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Kings Park Student Selected as National Youth Correspondent

KP senior Kelsey Renz will be representing Kings Park when she attends the Washington Journalism and Media Conference in June.

Most 16-year old girls spend the last summer vacation of their high school careers hanging out with friends, going to the beach, and visiting various potential colleges around the country.

They usually don’t spend them learning and preparing for their eventual careers.

Kelsey Renz, a rising Kings Park senior will do just that this June.  Renz has been selected to represent New York as a National Youth Correspondent at the 2011 Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University in Virginia.

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“Ever since I was younger, I’ve had a knack for writing and really enjoyed it.  Then I took a journalism class and looked into current events and how they’re portrayed in the media and it was very interesting,” she said. “I hope to learn more about the industry, and what I need to do to get started and to get my name out there.  It seems like they’ll pack a ton of information over the five days.”

Kelsey is one of a select few students picked from around the country that display impressive achievements and motivations toward communications.  Amongst her many accomplishments, Kelsey has written for her school paper, won writing contests, was chosen to speak at her eighth grade graduation, and has been published regionally.

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Caitlin Shear, the program director in charge of this program at George Mason who is tasked with reading every aplication, hand picked Renz from all the nominations.

“I read every single application.  I look for students who are already demonstrating leadership abilities in their schools and communities,” she said. “Kelsey is a very high achieving student, with terrific grades. She is very much a self starter, and a leader within the organizations that she is involved in.”

Renz will enjoy a jam-packed schedule that will leave little time for seeing sights at the nation’s capital, and will instead keep her busy learning leadership skills.  They will not be lectured on news writing, but instead will learn about ethics,credibility and professionalism that will serve them in the field when they enter it.

“It’s a packed schedule.  They’re given some freedom but also have a lot of responsibilities,” Shear said. “There’s a dress code, we’ll be going to the national press club, the Newseum, the Capitol building, and other important places in DC. We want to make sure they get the experience they are looking for; they’re exhausted by the end of it.”

Renz will be joined at the conference by other students from around the country that share her love of writing, and thirst for knowledge.  She will hear a keynote address from Hoda Kotb, the co-host of “Today,” and will have the opportunity to individually meet with Washington Post reporters Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz and will hear from more than 30 distinguished speakers.

Loretta Tavella, who taught Kelsey for two years, knows that this is just the type of intellectually inspiring event that her student will thrive at.

“Kelsey has this ability to set herself apart from other students.  There were times when I could have let her not only guide the class, but to teach the class,” she said. “She is not afraid to speak out, and she thinks things through and she backs up her thoughts with knowledge and specifics.  She armed herself with information before writing.”

All that is left now, is for Renz to wait the agonizing three months before she can go prove herself with her peers on a national level.  She hopes that as she moves forward toward college, she can continue her creative writing and ideally land a job as a staff writer at a magazine that suits her interest.

“I’ve always just really enjoyed writing.  I’ve submitted work to Kidsday when I was younger and more recently to Horse Illustrated; it’d be great to write articles for something that interests me like that,” she said. “There’s a lot to learn at this conference, like considering one’s own voice and presenting without personal biases.  But I hope more than anything that this will help me get even more opportunities to try and get my name out there for people to read."

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