About DOGONews

DOGONews is an online news and web resource for elementary school children, aged 5-10 and a publishing platform for aspiring reporters ages 9-15. "DOGO"  (not DoGo),  means young or small in Swahili.

The website consists of three sections: News, Sites and Earth.

DOGONews  (www.dogonews.com) - This section is a fun and educational alternative to sites like Time for Kids, National Geographic and Science Daily.  With hundreds of archived articles and new content added daily, the section is full of fun and inspiring news from all around the world.

The content is written in a simple, easy to understand format and kept relatively short, in order to keep young children focused and interested. Videos are added whenever available. There is also an integrated dictionary for challenging words and a map mash-up to provide a geographical context. The main aim of the site is for kids to read and learn about world events in a fun, interactive and safe environment. 

In addition to encouraging kids to read, DOGONews is also a publishing platform for older kids. We currently have three young regular contributors ages 9,10 and 14. If you are interested in writing for us send an email to editor@dogonews.com

DOGOSites (www.dogonews.com/sites) - a directory of fun educational kids sites. A great resource for teachers, kids and parents. Each site is carefully vetted prior to inclusion.

DOGOEarth (www.dogonews.com/earth) - news headlines geo-tagged on a 3D globe to provide younger readers an interactive way to read the headlines. In the near future, we plan to offer Earth as a downloadable screen saver.

Kids love to read and are naturally curious, so let's provide them with a safe environment in which to learn about world events and browse the web. Please help spread the word about DOGONews to your friends, teachers, co-workers and anyone else with kids. Let's work together to raise a brighter and more informed generation. If you have any comments or suggestions please write to us at editor@dogonews.com. 

THE DOGONEWS TEAM

Meera Dolasia - Founder & Editor

As Editor, Meera defines and manages all the editorial content of DOGONews. Prior to founding the Company, Meera was a Product Manager at Seneca Capital Management, responsible for all portfolio positioning strategies and investment-related client communications. Meera holds a BSc in Financial Services from the University of Manchester and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Contributors

Miranda Church

Hi DOGONews readers. My name is Miranda Church. I am a 10-year old fifth grader living in Northern California, with my dog Lucy.

I enjoy spending my free time cooking and working on various arts and crafts, including painting, drawing and sculpting. Painting allows me to express myself and be creative and spontaneous. Just give me a glue gun, wood, buttons and puff balls and I can make anything!

I enjoy listening to music and playing the piano, especially jazz, which happens to be my parents favorite music too! I play soccer for a team called the Rockers and enjoy swimming, biking and hiking with my family.

I am also the owner, chef and CEO of an organic dog-treats business called Doggy on the Go. My dog Lucy is the chief taster, chowing down on the cookies everything I make them! I am very excited to be part of the DOGONews team, especially since I hope to one day be a top chef on television! I hope you enjoy all my recipes. Be sure to write me with feedback. I check for comments all the time!

Jaanki Dave

Greetings! I'm Jaanki Dave. I am 14-years old and accomplished maker of duct tape, ties, hats and bags. I play the trombone, piano and a little guitar and harmonica. I also do tae-kwon-do. I am an ex-Girl Scout who still loves Thin Mints - especially with vanilla ice cream. I love to watch and make movies - just the editing part though - I am no actress.

I love to read and write and am excited about being part of the DOGONews team. It's great fun to see my name as 'author' below a news article or a book review on the internet and know that so many people are reading what I have to write and recommend.

Sona Dolasia

Hi, I am nine-year old California Gal. I love to read, watch movies, play with my DS and of course write for DOGONews. I am a big fan of the Harry Potter and Alex Rider series of books. I also belong to a local swim team and am learning how to ripstick. I hope you enjoy reading my DOGONews articles as much as I enjoy writing them!

Karina El Baze

Hey everyone!  My name is Karina El Baze, and don't even try to shorten my first name because it never works.  I'm 13 and going into 9th grade. I have a passion for journalism, fiction, and song writing - basically all that revolves around writing- and being a part of DOGONews is a fantastic way for me to nurture that passion and share it with others, like you.  I also love making people laugh with my droll sense of humor.  I play a lot of tennis (go Rafael Nadal!), adore dancing of any kind, and am absolutely crazy about fashion. But, putting all that aside- what I really love to do is eat.
 
If I'm not writing, laughing, dancing, playing tennis, or eating (although it is possible to do several of those at a time), I'm listening to music.  My song-writing hobby is a recent one, and I am very happy that I have finally found a way to bridge two of my obsessions. I have a budding collection of around ten songs... but they are virtually useless since my voice is no better than a goat's.
 
I am beyond excited about this opportunity to be published on a website like DOGONews, and I hope you enjoy reading what I write.  As corny as it sounds, this is a dream of mine. - Karina

Alyssa Lilley

Hey readers, I am a thirteen-year-old seventh grader. My name is Alyssa, but most of my freinds call me Lyss or Lyssa. I love writing. It is so cool to see my name as the author of an article, especially on a website with so many viewers! It's something I've dreamed about for years. I also enjoy acting, particularly in musicals.

I like watching them too, whether they're movies or live on stage; my personal favs are Into the Wood, Alice in Wonderland and Singing in the Rain. I really love punk-rock music and my favorite band is My Chemical Romance.

Reading is also one of my favorite things. Among my favorite books, if I had to choose, are the Harry Potter series, Eragon, the Twilight series and The Moffats. I hope readers will enjoy all my contributions to DOGONews and that more young writers will be inspired to join the team, because it is a lot of fun! - Lyss

Carole Leigh Hutton - Advisor

Carole Leigh is the President and Ceo of United Way, Silicon Valley. Prior to that, she was Vice President and Executive Editor of the San Jose Mercury News. Carole Leigh has also served as Vice President/News for Knight Ridder, Inc. and Publisher and Editor of the Detroit Free Press.  Ms. Hutton holds a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University

David H. Bass - Advisor

David is VP of Consumer Software at Riverdeep Inc., one of the fastest growing educational software companies in the US. David is responsible for managing The Learning Company and Broderbund Software brands and has over 13 years of software and media industry experience. David holds a BS from Rutgers University.

Rupen Dolasia - Advisor

Rupen is the Founder and CEO of MXPLAY INC., a media company based in San Francisco. Prior to that he was the founding member of Granite Ventures, where he primarily focused on software companies. Rupen has an undergraduate degree in Electric Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Academic Advisors

Lisa Zimmer

Lisa Zimmer is the Principal of Edna Maguire Elementary School in Mill Valley, California. Previously, Lisa was the Principal of Rock River Elementary and Brookview Elementary Schools in Rockford, Illinois. She began her teaching career as a 2nd and 4th Grade teacher at Stillwell Elementary School in Kansas. Lisa holds a degree in education from Kansas State University and an M.S. Ed from Northern Illinois University.

Anne Siskin

Anne is a 'down-to-earth' California gal, who teaches 3rd grade class at Edna Maguire Elementary School in Mill Valley, California.  Anne's passion include the outdoors (her class took a record 12 field trips last year), yoga and teaching a classroom full of young and motivated students. During the summer, Anne combines her passion for the outdoors and writing, with her hands-on writing camp.  Each day the students explore a different area of the Bay and then write their experiences incorporating different stuctures, learnt from reading children's authors.

Anne has been instrumental in the launch and direction of DOGONews. Her class often acts as the 'advisors' to the editor, providing useful insights into the way kids think and learn.
 

DOGONews - Fodder for Young Minds