In room D115, McCaskey’s literary magazine showcasing student work, mainly art, photography, and writing, comes to life. 

This magazine is called Burning Glass and one issue is produced during each school year with the help of the Literary Magazine Production Class and Burning Glass club. 

The newest volume of Burning Glass, volume 54, is being sold for $5 for students and $10 for teachers. You can buy it in room D115 and it will also be sold at graduation, along with issues 53 and 52. Issue 53 and 52 are sold at Foxduck Lancaster, Read Rose Books, and Pocket Books for 5 dollars.

Burning Glass has been around for a long time at McCaskey, but it’s constantly evolving. For one, it used to be called Generations. On top of this, it only truly circulated in the English department according to former McCaskey teacher and alum Nancy Val Kambouroglos. 

It wasn’t until the school year of 1970-1971 that Burning Glass writing submissions opened to the whole school and the name change occurred. As time went on, art and photography submissions were put in the magazine to make it what it is now.

This year, the process began in the Literary Magazine Production Class which has been around for a while, but stopped running in 2010 as there was no longer a teacher for the class. The class started up again in the 2022-2023 school year with Mrs. Brumbach teaching it. 

From there, the process began by creating a word cloud of the tone/aesthetic of the article. This year, the theme was seasons, and the cycle of emotions which comes with them.

Following the word cloud, a moodboard is created to portray the aesthetic that is decided on. It is then advertised for people submitting work and given to Fig Industries who publishes the magazine.

As submissions come in, the editors of the magazine determine which pieces they want in the magazine. Several rounds of this are done until the staff decides which pieces will be in the magazine.

The next step is laying out all the submissions in the order they’ll appear in the magazine. For this volume, the pages follow the progression of seasons starting with autumn and ending with summer.

Each page has a slim stripe of color which portrays what season the piece is assigned to. Autumn is yellow, winter is blue, spring is pink, and summer is green.

Afterwards, the book is laid out and sent to Fig Industries who prints the magazine for McCaskey and has done so for three years. There are then different versions of the magazine that are deliberated on before the final copy is decided on and then published.

“What I’m always most proud of is seeing their vision come through when we receive the printed copy. That’s always the most exciting thing… It’s a really impactful moment,” says Mrs. Brumbach.

Burning Glass provides a creative outlet that is so imperative for students to have and lets them be celebrated for it. In fact, Mrs. Brumbach said in the years the class didn’t run, it created a “void” at McCaskey.

Wynter Wilson, a McCaskey sophomore, and a club member of Burning Glass, also weighed in on the importance of Burning Glass. They discussed how it fosters creativity and that “each year we get this spectacular time capsule of the art of McCaskey’s community.”

However, Burning Glass provides so much more than just a physical magazine at the end of the year. It allows students to workshop their work and get feedback on it in a supportive environment which can be hard to find, especially at a younger age. On top of this, students get a feel of what being published is like and the chance to simply be published in something. 

But the best thing Burning Glass has to offer is the relationships it creates. Since most people take the Literary Magazine Production class for multiple years, such as myself, strong relationships are built over the years within the class, or for some, the club.

These relationships are built on similar interests in creative work and become so much more as the time progresses. Burning Glass creates a unique way for students to build relationships with their peers over the years which can be very challenging in high school. This same relationship building applies to the students and Mrs. Brumbach as she continues to teach the class and advise the club.

While Burning Glass might not be the most well known extracurriculars at McCaskey, it is undoubtedly one of the most meaningful among students and the community as a whole.