By Katie Meredith, Assistant to Institutional Advancement

At EPS we believe that learning extends far beyond the classroom—and our students are proving this every day. In each story, we find students taking initiative, embracing challenges, and creating meaningful change, all while developing the skills and confidence they’ll carry into their futures. From developing cuttin-edge technology to building sustainable businesses, EPS students have an active role in shaping the world they will inherit.

BODHI (’30)

Many athletes understand the value of cross-training outside of practice but commonly struggle to create their own workouts. Bodhi (’30) experienced this challenge himself as an athlete. After taking a few coding courses over the summer, he was inspired to create his own solution: a sports training app. In February 2025, he started the process by coding in Python and then turned it into HTML, using AI to refine the style of the app and make it look professional.

Bodhi’s Ecoach Sports app is intended to help anyone who is training in a particular sport find skill drills to work on outside of practice. In the app, you can select from a wide array of sports and it will create a workout for you. Then, you can submit feedback in the app if the workout was too easy, too hard, or just right and it will adjust the workout accordingly. Using a database that Bodhi created, the app pulls data and uses AI to change the drills based on user feedback.

“I created this app because I wasn’t sure what to do for my swim workouts outside of practice. So I created this app not only for myself but to help other athletes as well,” he said.

He presented the app at a Middle School assembly and got feedback from both students and faculty, which helped him improve the user experience. In the future, Bodhi is exploring creating an app that will help athletes quickly and easily find private coaches. He also hopes to continue to update and refine the Ecoach Sports app (adaptiveaisports.com).

MIRA (’32)

Inspired to make the world a little bit brighter, Mira (’32) is making a difference with her handmade candle business. In December 2023, she learned about an organization called Treehouse at school one day. Treehouse is a nonprofit that supports youth in foster care, specifically focusing on their unique educational needs. The organization uses a youth-led programming model that is designed for foster care youth.

Moved by this need, Mira and her mom created handmade soy candles and sold them as part of a holiday fundraiser. Their project raised over $1,000 and those funds were donated to support the youth at Treehouse. Mira turned her passion into a small business that she named Gleam Candles. She hand-pours every candle in small batches, uses sustainable ingredients, and ensures that every candle is safe and eco-friendly. Today, Mira has expanded her reach to include online sales, creating more scents and styles of candles. Since starting Gleam Candles, she has sold approximately 800 candles and has raised $1,200 for nonprofit organizations.

In 2025, Mira participated in the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce Emerging Entrepreneur Challenge and won first place. Mira said, “By donating a portion of our sales, I hope to create a lasting impact, empower the community, help organizations achieve their goals, and contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable environment.”

JACK (’27)
CYRUS (’26)
DARIOUSH (’25)
ROHAN (’25)

With a desire to help students pursue their interests in business, Jack (’27), Cyrus (’26), Darioush (’25), and Rohan (’25) started to imagine ways to give students a voice. They considered starting a DECA chapter (Distributive Education Clubs of America) at EPS and brought their idea to Dr. Stegeman. He felt the competition aspect of DECA did not align with Eastside Prep’s values, but encouraged the group to think of a way to help students collaborate rather than compete. This led them to explore some new ideas, including creating a print magazine with a business theme, similar to the Eagle Eye (the current student news publication). In the end, they decided to create a digital magazine, allowing students from other schools to contribute and collaborate as well.

Rohan shared, “The purpose of the Youth Business Collective is to give a voice to high school students with an interest in business. Any topic that a student is interested in has a business aspect to it—sports, music, art, politics. We’re inspiring students to take those topics and explore the business side when they are invited to write articles for YBC.”

Growing from an idea that started at EPS, the YBC team builds relationships with partner schools and invites their students to write articles, in addition to those written by EPS students. They now have partnerships with multiple schools in Washington, as well as Hawaii, Romania, and New Zealand. Through the YBC, students are developing skills in communication and networking, while exploring the possibilities of the business world. EPS alum Gavin Uberti (’20) was featured in an article on the site, helping current high school students imagine what could be possible in their future. He currently works for Etched, a company that is building the next generation of AI chips.

Jack said, “We want to inspire students to make a change and use their voice. We want them to take opportunities, take some risks, and connect with one another. That’s where we can start to see students have real impact.”

Check out the library of articles on the Youth Business Collective website: youthbusinesscollective.com

VICTORIA (’28)

After joining EPS in sixth grade, Victoria was inspired by her science class with Dr. K. She said, “I remember my first connection to science was in sixth grade when I was in Dr. K’s class. We were doing density experiments and I remember being amazed. That’s when I discovered that science was a way to be curious and make connections with other people.”

When she was in seventh grade, Victoria helped start a Science Club at EPS. What began as a small group of five to six students slowly began to grow. By the time she reached Upper School, there were more students regularly attending. As a ninth grader, Victoria was inspired to start a Science Olympiad team at EPS. Starting with a small student leadership team of Victoria, Felicia (’28), Anika (’28), and Hannah (’28), the group started working on their official proposal. Victoria took the lead in finding a faculty sponsor (Ms. Lynch), finalizing the proposal, and presenting it to Dr. Stegeman for approval.

Science Olympiad is a science competition where students work together in partnerships to tackle a variety of science challenges. Students who succeed have strong relationships with their partners and learn to effectively share knowledge as they work together. This year, EPS brought their first team to compete at Science Olympiad and their performance was impressive: Victoria and Owen (’26) placed first in Cybersecurity and Victoria and Hannah placed third in Disease Detectives. Victoria and Owen qualified for State, where they earned second in Cybersecurity.

In the spirit of building community, the Science Olympiad team recently visited Cedar Crest Academy and shared a rainbow experiment with the elementary school students. On the value of collaboration, Victoria said, “We learn better when we are working together, which reflects the collaborative approach to education that we have at EPS. When you bring your science skills together as a team, you achieve more than you ever could on your own.”