FEATURES

June Winners

1. HK YOUTH OPPS

About:

HK Youth Opps aims to bridge the gap in access to educational resources and opportunities in Hong Kong. HK Youth Opps seeks to bring opportunities to youth regardless of their gender, race, socio-economic background, religion, sexual orientation, etc. HK Youth Opps promotes opportunities such as NGO opportunities, academic competitions, educational conferences, webinars/podcasts, exam resources, journalism opportunities, internship opportunities, and leadership opportunities.

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Team Members:

Audrey Yuen (Founder) is a Year 10 from Hong Kong, and the Founder of HK Youth Opps, which aims to bridge the gap in access to educational resources and opportunities in Hong Kong. Having competed in many international competitions such as the International Linguistics Olympiad and the International History Olympiad, Audrey hopes that more members of the youth community can have access to educational and enlightening opportunities. Audrey is passionate about languages, literature, history, the performing arts and MUN. Audrey also enjoys volunteering for NGOs such as Amnesty International, the Inter-school Social Issues Association, Amplify Foundation, Inclusivityhk and Justice Leaders' Council. Outside of academic and extracurricular pursuits, Audrey loves listening to music, watching Netflix and going to the gym. 

Instagram: @percybb18

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Contact HK Youth Opps at:

Instagram: @hk_youth_opps

2. THE CONCORDIA INITIATIVE

About:

During quarantine, it’s easy to get lonely. The Concordia Initiative provides music videos and live calls to members of memory care and assisted living homes to spread a little bit of joy and brighten someone’s day.

http://chordsforacause.org/the-concordia-initiative/

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Team Members:

Sandhya Mahesh (Co-Founder) has been passionate about music and figure skating since a very young age. Her goal is to use these passions to make an impact in society and positively influence as many lives as possible.

Sandhya began skating at the age of 4, taking lessons at the local rink twice a week with her sister. She have been a member of a Synchronized Skating team, Theater on Ice team as well as forging ahead with my USFS skate tests and solo skating over these years. Over the last 10 years, she have competed and won numerous local, regional and national competitions. Her team placed 7th in the National Theater on Ice competition in 2016. Sandhya is a Bronze Medalist, having passed the Moves In the Field test. Currently, she am working towards a Gold (Senior Moves) Medal.

One of the things that struck her the most was the music that was being played at the rink while she practiced. That was one of the major motivators for her to learn how to play the piano – she wanted to play the music she was listening to. Sandhya began playing the piano at the age 5. She says that she is very fortunate to have a gentle, compassionate teacher who nurtured my love for music. She won the Texas All State Musician Award, Gold medals in National Theory tests (9 years in a row) and numerous Superior ratings in competitions over the last 9 years. She is currently working towards a Diploma in Social Music.

Sandhya joined the Orchestra in her school, playing the viola. She have been in my region’s Symphony’s orchestra for 4 years in a row, having placed 1st chair in 2017 & 2018. This year, she made Area and hopes to make it to All State in the next school year. She hs been a member of the Houston Youth Symphony for 4 years. The highlight of her orchestral experience was playing with Interlochen’s World Youth Symphony Orchestra last summer.

She is also extremely interested in computer science. At the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston 2020, she received several special awards from Jacobs, the Engineering Science Technology Council Houston, and the International Society of Automation. Her project involved using artificial intelligence for asset performance management.

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Tanya Mahesh (Co-Founder) has been passionate about figure skating and music all her life, and from the age of nine, she's been bringing them together to do good for my community. 

She has danced Indian classical dance (Bharatanatyam) for the past 9 years. She have danced in numerous dance recitals, regionally and nationally, as well as some of her dance school’s own productions. Tanya held her Salangai Pooja in December of 2020 and is currently working towards my Arangetram, the biggest recital in a dancer's life.

Music has also been a great motivation for her throughout the past 8 years of my life. Tanya started piano at the age of 5, and has received several Superior ratings over her piano journey. She has advanced to state for 5 years in a row, and have taken place in the National Guild auditions for the past 6 years. She has also earned many trophies, and medals, as well as Gold medals in National Theory tests (7 years in a row). 

