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About the Contributors
Gia Ajani, Staff Writer
Gia Ajani is a sophomore and a first year staff writer on The Sidekick.
She loves to sing and is a part of Kantorei and Vivace at Coppell High School. She joined The Sidekick because of her interest in writing, especially in entertainment and news writing. She hopes to continue to learn how to use more media, such as photos and videos to express her love for journalism. In her free time, she enjoys baking all kinds of sweets, reading books, and listening to music. She is a huge Swiftie, but also enjoys listening to country artists such as Zach Bryan and Kelsea Ballerini.
You can contact her at [email protected].
Vidya Praveen, Staff Photographer
Vidya Praveen is a sophomore and a first-year staff photographer for The Sidekick.
She joined The Sidekick for her passion for photography and designing, being a part of The Sidekick would allow her to practice both of the things she loves. Vidya also joined the sidekick to help her try new things and to help her be better at working with other people.
Vidya loves to go shopping, watching movies and TV shows. Currently her favorite movie is Avatar, and her favorite show is On My Block Vidya also enjoys listening to music, her favorite artists are Nicki Minaj and The Neighbourhood.
You can contact Vidya at [email protected]
Naseeha Masood, Staff Writer
Naseeha Masood is a sophomore, first year staff writer for The Sidekick.
She’s originally from Missouri and moved to Texas four years ago. She loves to spend time with her family and friends. In her free time, she likes to rewatch comfort shows and movies such as the Gilmore Girls, Brooklyn 99 and Grey’s Anatomy.
She also likes to craft spotify playlists for her every mood, and is always on the hunt for new hobbies of all sorts like hiking, crocheting, baking and lots more. You can contact her at [email protected] or on Instagram (@Naseeha.Masood)
Hamza Zakir, Staff Writer
Hamza is a junior and a second year staff writer for The Sidekick. He has a passion for writing, especially expressing his opinions through various columns.
When he’s not writing stories, you can find Hamza eating corn, listening to Mitski or playing with his cat “Kofta.”
You can find Hamza at @hambamzz on Instagram and you can contact him by email at [email protected].
Leila Holmes-Yllescas, Staff Photographer
Leila Holmes-Yllescas is sophomore and first year staff member of The Sidekick. She joined The Sidekick to explore journalism and learn more about what being a journalist is like. Outside of the newsroom you can catch her dancing in the choir room with Vivace! or on the sidelines with the sports medicine team. Her favorite pastimes include reading and binge watching her favorite tv shows: “The 100” and “New Girl.”
Rachel Chio, Staff Photographer
Rachel Chio is a sophomore and it’s her first year on The Sidekick. In her free time she loves to read, spend time with her family and friends and crochet while watching 2000-rom coms. With her friends, she runs her crochet club called Tiny Threads. This year, she also plans to compete on the powerlifting team.
You can contact Rachel at [email protected] or on Instagram (@rachel_chioo).
Prathi Tamara Sathish Kumar, Staff Writer
Prathi Tamara Sathish Kumar is a sophomore and a first year staff writer for The Sidekick.
After reading the print editions of The Sidekick her freshman year, Prathi discovered an interest in being the one to weave those stories. A lifelong lover of words, she started off believing she would only be a writer, however, Prathi has quickly become fascinated with design, podcasts and multimedia. She is excited to use different varieties of storytelling as new and exciting ways to convey information and emotion.
When she’s not writing songs and stories, you can find her reading and watching rom-coms bursting with clichés or listening to a playlist full of music that would get her labeled a “basic” pop princess (with artists including Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and more).
You can contact Prathi at [email protected] or on Instagram (@Prathi_Sathish).
Naila Ali, Staff Writer
Naila Ali is a sophomore and first year staff writer for The Sidekick.
After joining yearbook in 8th grade as a fun extracurricular, Naila fell in love with writing and photography. Now, in joining the sidekick, she looks forward to covering sports and various events around Coppell. With a love for writing and photography, she can’t wait to see where this program leads her.
