At the 2026 SIPA Convention in Columbia, South Carolina, three rising seniors were named SIPA officers: Grady Dunston, Jolen McKenzie and Aly Dewey. These three students are passionate advocates for scholastic journalism. Get to know them:

Grady Dunston

Clarke Central High School junior Grady Dunston has been named the 2026-27 SIPA President. Grady is a member of Clarke Central’s ODYSSEY news magazine and teaches Journalism 101 to freshmen joining the staff. He is very engaged in photojournalism and has received an internship offer from the University of Georgia.

Encouraged by his adviser David Ragsdale to apply, Dunston took the initiative and gave his campaign speech at this year’s SIPA Convention. He is focused on improving his public speaking in this new role and hopes to bring together schools in the South with a passion for scholastic journalism.

Jolen McKenzie

Tupelo High School junior Jolen McKenzie has been named the SIPA Vice President for the 2026-27 School year. He has been a part of his school’s broadcast journalism group since freshman year as an anchor, sports reporter and producer. He has attended SIPA conventions and the Carolina Journalism Institute since sophomore year and previously served SIPA as student member-at-large.

As vice president, McKenzie hopes to continue the SIPA Convention’s fun and education for students.

Aly Dewey

Wando High School junior Aly Dewey has been named the SIPA Member-at-large for the 2026-27 school year. She has been a member of the Tribal Tribune news magazine since freshman year and has accepted a leadership position on staff. Tribal Tribune’s current co-editor-in-chief Noah Iverson was this year’s SIPA president and inspired Aly to seek SIPA student office. Aly hopes to grow as a journalist next school year and use her position as a SIPA member-at-large to connect the region. She sees journalism as an essential profession and hopes to shine a light on overlooked journalism programs in the south.