Watchung Hills Student Creates Nonprofit, Gives Back To Community

WARREN, NJ — Daniel Zhang, a junior from Watchung Hills Regional High School, has always had a passion for learning and education. When the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, Zhang decided to start the nonprofit Alphademic Learning as a way to share his knowledge while giving back to students in the community.

"I started it back in May [2020] mainly in response to the pandemic forcing a lot of classes to go all virtual. I mainly targeted middle school students, I wanted to expand their horizons," said Zhang.

Zhang came from a competitive math community where he was really involved in helping students prepare to compete in math competitions.

"My goal is to teach new techniques and topics. During a competition it would be hard when you are scanning through textbooks... but there are techniques that are helpful and I want to share those with others," Zhang said.

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Zhang started teaching by himself and mainly focused on math. His nonprofit slowly gained more students and teachers to help out.

"We have 35 high school tutors who organize classes, which are once a week," said Zhang.

The classes now have extended to STEM and humanity courses such as biology, problem-solving, and journalism.

Additionally, Zhang has started a program that helps any student in need of laptops, textbooks, etc. free of charge

"The program is open to any student struggling with being able to access resources they need for school," said Zhang.

All of the teachers are volunteers and the classes are free. Zhang is always looking for more volunteers or donations.

To learn more about Alphamdemic Learning, volunteer or donate visit alphademic.org.

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources. If you know of a local organization that should be profiled, contact alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.