Meet the 2023-2024 Staff
Irene John
Editor-in-Chief
Irene, now a senior at American Heritage, returns to staff as the Online-Editor-in-Chief for her third and final year with the Patriot Post. She loves all things literature and spends most of her time with her nose in a book. Her passion for writing started early, and she is currently the co-president of the Quill and Scroll Society. When she is not studying or writing articles for the wonderful iPatriotPost, she enjoys volunteering and helping lead a multitude of clubs at Heritage. Since 2014, she has worked alongside Best Buddies, an organization that advocates for inclusivity for those with intellectual and physical disabilities. As a co-founder and current board member of the South Florida Best Buddies Student Advisory Board, she plans fundraisers and service projects, including the annual Friendship Walk, which raised almost $300,000. She looks forward to making this year special and as amazing as possible.
Ellaheh "Ella" Gohari
Print Co-Editor-in-Chief
Senior Ellaheh Gohari is entering her fourth (and sadly final) year on staff and third year as co-EIC of the Patriot Post. She loves learning new things and can often be found going down Wikipedia rabbit holes in search of random knowledge. Outside of room 25310, she serves as co-president to both the Girls Excelling in Math and Science club and the Science National Honor Society. A science-lover, she enjoys exploring the subject through research projects with UMiami, volunteer tutoring with OTTER and fact-checks with MediaWise. She hopes you enjoy your time reading the Patriot Post.
Anya Pinto
Print-Co-Editor-in-Chief
Now a senior at American Heritage, Anya returns as Editor-in-Chief of the Patriot Post. With her passion for journalism, she is Co-President of the Quill and Scroll Honor Society. She started an organization called “ActionPAKT: Projects Advocating for a Kinder Tomorrow” to educate youth about current issues and help them take action; currently, she has expanded it to 15+ chapters in multiple countries, raising $17,000 within the Heritage chapter itself. As a Youth Ambassador for Bullets4Life, Anya advocates for gun control. She leads the top Model UN program in the nation as President, competing nationally and organizing conferences at school. To relax, Anya hangs out with friends, swims, goes on walks and binge watches Netflix. She loves the beach, good food and her lazy little dog Simba more than anything.
Zoe Horwitz
Assitant-Editor-in-Chief/Sports Editor
Zoe Horwitz, a junior at American Heritage, returns to the Patriot Post for her third year as the Sports Editor and Assistant Editor-In-Chief. Besides reading and writing, she spends her time playing with her dog or tutoring younger students through Learn with Peers, a non-profit organization she helped found in 2020. During her freshman year, she co-founded FALIA (Food Allergy/Intolerance Awareness) at school, a club that advocates for those with food allergies. Zoe also plays lacrosse, as she plays for a club team and American Heritage girls varsity lacrosse team. Zoe is very excited to be contributing to the Patriot Post.
Emma Colarte-Delgado
Assistant Online Editor-in-Chief
As a junior, this is Emma’s second year in the Patriot Post and she’s excited to be the Assistant Online Editor this year. Outside of newspaper, she’s involved in and has office positions in Science Research, Key Club, FBLA, Model UN, and other clubs, including honor societies and her own nonprofit. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching dramas on Netflix, listening to Taylor Swift, and hanging out with friends. She’s very excited to work on the Patriot Post this year!
Kayra Dayi
Graphics Editor
Kayra is a rising junior who is passionate about art and journalism. She loves expressing herself and the issues she cares about through her writing and artworks. She holds officer positions in Newspaper, Quill&Scroll, and the National Art Honor Society. When not studying, Kayra loves to read nonfiction books, hangout with her friends, cook healthy meals, listen to music while creating art, and spend time with her cat and family. She is looking forward to her junior year as she prepares for AP Art and new articles to write.
Shreya Shanmugam
Business Manager
Shreya is a senior here at American Heritage. Apart from Newspaper, she participates in clubs and extracurriculars such as Key Club, Model UN, YIS, HOSA, PBS and AASA. She loves writing, listening to music, watching TV shows and editing videos. She has been dancing for almost all her life and has a love for business and computer science. She plans on channeling these interests into her future career and exploring them further throughout high school. When she am not reading or rewatching Netflix shows, she is riding her bike or swimming in the pool.
Lauren Wong
Entertainment Editor
This is Lauren’s second year on the staff. She enjoys playing Papa’s Sushiria, taking naps and writing whatever’s on her mind. She’s excited to make this year the best one yet and have an awesome entertainment section.
Nicholas Kwok
Opinion Editor
Nicholas, a sophomore at American Heritage, is excited to write with the Patriot Post for a second year. With a passion for writing and science, he often creates poetry or performs science research. His favorite hobbies are listening to different kinds of music, collecting albums, and figure skating. Outside of writing-related activities, he participates actively in extracurriculars ranging from Dead Poet’s Society to Key Club to tennis. He hopes to positively impact others through writing by promoting creativity and inspiring future generations!
Cara Xie
Staffer
Cara, a rising sophomore at American Heritage, is excited to be joining the Patriot Post this year. As a listener, communicator, and constant observer, she often expresses herself through writing. Cara is in Speech and Debate, Model UN, Key Club, and SGA. During her free time, Cara enjoys socializing and loves hanging out with friends at the beach or shopping at the mall.
Alina Sukhovskaya
Staffer
Alina, a rising sophomore at American Heritage, is looking forward to her first 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. Nevertheless, her recent discovery of her passion for journalism has inspired her to capture the rhythm of life at American Heritage this coming year.
Nina Goncalves Vieira
Staffer
Nina, a rising sophomore at American Heritage, is excited to be joining the Newspaper. Apart from writing for the ipatriotpost, Nina is has been part of the Literary Magazine since her freshman year. She also enjoys playing lacrosse, handball, reading and listening to music.
Jadyn Jacobson
Jadyn is a senior at American Heritage and is looking forward to her first year with the Patriot Post. Her hobbies include drawing, writing, sleeping in and playing video games. Beyond the Patriot Post, she participates in Senior Thespians and the Ghostlight Technical Theatre Club and is the events chair of the National Art Honor Society. She can be recognized around campus by the jingling of her earrings or the dramatic screams she lets out whenever anything slightly inconvenient happens to her.
Sadie Loughlin
Staffer
Sadie is entering her sophomore year and her first year on newspaper. In her free time Sadie is usually at the beach, doing martial arts, playing tennis, or reading. She also spends plenty of time with her dog, Monty, and her three siblings. As passionate as she is about writing, Sadie can’t wait to begin her exciting newspaper journey this year.
Gabriela Quatela
Staffer
Gabriela Quatela is a rising sophomore at American Heritage, and this is her first year on staff with the Patriot Post. She enjoys attending concerts, making ceramic sculptures, collecting vinyl records, and playing guitar. She is also involved in science olympiad and the contemporary music club (CMC). In the future, she would like to be a journalist for The Rolling Stones. Gabriela is very excited to contribute to the newspaper this year.
Diana Adams
Advisor
As the supreme ruler and queen of The Patriot Post, Ms. Diana Adams has taught English and journalism at American Heritage for 25 years and started The Patriot Post 23 years ago with only 4 students. In addition to the print and online newspapers, she advises yearbook and literary art magazine as well as teaches journalism and creative writing. All four publications have won numerous awards over the years. Ms. Adams also advises the Quill and Scroll Society. She is a member of DAR and Phi Kappa Phi, and has hosted international students in her home the past 15 years. In her rare free time, she enjoys reading science fiction and mysteries.
Past Staffs
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)