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Your donation will support the student journalists of Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa. Your contribution will allow us to purchase needed equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
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About the Contributors
Erika Holmberg, Copy Editor
Erika Holmberg is currently a senior at Pleasant Valley and serves as the Copy Editor for the Spartan Shield. In addition to the Shield, Erika is actively involved in the arts. She is a Drum Major for the Pleasant Valley Band, sings in the Leading Tones Jazz Choir and Chamber Choir, and plays trumpet in jazz band and the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra. In addition to the arts, Erika remains involved in many different extracurriculars at Pleasant Valley such as the Scholastic Bowl Team, National Honors Society, the Spartan Ambassador Program, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Additionally, she serves as the captain of the Pleasant Valley Girls’ Golf Team and enjoys spending time with her teammates on and off the course. Outside of school, you can typically find Erika working as a barista at Dunn Brothers Coffee or trying out new water sports on the lake with family and friends. After high school, she plans to study English and/or Music Education in college and compete on the women’s golf team. Erika makes it her goal to spread kindness and make those around her happier, and she looks forward to doing so through the Spartan Shield this semester.
Shobini Iyer, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Shobini Iyer is currently a senior at Pleasant Valley and serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Spartan Shield. Aside from Honors Journalism, Shobini’s favorite classes consist of AP Physics and AP Calculus. In addition to her academics, Shobini immerses herself in activities such as First Tech Challenge, Math Club, and Ethics Bowl. Shobini is actively involved in the Arts at Pleasant Valley and takes part in choir, jazz choir, and plays violin in the local Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra. When she isn’t working for the Shield, Shobini enjoys mentoring young robotics teams, watching movies, and curating Spotify playlists for every mood. Outside of school, Shobini can be found working at Mathnasium or traveling with her family. Shobini is looking forward to working for the Shield this semester!
Vinay Joshi, Business Manager
Vinay Joshi is a Senior at Pleasant Valley and serves as the business manager for the Spartan Shield. A dedicated musician, you may recognize him on the snare drum leading the Spartan Marching Band during football games. He was selected as the 1st Alternate Percussionist for Iowa’s Allstate band, and plays viola in the Quad City Youth Symphony. Vinay is also the president of the PV Economics Club which made it to the finals of the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition last school year. Outside of school, Vinay spends time running a small business specializing in providing investing guidance for digital commodities to paid subscribers. He is the business manager and a programmer for the Winter Soldiers, a robotics team that placed 1st in Iowa’s state FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) competition last year. He spends his free time programming pet projects in Java, adding to his sneaker collection, and traveling the world with his family. Vinay has an older brother, Vivek, who is a senior at Emory University majoring in Political Science on a Pre-Med track. Vinay plans to attend an undecided four-year-university, majoring in computer science and economics so he can contribute to the world positively through technology in the future.