For students at Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts, assistance from the editors of Martha Stewart Living in producing their own school magazine was definitely “a good thing.”
The school unveiled the resulting journal – the framed pages of which were prominently displayed on the walls of a transformed gym to oohs and ahs – during a party celebrating the collaboration, the participants and the organization that made it possible on a Friday evening just before school recessed for the summer.
Walking into the gym at the school, 101 Park Avenue, it was clear that the transformation which began with the magazine, McKinney Living, was being savored and reinterpreted throughout the school.
A glittering buffet enticed nibblers, as a jazz band played in one corner. In the other, a lighted recreation of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline provided additional atmosphere.
But, dominating everything was the lineup of pages – sassy and stylish – that reflected not only the school community but the commitment and determination of those who had put the magazine together.
The collaboration between the school and MSL unfolded over the course of months, as a true labor of love, with editors from the magazine spending hours at McKinney working with the students, and students from the school visiting MSL’s offices.
The project blossomed under the watchful eye of PENCIL, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating such partnerships between educational institutions and businesses.
McKinney’s Principal, Paula Holmes, said she was “very, very proud” of the students for what they had achieved. The collaboration, she added, “had legs in our building,” as other students with other interests refined their own efforts. That level of partnership in today’s times is rare,” Holmes stressed.
