SAYiT at a glance
Grayson Conti (SAYiT team member and Teaching Fellow; he/they) was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He has been involved with Story Works for about a year and a half, writing for the student workbook, facilitating story circles, and coaching high school students as well as SAYiT. Gray is also involved with Spirit of Youth on the Teen Advisory Council. Gray has taught swim lessons to elementary school kiddos at SwimAmerica as well as babysat children ranging from 8 months to 9 years old but currently busses and hosts at Ginger. Gray enjoys playing with their cats, watching movies and tv shows, baking, and photography. He loves to listen to music and some of their favorite musicians include Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Twenty One Pilots, and Girl in Red. He also loves hiking, rock climbing, biking, and down hill skiing. And reading, so if you’re looking for book suggestions, never fear, Gray has a never ending supply!
Bianca Popescu (SAYiT team member and Teaching Fellow; she/her) was born in Anchorage, Alaska. She goes to West Anchorage High School and participated in a Story Works Storytelling Workshop her Sophomore year. She then joined SAYiT later that year, eventually becoming a Teaching Fellow and facilitating Story Circles. Bianca is currently a Senior at West High School where she spends her time in extracurriculars like the West High Fish Club. She also has one little sister, two little brothers, and two dogs that she loves very much. She enjoys art, music, and… stories! …and if she could be any animal, she’d be a parrot because parrots can talk.
Yule Zhang (SAYiT team member and Teaching Fellow; she/her) was born in Alaska and can speak three languages. She is currently a senior at South Anchorage High School, the equivalent of a seventh year at Hogwarts. In addition to being active in Story Works as a SAYiT member, Teaching Fellow, and by facilitating story circles, she’s also a Youth Producer and Educator at the Alaska Teen Media Institute. Yule enjoys being a performer through piano recitals, dance competitions, and spoken word. Off the stage, she also enjoys listening to music and walking in the city streets at sunset.
Victoria Rossoff (SAYiT Member team member and Teaching Fellow; she/her) is an incoming Junior at West High School. She was born in Bremerton, Washington, and grew up across several states. Before moving to Alaska with her parents, she would visit her family in Mexico nearly every weekend. In Alaska, she learned about new, foreign things like ice skating and rock climbing. In the time before she graduates and eventually leaves for university, she plans to get a job. Victoria enjoys reading, cooking, and writing.
Joan Cruz (SAYiT team member and Fundraising Committee member; she/her) was born and raised in the Philippines. Then, in 2016, she moved to Anchorage with her family. Now, she’s a student in Bartlett High School. Having not known snow all her life, one of her goals is to successfully adapt to this new environment even though she is brave but afraid of everything. She only knows two things for sure: she loves food and music! If you try to find her, there’s a big chance that you’ll see her taking photos of pretty flowers and trees and fluffy clouds outside.
Joshua Pak (SAYiT Team Member; he/him) was born in Los Angeles California but moved to Alaska in 2019 and is currently a student at Polaris K-12 School. He fell in love with cross-country skiing, biking, and fishing Alaska’s vast wilderness. He loves to read and write (especially poetry) at home and joined SAYiT because he thinks storytelling is a great way to express oneself. He volunteers in helping research ways to report hate crimes (especially those racially charged) in Alaska and teaches writing classes for kids.