Meet the 2025-2026 Staff
Adiya Mukhitdinov
Online Co-Editor-in-Chief
Adiya Mukhitdinov is a junior entering her second year and serving as Online Co-Editor-in-Chief of the IPatriot Post. In school, she is president of the STEM club, vice president of Students Against Destructive Decisions, historian of psychology club, and is involved in several honor societies. When not reporting, you can find Adiya working out, playing tennis, playing piano, reading, and journaling. She is excited to bring the best articles to students and can't wait for this year.
Alex Ngo
Online Co-Editor-in-Chief
Junior Alex Ngo is excited for his second year as part of the Patriot Post and hopes to do well as Online Co-Editor-in-Chief. He also has a love for creative writing and digital art, and he's the treasurer of Writer's Circle. After achieving first place in the fable category of last year's literary fair, he's excited to continue bringing his talent to the Patriot Post.
Nina Goncalves Vieira
Print Co-Editor-in-Chief
Nina Goncalves Vieira, a senior at American Heritage, returns to the Patriot Post for her third year as the Print Co-Editor-in-Chief. Besides writing articles or designing spreads, Nina spends her time working out, spending time with friends, volunteering with CISV or with her non-profit Hearts 4 Humanity, and helping fellow international students around school as she’s the Co-Chair of the International Student Ambassador program. She is also very passionate about lacrosse, as she is a captain of the Patriots varsity girls lacrosse team. Nina is very excited to be contributing to the Patriot Post for one last year.
Alina Sukhovskaya
Print Co-Editor-in-Chief
Alina, a senior at American Heritage, is looking forward to her third year on the Patriot Post. Apart from reporting, she’s very involved in the arts and can often be found creating a new painting in her free time. Alina enjoys ballroom dancing, music, fashion, literature and mathematics as she is a part of the math competition team, the National English Honor Society, and the National Art Honor Society. Her passion for journalism has inspired her to capture the rhythm of life at American Heritage this coming year.
Roma Agarwal
Social Media Assistant Editor
Roma, a sophomore, is thrilled to head into her second year at newspaper. In school, she enjoys participating in Science Research, Speech and Debate, Science Olympiad, and Math Competition. In her free time, she loves to watch Formula 1, bake and watch movies. She can’t wait to continue contributing to the Patriot Post!
Daniel Harper
Staffer
Daniel is a sophomore at Heritage, and is returning for his second year at the Patriot Post. He loves reporting feature articles about less-noticed people and problems in the community. As well as journalism, Daniel has a passion for both being involved in and reporting on fine arts like music and theatrical design.
Uma Hedge
Staffer
A sophomore in her second year in newspaper, Uma Hedge is excited for what the next year will bring. She is involved in many clubs, such as Speech and Debate and Sr. Thespians along with others. When she’s not at school, you can find her reading, singing, cooking, writing short stories, and hanging out with her friends. Her biggest dream is to one day have her own news website, so she can continue giving information to the world. She is so proud to be on the newspaper, and hopes you all enjoy!
Jude Hachem
Staffer
Jude, a freshmen at American Heritage, is thrilled to be joining the Patriots Newspaper. Jude’s apart of the Arabic club, Muslim Student Association, and hopefully many more clubs in the future. When she’s on campus, you’ll probably find her finishing her studies or chatting with her friends. Off campus, Jude likes to play basketball and go to the gym. She’s always been very passionate about writing and is so proud to be a part of this program. Jude hopes you all enjoy reading the newsletter this year!!
Maddie Zhuravel
Staffer
Maddie is a freshman at American Heritage Schools and this is her first year on the newspaper staff. She is involved in lots of clubs, plays lacrosse and enjoys baking or running in her free time! She is so excited to be a part of this staff and hopes everyone enjoys the incredible articles!
Arsh Lalani
Staffer
Arsh Lalani, a senior at American Heritage, is excited for his second year with the Patriot Post. He is involved as an officer in the Chinese Club and the Linguistics Club. When he's not chasing stories, he's likely to be found playing tennis or deep in a rabbit hole of YouTube videos and Wikipedia articles. Arsh enjoys studying languages and honing his creative writing. Whether it's through his journalistic pursuits or personal projects, he's eager to bring his passion for storytelling to the paper this year.
Chase De La Nuez
Staffer
Chase De La Nuez, a junior and self-proclaimed "psychological fiction reader," is joining the Patriot Post with a passion for storytelling and an honorable mention in the Literary Fair for free verse poetry. He's more than ready to keep on writing both for himself and for the newspaper.
Terry Spencer
Adviser
Mr. Terry Spencer is the new journalism teacher and Patriot Post adviser. He spent nearly 40 years in journalism, the last 25 with The Associated Press as both a reporter and Florida state editor. He previously worked at The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, the Los Angeles Times and The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California. He won several awards for his coverage of the Stoneman Douglas tragedy and its aftermath. He lives in Plantation with his wife, who is also a journalist, and they have a son.
Past Staffs
STAFF 2024-2025 
STAFF 2019-2020 Left to right: Jack Shectman, Sammy Rosenthal, Sebastian Figuerdo, Noor Sukkar, Kayla Rubenstein, Zoe Persaud, Alyssa Herzbrun, Kristen Quesada, Maia Fernandez-Baigun, Joanne Haner, Diana Adams (Photo/Weston Photography) 
STAFF 2018-2019: (Left to right) Alex Becker, Maia Fernandez Baigun, Alyssa Herzbrun, Kayla Rubenstein, Olivia Lloyd, Bella Ramirez, Kristen Quesada, Amber Bhutta, Angela Lin, Joanne Haner, Sloane Kapit (Photo/Weston Photography) 
STAFF 2017-2018Left to right: Alex Becker, Maia Fernandez-Baigun, Joanne Haner, Kenzo Kimura, Carrie Kuecks, Sloane Kapit, Kayla Rubenstein, Kelly Taylor, Yasmeen Altaji, Amber Bhutta, Angela Lin, Vanessa Ryals, Katherine Quesada, Andrew Kolondra, Diana Adams (Photo/Weston Photography) 
STAFF 2016-2017 Left to right: Connor McLeod, Asa Zaretsky, Amber Bhutta, Alex Becker, Skylar Britton, Zihan Kabir, Carrie Kuecks, Angela Lin, Kevin Pollack, Amanda Wasserman, Alec Chao, Katherine Quesada, Shruti Chandra, Elysa Goldberg, Isabel Chamberlain, Vanessa Ryals, Lauren Quintela, Lauren Hutton, Ms. Diana Adams (Photo/Weston Photography)