Stuy’s Other Publications

At a traditionally STEM-oriented high school like Stuyvesant, it may be surprising to hear that there’s a thriving publication community creating written and artistic works. But the student body at Stuyvesant has carved out a brilliant collection of publications in addition to the well-known Spectator to support the creative pursuits of the student body.

Caliper

Meeting day and place: Tuesday, Room 615E

Boasting the title of “one of the oldest high school literary magazines in the country” on Stuyvesant’s official website, it’s no question that Caliper has ingrained deep roots into the community of Stuyvesant and its culture. One stop into the Room 615E where Caliper meets every Tuesday and you will find the stacks of old issues—some feathery and antiquated, others glossy and newly printed. One could immerse themselves for hours in the creative works of Stuyvesant students from the last century.

But Caliper isn’t going anywhere. Caliper still publishes students’ art and writing in a magazine once or twice per year, and they still meet every week. Members respond to prompts and give each other constructive feedback. I spoke with Katherine Sanchez, senior and current President of the Caliper magazine. “I’ve been a part of Caliper for four years, so it’s very important to me,” Sanchez said. “It’s an important part of Stuy’s history. It’s just supposed to be a community of writers here at Stuy, because it’s kind of lacking here.”

Sanchez found the community to be very supportive through her four years at Caliper. “I felt there were all these people [who] were happy to hear my work, even if it wasn’t that good. I think positive reinforcement is really nice. To have the community of people that you can go back to every Tuesday. I always viewed the Caliper Heads [the term to describe Caliper presidents] as mentors,” she said.

In addition, Sanchez has taken strides to revolutionize the interaction between the Caliper Heads and the writers. Caliper is offering a new pilot program in which any student can create and publish their very own zine of two to three pages containing any art or genre of writing. The relationship between the writer and the Caliper staff could be “one-sided because you never could see them make the magazine,” Sanchez explained. “Members may forget about it if they don’t go to meetings.” Her solution is the new program in which the Caliper staff will mentor others in the process of creating a magazine and also provide funding for it. She believes that the program will provide an incentive for students to become more active in Caliper because they can be a part of the creation process. Sanchez also noted that the whole Caliper experience will be changed, as she is working on developing a website for Caliper that will have the archives of all their past issues.

Antares

Meeting day and place: Fridays, Room Variable

“Antares is your wormhole to […] the future—or any place—where anything can happen,” the website for Antares claims. Stuyvesant’s Science Fiction and Fantasy publication, Antares, fills a distinct niche at Stuyvesant. “We’re a Sci-Fi and Fantasy magazine that focuses on art and writing, including traditional art, digital art, digital manipulation, [and] 3D,” junior and Antares president Daisy Shay said. “We’re pretty flexible about genre, so it could range from anything from hardcore Sci-Fi like Star Wars [to] Fantasy—like a supernatural occurrence—but we’re generally very focused beyond that.”

Shay thinks that what sets Antares apart from the rest of Stuyvesant publications is that their community works in a very “intimate setting […] with the other members,” she said. She thinks what makes Antares so rewarding is “really just interacting with other club members both old and new. It’s nice to see what freshmen can bring to the table.”

Regarding her presidency, Shay, who is new to the position, mentioned, “It’s great how the seniors […] have been able to help me in the leading process.” As president, she increased advertising with posters around the school. With the cooperation of the old and new members, she feels Antares has become “much more vibrant than it was before,” she said.

Moonlight

Meeting day and place: Thursdays, Room 337

A publication that has emerged as an outlet for student expression with art, writing, and other creative mediums, Moonlight publishes online biweekly. “We wanted to offer people freedom to express themselves however they want. Traditional art, digital art, poems, short stories,” junior and Moonlight co-president Lea Shvarts said. The publication was founded last year as a way to “really focus on building a community where we can all grow stronger together. We edit everything that people submit and provide plenty of comments all the time to help our members develop their creative voice,” she said. She also talked about their mentorship program. “A member can request a mentor to work one-on-one to come up with writing and art prompts and to hone in on specific skills that [they] may be struggling with,” she described.

Shvarts also noted that Moonlight differs from Caliper and Antares because they “have more frequent publications so that students [can] see their pieces published soon after they submit,” she said.

But Shvarts also mentions that Moonlight is more than just an online publication. The club, which meets every other Thursday in Room 337, is structured as a creative seminar studio. The meetings “bring together a tight-knit community of writers and artists where we work on activities [and] we all contribute to create something really special,” she said. Examples of such activities she noted were “a comic strip—it was a medley of a lot of different art styles” and a “spread where we paired writers and photographers to collaborate on a piece of writing,” she said. Members “get to bond in our meetings in a intimate setting and then produce writing or art that reflects that,” she concluded.