Last night saw the launch of Fusion, a magazine created by the students at Medina High School, at Quay Arts in Newport.

It’s the first edition of a totally professional magazine that wouldn’t look out of place on a coffee table of the most swanky New York pad. Quarterly editions will follow.

All of the content and editorial skills were provided by 40 Medina students under the watchful team of professional advisors, lead by David Harrigan, Julian Winslow gave his professional guidance on photography and Robin Ince on publishing and design.

Beyond those media mentors, Creative Partnerships did a great job of supporting it as did senior school staff such as Stephen Lines and many of the teachers including Gemma Stenning, who was Editor in Chief.

What impressed me the most was the huge enthusiasm bursting from the students that were involved.

Interviews
We did ten interviews with the people involved with creating Fusion, and will bring them to you over the next few days.

There’s one with students today – Lizzie Woolfenden, who was editor of one of the sections and Jordan Searle who covered the design – and one from Stephen Lines, Director of Arts at Medina.

The sheer excitement of all of the students was palpable, with quotes like it being “a once in a lifetime opportunity;” “you can’t explain what this means to people,” and “the reaction from the rest of the school is amazing,” falling from their lips.

One of the most significant things that they said wasn’t known by many of the adults involved with the project, was that “people from other schools are coming to the (Medina) sixth form because they want to be involved with Fusion.” Amazing.

Lizzie Woolfenden and Jordan Searle:

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Director of Arts, Stephen Lines
Reflecting on the start of the project, Stephen said that they were “inundated with students who wanted to be part of it,” with an amazing 700 students out of the 950 in the school applying.

It’s interesting to hear from Stephen about what an engine Fusion has turned out to be, with the plan to incorporate the production of the magazine in to many areas of the schools learning.

Stephen also sees the power of the publication beyond the academic, as it “gave (the students) the opportunity to express themselves.”

Putting the magazine could also lead to job opportunities, as it has “given them an experience of what it’s like to work in the world of media.”

Stephen Lines:

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It’s available now
We picked up fifty copies of the magazine and will be dropping it around the shops in Ventnor, including The Ventnorian, Sophie Honeybourne Jewellery, El Toro Contento and Noah’s Ark. Many more will be available around the Island – but get them quick, as proud parents are bound to be squirrelling them away.

As an extra inducement (not that’s it’s needed), there’s also a DVD included in some of the packs with a documentary film that was also made by the students about the IW Festival.

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