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Tag: 2018

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Speakers

Cynthia Russo

Founder/Publisher, EAST COBBER Magazine

Cynthia Rozzo created the free magazine, EAST COBBER, in 1993 to serve East Cobb County, Georgia residents by providing a forum for them to share their ideas and a source for them to learn more about their community.

As a local businesswoman, Cynthia has served as past president of the East Cobb Business Association and is a member of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to establishing EAST COBBER, Cynthia Rozzo was the marketing/public relations manager for an educational publishing company. In addition to growing EAST COBBER online and in print, she produces the annual EAST COBBER Community Parade and Festival.

Cynthia received a Masters in International Relations from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. Her undergraduate degree in Public Administration was earned at Indiana University, Bloomington. An East Cobb County (a neighborhood in Marietta, GA) resident since 1991, Ms. Rozzo lives in the Park Ridge subdivision with her husband, George, and three children, Lee, Nikos, and Eleni.

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Junior Faculty Advisor Staff

Isabelle Robles

Junior Faculty Advisor

Isabelle Robles is a current freshman at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying Strategic Communication in Journalism and Anthropology, hoping to pursue a career in digital communications. At the University she stays busy as a tour guide, a member of the Mizzou Student Suicide Prevention Coalition and is involved in the philanthropy and scholarship aspects of her sorority. She attended the Washington Journalism and Media Conference as a National Youth Correspondent from Iowa City, Iowa and returned to intern for the conference the following year. She credits her decision to confidently enter journalism school to the knowledge and connections she gained at WJMC.

In high school, Isabelle got the opportunity to travel across the nation for journalistic purposes and was named Iowa’s High School Journalist of the Year and one of six national runners-up. She has experience in news and feature writing, broadcasting, multimedia storytelling, social media and website production and has received state, national and international awards for her work, including the 2017 National Multimedia Story of the Year. Isabelle can be found scoping out the best local ice cream places and talking way too much about her dog.

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Junior Faculty Advisor Staff

Taylor Clarke

Junior Faculty Advisor

A Long Island native, Taylor is a junior at Hofstra University, majoring in journalism with a minor in American studies. On campus, Taylor is an active member of the Peer Alliance Program, the Honors College and she serves as the Assistant News Editor for the school’s newspaper, The Hofstra Chronicle. Taylor is thrilled to be back in D.C. as part of the Washington Journalism and Media Conference. She attended the conference in 2013 and her experiences inspired her to pursue a degree in journalism.

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Faculty Advisor Staff

Mark Hilburn

MARK HILBURN

Faculty Advisor

Mark Hilburn is in his fourteenth year teaching journalism at Millard West High School in Omaha, Nebraska, where he advises the MWHS Wildcat News Broadcast, Catalyst Newspaper, Prowler Yearbook and Striv live-streaming.  Mark is also an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha where he teaches Media Writing while working on his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership. Currently, Mark is serving as President of the Nebraska High School Press Association, presents and judges at national JEA/NSPA and CSPA conventions and teaches journalism workshops across the country. He is a Master Journalism Educator, Mentor and serves on the Certification Committee through the Journalism Education Association. He holds Master’s degrees in Journalism and Mass Communication and Secondary Education: Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nebraska. His publications have been Pacemaker, Gold Crown and All-American award winners, received 1st place in the NSPA Best of Show competition, won State Journalism Champions in 2017 and 2014 and State Runner-Up in 2018, 2016 and 2013. Mark advised the 2022, 2019, and 2018 Nebraska Journalists of the Year and received the Excellence in Broadcasting Award from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2022, 2020 and 2018. Mark was named the 2015 Nebraska Distinguished Journalism Teacher of the Year, in 2019 was the first adviser to receive the Dr. Sherrie Wilson Outstanding Service Award for Journalism, and in 2020, received the Future Administrator Award and Scholarship from the Journalism Education Association. This is his fifth year with WJMC.

