Riverdale Country school
student spotlights
Moorea friedmann, ‘26
Moorea Friedmann is a teenage mental health advocate and podcast host committed to supporting others through vulnerability, compassion, and connection. Drawing from her personal experience with an eating disorder, Moorea launched her podcast, Balancing Act: Life and Struggles of a Teenage Girl, to offer teens a raw and relatable space to explore topics like anxiety, depression, disordered eating, and the everyday challenges of growing up. Additionally, Moorea has hosted mental health events at Riverdale Country School to spark supportive conversations on wellness in her school community. Through honest conversations and meaningful dialogue, she fosters connection, healing, and hope, always reminding others that you are not alone.
Elijah Leblang, ‘26
Elijah Leblang has done the dirty work of helping his high school, Riverdale Country School, do their carbon accounting. As a member of Riverdale’s sustainability club, Elijah uses his keen intellect to help organizations solve big problems. He is also a passionate runner and a member of the track and field team.
Max blau, ‘26
Max lives in New York City and attends Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. Max’s passion for sustainability has driven his involvement in a wide range of environmental initiatives on campus. He has led hands-on work in sustainable food systems through Riverdale’s Freight Farm, where he helped develop curriculum and teach hydroponics to middle school and high school students. Max has also contributed to campus-wide sustainability efforts, including waste audits, greenhouse gas emissions analysis, advocacy for electric school buses, and renewable energy initiatives such as the school's recent solar panel installation.
He is currently helping unify Riverdale’s sustainability-focused clubs into a single "Riverdale Green Team" to strengthen student leadership and impact. Through this work, Max hopes to inspire other students to take meaningful action toward building more just and sustainable systems.
Joel Grayson, ‘24
Joel Grayson has worked to help Riverdale Country School move toward a solar installation, consider the possibility of electric school buses, and also support New York City’s street vendors gain access to grid electricity. He has been involved with the local government, serving as the youngest-ever member of Manhattan Community Board 1 and collaborating with the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice. He has also created software thousands of people use daily (Buseroo, Homework Checker, and Focus for Google Docs) and built a vending machine that sold hundreds of snacks at school. After graduating from Riverdale, Joel intends to study mechanical engineering at Stanford.
Kaitlyn Helf, ‘25
Kaitlyn resides in New York City and is passionate about animals, child development, and art. She is an Ambassador for Drawing For The Planet (DftP), a global art environmental education and conservation charity, and aided their expansion to the East Coast. Kaitlyn's responsibilities include assisting with research and planning and executing workshops. Kaitlyn brings a diverse experience to her role as an Ambassador having worked with children as a tutor and mentor at the Riverdale Neighborhood House, as well as working as a counselor at Hayground Day Camp. She is an active volunteer in animal welfare programs including Animal Rescue Fund (ARF). Having been raised in a city, Kaitlyn is aware of the negative impacts of urbanization on endangered animals. Kaitlyn's ultimate goal is to help DftP expand to other cities on the East Coast and continue raising awareness and empowering communities to help reverse the biodiversity crisis and take responsibility for Earth's invaluable ecosystem.
Jacob Darringer, ‘25
During the Summer of 2023, his passion for sustainability led him to attend the Island School in Eleuthera, Bahamas, for six weeks. While there, he studied marine ecology and sustainability. Jacob brought the lessons he learned back home and created his own hydroponics system at Riverdale as part of his coursework. He hopes to inspire other students to join his fight against the climate crisis. He is currently creating a website to help educate younger students about hydroponics and the importance of sustainable systems and is developing a curriculum to bring it into Riverdale’s community partnership schools. He is an Ambassador for Grassroots Grocery and Billion Oyster Project and will be the leader of Riverdale’s Sustainability Club during the 2024-2025 school year.