Magazine Helps Students Turn the Page

SANTA ANA — Miguel Ornelas used to spend his free time watching television. That was before he wrote a short story that was published in Santa Ana High School’s acclaimed art and literary magazine, Vista.

Working as one of the magazine’s editors and chief contributors for the past year has made Ornelas, 18, more serious about school and life. In fact, writing now commands all the senior’s spare time. “I didn’t think I had any talent,” Ornelas said. “But when my first story got published, I felt so great about my ability that I just wanted to write more and more.”

Along the way, his grade-point average jumped from 3.5 to 3.8 and his self-confidence zoomed.

That’s what Vista’s creator and adviser, Kay Grable, intended.

The magazine, begun as a one-time assignment, has turned into a celebrated semiannual publication that features student poems, art and short stories. About 2,500 copies are printed per issue, and students compete to see their work published.

Vista’s pages give voice to the culture of the school’s largely Latino student body. While most of the literature is in English, a few of the poems in each issue also are printed in Spanish.

Students in Grable’s 10th-grade honors English classes produced the first issue two years ago and it instantly became popular on campus. More recently, it has captured the attention of community groups and city officials, who have showered it with accolades.

Earlier this year, the magazine was commended by Los Amigos of Orange County, a community group. A local bookstore, Martinez-Hernandez Bookcase, applauded Vista and proudly stocks copies for the public to take. And, the Santa Ana City Council recognized it in March with a proclamation and award for “Excellence in Journalism.”

Vista “shows off the caliber of the students in Santa Ana,” said Councilman Ted R. Moreno. “It’s not every day you see this type of magazine in the high schools, and it lets the community know that our kids are not in the streets causing trouble. They’re in the classroom doing good work.”

The fourth edition was published in June and its popularity was evident during a recent noontime magazine-signing on campus. Hundreds of students lined up to seek the authors’ and artists’ autographs.

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Vista highlights the joys and tribulations of student life, with topics ranging from love, faith, hope, parents and friendship to hate, violence, alcoholism, sadness and gangs. Adolescent depression is tackled in this excerpt from the poem “Confused” by senior Miriam Perez:

The night has been too lonely

And my heart feels so weak

Wishing not to be alive

Because the road has been too long...

“When you’re a teen-ager, you have so many choices to make, and it’s frustrating because sometimes you make the wrong decisions and that’s really depressing,” said Perez, 17, who emigrated from Mexico in 1989. “That’s why I wrote ‘Confused.’ ”

Perez also penned “Dear Jenny,” a story about two best friends whose friendship would never die.

She said writing for Vista has lifted her self-esteem and pushed her to excel at all her schoolwork. This year she earned college credits by taking two advanced courses, and next year she’ll take three more.

Perez said she feels triumphant when her parents, older brothers and friends praise her for her work in the school magazine.

“Everyone is proud of me, and I feel like, somehow, Vista gives me something that feels good,” she said. “I feel like I’m accomplishing something good, and English is my second language so it’s like double pride for me.”

Flipping through the magazine’s pages on a recent afternoon, Jose Silva, 19, said he is impressed by his peers’ work.

“The poems are very moving, and the drawings are really good,” the 19-year-old student said. The creators “really know how to paint and write. Everything in Vista is beautiful.”

Grable, who urged her students to continue producing Vista after its initial success, was named Santa Ana Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year this year and recently was chosen a recipient of Disneyland’s Creativity Award.

Vista is also being considered for a Golden Bell, a top state education award given annually by the California School Boards Foundation.

Santa Ana High’s student population is 95% Latino and the magazine “represents (the students’) culture,” Grable said. “It’s light-hearted and heavy-hearted cultural expression.”

Jaime Rubio, 17, one of Vista’s editors, wrote the opening poem in the spring 1994 edition in Spanish and English. He titled it, “Mil Amores (A Thousand Loves).”

“I was inspired by a girl I liked,” Rubio said. “And I wrote it in Spanish first because Spanish is so romantic.”

Writing for the magazine, he added, “opens a window in education. It teaches us to express ourselves in a positive way.”

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Grable first urged her students to participate in Vista by having them write their prose on secondhand computers she bought. Once the students printed out their work and pasted it up on boards, Grable said, “they got excited and wanted to do more.”

“The kids feel very successful because they are proud of their work. And people throughout the community have been encouraging,” Grable said. Now, students from throughout the school compete to have their work published in the booklet-size magazine. Two campus clubs for student writers and artists choose the drawings and writings that get published.

Grable, who advises the campus Writers Club, said the students’ participation in Vista has fostered leadership skills, boosted self-esteem and even raised grades.

“The magazine is building cultural awareness with expression through art and writing,” Grable said. “It’s an avenue of appreciation of the students’ ability and a way that we can say, ‘You’re good, you have a lot of skill and we believe in you.’ ”

Senior Mario Bustos’ poem “You,” which appeared in the winter 1993 edition, speaks to the students’ newfound self esteem:

This is you:

The brightest star in the whole universe

The prettiest star in the enchanted garden

The lighted candle inside the dark room.

Nothing matches the pride that comes with having her work reproduced in Vista, said Theresa de la Torre, 17. Her powerful paintings “Sharecroppers” and “Dream State,” which depict poverty and anguish, respectively, appear in the latest issue.

“It’s a great feeling to see your work published,” the student artist said, holding the magazine. “It’s not like an art show because that’s not permanent. This, you can hang on to forever.”