Valerie Pendrak is a 17-year-old junior at William Tennent High School. She has lived in the Philadelphia area all of her life, surrounded by an abundance of family. With her love for community service and being involved, her passion for writing continues to grow as she desires to change the way that the media views the surrounding communities and society as a whole.

Valerie would like to attend Drexel University for communications and journalism. She wants to discover new and rejuvenating ways to display how the media publishes news to the community in a more direct and relatable way.  

As Valerie takes part in the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop, her goal is “to develop a new and functional way of thinking and writing, along with creating outside-the-box ideas about how to go about getting information out to others.”

She also expressed her interest in sports journalism and her hope to meet and work with fellow sports journalists working in the field.

In addition to constantly journaling or taking pictures, she participates in her school marching band playing in the drum line. She is also an avid participant in her high school’s girls varsity bowling team. Although her time is spread thin, one of her favorite places to spend time is participating in any of five school clubs.

Additionally, she is an active member in her church congregation. She holds a spot on her church council, sings in the choir at church, and also teaches a class of sixth graders every Sunday.