The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News 2025 interns

Meet the next generation of community journalists. Eight interns contributed to The Lakeville Journal and Millerton News this summer. Below, each wrote a brief bio.

Grace DeMarco

I grew up in New Fairfield, Connecticut, and will be entering my junior year at Marist University majoring in communications with a journalism concentration, and minoring in studio art. On campus, I am on the board of the Society for Professional Journalists, manage the Ice Hockey team, and have written for the newspaper, The Circle.

My passion for learning and writing has really directed me towards the dream of pursuing journalism from a young age. I love hearing people’s stories, what is important to them and the community, and being able to learn about a wide variety of issues. Having the privilege of this, along with the responsibility of conveying and delivering the stories in an accurate and concise way, is something I have been able to do through my internship with The Millerton News.

I have learned that local news is such a powerful thing to be a part of. Not only am I able to learn and report on the community, but I am also able to engage with and immerse myself into it. My most valuable takeaway is my growth in confidence for conducting interviews, along with the amazing people I have met through reporting on the community. Reporting on small towns as an outsider has also given me a new perspective to look at the small town that I come from as well.

This upcoming semester, I hope to further participate in the Marist Circle as a “foreign correspondent” columnist when I study abroad in Florence, Italy, in the fall. My long-term goals are to work for a big publication or magazine, and be able to incorporate my love of art, music and culture into my work.

Mia DiRocco

I’m Mia DiRocco, and I’m a rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. I began working for The Lakeville Journal this spring with the new student paper HVRHS Today. Writing about anything from tennis teams to school lunches, I loved learning more about the journalistic process, and thanks to the paper I learned about The Lakeville Journal’s summer internship.

Growing up in New York, the headlines of the city’s iconic papers were always a part of my daily life, and I think that’s what first began my interest in writing. I hope to continue pursuing journalism both as a major in college and a future career, and interning for The Lakeville Journal has been such a fun and fascinating way to experience what working in media is like.

I was also able to attend the School of The New York Times this summer, which would never have been possible without the knowledge and experience I gained learning from The Lakeville Journal reporters and editors. Working here this summer has been an incredible experience, and I’m so grateful to Riley Klein, Nathan Miller and the rest of The Lakeville Journal’s staff for providing this opportunity.

Simon Markow

My name is Simon Markow, I am a rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. This is my second year being an intern for The Lakeville Journal.

Since I began, I have made almost 50 video reports for the Journal, some of which exceeded three thousand views on Instagram. Many of my photos have been put in the paper and have even made it to the front cover. I have been learning how to write articles, which I have never done before. I have enjoyed being a part of page layout for the newspaper, organizing how the articles are arranged on the page.

What I am most proud of during my time at The Lakeville Journal are the experiences I have had covering stories big and small in my hometown of Cornwall and across the Northwest Corner.

My best memory has been the NASCAR truck race at Lime Rock Park. I was excited to go and with press credentials I was able to get behind the scenes and even on the track. I got to go into the paddocks and see the racecars and drivers up close. I would never have been able to do this if it wasn’t for this internship. I was able to get experience with what it’s like to be a media person at a big event, which is a career path that I am considering. I was even able to go to the post-race press conference and ask the winner of the NASCAR truck race, “What’s your favorite food on a hot day?” He answered with PB&J sandwiches. Covering the race is a story I will share for the rest of my life.

This internship has provided me with a range of skills that will open new opportunities and possible career paths in my future, along with being the best summer job I have ever had.

Simon Markow asks a question to Corey Heim, winner of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series LIUNA 150 at Lime Rock Park, in the post-race press conference Saturday, June 28. Riley Klein

Theo Maniatis

Hello. I live in Washington, Connecticut, and New York City. I’m a rising sophomore at Middlebury College in Vermont.

I spent my fall semester playing soccer in Valencia, Spain. Once I arrived at Middlebury, I started writing sports for the campus newspaper, working my way up to Sports Editor — asurprising turn because I had never enjoyed writing in high school.

I spent weeks in April writing emails to newspapers across the region, looking for a summeropportunity. The New York Times did not respond to me, but I got one email back from Nathan Miller at The Lakeville Journal. After an interview process, I started at the Journal this June.

The Journal’s program seems unique in the country. From week one, I was writing realstories and carrying a Canon T7 to photograph sporting events. I shadowed reporters and attended classes led by industry experts the Journal brought in for the interns.

I have gotten better at writing, learned how to interview people and picked up photography basics. I still have no idea what I want to major in or do with my life, but I’m really glad this program happened.

