BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lanting Zhu, Co-President
Lanting Zhu is a sophomore at Centennial High School who is interested in working in Software Development in the future. She leads Girls In STEM because she wants to encourage more people, especially young girls to get involved in STEM, due to the lack of women in STEM careers. She hopes to be able to make an impact and inspire more girls to pursue a job in STEM related fields.
Lanting is very interested in mobile app and game development and won the 2021 Google Change The Game Design Challenge Award. She also enjoys music and violin greatly and has been in Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestras from 4th grade to now. She also won several international music competitions such as American Classical Young Musician Award and Canadian International Music Competition Young Artist Award. She teaches violin to elementary and middle school students nationwide to spread her knowledge and joy.
Lanting is a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society and National Tech Honor Society. She is also a part of her school’s Girls Who Code and Pyoneers club and has won different kinds of coding competitions. She really enjoys volunteering and has devoted herself to giving back to the community by tutoring all kinds of STEM courses to underprivileged students. She also enjoys playing golf and is on her school’s varsity girls golf team. Lanting loves reading webtoons, playing video games, and spending time with friends and family in her free time.
Victoria Yao, Co-President
Victoria is a 10th grader at River Hill High School. She decided to tutor for and lead Girls in STEM to develop her own leadership skills while also getting the chance to help others succeed. She has had experience teaching younger students, and helping tutor 6th graders in school during her free period.
At school, she is a part of the student government, serving as a class president and helping to raise money towards their class funds. Victoria is also interested in programming and engineering, qualifying for regional championships for FTC, a robotics competition. She also is interested in business and is a national's qualifier for FBLA, holding an officer position within the organization. She has a strong passion for sports and her school community, participating in varsity soccer and track at her school.
In her free time, she loves to make TikToks. Victoria also enjoys listening to music and reading. She enjoys listening to kpop, and her favorite book is The Song of Achilles. She also enjoys playing soccer with her friends and riding her bike around the neighborhood.
Nirja Kotak, Director of Scheduling and Organization
Nirja is a sophomore at Atholton High School. She is tutoring with Girls in Stem because of her growing love for the STEM field, and wants to promote that interest in a STEM career to more girls. Nirja wants to do this by sharing her knowledge to make a difference to other students.
Nirja is a student who likes to get involved in many activities in her school. For example, Nirja is on the Science olympiad team, in which her school qualified for regionals. Nirja is also a member of her schools Pre-Med Club and Robotics Club. In addition to this she is an active member of SGA, and the STEM advisory committee. Nirja has also qualified to volunteer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Nirja has been swimming for seven years and has won states and championships for her swim team. Her two favorite strokes are breast stroke and freestyle. Nirja also plays field hockey and lacrosse. In her free time Nirja likes to watch Netflix, her favorite show is Grey’s Anatomy. She also like to go outside and play with her younger brother. Nirja’s favorite subject in school is science.
TUTORS
Veronica Benedict
Veronica Benedict is a junior at Glenelg High School. She wants to be a tutor because she wants to make a difference in her community by sharing her knowledge and inspire them to pursue a career in the STEM field. She enjoys working with young students and wants to encourage them to work hard and love learning.
Veronica has maintained a 4.0 unweighted GPA and 4.8 weighted. She is a member of her school’s debate team, Biomedical club, and Key Club. She is also one of the leaders of her school’s student mentor program, welcoming new students and helping them adjust to the new environment. Outside of school, she volunteers at her local church on the weekends. She has also volunteered as a junior counselor for summer camps, leading instructions given by adult counselors to the young campers.
In her free time, Veronica enjoys playing piano, painting, reading books and listening to music. She also loves to bake and spend time with her friends and family.
Helen Chen
Helen is a junior that goes to Mount Hebron High school and would like to major in business administration. She would like to be a tutor because she wants to gain more experience during her high school year and also she enjoys helping others.
Helen has taken AP Government and Politics and AP Computer Science Principles. Her extracurricular activities consist of class board, Math Team, MESA, and Computer Science Club.
One of Helen’s favorite tv shows is Breaking Bad. She loves to exercise such as running and swimming. Helen loves listening to music everyday. She also loves to hangout with friends and family.
Ray Dai
Ray is a 10th grader at River Hill High School. He wants to tutor because he enjoys learning and teaching in subjects that he likes.
He has participated in many math and robotics competitions and likes to program.
He mainly plays games in his free time, but sometimes goes to learn about some engineering things people are using.
Saydie Grossman
Saydie is a junior at Roslyn High School, in Long Island, New York. She enjoys acting, singing, dancing, writing, and doing scientific research. She has teaching experience in instructing Hebrew lessons at her local temple and loves to work with children. Additionally, her love for teaching and meeting new people has motivated her to share her expertise in the fields of STEM and to become a tutor.
