Aarav Khatri To Attend #HouseofCode This Week

April 9, 2024

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–Aarav Khatri is having quite a sophomore year.

Between his app – Symptofy – being selected by Rep. Andy Kim (D-3^rd Dist.) for a Congressional App Challenge Award, the 16-year-old is the latest local “National Cyber Scholar” named by the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF).

This week, Aarav is attending #HouseofCode, a two-day event at Capitol Hill where the winners of the Congressional App Challenge are set to showcase their technology to members of Congress. Symptofy will be featured at the U.S. Capitol, as the Robbinsville teen mingles with tech industry leaders and fellow coders from around the country.

The Congressional App Challenge was founded in 2015 as a bipartisan initiative by the Congressional Internet Caucus. The contest inspires and recognizes U.S. students, while also transforming how Congress views computer science, coding and STEM. #House of Code is considered the “new national science fair.”

As one can imagine, Aarav is very excited to be involved to be in Washington Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

“I’m looking forward to meeting the representatives, show my app more and see the apps that others have created,” the sophomore said. “And we get to tour the Capitol and the White House.”

Aarav said the app honors his late grandfather. Previously, apps he created would help solve “small problems” that he faced, but Symptofy is bigger – and it could help solve bigger problems. Like those his grandfather faced.

Aarav’s grandfather suffered from Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and it seemed every day there was something new to add to an already overwhelming number of issues. The complexity of his symptoms led to misdiagnosis and delays in treatment, the student said.

Symptofy collects a person’s medical data and stores it in one place. The patient, family and doctors can have easy access to data related to any medical condition, Aarav said.

“I found a need for collecting data especially since he had dementia, and every day there’d be a new problem and new things going on,” Aarav said. So, I thought collecting data would really help the doctors for my grandfather and countless others.”

The teen hopes his app can help doctors make more informed decisions, such as better managing medicine dosages, gauging which medications can best help with symptoms as well as see if certain prescriptions can have a negative effect. The app can also be customized to best suit a patient’s needs. 

“Once you have all that data, over a period of time, the app shows you in a graph view and it makes it easy for you and the doctors to notice the differences,” Aarav said. “Like when you switch from this medicine at 50 mg to 25 mg, your symptoms may get easier. My app helps medical professionals, families and patients make more informed decisions.”

Doctors are provided with a summary of the severity of a patient’s symptoms to determine the effectiveness of their prescribed medicine and diet. The app would keep healthcare providers informed as they navigate complex treatment options for medical disorders causing multiple symptoms across the body.

“I’m inspired by Aarav’s idea for such a valuable healthcare tool that could help so many families like his own who have had a loved one living with complex medical conditions,” Kim said. “Every year, I’m impressed by students across this district and I’m glad the Congressional App Challenge provides a chance to celebrate and showcase New Jersey talents and innovation.”

The win is exciting and encouraging, Aarav said.

“I’d spent a lot of time designing this app and I’m excited to see that people think it is a good idea too,” said the techy teen, who intends to pursue coding as a profession.

With an interest in computers since he was very young, Aarav began delving into coding in middle school. He embraces new challenges and coding concepts come easy for him.

“There’s always new things to learn in coding,” he said. “Like when I was making this app, I hadn’t used specific toolkits before. I hadn’t worked with a database. And there’s always new things to learn when debugging code. But I think once you have the concepts down, it’s easier to learn and it comes more easily.”

As for the NCSF competition, Aarav competed against more than 35,000 students nationwide for a top score in solving real-world cybersecurity problems. In recognition of his achievement, he earned an invitation to participate in the Cyber Foundations Academy – a multi-week online program based on the nationally-recognized SANS Foundation’s training course and certification. 

And like many teens, he is also interested in video games and game development. In middle school, he even created a few before focusing his coding efforts on Symptofy.

When he does get spare time, Khatri enjoys video games and ping-pong. He also is treasurer and a member of the Hackathon Club as well as the Math League and Model UN. He also participates in Robotics with his FTC team REAPR, which advanced to the state championship this year.

That rare spare time is also taken up by CodeConnect, a non-profit student volunteer organization that teaches coding in different programming languages. Aarav is president of the Robbinsville branch of CodeConnect, which hosts free classes every week for middle and elementary school students, like his brother Avyaan Khatri, who is in the fourth grade.

