Panther Press

By Austin Tudor

18-year-old Makyla Easley is a junior at LMSA. Easley's favorite sports are basketball, track, and softball. Her favorite music is hip hop. Her favorite food is spaghetti, and she loves the color blue. Easley has three siblings. Her older brother is 26, and her younger sister and brother are 5 and 12. Easley said, "I really care about them, but they are annoying and get on my nerves." Easley helps take care of her younger siblings, and she also has another job at The Gap in Groveport.

School was not always easy for Easley. She shared that she struggled through elementary school and middle school. Easley's frustration caused her to lash out towards other people. Fortunately, three staff members helped Easley change her behavior: Principal Duane Bland, Teacher Carla Hegyi, and Teacher Aisha Wilks.

Easley said, "I never really got to say thank you to these people for the advice they gave me and what they did for me, but I thank you guys so much for helping me figure out what I want to do in life, who I want to be, and the path I want to go down. Looking back at myself is crazy because I don't even know who I was then. So, I thank the staff and teachers at Linden-McKinley for what they did for me. I am proud to say they helped me a lot, and I'm proud to be a PANTHER!"

Easley's short term goal is to graduate from high school. Her long-term goal is to, hopefully, have a scholarship to play basketball. If that doesn't work, she is going to college to major in nursing.

Alexus Johnson-Dorelien is a 17-year-old senior at LMSA. Her teachers describe her as an excellent student with a non-stop smile. She doesn't have a favorite song, but she does like old school music more than other types. Her favorite food is mac and cheese, her favorite color is purple, and her favorite sport is football (but only to watch). Johnson-Dorelien also enjoys reading stories and designing her room.

Johnson-Dorelien's family is not that big; she has a brother with both parents, a half-sister on her mom's side, and two brothers by marriage on both sides. For work, she sometimes babysits her siblings. Both her mom and her stepmom have businesses, and she helps with those. She looks up to both her mother and stepmother. Online school affects her a lot because she likes to do things in person, so it's just different, but she also enjoys a little challenge.

Her goals are to graduate from high school and the career center for Ohio's State Tested Nurse Aides (STNA). Johnson-Dorelien wants to go to college for nursing. Since she has sickle cell anemia, she has been around many nurses in her life who have been really supportive, along with her family.

According to the Mayo Clinic, sickle cell anemia is "an inherited red blood cell disorder in which there aren't enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body." Her other career goal is to own her own business.

By Mahleyah Yisrael

Taylor McMichael is 17 years old and started attending Linden-McKinley in high school. McMichael attended Columbus Arts Technology Academy in middle school. Her favorite memory in middle school was her 8th-grade promotion.

McMichael said that during high school, Assistant Principal Aneesa Hines kept her motivated by supporting her and making sure she never fell off track. The biggest lesson she learned during high school was not procrastinating and staying on top of her school work from freshman to senior year.

Hines said, "When Taylor was my first-period helper, I was guaranteed to begin my day with a smile. Taylor is such a bright star." Hines added that although Taylor is a student, she motivates others - even adults - to work hard and be great. Hines said, "Taylor is kind, focused, resilient, and a constant supporter of others. Her visible work ethic is a reminder that Panthers win. Her leadership is quite a force to be reckoned with."

McMichael's English teacher, Alana Veach, said, "Taylor is one of the most positive students I've ever had. Whatever is wrong, Taylor can see the bright side and can persevere through it - sports, academics, whatever. She will always be able to find the positive and push through. It's really impressive."

McMichael plays basketball for Linden McKinley. McMichael wants to attend Kentucky State University to play basketball and major in biology to become a dentist. In five to ten years, she sees herself in a different state with her own family. A long term goal in life for McMichael is to buy her own house. She will complete that goal by being successful as a dentist. Whatever she does, as Hines said, "it is sure to be amazing."

By Ameirah Scott

Erica Perkins is a high school science teacher at Linden-McKinley. She has been a teacher at Linden for 11 years. She ended up taking the position because she needed a job, and Linden needed a teacher.

Before Perkins took the position at Linden, she worked a couple of other jobs. One of her jobs was being an assistant dietary manager for a nursing home. She worked for that company for eight years, through high school and college. She also worked as a parking attendant in college at the Schottenstein Center.

Perkins plays the flute, loves to box and run, has four kids, and loves Diet Dr. Pepper. She also loves to read. Her children attend Columbus City Schools, and her husband is a math teacher at Marion Franklin High School.

