About the Scribe

Esther Dacanay has more than ten years of professional experience in the field of publishing. Currently, she is the chief editor of the Torii Newspaper in Japan. In this capacity, she supervises the work of staff writers; chooses newsworthy stories and quality photos about Soldiers, Department of Defense civilian employees and their family members for newspaper publication; designs newspaper layouts; oversees distribution; approves budget; prepares speeches for command personnel and emcees major installation events for the command.

In past experience, she worked as a full-time staff writer & Web master for a leading residential & lifestyle magazine, the SAN DIEGAN, located in San Diego. Esther also served as a freelance writer for the SAN DIEGAN during her tenure as a high school guidance counselor and journalism / yearbook adviser at Horizon Jr. & Sr. High School in San Diego. Under her direction, journalism students learned the fundamentals of news writing, copy editing, proofreading and basic photography. Furthermore, they learned basic desktop publishing skills using Adobe InDesign, PageMaker and Photoshop. Under Esther's leadership of four consecutive years, students who had no previous experience in any of the fields above produced a 256-page quality school annual publication which received numerous awards at San Diego's Del Mar Fair. Many of her former high school students have gone on to study journalism, photography and graphic design in college. Some are currently working in entry-level positions as journalists.

Esther first began her career in journalism as a features writer for Viewpoints newspaper in Riverside, Calif. She later continued her work as a news reporter for The Daily Aztec in San Diego. Esther's education includes a bachelor's degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Single Subject Teaching from San Diego State University. In addition, she completed a teacher education program at Southern California Christian College. She currently holds a valid teaching credential from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Furthermore, she holds a valid pupil personnel services credential from the CCTC, which she earned shortly after completing a master's degree in School Guidance Counseling from Azusa Pacific University.

Esther's travels include: Japan, S. Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the Philippines, B.C. Canada, Baja California and various regions throughout the U.S.

Esther's editorial expertise lies within the following areas: press releases, feature articles, news articles, sales & marketing letters, brochures, newsletters, Web site content, corporate writing, travel writing, copy-editing, proofreading and creative editing. Contact Esther!