In the spring of the 2016-2017 school year, the returning Literary Magazine would find it’s two new sponsors: Mr. Daniel Gould and Mr. Joe Niezgoda. In Literary Magazine, students can write fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and editorials that will be published in magazines. Now, this club (full of BBCHS high school students) is active and getting to work.

When asked why they decided to take lead on this club, Gould stated, “The post was posted in the spring of 2016. Mr. Niezgoda and I, being interested in literature, storytelling, and being english teachers and close friends, it seemed like a good fit.” Niezgoda continued, “In years past, it was run by one person, so we had the idea to sort of split it since Danny and I have different strengths and interests in terms of writing, art, and things like that.”  

While discussing the goal of Literary Magazine, Gould remarked, “It provides students with a space to express themselves in a creative format. To be able show readers and students their abilities of writing fiction and poetry and their artistic abilities.” This club gives the student body a voice in multiple different styles and allows them to comment on current issues facing our society.  Niezgoda furthered Gould’s explanation, “I think it also takes the pressure off a classroom setting where a student would know he or she is being graded on this piece they are writing.” Gould and Niezgoda have breathed new life into Literary Magazine.

There has always been a debate about the importance of art and writing in culture. Literary Magazine is a place where artists can go work on their craft. Both of the sponsors were asked about the significance of the arts, and Gould summarized their thoughts, “Well, for me, my general philosophy concerning the arts (or any kind of expressionism) is a direct reflection of our culture. The art a person or a group of people produces, in my opinion, cannot be separated from what is happening in that person’s life, and in that person’s culture, in that person’s world.”  Niezgoda agreed full heartedly.  

The members are currently working on their pieces for the first Magazine and Gould said, “This semester it is just going to be a digital copy and we are always going to have a digital copy.  The digital copy will be a lot larger because there won’t be many parameters on how large it can be, but we will also have physical copies in the future and they will be a little smaller because of the costs involved with producing a physical copies.” In terms of how students will access the digital copy, Niezgoda informed, “So we still have to talk to the tech department about this, but the hope is that tech will be able to push out a mass email to all student and faculty gmail accounts where the students and faculty will be able to access it as a pdf document.” Gould was also asked how students would be able to get the digital and physical copies, and he explained, “The digital part of the magazine will also be available at the school’s website and it’s going to be available on our social media pages through Twitter and Facebook. The physical copy of the journal, will be distributed during lunchtimes, in school, in the main lobby, and there will also be copies around the community.” After being asked about final comments, Niezgoda said, “I would like it to be something students who are currently freshmen, sophomores, juniors, something they would think about or consider being apart of in the future.” Gould concluded his thoughts “I just want students to be aware that this literary magazine is for everyone and it’ll look great on a college resume.”