In high school, she was in the marching band and ran cross country and track. Her favorite high school subject was math. She attended The Ohio State University for her bachelor's degree in biology and psychology. She also attended OSU for her master's degree in education.

She decided she wanted to work at LMSA because she wanted to work with kids and start her teaching career. So far, she has loved working with Linden's kids and has made many long-lasting friendships.

Perkins originally wanted to be a doctor. She even took the Medical College Admission Test and went to apply to med school before she realized that was not for her. Perkins started thinking about what she wanted to do and realized all she cared about was working with kids. Since she already had a science background, Perkins decided to be a biology teacher. When Perkins first started teaching, she was so excited to be a professional.

By Destini Williams

Kylie Orr is a new City Year Corps member. She started her year of service at the beginning of this school year at Linden-McKinley, working with 7th-grade English teacher Brenna Kautz.

When asked to share a fun fact, Orr said, “I get a tattoo every fall break (formed into a half sleeve).” Orr has played varsity softball and basketball. According to the College of Wooster (woosterathletics.com), Orr “made the most 3-pointers on the team (25-for-76) and shot 33 percent from beyond the arc (25-of-76) for second-best on the team.”

While in high school, Orr was a member of Newport’s 1,000-point club and graduated as salutatorian. She was in the Key Club and Future Business Leaders of America. Her favorite subjects were math and physical education.

Although she majored in sociology, Orr said, “I want to be a physical education or English teacher and guide students to their fullest potential.” She said that her life experiences and past teachers who believed in her led her on this career path. Orr plans to continue her education so that she can be a licensed teacher.

By Myiesha Fitch

Kelly O’Donnell is a math teacher at LMSA who described it as “an awesome school with great students and teachers.” She added, "I am proud to be a Panther."

When O’Donnell was in high school, she participated in class council, powderpuff football, ski club, volleyball, basketball, and softball. O’Donnell’s favorite subjects in school were math and science. An interesting fact about O’Donnell is that Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer, graduated from her school: Revere High School.

Before O’Donnell started working at LMSA, she worked at Aetna as a claims quality consultant and assistant manager. When she worked at Aetna, they started sending all the work to India. At that point, O’Donnell decided that teaching was a clear next career choice since she had always trained new employees.

O’Donnell has attended The Ohio State University, the University of Akron, Ashland University, and the University of Texas at Arlington. She has one more class left at Franklin University on her journey toward a Doctorate in Professional Studies: Instructional Design Leadership.

On a personal note, she has two dogs and has never been married. In May, O'Donnell will be a 20-year breast cancer survivor. She said, "The diagnosis of cancer does a number on your priorities and how you look at life."

By Mahleyah Yisrael

Carla Hegyi is an English and Be the One teacher/coach at Linden-McKinley STEM Academy, where she has been teaching for seven years. This is her 18th year with Columbus City Schools.

Hegyi speaks two languages fluently: German and English. Hegyi has dual citizenship because she was born in Germany and lived there until she was 17. Her brother shares the same November birthday, but they are three years apart.

When asked about her favorite high school subject, Hegyi said, "I adored social studies. There was a teacher who really piqued our interests daily." She kept busy with cheerleading, volleyball, soccer, and track. She also took theater class and had a passion for singing, so she joined the choir.

Being a member of the choir enabled her to meet some celebrities. When Hegyi was in 9th grade, she performed on the show "Hitparade," which was a popular German TV show that aired until December 2000. She and some friends from her choir were backup singers for a German singer named Howard Carpendale. The YouTube video of the performance is still available: Howard Carpendale - Shine on - ZDF-Hitparade - 1985

Hegyi said it was like Germany's version of the "Solid Gold" variety show of the 80's here in the United States. She said, "I was on with Falco, and I got to party with him and his band in Berlin!" Falco was famous in the U.S. for his song "Rock Me Amadeus."

Hegyi attended the University of South Carolina and later, Wright State University. In college, she enjoyed any course related to linguistics. Hegyi's work history includes a job at Meijer training new cashiers, a manager's position at a clothing store, a home improvement store position, and several small opportunities in fast food arenas.

Hegyi also taught at Brookhaven High School for 11 years. When CCS closed Brookhaven in 2014 due to a declining student population, she went to Mifflin. After a year at Mifflin High School, Hegyi realized she was ready to make a move. During this process, she became friends with English teacher Alana Veach. After Veach brought up the possibility of teaching at Linden-McKinley High School, they changed schools together.

