Profile: Jamaica Pannell

By Shaniqua Anderson


When Jamaica Pannell was in 6th grade, she had been cut on the back of her neck from a boy who had made a claw from paper. The claw that was wrapped around his finger was sharp and thick, so it became the weapon to continue to pick on her for his own amusement.

"Stop Stop," Pannell said. The tone of her voice was threatening. She reached her boiling point and became furious.

People picked on her all the time which had made her insecure about herself and also gave her low self esteem.

Writing is something that helps her get rid of her stress. She became so passionate for writing because of her rough times and also her upbringing.

“People are so quick these days to judge other people by the way they look or where they are from,“ she said.

Writing has become her way of expressing herself to other people when they won’t listen to what she has to say in person.

Pannell refuses to be immature, and treat other people badly, she said. She knows it won't do her any good and that it feels bad to be picked on for no apparent reason, she said. She wants to inform other people that she is a caring and smart person.

As a 16 year old, it's easy to be mean to other people, Pannell said.

“I want people to take the time to try to understand me rather than go by what they see,” Pannell said.

“I like to be creative in everything,” she said. She also has a passion for music and also playing the piano and saxophone.

Her creativity will most likely make her an artist of some sort when she graduates from Lord Botetourt High School.

She has learned so much about being creative at a young age, she said. Pannell recalls that she wants her voice to be heard, because she has felt misunderstood for a long time.

She has a great personality that she is ready to show the world but has never had the chance to do what her heart most desires. Pannell feels one day her voice will be heard, she said.

Profile: Bianca Moorman

By Nephertitti Gray

One day, when Bianca Moorman was six, she was sitting quietly in her family's living room and asked her grandmother, "Where did you come from?" The question ignited a fire in her grandmother, causing her grandmother to talk for hours about her family. The experience fueld Moorman's strong admiration for her family history.

Moorman, 17, and a rising senior at William Fleming High School, grew up in Roanoke and enjoys history.

“I think that it is interesting and you get different experiences from it,” Moorman said. She likes history topics that involve wars, slavery, Civil War and anything that happened before the 1970s.

Her great grandfather was one of 18 children and he had five children of his own, Moorman said. Her grandmother was the last of the five children. She grew up and went on to have 10 children. Out of those 10 children was Moorman's mother. But Moorman is an only child.

Moorman gets all of her information from her family by asking her grandmother and her aunt. Explaining her interest in learning her family history she jokes, "I don’t want to marry any of my cousins!"

She is not only interested in her family history, she said, but she likes to learn about Southern history and loves to read books such as John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath" and Margaret Walker’s "Jubilee."

History isn't Moorman's only hobby, she said. She likes listening to music, including artists such as Trey Songz, Lil Wayne, and Lady GaGa. She also likes dancing recreationally at home, drawing self-portraits with pencil and paper and making people laugh.

Moorman's Yearbook adviser told her her writing has great potential, she said. But she said her love for history leads others to think that she has potential in teaching and keeping her family history alive.

Profile: AmberLynn Anderson

By Darius Smith


LEXINGTON – AmberLynn Anderson attends two high schools, when many high school students barely want to go to one.

Anderson, 17, is a rising high school senior at Christiansburg High School, but also attends Independence Secondary. She said she thinks that the teachers at Christiansburg really don’t care about their students, and that she likes Independence because the teachers there are passionate about their teaching.

One of her teachers at Independence has encouraged her interest in writing, she said.

“My teacher saw my interest in becoming a writer,” she said. “I want a better education.”

After waking up in the morning, she takes a bus to Christiansburg High School to take another bus to Independence Secondary, attending two classes there, and then going back to Christiansburg to attend a third class. After school, she takes a bus to Christiansburg Middle, where, after picking up middle school students, she goes home, she said.

One way that she’s expressing her interest in writing is by participating in the Minority Journalism Workshop, sponsored by the Roanoke Times. This annual event allows local high school students the opportunity to learn about the workings of the journalism industry, to participate in hands-on activities, and meet the people who make the news happen.

Anderson said that what made her interested in the workshop was her “passion for writing.” She also said that she is interested in getting an internship with the Roanoke Times.