Author Archive:

Meet the writers of the –ISM Youth Files at Our Event, August 27 at 2 PM

August 17, 2022
Join us August 27th at 2pm at Curious Comedy in Portland (or at home via live-streaming) to meet our 20 youth writers in Portland and from around the country and India! We will be sharing live readings and pre-recorded videos from our youth artists from around the world, followed by a BIPOC panel of mental health experts in Portland to hear about resources and actions you can take for youth mental health. This is a masked event.

(Live Streaming Available)

Get tickets
Congratulations!
Journeya Green and Veronica Salrin show off their certificates for The -Ism Youth Files.

Jenell Theobald

July 19, 2022

Creator of the essay “The Many Who Don’t Fit In”

Jenell Theobald is an incoming sophomore at the International School of Beaverton. Like many Americans, she inherited many different cultural backgrounds. She was also born with developmental and physical disabilities, including high-functioning autism. This led to her being bullied a lot when she was young, and by 5th grade, she had attended 7 different schools. She went to many therapy sessions per week when she was younger. Like many autistic teens, she experienced depression.

With help from others, Jenell is getting better at socialization.  Her experiences have given her the resolve to help others like her. Jenell began with volunteer work for Camp Meadowood Springs, a social and communication camp that she had attended when she was younger. She created a Wikipedia page for them and helped promote the camp in many school districts and at other events. She also organized 35 volunteers to join the Oregon Elks over Memorial Day Weekend to do repairs and prepare the camp for summer.
Eventually, this led to forming Let’s Peer Up, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting people with disabilities. Let’s Peer Up has worked with the City of Beaverton to create the ADA Technical Advisory Committee, which represents the interests of 20,000 people in the Beaverton area. Now Jenell serves on the committee, and continues to fight for equity. She has recently spoken with Senator Ron Wyden about mental health issues.

Each year, Jenell spends hundreds of hours in volunteer and advocacy work and earns the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. In 2020 she was a Pamplin Media Amazing Kid and was a Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Oregon Honoree in 2021. She was featured on the front cover of Spectrum Life magazine’s 2021 winter issue, and was a finalist for Time Kid of the Year 2022.

 

Keona Burch (Rose Zhang)

July 19, 2022

Creator of the poems “A Wish for Rain” and “Fault”

Keona Burch (Rose Zhang) is from Portland, Oregon, but currently studying at Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding high school in Massachusetts. She enjoys creative writing but only began writing poetry this past year. Since she has not had her work published before, she is so excited for this opportunity to share it. While she doesn’t think she will pursue writing professionally in her future, she hopes to improve her writing and continue telling stories. She is currently considering pursuing psychology or neuroscience in college, although that is likely subject to change. She would like to thank her family and all her English teachers, who encouraged her to write and helped her improve.

 

Danica Leung

July 19, 2022

Creator of the graphic novel “Wild Geese”

A recent graduate from Lincoln High School, Danica Leung (she/her) intends to study political science at Emory University as a freshman in the fall. She has previously written for the Cardinal Times, and in Stepping Stone Publishing; she has also done freelance art work although this is first time publishing a graphic novel. She wants to thank Cate Bikales and Kim Bliss for their support in the creation of this project. She hopes to continue writing in the future and would like to thank ISM Youth Files for this opportunity.

 

Kylynn Lucio

July 19, 2022

KyLynn Hattie Lucio (she/hers) is a  Native American junior at Springfield Public Schools (Minnesota) in the hopes of becoming a therapist or a writer. This will be KyLynn’s first time having her work published! She is extremely excited and she is so happy to be recognized for her work. She loves to write when she’s feeling down so now she’s happy to help others when they are feeling down! She hopes to continue to work in mental health to become someone’s/anyone’s safe space and this submission is helpful in getting her there.  

In her free time, KyLynn likes to bead, write, read, play volleyball, practice jingle dress dancing, and play uno with family. She would like to thank their mom for supporting her. Her mom has stuck by her side ever since she was born, these two have been stuck like glue!

 

Trini Feng

July 19, 2022

Trini Feng (she/her) is a high school senior from suburban Illinois. She enjoys writing in a variety of genres and forms, always finding a new way to experiment with language. Her work has previously been published in Hooligan Mag, Bluefire, and Ice Lolly Review, among others. She is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Renaissance Review, a literary journal that aims to bridge the gap between humanities and science by publishing interdisciplinary art and writing. In her free time, she dabbles in music, video games, and coding. 

Kaitlyn O’Neill

July 19, 2022

As a current high school student at Oregon Episcopal School, Kaitlyn O’Neill(she/her) discovered her love for poetry in her tenth-grade English class. Kaitlyn has always had a passion for performing, so naturally, she found herself familiarizing herself with slam poetry in particular. Working with MediaRites is Kaitlyn’s first professional project, but she is sure that it certainly will not be the last! For example, an adaptation of her poem “Taken for Granted” was performed by Kaitlyn herself at the Armory in Portland in early June in partnership with DanceAbility. When Kaitlyn isn’t working on her poetry, she’s preparing for her career in musical theater by taking piano and singing lessons, dance classes, performing in school plays, and involving herself in many other local productions. Kaitlyn wants to thank her friends, family, and teachers for supporting her work and poetry, she couldn’t have done it without you all!

Isabella Santana

June 28, 2022

A recent graduate from West High School, Isabella Santana (she/her) hopes that her words can change the world. Isabella has received recognition for her writing on a local, state, and national level. She recently received the title of Los Angeles Youth Poet Ambassador, one of ten in Los Angeles County. In January of 2022, she received a copy of a poetry anthology, Expressions, published by the American Library of Poetry. The anthology featured one of her poems, Snow White and Her Apple Trip. She felt elated when she saw her poem in print, and hopes to recreate that feeling of euphoria with a book of her own soon. She thanks her teachers and family for never giving up on her inner child, who loves writing…forever and always.

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