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As communications manager at Walt Disney World, Meghan Caprez, ‘15, M.A. ‘17, shares stories of Disney cast members and the great things they do in the community through media pitches, press releases and social media content. However, her experience in storytelling began years before working at the most magical place on earth. 

In high school, Caprez worked for The Elm Leaf, the student newspaper at in Akron. She held numerous roles over her four years on staff, including managing editor during her senior year, and got to see the paper evolve over four years on staff.  At the Elm Leaf Caprez gained essential skills in journalism such as writing in AP Style and using Adobe InDesign. She further developed these skills during her time at ������ and uses them in her work today. 

“Learning how to write in AP Style was critical to my success in college and current career in communications since everything I write is in this style.” 

“Learning how to use Adobe InDesign also set me up for success in designing signage and posters at Disney," Caprez said.

Caprez recalls putting together fair, balanced and well-researched articles, while also having fun writing each newspaper issue. 

“Our April Fools edition featured a story about how I was going to take a gap year after high school to reconnect with my Swiss heritage and become a milkmaid,” Caprez said. “We certainly had a lot of fun with it!”

During college, Caprez completed two Disney College Programs, and upon graduation took on a professional internship at Walt Disney World. Her undergraduate degree was in public relations, and she later earned her Master of Arts in Communication Studies.

“Partway through my professional internship …, I was offered a full-time position with Disney as a public affairs support specialist,” Caprez said. “I was able to spend a lot of time focusing on digital analytics and communication research.” 

Since then, she’s also served as a public affairs manager for some of Disney’s major milestone events and grand openings, and is now in a communications-focused role.

“My favorite part of my job is telling the stories of talented cast members at Walt Disney World,” Caprez said. “We have 80,000 cast members who gave back more than 200,000 volunteer hours to the Central Florida community in 2023 alone.  They inspire me every single day.” 

Caprez encourages students involved in high school journalism to stick with it, to keep practicing the writing and communication skills that will benefit their futures. As for those on the fence about doing high school journalism, Caprez said:

“Do it! Journalism helps you learn things you never thought you’d find interesting and opens doors to new opportunities more quickly after high school.”