Our Mission
De-Polar Express Project is a youth organization that aims to cover important current events and make them easy and digestible for students to learn and understand. Our mission is to empower teens to articulate their diverse perspectives by giving them a platform to express their ideas and writing.
Our Impact
To date, we've gained over 2,000 followers and 500,000 impressions on our social media, grown into an international organization, and published 180+ articles.
Meet Our Team!
William Cao is the founder and CEO and a senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco. At school, he is passionate about history and the sciences and runs on his school’s track & field team. He also enjoys music and is a student studying piano in the SFCM Pre-College Program.
Maya Chassé is a projects director and a senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Outside of school, she loves to hike, come up with new recipes for her food blog, and spend time with her pets. She is passionate about the environment and you can often find her volunteering with Nature in the City-San Francisco.
Michael Brand is a senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Currently, he is an editor and writer for the De-Polar Express Project. At school, he is most passionate about getting girls coffee and perfecting his coffee-making abilities. In his free time, he frequently plays golf at the local country club where he holds the course record and also participates heavily in his school's debate team. One time, he met the legendary Tiger Woods and swung sticks. In the future, he hopes to be the nation's #1 golf-playing barista.
Negin Nouri is a projects director, writer, and social media manager for the project. She is a student at the Watford Grammar School in the UK where she takes physics, biology, and geography as part of her Pre-University years. She is part of Make a Change Society as she is passionate about educating others on social and political issues across the world. Outside of school, Negin is an NHS Volunteer Responder. As for hobbies, She loves to cycle at her local park and is learning how to bake!
Erin Guo is a social media manager for the project and a senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco. When she’s not doing schoolwork, she likes to bake and watch shows. A political/social issue she’s passionate about is climate change.
Brayden Yee is a social media manager and is currently a senior at Lowell High School. Outside of school, he enjoys reading and playing video games. He is interested in politics, general history, the environment, and current events.
Zohra Rangwala is a writer, social media manager, and student at St Dominic’s Sixth Form in London, England. At school, Zohra takes Maths, Politics, and Philosophy as her A-level or Pre-University subjects. When she’s not in school or doing schoolwork, she loves to watch Marvel movies/shows and likes to read. She is also passionate about making political and social change!
Eric Yue the Director, and senior at Leland High School. At school, Eric enjoys history and biology. During his free time, Eric likes to play video games with friends, hike, and photograph the things he sees. His passion for politics and social issues is why he is part of his school’s Speech and Debate team.
Erlangga is a projects director and social media manager and a 9th grader at SMPN 29 South Bekasi in Indonesia. Outside of school, he is a content creator of educational English videos on TikTok, where he has taught over eight thousand young people in Indonesia to learn English and improve their fluency to develop their studies. He is also passionate about human rights, education, and global children issues, as he is a part of UNICEF Indonesia and on the executive boards of other organizations to accomplish those aims.
Sophia is a high school student in Norfolk, Virginia. She is passionate about public health and public policy. She enjoys biking, running, and theater in her free time. Currently, she serves as a project director for De-Polar Express
Eloise So is a senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco. She is currently an editor for De-Polar Express. At school, she is most passionate about political science and enjoys being an activist for feminist causes. She frequently attends protests and you will also find her reading 20th-century feminist literature. In the future, she hopes to become a lawyer for the ACLU. In addition to activism, she's also director of her school's policy debate team and spends most of her time outside school preparing for rounds at cafés.
Delaney Gutierrez is a writer and a senior at Manatee High School in Florida. At school, Delaney is passionate about the government and you will most likely find her catching up on an essay due some time during the week for her Language Composition class. Outside of school, she volunteers for Teen Court every week as part of the jury or as a clerk. As for hobbies, Delaney loves to read and cook in her free time. A couple of political issues she’s interested in are US immigration and the current economy.
Hailey Lau is a writer and an editor for the project and a junior at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York. At school, she is in the medical science program and enjoys science and research. Outside of school, she loves hanging out with friends, listening to music, shopping, and watching movies/tv shows. She is passionate about social change, and believes that science has a large impact on it, and she hopes to incorporate it into talking about socio-political topics that are happening currently!
Zara Lim is a graphic designer and an editor for the project. She is a junior at Staten Island Technical High School who enjoys science and wellness research. Zara enjoys hanging out with her friends, watching movies, working on her art, and baking outside of school. She is passionate about social work and environmental justice and hopes to promote social and ecological health and sustainability.
Demi Conteh is a content writer and a student from Ontario, Canada. Her passions are math, language arts and sociology. She enjoys reading books, watching tv shows and playing volleyball. She also takes part as a member of her school's student council. Her goal is to be the voice of little or big issues in society and bring about change.