When she’s not working on Sidekick assignments, you can find her hanging out with friends and family, FaceTiming for hours, watching Texas Longhorn football games, doing something outdoors, studying, or playing soccer.
You can contact her at [email protected].
Hannah Vipin, Staff Photographer
Hannah Vipin is a sophomore and a first-year staff photographer for The Sidekick.
Passionate about hearing diverse perspectives, The Sidekick provides Hannah the opportunity to share those viewpoints with a broader audience.
In addition to photography, Hannah is a dedicated member of Coppell High School Band, where she plays the flute. She is an avid movie enthusiast, fond of action films that include a touch of romance. During her free time, Hannah enjoys a good fantasy book.
For inquiries, you can reach her at: [email protected].
Aarnav Yarlagadda, Staff Writer
Aarnav is a junior and a staff writer for The Sidekick. He loves to play video games with his friend, and his favorite game is Halo Infinite. Aarnav enjoys reading news because he likes learning various pieces of information around the world. Aarnav is excited for his first year at The Sidekick.
You can contact him at [email protected].
Eirene Park, Staff Photographer
Eirene Park is a junior and is a second year member on The Sidekick. She is excited to take on her future photography role with a hint of design.
She came to Coppell, Texas in her freshman year of high school and decided to join this program because of her cousin who took the class with her last year before moving. In her free time, she enjoys blasting music when she is drawing, rollerblading, and watching K-dramas.
Some of her favorite K-dramas are Twinkling Watermelon, Welcome to Samdal-ri and Love Next Door. A couple of artists she likes listening to are Stray Kids and Wave to Earth.
You can contact her via email at [email protected] or on X (@eireneprk08).
Elizabeth De Santiago, Staff Writer
Elizabeth De Santiago is a junior and second year staff writer for The Sidekick.
Her passion for writing stems from her childhood love of writing fictional stories. Throughout her time on The Sidekick, the thing she values most is the human connections she gets to make with people through her stories.
Outside of The Sidekick, she likes to listen to obscure music genres (specifically Japanese rap), skateboard, draw and drive her red Jeep Islander, Lilo, around town. Some of her favorite artists include Twenty One Pilots, Clairo, Elusin, Underscores, Awich and Yeule.
Elizabeth loves trying anything new especially when it comes to creative outlets she uses to express herself. Her favorite food of all time is takoyaki and her favorite drink is a Baja Blast from Taco Bell.
You can contact her by email at [email protected].com.
Kirsten Schnock, Staff Writer
Kirsten Schnock is a junior and a first-year designer for The Sidekick. She enjoys all forms of art, especially sculptures. When she is not creating art, she loves to listen to music or binge watch any tv-show she can get her hands on. Her favorite music album of all time is the 2008 Fearless album by Taylor Swift. She looks forward to creating more content for the Sidekick this year.
You can contact her by email at [email protected]
Raima Awan, Staff Writer
Pranavi Ramineni, Staff Writer
Pranavi Ramineni is a junior and a second-year staff writer for The Sidekick.
What began as a playful attempt to surprise a friend quickly turned into a love for cartooning, design and storytelling. Now, she uses writing, painting and singing as creative outlets to express what words alone often can’t.
When she’s not working on a story, you can find her baking brownies, experimenting with different ingredients, or rewatching comfort movies like The Intern and The Devil Wears Prada. She’s a former choir member, a matcha lover, and an occasional volleyball player who follows women’s college basketball (Go Huskies!). She also enjoys exploring fashion and engaging in conversations about global issues.
You can contact her at [email protected]
Sohalia Reddy, Staff Designer
Sohalia Reddy is a junior and second year staff designer on The Sidekick. She takes a particular interest in creating graphics and page design.
In her free time, she enjoys drinking Danimals, waving flags, drawing and playing video games. She also spends a lot of time listening to music, listening to artists such as Tinashe and Megan thee Stallion.
You can contact Sohalia at [email protected] or on Instagram (@danimal.drinker).
Riya Prasad, Staff Writer
Riya Prasad is a junior and second year staff writer on The Sidekick. Through this program she has enjoyed receiving insight on various parts of the community and interacting with others. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and hanging out with friends.
