On the cover of Murrah High School’s spring 2026 literary and arts magazine, a young person holds a paper airplane and looks toward the birds overhead. It’s a fitting introduction to “Paper Wings,” an issue filled with students’ reflections on growing up and preparing for what comes next.
Through poetry, essays, fiction, photography and visual art, Pleiades gives Murrah students a place to share their creativity. Community support helps put that work in print.
Maroon Murrah Pleaides T-shirt design
The Murrah Pleiades Literary and Visual Arts Fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi helps pay for the printing and production of the award-winning annual magazine. For readers, each issue offers a look at how young people see themselves and the world around them. For students, it’s an opportunity to see their work become part of a publication they create together.
Sarah Ballard, Murrah’s AP literature and composition teacher and Pleiades advisor, guides students as they develop a unified theme. This year’s cover art, created by Hudson Presley, introduces ideas that carry through the magazine. In her essay “Force-Fed,” for example, Twyla Johnson describes learning “to breathe between bites, to set the plate down, and to ask myself what I truly hunger for.”
That care and creativity are earning recognition. In October, the Pleiades staff attended the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association Convention at the University of Southern Mississippi, bringing home awards in writing, photography, hand-drawn art and spread design. Ballard was named Literary Magazine Advisor of the Year.
“I am always so proud of them,” she said.
This giving season, you can help keep their work in print and wear your support. The 2026–27 Pleiades staff has designed a T-shirt available to donors who give by Dec. 10, 2026:
Give $150 or more to request one T-shirt.
Give $200 or more to request two T-shirts.
After donating, email murrahpleiadesfund@gmail.com with your preferred shirt color (maroon or royal blue), size (S–5XL) and the recipient’s complete U.S. mailing address. Shirts can be sent to you or someone else in the United States, but they will not arrive before Christmas.
Gifts of any amount are welcome throughout the year, whether or not you request a T-shirt. Every gift helps Murrah’s young writers and artists share what they have to say.