Introducing 2020-2021 Student Bloggers

Please welcome this year’s bloggers at ASU Prep Digital! 

The Student Blog was founded by recent-graduate Hannah Stewart as a place where students can showcase their writing. Here, students can share their personal experiences either in school or out of school, write stories or articles of their choice, or even dive into the world of poetry. The Student Blog is here to nurture these young voices.

Get to know our bloggers:

Illia Solano (Editor-in-Chief)

Senior

Hi there! My name is Illia and I am currently a senior at ASUPD.I moved to Arizona almost 5 years ago and I currently enjoy being a student at ASUPD. A couple of facts about myself are that I’m bilingual. I speak both English and Spanish. I enjoy watching Netflix… a lot. I am also an avid movie-goer. Mostly sci-fi, action, fantasy, comedies, and some dramas. Though I cannot for the life of me watch horror movies. I also read, when I have time. 

Aside from all that, I love spending time with my two dogs. I also enjoy both DC and Marvel comics. I’m kind of a fangirl in this department. 

Gracielle Dedo (Head Blogger)

Junior

My name is Gracielle Dedo, I am sixteen years old, I’m in the eleventh grade, and I’m one of four kids. I have a twin sister named Caroline, who also attends ASU Prep Digital. The entirety of my young life has been spent moving from house to house in the States. Born in Oklahoma, moving from Seattle to Mississippi to Kansas and as of now, Arizona. I am especially passionate about activism, politics, and animal rights. I hope to become a published author in the future with a variety of novels and works.

 

Gabby Unagast

Sophomore

Hi, I am Gabby Unangst! I am 12 years old and in 10th grade. I have always loved writing about many things. My favorite things to write about are mystery, drama, and pets. I live in San Tan Valley Arizona and have lived there all my life (except for my younger years). I have three dogs; their names are Sparky (my baby), Sophie, and Zorro. Besides doing writing and school, I also do many different hobbies such as theater, art, Instagram management (@sparkythecorgimix), and working in my mom’s home care company.  I also just joined a girl group called the Singsations. I also love hanging out with my friends and family. My favorite things to do at home with my family are movie nights, board game days, football days, and going swimming in our pool. My favorite places to go out to are Maverix, Cracker Jax, Main Event, Fat Cat’s, Jake’s Unlimited, and any frozen yogurt shop. When I grow up, I want to be a cardiologist and I want to travel the world. I also love styling myself and trying new hairstyles that I plan to share on the blog.

I am so excited to be a part of the bloggers! Some of my favorite blogging topics I plan to share on the blog are fashion tips, hairstyles, pets, and school tips. I enjoy writing on the blog and it is a creative outlet for all the writers to give an insight into the life of online learning. I also like writing different fictional short stories. My favorite part of writing is giving an image with words. I even like drawing out superheroes or characters I make in my stories which is really fun. Writing small blurbs is very fun, but also writing detailed non-fiction investigative papers is exciting too. I can’t wait to be a part of the bloggers and share my writing!

Mahayla Palachuk

Sophomore

Hello! I’m Mahayla. I live in Mescal, Arizona. I’ve been doing online school my whole life. I am a soon-to-be self-published author, YouTuber, future podcaster, a member of the ASUPD Book Club, Student Government, and ASUPD Student Blog!

My favorite things:

• Reading – I have approximately 652 books!
• Writing – I have my first book, The Rise of The Crimson Archer, waiting to be published. 
• Watching Movies – I love all kinds of movies, especially MCU.
• Doing Schoolwork – When I’m not writing or reading you can find me doing schoolwork. ASUPD makes school less stressful and more fun. 
• Crafts – I am very creative and love crafts and projects!
• Planning my Future – I love researching the online college and meteorology degree I want. 
• Talking with Friends – It’s a joy to be able to talk to them about anything and anything.
  

You can expect blogs about my personal experience with ASUPD, movies, writing, reading, books, planning for college/career, and more!

Grace Brown

Sophomore

Shalom! My name’s Grace, and I’m a sophomore in high school. I have a little brother

#oldestsibling, and if you ask me what I’m doing at the moment, I’m either shooting hoops or writing poems. I have been a fan of writing since the 4th grade when I wrote my own short

story. Ever since then, whenever I have a free moment, I’ll grab my computer and start typing.

I’ve been homeschooled since kindergarten, so a little bit over a decade. I’m also a big DIYer; I love arts & crafts with a passion (I’ve built a dollhouse before!) I also just started playing guitar, so I’m excited to see where I’m headed on my musical journey. I’ll finish off my autobiography with a quote I try to live by: “If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader, sell ice cream.”

 

Kenya Sykes

Junior

Hello! My name is Kenya Sykes. I am currently. A high school junior enrolled in ASU Prep Digital. I have lived in Arizona, Tucson specifically, for over two years now. I originally lived in Kansas City before coming here. I consider myself a progressive activist when it comes to American politics and pop culture discussions. And I show this through my work. Hopefully I am able to give everyone a nice insight to my life and my viewpoints.

Malia Savelio

Hi, my name is Malia Savelio and I am an ASU Blogger. A little about me is that I turn 16 years old on July 21st, 2020. When I grow up, I want to live on a Ranch with my family and be able to have enough money to travel to wherever I want whenever I want. I plan on graduating from college with 3 majors: Architectural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. I don’t have a specific college in mind but I do know that I have always dreamed of going to MIT or Harvard until 2nd semester in sophomore year, because I realized that it didn’t matter where I went to college as long as I’m happy with it. I took choir for most of my life and I also had a personal vocal coach for 3rd grade. When I was younger, I was in multiple different out-of-school activities. For example, I was in hip-hop, tumbling, gymnastics, karate, and I also went to a little basketball camp. Once I got to Junior High, I stopped doing sports because classes were getting harder and I needed to focus on grades and grades only. I want to be a blogger because I think it will be interesting and I also need extra-curricular credits but many the interesting part. Being a blogger is a way for people to open up and express themselves to the outside world without having to actually go out to talk to people. Since everyone prefers to be inside right now, it would be a great way to connect with people without being seen face to face. 

Rachael Willis

Senior

Hi there! My name is Rachael Willis. I’m from Phoenix, Arizona, and I am a senior here at ASU Prep Digital. I joined the Student Blog because I love writing about topics I am passionate about, and I wanted to get involved with the ASUPD student body. Some of my interests include environmental sustainability, health, wellness, lifestyle, and current events. Outside of academics, I enjoy all things music! I have played the guitar for almost nine years, and I also play a little bit of piano and ukulele. I’m looking forward to an excellent school year on the Student Blog!

We hope that our blogs inform and entertain you. We look forward to what our bloggers will come up with!

Ta’Nya Wallace

I was born in Illinois but  I was raised in South  Georgia but I moved to Arizona five years ago. My interests are writing, drawing, singing, making a difference, and making new friends. I enjoy writing about issues that need to be talked about and I try to get more people to talk about it and then more people will start making these issues a part of the conversation. Because some of these issues are a bigger deal than most people will think so by writing these issues and telling others the word will get passed around and then more people will start making these issues a bigger deal than what they originally thought it was. Like for instance Juneteenth-African Americans independence day,Bullying in schools, suicide in teens and young adults. These are all very important things we need to speak about more. Because these are things that we need to know more about these issues.