John Cooper art & literary publication wins prestigious Silver Crown award from CSPA

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - For the first time in the publication’s history, the 2014 issue of Inkblots, The John Cooper School’s art and literary magazine entitled “Echoes and Aftershocks” won a prestigious Silver Crown award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA).

The CSPA announced its top awards for scholastic publications at the 91st annual Scholastic Convention on March 20 at Columbia University in New York City. A total of 1,203 newspapers, magazines and yearbooks and digital publications issued during the 2013-2014 academic year were eligible for judging in the 2015 Crown Awards Program.

“They awarded 39 Crowns to print, high school magazines,” said Peter Elliott, faculty advisor for Inkblots. “Of those, only four were awarded to schools in Texas.”

CSPA also features spreads from the 2014 issue of Inkblots on their Student Review website and the judges have selected the cover and three spreads to feature on their compilation DVD that is distributed to all members.

The summary CSPA offers about Inkblots reads, “The Reader is immediately drawn to Inkblots’ color and design. The staff marries art and text on each spread with special attention paid to the different shades of gray employed in the artful layouts. Of note is the utmost care that is taken to accurately render 3D art in a 2D format.”

“Ten years ago, when I advised my first volume of Inkblots, we reached out to schools on these honored lists in an attempt to find models of what we could become,” said Elliott of the annual publication featuring the creative work of Cooper’s artists and writers. “To be part of this esteemed group is a tremendous acknowledgement of the work that students have put into the magazine, not just last year, but over the last 10.”

“We have been honored by other national organizations over the last few years, but a Crown Award from CSPA is, in many ways, the pinnacle of achievement,” concluded Elliott. National Associations Laud 2014 Publication Inkblots also continues to elicit highest praise in the form of critiques. CSPA gave the magazine a Gold ranking for the seventh consecutive year with three All-Columbian honors for Essentials, Verbal and Visual.

“We received an almost perfect score from Columbia (Scholastic Press Association) when the association has made the rubric harder and that’s incredibly impressive,” said Elliott.

CSPA also recognized three individual pieces with Gold Circle Awards. Emily Beckler ’14 earned third place in traditional fiction for “Red Branches of the Willow” and considered merit in traditional fiction for “Shattered.” Molly Garrison ’14 earned third place in experimental fiction for “Inside the Jaws.”

The National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) gave the annual publication All-American honors for the fourth consecutive year with four Marks of Distinction for Content; Writing and Editing; Photography, Art, Graphics, and Typography; and Layout. The publication’s first-ever entry with The American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) earned a first place ranking.

For the fifth consecutive year the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines presented the 2014 edition with its highest award. Inkblots is one of 30 schools recognized nationally and only one of three in Texas recognized by the NCTE.

“It is definitely an honor to receive recognition,” said Shannon Klein, 2014 Inkblots editor-in- chief. “We don’t like to stay confined to what we’ve always done so we use the feedback we get each year. We look to see who also did well and we do a book exchange. This year we even skyped with a school in Chicago to trade tips and ideas and ideas.”