A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 12, at Cedar Brook Church at 23700 Stringtown Road in Clarksburg at 3pm for 2021 Northwest High School graduate Brian Nichols. Nichols passed away unexpectedly on January 24.
Jag Nation is extremely devastated to learn of the passing of Brian Nichols a 2021 grad. He could put a smile on your face during the worst of days. He always put others happiness first and truly cared for all. He truly had a positive impact on all and will be missed dearly.❤️ pic.twitter.com/zhUDTOVFVD
— JAG NATION (@Northwest_Jags) January 25, 2022
Obituary:
Brian Patrick Nichols, age 19, went home to the Lord unexpectedly on Monday January 24, 2022.
Brian had a passion for sports, particularly football. Brian won numerous awards in Basketball, Baseball, and Football. He was loved and admired by his coaches and teammates. A natural leader on the field, Brian had an innate ability to command respect from those around him. Brian had raw talent and a tall athletic build mixed with contagious enthusiasm, toughness, and commitment. He always excelled even when every obstacle seemed stacked against him. Brian endured challenges that no one should have to endure. He did so without complaint and without self-pity. Through it all, without thought of himself, he maintained his kindness and love for others.
Always present with his dynamic wit and personality, he was a beacon of strength for his family. Even when it was darkest, he was someone the family could lean on when times were tough. Brian maintained his kindness and compassion and always made everyone laugh with his sense of humor and light-hearted attitude. He truly was an exceptional young man.
Brian was not only talented in sports, he was also a gifted guitar player and avid music lover. Brian was a beautiful person inside and out and had a smile that would light up any room. He will be sorely missed.
Brian was preceded in death by his father John Edward Nichols and is survived by his mother Laura Nichols, grandmother Joan Nichols, his brothers Anthony Cardona, Frankie Cardona, John Nichols, sister Carly (affectionately known by Brian as Car-sone) and too many wonderful Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and 2nd Cousins to name individually.
Donations to help support the Nichols Family can be made via the link below. https://gofund.me/7c0f3f15
Yuvan Sundrani (sophomore information science major at UMD), Jason Steinberg (sophomore computer science major at UMD), and Sid Jagtap (sophomore finance major at the University of Michigan) are launching an exciting new app called Soshi. Simply put, the app allows users to share all of their social media and contact information in one place with one tap.
These students were amongst the many seniors to miss out on the end of the year senior fun and started freshman year behind a screen. Quarantine left everyone with a little extra time on their hands. Jason Steinberg and Sid Jagtap founded MoCo Tutors, an affordable digital tutoring service aimed at helping Montgomery County students struggling with virtual instruction. Meanwhile, Yuvan Sundrani gained some experience and insight while interning with the artificial intelligence laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg as a Data Engineer Intern.
The winter break before the first back in-person semester started in the spring, Jagtap, a business major with an entrepreneurial spirit wanted to fix a common first-world problem: the awkwardness and tediousness of exchanging multiple contact and social media information one at a time. “Oftentimes, asking and exchanging your phone number, Instagram, and Snapchat all at once can really disrupt the flow of a conversation”, Jagtap said. Sundrani and Steinberg were immediately intrigued and, together, the trio gathered to create mock ups of the app in Sundrani’s basement.
Soshi, the app, develops an individualized QR code to quickly and efficiently exchange information. Without storing any passwords, it gathers all of a user’s selected social media under their personalized Soshi profile. With toggle switches, users are able to switch which social media they want to share depending on the person.
When non-users scan a Soshi user’s QR code, they are taken to an online webpage with the user’s desired socials neatly hyperlinked. Existing app users will be redirected to the friends section of the app where they can track their connections for later reference.
The creators emphasize the importance of simplicity so that anyone can use it. The trio noticed how competitors in the space either had too many overwhelming features or did not cater towards the everyday person. Steinberg stated how “this app is something that people, especially college students, can use with people they meet in class, at parties, the gym, a pickup basketball game, and more”.
The summer of 2020, provided the trio with more time to work on the app. On slow or rainy days at the Germantown pool, the other lifeguards would make fun of the trio for spending time on the app instead of having “fun.”
Along the way, Sundrani and Steinberg taught themselves a new programming language called “Flutter” that is compatible with both Android and iOS. When asked whether it was challenging to learn Flutter, Sundrani said “it was definitely a learning curve but Jason and I began to enjoy creating the app once we got past it”. This process has been a continuous cycle of trial, error, learning, and fixing errors, but one that has ultimately proved to be rewarding.
Steinberg shared that the most shocking part about the process was how long it took; the team started in the winter of 2021 and December 9th is the first scheduled beta release.Going forward, the three say that they envision themselves turning this side project into a full time job if the opportunity presents itself.
