Fifteen- year -old Bryana Ayala, is a sophomore. Ayala is in the yearbook committee and is also a writer for the school’s newspaper, The Mountain Echo.

Ayala began her writing career in eighth grade for the junior high newspaper.

“I’ve always been writing because of school obviously. But once I first got into writing myself outside of school it was just interesting to me. It was a way for me to use my time without being on my phone,” Ayala said.

Ayala has written many stories for the newspaper but she currently writes opinionated pieces.

“I really like opinion because I get to share my own thoughts and feelings and give the readers an insight on a side they might not fully understand. Plus, I get to be a voice for my side of arguments that I see as important,” Ayala said.

She has written opinion pieces about topics she believes are important. Ayala writes about present day issues many students can relate to and also should be heard by others.

“I wrote a story about the LGBTQ Plus which is probably my best. I’ve also written about how the teachers treat students. Personally, I hate talking in front of classes. It’s not just being lazy. There is anxiety and other things that could make it not as easy for them,” Ayala said.

Ayala plans to continue her time on the staff the whole way through high school.  She says there are still many stories and topics she would like to write about. 

“I would like to write about how the school treats celebration months. They don’t represent autism awareness month; they usually use puzzle pieces, which is not what they should be using. That is offensive for some people. And then things like it like Hispanic heritage month or black history month,” Ayala said.