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Woodside High School senior Kailyn Holty said journalism brought her out of her shell. As the co-editor of the student newspaper The Paw Print, Holty discovered that she could pursue her love for writing and community through journalism.
For all four years of high school, Holty has been writing for Paw Print covering local news, events, politics and campus activities. Before she became a journalist, she said she wasn’t as in tune with democracy or politics but now such concepts have become a passion.
Driven by her growing interest in the political landscape, Holty started the school’s Model U.N. club in 2023. She’s also part of the Human Rights student task force chapter, working on bringing awareness to issues such as homelessness, climate action and voter turnout during the election.
“Joining journalism, writing and reading more news, it kind of sparked a passion to continue to connect with the community as I valued how much I learned from journalism,” said Holty. “I wanted other students to also find the same value in that since there is a lack of people reading the newspaper.”
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Holty describes her freshman self as shy, struggling to make new friends and meet new people. By virtue of her journalism class, Holty had to step out of her comfort zone to interact with more people through interviews for news articles. As she started to talk to more people, she discovered her passion for connecting with the community.
“When you choose a story and pick an angle, you kind of don’t know the direction it’ll go in until you start interviewing people and do more research,” said Holty. “I kind of like that discovery and being able to connect with my community, … (and) bringing awareness to a smaller group at Woodside by sharing their voice or story.”
This year, Holty won awards for her breaking news story on the school’s walkout for immigration rights and previously was recognized for her stories on assisted death, school-provided tutoring service and the lack of female students in STEM classes.
Throughout her four years in journalism, Holty thinks that her writing and editing skills have improved and that she’s also developed leadership skills.
“When I started my freshman year, I probably wouldn’t have been able to speak in front of 30 students and teach them how to write an article, and so now seeing that development has been kind of crazy,” she said.
Her desire to connect with the community is innate. “I’ve always been someone who is compassionate and caring for other people and I think journalism was just another extension of that quality,” Holty said.
As a writer, she uses her compassion to portray people in the best light while maintaining journalistic integrity. She emphasized the importance of being accountable for your own mistakes as a journalist and being responsible for what you write about.
Holty’s commitment to reporting has allowed her to showcase her work outside of high school journalism. Her work has been published in the Daily Californian, Southern Food Magazine and in KQED’s Youth Takeover program.
The most memorable story she’s covered was for the Daily Californian about a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy for contaminating a San Francisco shipyard with radioactive materials.
Reflecting on her personal growth from freshman self to now a graduating senior, she said she would tell her younger self, “Just keep going. Things get better.” Holty has grown more confident, extroverted and willing to talk to more people on account of journalism.
Holty will be making her journey to the East Coast to attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. She will be studying economics and public policy to dive deeper into her interests in international relations and foreign diplomacy. As a California native, she’s ready to brave the cold and unfamiliar winters.
Check out this year’s list of Woodside High School graduates and read our article about the graduation ceremony.
For all of our graduation coverage, go to our central graduation page.
