The opening page of Below the Surface, last school year’s literary and arts magazine featuring the writing and art by students at KIPP Harmony Academy (KIPP), reads:
Stories, poems, and art often reveal more than what meets the eye. They take us beyond the obvious, beneath the surface, into the depths of emotions, experiences, and truths that are not immediately seen but felt.
This edition of our literary magazine invites you to explore what lies beneath - the hidden meanings, unspoken thoughts, and untold stories that shape who we are. Whether it's the quiet struggle behind a smile, the history beneath a place, or the imagination lurking just below consciousness, our contributors have ventured into the unseen to bring forth works that challenge, inspire, and resonate.
As you turn these pages, we encourage you to look beyond the words and images, to read between the lines, and to discover the layers of meaning that wait just below the surface.
Enjoy the journey.
For the students in the Charm Magazine club at KIPP, the journey of producing the magazine was both inspiring and impactful.
“The magazine let me express myself,” said one student. “I became more open to how I feel.”
“I learned not to be afraid to share my thoughts," said another club member.
Dontria Cole, the magazine’s advisor and a Math Interventionist at KIPP, echoed the value of the experience. “The magazine gives students an outlet, an opportunity to be whoever they want to be.”
Below the Surface features 22 original poems, drawings, and photographs by KIPP’s fourth-, fifth-, and middle-school students. The members of the Club selected the theme Below the Surface “after a lot of back-and-forth and candid conversation. They wanted to explore what's going on below what people see from the outside,” says Ms. Cole.
The students’ creative work explores topics such as feelings, self-reflection, honesty, and anticipation. Lauren in grade 5 wrote in her poem, “One day I’ll let the truth shine through-Like the sun warming my skin, Like light breaking through the dark.” Fifth grader DeLani’s photograph depicts a student sitting behind a sign reading, “I’m Trying.” Other poems are titled “Words We Carry” and “Graduation Day.”
“We encourage students to choose a theme that’s not too narrow but broad enough to invite interpretation,” notes Whitney Birenbaum, Executive Director of CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth. This literary arts organization has featured the work of over 1,200 students from 50 City Schools since its founding in 2004. CHARM’s mission is to support young people as they develop as writers and provide a platform to amplify their voices through publication.
CHARM provides Club leaders with professional development activities, lesson plans, one-on-one support, and opportunities to collaborate on topics such as writing prompts and encouraging magazine submissions. CHARM provides a graphic designer for each school to work with in designing the magazine, and then prints the magazine at a local print shop for schools.
At KIPP, Club members met two or three times a week, depending on their schedules. Students took increasing leadership roles as the school year progressed and their magazine began to take shape. “At first, they were a bit intimidated by the process,” said Ms. Cole, but they learned to run meetings on their own. “They ran with it. They took the lead in planning everything about the magazine, even the launch party for it.”
Four eighth graders served as Below the Surface’s Student Editorial Board. In the acknowledgements of the magazine, they thank Ms. Cole for invaluable “support and encouragement throughout this process” and school librarian Theresa Bruce for “ensuring that this opportunity… providing space for our artistic expression… was made available to us.”
The artistic expression and the process of creating the magazine had an impact. Ms. Cole mentions one student who, at the beginning of the year, felt like she didn’t have friends. After collaborating with other members and talking to them about her poem, “she came out of her shell. The magazine helped her work through her emotions.”
The process of creating the magazine supports many of the tenets outlined in City Schools' Portrait of a Graduate, including a focus on literacy, providing out-of-classroom opportunities to enhance learning, celebrating student voices, and incorporating the arts as part of a well-rounded education.