The Trailblazing Student Media Class of 2019

For the last four years, these student media members of The Creek Yearbook, Timber Creek Talon, TCTV, TCFM, and Timber Creek Sports Network have been working to blaze new trails in each one of their mediums and achieve greatness in so many areas in and out of our media labs.

They’ve designed Yearbooks that light up, provide 360-degree views, and unexpectedly expand. They’ve created thousands of hours of video and audio, streaming on 24/7 radio and TV stations. Over 400,000 people have read their articles on a nationally-recognized student website. They’ve told happy and sad tales, funny and interesting stories, and informed countless students, teachers, parents and community members in small and major ways.

Here are the 32 graduating Student Media members and why we’ll miss them. (In alphabetical order)

Carson Brumley
Carson is jumping ahead a year, getting his coursework done early to move on to the next stage of his life. Our time together was shortened this year, but through it all, we had Carson’s back and he had ours. Go conquer, bro.

Connor Chance
Years ago, we encouraged Connor to join Broadcasting and, finally, in his Senior year, he did. He went bigger than that, and joined Yearbook as well, bringing a keen eye for sports photography and action shots to both organizations. Though the Soccer streaming season had a monkey wrench thrown in the works, Connor was ready to go (even when our equipment wasn’t.) And in the final days of distributing Yearbooks, Connor was keeping the lists organized even when illness struck our HQs. Thanks for stepping in to help.

Megan Chormicle
Whether vaulting through the air or chasing down that perfect shot, Megan can be counted on to give her full effort on the track, on the field, or in the classroom — especially her own. Outside of the stellar work she’s done in capturing magically moments, she’s also training to make magical moments with her own students in the future, having advanced multiple times with TAFE. She was always here and happy to help wherever needed because she never actually went to any other class.

Kristopher Chunn
Kris has been with us since before Sports Net was a thing. He’s been on the front lines, commentating football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and more live on both radio and TV. He’s shivered (literally) while operating a camera and doing commentary for the soccer teams. He’s hosted nearly 30 weekly episodes of The Undefeated, continuing the legacy of our sports analysis radio show. And, this year, he brought swagger and bling to the radio studio and broadcast booths. We’ll miss that.

Sophia Crowder
Not only has Sophia improved her writing in her second year with Talon, she’s also been consistent on reporting world news events, honoring icons during Black History Month, and making sure our desire for Talon to be representative isn’t a facade. We’ll miss her quiet determination and resolve to show others the importance of looking beyond their bubble.

Taylor Deker
“Shark Attack” Deker has captured some of the most memorable photos in our Yearbooks over the three years she’s been a member, even winning national awards as a sophomore. During this year, as a Senior Editor, she has contributed her skills in organization and design, added her passion for creating a memorable publication, and laughed a lot. She truly took her job seriously and left her mark on this publication that will continue to resonate for years to come.

Emma Dovers
Even before she was one of Talon’s opinion editors, Emma’s opinions filled our newsroom and helped everyone find a voice for editorial writing. Her compassion is vast, her kindness is expansive and her heart is three sizes too big. She has added many new terms to our Talon vocabulary, and so we’ll finish this simply with the note that she is our Queen, we stan, and she must be protected at all costs.

Addison Eanes
Some of your favorite Yearbook photos are from Addison’s camera. Many of the magical moments you’ve read about in yearbooks for the last few years have been captured by her writing and design skills. Addison really had some great ideas in design this year and was so giving of her time. When she saw that others were under pressure or overwhelmed, she really stepped up and offered to take on extra jobs that were not even hers. We could not have done it without you.

Caroline Epperson
You can count on Caroline to write and craft impressive broadcast news, train others, organize nearly anything, and give good advice to both her classmates and the goofball that tries to teach them. She is talented, she is driven and she is very very wise. We will miss her wisdom, dedication and skill tremendously in every year in the future.

Kaitlyn Fleming
Having done a little of everything, Kaitlyn has taken fantastic photographs as part of Yearbook and in Commercial Photography, written critical articles and interesting features, and rarely throws gutter balls with the bowling team. Her quiet humor and multi-faceted talent will be missed throughout out teams.

Madison Galer
There is nothing Madison Galer cannot accomplish. She set her mind to do a year-long documentary project on the Seniors, which she did. She’s anchored dozens of newscasts, including next to a professional news anchor. She interviewed a former astronaut. She helped make a morning radio show. She’s written dozens of Talon articles and edited even more news packages. When it needs to get done, she finds a way to do it, or figures out how to do it. She can also dance really really well, but she doesn’t want to brag about it. It’ll be weird when she’s not here.

Destinie Gordon
In this senior year, Destinie has stepped out further in front of the camera, anchoring news, sports, and entertainment. She’s been a behind the scenes force for the last few years, helping edit and film, but this year her confidence caught up to her skills and she really woke up. We’re glad she did.

