Category: Youth Advisory Board

Laura Walker is a National Youth Correspondent from Paducah, Kentucky who attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference in 2019 as an upcoming junior. She is a member of her high school’s National Honors Society, National English Honors Society, Dance Team, and theatre department. Laura is also an active member in her city’s Chamber of Commerce as a Youth LEAD participant. In her spare time, she enjoys performing in musicals at local community theaters and is active in her church’s praise and worship department. Laura is excited to use the skills she learned at WJMC to better communicate with peers and leadership alike.

Gabrielle Tornow is a junior at Shelby County High School in Shelbyville, Kentucky. She is a member of National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the SCHS Choir Department. She dances at Diane Moore Dance Academy and is an assistant with the Miracle Dancers, a group of special needs children and adults. She is currently dual enrolled at Jefferson Community and Technical College and plans to graduate high school with an Associates of Art. In her free time, she enjoys reading and acting in school productions.

Ainsley Marshall is from Laramie, Wyoming. She enjoys volunteering for her local women’s shelter and she enjoys drawing. She competes nationally on the quarter horse circuit. She hopes to be able to help make the 2020 WJMC as great as possible!

Sydney Dixon is a senior at Central High School in St. Joseph, Missouri, and attended The Washington Journalism and Media Conference in 2019. Sydney plans to attend The University of Missouri in the fall of 2020 and intends to double major in journalism and sports administration. She has been following her dream of being a sports journalist since she was in 7th grade by partaking in several journalism related activities. When she is not participating in student body government, spending her time writing stories for her high school yearbook– which she has been the editor of since her junior year– or watching the Atlanta Braves, she is filming or editing for her school’s video announcements or writing for The Savannah Reporter, the newspaper in Savannah, Missouri. Sydney is incredibly excited to be a member of the Youth Advisory Board and help to make WJMC 2020 the best year yet!

CJ Watkins is a junior homeschool student from Tennessee. He attended the 2019 Washington Journalism Conference. He is active in many extracurricular activities such as Jiu Jitsu, his Tutorial Newspaper, and playing the guitar. After graduation, he intends to attend college and has a passion for writing.

Aryany Perez, a founding junior at Memphis Rise Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, attended the 2019 Washington Journalism and Media Conference and was deeply motivated to find her voice and speak out more. Aryany is going to be a first generation high school graduate in 2021 and is interested in communications and political science as a major.

A senior at Memorial High School in Houston, Texas, Carolyn is a member of the drill team and serves as copy and co-photography editor of the yearbook. She volunteers with her church, National English Honor Society, and YoungLife. Her hobbies include photography, reading, and dance. Her transformative WJMC experience in 2019 introduced her to the exciting worlds of politics and journalism, and she can’t wait to instill this same passion in future correspondents!

Tristin McCreight is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is senior at Nicolet High School. She attended WJMC 2019 session 2 and was in the yellow group. Tristin is one of a few student photojournalist at her school and also on the yearbook staff. In her free time Tristin loves watching rom-coms, swimming, and hanging with friends. After high school Tristin hopes to study politics and journalism.

Maria McComish is from South Bend, Indiana. Maria is the secretary for her school’s Student Government. Writing has always been Maria’s passion, and she aspires to be a political journalist after college. Maria also enjoys reading and watching The Daily Show.

Kiersten McCollum is from the Michigan Metro-Detroit area. She is the current state champion of forensics speech and debate and a first degree black belt in karate. Along with public speaking, she loves art and writing. In the future, Kiersten aspires to pursue a career in political journalism.