Colton, CA—A video being circulated around campus demands students “submit” their most creative work to the Colton Underground.
It’s a strange, startling commercial for the first literary magazine in Colton High School history.
According to CHS Publications advisor Jeremiah Dollins, the Colton Underground stands to become a storehouse for the creative work Colton High students are doing, both in class and on their own.
“On our campus, we often celebrate student athletics, student activities, but we seldom seem to celebrate student creativity,” said Dollins. “With the Colton Underground, we have a huge opportunity to show the community just how creative our Colton High students are.”
The 48-page magazine will feature short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, artwork and photography. All work will be produced by Colton High students.
“I just want to make my mark on Colton High history,” said editor Rudy Martinez. “I feel a lot of people should want to be involved with it. After all, who doesn’t want to be a part of history?”
Colton Underground is a collaboration between the Publications department—which also oversees the Pepper Bough and Crimson & Gold yearbook—and ROP Graphic Communications. Students in Dollins’ Creative Writing class will edit the magazine, while students in Tom Wurz’s Advanced Graphic Design course will design the book.
Wurz is excited about the collaboration. “We have the equipment to do it, we have the software to do it. And what is really exciting is I have two students to do it. Today I went over and I looked at their monitors and they’re working on the mockups for it.”
One of those designers is Clay Vega. “It’s been fun and really different than what I’ve ever done,” she said.
“I think it’s fun because I have a lot more freedom in how I design templates,” added Aiden Woods, who is working with Vega to design the book.
According to Dollins, the Colton Underground may be the first literary magazine in the school’s 129 year history. “Since taking over the publications department, we have found yearbooks dating back to 1906, issues of the Pepper Bough going back to the 1920s, but no evidence of a literary publication. This does not mean Colton has not had one, but unless an alumni somewhere has evidence, it looks like ours might be the first.”
The evocative name of the magazine came as a result of a brainstorm session in Creative Writing. As students played around with bee and yellowjacket puns, one asked aloud “Do yellowjackets actually buzz?” A quick Google search revealed that the insect does buzz, but also lives in hives they build underground.
Colton Underground is currently accepting submissions. Students are encouraged to submit their work online via a Google Form. Submission guidelines are on the form. The first window for submission closes on Dec. 13 for the winter break. A second submission window will open on Jan. 20 until Feb. 28.