Paige Greene
Between creating an award-winning band documentary, playing percussion with marching, concert and drumline, and keeping all TCTV organized, it’s a wonder Paige stayed sane this year. But she did, and through most of it, she kept a smile on her face and just kept working. Often, she’d be working on multiple video projects at the same time, answering other students’ questions, chatting with friends, and keeping us on track for what to do — all simultaneously. She will make a fantastic producer in the future, because she already has all the skills she needs to be successful. Thanks Paige, from all of us.

Noah Grimes
There is no one more dedicated to TCTV, TCFM and Timber Creek Sports Network than Noah Grimes. He was at every event, ready to do any task, with energy and enthusiasm. He edited a weekly radio show, he scheduled streaming events, he answered crazy requests and odd questions, and he supported our goals with everything he did. So much of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens for our programming was touched or completed by him. The fact that he won’t be around next year is simply strange to think about.

Paridhi Gurung
Paridhi has the talents, skills and passion to change the world through her art, her perspective and her projects. She has been working with TCTV and KCAL A/V to further her abilities and sharpen her keen eye for creative expression, great camerawork, and talent for editing. She’s created award-winning pieces already, but we are so confident in letting you know that her best work is yet to come — and buddy, you’re going to be impressed.

Jacob Hartnett
Behind many of the most beautifully shot, well-edited, innovative work ever seen on TCTV is Jacob’s keen eye and steady hand. He was an award-winner even before joining TCTV, but his prescence elevated so many of our projects, in very visual and auditory ways. There is something special about the polish and artistry he puts into his work. We will continue to look at his work as an example of what greatness can look like.

Melissa Hernandez
With a winning smile in the pit, a great eye for photography and design, and a friendly personality, Melissa wins over anyone she meets and gets great quotes out of them as well. She’s served as a Senior editor for Yearbook this year and helped give the book an extra push of awesome. Melissa is calm in the storms and quietly kept the yearbook boat pointed in the right direction.

Julia Leal
Julia is the heart of TCTV, bringing passion and emotion to our news and energy to complete so many tasks. For her Senior year, she took on a leadership role and made lasting friendships while improving every area she worked on. She can be counted on to make compelling content and always leads with a kind and considerate heart. We will miss her obsessions with Twenty One Pilots, Friends, and YouTube food channels — but mostly her true love for our program.

Liam Morgan
Talk about a guy that’s grown. Liam has always had potential, talent, and skills, and through the last two years, he’s sharpened them all to become a leader, producer, editor and really cool dude. His future is bright and we’re looking forward to seeing him develop new projects, create unique content and constantly re-invigorate everything he touches. You’ve got this.

Lauren Mrachek
Lauren is one of the sweetest students that’s ever been at Timber Creek, full stop. Though she’s most often called Maracas in Talon now (There are like 4 Lauren or Lauras around), she was the original Lauren Talon and has set a high bar for anyone following her — whether they have the same name or not — due to great writing, insightful discussions and true leadership. Lauren has led the Timber Creek Band as Drum Major for two years, and while she commands attention and respect in that massive group, she’s just as comfortable being amongst our much smaller media force working alongside other reporters on difficult or controversial topics. For years, she’s been an empathetic and caring force on Talon, and we’ll miss her smile and inner strength.

Erin Obregon
By now, you’re thinking, which one was the hardest for me to write? It’s this one. Erin has been so much a part of Talon’s growth, competition, refinement and development that it’s difficult to extract her from my thoughts of our newsroom next year. Her insight, her writing, her spark of life, and her strength to deal with whatever life throws her way should be a model for our future Talons. But, man, having the one that broke the mold be out of the nest will be really tough.

Mackenzie Panganiban
Mackenzie is kind, smart, talented and really really nice, but the thing that I’m most proud of is this: Mackenzie is resilient. She has lived a life in and out of the spotlight that could have broken the spirit of other students. When something needs to change, she makes it change. When something needs to be cared for, she cares for it. And no matter what anyone says, does, or thinks will stop her from doing her best to make the world better, in whatever way she can. I know that she will persevere and accomplish all her goals in life.

Alaina Richardson
Before her first year on Talon, Alaina had to remind me a number of times to get her the paperwork to be on Newspaper. She never let me forget because this is what she wanted to do. Within her second year, she was News editor. Then, this year, she won Editor in Chief. At first, I was surprised she wanted the job, but now, I can see there was never any other choice. Alaina has been a perfect leader of this rag tag band of reporters and editors this year. She’s represented Talon well on conference calls, in administrative meetings, in newsroom discussions and in private conversations with staff members. Plus, she’s expanded her own skill set to tell strong stories in multimedia by learning how to film and edit with TCTV. Meanwhile, she’s also been certified as a Primary Care Technician and been in many odd short video segments. Her work is varied, her skills and numerous, and she’s totally run the show.

