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The Student News Site of Altoona Area High School

Mountain Echo
Altoona Area High School
1404 Sixth Avenue
Altoona, PA 16602
  • March 28Breakfast 03/28/25 - Pancakes with Bacon
  • March 28Lunch 03/28/25 - Toasted Texas Triple Cheese Sandwich
  • March 28Announcements for 03/28/25
  • March 27Breakfast 03/27/25 - Egg and Cheese Croissant
  • March 27Lunch 03/27/25 - Pittsburgh Chicken Salad
  • March 27Announcements for 03/27/25
  • March 26Breakfast 03/26/25 - Biscuit with Country Gravy
The Student News Site of Altoona Area High School

Mountain Echo
The Student News Site of Altoona Area High School

Mountain Echo
Melissa Krainer

Melissa Krainer, Reporter

Ciao! This is my third year reporting for the Mountain Echo. I’m very excited to be a part of the staff this year as a junior! I’ve always been passionate about writing, and I can’t wait to help report on school and community events this year. In my free time, you might find me crocheting, reading, playing the violin or working on math puzzles. I speak both English and German fluently. This is one of my favorite quotes:

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

 

All content by Melissa Krainer
Stellar performance. Esworthy earned a medal for their placement at the LHHSSL Regional Tournament. The senior was thrilled when they found out. "I competed in [the dramatic interpretation] category, because it's similar to the poetry I've written in the past, and it entailed a lot of emotional topics, which was super fun to perform," Esworthy said. (Courtesy Julie Storm)

Storming to the top: Alex Esworthy intertwines poetry, theater in Speech League tournament

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
March 26, 2025
FBLA students parked cars at Mansion Park for football games. Parking cars is one way clubs have fundraised this year.

Clubs adapt to new funding procedures

Cevin Dively, Melissa Krainer, and Emmalee Martyak
March 17, 2025
Play the day away. The jazz band performs their annual Christmas concert.

[Photo] Jazz band to perform spring concert

Lincoln Frank, Associate Editor
March 12, 2025
Under the sea. Senior Karinna Wolfe, Krug and junior Madison Aboud rehearse a scene at rehearsal.

Drama prepares to make a splash with ‘The Little Mermaid’ spring musical

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
March 5, 2025
State Champions. The gymnastics team won first place in the Gold Division at the State competition in Huntingdon. The team's completion of their 15th undefeated season allowed them to win the State Championship title for the second year in a row. "We're proud that we were even able to do it," Weaver said. "We're just thankful. It was a lot of practice, and I think as a team, we became closer as the year went. It was just an overall good way of meeting friends." (Courtesy of Heaster)

Vaulting to victory

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
March 4, 2025
Shot. Sophomore Giana Fiore, sophomore Madilynn Switzer, junior Codey Burns and sophomore Mackenzie Lego work on an edit about hunger. "We're doing an edit about what to do if you don't have enough food at home," Fiore said.

Lights, Camera, Action: Broadcasting Class Behind-the-Scenes

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
March 3, 2025
Angle. Junior Reyna Ospina-Nunes works with her partner, sophomore Dominic Verticelli, on filming in class on Thursday, Feb. 27.

Take two. Ospina-Nunes focuses the camera on Verticelli during a scene retake.

Ready to roll. To complete their edit on hunger in schools, the Broadcasting group filmed two members heading to the cafeteria.

Zoom. The Broadcasting group utilizes the ramp to wheel the camera to the cafeteria.

Fine-tune. Juniors Keegan Fink and Julian Pringle work together with sophomore Julian Trimmer in the Broadcasting classroom to edit and plan their skits. "I'm turning in a script for an edit I'm working on," Trimmer said.

MLTV staff only. The seventh period Mountain Lion Television (MLTV) Broadcasting class works on edits and filming. The Control Room houses all the equipment the staff requires for live events and to live-stream morning announcements.

Cut. Sophomore Emilee Vo works on her assignment in the Broadcasting classroom. "I usually film for MLTV, and I like to interview people," Vo said.

Cinematography. The Broadcasting classes work on putting together edits involving filming, scripts and planning. The control room is where these creations are brought to life.

Elected. Wenzel is part of the State Thespian Board for next year and will be able to help plan the next Thesfest conference. He was shocked and excited when they announced his name for the officer position. "I've gotten into more of the technical side of things. I usually just do acting, but I've learned a lot more about the design of stages, design of lighting and a lot of media advertising, too," Wenzel said. (Courtesy of Wenzel)

Thesfest Success: Thespians ‘Break a Leg’ at West Chester University

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
February 13, 2025
Meeting. The Sign Language Club's first meeting of the school year will be on Thursday, Feb. 13. The club will meet every Thursday after school.

