Author: Allison Dodson

Elise Gillis is from New Hampshire and currently a junior at Portsmouth Christian Academy. She is currently captain of our girl’s varsity soccer team and leader of the missions club at my school. Elise has traveled to Mexico and Costa Rica on missions trips photographing and writing about my experiences. She hopes one day she can show others what she saw and wrote.

Megan Gentile is a senior at Holliston High School in Holliston, Massachusetts. She is the editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper and yearbook and hopes to pursue journalism in the future. She is also a member of the concert band and jazz band, a captain of the varsity swim team and participate in Destination Imagination and Girl Scouts. She attended WJMC in 2019 as a proud member of the pink group. As a member of the youth advisory board, she can’t wait to help future correspondents have an amazing experience at WJMC just as she did.

Candace Gallardo is a senior at Oley Valley High School in Oley, Pennsylvania. She is on the cross country and track team and is part of the Spanish club. Candace plans on majoring in journalism and communications in college. In her free time she enjoys reading, traveling and meeting new people and can’t wait to help WJMC grow.

Emma Frieze is a 2019 National Youth Correspondent from Chapman, Kansas. She is currently a senior in high school and plans to begin college in fall 2020. Her experience at WJMC made her certain she wants to pursue a career in media, and she looks forward to studying marketing and advertising in college, which will allow her to combine her love for media with her interest in business. Emma’s favorite part of WJMC was getting to connect with other passionate youth from across the country, and she is excited to help plan next year’s conference, so future National Youth Correspondents can have a phenomenal experience at WJMC.

Morgen is currently a junior at Columbia High School in East Greenbush, New York. He works as a graphic designer and editor of his school’s newspaper, The Devil’s Advocate. When he’s not editing articles, he is in his school’s auditorium managing all of his school’s spring productions. He hopes to go into either media production or technical theater when he graduates. WJMC 2019 changed so many aspects of his life and he hopes to be part of changing others’ lives by making this experience the best it can be.

Owen Chen attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference during 2019 from Santa Monica, California. He has many hobbies/interests which include playing the piano competitively, writing, art, doing combat sports, and reading fiction. He hopes to attend a university and major in music industry. His time at WJMC was one of his most memorable and enlightening experiences which he is extremely thankful for, and he hopes the next wave of correspondents will have as great of a time as he did.

Lauren Bleszinski is a high school junior from St. Lucy’s Priory High School in Los Angeles, California. Lauren enjoys musical theatre, cheerleading, traveling, writing and public speaking. She also loves watching hockey, whether it’s her friends or her favorite team, the Boston Bruins. In the future, she aspires to be a sports broadcaster or a political news commentator. Lauren attended WJMC in 2019 and cannot wait to see what the future has to hold while a part of the Youth Advisory Board!

Johnny Anderson attended the 2019 Washington Journalism and Media Conference and now resides in Boise, Idaho. He’s a junior attending Borah High School and is involved in a variety of extracurricular activities including varsity baseball, DECA, Debate. In the winter months, Johnny can be found in the mountains of Idaho snowboarding.

Hope Beelman was born and raised in the Illinois Valley and is a senior at LaSalle-Peru Township High School in LaSalle, IL. She attended WJMC in the summer of 2019 and is excited to help with the development of the next conference. Not only is she currently in her second year of leading her school’s Ell Ess Pe Yearbook staff as editor-in-chief, but she is also involved in Link Crew and Key Club. Throughout her high school career, Hope has represented her school as a state qualifier and medalist at the IHSA Journalism Competition. She plans to continue her education at a four-year university with a major in either Education or Journalism.