The Team
Administrators
The Peer Project relies upon students to keep its courses up and running. Take some time to get to know our administration who will be leading our courses this summer!
Ananya Parimi
Public Speaking Administrator
I will be a Senior at Metea Valley High School. I will be administering the Public Speaking Course! I was a part of the 2019-20 Speech Team in the Impromptu Speaking category and have a lot of experience with leadership from my mentorship program, SCARF (Sudden Cardiac Awareness Research Foundation). I also harbor experience from practicing public speaking skills at the Shedd Aquarium as an ambassador and hope to share my skills and experience!
Diviya Sivakadchan
Public Speaking Administrator
I am going to be a senior at Metea Valley High School in the 2020-21 school year. I have been an announcer at multiple cultural events and have also taken the course Public Speaking at Metea Valley. I’m really excited to get to work with you guys this summer!
Ananya Gondesi
Public Speaking Administrator
I’ve been on stages and in the spotlight from the young age of 6 not just speaking in front of large crowds, but dancing and even dancing competitively for a major part of my dance career. I have introduced authors, given commencement speeches, been in a leadership program for 3 years while in middle school, held a lead role in a play, and am a proud member of the Thespians Society. I am a creative, confident and very fierce leader who is ready to help you with anything and everything public speaking . I am here to help you and guide you through your time in this course and help you grow not only in your skills as a public speaker, but as a person. I’m really excited to work with you guys over the next few weeks!
Sarah Maggio
STEM Administrator
I am a junior in high school. I am the administrator for the Peer Project’s STEM class. As well as being a huge nerd for anything science and engineering related, my hobbies include running cross country and track, playing the flute and ukelele, and reading. Yep, I’m the one student that actually reads and enjoys the books assigned in English class.
Aarthi Krishnakumar
Career Essentials
Administrator
I'm a rising business student at UIUC. When I'm not reformatting my Linkedin, I enjoy eating ice-cream, and chatting with friends. I currently serve as the Co-Chair of Interns at the Obama Legacy Initiative, a non-profit striving to combat food insecurity. Through my experiences serving as the President of Rho Kappa, Chair of the MV Student Voice Committee, and Youth & Government Legislator, I have been able to acquire the skills necessary to be a successful networker, interviewer, and learner. I hope to learn as much as I teach through this initiative.
Anjali Dayama
Career Essentials Administrator
As an incoming junior at Metea, I have taken part in Model U.N., BPA, Speech Team, and Tennis. These extracurriculars have allowed me to branch out and gain networking and communication skills. As a two year board member at Metea’s BPA chapter, I have experience in leadership. I have tutored in different places with various ages as well. I have experience in writing resumes, cover letters, applications, and the overall interview process. I’m really excited to work with you guys this summer.
Padma Danturty
SAT Administrator
I am an incoming senior and I'm administering the SAT course to mentor students through effective studying methods, and to help increase their SAT scores. I have been a student tutor for 2 years in English and Math, and have administered the AP3 Peer Project classroom. I look forward to working with everyone!
Ayush Panda
SAT Administrator
I am going to be a senior and I'm administering the SAT Peer Project course. For the past year, I have developed and implemented lesson plans for high school learners to make certain each student was able to grasp materials for ACT & SAT standardized testing. I’m really excited to work with everyone over the next few weeks.
Rhea Joshi
SAT & Career Essentials Administrator
I will be leading the Career Essentials and SAT courses. As a rising senior at Metea Valley, I have applied for many jobs and volunteer positions that have allowed me to get a firm grasp on writing resumes and interview etiquette. I have also taken an SAT successfully and figured out the best way to prepare for it. I can't wait to share my experiences with you over the next few weeks!
Lamees Khan
ACT Administrator
I'm class of 2021, administrating the ACT class. I have taken the ACT a few times and feel like I have an adequate understanding of the test and want to help others score well on the test!
Arnav Khanna
ACT Administrator
Hi! My name is Arnav Khanna and I am a rising senior at Waubonsie Valley High School. I will be teaching the ACT course. I got a 34 on the first ACT that I gave. I really enjoy listening to and playing music
Pravallika Padyala
ACT Administrator
I am going to be a junior this fall at Metea Valley and I am administering the ACT course. I am very passionate and enjoy working with students. I am a strong leader and love to help out. Can't wait to be a part of this!
Leadership committee
The Peer Project relies upon students to keep its courses up and running. Take some time to get to know our administration who will be leading our courses this summer!Along with students and administrators, The Peer Project has a Student Leadership Committee that handles the social media, recruits new members, expands the brand, creates the website, and manages all operations.
