The Student News Site of West Covina High School

WCHS Insight
The Student News Site of West Covina High School

WCHS Insight
The Student News Site of West Covina High School

WCHS Insight
Marianna Ayala

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor

Hi I’m Marianna Ayala. I’m a junior, this is my second year in Insight and third year in journalism! This upcoming year I look forward to writing interesting and impactful stories that inform our community. Some fun facts about me are that I love matcha, doing my nails, and shopping :)

All content by Marianna Ayala
Three religious prayer candles and flowers placed on the ground where three young men were killed as a result of an impaired driver in January.

The prevalence of car accidents in La Puente

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor
May 30, 2025
Wong prepares and sets up the 2021 Homecoming Rally. “Her dedication and everything that she gave to our campus through ASB and through being administrator came from a place of love, she bleeds maroon and gold, she’s just going to be remembered for pushing everyone to try hard, to do their best, and don’t give up,” TAWC President and English teacher Erin Reid said.

Melanie Wong leaves after 24 years

Isabel Benitez and Marianna Ayala
May 23, 2025
Renaissance advisor Erin Reid with the Renaissance class at a leadership conference at Los Osos High School on Oct. 27, 2024. With this new change in advisors, many current Renaissance members have mixed emotions about Reid leaving after being the advisor for 15 years. “I feel like it’s a little sad to see her go, but it would be nice for a little change,” two year member and sophomore Marvin Ramirez said.

Renaissance advisor Erin Reid steps down after 15 years

Marianna Ayala and Sophea Rios
April 15, 2025
Juniors and seniors purchase prom tickets on Friday, Mar. 21 at ASB. Underclassmen are allowed to go to prom with the invitation of a junior or senior, which has caused debates on why this should or should not be allowed. “... [Homecoming] is hosted at the school and it is cheaper compared to prom where it is hosted in a different venue which is obviously more expensive and overall a more sophisticated dance,” junior Joseph Castillo said.

Underclassmen should not go to prom

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor
April 1, 2025

Valentine’s Day on campus

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor
February 18, 2025
Lunar New Year decorations outside the gym, showing a snake, 2025’s animal of the year. A significant part about Lunar New Year is the familial reunions and large dinners to celebrate the good fortune that the new year brings. “A huge part of it is celebrating with your family, and being festive with the color red, celebrating how it's a new year and this year is actually the year of the snake,” said junior Allison Luo.

Celebrating Lunar New Year

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor
January 30, 2025
The choral department commences the winter concert with “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” by Mark Hayes. Despite having to quickly learn multiple lyrics, the choral department had a good outcome.“It was a lot of work. It took like a few months of planning even though it was, like, crammed into two months we still, like, put in the hard work every single day. And, yeah, it just came out really nicely and I’m proud of what we did,” said freshman Samantha Hernandez.

2024 Choir Winter concert spreads holiday cheer

Marianna Ayala and Isabel Benitez
December 10, 2024
AFJROTC cadets stay after school to plan future events and clean up the office. AFJROTC is a class that is more like a close-knit community where cadets appreciate the strong bonds they form. “We happened to have a polaroid camera so we decided to take a picture to leave something behind to future cadets to show our close bond…we consider each other like a family we never knew we’d have,” said junior Kimora Padilla.

AFJROTC serves its community despite campus oversight

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor
December 4, 2024
Junior Cora Peterson completing her work during class since she only got six hours of sleep the night before. Peterson believes the less amount of sleep she gets negatively affects her days at school, by causing her to be distracted or fall asleep. “The less sleep I get, the more likely I fall asleep in my other classes, or I’m very disengaged, which slows me down,” said Peterson.

How teenagers are sacrificing sleep for success

Marianna Ayala, Copy Editor
November 1, 2024
Photo credits: Beeken.net

David Beeken retires, leaving a legacy of teaching

Isabel Benitez and Marianna Ayala
June 7, 2024
Math and AVID teacher Sifat Khan has been a big support to her students by helping them whenever they need the help or simply by checking up on them. “Sometimes the kids need me emotionally, and like mentally so I mean, I support them in that and help them out in those areas as well,” said Khan.

Sifat Khan’s inspirational journey

Marianna Ayala, Staff Writer
May 17, 2024
Senior Jacob Nguyen has been a baseball player on varsity since his freshman year. Throughout the many games, practices, and memories he has made from being on the baseball team, he has also learned much about responsibility that has helped his life as a student. “So honestly it’s taught me to stay on top of my education, my sports, and to keep a balance between things,” said Nguyen.

Senior athletes’ post high school plans

Marianna Ayala, Staff Writer
April 29, 2024
Jin Zhou enjoys her last months of teaching after spending 23 years teaching science. Throughout her time as a teacher, her main goal was to prepare students for college and future successes. “It brings me great satisfaction to have the opportunity to positively impact the future generations and hope with the consistency, diligence, and warmth, I can ultimately inspire students to reach their full potential,” said Zhou.

Jin Zhou says goodbye after 23 years of teaching

Giovanna Garcia and Marianna Ayala
March 22, 2024
Schools in the district remain open despite student and parent concerns over safety. “I think school should’ve been canceled because our school floods easily and also most kids have to walk and it’s not safe driving in the rain. It’s not safe since streets also flood and there’s classrooms that leak,” said sophomore Abril Chavez.

Schools remain open despite hazardous weather

Marianna Ayala, Staff Writer
February 6, 2024
Sophomore Damaris Biviano does one of her many client’s nails on Friday, Dec. 8. Biviano’s business is currently progressing well, and is receiving many clients as her Instagram account (@damasnails.oo8) is getting more recognition each day. “I wasn’t getting any clients and then slowly as you progress, it gets better. I think where I’m at right now it's going pretty good,” said Biviano.

Entrepreneurs on campus

Marianna Ayala, Staff Writer
December 13, 2023
Co-editor in chief Isabella Scothorn and staffer Isaiah Moreno decide the best photo selection for Moreno’s spread In the yearbook room L-6 on Nov. 13

Inside look at Athenaeum’s co-editors in chief

Amia Sawyer and Marianna Ayala
November 27, 2023
Kathryn Cayem’s third period AP Euro students working on an English Revolution skit that represents the main events of that time period.

Are AP classes becoming too much for students?

Marianna Ayala, Staff Writer
October 13, 2023
Dancers struggling to have enough space for each person to dance freely.

Dub C.’s challenging space limitation due to large class

Marianna Ayala and Giovanna Garcia
September 19, 2023
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