Sign Language Club schedules first meeting

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
February 11, 2025
"In My First Gen Era." On Saturday, Nov. 9, Gallery-Price (center) traveled to Pittsburgh with her students for lunch at Red Robin and a matinee performance of "Beauty and the Beast" at the Byham Theater with students from Altoona, Clairton and McKeesport high schools. The day before, Altoona students had a First-Generation College Student Celebration Day with the theme “In My First Gen Era,” inspired by Taylor Swift. (Courtesy of Gallery-Price)

Upward Bound program adviser bounds in a new direction

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
January 31, 2025
Deep in thought. Freshman Diego Gil studies the answers to the individual round questions. He volunteered at the event and helped out in the scoring room.

Students compete at local math circle competition at Penn State Altoona

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
January 27, 2025
Morning mathematics. The Intermediate Mathematics League of Massachusetts (IMLEM) local Pennsylvania chapter hosted its third annual competition at Penn State Altoona on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. The Altoona team hosted the competition, which has an individual and team component for middle school math problem solving for middle school students.

Colorful designs. Students were able to choose a T-shirt from a collection in the entrance of the Hawthorn building.

Shapes. The T-shirts sported a multitude of designs from math competitions from previous years.

Scoring room. Multiple volunteers and Altoona alumni graded the tests in the scoring room.

Categories. The IMLEM individual competition portion consists of five categories: mystery, geometry, number theory, arithmetic and algebra.

Competition. Each team was assigned a room that the students could stay in when they weren't competing. Each student competed in three individual categories.

Right angles. The large testing room was set up for students to compete in the individual round. Each row was organized by school, both from Blair and Centre County.

Ready to write. Students were tasked with solving three problems in 10 minutes in each individual round category.

Team round. Each school was able to set up a team of 10 students to compete in the team round against the other schools. At the conclusion of the competition, the total individual scores and team scores were summed to determine a winner.

Horseshoe and Mountain Echo students attended the regional convention at the PSU Altoona Campus. This week the winning students were notified they advanced to States on April 1.

Mountain Echo, Horseshoe staffers advance to PSPA States

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
January 17, 2025
Cyber education. Since its inception in 2009, the ACA has grown from five students to over 500 students enrolled in the secondary program. The Stevens faculty and staff expanded the program to give students an optimal non-traditional education experience. "We wanted to keep our students in our district and provide them the same education that they would get as if they were in the building," McGinnis said. "The kids that are in our program get an AAHS diploma and get to participate in all of the senior activities. I take great pride in getting an AAHS diploma. To me, that means something, and I try to invite our students to feel the same." (Courtesy of Julie Schreiber)

Alternative education program evolves

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
January 16, 2025
Crawl to victory. Junior Academy of Science members pose on a statue of a caterpillar during their 2023 state competition. Junior Academy of Science members may advance to the state competition.

[Photo] Junior Academy of Science goes to regionals

Lincoln Frank, Associate Editor
December 18, 2024
Elected. Rep. Schmitt was re-elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for Legislative District 79, representing portions of Blair County. (Courtesy of the candidate's campaign website)

AAHS Alumnus Louis Schmitt re-elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
December 5, 2024
Hallways. The Black Student Union will leave the school building on November 20 to visit Baker Mansion. (Courtesy of the Mountain Echo staff)

Black Student Union club to go to Baker Mansion

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 20, 2024
Philadelphia at night. The City of Brotherly Love shines under a dark sky.

For the Love of Journalism: JEA and NSPA National Fall Convention

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 18, 2024
Spooky season. Orchestra director Kelly Detwiler conducts the String Ensemble on Thursday, Oct. 31 during morning security checks. The ensemble played holiday classics like "Thriller."

String Ensemble: playing through fall

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 6, 2024
Representing Pennsylvania. The U.S. Capitol building is home to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. (Created with Canva)

An in-depth look at the Blair County ballot: Federal House of Representatives Q&A

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 4, 2024
Pennsylvania State Capitol. Located in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania State Capitol building will soon house one of the five candidates competing for the Attorney General position. (Image credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons) (Created with Canva)

An in-depth look at the Blair County ballot: Pennsylvania Attorney General Q&A

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 4, 2024
Washington, D.C. The U.S. Capitol building is home to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. (Image credit: By Martin Falbisoner - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28359031) (Created with Canva)

An in-depth look at the Blair County ballot: Federal Senate Q&A

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 4, 2024
Harrisburg. After Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Pennsylvania State Capitol will welcome one of the five candidates currently competing for the Auditor General position. (Image credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons) (Created with Canva)

An in-depth look at the Blair County ballot: Pennsylvania Auditor General Q&A

Melissa Krainer, Reporter
November 4, 2024
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