Andie Kephart explains how her family, especially her sister, got her involved in Mountain Echo and other activities at school, including swimming and FBLA. She also talked about how grateful she is for Mountain Echo for bringing her new friends and giving her new opportunities, like her podcast she has with her friend Emma Hovan.

Q: Why did you join Mountain Echo?

A: “I joined mountain echo because I was in Livewire in junior high, and then my sister was part of Mountain Echo, so then I just joined whenever I came to the high school.”

Q: How has your experience been with Mountain Echo?

A: “It’s been pretty good. I’ve learned a lot more than I did in junior high. Just expanded my knowledge on journalism and everything, and I made some great friends.”

Q: What has been your best work for Mountain Echo?

A: “Probably me and my friend Emma. We have a podcast, and we made it to States through that.”

Q: You put on your paper that you swim and do FBLA for the school. How did you get involved with those?

A: “I joined because my sister was in them. I swam before for the Altoona summer team, and also my dad’s the coach. For FBLA, I just heard it on the announcements, and my sister was in it, so I just joined that and continued that.”

Q: What are you most looking forward to with Mountain Echo this year?

A: “I’m looking forward to writing new stories and coming up with another podcast.”

Q: You also put that you weightlift. How long have you been doing that for?

A: “I’ve been doing that for about probably seven years now.”

Q: Who have been your biggest supporters/helpers while working with mountain echo?

A: “Well, Mrs. Vanish, of course. Also, my parents helped me a lot and my sister.”

Q: What have been your biggest challenges with Mountain echo?

A: “My biggest challenge is getting my stories in on time.”

Q: If you could write an article, and now I learned you do a podcast, if you could do that about anything you wanted, what would it be about?

A: “Probably something about sports and weightlifting or something like that. Because I haven’t gotten to write anything about weightlifting.”

Q: What has been your favorite thing about mountain echo?

A: “My favorite thing is just the people that I’ve met throughout last year and starting this year. So just the people that I’ve met and made good friendships with.”