Thursday, October 1, 2026
The student-driven literary magazine at Long Beach High School, “Fragments,” once again received two notable recognitions for its quality content. The magazine was awarded a Superior ranking in the 2025 Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines program — REALM — from the National Council of Teachers of English. The magazine has also been named a 2025 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown Award finalist for 2025 by Columbia University.
New York state was represented by 21 schools in this year’s REALM award. Only seven schools on Long Island achieved a Superior rank while five Long Island schools reached First Class. REALM invites national judges to review a range of criteria including literary content, art and design, and editing/production to determine points. First Class winners must achieve 90 to 100 points and Superior rank is earned by magazines achieving 82 to 89 points. In 2024, “Fragments” earned a Superior award. The magazine achieved First Class in 2022 and 2023.
Samantha Silverman, LBHS English teacher and “Fragments” club advisor said that the REALM award is recognition for the entire magazine rather than highlighting an individual piece of stand-out work. “It’s mostly poetry, but we do try to incorporate other genres as well. A little bit of prose and short stories,” Silverman explained.
In this year’s second honor for the magazine, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced the full list of finalists for gold and silver awards — a total of 221 schools from around the world — with Long Beach High School standing out as the only Long Island school recognized. “Fragments” was previously recognized during the 2023 CSPA awards.
Specific winners for this year’s gold or silver crowns will be announced on March 20. “Fragments” is a finalist in the High School Print Literary Magazine category — one of only two schools representing New York against schools as far away as Saint-Cloud, France.
Long Beach School District announced this year’s accolades with a press release, saying, “These honors reflect the dedication, creativity, and leadership of the Long Beach High School student editors, particularly Editors-in-Chief Elliot Biern and Shea Rehnback, as well as the contributions of all student writers and staff.” The statement continued, “Their work continues to exemplify the strength of Long Beach High School’s commitment to student voice and the arts.”
