June 3, 2007

Corona, Norco students team up to create online magazine

By SHIRIN PARSAVAND
The Press-Enterprise

CORONA - High school students have many outlets to express themselves through writing, from student newspapers to social-networking sites such as MySpace.com.

But the teenagers who put together a new online magazine called SNAPZ! say it fills a niche by bringing together students from Corona and Norco, showing aspects of teen life that wouldn't get highlighted otherwise.

"We try to give teens around Corona recognition for what they are doing," said Sean Gueringer, 18, a senior at Centennial High School who helped design the Web page, found at www.snapz.us.

Most of the regular contributors to SNAPZ! are Centennial students. But they and volunteer organizer Tia Magee are reaching out to other schools in the district, and hope to get contributions from throughout the region.

They plan to put out a print edition and ultimately want SNAPZ! to grow beyond a regional publication. It's one of Magee's most ambitious efforts to help youth, but it's not the first.

The mother of two sons at Centennial, 16-year-old Brandyn and 18-year-old Angelo, Magee has helped them organize Halloween parties and other events to give students from various schools a safe way to enjoy themselves. She has hosted some of the parties at her house, and others at the Corona Armory and Auburndale Community Center.

For the past few months, 20 students or more at a time have crowded into Magee's living room and garage to put together SNAPZ! The current edition includes an article on the Corona Skate Park, an essay on relationships and a list of fashion do's and don'ts. (Some of the advice for the "fellas": "Experiment with colors besides blue and black," and "Switch up your style every once in awhile.")

One of the fashion writers, Brandi Cartwright, said she's been excited to tell her friends about the SNAPZ! Web site.

'Go Online'

"I say go, go online," she said. "I'm 17 years old. How many 16, 17-year-olds do you know that have started a magazine, especially something really fun?"

Magee printed an April issue of the magazine, and she and the teenagers plan to seek advertising. She said they are waiting until word spreads about the Web site, so they can show advertisers that people are reading.

Magee also hopes to distribute the print version in schools. So far, the Corona-Norco Unified School District has said no, because of a district policy against distributing commercial publications. However, schools do get copies of newspapers for use in classrooms, district spokesman Bob Brew said. They are part of the Newspaper In Education program.

Some of the students behind SNAPZ! are seniors who are about to graduate, but several said they plan to continue writing about college life.

Amaka Chinegwu, who graduated from Centennial last year and now attends Cal State Fullerton, serves as the site's executive editor. Although Chinegwu, 18, participated in sports and student government at Centennial, she hopes SNAPZ! serves as an outlet for students who don't get involved in school activities.

"There are a lot of people who have stereotypes about school. They don't want to be seen as a nerd," Chinegwu said. "This is put on by teenagers. We ourselves do it."

Along with Brandyn and Angelo Magee, Chinegwu, Cartwright and Gueringer, the core contributors include Jerry Hardeman, Chantal McLean, Ausha Hill, Jayme Howard, Rachel Spiegel, Darryl Jackson, Alisha Mohammad, Bilal Mohammad, Mahasin Mohammad, Shelly Lyons, Anthony Parham, Jovaughn Bryant, Allysa Hill, Taryn Marshall, Nick Willis, Alicia Hicks, Vontez Burfeit, Percilla Gomez, Raquel Rivers, Prentess Calvin, G-Shawn Harris, Jamaul Bryant and Jerrid Bryant.

Reaching Out

Most of the core contributors are black students, but they and Magee said they welcome anyone who wants to participate and they want SNAPZ! to represent all types of teenagers. Magee has reached out to newspaper advisers at the schools, and several students have contributed articles they originally wrote for their school newspapers.

Jen Varney, an English teacher and newspaper adviser at Norco High School, said she is excited to see a forum for students from different schools.

"I hope it gets out in the community and the community embraces it, because we do need some positive outlets for our kids," she said.

Cartwright said Magee and the magazine have inspired her to start her own business some day. Next year, she will attend Kennedy Middle College High School on the Riverside Community College campus in Norco, where she hopes to take a college-level entrepreneurship class.

"I want to learn how to do it myself. Start from scratch," she said.

Anyone interested in participating in SNAPZ! can contact Magee at editor@snapz.us or 951-817-9394.