Maggie McNinch is a 2022 graduate of First Flight High School on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While at First Flight, Maggie excelled in academics, athletics and other extracurricular activities. Included among her honors are graduating as Co-Salutatorian of the FFHS Class of 2022, being named the 2022 Northeastern Coastal Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Year, and serving as Vice President of the National Honor Society. While these recognitions mean a lot to Maggie, she is most proud of the Citizenship Award she received in Mrs. Davis’s 5th Grade class at Kitty Hawk Elementary School.
Her passion for writing found a home on the FFHS Nighthawk News staff where she discovered her calling for a career in journalism. She served as Co-Editor-in-Chief her senior year and was named a 2022 NC High School Journalist of the Year Alternate by the NC Scholastic Media Association. She will continue to freelance for a local Outer Banks magazine while awaiting her assured enrollment into UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the conclusion of her gap year.
Maggie’s commitment to service is a foundational value and she is eager to continue paying it forward during her gap year. Initially, she will be traveling to Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she will spend her time tutoring children through a local youth literacy program and working in the Coral Innovation Hub at The Nature Conservancy.