You can contact her at [email protected]
Emmalee Jittasupo, Staff Writer
Emmalee Jittasupo is a junior and a second-year member of The Sidekick. She finds enjoyment in taking photos and writing stories. During her free time, she enjoys listening to music, baking and playing the piano.
You can contact Emmalee at [email protected]
Jay Vernekar, Staff Writer
Jay Vernekar is a sophomore and first year staff writer of The Sidekick.
He has a passion for writing but is also looking forward to exploring all the learning opportunities The Sidekick has to offer. He is eager to work hard to provide polished products for all that enjoy content from The Sidekick.
He enjoys time with family and friends, cherishing all the positive connections he makes. He loves true crime/murder mystery novels! His favorite podcast is “Rotten Mango” by Stephanie Soo, and a recent book he loves is “The Paris Apartment” by Lucy Foley.
You can contact Jay at [email protected].
Prisha Hooda, Staff Photographer
Prisha Hooda is a first year staff member on The Sidekick with a passion for creative arts. Though she spent her childhood striving to excel at drawing, she later discovered photography as her true artistic outlet. She enjoys watching shows, sipping iced coffee, and indulging in her favorite cuisine, Italian.
You can reach her at [email protected]
Marli Field, Staff Photographer
Marli Field is a second year photographer on The Sidekick.
Marli has a passion for uncovering the artistic past of the world around us, and a bringing a voice to people in our community through journalism. She is a lover of pop culture, caramel macchiatos, and manatees.
Outside of school, Marli belongs to the student advisory boards for the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. She is also a member of the CHS Hope Squad.
When not in the Sidekick classroom, she can often be found watching movies, researching random topics instead of studying, and eating cookies.
You can contact Marli here through
email: @[email protected]
X: @marli_field
Karthika Dayanand, Staff Designer
Karthika Dayanand is a sophomore and a staff designer on The Sidekick.
In 9th grade, she thought she would follow the health science pathway, but after finding her love of art again, she plans to pursue design her first year at The Sidekick by drawing graphics and making comics.
Outside of school, she is an avid Bharatanatyam dancer. You can usually find her reading a book, chatting with friends or listening to music.
You can contact her at [email protected].
Hiral Patel, Staff Writer
Hiral Patel is a junior and first year staff member of The Sidekick.
The Sidekick has given Hiral the opportunity to form connections through journalism, and she enjoys writing feature stories the most because she can give a spotlight to others.
When she doesn’t have her nose in a fantasy or romance novel, you could catch Hiral cracking jokes with her friends, snacking on mint chocolate or dancing to her new favorite song.
You can contact her at [email protected]
Kevin Gunnampalli, Staff Photographer
Radhanaresh Kevin Gunnampalli is a sophomore and first-year member of The Sidekick. He loves taking pictures for birthday parties, graduations, and individual photoshoots. He also likes Formula One and roots for Oscar Piastri from The McLaren Formula One Team whenever he watches live matches. Gunnampalli likes to watch and create films, with some of his favorites being “Bullet Train” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse.” Kevin wants to pursue a career in mechanical engineering and technology in college.
You can contact him at [email protected].
Aashi Panchal, Staff Writer
Aashi is a sophomore and first year staff member on The Sidekick. She joined this class to pursue her passion of writing and journalism.
In her free time, Aashi loves to play the piano and watch Grey’s Anatomy. As an aspiring doctor, Aashi is in HOSA and credits the show with helping her decide what she wants to become. She also hopes to own two cats and two dogs one day.
You can contact Aashi via email at [email protected]
Safiya Azam, Staff Designer
Safiya Azam is a junior on The Sidekick, and a second-year staff designer for the program. She believes there are many ways to tell a story and acts on this belief through her use of various forms of journalism from illustrations, podcasts, columns, photography, videos, and more in her work.
When she is not working on a story, you can find Safiya behind a canvas working on her latest artwork, tuning into podcasts covering pop culture moments to the latest global event and thrifting. Feel free to contact Safiya through her email.