Tanya has always had an uncanny obsession for singing, and it has really affected who she is today. She joined her school choir in 3rd grade, and joined the Houston Girls Chorus in 4th. Being part of HGC has been a huge opportunity for her, allowing her to sing in the Houston Ballet’s Nutcracker for 2 years as well as other performances around Houston. Tanya also went to region for the first time, and placed 5th chair, where she sang in the Region Choir 2020. 

Tanya started skating at the age of three, taking lessons twice a week at my local rink. She has been a member of Theater on Ice, and Synchronized Skating teams, competing in many competitions with her fellow teammates, as well as competing solo. She can proudly say that her team (HITS) placed 2nd in their short program in the National Theater On Ice competition in the year of 2016. She has also passed the Intermediate Moved In The Field test, therefore moving towards the Bronze Medal. As of now, she is working towards the MIF Gold (Senior Moves) medal.

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Contact The Concordia Initiative at:

Instagram: @concordia.initiative

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3. BAKE4SAKE

About: 

As Vedika ventured into her teenage years she started to recognize so many problems in the world and the one that stood out to her the most was homelessness. She soon learned that a lot of people weren't homeless because they were bad people, they were homeless because of socioeconomic factors. At the same time Vedika’s passion for baking started to grow and that’s when Bake4Sake was born. She contacted a few homeless shelters asking them if she could bake for their homeless residents. Initially, many of them said she was too young  so she conducted a neighborhood bake sale, in which she raised $150, and an ingredients drive at her school. After a promising start she directly emailed the CEOs of these shelters, gave them her background, and asked them if she could bake for the homeless residents. They directed her to the kitchen coordinators and volunteer coordinators and this time they agreed to let her bake. So her team and her started to bake for the shelters. Today, the Bake4Sake team has partnered with 3 homeless shelters and baked desserts for 2500 residents and counting.

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Team Members:

Vedika Jawa (Founder) is a sophomore at Washington High School and the founder of Bake4Sake, an organization in which her peers and her go to different homeless shelters to bake for the residents. In addition, she is a peer mentor for the special ed children in her school; she plays games and reads to them so that they can enhance their social skills. Vedika also loves to play basketball, bake, and dance. She is involved in multiple clubs such as DECA and Abode. Additionally, she is part of the Teen Advisory Board for Choices Magazine where she has gotten the opportunity to get some of her articles published.

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Contact Bake4Sake at:

Instagram: @bake4sake 

Facebook Page: bake4sake

4. THE ROAD 2 BALANCE

About:

These days, being a high school student is more demanding than ever. We have to manage school, sports, extracurriculars, friends…by the time we meet all of our responsibilities, there is hardly any time left to do what we enjoy. We are often overwhelmed and feel alone in our struggles. This blog hopes to connect teenagers and focuses on finding a healthy balance in all areas of life in order to meet all of our deadlines while still being able to do what we love, therefore leading a joyful and productive life. Through our advice-style blog posts, we will provide you with insights and tips, through the relatable personal experiences and thoughts of fellow teenagers, to help you in finding a healthy balance between your:

Relationships

Friendships

Adventures

Environment

Health and Fitness

Intellectual Life

Skills/ Talents

Spiritual Life

Career/ college goals

Creative Life

Family Life

Community Life

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Team Members:

Sofia Flores (Founder) welcomes you to The Road 2 Balance! She is a STEM nerd in her junior year of high school who aspires to become a biomedical engineer, and she believes that her purpose is to help others. Sofia has spent a lot of time researching and reading up on ways to find balance in her life. Some methods she has implemented into her everyday life, and they have proven to be very useful. She hopes that by blogging her experiences, she can help other high school students lead successful and happy lives!

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You can contact The Road 2 Balance at:

Instagram: @theroad2balance

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5. COMMUNITY OVER CORONA

About:

We are a volunteer organization dedicated to helping small businesses recover from the demand drop COVID has brought by offering free social media marketing services. Our social media marketers receive a well-recognized certification after being trained in marketing fundamentals.

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Team Members:

Pallavi Vemuri and Sofia DiFulvio (Co-Founders) created the Community over Corona initiative. They understand that small businesses are crucial to the very culture of America, and they are dedicated to helping small businesses recover from the economic impacts of the coronavirus.

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You can contact Community Over Corona at:

Instagram: @communityovercorona

Gmail: communityovercorona12@gmail.com

Round Pier: Communityovercorona