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.

A lifelong island resident, Rowan McBennett attended Chautauqua Elementary School and McMurray Middle School. He is currently a senior at VHS. Rowan began as a staff reporter for The Riptide his junior year and was promoted to business editor his senior year.

Seleana Korenek is a reporter for The Riptide. She interviews people based on a specific topic then writes an article based on the interviews. She is a 9th grader at Vashon Island High School and has been going to the Vashon island schools her whole life. This is her first year being in publishing and a part of Riptide but she hopes to continue to be a part of it.

Evan Fisher is a reporter for The Riptide. He has been a part of the team since September 2023 when he joined as a VHS freshman. He commutes to school and back each morning and afternoon by ferry with his peers.

Mele Nelson is a 9th grader at Vashon High School. She is a writer for Riptide and creates articles. Before Vashon High School, she spent 3 years in Vashon Green school during 4-5 grade, then spent K-3 grade in Fairmount park Elementary.

Eva Nelson is in her senior year at Vashon Island High School. She is the editor-in-chief for Riptide, and has been in Riptide for almost three years now.

Daisy Jones is a junior at VHS and one of the layout editors 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.

Isaac Newcomb is in 11th grade at Vashon Island High School. He started out as a reporter but is currently learning how to do the layout. He has attended Chautauqua elementary, McMurray Middle school, and is now currently attending VHS.

Tya Hollimon is a reporter for The Riptide and is currently a senior at Vashon Island High School. She began her education at Chautauqua Elementary, continued on to McMurray Middle School, and is finishing her high school career at Vashon Island High School.

Lilly Odegaard is a Senior at Vashon Island High School and she is a Reporter for her school's newspaper, the Riptide. She has attended McMurray Middle school and Vashon Island High School. She has been in Riptide for two years now and has published about five different articles.

Noah Read, sophomore, 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.

Sloane Overdorf is a 12th grader attending VHS. Before taking the Riptide class this semester, she has not had any experience with reporting or publishing.

Callum Brown is an 11th grade Reporter for The Riptide. He’s never written for a school newspaper before joining the class this semester. However, he has written independent projects, solo and with friends, one of which being a novel that’s still in the works.

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