Samantha Sandusky
Sammi has been the key to Talon’s success covering sports for the last two years. She is a highly gifted reporter and editor, a kind person, and has tremendous perserverance to overcome struggles. She written stories about winning, losing, and the grind in between for boys and girls, team and individual sports, and contributed some of the most read feature stories in Talon history. In and out of the newsroom, Sammi works hard and overcomes challenges. Whatever goals she has will be achieved due to her hard work and talent, but we’ll miss having them around.

Emma Shields
Not only is Emma smart (5th in the class smart, to be precise), she has a command over what stories need to be told and how to tell them. Between taking over 10 AP tests since she started with Talon, she has been able to contribute interesting features, important news items, and informative articles. All with a quiet, calm exterior and kind heart. We hope she’ll keep cheering on the Hotspur as she continues advances to her next stage of achievement.

Georgia Straub
Both as a person and as a writer, Georgia has grown over the years we’ve known her. She has contributed excellent features, dozens of newsworthy stories, and, most of all, an intelligent perspective on many topics of discussion, story ideas, and angles for coverage. Everything has been improved since Georgia joined us, even if it meant suffering through Vine quotes.

Chase Sutliff
Chase came into a Journalism class midway through a section and even though he was behind others, he flew through everything and quickly said “what’s next?” Since then, he’s been growing, learning how to shoot and edit, making close friends, sharing great music recommendations, discussing philosophy, beating everyone with Bowser in Smash Bros. (it really was for a school project, see SSBU Stream), and generally being a cool dude to have around. He was ready to learn on the job for sports broadcasts, volunteered to paint, build, edit and be in weird intros. We’ll miss you, bulldog.

Lucas Swearingen
Captain Lucas sails the lakes, wind in his ball cap, eyes scanning the horizon. He’s prepared the ship and knows how to navigate the waters, even when there’s a slight chop. He’s capable, he’s ready, and he’s got his hand on the wheel. Sail on, Captain Lucas, out of these friendly waters and on to tomorrow. Know that you’ve always got a port here. (If this makes no sense to you, just know that Lucas literally sails boats when not working on TCFM or TCTV).

Joshua Tallman
Even before Josh was in my classroom, I knew of his energy, enthusiasm, and talent. When starting on the Shattered Dreams project in 2016, immediately his name came to the top of students’ lists. Working with him, it’s easy to see why. But four years on, I’ve pretty much forgotten that younger Josh as he’s transformed into someone more confident in himself, at ease with his abilities, and able to create great things with more speed than ever before. We’ll miss the “Hey Josh What’s Up” catch phrase, the editing and photography skills, and him doing the weather.

Tabitha Tomlinson
Most Talons know how skilled Tabitha is as a writer and many know how her even-keeled, considerate personality can help them develop better stories. Outside the newsroom, multiple adults interviewed by Tabitha over these nearly four years have described her as “so sweet,” “insightful,” and “professional.” Indeed, Tabitha is all those things, plus she’s a smiling face, focused Lit Mag Editor, Opinion adviser, feature writer, and creative spirit. We’ll miss her presence, especially in the quiet moments where her light would shine brightest.

Katelin Tran
Originally, I was going to start this with a joke. Then I pulled that joke at Christmas, where I handed her a letter that said she was awful. (It wasn’t true and still isn’t.) But before she gives her Salutatorian speech at Graduation, and wows the crowd with her cleverness, I’d like to tell you a secret. Katelin Tran is the funniest person at Timber Creek. She’s even had viral success with her Twitter. She seems to have the right headline for everything. Her photo captions are rad. And it all stems from the fact that, despite her being so smart in the traditional, grade-point average sense, she still finds ways to see the discord and oddity of life in a humorous, positive way. Twenty years from now, when she’s receiving a major award, she’ll slip in another of these witty comments in acceptance speech and someone in the audience will be overcome that someone this intelligent and studious also has a keen sense of humor. At that moment, I’ll feel the universe tickle my memory as I chuckle to myself, “Told ya so, nerds.”

Reagan White
Reagan just joined Talon this January, but her skills were immediately evident in the first day of Journalism class. She’s smart, a talented writer, pretty funny and gives her all to chasing a story and finding a great way to tell it. We’ve loved having her on our team, even for this short amount of time.

Logan Williams
The fruits of Logan’s labor have been seen on every live newscast, in dozens of productions, and in invisible ways behind the scenes. His skills as a technician and builder was relied upon by all areas of our broadcast teams. Over and over again, he was able to design, construct, wire, light, configure, adjust and enable bigger and better projects. He’s a key reason we were able to do so much in the last two years, especially in the technical realm. We’ll miss his clever ways to make things work.

We love all of you and will miss you terribly. — Janda and Beers.

The 2019 Seniors of Talon