The Artisan, the Upper School literary and arts magazine, has earned the Highest Award by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines (PRESLM). This is the top honor in this nationwide contest.

PRESLM publicly recognizes excellent literary magazines produced by students, teachers, and schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, American schools abroad, and the Virgin Islands. This year, 371 literary magazines were submitted for review. Of that number, 26 received the Highest Award. State and national judges complete first-round judging based on a point system. Magazines scoring 91-100 and recommended by the state and national judges for Highest Award are displayed at NCTE's Annual Convention in November and judged by the PRESLM Advisory Committee. The Committee determines whether a magazine meets enough criteria to win the honor of Highest Award.

The Artisan also has earned First Place from the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA). Literary magazines are scored on a point system evaluating page design, graphics, headlining, cover design, photography, and other elements of literary magazines. Based on the point system, literary magazines are awarded first, second, or third place.

Congratulations to 2017 Artisan staff, especially Senior Editor Ellie Dassow, Junior Editor Rena Li, and Faculty Advisor Laura Gellin.