The Pinion started its 99th year as a part of McKinley High School’s pride and tradition. The staff includes two returning students, who will serve as the editorial board, and sixteen new staffers.

Senior Alexandria Buchanan is editor-in-chief. This is her fourth year on The Pinion staff. She finds it fun to lay out the newspaper and likes seeing the finished paper. She joined Newswriting in middle school. 

“I like to see the final product… it’s a pride thing, I guess,” Buchanan said.

Another returning staff member is sophomore Ryan Vanairsdale, who will serve as assistant editor. This is his second year with The Pinion. He chose Newswriting his freshman year because it was interesting. He said the most difficult part of Newswriting is getting interviews.

“Being able to write stuff and publish what you write about is why I chose it again,” Vanairsdale said.

Freshman Nickolas Castillo chose Newswriting because it seemed interesting and he likes writing in general. He expressed concerns about people being uninterested in what he writes about.

 Freshman Julia Linn said she likes writing in general. Linn chose Newswriting because she likes to write about different things. She hopes to expand her skills and learn more about our school.

 Freshman Joesph Brown has an interest in writing about sports. Part of this is because he played baseball and basketball when he was younger. He read the newspaper when he was young and always wondered what it would be like to be a reporter.

Freshman Thai Bui wants to know more people and learn more about Newswriting. His Newswriting goals are to improve writing and get to know more about Newswriting and how The Pinion is produced.

Freshman Kelly Chang Newswriting to improve her journalism capabilities. Her main goal for this class is to do her best to write articles that will enhance her English skills. To do this, she needs to practice the core foundations while having fun in producing a quality product.

Freshman An Vo chose Newswriting because he wants to put his thoughts on paper. He worries that he will not be able to get enough information to write an article. Vo says he will try his best to write quality articles.

Junior Rodney Fano likes the creativity and learning involved in writing. He joined Newswriting because he wants to pay more attention to what goes on in our school.

Freshman Wynn Dang said he likes to write about anything. He joined Newswriting to learn more about writing and to improve the way he writes.

Junior Sairin Skinny decided to join Newswriting because she wants to learn how to write better. Skinny said writing is interesting. She likes writing, so Skinny is not worried about anything in class.

Freshman Cheng Hong He’s goals are getting good grades and being on time to all classes. She joined Newswriting because she wants to improve her writing skills. She is worried about not getting her work in on time.

Freshman Cherisa Skinny is taking Newswriting to become a better writer and because she enjoys writing. She was born in Chuuk and came to Hawaii with her aunty when she was three months old. 

Freshman Shileen Lafaele also joined The Pinion. She says that she’s nervous about getting interviews.

Freshman Mark Ontolan is worried about missing deadlines and not knowing what to do in the class. Ontolan came to Hawaii from the Philippines when he was in sixth grade.

Freshman Nyler Acasio said to him, writing isn’t that difficult. He wants to write sports articles because he plays sports and writing about them would help his interest in writing. Since Acasio plays basketball, he hopes to be able to write about it.

Freshman Christina Tago said she is concerned over how her articles turn out to be.

That is what the editors are for, though, to help the reporters improve their work.

“From your first draft to your last, from your first article to your last article of the year, there are always improvements and I think that’s really cool to see,” Buchanan said.