For many years, Livewire brought the voices of junior high students to life through stories and photos, but because of declining interest, the newspaper has to come to an end. 

The Livewire was a student-run newspaper that started as a ninth grade course, which eventually became an eighth grade course. In this class, students were introduced to newswriting and the many opportunities it has to offer. 

“My role as the adviser was to basically educate everybody about newspapers, where they came from, through the printing press, up through the ages,” former Livewire adviser Bron Clouser said. “Then, I was supposed to introduce each topic that would cover a newspaper. That would range from writing a regular news story–the hard news, soft news. Then we would go into feature writings, columns, editorials and opinion writing as well. Many different topics there and even background in photography.”

According to Clouser, the best part of teaching was seeing students get excited about their own work. 

“My favorite part about being a news writing teacher was, every year, seeing the stories that the students would get passionate about and seeing them post it on Livewire,” Clouser said. 

Livewire first started off as a print paper called the Blue and White. Claudia Brown advised the paper at the former Roosevelt Junior High School before Julie Crusciel took over followed by Wanda Vanish. 

Throughout the years of Vanish being the adviser, the print paper turned into a website. 

“I was a junior high school newspaper adviser for a lot longer than I’ve actually been at the high school,” Vanish said. “I was the adviser that started Livewire, so I was a part of the process whenever we became partially print and online, and then whenever we became all online.” 

Vanish believes Livewire gave young journalists an important jump start. 

“Some of the strongest reporters I have in the program went through Livewire because it gave them that extra year,” Vanish said. “If they wrote as eighth graders then came over here, they were able to write as ninth graders. I think it gave them that extra year so then they could jump right in with both feet.”

Interest in the class started to decline. Clouser explained that in past years, he would have to go out and recruit students to fill the class, and sometimes those students didn’t have a strong interest in journalism. With the number declining, the program eventually ended this year. 

Livewire and Mountain Echo are both classes that build different skills in young reporters. 

“I would say the two biggest skills [learned in the classes] are communication and writing,” Clouser said. “The biggest thing in news writing is talking to people, being comfortable with them, getting their side of the story, reporting what they say, then taking that and putting it into a form that people would want to read.”

For some students, these classes changed them. 

“Livewire made me more aware of just how many things are going on in the school and real world,” former Livewire reporter Ella Heverly said. “It helped me understand why reporting is so important and involved so much. I also built close connections with my team which helped us grow closer together and write all of our stories.” 

“I honestly joined Livewire not knowing what it would be and then ended up making really good friends from it,” junior Mountain Echo Associate Editor Emmalee Martyak said. “It helped me get more involved at the school, get to know the school better, and it was ultimately why I joined Mountain Echo.”

Martyak now works as an associate editor a the high school.

“I continued with Mountain Echo at the high school because I fell in love with reporting on the Livewire staff,” Martyak said. “I was a little apprehensive because I knew no one from my year on Livewire was also joining, but I knew it was something I loved, so I kept with it. I’m glad I did.” 

Livewire even had an impact on people outside of high school. Former writer MaKenzie Quirin wrote for Livewire in 2016. 

“Livewire helped me in so many ways,” Quirin said. “For school, it helped me to become a better writer for other classes. With Livewire, I became more confident in myself in terms of my writing skills and the way I went about getting my point or purpose of the story across. I felt like as the school year went on, I got a lot stronger in my writing abilities which eventually led me to where I am today after high school and after graduating from Penn State Altoona. It also allowed me to get out of my comfort zone when having to interview people or peers that I normally wouldn’t get the chance to talk to.” 

Quirin stuck to writing all throughout high school.

“I did continue writing in both high school and post graduating in 2020,” Quirin said. “ I wrote for the Mountain Echo newspaper all throughout my years at Altoona Area High School. I then went on to Penn State Altoona for college but decided to go a different route and major. I originally wanted to get a degree in Kinesiology and wanted to become a physical therapist. After two years of a lot of science classes, I decided that’s not what I wanted, so I switched majors from Kinesiology to Communications. In Communications, that was where my love for writing reappeared and became a part of my college experience.” 

After graduating college, she got a job as a news producer. 

“I then got a news producer job right after graduating from Penn State Altoona,” Quirin said. “In that role, I produce the 11 p.m. newscast for WTAJ news station. It’s obviously a different style of writing since it is geared more towards broadcasting and having to write exactly what the anchor says on TV. But it is something I’ve learned to enjoy and grow in the opportunities I’ve earned. Still, my ultimate goal is to become a journalist for a professional sports team.”