Inspire Magazine Lives Up to its Name for Middle Schoolers

The Summit Educational Foundation says INSPIRE, the newly all-digital literary annual publication for Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School is going strong and will continue in the coming school year.

The SEF-funded publication exists to present the LCJSMS community’s art and writing, and to provide a creative extracurricular opportunity for those students in need of an outlet for self-expression. 

Ashley Gallagher is the LCJSMS teacher who oversees INSPIRE Magazine and helped write the grant that won SEF funding for the project. 

“It has been such an exciting experience establishing the INSPIRE Magazine as an outlet for all of the wonderfully creative work done by students and faculty here at LCJSMS," she said. "INSPIRE Magazine not only represents students' classroom work, but also personal projects that students and faculty members complete on their own time.  With the addition of 'going digital' this year, INSPIRE Magazine is now able to accept almost any kind of creative work, extending beyond just text and images to include interactive components such as videos and music.  

"Plus, unlike past years, INSPIRE Magazine is free for all to view and enjoy on our middle school webpage."  

The publication is a hit with Hilltopper youth.

"I like INSPIRE because you can put anything out there, like drawings, poems, and videos," said seventh grader Stefanie Castillo. "No one will judge you.  You just get to show what you have been working on and then share it with the Summit community."