MISSION STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVES
FOR THE STUDENT PUBLISHING PROGRAM (SPP)

The Student Publishing Program is an award-winning creative writing program which brings the world’s top writers into classrooms through on-demand mobile video to give students the skills and confidence needed to write for publication. SPP then secures the professional publication and promotion of their compositions—one piece of poetry or prose from every student in the grade—in a network of online literary magazines and a series of paperback books available in bookstores nationwide. One hundred percent of the author royalties earned from each school’s book sales goes back to that school, creating an annual fundraiser of potentially thousands of dollars per school.

                  The Student Publishing Program supports language arts standards and benchmarks through its workshop and supplementary online creative writing and publishing resources. The publications also help students at all learning levels demonstrate their academic merit—to themselves and to the community at-large—beyond grades and standardized test scores.

                  These student books and magazines are not vanity publications. They’re educational tools which also reflect the latest evolution in publishing. The advent of the Internet, e-books and print-on-demand technology has enabled professional writers to publish and market their work directly to readers, and reap far greater benefits from sales. The concept of quality writing has finally moved beyond what big business deems mass market to whatever individual writers, editors and readers deem meaningful. See our Press & Awards section for the editorial recognition we've already received.

                  We titled the first publication of our pilot effort 2:25 P.M. because the 2:25 p.m. dismissal bell is the moment of transition between school and the real world, and the Student Publishing Program seeks to bridge that gap, to give real-world purpose and recognition to classroom writing.

STUDENT PUBLISHING PROGRAM OBJECTIVES:

• Help students of all backgrounds and learning levels demonstrate their academic merit—to themselves and to the community at-large—beyond grades and standardized test scores, and help teachers gain recognition for classroom achievements.

• Promote each publication to help students connect and communicate with the widest possible audience beyond their classrooms. Press coverage and reviews, marketing partnerships, sales numbers, publication of some compositions in magazines as book excerpts—these factors make the difference between vanity authors and those authors who are validated as publish-worthy. Successful promotion will also serve as an advanced form of fundraising for each school by increasing its book sales, and involve the whole community in not only its students’ pursuit of local and national education goals, but in the lives of the students themselves, their personal hopes, concerns, opinions and needs.

• Increase student interest in reading by publishing books and magazines written by their true contemporaries—their fellow teenagers who are experiencing similar challenges and heartbreaks and successes. The Student Publishing Program also seeks to publish, translate and organize reading exchanges with schools worldwide to help America’s students connect with teenagers from other countries.

• Archive compositions online so students can begin building permanent online portfolios to support their college and job applications, as well as their future publishing efforts.

• Give students the confidence, skills, published clips and resources needed to write for publication beyond the Student Publishing Program, including free access to the largest online database of student publishing opportunities worldwide—current youth-receptive venues, writing contests, awards and individual state writing grants.

• Support teachers by enriching their language arts programs with online workshops by professional writers—well-qualified individuals who are interested in teaching and may choose to become teachers through our nation’s New Teacher Program. The Student Publishing Program also aims to help teachers by providing their students with an alternative resource for class and homework questions—an innovative and engaging website available 24 hours a day with comprehensive language arts curriculum support related to creative writing and publishing.

• Provide the Student Publishing Program to all of America’s secondary schools by securing funding through grants, corporate sponsorships and private donors. These educational literary books and magazines would become as ubiquitous as school yearbooks, but far more beneficial to each student’s transition into college and the real world.

For more information about our mission statement and objectives—or to get involved with the Student Publishing Program—please email Anthony Tedesco (anthony{at}225pm{dot}org), write to 200 East 10th St., Ste. 210, NY, NY 10003, or call us toll-free at 800-491-7596.