Alyssa Masiewicz joined The Occidentalist staff in 2019. She was on the Editorial Board in 2019 and became the Editor-in-Chief in 2020. She is a varsity rower on the Traverse City Tritons crew team, volunteers with the National Ho...

Anna Sperry is a sophomore and has been writing, editing, and page designing for the Occidentalist for almost two years. She took newspaper to strengthen her writing skills and hopes to be in the newspaper for her whole high sc...

Riley Ashbury has been in The Occidentalist staff since 2018. Riley started out as your average reporter and writer but slowly became part of the Editorial Board and head of page design in 2020-2021. Riley joined newspaper because ...

Isabelle Baumann joined the Occidentalist staff in 2020 as a staff writer and Editorial Board member. She runs cross country for West and is a varsity rower on the Traverse City Tritons crew team. She is involved with National H...

Ashley McFadden joined The Occidentalist as a sophomore in the 2019-2020 school year. She was added to the Editorial Board her first year and became a page designer her second year. She joined the newspaper because she enjoys wr...

Shep joined the staff senior year to write for the political opinion page in order to share his political opinion and values with others in the school and to have meaningful discussions with others about the current state of politics....

Shelbie Gray is a sophomore who joined the Occidentalist staff this year. Shelbie loves writing and reading her own stories. Shelbie has a passion for painting and writing. Joining Newspaper has helped her be more open minded ...

Arielle Jean is a senior who joined the Occidentalist staff in 2020 as a political columnist in order to continue her involvement in educating herself on political issues, and to gain experience in communicating her opinio...

Lily Galnares is a junior who joined newspaper sophomore year. Her current position  is a staff writer and graphic designer. Lily has a strong passion for art, specifically writing and drawing. Joining the Newspaper class has...

Ben Anderson is a freshman at West.  He decided to take newspaper just to get a head start on becoming a sports journalist. Ben's life revolves around sports and he plays and watches a lot of sports on a daily basis. Ben has...

Emma Hallock is a junior that joined the newspaper this year. She is a staff writer and a photo editor. She enjoys spending time with her siblings, going outdoors, and spending time with members of the Autism Spectrum Disorder...

Ava Whinnery is a freshman and this is her first year in newspaper. She is a staff writer who enjoys the outdoors, shopping, cooking, and spending time with loved ones. She joined newspaper because she enjoys writing and would li...

Kate Zanavich is a senior that joined the newspaper this year. She is a staff writer. She likes to hunt, fish and go out to shop. She is a part of the Early Childhood Education program and loves working with children. She hope...

Ava Nelson is a sophomore who joined the Occidentalist staff this year. She is a staff writer who also does some graphic design for the newspaper. She likes writing and hopes to learn more and continue being in newspaper throughout h...

Ella Smith joined The Occidentalist in 2020 as a staff writer and became the Business Manager in the same year. She decided to take Newspaper because she wanted to pursue something with writing because she wants to be a journ...

Wave Spence is a sophomore and started newspaper this year. She is a writer and reporter who also does page design. Wave is a part of the National Honors Society, is on the nortic ski team, and plays tennis for the school. In...

Kristin Taylor is a sophomore and has been in newspaper since she was a freshman, she is a staff writer and page designer. Kristin was one out of only two freshman in the newspaper class her freshman year. Kristin is the page desig...

Austin Davis is a freshman and this is his first year in newspaper. There’s nothing more enjoyable for him than reading a story he wrote himself. He loves reading and writing, especially when its about bringing awareness to...