2025 – 2026 NCSMI Officers
President: Jordan Thomas ‘26
West Brunswick High School, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper
Reach out: jjswag419@gmail.com
What do you plan to do in your role as an officer and what do you hope to gain from NCSMI 2025?
“I plan to make the camp fun and safe. I want to keep this tradition going of NCSMA that’s been going on for years — since the 1930s — so I just want to keep going. I want to have fun. I hope to gain friendships, but also knowledge, because this camp has gotten me a long way, so doing all this– this is my third year doing it — I’ve been in different programs like broadcast, design, and The Rush. I want to get a different view on everything that we do.”
What draws you to journalism?
“I think the interaction with people. I love interaction. I love just getting to meet new people. I don’t like being by myself all the time. I like just doing things, the things I love. I love photography, I love meeting new people. That’s helped me and gotten me through life.”
What is a lesson you’ve learned through your pursuance of journalism that should be shared?
“Don’t be afraid to say anything that comes to your mind. Like, when you think of something, don’t just say, ‘Oh, I’m dumb for saying that,’ or ‘I’m dumb for even thinking that.’ No. If you’re thinking it, say it. That’s what journalism is for. It’s to bring out your thoughts and your memories to light, not to condemn it all because you think it’s stupid. I think everything you do or everything you think of is for a reason. And we all got here from different obstacles. I think that’s the main part of journalism — to just share your light with everybody in different aspects and varieties.”
VP of Yearbook: Madeline Thomas ’27
Charles B. Aycock High School, Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook
Reach out: madelinethomas53@wcps.org
What do you plan to do in your role as an officer and what do you hope to gain from NCSMI 2025?
“I plan to bring a lot of excitement that we have here at camp and in the world of journalism back to my high school because journalism isn’t really a thing that people care about. We’re more of a small school that likes sports and a very small town. People don’t care about what the yearbook has to offer. I’m trying to bring back the passion for journalism back to our school and I think that having a platform would really help me do that. This year I want to gain experience. I really just want to make connections and meet people and really gain that experience that I can’t get within a classroom at my high school.”
What draws you to journalism?
“Meeting people. I get to tell people stories that wouldn’t usually be told by the general public or that people wouldn’t care about and just getting to show people that they matter. I love that.”
What is a lesson you’ve learned through your pursuance of journalism that should be shared?
“I’ve learned that there is no story too small. My high school is really tiny and a lot of the students don’t want to be a part of the yearbook or be mentioned in it because they’re not part of a sport or a big club and they don’t think that they would be of interest, but they have a lot more to themselves than people actually know.”
VP of Literary Magazine: Erin Miller ‘28
East Mecklenburg High School, staff writer on the newspaper
Reach out: millerfamilydfce@gmail.com
What do you plan to do in your role as an officer and what do you hope to gain from NCSMI 2025?
“I want to continue recapping stuff that we already know, so I want to continue touching back on the basics. I feel like it’s good to remember the standard things, like AP style. I hope to gain more experience in my writing and improve it and make it better. I’d also like to improve my writing style.”
What draws you to journalism?
“I like learning about new topics and getting to find out more about people I might not know and gain more knowledge on areas I haven’t explored yet. My favorite part of journalism is probably the writing part.”
What is a lesson you’ve learned through your pursuance of journalism that should be shared?
“You’re not gonna get what you’re looking for on the first try, so if you’re looking into writing a story, you might have to revisit a topic or switch who you’re talking to. You might not be successful on the first try. Not everything always goes the way you want it to, so you’re gonna have to switch direction.”
VP of Newspaper: Lamonie Taylor ‘27
Kinston High School, editor on the yearbook
Reach out: lamonietaylor0@gmail.com
What do you plan to do in your role as an officer and what do you hope to gain from NCSMI 2025?
“To show people that journalism is interesting because people at my school, for example, don’t want to have anything to do with the yearbook. They think it’s not cool or something. I feel like me having a platform in it, and me knowing different people, I can show them that it’s a cool business, right? This year, I want to gain more knowledge in the journalism world.”
What draws you to journalism?
“Being able to tell different people’s stories. There’s so many different people that you get to meet and tell their story — different things that you wouldn’t even know about a person just by looking at them.”
What is a lesson you’ve learned through your pursuance of journalism that should be shared?
“Never give up. I’ve learned to be consistent with different things, even when times get hard, like trying to get everything done for yearbook, meet different deadlines, or when people weren’t cooperating — it just taught me to keep going, keep pushing through.”
VP of Visual Communications: Bayla Dunn ‘27
First Flight High School, photographer on the yearbook
Reach out: dunnba6285@daretolearn.org
What do you plan to do in your role as an officer and what do you hope to gain from NCSMI 2025?
“To help other kids have a fun experience. This year, I hope to get more experience behind a computer, editing my photos and (improving) my photos.”
What draws you to journalism?
“How much joy it brings me in doing it. I’ve been into (journalism) for a while, but I got back into it during my freshman year in high school. I liked going to the sports events, but I didn’t like sitting in the crowd. I think journalism benefits my school by keeping people informed and keeping memories alive.”
What is a lesson you’ve learned through your pursuance of journalism that should be shared?
“I have learned that if you find what you like to do, do it more. I feel like when I’m not doing homework, I’m taking photos. I’ve also learned to have more patience when taking photos of sports because you don’t always get the right photo when you first take it. Keep trying.”
VP of Broadcasting: Eli Bishop ’26
Watauga High School, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper and staff member on the yearbook
Reach out: bigelibishop@icloud.com
What do you plan to do in your role as an officer and what do you hope to gain from NCSMI 2025?
“I think that (this role) will be a great opportunity for me to make connections with new people, bring people together, create an atmosphere for students that’s engaging, where people can learn and have fun and be collaborative at the same time. I hope to gain knowledge this year. I want to be educated. I want to learn more about broadcast — the technology, the systems that are used and just be more aware of what I’m really getting into.”
What draws you to journalism?
“I think just the ability to express myself and to create awareness for certain aspects, especially the pressing issues in areas that don’t get enough coverage. It’s really exciting to be able to cover those things and get those things to light.”
What is a lesson you’ve learned through your pursuance of journalism that should be shared?
“Just speak out and express yourself, no matter what the topic is. Whatever the topic is, no matter how insignificant it is or how undercovered, it’s worthy of being covered.”