Click. Click. Adjust, point and focus. Click.

Senior Sierra Pedro has had a growing interest for the arts from a very young age. Photography has become one of her most recent passions.  Pedro started working with cameras in eighth grade when she joined the yearbook staff at Sunset School. As a sophomore, Pedro signed up to be a part of the Mahsican staff, Marshfield’s yearbook.

According to Scott Peters, a previous Marshfield yearbook instructor, Pedro came to him unknown but highly recommended.

“As a sophomore, [Pedro] was a bit timid and quiet, but she took great photos, was a great writer and had an eye for design,” Peters said. “She was the ideal yearbook staff member.”

Pedro is now the Editor-in-Chief of the Mahiscan.

Taking pictures for yearbook has expanded outside the walls of the classroom. Pedro bought her own camera her junior year and started learning more about photography. She takes photos for the Mr. MHS contestants for their annual calendar. She has also offered to do senior photos for a number of other seniors in her class and outside of Marshfield. Many students have taken her up on that offer. Her first senior session was with Hannah McMillan.

“Sierra had advertised that she was willing to do senior photos and since her and I are friends, I asked her if she could do mine,” McMillan said. “She’s so good and with every session she does, she keeps progressing more and more.”

Photography is not Pedro’s only interest. Music has also been a huge part of her life. Tina Pedro, Sierra’s mom, said she has loved music since she was a little girl.

“At a year old, she had memorized the ABCs and was singing them,” Tina said. “There was this CD of Disney tunes that she would listen to over and over again, memorizing every song. I even had it memorized with how much she listened to it.”

Pedro joined choir when she was in middle school and continued into high school. The first time a large group of freshmen were allowed to join Concert Choir was her freshman year, and she was a part of that group.  At the end of her sophomore year, she auditioned for New Horizons, Marshfield’s jazz ensemble. Now she is involved in both Concert Choir and New Horizons.

“My junior year is when I joined New Horizons, and this year I’m a section leader and Vice President [of Concert Choir],” Pedro said.

Pedro said even though choir and yearbook take up a lot of her time, she still squeezes challenging college and AP courses into her schedule, along with being involved with two plays. Pedro is one of the head coordinators of the yearly Mr. MHS pageant. Pedro has been accepted into the University of Oregon (UO) and has received the Summit Scholarship, worth $5,000 for up to four years. She plans on studying photography and journalism while at the UO. Tina said she is excited to see where her daughter takes her future.

“In whatever she decides to do, she will be busy and successful because she is such a driven and hardworking girl,” Tina said.