Who We Are

Junior Grace Drawer enjoys listening to unique stories spoken by others and she loves hearing the passion in their voice for a certain topic. Broadcast journalism lets these stories be discovered and shared with such a large group of people and allows for one of a kind experiences to be heard. Grace also volunteers in her community, especially with the Friendship Foundation, and plays on her high school lacrosse team.

Alexandra Zarchy
Journalist

Alexandra is passionate about writing and telling stories, and she is extremely excited to tell stories through podcasts in Open Orchard Productions. Alexandra strongly believes in giving voices to the people who want to be heard, and cannot wait to explore people's stories through Open Orchards. Aside from OOP, Alexandra is an avid volunteer and loves learning languages.

Ainsley Basic
Journalist

Ainsley Basic has a passion for writing, photography, and journalism. In the past, Ainsley has been involved in broadcast journalism and print journalism. She enjoys the intimacy of interviews and how much you can learn from others' experiences. Ainsley is also a member of Trade Winds Literary Magazine and Varsity Lacrosse. She hopes to continue studying journalism in college.

Madeline Bohannon
Journalist

Maddy is new to podcasting and is very excited to be a part of Open Orchard Productions. She has always loved telling stories and is excited to further explore journalism. Maddy joined Open Orchard Productions because she wanted to meet new people on campus and learn about the stories they have to tell. She believes she’ll learn a lot this year and can’t wait to get started. Her other interests include National Charity League, and swim team.

Aya Cohen
Journalist

Aya Cohen is a sophomore at PVHS. She loves public speaking and was drawn to the podcast program because she is interested in broadcasting. Aya is involved in MUN and gladly a new member of OOP! She was a member of the Varsity Tennis team until she decided to focus her time on piano, and competes in piano competitions. She loves PVHS and is glad to be a part of this program!

Taylor Connelly
Journalist

Taylor is very honored to be a part of Open Orchard Productions for her first year, as she is extremely excited to effectively tell stories through the new and exciting mode of podcasting. At Palos Verdes High School, Taylor is involved in Be The Change leadership organization, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Swim Team and is a Captain of the Varsity tennis team. Taylor is grateful for Open Orchard Productions because it gives a platform to those that wouldn’t be heard otherwise.

Catalina Murray
Journalist

Catalina Murray is a senior at Palos Verdes High School, and will be returning for her second year as a member of Open Orchards productions. She has always been passionate about discovering and telling new stories. OOP has allowed her to expand her knowledge about journalism, something she has pursued since her sophomore year by being a apart of PV’s broadcast journalism program (live from 205). In her free time Catalina loves to surf, sail, and hang out at the beach. Catalina is always looking for new adventures.

Rachel Paik
Journalist

Rachel Paik is a junior and in her second year of Open Orchard Productions. In her free time, Rachel like to hand out with friends, spend time with her family, and work on her fashion blog. Rachel loves OOP because it gives people a voice and helps people share their stories. She hopes to pursue a career in fashion and journalism, her two passions.

Ella Polischeck
Journalist

Ella Polischeck is a junior at Palos Verdes High School and is apart of the drama program. She believes that podcasts can tell a story that impacts and changes people’s life and to have the chance to do that is incredible. She is excited not only to share her story, but to allow other people to be heard through her podcasts.

Emme Schaefer
Journalist

Emme Schaefer is excited to return to Open Orchards for her senior year! This is her second year being in the class, and she is eagerly anticipating making more podcasts. Emme is thankful for the opportunity to be a mentor, and share her podcast knowledge with new students in the class. She loves sharing stories, which is why she is also a member of the Triton Yearbook staff, which gives her the chance to peruse her passion of writing. In addition to this, Emme has leadership experience with outside volunteer organizations and is on varsity cross country and track.

Eve Schwartz
Journalist

Eve Schwartz is a junior at Palos Verdes High School. In her free time she loves to volunteer at the PVLD gift shop, hang out with her friends and family, and watch Netflix. Eve is looking forward to her first year at OOP, as she would like to learn about the people in the community and tell their stories in a way everybody can access and understand.