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Feel free to reach out to us at: peerprojectcommittee@gmail.com!
Anisha Bandhakavi
Chair
Hi everyone! I am a rising senior at Metea Valley High School, and I am the sole Founder and Chair of The Peer Project. I started The Peer Project initiative on a need base during COVID-19 when I suddenly realized that my fellow peers and I weren’t getting the assistance we needed to self learn and complete our assignments virtually. This organization has unexpectedly grown into so much more for my school community and I, and it has become a place for us to mutually assist each other in a large, welcoming academic community. Our work has expanded not only in our local school district to aid in educational inequity on a grassroots level, but in school districts all over the Chicagoland area. It is my job to oversee this growth as an organization, our publicity and engagement strategy, and the quality of the resources we’re providing to our community. I work with all of our elected board members and administrators in their roles to make sure they’re getting the assistance and feedback they need. In my free time, I like to help nonprofit organizations with business strategization, run a JSA political activism and debate club chapter at my school, plan financial literacy workshops for students through my local teen center, and in general just use my privilege and my passion for business to impact my community in as many ways as possible.
Shriman Gupta
Vice Chair
Hey everyone! I’m a rising senior at Metea Valley High School. I joined the Peer Project because I personally struggled through the first few days of e-learning in my Calculus and US History classes. However, after becoming a part of The Peer Project, I had the resources and help from other students just like me at my fingertips. This method of having peers teach courses was wildly successful and I learned so much more than I would have from just my online classes. Over the past few weeks, I’ve directed a lot of my attention within The Peer Project on The Peer Project: Chicago, an initiative that aims to expand our reach to the city of Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools. Outside of the Peer Project, I play clarinet at school and in a local youth symphony orchestra. I’m really excited to see what the future holds!
Shravya Veedulamudi
Director of Social Media
Hi! I'm an incoming Senior at Metea Valley High School. When I first heard about the Peer Project, I was immediately drawn in with their initiative. It never occurred to me that regular students have the ability to level the educational disparity in our community. During the first week of e-learning I really struggled to keep up with my classes, mostly Honors Physics, but by joining the Peer Project class I was able to understand the concepts and succeed in completing the class; that made me realize that it’s really that simple, other students can join and will the gap between their education and success. I truly believe that through Peer Project other students, in our community and in the Chicagoland area, will be able to get the extra help they need in succeeding. As a Social Media Director for the organization, I get to run our different platforms as well as communicate with students, administrators, and parents. Outside of Peer Project, I spend a lot of my time working as a tutor for younger children. In school, I participate in DECA and am a Varsity Track athlete. I’m so excited to see the future of the Peer Project and I’m honored to take part in such a potential-filled organization!
Anwita Balineni
Director of Communications
Hi everyone! I am a rising senior at Metea Valley High School. I joined the Peer Project because I found it to be very helpful to the community during e-learning, which was something that was uncharted territory for all of us at the time. I loved that it stood for bridging the gap and fixing the educational disparities in our community. In addition to being the Manager of Communications and Outreach, my attention is mainly currently focused on our summer classes, forums, and our STEM Camp. I’m also involved in Business Professionals of America and in the future I want to major in Data Science and earn my MBA later!
Xansa Patri
Director of Web Design
Hi everyone! Like the rest of the committee, I am also a rising senior at Metea Valley. I joined the Peer Project for the incredible opportunity this provides for many students to be connected with peers providing assistance for classes, testing and career advancement. This enables to bridge the gap of educational inequity for many and I am pleased to be the Director of Web Design to help promote and bring to light this organization to others through this website. Outside of Peer Project, I am also involved in many clubs such as Business Professionals of America and Model United Nations. In the future, I aspire to double major in Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology and pursue a career in Pediatric Medicine!
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Poorna Kumar
Director of Brand Expansion
Hello! I am a rising senior at Metea Valley High School. I joined the Peer Project because I strongly believe that peer-to-peer mentoring has a special benefit in internalizing concepts that conventional teacher-student tutoring cannot provide, and I have personally been able to be more engaged with what I am learning when I am able to be mentored by a peer. Within the Peer Project, I have been working to organize the STEM camp and the College Admissions Forum. As Director of Brand Expansion, I have also been working to find various resources and organizations with whom the Peer Project could work with in the future. Outside of the Peer Project, I pursue my deep passion for music; I play classical and jazz trombone, Carnatic violin, and serve on the executive board of the Metea Valley chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society as Communications Representative. I am so honored to be a part of the Peer Project, and I cannot wait to see where the future takes us as an organization!