By Branden Crum

I’ve never been a very sociable person. I find interacting with others difficult and, honestly, a bit scary. Taking that into consideration, I don’t know why in my right mind I chose to take Journalism.

I remember the first time I walked into my seventh period class, and I felt extremely self conscious because it was my first day at a new school. At most, maybe two or three people gave me a glance, but it felt like I had 200 eyes watching my every move. For that reason, I chose to sit in the dimly lit, round table in the back of the classroom and avoided everyone’s judging eyes. I thought I’d be fine as long as I didn’t draw attention to myself. Unfortunately for me, journalism adviser Megan Ortiz seemed to have a different perspective. She specifically pointed me out to the class and made me introduce myself. From then on, I knew that Journalism wasn’t going to be one of those classes where I could sit back and mind my business. 

There has been assignment after assignment that has required me to interview others, something I had never done before.

Mrs. Ortiz may come off as strict, and to an extent she definitely is. but I love her for it. There was a long period of time where I thought I had hit the peak of my writing, that I wouldn’t get any better than I was then. Instead I’ve been given multiple chances to improve and tons of good criticism. It’s thanks to Mrs. Ortiz that this environment for growth exists.

By Emily Hawrylo

On the first day of sophomore year, I found myself in an unwelcoming fifth period class. The air felt tight and I was constantly stressed.

After weeks of exhaustion, I made the decision to change my fifth period. I took whatever was given to me and attended my first-ever journalism class in my high school career. I had previously taken journalism during middle school, so I expected no surprises.

Instead, what stood out to me was journalism adviser Megan Ortiz and her energy radiating throughout the entire classroom. On my first day walking in, I was comforted by her introducing me to the class and it gave me a sense of belonging, like I was going to wind up there somehow. 

At first, I didn’t understand what I was doing. But after doing assignments and paying attention to what was going on in the world around me, I found myself loving the art of journalism and Ms. Ortiz only sparked the creativity in me.

Unlike previous teachers I’ve had, Ms. Ortiz is open to all ideas and she communicates thoroughly without suppressing any thoughts or ideas. She is very patient with the stories I work on because she knows of my potential. Recently, I realized that a story I was working on wasn’t working out the way I wanted it to, so I soft-launched the idea of switching it. Rather than shaming me, she laughed and came up with new story ideas with me. 

That is another amazing thing about Ms. Ortiz, she navigates students through everything. I often find myself stressed out about an assignment just for her to reassure me that there is a way to adjust the issue at hand. 

Although, what I truly admire about Ms. Ortiz is her remaining passion for journalism. She consistently goes to journalism contests and assists students with her uplifting spirit. Ms. Ortiz remains a huge inspiration to me and I can’t wait to continue my journey with her. Overall, I found that my hate for my previous class quickly replaced with pride for her class.

By Danielle Nalley

Room 1504 changed my life in a way that I didn’t know was possible.

I wasn’t really interested in college or school in general until Ms. Ortiz handed me a portable mic and told me to go make an Instagram reel. I made quite a few reels and decided to join the newspaper class the following year. 

That summer, I got an email from Ms. Ortiz saying I was invited to Gloria Shields, a camp for kids who wanted to learn more about journalism. I had nothing better to do, so I agreed. 

That week, I had one of the best weeks of my life and fell in love with journalism. 

Ms. Ortiz has taken countless weekends of her time to take students like me to camp and show them why journalism is important. She has never once made me second guess if I belonged in the program.

Her love for journalism leaks into every single student she teaches. She has made a classroom a second home and the staff a family. 

Ms. Ortiz works harder than anyone I know and gives every opportunity to her students. She’s set me up for success in high school as well as after.

I wouldn’t have chosen anyone else in the world to be my adviser. I’m so lucky to have a teacher that cares enough to go above and beyond the classroom.