Rhinebeck High School student publications “Murmur” and “The Rhinebeck Dispatch” received 2024 Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) Awards.
REALM recognizes literary magazines produced by students with assistance from their teachers and is designed to encourage schools to have literary magazines.
“Murmur” received a superior award, and “The Rhinebeck Dispatch” was rated excellent by the judges.
“It feels really cool and I’m really surprised,” said junior Adrian Jensen, editor of “Murmur.” “It means so much to know that my work paid off in such a big way. I’m glad ‘Murmur’ is being enjoyed and recognized.”
Jensen, who also is part of the high school newspaper “Rhinebeck Reality,” described “Murmur” as “our reflection of student voices across Rhinebeck schools through creative writing, journalism and poetry.”
Adviser Katelin Grande praised Jensen’s efforts.
“She showed a lot of leadership and perseverance because I’m sure there were some days when she didn’t want to be the only student working on it,” said Grande. “She showed a lot of character, creativity and leadership in seeing the project through. I’m really proud of her.”
As for future “Murmurs,” Grande would like to have more students involved, and Jensen added she would enjoy seeing more artwork featured.
“I love a lot of the pieces that are being featured in the hallways right now,” she said. “I think ‘Murmur’ could really benefit because I don’t think it’s just about writing pieces. I think it’s about art in general, which includes some of these things I’m seeing in school. It’s really impressive stuff and I want them to be recognized for their work.”
Sarah Wheeler is the adviser for “The Rhinebeck Dispatch,” which was created in the style of “The New Yorker.” In the issue that was judged, student editors and now Rhinebeck graduates Frances Nathan and Ezra Steinman decided to focus the issue on food the kids loved in the Hudson Valley.
The December 2024 edition is available and features stories on a new school cellphone policy, the Section IX varsity boys soccer championship team and the new eight-day rotating schedule. It also has some recipes, including ones for holiday cookies and pumpkin muffins and cupcakes.
“It always takes time to plan, draft, and revise articles for an issue of the school newspaper, but the learning curve and invisible labor involved for the kids doing the writing and the layout in Adobe InDesign really deserves extra accolades,” said Wheeler.