Traces of Ms. Gardner's Mind in 2005
Class of 1995

What years did you participate in the literary magazine as a student?I was never on the literary magazine staff. I had had Mrs. Margaret Murphy as my 10th grade Honors English teacher, and I believe she encouraged me to submit my work. (For the record, though, I was a student at Penn Wood from the fall of 1992 through the spring of 1995.)

What were your roles? I think Mrs. Murphy wanted me to be on the editing staff, but as stated above, I was never on the staff itself, but submitted materials all three school years.

Why did you join/write for the literary magazine?I liked writing a lot when I was in high school. Most of it was "no one understands me" or "I'm so in love"-type poetry (you know; what teenagers usually write). I also had the good fortune of dating someone with whom I'm still friends, and we used to send poetry back and forth to each other. Some of that was actually good (well, mine anyway), and I submitted it to the literary magazine.

If you wrote for the magazine, about how many of your writings were published? I believe I had one or two pieces per year, depending on what I wrote. I think I had a few poems published in a single issue, but I believe that I only had an essay published my senior year. However, that was the essay I wrote for college applications, and not only was it in Traces of the Mind, but I also got accepted to the schools where that essay was sent.

How did your participation in the literary magazine affect you? I definitely used my "published" status when applying to colleges. Along with my applications, I mailed copies of work that had been in the literary magazine. It also seemed to reinforce the fact that others thought I was a good writer, even though I thought some of my work wasn't worth reading. I had also submitted a poem that was in the lit mag for a Young Writer's contest, and won the grand prize. Unfortunately, it was a book of Emily Dickinson's poetry, which was not and still is not the poet for me.

How do you feel you had an affect, if any, on the magazine? I think that anyone selected to have their work published is affected in that it encourages them as writers. Looking back on it, publication in the lit mag along with positive experiences with some of my teachers is probably what led me to major in English in college and to eventually become an English teacher myself.

Since you have come back to Penn Wood to teach English, you have become the magazine's advisor.

What was the process in taking over the magazine?I had been approached several times by Dr. Kathryn Garner, who had been vice principal when I was in PWHS as a student. As principal, she asked if I would be interested in advising the literary magazine. Apparently, Mrs. Murphy (who had retired, thus opening the position which I currently fill as an English teacher) had also expressed interest in me becoming the advisor. She had even left materials behind for me with instructions on what must be done in order for lit mag to run smoothly. After a month or two, I agreed to the position.

How do you feel you've changed the magazine? I think that a major change has been how the magazine is compiled. Originally, Mrs. Murphy had students type pieces separately, and attached them to master pages using a lightbox and rubber cement. I feel that, in this day and age, there is no reason to not take advantage of technology. Therefore, I started having the staff type the magazine pieces separately so they could all be combined into a single Microsoft Word file. All we need to do now before sending the magazine off to be printed is to affix the illustrations with, you guessed it, rubber cement.

What is the current environment within the magazine staff? How do you feel this affects the magazine as a finished product?Overall, I feel that the literary magazine staff has been very involved in the idea of wanting to create a quality product. It's a fun environment, yet, for the most part, work is done when needed. Having a relatively small staff helps as well, since everyone seems to get along. I also have tended to have creative, intelligent minds working on staff, and they are critical in helping to create an impressive literary magazine.

Closing comments?I have been extremely pleased with the last two magazines, and only hope that Traces of the Mind will continue to improve, whether or not I am still the advisor. I also hope that we can get a lot of quality submissions this year and every year. It certainly helps to make a good literary magazine.