In the fall of 2021, Madeleine Ahmadi approached Essex High School teachers Erin Kranichfeld and Amy Phillippo with a goal to create a student newspaper. Years later, that same girl finds herself in newsrooms instead of classrooms.
Ahmadi graduated from Essex High School in 2023 and went on to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she recently graduated in spring 2026.
During her time at UNC-Chapel Hill, Ahmadi served as assignment editor for Carolina Week, UNC’s student newscast, while majoring in Media and Journalism and in Peace, War, and Defense. She also completed internships with NBC5 in Burlington, Vermont, and CNN International in Atlanta, Georgia. She recently accepted a job as a news reporter at WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia.
“My experiences span many different newsrooms, helping me better understand how media operations work at every level,” Ahmadi said.
When she entered Essex High School as a freshman, there was no newspaper.
“I felt the school needed an outlet where students could produce news about their community,” Ahmadi said.
That idea became The Hive.
“EHS is lucky to have a student-run, autonomous paper with great editorial freedom,” she said. “Not every school can say that.”
Today, The Hive has expanded beyond EHS by collaborating with Thomas Fleming School and partnering with the Essex Reporter.
For Ahmadi, the club’s growth means more than just a successful newspaper.
“The Hive and The Honey Hive represent a commitment to journalism at the most local level,” Ahmadi said. “The media is the critical foundation to our democracy. Educating about, and ensuring, media literacy from elementary school through high school helps create a better world.”
She sees The Hive as a place where student journalists can grow and develop their skills.
“The news industry needs that right now. The Hive is a safe place to experiment. I want to both give back to the place that allowed me to learn the basics of journalism and sustain a project I so deeply believe in,” Ahmadi said.
She also recognizes the two people who helped build The Hive into what it has become today.
“Its mission is primarily being sustained by two high school teachers— on top of their typical workload,” Ahmadi said. “That is truly incredible and a testament to how much our community cares about good journalism. It is my belief that this model can be scaled statewide.”
Ahmadi is moved by the individuals who support the news site and shares advice for current and future Hive writers, believing there are stories all around you.
“I promise, on your monotonous walk to your first class of the day, if you look up and glance at a bulletin board, listen extra carefully getting a late pass in the office, or feel just how hot the building is, you’ll realize there are 15 stories waiting to be written,” Ahmadi said. “That’s when, and only when, you look back down at your phone and start typing. Those are the stories waiting to be told.”
