— by Margie Doyle —
Orcas Issues is proud to introduce its two summer interns to our readers.
Emma Heikkinen
Emma Heikkinen, daughter of Phil Heikkinen and Ellen Goldberg, has worked as editor on the revived high school newspaper, the Viking Voice. You may already have seen her articles about the Pet Parade and the Senior Center Art Auction and her feature of the Orcas Island Public Library’s history.
Last year, Emma traveled with a high school group, Japan Connections 2016 for a two-week trip. This summer, she’s participating in “The Power of Hope” camp on Whidbey Island for the third year. Her art work was on display at the Student Art Show at Orcas Center last May. Emma will be a senior next year, and is exploring different universities for her higher education.
For now, she is also working at Sequel in downtown Eastsound.
Madeleine Treneer
Madeleine Treneer is the 16-year old granddaughter of Paula Treneer. She was brought up in Paris, France and so is bi-lingual. Many Orcas High Schoolers and their parents know her, as she spent her sophomore year “abroad” on Orcas. Highlights of her school year here included the Theater Class with Val Hellar and Jake Perrine, and performing in “Across the Universe” with 80 other islanders.
Madeleine is enrolled in a three-year program at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, and has also recently been accepted in the Science and Math Baccalaureate Program at Ecole Massillon. Madeleine’s other summer job is working at Crow Valley Gallery. She has written the articles about Matthew Laslo’s Magic Show, the Sugar Shack on Cascade Lake, and the groundbreaking event at the Public Library.
Maddy and Emma are paid interns, at $10 an hour, including time spent conducting interviews, attending meetings and writing stories. As part of their learning experience, we’ve had them attend government meetings, including the Eastsound Planing Review Committee on July 12, well-known for its necessarily bureaucratic and word-wrangling processes; our interns’ draft reports were of the highest quality of responsible journalism.
They are super-talented, super-nice young women, with bright futures that give hope to our efforts. Please welcome them as they carry out journalistic assignments for Orcas Issues.
We are grateful to our loyal readers and commenters who enable us to employ and teach our upcoming journalists!
Thank you, Margie, for providing this opportunity for Emma and Madeleine. I’m enjoying their articles tremendously. And the fact that they are PAID interns (as all interns should be, in my view) is all the more reason for us as readers to provide any financial support that we can for Orcas Issues!