At Students of the Sidewalk, we write articles that inform, inspire, and include everyone’s voices, and everyone’s point of view. We believe that every topic is an important topic, and even though it may not affect everyone, it could be an issue that someone needs help with. We cover topics that could be very serious, very entertaining, and everything in between. We will do our best to help you understand our articles, and maybe make you laugh, or make you understand some of our opinions.
Adam Faughnan
Adam Faughnan is 11 years of age and a proud 6th-grader of Columbia Secondary School. He was born in the great city of NYC, and loves to read during his free time. His favorite TV show is The Office, but loves to watch whodunit mystery movies. One of his mentors is Lionel Messi, one of the best soccer players ever. A favorite author of his is Stuart Gibbs, but he loves Agatha Christie and “Murder on The Orient Express.” He loves to play sports, in particular soccer, golf, and skiing. Finally, he is very passionate about the environment and loves to write informative, action-taking articles. – Adam Faughnan
Gabriella Medina
Gabriella Medina lives in New York City and is proud of that. She is 12 years old and is in 7th grade. For the most part, Gabriella does school, but in her free time likes to play sports, games, read, and write. Her best mentors are her mom and dad and they have inspired her to do her best work. Her favorite types of stories to write are fantasy and historical fiction. Even though she likes both genres, she prefers to write fantasy. Her favorite author is Rick Riordan, but her favorite book is “The Tea Dragon Society.” These authors have given her inspiration in some work she has done. She beats her writer’s block by reading books or dreaming. If you have any problems in writing, Gabriella has some advice. She says the best way to do a good story is to use good, strong evidence in anything you write. She hopes that everyone will enjoy writing as much as she does. Gabriella is looking forward to doing more work with Uptown Stories and plans to have the next story she writes be a historical fiction story. –John Smith
Jane Doe
Jane Doe is a 6th grade 10-year-old girl that is from America and Korea. She feels that writing is a big part of her life. Even though sometimes she can’t get past writer’s block, she always seems to find ideas for short stories. These short stories can go from fantasy to mystery and even nonfiction. Along with writing, Jane also has other hobbies that interest her, such as drawing and reading. Her father has played a vital role in her writing; she describes how he is always patient when she can get frustrated and that is something that she admires and has always appreciated in him. Finally, she says that the best piece of advice she’s ever received is “to not write too much.” She describes it as getting carried away by all the ideas and thoughts that she has and so what this teacher said has really helped her. –Samantha Nair
Conrad Merkel
Conrad Merkel is a New York-based human who writes for students of the sidewalk. he typically covers birds and politics along with other things.
John Smith
Born in New York and currently in the sixth grade, John Smith is a passionate 11-year-old writer who burns through his keyboard in fifteen minutes. He spends his time at school most of the day, loves to read, and writes whatever is on his mind. He’s influenced by his parents to be creative and unique. The best advice John has ever received is to use punctuation correctly. His favorite genre is wild fiction and his favorite book is “Ending the Last” by his favorite author, Katherine Applegate. Lastly, he battles writer’s block by searching for sources from the Internet. –Skai Carolyn
Lyra
Lyra is a 6th grade 11-year-old who lives in NY, born and raised. Her occupation at the moment is a full-time student devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. A fervent lover of cats, she would love to write something about cats or Roblox next. Her favorite genre is fantasy because of the magic. She has never gotten writer’s block, which is quite an achievement. Her favorite book is “Where The Mountain Meets The Moon,” quite the mysterious title. Instead of having a favorite author, she likes all writing that all writers write and refuses to single one author out of many.
Marie Weber
Marie is an 11-year-old girl who is in 6th grade. She was born in California and has an Asian dad. As of now, she is a student in Columbia Secondary School. She wanted to write because of her crazy imagination and has been inspired to write stories about fan fiction. She makes her own stories with her favorite one being about a group of ninjas. She loves ninjas, reading stories, and making stories. She also likes LEGOs, video games, and just loosening up for a while.
Marie has many people who guide her. Her martial arts teacher, her dad, and her teachers all support her. They all give her advice to keep pushing and move forward. Her favorite author is JK Rowling, but she doesn’t like her ideas. She has her own ideas, and she wants to be able to share them. Her favorite teacher told her that she should publish them because of how great they are. –Mary
Mary
Mary is an 11-year-old 6th-grade student from New York City who loves LEGOs, biking, reading, and video games. She writes from imagination and loves to read Sci-Fi. The most common genre she writes is fiction. Her favorite author is J.K. Rowling and when writer’s block pops up, she imagines a story to beat it. Her next article will be about Black Lives Matter. The best advice she’s received has been to keep writing. Her best teacher was funny and helpful.
Mary has a great sense of humor and can easily make you laugh. If you get on her bad side though, she will explode like a volcano! She looks like a nerd, but don’t underestimate her. She’s half-nerd, half-friendly. Her friends are mostly easygoing and relaxed, not headstrong and with a quick temper (like me). She loves to paint and I think that she could create a real masterpiece someday. –Marie Weber
Samantha Nair
Samantha Nair, a 7th-grade aspiring fictional writer, is inspired by the author Michelle Mead. As an American-Croatian-Indian-German writer, Samantha has the relatable hobbies of playing soccer, singing, painting, and drawing, the last two coming in handy when she needs to beat the notorious writer’s block. She was hooked into reading when she read Michelle Mead’s books, and since then, she has written fiction. The best advice someone has ever given her was, “To commit to one story, because when I write, I have so many ideas. My friend told me to stick to one thing to write about so I don’t plan multiple stories at once.” This reduces the risk of mixing up plots and events. It seems that even though Samantha has many inspiring ways to beat down every dam blocking streams of writers’ ideas, she doesn’t need them as she’s always overflowing with original and creative ideas for her next piece of writing. –Jane Doe
Sebastian Vickers
Sebastian Vickers is an 11-year-old kid that loves to play video games because it takes him to a different world and he doesn’t have to deal with real world stress. He has been playing piano for the past seven years and it’s a hobby that he enjoys doing. Now he can play his favorite songs. –Sebastian Vickers
Skai Carolyn
Skai Carolyn lives in New York City and loves it. She is 11 years old and in 6th grade. During the day, Skai goes to school, but when she has time, she loves to draw. Her favorite mentor is George Gershwin. She loves to write most fiction in general. Her favorite author is Lois Lowry, the author of her favorite book, “The Elephant in the Garden.” Skai likes doing writing because it helps her get the ideas out and the longer she has those ideas, the more eager she is to write them down. The greatest writing advice she has been given is, “Don’t think about it.” Skai has a different form of writer’s block where you get an idea, but are stopped from doing it. But she still pulls through by writing her idea down. She loves writing and hopes you do, too. Skai so far loves Uptown Stories and is excited to be working with them, and is happy to say the next story she will write will be about ballet. –John Smith
Valentino
Valentino lives in NYC and is 10 years old. He has great mentors, including his teachers at Columbia Secondary School. He loves nature and likes reading books written by Stuart Gibbs and J. K. Rowling in a great imaginary world of action, comedy, and adventure. He also enjoys playing popular games such as Roblox and Minecraft. Plus, he likes learning different subjects, including ELA, math, geography, and especially science. –Valentino
Velda Optiz
Velda Optiz is 11 years old and is in 6th grade. She was born in NYC and likes video editing, writing, watching Netflix, and reading. Her favorite book is “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” However, her favorite writer is Joss Whedon. Despite the fact that Velda has never had a mentor, she is a good writer and likes writing about fantasy. Velda also likes watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a show that helps her work through her writer’s block. –Lyra
Students of the Sidewalk 