Category: Youth Advisory Board

Michael Eddins is currently a junior at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, Louisiana. Although Michael lives in Lafayette, he is from New Orleans. Michael had an unreal experience at the 2023 Washington and Journalism Conference. He works as a reporter for Varsity Sports Now which is a company that broadcasts high school sports games in Louisiana. Michael loves basketball and everything about his hometown of New Orleans. Michael is excited to return to WJMC for the 2024 Conference, and he wants to ensure that the correspondents have the same amazing experience that he did.

Megan Nguyen is a junior at College Park High School in the Woodlands, Texas. At school, she is a member of the marching band, quiz bowl team, and theatre department. She also participates in competitive dance and is active in politics, volunteering with organizations like FairFight Action, the Office of the Governor of Guam, and the Montgomery County Board of Elections. In her spare time, Megan can be found working as a youth gymnastics coach and traveling with her family. 

Leila Assalil is a Junior attending Winters Mill High School in Westminster, Maryland. She is the president and co-founder of her school’s newsletter and an active member of the class of 2025 executive board at her school. Leila enjoys reading a wide range of genres, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family. Traveling and exploring is also a passion of hers. She attends as many school events as possible in support of her fellow peers and her goal is to become an accomplished true crime journalist. Leila attended WJMC in 2023 and is excited to make WJMC 2024 the best conference ever.

Kennedy Kyser is a 2023 WJMC Alumna who attends Myers Park High School in North Carolina. She is heavily involved with clubs at her school and is on dance team. She plans to attend a four year university and major in communications focusing on Media, Journalism, and Film. Kennedy’s dream career is being a Reporter and Journalist for the NBA. She also wants to pursue a career in screenwriting and directing for film and television.  

Kalkidan Legesse is a junior in high school from Springfield, Virginia. Kalkidan has been writing short stories and poems ever since she could correctly write her name. She is a part of her school’s newspaper and controls their social media with street interviews, daily posts, and entertaining news briefs. In Kalkidans free time she loves to watch Modern Family, read thrillers, and try out new restaurants. WJMC was her dream experience and she hopes to share her love for Journalism with all new correspondents. 

Jack is a rising senior at Lutheran High School Westland in Southeast Michigan, having attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference in 2023 as part of Lime Group. He has always been interested in how words and information have developed humanity, and has found the study of modern America as an interesting example of that very idea. His experience at WJMC left him with valuable skills in basic journalism and a strong interest in the field. He hopes to in the future establish his school’s first student-run newspaper and support others’ interest in the crucial field of journalism. 

Isabelle Hucko is currently a Junior at Sickles High School, Tampa Florida, class of 2025. She absolutely loves reading, writing, and listening to music. Most days she spends her time volunteering with an animal rescue called MercyFull Project and fostering rescue dogs. After attending WJMC 2023, she says that it was the best week of her life and she will never forget the experiences or people that she met there. 

Hugh Cyhowski is currently a senior at Pioneer Valley Regional High School in Northfield, Massachusetts, where he is a 3 sport varsity starter for the Golf, Basketball and Baseball teams. He is the president of his class, as well as being a member of the National Honors Society, Yearbook Club and the National Society of High School Scholars. He has created “Gameday Vlogs” on his Youtube channel, documenting his high school sports experiences since 10th grade, and continued that by vlogging his daily activities at WJMC. From attending WJMC, he made connections with students from all around the country, many of whom he still is in contact with to this day. He hopes to help make WJMC an even greater experience for the 2024 correspondents. 

Evee Wilcox is currently a Junior at Jonathan Alder High School in Ohio. Her main focus had never been writing until she attended WJMC in 2023. She is now a part of her high school Journalism class and the newspaper. In 2023 she attended George Mason for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference where she made lots of good friends and explored a new passion for writing. She also attends a Career Technical School half day where she studies Pharmaceuticals and Medicinal Chemistry! 

Previously attending WJMC the summer of 2023, Emelia is currently a senior at Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia. Throughout all four years of her high school career, Emelia has contributed to Woodson’s newsmagazine, the Cavalcade, by being both a section editor and staff writer. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading/writing stories and rowing on her high school’s crew team. As participating in WJMC was a life-altering experience, she is thrilled to help shape the program for next summer’s youth correspondents!