My name is Rose Ganotisi.

I am a sophomore at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. I write for our school newspaper, The Pinion. Taking Newswriting for a second year was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my high school career so far. Last year, I was hesitant to take the class again because of the heavy workload and the challenge of putting myself out there when it came to interviewing for articles. One of my Newswriting Peers suggested that I take an online summer class to give me time for Newswriting in my 10th grade year. This year I have grown significantly both as a writer and a person. I am now much more comfortable and confident when it comes to talking to new people, conducting interviews, and connecting with my community through my writing. Newswriting has pushed me outside of my comfort zone and helped me gain confidence in ways I could not have imagined.

McKinley’s Softball Team Welcomes Retired Kapa’a Coach

The first time that I ever stepped onto a softball field was my freshman year. We did not even have a full softball team that year. A friend of mine convinced me to come out for softball and to just try it even though my main sports are volleyball and basketball. I spent the season attending practices three times a week even though we couldn’t play any games since we did not have a full team. At the end of May 2025, Francis Takasaki, from Kapa’a, Kauai, showed up to meet all of the girls. From that first meeting, he started the journey to rebuild the program, getting us to play, and win games. I wrote this article at the beginning of our August 2025 school year, since Takasaki already started practices in the Fall despite the fact that Softball is a Spring Sport. Reflecting back on our season now that it’s over, I think he achieved his ambitious goals. We were able to field a team of 13 girls and our record was 3-10 this season. Although we did not meet our goal of making it to States, our team still won games and all players were able to grow in the sport and as responsible contributors to society under Takasaki’s guidance. 

Alumna Remembers Attack on Pearl Harbor

I wrote this article in December near the time of the 84th Anniversary of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. Mary Tamura grew up in Hawaii and now lives with her family in Torrance, California, so I interviewed her over Zoom. She had hearing and health problems, so it was challenging doing the interview online, but I am proud I did it and am glad I was able to share her story with our school. She passed away on 1/31/2026 at the age of  95. I feel grateful I had the chance to interview her and write about her story before she passed. This article won a Best of SNO Award so I am especially proud of this piece of writing.

Literal: Is it really a new reading app for the TikTok Generation?

I wrote this piece after a teacher mentioned this app to our class and no one knew what he was talking about. I decided it was important to educate my fellow peers on this app as well as faculty who might not know about this. I wanted to learn more about it myself so it was a good learning process and it was nice to talk to teachers about their perspectives on this new reading app. This article also won a Best of SNO Award so I am proud of it. 

Newswriting Adviser Recognized For Empowering Student Journalists

Advisors can often be overlooked as they are the ones always promoting other events, people, and places to write about. However, I decided our advisor, Cynthia Reves, deserved an article recognizing her for all of her work and energy she puts into helping us as student journalists. This article shows how much heart our advisor puts into all that she does and highlights her awards which I believe is something our school should know about. Reves always posts about the awards all of her students win on the daily bulletin, so I wanted to write an article so the school knows of all the things she does. 

Micronesian Club Changes Name to Nesian Roots, Emphasizing Identity

During our Newswriting Pitch Session for the final quarter of school year 2026, the name change of the club was an idea that was sitting in the Google Doc since the beginning of the year. I decided to take the job of writing about this because I had recently talked to the advisors at a softball event since they are both active in the softball community and I decided this club needed to be written about before the year ended. I didn’t really know anyone who was in the club or much about the club either, so it definitely pushed me to meet new people and talk to the club members who I most likely would not have talked to if it weren’t for this article. It was challenging to schedule interviews with club members and attend club events due to schedule conflicts and weather issues but in the end I was able to connect with the club president to complete an interview. I am proud this article served as an opportunity to educate my peers, teachers, and community about the Nesian Roots club and the many Pacific Islander groups that make up a big portion of student population at McKinley High School. 

This year being part of The Pinion has taught me so much.

It has allowed me to grow stronger connections with my peers around campus. From class conversations, to talks on the sports courts and fields, or using Zoom for distance interviews all have contributed to the published articles. Edward Bulwer-Lytton is credited with saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” My intentions are to conduct interviews and write articles that are uplifting and inspiring to our McKinley High School Community. It is truly an honor to be part of a 106 year old established student-lead newspaper. I would like to thank my Newswriting Adviser Ms. Reves, and all of the people who have worked tirelessly before me to keep The Pinion alive. I will continue to contribute to the program and develop it in ways that I can during my remaining two years of high school.