Last year, Aledo Student Media adviser Emily Pyeatt Arnold spoke with then-junior Claire Kennedy about starting a literary arts magazine to celebrate and inspire students’ creative expression.

“This is a passion project for sure. We wanted to showcase all the amazing things our fine arts students create but also feature creative writing and graphic design,” Arnold said. “Mr. Peterson also thought starting the publication was a great idea, so we decided to move forward with the project.”

The name “Catalyst” was chosen because it connotes action and has a connection to Aledo Bearcats. A promo video was created. Then quarantine happened.

This year, announcements were made to gather students who wanted to participate a couple of times during flex. But ultimately, Aledo Student Media staffers in news production and yearbook classes collected submissions from students via [email protected] and from English, art and graphic design teachers.

The staffers selected several pieces from the submissions to create the first 32-page issue. 200 printed copies will arrive before the end of the school year, but the magazine can be viewed online here: https://issuu.com/aledo.catalyst/docs/catalyst__issue_1

Students who would like to help create future issues should sign up for news production first period next year. In addition to a tech credit, the CTE class can count for a professional communications (speech) credit.

Submissions for future issues can be sent to [email protected].