During halftime of a Torrington Summer Basketball League game, Theo Maniatis chats with the referees about pay rates, handling the roughly 90-degree heat inside Torrington Armory, making touch calls during games and how to deal with angry parents on the sidelines.Riley Klein

Jules Williams

My name is Jules, and I’m currently a rising senior at the University of Virginia, though I grew up in Redding, Connecticut. When I first applied to college three years ago, I, like many other high schoolers, had a general idea of what I was interested in, but no real plan; I just knew I couldn’t handle another semester of physics. Exploring every discipline my school had to offer allowed me to settle on a dual major in both English and media studies. Through my studies, I’ve delved deep into the art of writing, learning about both the technique and styles that define good literature and the ramifications of the media and what it says about different cultures and their ideologies.

Interning at The Lakeville Journal this summer has been a continuation of my prior exploration, taking my learnings from the academic scene outside of the classroom. While I am confident in my writing ability, journalism requires many skills beyond it, some of which I had a background in and others that were new and occasionally uncomfortable. In particular, this internship challenged me to familiarize myself with the process of reaching out to and conversing with total strangers, and taught me that people are much more willing to help than one might anticipate. The collaborative environment at the Journal allowed me to both show off my strengths and tackle my weaknesses and I’m excited to take that new growth into the next chapter of my life.

David Carley

My name is David Carley, and I am a rising sophomore and studio art major at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Considering that Kenyon is a known as writer’s school, writing is a passion of mine, yet I had never done it in a journalistic setting until this summer internship. Journalism has always been important to my family and me. My father has worked in journalism since before I was born, so it was about time I got involved with it myself.

I’ve had a passion for photography since middle school, so this program has proven to be a perfect mixture of something new and something I already have experience with. Furthermore, my interest in design led me to get involved with the page layout process of the newspaper, and learning the puzzle that is putting together a page has been one of my favorite parts of the whole experience.

I’ve truly learned a lot in my time at The Lakeville Journal. For starters, I’ve gotten a lot better at going up and talking to strangers and honing my interviewing skills, learning what questions are important to glean information to write a story. I’ve also had many experiences I wouldn’t have had if it weren’t for an assignment, like going to a magic lesson at David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village or visiting the Accordion Museum in North Canaan. It is experiences like those that make me extremely grateful for the internship, along with the many skills picked up along the way.

I’m from New York City, but I have been coming up to Norfolk, Connecticut, for my whole life. It has been great to have even more memories and reasons to love the towns of the Northwest Corner.

Each summer, the Salisbury Rotary Club presents the Bob Estabrook Intern Award to one Lakeville Journal intern. This year, David Carley was chosen for his dedication to contributing to all aspects of the newspaper. He conducted research, interviewed community members, wrote articles, photographed events and people and helped with page layout in the newsroom each week. Above, Rotary President Bill Pond presents the award to Carley Tuesday, July 29.John Coston

Charlie Greenberg

My name is Charlie Greenberg and I live in Millbrook, New York. I will be a junior at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx this September. I am an editor of Riverdale’s school newspaper, The Riverdale Review.

This summer, I was excited to intern at The Millerton News as the program allowed me to engage in the work of journalism myself rather than to simply observe other people and hope to pick up knowledge along the way. It has been an extremely rewarding experience to learn in real time, pursuing assignments from the first day.

I’ve enjoyed speaking with people I wouldn’t ordinarily have any reason to. In the relatively short span of six weeks, I’ve met farmers, tattoo artists and even a local scion. I’ve particularly appreciated the flexibility of this program that has allowed me to pursue what I find interesting.

As the environment for all careers, particularly those that involve writing, continues to change so rapidly — and will no doubt look very different by the time I enter it — I am glad to have engaged in journalism firsthand, against a local backdrop. It will certainly be an experience on which I reflect going forward.

Copey Rollins

I'm Copey Rollins. I live in Sharon and will be starting my senior year at The Hotchkiss School this fall. Before attending Hotchkiss, I was a student at the Indian Mountain School in Lakeville. I got interested in journalism by doing sports writing for Hotchkiss over the winter of my sophomore year.

This is my second summer with The Lakeville Journal, and I feel as though I have learned so much throughout my time at the paper. These past summers I have gotten to go to a wide variety of sporting events to cover and photograph them with the community. I have loved getting the chance to interview people, take pictures and overall, just become more invested in my local community.

When not working for The Lakeville Journal, I also spend my summers running outdoors and working with the Sharon Land Trust. The Lakeville Journal has been such a great experience and I am so thankful for how much it has taught me about the Northwest Corner.