Team Members

Ms. Howard is the advisor for The Riptide. She wrote and edited for The Riptide as a student, before graduating from Vashon High School in 2014. After graduating, she attended Whitman College, where she majored in English literature and minored in Japanese.

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Ava Coombs (she/her), Senior, is a Staff Reporter for The Riptide, and has been since the beginning of the 2025 school year. Coombs has attended Vashon High School for all four years of her high school career and has been in the Vashon school district itself since fourth grade. It is her first time writing for a newspaper this school year and it has been an enjoyable experience so far. She loves to spend her free time reading and drawing.

Zelda Davis (She/Her), sophomore, is one of the many reporters for The Riptide. Growing up on Vashon, she has always liked reading about her community and finds enjoyment in keeping people updated on local activities, especially the arts. She also has always thought the idea of having students give their opinions and information in this form of content is a great way to spread a younger point of view to many different people. Her main attributes to the riptide have been surrounding Vashon and its upcoming events, along with more important topics such as the commemoration of community members.

Nya Hart (She/Her), Senior, is a part-time staff reporter for the Riptide, starting only this year. She has lived on Vashon her whole life, meaning she attended Chautauqua, McMurray, and VHS. She is used to reading riptide articles written by other students, and wanted to write her own in her senior year. She has always loved writing, specifically about her passions or interests. She strongly believes in community voice, and loves that the Riptide provides students with that opportunity.

Mele Nelson (She/Her), Sophomore is a full-time writer for The Riptide, and has been since September, 2024. Mele was a freshman when she saw her sister, Eva Nelson who was the Editor and Chief of The Riptide and got very inspired by her to start her writing journey. She loves that The Riptide is an amazing community that she is proud to be a part of, for as long as she can remember, she has always had a passion for writing, it was always her favorite subject in school, still nothing can beat it. 

Mabel Pekoz, (She/Her), sophomore, is a reporter for the Riptide. As a student in the Vashon Island School District since kindergarten, she feels rooted in the tight knit community on the island. In middle school, she began to discover her passion for literature and writing, and joined the Riptide at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year with no prior experience with publishing. In addition to writing, Pekoz is a ballet dancer and a violinist. She fills her free time with photography, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.

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Daisy Jones is a senior at VHS and is the editor-in-chief for The Riptide. Daisy has lived on the island her whole life and gone to elementary, middle and highschool on Vashon as well. This year is Daisy’s first year writing for The Riptide, but she attended a NSLC journalism camp over the summer and loves writing in English class.

Carter Harmon (he/him), Freshman, is a business editor for The Riptide. Carter moved here from Beaver Dam, WI, where he attended Saint Catherine Drexel School. Since 3rd grade Carter has loved writing, he writes short stories and plays for fun. Outside school Carter likes bagpiping, art, reading, and walking.

Avery Corbett (She/Her), Senior, is a part-time staff reporter for The Riptide, and this is her first year contributing to the team. She transferred to the Vashon Island School District for her 6th grade year and discovered her love for writing throughout her middle school years. In High School, her love for writing persisted and Publishing was an opportunity for her to express her passion for writing. Although prior to taking the class she had never written a news article, she quickly caught on to the unique writing style and has since completed two different articles for The Riptide.

Sofia Gomez is a guest writer for The Riptide. She is a 10th grader at Vashon Island High School and has attended Vashon school district since 1st grade. This is her second year of being part of publishing although she mostly works on yearbook she enjoys writing articles for riptide.She enjoys spending time with her close friends and family. She enjoys playing volleyball, which she has played since 6th grade and has made many great friendships from, along with volleyball she is going into her second season of tennis and is excited about what is to come in both of her sports.Some of her hobbies include attending concerts with her friends and family, as well as spending time at the beach with her loved ones.

Amali Lewis (she/her), Senior, is a reporter for The Riptide, starting this year. Although not having been involved in The Riptide before and not having any experience in writing for a newspaper, Amali enjoys working within the school community in other ways such as performing and creating in the VHS theater. She likes to write her own mini stories that may or may not be play scripts in the works.

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Cash Requa, sophomore, is a reporter for the Riptide. Requa has been going to Vashon schools since the 6th grade. He is a firm believer in the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. He believes that they are critical to keep those in power accountable for their actions. 

Stella Wahanik (she/her), senior, is a reporter for The Riptide. She’s lived on island her whole life, so she went to Chautauqua, McMurray, and VHS. She wrote for The Riptide in 2023 during her second semester in freshman year, and now she’s come back for her senior year. She is interested in research, and enjoys learning new things. She likes reading, baking and hiking. 

Noah Read, junior, is a Business and Web Editor for the Vashon Island Riptide, where he works with advertisers and manages The Riptide’s website for all to see. He is passionate about many topics including school and local businesses, as well as trending music and shows. Noah enjoys his position with The Riptide, where he helps deliver the latest news and information to readers.

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Lucas Cusanelli (he/him), Junior, is a writer for the Vashon Island School newspaper, The Riptide. Ever since he was little, he’s always loved writing. Joining The Riptide as a writer has been an amazing experience, both for doing what he enjoys and improving as a writer. Although this is his first experience working for a school newspaper, it’s been a journey for him to work through and figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Cecelia Guenther (she/her), senior, is a staff reporter at VHS. She has been attending school on Vashon Island since sixth grade and has been a commuter for the vast majority of those years. She enjoys being a part of such a tight-knit community and appreciates being able to report on what is directly impacting its members. Cecelia has, for as long as she can remember, been very passionate about learning new things and gaining the perspective of others. When she was in grade school, many of her friends and teachers would refer to her as “the problem solver” as her favorite activity during recess was listening to both sides of her peers involved in a conflict, and giving her best advice on the matter. Doing research on a topic to gain a deeper understanding is one of her favorite parts about writing interesting and informing articles.

Stella Nackos (She/Her), is a full time staff reporter for The Riptide. This is her first year writing for Riptide and she enjoys writing opinion and news articles about what is going on at VHS. Stella has always loved english and it is what inspired her to write for the Riptide. She believes that covering the most current topics at VHS is a way to elevate student voices. Outside of school Stella enjoys playing tennis, basketball, and making art. Stella has lived on Vashon since she was ten years old and is excited to have the opportunity to represent the Vashon community.

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