“My parents (Maneesh Khatri and Neetu Chillar) are very happy that I created something useful. Until now, I’ve been creating small video games,” Aarav said. “This is something that’s helpful and my dad’s proud that it relates to my grandfather – his father – and honors him.”

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Aarav Khatri To Attend #HouseofCode This Week

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February 8, 2024

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–Township students once again took center stage for the New Jersey Thespian Festival, held last month at Robbinsville High School.

As the state’s largest annual student theater event, the New Jersey Thespian Festival focuses on performance and technical theater workshops, as well as competitions, auditions and community service projects, over the course of two days for students and educators.

Besides a weekend bursting with activity, Jan. 13-14, the event also hosts the annual recognition awards known as the “Thespys.” With bravos for all cast, crew and educators, the Thespian Festival awarded Robbinsville’s Troupe #7161 with Gold Honor Troupe status for its outstanding service and support in educational theater.

Two local students – Shreya Savur and Zach Peabody – received “Superior” rankings in the Musical Theater Solo and Lighting Design competition categories, respectively. A third student, Isabella Ghen, earned a $1,000 acting scholarship for a summer program with the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.

“I knew Robbinsville students would be up against hundreds, if not thousands, of other young thespians. I got to see not only how our 30 thespians have grown over the last few months, but also how they felt about it,” said Blake Gonzales, theater arts teacher and director at Robbinsville High School, advisor of the RHS Raven Players, and Thespian Troupe #7161 director. “Our students impressed the judges and now have a new direction to take their acting and music prowess. It was so rewarding to witness.”

New Jersey Thespians is the state chapter of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), which sponsors the International Thespian Society (ITS). Honoring excellence in the work of theater students since 1929, ITS has troupes in more than 4,000 high schools and middle schools, mostly in the U.S. and Canada.

While the Thespian Festival is organized and planned by the New Jersey State Thespian’s chapter board, Robbinsville students lead efforts to set up and take down the festival space. This year, 1,132 students and educators from all over the state attended the Saturday session with 971 participants on Sunday.

As this was Gonzales’ first-ever Thespian Festival, she said it gave her extra energy to help students grow and improve. Looking to next year, Gonzales said, the experience equips her with more inspiration to improve, experiment with new challenges and ensure Robbinsville has an even greater presence at next year’s event.

The Thespian Festival is not just for the students, Gonzales said. Many of the workshops and lectures are aimed at theater educators.

“They really stress the importance of not only student growth, but also educator growth,” Gonzales said. “They bring in people from the professional world to help educators take their teaching and their styles in a new direction as well.”

At Robbinsville, Gonzales said the Thespian Troupe’s members stem from the high school’s Drama Club, known as the Raven Players. Along with other students, the 35 members participate in a Fall play and in a Spring musical run by the music department and Choir Director Brian Williams. This year’s Spring show will be “Chicago: Teen Edition” and will run from April 19 through 21. (Great seats, still available.)

Juniors Anusha Nandan and Mark Daily also attended the Thespian Festival for the first time as newly-inducted Troupe #7161 members. To gain admittance, students must meet the minimum eligibility requirement of 100 hours of quality work in theatre arts and related disciplines.

Involved with theater – both on stage and off – since elementary school, 16-year-old Anusha said she was inspired after her Thespian Festival experience. She competed in two categories – Contrasting Monologues and Musical Theater Solo.

For the monologues Anusha performed, one was from “Macbeth” and the second from a drama monologue book. She also sang “Stay With Me” from the musical “Into the Woods.” Both performances earned her a score of “Excellent,” which she was very proud to receive.

Next year, she will be aiming for the next level: “Superior.”

“I definitely enjoyed the festival. It was a lot of fun, and I learned so much,” said Anusha, who also took singing and acting workshops, including “Belting” and “Exploring Subtext in Musical Theater Acting.”

“When your scores come out, there are also notes from the judges that tell you what you could have done better and what you did well,” Anusha said. “I found those are the most helpful because they can help you find your strengths and your weaknesses and what you need to work on. Overall, it’s a really good learning experience.”

Focusing more on the technical side of the stage, Mark, 16, has been involved for four years. His expertise focuses in sound and building sets for shows. He especially loves exploring new technical programs, seeing how they work and how they can make the overall show even better.

