Aerie InternationaL - Missoula County Public Schools

Noll, whose self-portrait wraps the cover of the 2009 Aerie International, has
superimposed newspaper articles and obituaries across his very elongated
frame, a cut out cityscape in the background and what might be paper
waves rolling in the space between the city and the figure. The visual artists
and photographers are doing the same thing the writers are, discovering and
sharing their images and comments on the world.
I wrote an article earlier this year about the effect of publishing on
student writing. I asked my own students for their thoughts. Katie brought
home the public nature of art and what it does for all of us: “Getting
published is one of the most empowering things in the world. We all write
secretly in journals at night about our lives and what’s happening, but when
that writing gets published, you just know that someone else out there
understands and believes in what you are feeling or saying or thinking.”
In retrospect, perhaps it is that notion more than any other this journal
hopes to offer. A place where art can explore and affirm who we are and
who we hope to be. When we have the opportunity to share those things,
how can the world grow anything but a little closer?
We have many people to thank, people who have transformed this effort
into helping build a literary and art community among far ranging youth.
First, thank you to everyone in my immediate radius who picks up the
pieces tumbling from my hands as deadlines and fund raisers and readings
approach—that includes my family and friends and my teaching partners,
all of whom are exceedingly generous with their assistance and their
indulgence. Thank you, too, to the families who support the giving of our
awards—we are proud to continue a tradition of such remarkable writers
and artists. We can only hope to pass on some of what they have offered
us. Thank you to our Advisory Board, which convened at school this spring
for our first formal Advisory Board meeting. For the Aerie students, these
writers and artists are rock stars. Not only were our editors honored to
be meeting, but the board was incredibly supportive of what the students
have accomplished and equally ready with fantastic ideas for the future.
Thank you as well to all who have supported us financially. The reality is
that money makes it possible to do this sometimes overwhelming, always
inspiring work. Finally, thank you to everyone who has submitted and
everyone who subscribes to Aerie International. It is critical that we support
what we believe in with our time and our money. Poetry and art are not
inherently lucrative endeavors. They exist because we deem them essential
and because we support them. Give subscriptions for Aerie International to
your nephews and nieces and grandparents. Encourage your high school
and local libraries to subscribe. Pass the word. We want Aerie International
not only to be about the students who are published, but about sharing the
art and writing created by young people with as wide an audience as we can
possibly reach. Help us make those connections.
Thank you!
Lorilee Evans-Lynn, Advisor