While Saydie has a wide range of interests, her accomplishments are not limited to one field of study. As a result of her rigorous scientific research in behavioral sciences and biological sciences, she has won numerous awards; this includes 1st place Presentation Award at the Northwell Health Medical Marvels Competition 2019, 1st place at the Roslyn Research Fair 2019 and 2020, and more. Additionally, she has been on the Roslyn Math Olympiad Team since the 6th grade and has contributed toward many honorable recognitions and awards through this activity. Additionally, she is actively involved in her community and school activities and serves as President of the YCAC Women’s Organization for Environmental Activism and Captain of the Roslyn Improv Troupe.
When Saydie isn’t in the classroom learning or teaching, you can find her in a number of places: on the stage, in a dance studio, taking photos of nature, painting and drawing, playing with her little brother, or hanging with friends and family. Saydie is very social and loves to share her outgoing personality. Saydie is so excited to begin working as a STEM tutor!
Daniel He
Daniel is a junior at River Hill High School. He’s interested in tutoring because he likes to help others and wants to help other students succeed!
Daniel has maintained a 4.0/4.93 unweighted/weighted GPA throughout his years in high school. He is a member of his school’s coding club, FBLA, and is vice president of marketing in his school’s investing club. Outside of school he is also the co-founder of the River Hill startup, Amber Prep, and runs it along with his other co-founder. He is also a member of the Columbia Aquatics swim team.
In his free time, Daniel enjoys swimming, reading, and learning about investing. He also enjoys hanging out with his friends and playing the piano!
Kelly He
Kelly He is a junior at Atholton High School and interested in Applied Math. She is tutoring with Girls in STEM because she believes girls should get more support in STEM subjects that usually are not dominated by females.
Kelly has a 4.0 unweighted, 4.96 weighted GPA, and earned a 5 on AP Calc AB and Stats. At school, Kelly is the co-founder and co-president of Hackathon Club and a member of the Robotics and Science Olympiad teams. In Atholton’s IR program, she conducted research on food testing using pH and electrical conductivity. Kelly is also the founder and president of Sports Endure, an organization that helps student-athletes with mental health. A volleyball player, she plays on varsity, a 2x State Champion in the past four years, and the 1st team of her club since 12 at Maryland Juniors.
In her free time, Kelly likes to hang out with friends and try new restaurants. She also enjoys working with kids at HC Drugs Free and HCRP Summer Camps. Kelly’s favorite show is “The Office” because the characters have a special sense of humor.
Janani Krithivasan
Janani Krithivasan is a sophomore at Atholton High School. She wants to tutor because she really enjoys working with other people and guiding them through the courses they take at school. She has tutored people before and really enjoys making lesson plans and coming up with fun activities to do.
Janani participated in Science Olympiads this past year in Designer Genes and Anatomy and Physiology. Her school ended up qualifying for regionals. She was also a part of SWE (Society of Women Engineers) whose goal was to develop an alarm system to detect heat and fire inside of a wooden model house. She is a co-section leader of the trumpet section of her school's marching band which placed 3rd at a Towson University state competition. She also plays another instrument called the veena and recently has performed concerts in person and virtually.
Janani enjoys reading, music, hiking, and playing chess. Recently, she has taken an interest in photography and is trying to improve her skills. Some of her favorite TV shows are Suits, Psych, Madam Secretary, and House; she also really likes the Avengers. Her favorite book series is Percy Jackson since it was a big part of her childhood, but she also likes the Inheritance Series. Apart from that, she really likes keeping herself busy and learning new things.
Ella Marantz
Ella is a senior at South High School in Southern California and plans to study psychology in college. She views working with children as extremely rewarding and seeks to inspire young girls interested in pursuing STEM. She’s beyond excited to be a part of this amazing organization (and represent the west coast)!
Ella has a 4.7 weighted GPA and ranks 8th in her class of over 400. She’s taken many AP courses, psychology being her favorite, and received the AP Scholar Award with Distinction for her success on these exams. On campus, she’s the varsity drill team captain and an involved member of student council, freshmen mentorship, and CSF volunteer tutoring.
Following an incredible experience at the ACLU National Advocacy Institute, Ella has been devoted to social justice activism, determined to create positive reform in the world. Additionally, she works as a math instructor at Mathnasium and babysits in her community. And in her free time, she loves exploring the outdoors, playing ukulele, and hanging with friends.
Maria Rangwala
Maria Rangwala is a junior at Mount Hebron High School. She wants to be a tutor because she believes in the Girls in STEM mission statement and finds tutoring is a great way to help the community.
Maria is a member of many school clubs such as Future Business Leaders of America, Red Cross, Health Occupations in Science of America, Toastmasters, and Mount Hebron Marching Band.
