Post Welcomes Summer Interns

The Palisadian-Post is welcoming three summertime interns to get experience in the newsroom proofreading, writing and editing pieces for the paper.

Anastassia Roberts

My name is Anastassia Roberts, and I have been interested in journalism and writing stories since as long as I can remember.

I recently graduated from Palisades Charter High School and will be attending Sixth College at University of California, San Diego, as a literature/creative writing major in the fall.

I enjoyed my time at Pali High immensely, and I have the English department to thank for that. Although I had been writing stories my entire life, I had never been able to truly finish any of them until my junior year at Pali High.

My English teacher at the time was very enthusiastic about what she was teaching, and her excitement for literature inspired me to take a new approach to my own work. Since then, I’ve been writing continuously throughout my high school career, and it is my dream to someday work at a publication in New York City as a photojournalist.

As a student at Pali High, I have been exposed to the Palisadian-Post for quite some time, and I would have to admit that I most look forward to writing my own articles and gaining experience that will benefit me in both my college life and in my later career.

Last summer as the pandemic raged on, I founded a program called HappyGrams in which a group of students at Pali High write letters and cards to the residents at Atria Senior Living each month. I believe this program has helped to bring together our community in a time of desperate need.

Pacific Palisades holds a special place in my heart, and I look forward to contributing my knowledge of the Palisades lifestyle during my internship, as I feel I have spent a large amount of my time these past four years surrounded by and interacting with true Palisadians.

Spencer Jung

My name is Spencer Jung and I am a rising senior at Palisades Charter High School.

Pacific Palisades has been my home for the past 15 years after immigrating from South Korea. I am an alumnus of the Palisades’ public schools, graduating from Marquez Charter Elementary School, Paul Revere Charter Middle School and soon Pali High.

Living in a community located next to the beach developed my love for aquatic activities, such as becoming a member of Pali High’s water polo and swim teams. I am also a certified lifeguard and work at the Palisades Hills Recreation Center in The Highlands.

In my free time, I enjoy surfing with my friends, running with my dog and biking along the beach.

I am a member of Pali High’s newspaper, Tideline, where I will serve as the copy editor in the upcoming 2021-22 school year. As a staff writer during the past school year, I wrote sports articles as well as spotlight stories that highlight events taking place in the Pali High community.

I enjoyed reading sports articles from ESPN and watching NBC Nightly News every morning before school, but I was motivated to join Tideline and become a journalist after learning about Class Advisor Lisa Saxon’s experiences as the second female writer in history to cover Major League Baseball. The numerous hardships and backlash Mrs. Saxon endured proved to me that journalism is more than just writing articles, and having her as my mentor would not only improve me as a writer, but as a person as well.

Being a journalist drastically improved my writing skills over a short period of time. One of my most notable writing accomplishments was being named one of 56 finalists in the New York Times sixth annual Student Review Contest in an applicant pool of over 4,100 students from around the world.

By joining the Palisadian-Post, my goal is to improve my editorial skills and get familiar with how a professional media company functions on a daily basis.

Elsa O’Donnell

My name is Elsa O’Donnell. I am 16 years old and a rising junior at Palisades Charter High School. I am so excited to be a new summer intern for the Palisadian-Post.

I became a staff writer for my school’s newspaper, Tideline, in the beginning of my sophomore year. Even though I joined a newspaper recently, my love for writing started when I was in elementary school. Since then, I have participated in several writing contests and was the courtroom journalist for my middle school’s mock trial team.

Aside from writing for Tideline, I have also played volleyball for four years. Due to the pandemic, I recently switched to beach volleyball. I am a violinist as well, and I started when I was in first grade. Over the years, I have played in many orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Additionally, I am a member of the Teen Council at Palisades Branch Library. This past semester, the other members and I focused on addressing education inequities by providing online learning and mental health resources that are easy to access to students who need them.

By being an intern for the Post, I hope to become more involved in the community that I am so fortunate to grow up in. I look forward to sharing my thoughts in the Post, and improving my writing and reporting skills.

I believe that I can contribute to the Post by providing a teenager’s point of view. Most importantly, I am excited to share and write about the people, events and traditions that make the Palisades so unique.