“That’s how I got into sound,” he said. “I saw that the little board and those switches seemed cool. So, I said, ‘How do I how do I use it?’ It was a rabbit hole from there. I’m excited to keep going down to learn more.”

At the festival, Mark found the workshops to be both interesting and impressive.

“These are industry professionals teaching the classes,” he said. “They been doing this for 10, 20 years. There was one college professor who taught a workshop about playback software. I really enjoyed that because it was a pretty sore spot in my technical repertoire. Taking the class definitely helped me expand my understanding.”

Mark recommends people check out the Drama Club, even if they lack experience in the theater.

“Join it, try it out, see if it’s for you,” he said. “There’s always a spot for anybody who wants to be there.”

While neither Anusha nor Mark are sure if they will pursue theater as a college major, both know they will continue their involvement with the stage. And they, along with Gonzales, are already looking forward to bringing the curtain up on next year’s Thespian Festival.

“Theater – it’s so much fun to do, but it’s more than that – it’s the community you build along the way,” Anusha said. “These are people who you will forever remember – they will always have played a role in shaping your experience. These are people who help you; they nourish you. It’s an amazing experience.”

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Nearly 30 Robbinsville High School students attended the annual New Jersey Thespian Festival held in January at the school. Members of Thespian Troupe #7161 participated in competitions and workshops and saw performances of their peers over the two-day event.

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October 16, 2023

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–With a love of fashion and passion for sustainability, Robbinsville High School sophomore Megana Madhurakavi has weaved the two into her own business – LIILA, an eco-chic, non-profit clothing line.

As the visionary behind LIILA, 15-year-old Megana imagines a world where fashion is a force for good. She hopes to encourage consumers “to make conscious choices without sacrificing style.”

“At our brand we take sustainability very seriously,” Megana said. “We make sustainable clothing with ethical procedures and upcycled fabric.”

Megana explained that the clothes are produced without child labor. The clothes are handcrafted in small batches to minimize waste and the manufacturing facilities use energy saving measures, which are more eco-friendly.

“And a cool thing we do is upcycle fabric, which means we get fabric from brands that were going to toss it in landfills and burn them because of the excess they have,” she added. “Instead, we grab that fabric and recycle it into our collections, creating a sustainable cycle that keeps things out of landfills and helps the environment.”

LIILA launched just before the start of the new school year. It was a journey sparked by a personal realization when she was about 13 years old, said Megana, who enjoys hanging out with friends, social media and dancing Kushitudi, a classical Indian art form.

“I had this strong desire to make a positive change,” she said. “I saw how fast fashion was taking over, especially among teenagers like me. I was unaware and got caught up in this fast fashion cycle. Then I started noticing all the problems it caused – like the exploitation of workers, the environmental impact, the mass production and much more.”

Through social media, Megana met like-minded people who also wanted to make an impact.

She is now proudly a part of the sustainable fashion community. Through her sources, she came across the opportunity to attend a social impact investment and sustainability conference in April 2022. This opportunity to work with the United Nations ignited the spark into a flame.

“It opened my eyes to the darker side of the fast fashion industry,” she said. “The side where the price we don’t pay is paid by the children working in sweatshops or the cries of the Earth. I realized something really needed to be done.”

At the sustainability conference was a youth competition for creating an idea that meets Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the United Nations aims to accomplish by 2030.

“One of these goals really correlated with me,” Megana said. “But I didn’t think I would win. I didn’t go into the conference knowing completely what I wanted to do. But I ended up winning.”

With the win came the title of “Global Youth Ambassador of SDG and Carbon Neutrality.”

“That really helped connect me with all these other opportunities that I have now,” she said.

About a year ago, with the full support of her family, Megana began reaching out to founders of other sustainable brands. She researched for months – learning more about the industry, the clothing and how to upcycle fabric.

“Then I decided to take action. And that’s how LIILA was born,” she said. The name LILLA’s origin is rooted in Sanskrit – an ancient language in India that is special to Megana’s culture. It means “divine play or God’s creation,” the sophomore explained.

But she gave her special brand name a twist.

“This name reflects the essence of creation and beauty that we aim to embody in our brand. A lot of sustainable brands these days are pretty neutral and plain but we want to bring out that bright color and vibrancy – a divine aspect to it,” she said.

