Sunaya Mueller ’22 has been a journalist for more than six years. Beginning as a member of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps. in middle school, Sunaya found her beat as a writer. She found, a passion for telling untold stories from teens and upcoming changemakers. Journalism became a means to build her confidence and unique voice. Her most recent article in Teen Vogue, “What Long COVID Looks Like in Teens and Young Adults” spotlighted the long term effects of COVID from national experts and affected teens. Before her debut in Teen Vogue, Sunaya wrote for Ms. Magazine, The Terrier, The 74, & Mid Hudson News. She credits her journey to her editors and is inspired by the peers she’s been able to meet through journalism. Most recently, she was awarded as the Grand Prize Winner of The Boston’s Globe Young Reporter’s Competition In Partnership with Apple TV+ in June 2021.
“I think there is actually the strength to be way younger than anyone else in this field. I feel like in this era of fake news to be pursuit of truth is becoming less common. In journalism, that’s what’s supposed to happen. You are in the pursuit of truth. I’m really happy that I get to do this because there’s not many other jobs where you get to propel other voices forward or other information to the forefront, especially as a teenager fighting for other teenagers. Having that focus in mind is the most important to me because we are the future, and we are the now.”
LEAD Students Visit Cooper Hewitt’s ‘Home’ Exhibit
In January, D-E Upper School students took two trips to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan, as part of the LEAD (Leaders for Equity & Diversity) program, which provides opportunities for them to learn leadership skills and explore the world and its different cultures. The trip centered on an exhibition titled “Making Home,” focused on Black and Native American expressions of place, home, and belonging. “The purpose of the trip was to connect our November collage project’s theme of ‘home’ to real-world artists investigating that idea,” says Joel Lee ’17, US Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging. In addition to getting a tour of parts of the museum, students were able to use their own creativity to make prototypes of homes designed for biomes such as tropical, arid, and tundra. Great job to our LEAD students for their thoughtful work!
2nd Semester Kick-Off Highlights
Thanks to the efforts of our D-E Parents’ Association volunteers, Middle/Upper School students celebrated the recent start of 2nd semester in a fun way. Snacks, balloon displays, signs, and a special gift for our Class of 2025 greeted students on the official 1st day...
Reminder: Lower/Middle School Chorus Concert on 1/23 – Shake It Up With Shakespeare
Rehearsals continue in earnest and our vocalists can’t wait to share the results of all their efforts! Don’t miss tomorrow’s Shakespeare-themed Lower/Middle School Chorus Concert! D-E Performing Arts presents “Shake It Up With...
Snow Much Fun! Annual US Ski Trip to Smuggler’s Notch
The annual Upper School ski trip to Smuggler’s Notch held up to D-E tradition once again this year! 45 students from Grades 9-12 and 4 chaperones (Mr. Joe Iwanski, Mr. Fred Fontaine, Mr. Paul Edwards, and Mrs. Eileen Feikens)...
Career Day Assembly Inspires Future Entrepreneurs
On Thursday, Jan. 16, Business Leaders at D-E (BLADE) hosted a Career Day Assembly for the Upper School in Schenck Auditorium, where a panel of entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds shared their career journeys. The panel consisted of Gautam Kumar, founder of Milu Health; Erica Schroeder, voice actress; Illana Raia, founder of Être; Heather Benveniste, an independent legal consultant; Shweta Parikh, plastic surgeon; and Bari Schorr, VP of business and category development at Orva. “Hearing about the various paths these accomplished individuals have taken to reach their current positions is important for students who might find themselves on similar paths in the future,” says BLADE club member Isabella Mayer ’26. “This diversity in experiences gave [us] a broad range of perspectives, showing that success doesn’t follow just one formula.” Thank you to our inspiring guests! Photo Credit: Grace Tomin ‘26.
D-E Students Explore Machine Learning at the Student AI Summit
On Saturday, Jan. 11, members of the newly formed D-E Student Committee on AI attended the Student Artificial Intelligence Summit at Newark Academy along with other schools to learn more about the applications of AI in a variety of fields. The trip was organized by Ms. Diana Gross, Chief Innovation Officer, and Mr. Bill Campbell, Associate Director of Technology for Academics. Five of our students—Soham Bafana ’25, Hudson Guzman ’27, Jason Lee ’27, Derin Sezgin ’28, and Sylvie Yao ’27—also volunteered to lead a session. Of the experience, Sylvie says, “I was aware of the extent to which AI was expanding but going to the AI Summit showed me how much AI has grown…[It] is constantly changing and inevitably will play a big role in the future.”
DogPound Update #2 for Winter 2025 Season – 1/17/25
Time for the latest DogPound Update on our Winter D-E Athletics Teams! We’re spotlighting D-E’s Freshman Basketball team, Middle School Girls Basketball, and our record-setting Track & Field team. Be sure to come out to upcoming games and track meets to cheer on our Bulldogs!
Lower/Middle School Chorus Concert on 1/23 To “Shake It Up With Shakespeare”!
Save the Date to “Shake It Up With Shakespeare”! Our youngest vocalists are busy rehearsing for Thursday, Jan. 23, when D-E Performing Arts presents our Middle/Lower Chorus Concert! The concert, inspired by the Bard, will be performed at 7 PM in Hajjar Auditorium...
US Robotics Prep for Upcoming Meet
We caught up with Mr. Fleischl, coach of D-E’s Upper School Robotics Teams, at the STEM Center to talk shop as our Robotics teams, Critical Mass (Team 207) and Absolute Zero (Team 13048), prepare for their next meet in the FIRST Tech Challenge on Sunday, Jan. 19....
D-E Students Level Up in National Chess Championships
Checkmate! Cheers to our D-E 360° ACE (AfterCare & Enrichment) Chess Team, which had two players compete in the U.S. Chess Federation’s 2024 National K-12 Grade Championships in National Harbor, Maryland, from Dec. 6-8. Third grader Adam Y. ’34 and 11th grader Anna Radchenko ’26 exhibited great sportsmanship and represented D-E well, says Coach Mackenzie “Mac” Molner. “In this tournament, participants only play other kids from their own grade level,” explains Coach Mac. “It’s a very difficult tournament, to say the least!” In the face of such tough competition, Adam scored 3.5 points out of 7 games and Anna scored 4 out of 7 games. “I loved meeting players from all over the country and challenging stronger opponents,” says Adam. “I’m really proud of myself that I had a draw with a much higher-rated player and earned respect from him.”
