Media Contact:
Naomi Tacuyan Underwood
AAJA Executive Director
Email: naomitu@aaja.org
San Francisco, CA – The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) has selected 42 talented students from high schools across the U.S. to participate in JCamp 2019.
The annual six-day multicultural journalism training program, which celebrates its 19th anniversary in 2019, will take place July 27 – August 1 at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta, GA. Students are able to attend the camp at no cost to their families thanks in large part to the support of donors such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation and other sponsors.
Over 700 students have graduated from JCamp since the inaugural program in 2001. Professional journalists serve as faculty mentors throughout the week and provide students with hands-on training in writing, reporting, photography, broadcast and online media. Among JCamp’s core values are the importance of diversity in the newsroom and in media coverage, as well as the value of cross-cultural communication skills, networking, media ethics and the fundamentals of leadership and collaboration.
“We are proud to announce this year’s class of talented and ambitious high school students accepted to JCamp, one of AAJA’s signature journalism training programs,” said Michelle Ye Hee Lee, AAJA National President. “AAJA is dedicated to developing a pipeline of diverse journalists — from high school to the C-suite — which we believe is key to diversifying all levels of journalism. Our JCamp students are the future of journalism, and we are so thrilled to welcome them to the AAJA family.”
“Nothing makes me prouder than to applaud and welcome the newest generation of JCampers to our premier high school journalism program every year,” said Arelis Hernandez, JCamp co-director. “Bringing them to Atlanta — the home of some of the nation’s most important civil rights remembrances — we are reminded of the great sacrifice a free press makes at the cost of liberty. We hope to bring that message home to our young journalists as they explore and learn from the leading voices in journalism and experience something they will never forget.”
Arelis Hernandez, political reporter for The Washington Post and JCamp 2004 alumna, returns as the program’s co-director. Ben Bartenstein, reporter for Bloomberg and JCamp 2011 alumnus, will serve as the program’s co-director for the first time in 2019. The volunteer faculty members include Terrell Brown, news anchor for ABC 7 Eyewitness News; Paul Cheung, director of journalism innovation for the Knight Foundation; Kyndell Harkness, news and sports photo editor for The Minneapolis Star Tribune; Timmy Huynh, photo editor at The Wall Street Journal; Neal Justin, TV critic for The Minneapolis Star Tribune; and Richard Lui, journalist and news anchor for MSNBC.
AAJA is proud to accept the following students to JCamp 2019:
Irenosen Aboiralor – Bishop Montgomery High School, Gardena, CA
Jesulayomi Adeojo – Schuylkill Valley High School, Leesport, PA
Juli-Anne Atwood – Southland College Preparatory Charter High School, Matteson, IL
Jacklynn Broussard – YES Prep White Oak, Houston, TX
Giullian Canlas – Lebanon Trail High School, Frisco, TX
Lillian Carr – Clarksburg High School, Clarksburg, MD
Eric Chang – Johns Creek High School, Johns Creek, GA
Amy Chen – Guilderland High School, Guilderland Center, NY
Hallie Chen – Liberty High School, Renton, WA
Kyle Chen – Wayland High School, Wayland, MA
Kristen D’Souza – Rochester Adams High School, Rochester, MI
Daja Dansby – Mansfield Timberview High School, Arlington, TX
Sebastian De Leon – Cathedral High School, El Paso, TX
Jordan Duncan – Salem Academy, Winston Salem, NC
Joshua Fernandes – Ballard High School, Seattle, WA
James Gao – Ridge High School, Basking Ridge, NJ
Kevontra Harris – KIPP Blytheville Collegiate High School, Blytheville, AR
Vivien Ho – Iowa City West Senior High School, Iowa City, IA
Shree Khanolkar – Concord-Carlisle High School, Concord, MA
Tsiyhon Kika – Eastview High School, Lakeville, MN
Susan Kolbehdari – Corona del Sol, Tempe, AZ
Mariana Larsen – Pompano Beach High School, Coconut Creek, FL
Angela Li – Carmel High School, Carmel, IN
Ashley Lin – Union High School, Vancouver, WA
Ethan Massey – The Shipley School, Wynnewood, PA
Uma Menon – Winter Park High School, Winter Park, FL
Mary Rose Morgan – Santa Fe Indian School, Crownpoint, NM
Josh Mysore – Saint Mark’s School of Texas, Plano, TX
Catherine Odom – Unionville High School, West Chester, PA
Dayna Oeste – San Marcos High School, San Marcos, CA
Ilse Guadalupe Ruiz Castro – Truckee High School, Truckee, CA
Faria Tavacoli – Coral Academy High School, Las Vegas, NV
Cameron Thomas – Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, Port Gibson, MS
Rheanna Velasquez – Wooster High School, Wooster, OH
Ronald Wagner, Jr. – Crossroads College Preparatory School, St. Louis, MO
Lina Wang – Irvine High School, Irvine, CA
Violet Wang – Casa Grande High School, Petaluma, CA
Vincent Wilson – Lakeside High School, Shoreline, WA
Brian Xu – Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, CA
Meimei Xu – The Westminster School, Atlanta, GA
Joshua Yang – Henry M. Gunn High School, Palo Alto, CA
Kaillin Zhang – Marquette High School, Ballwin, MO
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