Maria loves going to the beach and her favorite food is cotton candy.
Lexi Rampolla
Lexi Rampolla is a senior at South High School, in Torrance, California. She has been a volunteer tutor at her local elementary school for the past two years and is super excited to now be focusing on helping girls explore and succeed in STEM.
Lexi has a 4.5 weighted GPA, and scored a 1500 on her SAT. This past year she scored a 5 on both the Biology and Calculus AB AP tests. At school she is in Red Cross and CSF, and is on her school track team and pole vault team.
Outside of school Lexi plays guitar and loves going to the beach. She enjoys hiking and any adventure in nature. At home she loves to hang out with her adorable dog and watch netflix with her sister.
Emily Shi
Emily Shi is a senior from Marriotts Ridge High School, and is interested in the medical field and language learning. She wants to be a tutor because she would like to encourage and work with other girls in the STEM field, and is really excited at this opportunity.
Emily has maintained a 4.0 unweighted GPA throughout high school, and currently has a 4.93 weighted GPA. She has scored a 5 in AP Biology, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Calculus AB, and AP Computer Science Principles. She is a member of her school's Science Olympiad and has participated in multiple competitions. She is also an officer for Key Club, secretary for GirlUp, and executive board member for French National Honor Society. She is part of her school's Marching Band, which has won numerous awards. She has also volunteered at TRRC, an organization that provides horseback riding as therapy for those with disabilities.
In her free time, Emily enjoys reading, writing, doodling, playing the piano or flute, and wandering around in nature. Her favorite books include the Six of Crows duology, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Vicious. She likes exploring new topics online and Internet surfing. She loves learning different languages as well.
Wonjae Suh
Wonjae Suh is a 10th grader at River Hill High School. He has decided to tutor because he believes that it is an interesting prospect and would like to gain more student service learning hours.
He is a part of his school’s Science Olympiad and Cross Country teams. In his free time, he teaches himself piano. He earned a 5 on the Calculus AB exam in 2020 and has maintained a 4.93 weighted GPA throughout his freshman year of high school.
His favorite book series is A Song of Ice and Fire by G.R.R.M. and his favorite fictional character being Robert Baratheon. One of his favorite movies is The Dark Knight and his toothbrush is the color green.
Ava Wolf
Ava Wolf is a Junior at Marriotts Ridge High School and plans to major in mechanical engineering in college. She joined Girls in Stem because she enjoys helping others especially young girls interested in STEM-related fields. Ava is extremely excited to begin working as a STEM tutor!
Ava has maintained a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 4.82 unweighted GPA throughout her first two years of high school. As part of her love of engineering, she has taken PLTW Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) and Principals of Engineering (POE) and plans to continue in the
PLTW program. Her favorite subjects have been Pre-Calc, Algebra II, and art. Outside of STEM, she is also a member of her school’s Spanish Honors Society and Environmental Club.
In her free time, Ava enjoys spending time with friends, family, and her two puppies. She also enjoys volunteering at local food banks in Baltimore as well as her church. Additionally, she enjoys watching TV and reading. Her favorite shows being Criminal Minds and NCIS.
Ansa Zakriya
Ansa Zakriya is a junior at River Hill High School who is planning on entering the medical field. She decided to join Girls in STEM in order to be an example for younger girls who are interested in STEM based courses.
Ansa has sustained a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 4.5 weighted GPA throughout her first two years of high school. She scored a 5 on her AP biology exam, and she participates in FDA. Additionally, she is enrolled in IR where she previously has researched the effects of GABA and Glutamate on ASD.
Ansa enjoys riding her bike with her cousins and jump roping. She cooks frequently as her favorite food is pasta. Currently, her favorite artists include Glass Animals, Khalid, and Lil Tecca. While listening to her playlist, Ansa plays games such as brawl stars and BTD.
Daniel Zheng
Daniel is a rising junior at Glenelg High School who plans to study economics in college. He tutors because he loves working with the community and helping people learn. He joined Girls in STEM to help encourage more young women to pursue STEM related fields.
As a sophomore, Daniel has taken both Calculus BC and Physics C: Mechanics, two classes widely regarded as the most difficult offered in Howard County. He maintains a 4.79 weighted GPA, and has made the honor roll every year at Glenelg. Outside of academics, Daniel is passionate about volunteering and helping his community. He is an officer of his school’s key club and spends his weekends (before quarantine) working at a local Baltimore homeless shelter. He is also a head mentor for Glenelg’s student mentor program.
In his free time, Daniel enjoys playing tennis on his school team and working out with his friends. He loves trivia and can name the capital of almost every country in the world. His favorite animal is the alpaca, and he hopes to own an alpaca farm in the near future.