In her debut collection, there are five dresses – all designed by Megana. The designs are available on the LIILA website https://shopliila.com/.

“It’s the youth now who I really want opinions from; it’s not just me,” she said. “It’s other people who have to buy them. So, I got opinions from friends. I designed the clothing. And then I tried to find manufacturers who work with a lot of brands and I finally came down to one who really had the same passion as me.”

The selected manufacturer employs workers from villages to handcraft the clothing.

The LIILA price point also is very reasonable, with dresses ranging from $50 to $57 online.

“One of our main goals is not to profit at all,” she said. “It’s just to give a wider range of audience access to these clothes. So, if I keep it at this price point for now, maybe in the future, my brand will get more attention and people will be more willing to buy it. Now, the mission is not profit. It’s knowledge.”

The response to LIILA has been both exciting and successful. Feedback from brands and customers has been very positive, Megana said.

“Things are going great,” she said. “I’ve had brands reach out to me saying that they really like what I’m doing. There are ups and downs obviously. But I’m learning a lot through this whole process. I’m really enjoying content creation and outreach for my brand.

And her favorite part of my day? Sending out orders at the local post office.

“It just it makes me happy to realize that people are actually seeing what I’m doing,” Megana said. “And wearing what I’m doing! Just a few days ago, I got a picture from one of the people that got my clothes. She was on vacation and was wearing my dress. I was like ‘Oh my God, she went on vacation in my dress!’ It was so amazing to see.”

Though college is still a couple years away, Megana hopes to combine sustainability and business into a major.

“In order to keep a successful business going, I need to have those marketing techniques,” she said. “I need to know how a business would grow. I definitely want to incorporate business, but I also want to make sure that our brand’s core values never, ever go because of profit, or greed or anything like that. So, I want to implement sustainability into it.”

In the future, as LIILA grows, Megana envisions the clothing line as a leading force for positive change in the fashion industry.

“Eventually, I would like to open a store but since e-commerce is more popular now, LIILA might stay that way,” she said. “But our goal is to inspire more people to create not just a brand, but a community and not just a trend, but a way of life. We want to create this community of conscious consumers who appreciate the value of our clothes, and that also enjoy that it looks really good.”

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Wearing the Cream Floral Bell Sleeve Mini Dress – one of her own eco-chic designs – Megana Madhurakavi, a sophomore at Robbinsville High School, recently launched LIILA, a sustainable clothing shop online. The passion project weaves together Megana’s love of fashion and sustainability

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October 3, 2023

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–They’re a trio of teenage techies.

Proof of their talent is “MyCrohnicles,” a new free mobile app they created, now available for Google Android and Apple iOS smartphones and tablets.

MyCrohnicles is the handiwork of Robbinsville High School senior Udhirna Krishnamurthy, 17; and her brother Svadrut, 13, an 8th-grader at Robbinsville’s Pond Road Middle School.

It’s the brainchild of their cousin, Shravan Rajagopal, a 17-year-old senior at East High School in West Chester, PA.

The purpose of MyCrohnicles: Help an estimated 3.1 million Americans with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to better manage their diets and lifestyles. “There are millions more people worldwide who may also benefit from our MyCrohnicles app,” Udhirna Krishnamurthy said.

Unlike most app-makers, these whiz kids aren’t in it for money.

“We want to help people; people like our family members afflicted with Crohn’s and colitis,” says Shravan Rajagopal, speaking for the trio. “We did not create this app to make money.”

Any profit the trio might make from their app “we would gladly donate to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation,” Udhirna adds, referring to a Manhattan-based volunteer-driven non-profit organization. “Our goal is to simply help others.”

A year in development, MyCrohnicles finally hit Google Play and Apple App stores this summer.

HOW IT WORKS

MyCrohnicles allows people afflicted with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to “track and monitor their diet, exercise regiment, and bowel movements, and share that data with their physicians,” Udhirna explained.

This allows users to “understand what foods and personal behaviors work best for them,” she said. “It enables people to better manage their diets, exercises and lifestyles.”

MyCrohnicles lets users to enter their daily breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks; the frequency of their workouts; their bowel movements; and answer questions about how their body reacts to various food; how they feel after meals, after exercise or other daily activities.

“In a short time, it builds a user’s guide for healthier living,” Svadrut said.

Sounds simple enough.

But, there were some design challenges along the way, the teenaged trio explained.

