After four years, the Students Political Education Club published its first magazine: Perspectives.
A nonpartisan magazine designed for students to share their political views, Perspectives debuted on Nov. 11, just six days after the 2024 Presidential Election. The magazine featured a diverse range of opinions and political cartoons penned by high school students.
President of SPEC Jacob Green discovered Perspectives through the club’s Instagram page.
“The last issue was published before any of us were even in high school,” Green said. “I thought it would be cool to bring it back, and I knew we could do it better.”
After talking to Lori Fryman, Upper School Assistant Dean of Students, SPEC secured funding from the administration to print three issues over the school year, making Perspectives the fourth publication of the School, along with The Review, Imagination and Quadrangle.
To create the issue, Print and Online Editor-in-Chief Amanda Brantley, and cartoonists Madison Mann and Caroline Chiao joined the SPEC board. Brantley offered to help design the issue after Green told her about it during their history class.
“I honestly thought it wasn’t going to go anywhere as it began as a new venture in senior year,” Brantley said. “But a week or so later he added me to the SPEC board GroupMe and it was clear this was going to get off the ground.”
Starting the design process at the beginning of the semester, Brantley created page layouts and design standards, including fonts and spacing, to create a 20-page finished product with eight opinions, five cartoons and one survey.
SPEC’s goal for Perspectives is to provide students a platform to share their views and engage readers with those opinions in a thoughtful way and without an impulsive reaction in a politically polarized climate.
“There hasn’t been a good platform in our School to write about politics in a thoughtful way. The enthusiasm is out there, and we just have to bring it out of people,” Green said.
Having been a tense election year, many, including senior Tycho Larsen, were initially hesitant to submit to Perspectives. Yet when encouraged by others, Larsen seized the opportunity to engage in political participation and civil discourse, two values he resonates with.
By writing about the role of third parties in the election, Larsen emphasized their potential to reshape the country’s political landscape. He views Perspective as a way to not only “express political views and values but also highlight multifaceted perspectives and diversity of political thought.”
For Green, the goal is to establish Perspectives as a staple in the community, ensuring that after he graduates next spring, the magazine will remain active and not need a revival in the next four years.
The SPEC board has worked to reignite interest within the club, which had been relatively inactive in recent years. Through various forums, collaboration with other clubs and an assembly on civil discourse, SPEC has worked to spread political awareness and education.
“They did a good job of including different Perspectives (pardon the pun), but I liked the fact they allowed students to publish anonymously because it lets people express what could be unpopular opinions without fear of getting hate,” junior Reese Williams said.
If you are interested in submitting to the next issue of Perspectives, which is releasing on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day,reach out to SPEC’s Instagram at spec.sjs or email Jacob Green.
