The Echo at Steinbrenner is a literary magazine that has been active for eleven years. The program was started by the same teacher in charge of it right now, John Vona.
“I just offered it to the creative writing students at that time, asked them if they wanted to start a literary magazine and publish some work, and they were interested, so it just took off from there,” Vona said.
Since then, the Echo has released fifteen magazines and impacted many members.
“[Echo has brought me] freedom of creativity,” first year member of the Echo, Kimberly Turner, said.
This literary magazine’s impact on some students has been so lasting that it led some Steinbrenner graduates to start a non-profit to fund the literary magazine, and its most recent pursuit.
“We decided as a class last year after FSPA, which is like a press conference, that there was no real reason to just accept creative writing from students at Steinbrenner we looked at the possibility of becoming a bigger literary magazine, and now it’s happening,” Echo’s editor in chief, Evan Sizemore, said.
Steinbrenner’s literary magazine is going worldwide. Now accepting submissions from anyone ages 13 to nineteen, any teenager in the globe can be a part of this.
Due to this change, this year’s theme is growth.
“Because we’re growing, and we’re an organization that’s stepping into new territory, the staff decided that this year’s theme would be growth… We want our first magazine that is with a more global audience to reflect the changes in the organization,” Vona said.
So far, the program has received several non-American submissions, including one from the United Kingdom.
This program has created a lot of excitement amongst Echo members.
“I didn’t say they had to do any of this… so the staff, they want to do it, and they’re ready to take it to the next level,” Vona said.
Echo has provided a creative outlet here at Steinbrenner, and its exciting to see it grow into a global organization.
Laura Pinto Alton// Staff Writer
