Hempfield High School has built a reputation for developing quality communicators.

Junior Izzy Heisey is the latest to earn the chance to show what she can do on a national stage.

Izzy will be one of 25 presenters and hosts from across the country at the Student Television Network (STN) Convention, which will run from Saturday, March 1, to Tuesday, March 4, in Tampa, Fla.

Izzy will speak during the closing ceremonies. She will not get her script until moments before her presentation because she could be announcing the STN award winners, and that information must remain confidential until the announcement.

"We will get a practice script," Izzy said. "They want you to make it how you would sound and what you would say."

Fifteen Hempfield High students will attend the conference. "At STN, there are all kinds of competitions you can enter," Izzy said. "I'm doing a broadcasting segment with a group of students from our school. Another group of students from my class is doing the music video competition."

Izzy earned the invitation to speak at the convention by excelling in an audition. The prompt was, "Pretend you're doing an opening speech for STN."

Having attended last year's conference, Izzy's experience paid off. "I remember how much energy everyone had," she said. "It was filled with a lot of excitement, so me and my friend Ace Brown auditioned together. We made a script, filmed, and edited it, then submitted it. We tried to make it fun with edits and transitions."

It worked. "I was really excited," said Izzy. "I was waking up on a snow day and I grabbed my iPad to look at my assignments, and I saw I had a message from (teacher) Mr. (Matt) Binder. He wrote my name in all caps with a bunch of exclamation points, and it said 'STN presenter,' so I knew it. ... I'm really excited to represent Hempfield. I hope I do a good job."

Previous Hempfield High students Taylor Hess, Frank Russo, and Maguire Younes have been presenters at the national conference in recent years. "I looked up to Maguire a lot," Izzy said. "He was a really nice guy and a really good student, so I'm happy to follow in his footsteps."

Izzy credits Hempfield's communications technology program. "Here at comm tech we do a lot of projects from broadcast journalism to the film side, even sports media, and social media," she said. "Through comm tech, I've gotten a tase of everything."

As a sophomore, Izzy was involved with news-centered programs, doing a news segment on an in-school program, Hempfield Happenings, and working with classmates for a monthly show that aired on Comcast.

"We focused a lot on broadcast journalism, so that's where I've learned how to speak and be presentable, which helped me get chosen to be a presenter," Izzy said.

She has added executive producer to her list of credits. "This year, (comm tech class) is a bit more independent, so last semester I helped with our Comm Tech II class, which is our daily announcements show, which airs every day here," Izzy said. "I was helping them and teaching them."

This semester, she is a social media coordinator, running comm tech's Instagram, X, and TikTok accounts. "Getting to do everything has really helped me figure which part I like if I choose to go to college for something based on this," said Izzy, who is also a marketing intern for Compleat Restorations. "It's really hard because I like everything, but getting to do everything makes it clear what I'm good at and what I'm most passionate about."

In her senior year, Izzy is planning to focus on the sports media side as well as videography. She is also passionate about math and finance and is unsure what she will major in as a college student.

Binder, a comm tech teacher, stated that it is easy to see why Izzy is successful. "In talking to Izzy, you get a sense of who she is as a communicator," said Binder. "She has a friendly disposition. She's confident. Personable and confident at the same time. She has what STN is looking for as far as being a presenter for all the people who are going to be there."

Hempfield's comm tech classes supply students with the capability to play a key role in their learning. "I believe strongly in student ownership, that it's the students' program," said Binder, a WGAL meteorologist, who began teaching in the district since 1996 and has been at the high school since 2010. "I put a lot of confidence in them, and our district administration puts a lot of confidence in them."