Indiana Township junior takes editing reins at Fox Chapel Area student-run magazine
Fox Chapel Area High School junior Karsten Buchert is passionate about telling tales.
Buchert, 16, of Indiana Township, serves as student editor-in-chief and the first-ever layout editor of Fox Tales Quarterly, a student-run online and print magazine highlighting positive news and happenings in the Fox Chapel Area School District and its surrounding communities.
“I’ve always loved writing things I”m passionate about — like current events,” Buchert said.
Lisa Gibson, gifted education facilitator and Fox Tales sponsor, said Fox Tales has been around for more than 20 years.
Buchert joined the Fox Tales staff as a freshman and worked his way up the student ranks and expressed an interest in an editorial role last year.
“I just knew it was something I wanted to do — join a school newspaper publication. I really like writing and doing the design. I find graphic design interesting,” Buchert said.
Buchert’s favorite writing topics revolve around his all-time favorite subject: American history.
The publication is made possible by a staff of 20 high school students in grades 9-12.
“It was originally a school newspaper, but as times changed, the kids wanted to turn it into a magazine format,” Gibson said. “The students decide what they want to write and they run it by us.”
Any student can join the Fox Tales staff as long as they commit to writing and filing three stories a year. Student writers are accepted anytime during the academic year.
Fox Chapel Area School District which is comprised of six municipalities: Aspinwall, Blawnox, Fox Chapel, Indiana Township, Sharpsburg and O’Hara Township.
“This is the first time in a very long time that I’ve had somebody take over the actual layout. He offered to take a crack at it. He’s worked hard at learning new tricks over the summer and he’s doing a great job,” Gibson said.
Buchert gave the cover a digital makeover and incorporated more vibrant colors on the pages and changed the fonts.
“I tried to make it more lively and more modern,” he said. “I looked at Car and Driver magazines to help me model things off of.”
Fox Tales is printed and distributed on campus and can be read online.
The magazine averages 30 or more pages each issue.
The Fox Tales staff has one middle schooler, Rishi Krishnamurthy of Dorseyville Middle School, who pens Math Minute each issue, a quarterly report focused on math and numbers.
“I’d say he’s a child prodigy in math,” Buchert said of Krishnamurthy. “He’s here taking high school level course, so he gets to do high school level curriculars.”
Joe Yoshikawa covers sports for Fox Tales.
The award-winning magazine is financed from district funds distributed to all district-sanctioned clubs.
Fox Tales Quarterly was named a first-place national winner for its fall issue in the 2021 American Scholastic Press Association Annual Review and Contest awards for scholastic yearbooks, magazines and other publications.
Fox Tales writers are given deadlines and can cover anything in the school district or community that students feel their peers would be interested in reading.
“I think Fox Chapel does a good job of supporting students who want to get their writing out there,” Gibson said. “It could be as simple as writing a movie review or something that’s going in the greater world that they are passionate about and they want to share with their peers.”
Gibson praised Buchert for his dedication and commitment to the publication.
He often edits from home and on weekends.
“He has flexibility and a creative mind to think of new formats for the layout,” she said.
Buchert is the son of Dr. Andrew and Erin McCall.
When he’s not editing, Buchert enjoys spending time with his dog Truman, his family and little brother Clark, 9, tutoring math and English to elementary-aged students and is a member of Mock Trial and the National Honor Society.
He serves as president of the Fox Chapel History, English and Writing Clubs.
“In college I would love to work with a student publication. Writing is used with everything,” Buchert said. “I believe writing is an integral skill.”
Buchert plans to major in American history after graduation.
To contribute story ideas, letters and photographs, contact Fox Tales faculty sponsor Lisa Gibson at Lisa_Gibson@fcasd.edu or call 412-967-2479.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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