Electives have always given students the creative outlets they need in order to express themselves. Though all electives attempt to do the same thing, no class allows for more creativity than Steinbrenner’s creative writing course, the Echo. Backing this, the now 10 years of success that the class has had.
Standing the test of time, a huge part of the Echo’s success is the students that join and stay with the class throughout high school.
“Echo students are a very unique breed of students. They have to be creative; they have to be weird, but they’re also hardworking,” John Vona, the supervisor of the Steinbrenner Echo, said.
Though their magazines feature lots of elements of design, it’s never what the class is solely focused on.
“The quality of the writing is what we always have focused on and has always impressed me through all the years,” Vona said.
Any students that choose to give the Echo a chance won’t just find a class full of strangers, but instead something that’s much stronger.
“I’m most proud of the community that’s been built among these students. Every year they grow to be more than a class; a family,” Vona said.
The bonds are so strong among these students that even after their time in Echo ends, they’re still connected to one another.
“I keep in touch with most of them through many group chats as well as our alumni Facebook group. I don’t think a day has gone by without being in touch with at least one of them,” Vona said.
Vona had a lot of great things to say about his previous classes, but some did standout among the others
“Last year’s class put together a really good magazine in a short amount of time and we’re lucky we got done before the coronavirus. The year before that they got really creative with putting together a zine style magazine, every page was a complex layout, which made it look like some crazy person’s scrapbook,” Vona said.
It’s important to note that not just anyone can become an Echo student, there are certain traits that they need to have.
“I don’t have any use for students who are like ‘I have great ideas!’ and then don’t do anything with them. They have to be that combo of creative and hardworking,” Vona said.
Matthew Menendez // Centerspread Editor