Fun Facts:
- One of Yuvan Sundrani’s favorite food spots is Mr. K’s Cafe Germantown
- Jason Steinberg has a biking hobby, he has even biked to Pittsburgh from MoCo! He loves living in MoCo because in a few hours he could find himself biking on back roads to sugarloaf or take the opposite and end up in a different location..
- Sid Jagtap, a former Arizona resident, enjoys cherry blossom season the most in MoCo and the pleasant weather that comes with it.
Many are talking about Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett’s fake slide during his 58 yard touchdown run, but an ACC record was broken by former Northwest standout A.J. Woods in Saturday’s ACC Championship game.
With Wake Forest trailing by 10 and driving down the field early in the fourth quarter, Woods intercepted a deep ball at at the Pitt 25 and returned it 73 yards to the 2 yard line.
This was the junior defensive back’s first interception of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, sealing the game as Pitt went on to win 45-21.
Woods was a two-way standout at Northwest under Coach Mike Neubeiser. During his senior year he had 35 tackles, 17 passes defended, two forced fumbles and two blocked punts as a cornerback. As a wide receiver, he averaged 21.6 yards per reception (14 catches for 303 yards) with five touchdown and helped Northwest to a 9-3 record and the Maryland 4A regional finals.
Woods was rated the No. 9 overall prospect in Maryland by ESPN and No. 25 by Rivals and 247Sports.
The play can be seen below:
Longest INT return (73 yards) in the history of the @ACCFootball Champ! 🏆
HUGE play by @AjWoods09 💨
Watch 📺 ABC#H2P » #BeatWake pic.twitter.com/lN0AA2GNPq
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) December 5, 2021
Northwest High School senior Kayla DiCello secured a spot on the 2021 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics World Championship Team.
Yesterday DiCello was announced along with Leanne Wong, Konnor McClain, and eMjae Frazier as members of Team USA.
Earlier this summer she made the Olympic team as an alternate and participated in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
DiCello practices gymnastics at Gaithersburg’s Hills Gym off of Lindbergh Drive and has represented the U.S. over a half dozen times as a USA National Team member.
As a sophomore, DiCello accepted a full athletic scholarship to the University of Florida, where she’ll be headed after this school year.
Featured photo courtesy of Inside Gymnastics Magazine.
Prior to his role in HBO’s “Gossip Girl” reboot, Ivan Carlo grew up in Germantown– attending Clopper Mill Elementary School, Roberto Clemente Middle School, and Northwest High School.
The actor credits Northwest High School’s production of “Hairspray” as his inspiration for getting into acting, according to a recent interview in Newscene Magazine.
According to the interview, Carlo got his start in musical theatre and branched out into television roles, having recently appeared in Oxygen’s “One Deadly Mistake” and landing a role in HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot.
“Gossip Girl” was a popular CW teen drama that ran from 2007 to 2012. HBO has rebooted the series and brought it back. It’s available to stream now on HBO Max, with episodes debuting every Thursday.
You can catch Carlo in episode 4, playing the role of Ravi Solis.
Featured photo courtesy of Ivan Carlo’s Instagram.
Stephanie Blake, Northwest High School Girl’s Volleyball Coach Who Won Four Consecutive State Championships, Steps Down
Stephanie Blake and her hard working girl’s volleyball teams at Northwest High School won four consecutive state championships from 2015-2018. Yesterday, one of the best coaches in the county announced she’ll be stepping down to focus on raising her three daughters.
In an announcement made via Twitter, Coach Blake shared the following:
“
Dear NW Community,
It is with extremely mixed feelings that I am stepping down as the Head Coach for the Girls Varsity Volleyball team.
It has been nothing short of 12 amazing years. Exciting, exhausting, and rewarding. I have made some of the most amazing relationships with other coaches, athletes and administrators that I will cherish forever. I am beyond thankful for the support I have received over these years, from assistant coaches, athletes & their families, administrators, community members and my own family. It has been an unbelievable ride. A huge thank you to my husband who has always been my number one supporter and behind the scenes of it all!
It was an extremely difficult decision as the sport, program and coaching are such big parts of who I am. My own three daughters need me now to be there to start their adventures and see where things take them. It is something I cannot miss out on. I will continue to teach PE at NW and will still be cheering on the Jags!”
Kayla DiCello, a Junior at Northwest High School, Places Third in GK U.S. Classic
Kayla DiCello of Boyds, Md./Hill’s Gymnastics, finished third in the all-around at the 2021 GK U.S. Classic. She also topped the field on uneven bars with a 14.600.
Simone Biles came in first. The four-time Olympic gold medalist edged teammate Jordan Chiles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre in successful defense of her 2019 GK U.S. Classic all-around title (there was no competition in 2020 due to Covid-19).
DiCello, a junior at Northwest High School, is part of the United States women’s National gymnastics team. She is the 2019 Junior World Champion on vault and the 2019 U.S. Junior National Champion.
She will be at the Olympic trials next month.
Photos courtesy of USA Gymnastics.
