Deciding a theme, designing pages, selecting art and writing, and ensuring each club member meets deadlines are just some of the responsibilities of Menagerie’s Editor-in-Chief, Suzanne Avakian ‘26. 

“[Menagerie] quite literally is student-run,” Literary Advisor Gretchen Kulat said. “Not only [do we have] student editors, but also the students create all of the work too, so [as advisors], we really kind of sit back and let them run the show, and I think that is really unique.”

Menagerie is a literary and art magazine club that meets throughout the year, Literary Advisor Joseph Maffey said. All students across both campuses are able to submit work and be part of the club. 

“We really hope for a lot of underclassmen to join,” Avakian said. “It can be hard for freshmen and sophomores to join this club because not a lot of people know about it or know what we do in it, but we just hope that by moving [some of our meetings] to SC, more underclassmen will join.”

This year is unique as it marks Menagerie’s 50th anniversary of publishing. It began as a special section packaged with issues of the LION newspaper.

“We want to make sure we are highlighting the students from this year and also capture the fact that this has been around since the ‘70s,” Maffey said.

For the staff, the first semester is predominantly about getting submissions of literary work and art. The literary deadline has passed as it was on Jan. 20. However, students can still submit artwork until Feb. 27. Throughout the second semester, students go through all of the submissions, determining what they want to include in the magazine. 

“I like to see the planning stages,” Kulat said. “We have a new staff every year, with only some [students from the previous year] carrying over. There is a lot of room for growth, but it is really cool to see them put their ideas together and come up with a theme and see that play out step by step.”

Last year’s staff, made up of predominantly seniors, created a magazine that achieved a Pacemaker, which is the highest award available from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA). The issue also placed eighth in NSPA’s Best in Show category at the fall 2024 convention in Philadelphia.

“I think it is really cool how everyone works together on this bigger piece,” Avakian said. “It is something real that gets published, and everyone gets their own copy. You see it and can say, I designed that page. I contributed to this, and now it’s a real published thing that everyone in school can get.”

While there currently is not a set distribution date, Menagerie plans to be distributed sometime in May.