Editor-in-Chief: Allison Xu
Allison Xu is a senior at Walter Johnson High School. She previously edited and wrote for the MoCo News Section and also serves as Online Editor-in-Chief of her school newspaper, The Pitch. She is also the President of the Walter Johnson DECA club. In her free time, Allison enjoys writing poetry and short stories, baking for family and friends, and playing with her beagle. She is excited for another great year at The MoCo Student!
Editor-in-Chief: Dhruv Narang
Dhruv Narang is a senior at Landon School and is excited to be an Editor-in-Chief for The MoCo Student this year. He was the News section editor for MoCo Student last year and is the Editor-in-Chief for Landon News. Also, he runs the STEM club at his school while also being an active volunteer at the Children’s Inn at NIH. He loves interviewing people, and writing a wide variety of articles on current events. In his free time, Dhruv enjoys drawing and hanging out with friends.
Copy: Riya Khatri, Raha Murtuza & Michaela Boeder
Riya Khatri is a senior at Sherwood High School. She has had the privilege to be with the MoCo Student for the past two years as an Opinions writer. At school, she is an officer for the English Honor Society, Science Honor Society and Student Ambassadors program. She has also played the piano for twelve years. In her free time, Riya enjoys drawing, baking and spending time with friends. She loves journalism and is excited to contribute to the MoCo Student as an editor this year!
Raha Murtuza is a senior at Richard Montgomery HS. She got into journalism through her school newspaper The Tide and is a participant of PBS Student Reporting Labs. Outside of her journalistic duties and school, Raha enjoys painting, organizing and eating various desserts.
Michaela is a senior at Richard Montgomery and is very excited to be a copy editor for the MoCo Student this year. She is an Editor-in-Chief of The Amplifier magazine and an arts editor for her school’s student newspaper, The Tide. When she is not writing articles or editing, she enjoys reading, running, and learning about history. Michaela also loves hiking with friends and traveling to new places.
News: Seyun Park & Shelby Roth
Seyun Park is a junior at Walter Johnson HS and is excited to be on the Moco Student for his second year. In school, he is a print editor-in-chief for the school newspaper, The Pitch, and also plays tennis for the school team. Outside of school, he plays cello and likes to watch hockey.
Shelby Roth is a junior at Richard Montgomery. She is the opinions editor for The Tide, RM’s newspaper. She is also sports editor for The Amplifier, a county wide magazine. In her free time, she likes to play field hockey and enjoys reading.
Montgomery County News: Elli Jacobs
Elli Jacobs is a junior at Richard Montgomery High School and is excited to be working as an editor for the Montgomery County News section. She is currently the head editor for the social justice section in the school’s newspaper, The Tide, and has been writing since her freshman year. In her free time, Elli likes to crochet, play piano, and listen to crime podcasts.
MoCo for Change: Maru Amtataw
Maru Amtataw is a senior at John F. Kennedy High School and is excited to be Editor of MoCo for Change. This is Maru’s third year being a part of MoCo for Change and MoCo Student. In school, she serves as Executive SGA Vice President along with co-founder and current Vice President of her school’s African Student Association (KASA). She is also a founder of a non-profit known as Middle Hands that supports African Children in Gambia and Cameroon. She also enjoys playing basketball at her school; in her free time, she writes, paints, and hangs out with friends.
Opinion: Joy Jiang
Joy Jiang is a senior at Richard Montgomery High School. As someone who loves reading the columns and editorials in news outlets, she is super excited to be editing the Opinions section this year. In past years, she has also worked as a Features editor and writer for the MoCo Student. Outside of journalism, she enjoys making nostalgic videos, catching up with friends, and learning how to play Disney songs on the piano.
Arts and Culture: Akshya Mahadevan
Akshya Mahadevan is a senior at Richard Montgomery High School and is in her fourth year with the MoCo Student. She is very excited to be Arts editor this year! In her free time, she loves listening to her ridiculously long Spotify playlist, learning dance choreographies, and reading good books.
Features: Chelsea Zhu
Chelsea Zhu is a sophomore at Richard Montgomery High School. She is excited to lead the Features section for MoCo Student and help student journalists navigate the reporting process. Outside of journalism, she loves figure skating, Google Maps, and caramel frappuccinos.
Sports: Ben Kim
Ben Kim is a senior at Walter Johnson High School. He has been a sports writer for three years with the MoCo Student, and this will be his first year as the sports editor. Additionally, he is the Senior Opinion Editor of his school newspaper, The Pitch, and plays on the basketball team at Walter Johnson.
Young Writers: Madeline Springer
Madeline Springer is a senior in Richard Montgomery High School’s IB Program where she writes for The Tide Features section. She has previously written for the Opinons section of the MoCo Student. She is also a Civil Air Patrol cadet and enjoys hiking, volleyball, and traveling in her free time!
Graphics: Cas Nguyen
Cas Nguyen is a senior at Richard Montgomery High School. She has been working as a graphics artist for the past three years for MoCo Student, and three years for the Tide. Additionally, she’s president of RMHS SciOly and iGEM club. When not doing schoolwork or extracurriculars, she can be found drawing, playing the viola, watching anime, or sobbing at gacha games.
Photos: Leeyaat Assefa
Leeyaat Assefa is a senior at Blake High School and it is her first year working for MoCo Student! She is part of her school’s writing center as well as a part of the National English Honors Society. In her free time she loves to read, watch movies, take photos on film and digital and hang out with her friends!
Social Media: Dev Narang & Reanna Jin
Dev Narang is a Freshman at Landon School and is excited to be the Social Media manager for MoCo Student. He loves making and editing videos. Dev also loves math and Volunteers at the Children’s Inn at NIH. In his free time, Dev enjoys talking with friends, track and field, and playing games.