-Will think magazine be mostly academic? What topics will it touch on? 

Victoria A.L: Academic? Not really. I’d say we are more about Harriton’s culture, the events and issues that are important to our school. This may involve classes or education at some times, I guess. Topics for this first issue will range from a backstage view of Mr. Harriton to the differences between Harriton and LM students, and in the spring and next year, we’re going to continue with telling the stories of Harriton that make our readers ask more questions, learn something new, or just have a happier day.

Gillian B: While the main focus of think is about academic life, we try to reach a broad audience, which includes many people who don’t want to read more articles about getting into college. However, pieces of the magazine such as our advice column highlight issues closely known to students, such as staying organized at school and not feeling stressed by peer pressure.

Alexandra B: The magazine will have academic based articles as well as articles more typical to the features section in the Harriton Banner.  All of the articles will be interesting and fun to read, but some will have a more serious feel than others.

-What articles or sections are you most excited about? 

Victoria A.L: I feel like a parent trying to pick their favorite child! I’m excited for all of the articles. Most of our staff are underclassmen, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve made of their assignments and how they improve over this year and the future. If I really had to pick favorites, I would say the “Best Quotes” section because I know it’ll be hilarious! And also the article about LM and Harriton students and how they’re different and similar, because I think we should pay much more attention to fixing the relationship between our high schools than we currently do.

Gillian B: I am really excited for everything! I think I may be biased towards the puzzle section because I’m running that, but all of the articles for this issue are really interesting.

Alexandra B: I am really excited for the magazine as a whole, but the articles I am most excited for are the ones that are more typical to the articles in the features section of the Harriton Banner, such as the food and DIY articles.  Because I wrote for the features section last year, I cannot wait to see the features articles come to life on magazine pages.

-What are your hopes for think in the future?

Victoria A.L: In my ideal future, think would increase publishing from beyond two issues a year to an issue per quarter, then per month. It would be widely read by students and teachers, and it would be an important voice in the community. I’d hope that the main articles would be high-quality pieces that would be pretty edgy and intelligent. It would be awesome if individual writers over the years would start new columns or sections that become embedded into the personality of the magazine. For now, I just want to get it off the ground in its first year. Alexandra, Gillian, and I have an amazing opportunity to create this magazine from scratch and I hope we do a good job of it! I hope we make something we’ll be proud of and that people will be excited to read.

Gillian B: I hope that think not only is popular with a student and teacher audience now and in the future, but I also hope that it spreads to the greater outreaches of the LMSD community. I think it’s important for the community to look at student writing because writing is so valued in our education system, and it might be fun to get a look at a Harriton student’s point of view on a review or DIY article or an advice column, because it may present different suggestions than someone could read in the Inquirer or magazines such as TIME or the Economist.

Alexandra B: I hope that think continues to improve with each issue in the future.  Because this is a new magazine to Harriton, our staff is bursting with ideas and a variety of creative ways to help think get off to a great start.  I really want to see these new creative improvements grow and continue as the magazine moves into the future.  I do not want think to settle in as being good enough in future years, I sincerely hope that it builds upon its greatness with every issue that comes after the first and is always making improvements.  I also would like to see think reach as many readers as possible in the Harriton community.  I hope for it to be in the hands of all teachers, students and staff.

-What do you think was the main reason that the Harriton Banner will be publishing a magazine?

Victoria A.L: The Banner used to be a print paper, with new editions coming out every month. In recent years, the Banner has shifted into a primarily online paper with just a few hard copy editions per year. I think the main reason for the launch of think is that the Banner wanted to bring back some form of print journalism to Harriton for publicity. A print magazine might lure readers who didn’t know about the online site. Other reasons for the magazine’s launch include that we want to cover longer or more obscure stories that the website might not cover and we want to give Banner writers an opportunity to work in a different area of journalism. A magazine demands different strategies in design and publicity and writing from a newspaper, especially an online one.

Gillian B: I think one of the Banner’s overarching goals is to be more popular and accessible to the Harriton community and beyond. Newspapers aren’t for everyone, and now that the news has switched running mostly off an online platform, it might be nice to have some Harriton articles in a glossy format, which is easy to pick up

Alexandra B: Last year, many Banner staff and readers wanted to see more print editions of the newspaper come out.  Mr. Crooke and some Banner editors came up with the idea of having a magazine because it would be a way of coming out with more print editions.  Not only that, but it would also be a fresh, unique approach that would draw in more viewers and create a new path for the Banner to explore.

-How do you think the printed copies of the magazines will compare to the online edition of the Banner that is already available? 

Victoria A.L: It’s very hard to make any comparison between the two- they’re so different. The online Banner has seven sections to divide articles by- so depending on its content, an article could be labeled and placed in a certain part of the site with like articles. The magazine doesn’t necessarily have a News section or an Opinion section (though that could be a possibility in future issues). For now, we have a lot of individual pieces that might not fit into concrete sections but are all interesting and fun.

Like I said before, a magazine and a paper are really different forms of media. The Banner‘s articles are current to their publishing date and focused on a specific issue – the HTC play on November 20-23. think‘s articles are a lot more general, both in time covered and in the topic. The stress article is a perfect example – it covers an issue that happens 24/7 throughout the whole year and is experienced differently by each person. It was originally planned to be a Banner article, but I think it fits even better in the magazine.

In terms of look and design, readers of the Banner won’t see much that they recognize in the printed copies of think. Alexandra Branscom, my assistant editor, is leading the design department in using artwork and photos from Harriton artists, which is very exciting. Our logo is different from the Banner’s – our sponsor, Mr. Crooke, suggested the name to pay tribute to one of our former magazine title ideas, Ink. To be very symbolic about it, we’re all about using “ink”, the basic material for journalism, to make people “think” more deeply about Harriton.

Gillian B: Having the Banner online is great because it is a news source, and it is constantly updated and easy to access. However, since think has more seasonally based articles which can be read more than once, it might be more special to actually hold a student-printed entertainment source and browse through it.

Alexandra B: The printed copies of the magazines will be similar to the online version because it will feature many of the same writers and have similar topics being written about.  Even though the topics and writers will be similar, no two articles between the online and print editions will be the same. think will be primarily features type articles, whereas the online Banner has many other sections such as spotlight, opinion, sports, news, and humor.  The magazine will have all new articles that have never touched the online version.  think will also have a more visual component to it.  Instead of a typical newspaper look, like the online version, it will have more colors and things to look at.

-When will the magazine be coming out?? 

Victoria A.L: When we return from Winter Break!!

-Anything else?

Gillian B: Everyone should check out our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Victoria A.L: Leading up to the publishing date, Gillian Bobnak, the other assistant editor, has organized some staff members in a publicity effort over social media and other Harriton forums. We have a Facebook [thInk] (friend us!) and we’re also going to make posters and use the announcements to spread the word. Readers should look out for copies in the library, the main office, and the guidance office.

Alexandra B: Gillian is working very hard on publicity (Facebook page, twitter etc.).  My role is to design the magazine and direct the photography and art that goes into the magazine.  Victoria basically organizes everybody, figures out logistics, and helps edit articles.