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.”
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.”
US Robotics Teams Are Positioned for State Competition
D-E’s Upper School Robotics Teams are halfway through the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics season! “Our varsity team, Critical Mass, and our JV team, Absolute Zero, have completed their first design prototypes and are beginning work on their new, improved robot designs for the second half of the season,” says Coach Chris Fleischl. Teams participate in meets in preparation for the Bergen County League Tournament in February. During a meet on Dec. 15, at River Dell High School, both our varsity and JV teams finished with 3 wins and 2 losses. Next up is a meet on Sunday, Jan. 19, at Blair Academy. The goal is to qualify for the State Championship and, ultimately, the World Championship. Critical Mass’ Jackson Chang ’25, says, “I fell in love with robotics because of opportunities to express myself through building components… We work hard every day to continue to iterate on our robot to even slightly improve our chances in competitions.” We’re rooting for all our future engineers and data scientists!
Sixth-Graders Learn How Food Shapes Their Identity
How are we what we eat? This is the guiding question our sixth graders were asked to consider this morning as a new unit was kicked off in their MESH subjects (that is, Math, English, Science, and History). This first lesson centered around “how food shapes their identity,” said English teacher Ms. Macone. Students gathered in the Wharton Lessin Dining Hall, where Chef Alex and his team prepared breakfast foods representing the Dominican Republic (“Tres Golpes,” a trio of fried eggs, cheese, and salami), Colombia (beef empanadas), and Japan (miso salmon with steamed rice). “I got to try different things I’ve never tried before,” said Kayla S. ’31, who discovered she liked fried eggs. Students then moved on to Hajjar Auditorium to share food traditions within their own families. The unit will culminate on Tuesday, Jan. 28, with a cultural food festival, for which parents are invited to attend and bring in food that represents their family. Cheers!
Bulldogs Ice Hockey Club Season 2 Highlights
The Bulldog Ice Hockey Club Team, in its 2nd season, has been practicing and playing now for over a month, with practices and games at Mackay Arena in Englewood and the Englewood Field Club, as well as away. Led by tri-captains Wyatt Obergfell, Presley Arnone, and...
MS Robotics Team Nitro
Earlier this month, D-E’s Middle School (MS) Robotics Team Nitro competed at the State Tournament in Mount Olive. In addition to showcasing their robot, the team presented their prototype of an oyster-shell-based building product. The product is designed to combat the...
