Wakana Kikuchi Cavanaugh (菊地 わかな)

Wakana has been teaching Japanese at the university level in the Washington, D.C. area for more than twenty years. What she loves most about teaching is discovering moments of wonder with her students—those shared sparks of curiosity that make learning come alive. She is very excited to connect with learners on Satori Reader and explore the Japanese language together.

On her days off, Wakana enjoys traveling, reading and writing tanka (five-line Japanese poems), and going for long walks—usually while thinking about tanka and questions from students.