When reflecting on the move, Hegyi said, "Truth: I'm a Northside girl--don't ask me where anything is outside of the northside--but seriously: many of my students from Brookhaven were from Linden, and I loved them, so I just knew kids from Linden would be great!"

Hegyi said, "I decided to be a teacher because I thought, "anyone can be a teacher: NOT TRUE!" She said that she is grateful it's something she enjoys that comes easily to her. Hegyi continued, "I adore working with young people and the energy they bring to my life--and I hope I offer some of that back."

Trent Wilcoxon is a new student teacher at Linden-McKinley STEM Academy. Wilcoxon was placed here by The Ohio State University.

Student teachers observe and assist as co-teachers for two days a week during the first semester. The other three days a week they are taking classes at OSU. Wilcoxon works with English Teacher Alana Veach. Wilcoxon said, “Ms. Veach is incredible, and I’m so glad to be placed where I am. Our teaching styles line up incredibly well, and I really lucked out with having her as my mentor!”

Before coming to LMSA, Wilcoxon worked as a pizza delivery person for Giovanni’s in his hometown of Proctorville, Ohio. Wilcoxon also worked at the AMC theater doing “grunt work” and at Crunch Fitness in Hilliard, Ohio where he worked at the front desk. Wilcoxon is a very interesting person. In fact, he was an extra in "We Are Marshall."

In high school Wilcoxon played basketball, and even tore his ACL twice! He also ran track and did theater, where he played in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and was the lead in “Footloose.” Wilcoxon attended the University of Cincinnati as a freshman. He then went on to attend The Ohio State University.

When asked how he ended up with the career, Wilcoxon says the opportunity kind of just “fell into my lap.” Wilcoxon knew he needed a college degree to obtain a level of success. Since both of his parents were teachers, Wilcoxon decided to follow in their footsteps. Wilcoxon was nineteen years old when he decided teaching was the career he wanted.

In his free time, Wilcoxon likes to game, record and produce music, and go on twitter (a lot). He admitted that with Twitter he can “get stuck in a wormhole.” Out of school, Wilcoxon likes to go thrift shopping to find vintage clothes. He also loves vintage records, and he recently added a Frank Ocean, one-time-printing vinyl (still in plastic!) to his collection.

Wilcoxon initially had doubts about online classes, but he feels better prepared to run an online class after working with Veach this fall.

However, he would rather be in person. When asked if he prefers virtual or in person class, Wilcoxon says “there are pros and cons to both; I enjoy in-person because I can actually see students and have interactions that feel human.”

He continued, “But I like the fact that I can roll out of bed and be in class. I enjoy the convenience of virtual but still want the connection with y’all.” Wilcoxon is most proud of his ability to persevere and keep pushing forward.

As Mac Miller says, “I wake up to the moon, haven’t seen the sun in a while, but I heard that the sky's still blue.”

By Khaleel Abdur-Razzaque

Zoe Drake is in her first year at Linden-McKinley and her first year as a City Year member. College scouts at Capital University led her to apply to be an AmeriCorps volunteer. According to cityyear.org, corp members act "as student success coaches, who partner with classroom teachers to help students cultivate key social, emotional and academic skills that are important in school and life—whether that's mastering fractions or learning to work in teams." Drake said that the best part about working with City Year at LMSA is seeing the students' academic and social growth throughout the year. She said, "Nothing is better than seeing a student succeed and gain confidence in their work."

Drake wanted to work at LMSA, and so far, she thinks it has been a good experience. She also believes that the teachers are all fun and professional. She works with math teacher Kelly O'Donnell helping with an 8th-grade class, and math teacher Elizabeth Ziegler, helping with a 9th-grade class.

When asked about the most challenging part of her job, Drake said it was learning to work in a virtual setting. She continued, "Having school online is safe, but I miss being able to work one-on-one with students in-person. I look forward to the day when the school opens again."

In high school, she was in choir, yearbook club, and she played the flute in her school's symphonic and marching band. Her favorite subjects were art, history, and English.

Drake earned a biology degree from Capital University. She is currently living on a farm with horses, dogs, cats, and all sorts of wildlife. She said that she gets up very early to take care of them before she goes to work. Her favorite animal is her dog, Milo. She said, "He was a stray we found in the woods, and now he has a great home away from the city."