Sugar House Teen Invited to Go to D.C. Journalism Conference

By Natalie Mollinet | [email protected]

Sugar House - One lucky Sugar House teen gets the chance of a lifetime to go to Washington, D.C. and participate in the Washington Journalism and Media Conference as a national youth correspondent at George Mason University. 

Kailey Going, a junior at Highland High School, will be representing Salt Lake City, Utah, and will join other students around the country in an intensive study of journalism and media. 

“I love television and broadcast — it’s an amazing opportunity,” Kailey said. “And I get to meet teens from all over the country who have the same interest as me.” 

Kailey’s TV and broadcasting teacher at Highland, Jenny Hardy, nominated her because she felt it would be a great experience for her. She not only gets to go to Washington, D.C., but Kailey also received a $1,000 scholarship. 

“She’ll have the opportunity to meet other like-minded students and learn from industry professionals in one of the largest news capitols in the world,” Hardy said.

Kailey, along with the other teens going to the conference, will get a hands-on experience that will help them solve problems and explore creative, practical and ethical tensions in the fields of journalism and media. They will also get to listen to many speakers, from CEOs of major media outlets to researchers and college grads who are successfully entering the field. 

 “She is by far the most dedicated student,” Hardy said. “She goes above and beyond what’s required every single day, including staying after school for hours to work on projects, and she is interested in a broadcasting career.” 

Kailey has always known that she wanted to go into broadcasting. She said she would watch KUTV 2NEWS every morning and knew that’s what she wanted to do. She’s already getting ahead of that dream by participating in Highland’s HTVS and competing in the Utah Broadcast Awards. Aside from broadcasting, she’s a member of the National Honors Society at Highland and is involved in choir. Outside of school she does theater and performs in a local troupe. 

“I work as an assistant director for the younger groups of Center Stage Players,” Kailey said. “I went to state in the category of pantomime.” 

Not only does she enjoy her free time, but she is also enjoying being a student at Highland and being close to family here in Sugar House. 

“I like Highland because it is very diverse, yet very united. There is a big sense of family and school pride. I love spending time with my family and friends,” she said. 

After she graduates from Highland, she plans on serving an LDS mission followed by attending a university. She still hasn’t decided if it’ll be BYU or the U, but she’ll for sure major in TV and broadcasting. 

Kailey will be heading to Washington, D.C. for the conference in July, and even though she’s excited to go she is a little nervous to be traveling alone. But she knows the conference will open up some opportunities for her and she’ll be able to experience firsthand what she wants to do most in life. 

“I am very excited to be attending the conference,” Kailey said, “I’m flattered that Jenny would nominate me and that my parents are so supportive of this opportunity.”