Enlight’ning, a magazine published every spring at the middle school which showcases artwork, poetry and prose created entirely by middle school students, has been awarded a gold medal by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA).

The judges commented on the exceptional prose, citing, among others, eighth grader Samyukta Yagati’s “Snack Cart,” which they called “a gem. It’s syntactically advanced and strongly plotted.”

The poetry was praised as well – eighth grader Cindy Liu’s poem “Painting” was in fact called, “one of the best two pieces here,” and was noted for its “vibrant imagery.”

And for their artwork, Carissa Chen, grade 6 and Kevin Ke, grade 7, were told their pieces were “strikingly precocious” and “hilarious and well-executed,” respectively.

The magazine scored a comprehensive 823 points out of a possible 1,000.

The CSPA was founded in an effort to improve student publications by providing members with an annual written review of the previous year’s publications. Harker’s “Enlight’ning” has continually received high marks.