(Alessandro Arpaio and Leila Meilman from The American School in London won in Headliners in Education’s contest for Best School Story of 2024. Read The Standard HERE.)
When Cosmos Co-Founders Aris Perrotis (’25) and Rahil Punshi (’25) noticed a lack of political discourse in the High School, they sought a solution that could inform the community and encourage conversation. That solution became Cosmos, a student-run magazine that focuses on politics, international relations and economics, with its inaugural issue published in Feb. 2024.
Perrotis said his goal with Cosmos is to promote conversation and foster political interest.
“Our goal is to make news more accessible for people at ASL so they are more updated on what’s going on in the world,” Perrotis said. “We want to get people thinking about how their lives might be affected by the news and stories that we cover.”
Furthermore, Perrotis said another aim for Cosmos is to become a safe space, allowing students to discuss conversations “that can sometimes be hard to start or talk about.”
Cosmos Deputy Editor-in-Chief Naz Kaya (’25) said she believes Cosmos is important as it encourages students to engage in politics in a time when the High School is lacking productive discourse.
“I really want to promote Cosmos to become a magazine for the High School to interact with what’s currently going on in the world and in other countries,” Kaya said. “We’re kind of lacking the debate of current events and just the idea of current events in High School right now.”
English Teacher Mark Mazzenga, who advised the Co-Founders of Cosmos, said the magazine could become a platform to develop and empower students’ voices while being considerate to the community.
“We’re always looking to find ways to engage students and their voices,” Mazzenga said. “We want students to feel empowered to be able to share their perspectives and viewpoints in a way that is meaningful to them. Obviously, also in a way that is respectful to the community in which they belong.”
Kaya said Cosmos is looking for a diverse set of writers to ensure a variety of perspectives are covered, as the magazine initially struggled with inclusive representation. Currently, Cosmos is looking to include more female writers like Kaya.
Mazzenga said there was a lack of adult supervision for the first issue and hopes the editors and writers will seek out more help and make changes in the future.
“From my understanding, the first issue didn’t have a lot of adult oversight, which raised some concerns for the school,” Mazzenga said. “The authors and editors of this project are going back to rethink about how it can move forward.”
Moreover, Mazzenga said he would like Cosmos to encourage more students to engage in discussions about specific local issues.
“I wonder too, if the people who are writing will pull from not just global news, but maybe local news or even conversations that they’re having within our community,” Mazzenga said.
Looking forward, Kaya said although Cosmos has been on a break due to recent Advanced Placement testing, she is excited to get back to writing and releasing more issues in the upcoming school year.
Ultimately, Mazzenga said Cosmos has prompted a positive response from the community so far, and he is thrilled to see where the future of the magazine goes.
“I was walking through the hallways when [the first issue] came out and so many kids were reading it which I think speaks to the power of print media,” Mazzenga said. “Of course, it’s engaging in really interesting and semi-controversial topics which are always attractive. It’s a really exciting project, and it has the potential to be a really important platform.”
–Originally published in June 2024 print edition–
