E-Learning Enterpreneur Yash Nayaran ’22

Following a transformational experience participating in a hackathon while a student at Nueva, Yash Narayan ’22 aimed to make these events more accessible to school-aged students like him. In 2017, he founded and launched SchoolHacks, which boasts a large global community of students from 40-plus countries.

Yash Nayaran ’22

“I was usually the only student attending [hackathons], which were targeting experienced, adult programmers,” Yash said. “My mission behind SchoolHacks was to create a fun and supportive community for students. To inspire them to use their entrepreneurial creativity to bring new technology solutions to solve pressing problems.”

Continuing to scale SchoolHacks was important for Yash, a first-year student at Stanford, but it required full-time professional focus which he wasn’t ready to commit to. “I didn’t want to have to leave school to work on it full-time and that’s when I started looking to sell,” he said. “JetLearn was one of the companies I was introduced to. We hit it off right away— our values and where we wanted to take SchoolHacks closely aligned.”

On December 8, Amsterdam-based JetLearn, a 1:1 e-learning platform, acquired SchoolHacks and will allow the company to expand its global reach. Yash will also remain involved as a strategic advisor.

“Our goal is to change every student into a creator and a builder using next-generation coding skills, and we’re just getting started. My hope is every student is a part of our SchoolHacks community,” Yash said. “This acquisition will enable us to bring the SchoolHacks experience to way more students around the world. We will be doubling down and putting even more resources into each hackathon to create a better experience for students and run the hackathons more frequently. JetLearn’s existing students will be able to participate in SchoolHacks events and new students joining the events will have the opportunity to start learning new skills on JetLearn’s platform. Together it will create a very strong community and platform for students.” as a math tutor and remains an avid programmer. ¶ Cate Rose is enrolled at Northwestern University and is part of a firstyear seminar in Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, which brings together students from different majors with an interest in the interdisciplinary humanities. Coincidentally, prior to arriving at Northwestern, she had familiarity with her current professor, Daniel Immerwahr, thanks to Nueva teacher Tom Dorrance, who recommended Daniel’s book, How to Hide an Empire. ¶ During her first quarter, Cate joined The Daily Northwestern newspaper staff and the school’s chapter of Active Minds, a national student mental health advocacy organization. She is planning to double major in international studies and computer science.

At Stanford, Yash is studying computer science with a focus on solving climate change. On campus, he’s involved with BASES, a student entrepreneurship organization, and TreeHacks, Stanford’s largest annual hackathon.

¶ Rajeev Sharma is a first-year student at the University of Chicago and plans to major in a discipline rooted in the social sciences and apply quantitative methods to government policy. He is looking forward to exploring offerings at UChicago’s wide range of clubs and extracurriculars. ¶ James Tilson is majoring in mechanical engineering at Northwestern University. He joined FSAE Formula I, an intercollegiate engineering design competition, is a member of the club basketball team, and is a practice player for the Wildcats Division I women’s basketball team. ¶ Yale University freshman Coby Wagonfeld enjoyed a recent fall break trip to Philadelphia to catch up with Nueva friends at the University of Pennsylvania. ¶ At Yale, he is involved with three clubs: Y Pop-Up, an undergraduate restaurant and cooking club; Tamid, an Israelibased finance, entrepreneurship, and consulting program; and an incubator program with the Yale Entrepreneurship Society. He’s also been playing intramural soccer.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On Jan. 13, the Nueva Chinese Affinity group hosted a potluck party to welcome in the new year. Students and families played games; enjoyed favorite dishes (dumplings, oranges, candies, and noodles, to name a few); and practiced Chinese calligraphy, writing words of good wishes to decorate the Hillsborough café.

“This gathering really gives me a sense of family,” said Jamie Gao, upper school Chinese teacher. “I’ve been in the United States for over 20 years with only my son, so I always celebrate the new year with my school community. It truly is a beloved community.”

To those who celebrate the holiday, we hope this year brings you bounty and beauty, laughter and luck.