Are you a student with a passion for art, writing, comics, or music?

Here is an opportunity for you to publish your work and to share it with others: “9 Muses,” the annually published school literary magazine. Every year, “9 Muses” seeks to collect work from students and to compile it into a short volume.

The magazine will accept short stories, scripts, poems, memoirs, comics, paintings, photography, music lyrics, creative recipes, original jokes, and anything else which can be transmitted on paper, including photos of 3D art such as sculpture.

Interested in having your work featured? Submit either a soft copy or a picture of your work to Mr. Walsh via email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). The only requirements are that submissions contain appropriate language and images, that they have been created or edited either this school year or the summer of 2011 (work done for a class will be accepted), and that the student's name and grade level appear on all of his or her submissions.  The due date for submissions is early May, but the sooner, the better.

The “9 Muses” club will then review each submission and decide which will be included in the magazine. Please note that grade level does not affect the likelihood of a student's work being accepted and that written submissions are open to editing.

Want a copy of the 2010-2011 edition of “9 Muses”? Please see Walsh or your current English teacher.

Would you like to join “9 Muses” club and become part of the process of creating the literary magazine? The club meets every Monday during Mustang Block in Walsh's room next to the Writing Lab. If you are unable to make a meeting but would still like to join, please notify Walsh.

“Looking good and turning heads.” It’s an old cliché that is relevant to many of our lives. After all, knowing that you are not the only one thinking “how good” you look is a great feeling.

At George Mason, there are lots of ways that students express themselves through fashion. There are also lots of opposing views to those same fashion self-expressions. We all have the right to choose how to express ourselves, and a lot of students, boys and girls alike, turn to fashion as an outlet for self-expression. The fashion world changes on a day-to-day basis and it’s becoming a lot easier to access what’s “new and trendy.”

One thing that is not new to the fashion world, yet relatively new to the high school setting is high-heeled shoes. They come in all shapes and sizes, colors, designs, and labels, and most girls own at least one pair of heels and enjoy wearing them. The question “is wearing heels in school appropriate, and/or necessary?” is one that has circulated the halls of Mason recently.

School water fountains. They’re like African watering holes. They attract hoards of kid everyday; to drink, to talk, to fill up their water bottles. But as you all probably know, school water fountains are a hit or miss. They’re either really good or really bad. So how do you know which water fountain to socialize by or use fill up your water bottle? Well, I have the solution for you.  A student panel of about five students, including myself, sampled every water fountain in GMHS and rated them based on their pressure, temperature, and location. 

It’s the giving time of year again-- time to donate to local charities and homeless shelters around the area. If you aren’t sure where to donate your time and effort this season, here’s a list of possibilities:

Click on image to see a larger version.

Life Skills students have been delivering mail to teachers since the middle of last school year, but this year it has increased significantly according to teacher Stephanie Ciskowski. The students with intellectual disabilities go to teachers who request it every sixth block.

Ciskowski says it is helpful for the students because it “works on vocational skills, which students could be doing after high school.” She also added “it helps with social skills such as greetings, goodbyes, and other formal conversation. 

Librarian Lisa Myklestad thinks “it’s great for them to get out and to interact with teachers and other students instead of just being in the same classroom all day.”

The special education department thinks it has been helping the students in the program, and the teachers receiving the mail think so too, like Myklestad who said “I love it. So many times I forget to get my mail, but they deliver it to me.” She is also very satisfied with the timing of it saying “I always get my mail and magazines in a timely fashion.”

Throughout the years we have all walked past the Mason Trading Post without paying any attention to it. What used to be a Mason hot spot during home games and school events is now collecting dust. But why hasn’t the post been used consistently to sell items to students and athletic patrons? The main reason is because our Pit isn’t used for home basketball games anymore; in fact, the Pit isn’t used for anything, besides P.E. classes and pep rallies. However, bringing the Trading Post back into business could really benefit clubs, students, athletes, and even teachers.

The Trading Post originally “used to exist as a school store” said Athletic Director Tom Horn. But since the school no longer sells pencils and school supplies, and nothing major ever goes on in the Pit, it has not been used for quite sometime. However, that does not mean that it can never be used at all, in fact, Coach Horn would “love to see it being used again.”

Any clubs, students, athletic departments, etc. who would like to start using the Trading Post again can do so. Just ask Coach Horn to set up a date and you can become a part of bringing the trading post back to life! Although this resurrection may be challenging, why should we let such a convenient outlet, which many students pass on their way to the buses after school everyday, go to waste?