blue – The Washington Journalism and Media Conference

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!

APRIL VAN BUREN

Faculty Advisor

April van Buren, MJE, advises yearbook (Tower Tales), broadcast (Tower TV), and a new journalism website (Tower Media), and also teaches various digital media classes including graphic design and web design at East High School in Madison, WI. She has taught journalism for about 18 years, including at Parkway Central High School in suburban St. Louis and at Mesa Vista Middle and High School in rural New Mexico. She has also been an adjunct professor for the Communications Department at the University of New Mexico-Taos. From 2010 to May of 2013, she served as the New Mexico director for the Journalism Education Association and as the Vice President of the NM Scholastic Press Association. She earned her National Board certification in Language Arts in 2012, and studied journalism, education and library sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was the 2013 NM Adviser of the Year and currently serves on the Board for the Kettle Moraine Press Association and as the Broadcast Contest Director for the Journalism Education Association. In her free time, she likes to read young adult fiction, and plays roller derby and ice hockey.