For instance, they wanted the design for MyCrohnicles to be easy for any potential user, yet sophisticated enough to build an individualized model for each person’s diet and exercise routine, Udhirna said.

As the app designer, Udhirna insisted it be visually appealing, intuitive and give users quick, easy access to their data, minimizing excessive button-clicking or complicated navigation.

In short, she says: “I wanted the user interface to be simple and streamlined, providing a holistic view of their well-being.”

Coding the app posed other challenges.

“Each of us is into computer science and coding,” Udhirna said, quickly crediting her younger brother for collaborating with her on the app’s coding.

Svadrut learned coding basics in school, modestly adding: “The rest of what I needed to know was self-taught.” Sometimes, he said, that happened by trial-and-error. 

His toughest challenge was to code MyCrohnicles to smoothly conform with Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems. Android is the world’s most common smartphone platform, used by many phone manufacturers. iOS is used only on Apple devices, like its iPhone.

“They are very different from one another, and require different coding. We wanted our app to look and feel the same on each,” Svadrut said. “That was a challenge.”

Once those hurdles were cleared, the teens had to leap through a few legal hoops to get their app published and publicly available. Their proud parents stepped in to help with those aspects.

A FAMILY INSPIRATION

Not only is MyCrohnicles family-made, it is also family-inspired.

Shravan candidly explains he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age seven, and his father, Praveen Rajagopal, has been coping with ulcerative Colitis long before that. 

Shravan is on medication, but his parents also encouraged him to consider alternative treatments and diets. At one point, “I was simultaneously vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and oil-free, basically only eating rice and vegetables,” he said.

He learned to be mindful about nutrition, and he used a number of diet-tracking apps, quickly realizing they were sadly insufficient. Shravan says he needed “a more personalized lifestyle app,” but said none were available.

Certain he wasn’t alone, Shravan spoke to his cousins. “With our combined expertise, we hit the ground running in July 2022 to develop MyCrohnicles,” noting that he also came up with the app’s catchy name.

Udhirna and Svadrut designed, developed, and brought the app to life, while Shravan handled the communications and marketing side.

ABOUT ITS CREATORS

Undoubtedly, Udhirna and Svadrut, and their cousin, Shravan, are brilliant kids and, perhaps, tomorrow’s technocrats. But, they say, there is much more to life.

They are outgoing, well-rounded and altruistic.

Udhirna is a member of Robbinsville High’s “Girls Who Code” club and its robotics team. She plays on the school’s tennis team, and has a true passion for music.

Since age five, Udhirna has been a classical Carnatic singer, performing traditional music of Southern India at Hindu temples across New Jersey. “Singing brings me joy,” she said.

Svadrut expects to pursue a tech career, but he also has many outside interests. Like his sister, Svadrut is a Carnatic singer and an avid tennis player. He plays alto saxophone for Robbinsville’s marching band, and plays guitar to relax.

Their cousin, Shravan, plays varsity tennis for East High School’s Vikings and competed in regional tennis playoffs for his school.

Shravan is a member of his high school’s business club, and is active in Eastern Pennsylvania’s regional DECA Inc., a national organization for emerging leaders and entrepreneurs interested in marketing, finance, and management.

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Shravan Rajagopal (left), Svadrut Krishnamurthy (middle), and Udhirna Krishnamurthy (right) working on their app

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September 14, 2023

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ (MERCER)–Six seniors at Robbinsville High School are among 16,000 semifinalists nationwide in the 69th -annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically-talented students now have an opportunity to compete for 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.

The students from Robbinsville: Aidan Dinh, Nora Gray, Vedhanth V. Jayanthi, Asrith Katragadda, Arnav Ketineni and Pranav A. Ram.

“We are tremendously proud of the semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors,” said Robbinsville Schools Superintendent Brian Betze. “There were more than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools who competed in this program. Our six seniors are among the highest-performing students in the country.”

The students, working with Robbinsville High School staff, submitted detailed scholarship applications with academic records, school and community activities, leadership initiatives, employment, and honors and awards. All six students have superb grades, strong recommendations from school staff, compelling essays and very high standardized test scores, Betze said.

The National Merit Scholarship Program, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955. Scholarships come from the program, as well as approximately 320 business organizations and higher education institutions.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July. The scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

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