Meet Our Staff

We are the student newspaper of Kapiʻolani Community College. To contact us with story ideas, to inquire about job openings or to contribute to our newspaper, please contact advisor Kim Baxter at kbaxter@hawaii.edu.

Sarah Burchard

Staff Writer

Sarah Burchard is a Hawaiʻi-based freelance food and travel writer who champions small farms, mom-and-pop spots and local ingredients. Her work has been featured on Forbes.com, in FLUX Hawaiʻi, HONOLULU Magazine, HAWAIʻI Magazine, Hāna Hou! and more. Before becoming a writer, Sarah cooked professionally for 20 years, arriving in Honolulu via San Francisco. Here, she hosted farm-to-table pop ups and weekly tours of the Kakaʻako Farmers Market and developed content for Under My Umbrella, Chef Hui and Slow Food Oʻahu. She also manages social media for natuRe Waikīkī, waits tables at Monkeypod Waikīkī and studies at Kapiʻolani Community College.

To read all of Sarah’s stories, click here. She can be reached at sarahb23@hawaii.edu.

Shane Kaneshiro

Staff Writer

Shane Kaneshiro is a first-year student at Kapiʻolani Community College. For the next two years he will be majoring in Liberal Art at KCC and later transferring to University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to major in History. In his free time, Shane enjoys photography and tries to interact with as many people as he can.

To read all of Shane’s stories, click here. He can be reached at stk8@hawaii.edu.

Makayla Dilliner

Staff Writer

Makayla is a first-year college student majoring in Paralegal studies. With a background in freelance writing, she is excited to connect with other students through storytelling. Her favorite topics to write about range from KCC students and staff all the way to Hawai‘i Law and current events. With plans to attend UH West O‘ahu to obtain her bachelorʻs degree in Public Administration, she hopes to continue writing in the future.

To read all of Makayla’s stories, click here. She can be reached at mdmd@hawaii.edu.

Nagisa Umemoto

Staff Writer

Nagisa Umemoto is a second year at Kapiʻolani Community College majoring in Liberal Arts. She plans to transfer to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa to study Communication. She enjoys reading books, listening to music, and watching anime.

To read all of Nagisa’s stories, click here. She can be reached at nagisa6@hawaii.edu.

Former Staff Writers

Keahi Akina : Fall 2021
Gavin Arucan : Fall 2016 – Summer 2017
Chaz Au : Spring 2017
Katlin Cilliers : Fall 2017 – Spring 2019
Juri Dagio : Fall 2022 – Spring 2024
Kiana Dulan : Fall 2020
Sam Ehrhart : Spring 2019
Cameron Enomoto : Fall 2021 – Spring 2024
Nicole Fernandez : Fall 2018 – Fall 2019
Theran Galisa : Spring 2021
Sarah Hendrix : Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
Jana Julian : Spring 2018 – Fall 2018
Mark Ladao : Spring 2018
Marco Leon : Fall 2019
Ayoung Lee : Fall 2018 – Spring 2019
Estefania Magdalena : Spring 2020 – Fall 2020
Nicklas Matsumoto : Spring 2021
Nakoa Nunies : Fall 2016
Taylor Okamura : Spring 2024
Desiree Pacariem : Fall 2020
Jared Page : Spring 2020
Sonya Park Smith : Spring 2021
Jazmyne Pennington : Fall 2019
Daniel Peterson : Spring 2020
Maria Pou : Spring 2022