Mikayla Keshtkar
Journalist

Mikayla Keshtkar is a sophomore at Palos Verdes High School. Mikayla joined Open Orchards Productions this year to further her interest in the spoken word and journalism. She is excited to have the opportunity to share her fellow students stories to the school and community. Mikayla is also involved in National Charity League and is on the tennis team.

Alexa Stevens
Journalist

Alexa is looking forward to her first year as an Open Orchards journalist. However, she has had journalism experience in the past, both through writing for The Point and for the Easy Reader. She aspires to have a career in writing, and hopes her participation in Open Orchards can be a step in this direction. Outside of school and journalism, Alexa is on the school tennis team and is also on a rowing team.

Kaylee Watts
Journalist

Hi, my name is Kaylee Watts, and I am currently a junior at Palos Verdes High School. I am involved in the drama department, MUN, and a new member to OOP this year! I have been dancing since I was 4 years old, and in my free time, I enjoy writing poetry, going to the beach, and playing the piano.

Katie Wilhem
Journalist

Katie enjoys listening to other people’s stories, whether it is through books, newspapers, or podcasts. Through her involvement in Open Orchard Productions, she hopes to draw listeners into her podcasts, just as she has been drawn into the stories that have inspired her.  In her free time, Katie runs on the cross country team, plays violin, and participates in Mock Trial.

Seren Cho
Journalist

Seren is a junior at Palos Verdes High School. She joined OOP this year to immerse herself in a different type of journalism and learn all that she can about what it takes to be a true journalist. She is proud of her Australian and Korean heritage, with her great-great grandmother being a successful female journalist and women’s activist. In her free time, Seren likes to listen to musicals and watch Game of Thrones.

Apsara Fite
Website Manager

Apsara Fite, high school junior, is one of the two website managers for Open Orchard Productions. She has been coding in a variety of computer languages since she was 11 years old, and continues to do so in her school's programming club and STEM classes. Besides coding, Apsara enjoys travelling, and has visited over 20 countries in Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Eric Kim
Website Manager

Kristin Lyons
Supervisor

Kristin Lyons, an NBCT since 2002, has taught high school English for more than 20 years--from both AP Language and AP English Literature to sheltered English classes for English-language learners. In 2016 she was pleased to inherit Open Orchard Productions from former advisor, Ms. Cindy Damon.

Cynthia Damon
Founder, Supervisor

After a three year career in filmmaking and a six year career in advertising, Cindy Damon found her passion teaching high school English. Guiding her amazing team of journalists through building Open Orchard Productions has been exciting and inspiring.

Ashley Overbeek
Founder, Journalist

Ashley Overbeek has a penchant for capturing moments and sharing them with the world. In addition to her microphone, Ashley carries her camera around everywhere she goes. She had taken many of the photos used on the site, and currently works as an event photographer. Ashley plans on attending a four-year university and majoring in Environmental Analysis and Photography.

Kimmy Rich
Founder, Journalist

Throughout her life, Kimmy has been inspired by her mother, who works as a therapist, to connect with people by listening to their unique life stories. She saw Open Orchard Productions as a great opportunity to expand her mind through talking to others. After being an avid participant in her school’s yearbook program, Kimmy has loved the chance to utilize her journalism background in a new and modern way.

Rosie LaPuma
Journalist

Rosie La Puma was a senior at Palos Verdes High School. As Project Manager, she had designed the previous logo for The Core and Open Orchard Productions, created posters for marketing, and conducted interviews for podcasts. She loves telling stories just as much as she loves hearing them.

Connor Parker
Journalist

Connor has conducted many of the podcast interviews, has contributed to the creative elements of the site, and produced the site's promotional video. Even though Connor is a talented musician, he will be applying to colleges this fall as a physics major. Connor loves distance running and hopes to run for a university cross country team.

Daniel Feldman
Founder, Website Manager

Daniel learned webdesign in order to create the previous OOP site and had been in charge of researching and developing the backend technology that ran Open Orchard Productions. Daniel was not only an integral part of the school's Drumline and Engineering programs, but he was a also professional magician and a member of the Hollywood Magic Castle.