Four teenagers walk into a community radio studio…
You’ll have to listen to this special episode of WMMT-FM Mountain Talk for the punch line. Treat yourself to this hour-long public affairs program, featuring four students who are shaking up east Kentucky with their various leadership roles in programs supported by the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC).
Listen to the full radio show here: WMMT
Austin Williams, a recent grad of Betsy Layne High School in Floyd County, spent much of his senior year learning to code through KVEC’s Appalachian Technology Institute. This summer he is interning with the Appalachian Media Institute learning to make documentary films. In the fall he starts at the University of Pikeville where he recently signed onto the Esports team, helping pay for his education through competitive gaming.
Hannah Adams is a rising senior at Letcher Central High School in Whitesburg. She holds the award for most viral contributor here at the Holler, with her FIREshare post in April, “The Appalachian Mountains and My Father.” Her touching story set a Holler record after going viral locally with almost 700 shares. You can read this and more from Hannah, as well as contact her, on her Holler profile @hannahroseadams
Cameron Wright just spent his highly esteemed Yale Gap Year interning with KVEC. After participating in the Kentucky Valley Academic League for years, as well as the initial Student Senate cohort, he began supporting student voice through KVEC full time upon graduation. From organizing Student Senate hearings and lobby trips to the state Capitol to meeting with Bill and Melinda Gates, you can read all about Cameron’s last year on his Yale Gap Year blog. Cameron heads off to Yale in August! Contact him here on the Holler @cameronwright1 and follow him on Twitter @CameronW_1.
Kiley Short served this past year as a Junior Senator on the Appalachian Renaissance Initiative’s Student Senate. In her role on the Student Voice committee she helped to lead the POWER+ Student Senate hearing, to influence the 2016 federal budget, as well as met with dozens of state officials during the KVEC trip to the Capitol this spring. Kiley is spending her summer in the Governor’s Scholars Program and will be a Senior Student Senator at Letcher Central High School in August. Follow her on Twitter @KileyShort.
