Meet our KUNR Youth Media students for Spring 2022

KUNR’s Youth Media program trains the next generation of journalists and elevates the voices and perspectives of high school students in our region. Student reporters produce interviews, audio diaries, commentaries and features that are broadcast and published on KUNR. Get to know this semester’s student journalists below.

Ashton Taylor

Ashton is a junior at Galena High School. He joined with an interest in audio production and storytelling. Outside of the youth media program, Ashton enjoys music, camping and mountain biking.

Celeste Maria Rizo Rivas

Celeste is a senior at McQueen High School. She spends most of her time listening to music and attending to extracurricular activities such as leadership and the NHS. When she has free time, she enjoys painting and watching movies.

Ellie Mundt

Ellie is a senior at the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology. She enjoys dancing and listening to audiobooks, and she is part of the news team of AACT’s video production program. Her work creating music videos and creative shorts for the Reno Film Festival X sparked her interest in journalism.

Kade Kollins

Kade is a senior at the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games and making music, and he was a member of the Reed High School marching band throughout high school. He is also part of AACT’s video production team.

Kaden Ackerson

Kaden is a junior at Spanish Springs High School. At school, Kaden loves studying English and history. Outside of school, she spends a lot of time reading and traveling. She has a passion for photography and hopes to better understand the world through journalism.

Kathleen Leslie

Kathleen is a senior in high school and attending the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology. She was previously part of the Youth Media Program in Fall 2021. Kathleen enjoys playing with her cat and finding the best way to manage her time before graduation, and she is happy to be working for KUNR again.

Kesley Morris

Kesley is a senior at Spanish Springs High School. Outside of the youth media program, she enjoys skiing, writing, drawing, reading and listening to music, but above all being able to write her own stories.

Maddie Rose

Maddie is a student at Damonte Ranch High School. She is very interested in cinema and the media. Specifically, she is interested in cinematography and production. At school, she is very fond of history and likes to read a lot in her spare time.

Stella Cole

Stella is a junior at Reno High School. She likes to paint and is interested in cinematography because she also likes to make films with her friends, and she even hopes to have a career in this field.

KUNR Youth Media is operated by staff from KUNR, Report for America and the Washoe County School District. Bob Zorn is the instructor, Lucia Starbuck is the writer and coordinator, Nick Stewart is a peer mentor and digital producer, Lucretia Cunningham is a digital producer, Crystal Willis is the digital editor, and Michelle Billman is the editor.

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