The Chico Unified School District has terminated funding for high school literary magazines; our student newspaper folded, as well. We are determined to keep our last student voice. This year, as last, the Chico High Literary Magazine is wholly self-funded, and the staff conducts multiple fundraisers throughout the school term. The last two editions, we have worked with bookstores, our faculty and student body, and the community at large. This year, however, we hope to expand “Seven-Eighths Under Water” beyond the average 100 pages. We turn away so many outstanding pieces simply because of insufficient funds. For many of our published artists and authors this is a rare and often groundbreaking experience. The privilege and honor of publication is thrilling for those who have never had the opportunity, and we find that they have a new faith in their abilities. The first year, 2006-2007, was a simple book design. The following year, we included with the book a CD of original performance poetry and musical compositions. The 2008-2009 edition boasted a DVD, filmed in the Chico High Williams Theater. This year, we look forward to filming another DVD, and making an online edition of the book available. We are also quite excited at the prospect of printing color photography and artwork. Color printing, even in small amounts, is prohibitively expensive, and every year we have made the painful decision to limit submissions to black and white. For the 2009-2010 literary magazine we would love to open the door to color submissions and to expansion.

The Chico High School student body is an overwhelming assembly of varying backgrounds, ethnicities, and life experiences. Considering the potential of our youth, it is a shame to leave such a large portion of our very diverse student body without an outlet for creative expression. This is where the Chico High literary magazine staff and I have stepped in. To ensure our students have the opportunity to voice and display their wonderfully original and surprisingly insightful brainchildren, we provide that chance with our student-made annual publication, “Seven-Eighths Under Water.” I love the students with whom I work. A more creative, dedicated, energetic, well-versed group of students spanning 9th through 12th grade would be difficult to locate. The literary magazine provides a literary and artistic haven for those students desiring to become intimate with the process of working with authors and artists, develop a publishable literary collection, and learn about publishing. Every year we fight not only for permission to exist as a group, but also for the funding for what we believe is an irreplaceable compilation.

This year will mark my third year working with “Seven-Eighths Under Water,” and my second as Editor-in-Chief. Weeks into the school year we are in full swing, receiving submissions, working with authors, and developing the 2009-2010-edition format. Publishing the Chico High literary magazine is a yearlong process, and we typically release the book in May. Every week, the literary staff, a group of roughly two-dozen high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, collaborates after school for four to five hours. Throughout the school year, we release four periodic submission deadlines. As a group, the literary staff reads and evaluates all submissions, written and artistic, to determine eligibility for publication. We also host a set of auditions for the performance portion of the Chico High Literary magazine, our DVD, “The Underwater Café.” The literary staff is always willing to work with authors whom we believe have an eligible piece that needs revising. During these months, we type and format submissions as we accept them. Every author provides a small bio and their grade, which we include at the end of the published book. In late March, we post our final call for submissions, and begin the process of refining the magazine, before sending the final manuscript to a local printing shop.

We constantly seek editors and contributors. That said, we are a site-specific organization, and every piece we publish comes from current or former Chico High students. However, as the 100-page production is a large undertaking with a large price tag for a group of unfunded high school students, we are always open to fundraising opportunities and publicity. Beyond our ultimate goal of creating the literary magazine, we hope to impress upon our school board that the existence of student publications, such as “Seven-Eighths Under Water,” is essential. To that end, increasing awareness of our publication is a vital part of our survival as a group in coming years.