Bridget Liu
Student
Bridget Liu is a student researcher working with her group members to investigate the efficacy of polyphenols on Alzheimer's disease.
Dana Huch
Student
Dana Huch is a senior at Los Altos High School.
Fernando Sepulveda Sagaseta
Student
Fernando Sepulveda Sagaseta is proud to be Mexican. He is a first generation immigrant who moved to California when he was 8 years old. In his talk he explores the topic of cultural engagement from the eyes of immigrants as they try to establish their place in their new home.
Kaitlyn Don
Student
Kaitlyn Don is a sophomore at Los Altos High School.
Mars Bengtson
Student
Mars Bengtson, or you'll hear the name Ozzy if you go to one of their open mic performances, is a freshman at Los Altos High School. They are an aspiring poet, and you may have seen them as the winner in this year's Freshman Poetry Battle with their poem "My Cotton Shield" or in the Los Altos Talent Show performing their poem "Anxiety and Me". Outside of poetry Mars is a mental health and trans rights advocate.
Maulik Dhakal
Student
Maulik Dhakal is a freshman at Los Altos High School who's interest in politics goes back to when he was a third grader in New Hampshire. Since then he's served as a staffer for the campaigns of President Joe Biden, Senator Jon Ossoff, Senator Raphael Warnock, and Governor Gavin Newsom. He's lived across the United States and studied the quality of life and economies of many states.
Rashi Sharma
Student
Rashi Sharma is a sophomore at Los Altos High School. When she isn’t caring for her plants, she engages in conservation-related volunteer work. Through this work, she realized that the general public does not have a very specific or accurate understanding of conservation.
Serena Gaylord
Student
Aside from unhinged-psychology-nerd, Serena is an avid writer, and plans to study both creative writing and behavioral science in college. When she found the effects of perfectionist-pressure weighing on her mental health, she used both of these interests as footholds to climb out of the loneliest period in her life.
Susana Herrera
Teacher
Susana Herrera has been a high school teacher for 28 years, a marathon runner, a Star Wars nerd, and an author. Her first published book, Mango Elephants in the Sun: How Life in an African Village Let Me Be in My Skin, is a memoir of her experiences in Peace Corps Cameroon, West Africa (92-94). She keeps trying to sell her screenplay based on her book but it’s easier to win the lottery so she’s playing Super Lotto. Her children’s book, Seize Your Wave, is about her son learning to surf despite getting deathly sick with the worst possible diagnosis. The book asks us what we do when things fall apart and life makes no sense.
Tomoki Chien
Journalist and student
Tomo is a senior at Los Altos High School and founder of the Midpeninsula Post, an independent student paper seeking to change the way teens consume local news.