Since 2008, retired English teacher Carolyn Dixon has run the Reflections Literary and Art magazine that showcased students creative abilities. In the upcoming semester, Honors English III and English II teacher Dan Barnes will be sponsoring the program.

“I wanted to take over Reflections because I love fostering students’ writings, particularly the creative pieces. I plan to work hard to create a quality literary magazine that showcases the talents of our students,” Barnes said.

With two returning members, Barnes has been promoting the return of the magazine through flyers and social media, hoping to increase membership when the program restarts.

“The Reflections program, in the past, has been based around creating a literary magazine that showcases students’ creative work in multiple mediums. In that sense, I won’t be changing much. I do plan to try and make it a bit more high profile and get more people involved,” Barnes said.

One change he will have to make is creating a more regimented structure for the meetings, which have been based around bringing in work to be coupled with an illustration and receiving feedback from their peers.

“The blank slate has been the biggest challenge [in taking over the program]. There was no structure, and no rules or guidelines prior to me taking over, and therefore no set purpose or goal. I’m working hard to add a little structure to the meetings and to the program.  In the future I expect growing pains. Having never done this before, I’m sure the students and I will run into various snags that we’ll have to figure out as we go,” Barnes said.

Using students who have been involved in the program in past years and involving other teachers who have different areas of expertise, including Publications teacher Debra Klevens, Barnes plans to overcome potential difficulties.

“[Reflections] will give students a platform to explore creative talents such as writing, photography, and art. We’ll work to create a tangible product that students can be proud of,” Barnes said.

The first meeting will be held after school on Thursday, Jan. 8 in the third floor computer lab, and will continue to meet weekly. The magazine will now be sharing information through twitter, @pwestreflection.