My name is Caroline Berry and I'm a senior at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mississippi. I am currently the editor-in-chief and online editor of my high school newspaper, The Charger. I was formerly the features editor. I am also a member of the Charger Media Group. I help write scripts and film content for select CMG productions. Additionally, this past fall, I was selected as one of 26 students nationally to form this year's PBS NewsHour Student Advisory Team. I help edit and produce content for PBS NewsHour's Student Reporting Labs each month. Last summer, I participated in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Editorial Leadership Workshop in which I learned how to best teach skills such as writing, designing, and editing to my own staff. I have also been awarded nine gold keys and two silver keys over the past three years for pieces of writing that I have submitted to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, five of which were in the journalism category. I was also awarded a full merit scholarship three years in a row to attend the McMullan Young Writer's Workshop for the work I submitted to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. I attended this workshop in the summer of 2022. My writing has additionally been recognized by the JFK Presidential Library for a critical essay I wrote. In addition to my journalistic pursuits, I am the head captain of my high school's dance team, and am a national qualifier on my debate team. I also train in dance at the Oxford Academy of Dance Arts and am a choreographer for Hinge Dance Company. Next year, I plan to attend Stanford University.

As a student journalist, I am committed to finding silver linings. Our world needs to be reminded more of the people that are using their time to solve problems rather than creating them in the current political climate we live in. Reporting from a human interest perspective invites audiences to be internally challenged to engage in the problems they might see in their own communities. Through my time at The Charger, I have prioritized this approach to story writing. The news is history in action, and I want to continue to be a part of making my community's history more informed.