Kopa takes Student Showcase's Best Graphic Design and Layout honors

Kopa, which is Fallbrook High School's literary magazine, was given Best Graphic Design and Layout honors for literary magazines in the San Diego County Fair's Student Showcase.

The award was earned by Kopa staff members Sydney Borg, Elaina Briscoe, Shannon Emory, and Matthew Thomas.

"They all worked really hard on it," said Kopa advisor Remy Kirkham. "They were so diligent. I'm very proud of these kids who put the magazine together."

Borg, Briscoe, Emory, and Thomas were all in eleventh grade during the 2015-16 school year.

"This was the first year the entire Kopa staff was comprised of juniors," said Kirkham. "They're an amazing group of kids."

Borg, who was the chief editor, had not previously used Coral Draw but taught herself the program in two days. "She is extremely smart," said Kirkham.

Borg has plans to be a fiction writer and English teacher. "She's just a pleasant person to have in the classroom," said Kirkham.

The magazine staff members were complemented by students who submitted short stories, poetry, art, and essays. "This was the first edition that had essays," Kirkham said.

The essays as well as other work increased the number of pages with printed material to 65. "It was a pretty thick magazine this year," said Kirkham.

The previous edition of Kopa had 32 pages. Fallbrook High School students have been compiling material for Kopa and producing the literary magazine since the 1970s.

Kirkham has taught English at Fallbrook High School since 2002 and became the Kopa advisor in 2006 after Mark Howard retired from the school faculty.

"I did absolutely nothing in terms of formatting the magazine," said Kirkham. "They did everything. All I did was grant them access to the computer."

Bill Richardson, who is one of Fallbrook High School's art teachers, also collaborated on Kopa along with some of his students. Richardson's students illustrated the poetry selections based on the poems' themes.

Murphy's Printing turned the pages into a magazine. "They've been helping us out for years on publications," said Kirkham.

An August publication run allowed copies of the Spring 2016 issue of Kopa (a Klamath Indian word meaning reflection or thought) to be available for 2016-17 students as well as to other members of the community after the beginning of the new school year.