Pamplin Media Group welcomes summer interns

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 22, 2021

Kim Cortes-Martinez is one of two high school interns joining Pamplin Media Group for the summer.

Cortes-Martinez, 15, lives in Gresham with her parents and older sister.

She attends Gresham High School, where she will begin her sophomore year this fall.

Cortes-Martinez has been involved in band since sixth grade, playing both alto and baritone saxophone. She’s been involved in Early Escalera, a college and career preparation

class offered through The Latino Network since her freshman year. Cortes-Martinez is also an officer of M.E.Ch.A, a student organization that promotes higher education and academic and

political involvement among Latinx students. She will also be a public relations and communications officer in her school’s site council. Cortes-Martinez has also been in AVID, an academic support elective class.

Outside of school, Cortes-Martinez has volunteered at the Gresham Library during summer 2019. She said her favorite part about volunteering was meeting and interacting with new people, as socializing is one of her hobbies as well as reading, listening to music, and writing poems. A huge Harry Potter fan, she says she’s a Gryffindor. She calls it her favorite

book series. Her favorite musician is Mac Miller.

“One of my favorite poems that I have written is about me getting over my fear of the dark. I have been really paranoid about the dark throughout my childhood, but last year during

quarantine I started getting comfortable with the dark, and I wrote a poem about it and it’s definitely one of my favorites ever,” said Cortes-Martinez.

Cortes-Martinez’s interest in journalism was discovered through writing English assignments starting in middle school and continuing on in high school where she took honors

English class her freshman year. On her own time, she enjoys writing about and comparing the life and environment between Mexico and here after her yearly summer visits to Mexico with her family. Speaking of her heritage, Cortes-Martinez was very excited to have her Quinceanera this year as it’s a big Mexican tradition, but unfortunately, it had to be postponed due to COVID-19. She will instead celebrate it next summer.

Cortes-Martinez loves writing stories and interacting with people. Journalism and this internship provide her the best of both worlds as she gets to talk and interact with people, write

stories, and create a good impact, all while enjoying what she does and knowing that it can make a difference.