by Carol Keefer, Reporter

The Flame is the literary magazine of the Jim Thorpe Area Senior High School. It showcases writing from the students in the district from grades nine through twelve. It was created by Mrs. Miller, an English teacher and English Department chair at JTHS.

“This year was my first year taking Creative Writing, and I must say that it was a very fun experience. I made a lot of new friends and I had a few pieces in published in this year’s edition of The Flame! I’m also very pleased to say that one of my pieces went so far as to be published in the printed copy of Teen Ink,” said Erik McClain-Walter, a sophomore at JTHS.

The magazine has been a dream in the school for many years, according to Mrs. Miller. She is glad she has finally made that dream into a reality.

“When I first started teaching in Jim Thorpe in 1994, I started at what was then the Junior High, 7th and 8th grade. I replaced a Mr. Todd Christopher, who taught some classes at the Junior High and some at the Senior High.  He was in our district for only two short years, but had begun a collection of student writing that he entitled The Flame. I found a single copy of it in the drawer of the desk I had inherited. It was just a thing that had been stapled together between a decorated construction paper cover, but it intrigued me. My dream was to one day continue that endeavor, but to take it to a more sophisticated level. I realized this dream when I was transferred to the high school and some students approached me with their idea to begin a poetry magazine. Mrs. Jennifer Borzillo, who was one of our two guidance counselors at the time, and I became co-advisors.  The first edition of The Flame was printed in Spring of 2005. We had no budget, so we had to use leftover paper that we found in the school’s storage room, and we ran the magazine off on the color copier in the office. We then had the members of The Flame staff staple the pages together,” recalls Mrs. Miller.

The Flame is put together using only the finest stories and poems created by the students. There are many genres of writing involved as well.

“Fine quality writing is what is chosen to appear in the magazine. While most of the pieces are chosen from the Creative Writing classes, any Jim Thorpe High School student may submit work to me for consideration. There is a variety of types of writing, with modalities that include College Essay, Horror, Poetry, and Personal Narratives, among others.”

While The Flame is Mrs. Miller’s pride and joy, many students look forward to it as well.

“I am very excited to see the works of my friends and fellow classmates. It makes me proud to know that our writing was worthy of being published in a school-wide magazine. It truly makes your day when you look down at your returned final copy and you see ‘Flame’ scrawled across it in Mrs. Miller’s fancy cursive,” said McClain-Walter.

This year’s The Flame is said to be finished near the end of May. It is being put together by a wonderful group of artists, editors, and authors, and it is highly anticipated by the Jim Thorpe High School students and staff.

According to Mrs. Miller, “I am looking forward to this being the best issue to date. I have two co-editors-in-chief who are both very knowledgeable regarding layout, Drea Buckzewski and Maggie Holloway. We also have many well-written pieces that cover a multitude of modalities, as well as talented artists and photographers. We always try to make the current issue better than the previous year’s.”