Our summer experience with journalism interns is coming to a close as high school and college schedules summon a return to the classroom. The assignments from our editors have sent these budding journalists right back into the community where many of them have lived most of their lives — but in some cases not really knowing what goes on in town.
The resulting stories from all our interns has greatly exceeded our expectations. Last year, The Millerton News and The Lakeville Journal hosted four interns. This year, the number grew to nine. The big screen TV in our newsroom that we use for weekly story conferences (for those in the office and others Zooming in) almost wasn’t big enough to suitably fit everyone.
We wondered whether it would be too much to handle nine interns, but we decided that we just couldn’t turn anyone away. Last year, in an effort to attract interns, we cast a net, attending workshops at the University of Connecticut in Storrs and reaching out to the journalism department at Marist College in Poughkeepsie where we found Colleen Flynn, a Marist intern last year who upon graduation in May became a full-time staff reporter for The News covering Millertion and North East.
The student interns this year, who are paid, include high school students from public and private schools and college undergraduates. We are proud to have hosted four high school students and even more proud of the work they have produced this summer. Simon Markow from Cornwall is a rising junior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Copey Rollins, from Sharon, is a rising junior at The Hotchkiss School. Ira Buch, also at Hotchkiss who previously attended public schools in Kyiv, Ukraine, will enter her senior year. Kayla Jacquier of East Canaan graduated from HVRHS in June and is headed for Northwestern Connecticut Community College. Gavin Marr, from Millbrook, attends Boston University. Josie Duggan, also from Millbrook, is a rising junior at Bucknell University. Ruby Citrin, from Great Barrington, will be a sophomore at California Polytechnic State University. Chloe Kolakowski, a summer resident of Norfolk and a rising senior at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., joined the intern team in August after spending the first half of her summer interning for Sen. Charles Grassley in Washington. Mia Barnes of Sharon, a Housy grad, is a rising junior at Skidmore College.
Each year Salisbury’s Rotary Club presents a Lakeville Journal intern with the Bob Estabrook Intern Award in honor of our late editor and publisher. On July 16, Simon Markow received the award for his accomplishments over the summer. Past recipients have included Sadie Leite of Simsbury, who will attend graduate school at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in the fall, and Emma Benardete, from Amenia, a student at Oberlin College who was Opinions Editor and Editor-in-Chief at The Oberlin Review. Sadie and Emma are also back this summer, making a reprise covering the news for our readers — not as interns but as young professionals —until academia calls them back.
When the interns started, we advised them that there was a lot to learn. We also said we expected to learn from them, and we have. Most of all we draw inspiration from their energy and desire to be witness to history — and write about it. Whether they pursue a career in the field or not, their experience will benefit journalism overall. We salute them — and thank them.
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