We are promoting three student reporters to editors
A core part of our mission at the Sammamish Independent has been to train the next generation of journalists among the students from our local schools. With The Indy now successfully operating for a year and a half, we have started the transition to having students manage the editorial side of our newspaper.
We are proud to announce the promotion of three of our student reporters to the editorial board.
Medhya Goel is our new community editor. Ms. Goel is currently a senior at Eastlake High School, and has been with The Indy for over a year, writing for both the Community and City Hall sections. She has written extensively about recent lawsuits filed against city hall, city council’s diversity problem, and how Sammamish has started to confront racism after last year’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Julia Gudis is now the lead podcast producer, and has served in this capacity since September. Ms. Gudis, who is also a senior at Eastlake, started on the podcast as an intern in the summer of 2020, and has served as the podcast host for more than a year. During this time, her team has brought several of our most important stories to life in a radio format, including the 2020 presidential election, the rapid rise of housing costs in Sammamish, and the targeting of teachers and their humanities curriculums by conservatives. Ms. Gudis is managing the end-to-end production of the podcast this season.
Maria Langworthy is our new education editor. Ms. Langworthy is a senior at Eastside Catholic High School. She has been with The Indy since its founding and is our most-published reporter, writing for both the Sports & Recreation, Education and City Hall sections. She creatively covered sports during the middle of pandemic lockdowns, writing about hiking trails and virtual physical education classes. She has also written some of our most popular articles to date, including a profile of a local master of lawn care, a story about a young fencing athlete who won bronze at an international tournament, a deep dive on campaign fundraising for the recent city council elections, and a personal essay reflecting on returning to in-person school after a year of remote learning.
Our entire staff is incredibly proud of our new editors and what they have accomplished in their careers at The Indy. We are also very excited for them to help build this community asset for Sammamish — one that better informs our citizens, increases our connection and engagement with each other, and lifts other young people toward brighter futures.
We are always looking for students to join our staff as reporters, and perhaps one day serve as editors. If you are interested in joining The Indy staff and learning more about journalism, you can explore our open roles.