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Intern

Taj Kokayi

Conference Intern

Taj Kokayi is a filmmaker and photographer. Next year he plans to be a film major and continue to pursue his love of visual storytelling. Currently, Taj serves as a videographer, editor, and floor director for his high school broadcast program, and he is also a sports videographer for his school’s champion lady volleyball and basketball teams. He is also a camera operator at Freedom Church, and he does nature photography and graphic design. Taj runs a news and media page on Instagram (@kingofmetahumans) that centers around science fiction and comic books and has reached over 75,000 followers. He attended the second session of WJMC last year, and it was without a doubt the best week of my life. He is beyond excited to return as an intern!

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Junior Faculty Advisor Staff

Sami Gibbs

SAMI GIBBS

Junior Faculty Advisor

Sami is a sophomore at George Mason University where she is majoring in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and double minors in Political Communication and Global Affairs. This past summer, Sami served as a Speaker Intern for WJMC 2018. She enjoys staying involved on campus as a Mason Ambassador, a News writer for The Fourth Estate, a member of Mason Cable News, an intern for the Washington Scholars Program, and a Student Government Senator. Recently, Sami has covered the much-anticipated appearance of Rep. John Lewis, which was featured on the cover of The Fourth Estate and has also co-anchored Mason Cable News on several occasions. Back at her hometown, Brentwood, California, Sami was a 2-year Editor-in-Chief of her high school’s paper, The Lion’s Roar, which earned a nationally-ranked first place award. She also created and ran a “Humans of Liberty” social media page and served as the student representative to the school board. WJMC will always hold a special place in Sami’s heart and she is grateful for the program, and those who were a part of it, for motivating her to pursue a career in the field. She looks forward to all the success that WJMC 2019 will bring!

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Youth Advisory Board

Kiara Sanders

Kiara Sanders is a national youth correspondent from Springfield, Pennsylvania and is currently entering her senior hear at O’Hara high school. She is a cheerleader for the SKKY Allstars Cheerleading Program and has competed in Nationals and  Summit competitions. Kiara is very involved both in her school as a lion ambassador and freshman mentor, as well as outside her school as a lifeguard and a coach for young cheerleaders. She enjoys concerts, going on adventures, movies and traveling as far as her feet will take her. She is grateful for the skills WJMC gave her and plans to use them to pursue a career in Sports Broadcasting or the Army.

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Youth Advisory Board

Lauryn Holliday

Lauryn Holliday is a senior at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. She attended WJMC during session one. WJMC pushed her out of her comfort zone and allowed her create lifelong friendships with people around the country. After attending this conference, Lauryn was compelled to create a newspaper for her school. She is in the process of creating a team for the newspaper. She is an active member of her school’s literary magazine, theatre program, Student Diversity Leadership Council, African American Awareness Association, and track team. Lauryn is excited to help plan the next WJMC!

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Youth Advisory Board

Esther Frances

Esther Frances is a junior at Rockville High School in Rockville, Maryland. She is the news managing editor of her high school’s newspaper, The Rampage, and is the junior managing editor of her high school’s literary arts magazine, Echoes. Esther greatly enjoyed WJMC 2017 as it gave her insight as to what being a journalist entails and how to prepare for future internship and job interviews. She hopes to become involved with foreign journalism and communications between South Korea and the U.S.

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Youth Advisory Board

Taylor Armstrong

Taylor attended the 2017 Washington Journalism and Media Conference as a rising high school junior. This experience offered the chance to be immersed in her two passions of politics and journalism. Taylor hopes to pursue studies in college in both fields of study. Currently, Taylor is on the executive board of the Future Leaders of America club where she is instrumental in bringing students together in a bipartisan manner to discuss politics in and out of school. She is Junior Class secretary, on both the varsity field hockey and golf teams, ski club member, participates in unified theater, has a part time job and volunteers for Healing Meals, a non profit organization preparing and cooking organic meals for members of the Hartford County community currently in a health crisis. Taylor is thrilled to have been selected as a member of the 2018 WJMC Youth Advisory Board and is very much looking forward to ensuring the 2018 students find this experience among the most rewarding and exciting times they can have!