Bertie Sprackling is an editor for the project and is studying for his A-Levels at St Dominic’s Sixth Form in London, England. He is hoping to study English literature at university after this. In his free time, he likes to see his friends, watch movies and run his small business.
Janice Li is a rising junior at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, NY and is a content writer and editor for the project. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, cooking, hanging out with friends and reading. Some of her favorite books are by Colleen Hoover and the Harry Potter series. She likes watching shows and recently finished watching "The summer I turned Pretty"! She also enjoys learning new things and experiencing things outside of her comfort zone. Janice also hopes to pursue something in the medical field in the future because she's always enjoyed helping people and want to have a career that is meaningful to her.
Raka goes to St. John’s School in Houston, Texas and is a social media manager for the project. She enjoys baking, cooking, acting, and axe throwing. She is passionate about climate change, and she's glad to get a chance to spread awareness on social issues.
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Annie Li is the Graphics Director and a senior at Lowell High School! In her free time, she enjoys photo-editing, watching shows, and hanging out with her friends. She’s passionate about mental health and LGBTQ issues.
Inseo Kim is a graphic designer for De-Polar Express and a junior at Leland High School. In her spare time, Inseo can often be found doodling, hanging out with friends, or immersed in an hours-long Youtube video essay on an obscure Internet topic. Currently, Inseo is working to improve her crocheting and clarinet skills. Inseo enjoys reading or listening to societal analysis on various topics, such as social media, cultural differences, pop culture, and more. Inseo believes that even as students, being aware of current events is very important. She hopes to contribute to spreading this knowledge as a part of De-Polar Express Project.
Ananya Gondesi is an editor for the project and is a senior from Illinois who loves to write stories, read, watch movies and spend time with friends. She hopes to become a criminal psychologist or a journalist in the future.
Nadine Dermoune is a content writer. As part of her pre-university studies, she studies Politics, History and English at Mill Hill County High School in the UK. In her free time, she enjoys playing and watching sports. She has a passion for international relations and social issues!
Alexandra Wong is an editor and writer for the De-Polar Express Project. She wrote for her middle school blog and recently headed the production of her middle school’s End of Year newsletter. Going into St. Agnes, Texas, as a freshman, she hopes to continue writing. Along with writing, Alexandra loves to read, dance, and play the piano.
Claire Pham is a fifteen year old high school student from San Jose dedicated to digital design and media outreach. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and frequent trips to Gongcha. Aside from drinking tea, she typically spends her time listening to music and keeping up with social media.
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Yashika Anand is a junior at Mission San Jose High School. Some of her interests include dance, legal studies, and all types of business! In her free time, she loves to travel, binge watch shows, and try new restaurants around town. She’s so excited to start this new chapter of social media marketing with the De-Polar Express Team!
Emma Simon is a 10th grader from New York and the Social Media Director, as well as a content writer and editor for the De-Polar Express Project. She is passionate about many different social and political issues, and enjoys writing about them.
Sachi Patwardhan is a social media manager for the De-Polar Express Project. She is from the Bay Area and is a Miramonte High School Cheerleader and A Scout of America. She enjoys working with kids, and does a little bit of babysitting as well as summer counseling. She's really excited to learn and be a part of the De-Polar Express Project Team!
Ryann Rodney is a Content Director, as well as an editor, and writer for the De-Polar Express Project. She is a 10th grader at Trevor Day School in New York City. Some of her interests include music, law, literature, and journalism. In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, writing, reading, photography, acting and traveling! She’s also addicted to Chipotle burritos.
James is a writer and editor for the De-Polar Express Project. He is a junior from New York and also serves as the opinion editor for his school’s newspaper and plays on the tennis team. In his free time, he enjoys making music and playing video games.
Audrey Goldberg is a junior at Horace Mann School in New York City. She is currently a social media manager for the project. Outside of School, she focuses on aiding people in her community of the Bronx, emphasizing the importance of mental health. In her free time, she loves to play sports, bake, and draw.
Elaine Wong is an editor for the project. She’s a Junior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, where she is a runner for her school's cross country team, a news writer for her school newspaper, and a cabinet member of her grade caucus. Outside of school she is involved in various government and law programs. In her free time she loves to watch cooking videos and catch up on television shows.
Mariama Bah is a content researcher/writer for the De-Polar Express Project. She is a 10th grader in New York City and in her free time she enjoys reading books, knitting, watching Marvel movies and listening to music. Some of her interests include astronomy, volleyball and track. She hopes to become a an astrophysicist in the future.