My name is Annika Marschke.

I live in Jefferson County, Colorado, in Coal Creek Canyon. I am not far away from the Coal Creek Canyon Elementary School.

I found out about The Mountain-Ear after seeing a job listing for journalists on the website. Ms. Barbara Hardt said that she hires interns at my age. I started working for The Mountain-Ear, in August, of 2022. I am currently an intern and write articles for the paper.

I love writing and reading and am thrilled with the great opportunity of writing for my local newspaper. My favorite book genres are fiction, fantasy, and a little mythology. Living in the canyon is always interesting because it has a lot of things to offer. Lately there has been a family of moose walking through. Turkeys also enjoy exploring the neighborhood. Through journalism I hope to share all of this with the readers and encourage them to experience everything the canyon has to offer. I also hope this job will help me pursue journalism in the future and be a stepping stone for my passion to write books.

Living in the mountains requires doing jobs that people in town might not have to do. One of those is helping my family deal with firewood before the winter hits. The Mountain-Ear is currently my only paying job. Although I have done a little babysitting before. When the holidays come around I bake treats to sell so that I can save money for homeschool events. Thanks to a resident of the canyon The Fellowship Hall has become a location for holiday markets. It is here where I sell my baked goods. My mom and I make cookies and other candies to sell. We pay for a table at the Hall, and when people come to visit the event they are able to buy our boxes of homemade sweet treats.

The money I earn is put towards attending homeschool events, education trips, and camp. One of these activities is called Teen Pact Leadership Schools. At this training I and other teens are educated on the workings of our state government. We also have the opportunity to tour our state capitol and meet lobbyists and Senators. We will run our own elections, as well. If a student wants to, they can run for senator or governor within the class. The elected candidates then give a prepared speech at the end of the session to all the students, leaders and parents.

I have only been working for this paper for a few months now. I am not sure what my vision for the future is except that I hope to write more articles about the events in the canyon. I hope to share with the readers the fun and beauty it can bring. Such as how much joy comes out of a strong community. There is always something fun to do.