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MIHS Creative Arts Magazine Receives Two First Class Ratings
High school students pose together standing in front of the school.

Pegasus, the Mercer Island High School Creative Arts Magazine, has been recognized with two First Class Ratings from two different scholastic organizations.

The 2024-25 issue of Pegasus has received a REALM First Class magazine rating from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), with the second First Class rating from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), which includes a Mark of Distinction for Writing and Editing.

These two national programs recognize the best high school literary magazines in the country. This is the third consecutive year that Pegasus has earned First Class honors from REALM, and the second consecutive year they have received the top NSPA rating.

The Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) program publicly recognizes excellent literary magazines produced by students with the support of their teachers. REALM is designed to encourage all schools to develop literary magazines that celebrate the art and craft of writing. Schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, US territories, Canada, and American schools abroad are eligible to nominate magazines.

This year, schools in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and six countries nominated 456 student magazines for a REALM award. Magazines from middle school, high school, and higher education were welcomed for the 2025 contest. 135 magazines were awarded the contest’s highest distinction, REALM First Class.

Pegasus is the product of the Writing and Publishing class in collaboration with its associated CTSO with some overlap. All decisions regarding piece selection, design, layout, editing, etc. are made by students in consultation with their teacher, Ms. Carrie Thompson.

Ms. Thompson states that she is "deeply proud of these students and their work on Pegasus. It's so gratifying to have a space for students to share their written and visual creativity in a lasting way, and to see their effort recognized nationally is a testament to the level of care and effort that is put in by students in the class and club. They run the show and I try to keep up as best as I can."

Learn more about Pegasus at https://www.mercerislandschools.org/.

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