Category: Youth Advisory Board

Gabe Jacobs is a junior at Profile High School in Northern New Hampshire. Outside of school he plays club soccer and represents his state on the State Team. He spends his downtime reading and hanging out with his friends and family.

Abby Howell is a junior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She loves to dance, act, and most importantly write. She has a few creative works published and is a member of her school’s journalism team. She works every day to make the world a better place, through her writing and through her self-founded drama program at a local elementary school. She is so proud to be a part of the WJMC program and cannot wait to see what life will bring her next!

Joclynn Howell attended WJMC in 2019 and currently lives in Caldwell, Idaho. She is in her senior year at Caldwell High School and plans on continuing her education by studying broadcasting and digital media after she graduates. She loves to travel and experience new places and hopes to be able to travel for her career. She is thrilled to be a part of the Youth Advisory Board and is excited to make WJMC 2020 the best one yet.

Hayley Hill is a part of the graduating class of 2020 at Middletown High School in Maryland. After attending WJMC, she found her passion for journalism and wants to pursue a career in International Relations at High Point University. Hill was a strong leader on her school’s yearbook staff and became a role model during her two years as photo editor. Aside from yearbook, she is currently holding an internship at DBI Architects, Inc in Virginia, and working as a photo assistant for Jennifer Riley Photography. Hill hopes others will be able to find their zeal while they represent their school at WJMC this year just as she did.

Emma Hackler is from Saint Francis, Kansas and is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She was a 2019 session 1 Pink Group member. Emma loves getting involved in her class and community through the student council and being co-captain of the dance team. She plans to attend Colorado Mesa University in the Fall of 2020 to major in Criminal Justice with a focus on Pre-Law.

Rebekah is a senior in high school. She attended WJMC 2019 as a National Youth Correspondent from Charlotte, North Carolina. Her main hobbies include photography and public speaking. In her free time she loves hanging out with people and drinking coffee. She is excited to serve on the Y.A.B. and hopes to help make WJMC 2020 as amazing as WJMC 2019!

Riley Dominianni is a high school senior at Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan where she is the feature editor of Knight Life News. Some of her other extracurriculars include soccer, volleyball, forensics, theatre, and National Honor Society. She is passionate about writing and hope to study journalism and humanities in the future. She loved her time at WJMC 2019 and want every future corespondent to experience the same feeling of fulfillment and self-discovery that she did.

Maddie Buffington is a current junior at Woodridge High School in Peninsula, Ohio. She is currently the editor of her school newspaper, The Bulldog Beat and occasionally writes for it as well. She attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference in the summer of 2019, and is excited to help plan for 2020! In her free time, Maddie likes to do fun crafts, read, and help friends out. After high school, she plans to go to college for communications or nursing.

Kayla Ary lives in Newnan, Georgia and is a high school junior taking dual-enrollment classes. She enjoys tennis, travel and photography. Kayla was a National Youth Correspondent for WJMC 2019 where she explored her career interest in journalism. By attending the conference, she learned about the vast opportunities that the field offers and which direction to take to get there. She is so excited to be a Youth Advisor for the planning of WJMC 2020 so that next year’s correspondents experience all that they expect and more.

Lauren Womack is a senior at Nederland High School in Nederland, Texas. She is the current Editor-in-Chief of her school’s newspaper and hopes to study Journalism and Communications at the University of Texas at Austin. Lauren hopes to one day write for a professional newspaper. In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her friends, singing, and making TikToks. She attended WJMC in 2019 and cannot wait to aide others in experiencing the amazing trip.