Montgomery County Community College’s Art & Literature Magazine, Synchronicity, was awarded First Place in the 2018 American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) Annual Contest/Review for Scholastic Yearbooks, Magazines and Newspapers in the magazine category.

The Arts & Literature Magazine features a collection of artwork, poetry and prose created by Montco students. The 2017-2018 student editorial staff included Editor-in-Chief Alexandra R. Dodge and Art Editor Jocelyn Belisle.

The first-place award is a national award among colleges from across the United States and the second highest honor a college magazine can receive from ASPA. The contest judged Synchronicity on writing, layout and design and overall visual quality.

Dodge and Belisle led the editorial staff which consisted of students Derek Brown, Lucy Derstine and Sara Wilkerson. The title and theme Synchronicity was selected by Dodge.

“The word and the definition of Synchronicity had been bouncing around in my head since I created the cover,” Dodge remarked. “Once we received some of the short stories and poems, the name stuck because of the reoccurring theme of coincidences of fate.”

The magazine includes 21 literature selections, including poetry and prose, and 44 art selections, including the cover. The student editors and staff reviewed and voted on what pieces would go in the Magazine.

"The work of the Montgomery County Community College student that we featured in the Art & Literature Magazine was diverse, raw and powerful. I’m very proud of what our student body was able to achieve,” said Dodge.

The Magazine is a creative partnership between the Fine Arts Program and the English Department that has been co-advised by English Instructor Thomas Powers and Art Senior Lecturer Christopher Stanley since 2011. The advisers appoint the Editor-in-Chief and guide the students, but the students make the decisions regarding the content and the direction of the Magazine.

“The students run the meetings, design the flyers, manage all of the incoming submissions and choose what goes in the Magazine,” commented Powers and Stanley. “As advisors, we guide them in that process and help them to interface with the Student Leadership and Involvement office and the company who is printing the publication.”

Other Montco staff and faculty involved with the production of Synchronicity include Humanities Administrative Assistant Nancy Atkinson, English Senior Lecturer Susan Buchler, Dr. Michele Cuomo, Humanities Administrative Assistant Faith Green, Support Secretary Diana McGuire, English Associate Professor Dr. Tiffany Rayl, Art Senior Lecturer Deborah Riccardi, English Professor Dr. Marc Schuster, Art Professor Frank Short and Director of Student Life Tyler Steffy.

The 2018-2019 edition of the Magazine will be titled Replication. Current Editor-in-Chief Emily McLaughlin looks forward to featuring artistic ideals and inspiring future generations of writers and artists.