The inside of Arepas by Perna had lots of unique decorations that reflected its Venezuelan heritage.

Arts & Entertainment

Venezuelan and Nigerian food review: Arepas by Perna and Mabel’s African cuisine

Ardyn Lessner, Associate Editor-in-Chief • May 21, 2026

It’s often said that food is the way to the heart, and in many cultures a home-cooked meal is certainly the ultimate act of love. Food has...

Springfield, Illinois (Tucker Good, Unsplash)

Column

How to enjoy summer break without money or a car

Mercedes Garrido-Wease, Guest Contributor • May 20, 2026

It's summer break, the two months of the year that you've been looking forward to for the whole year. The first few days are peaceful; you play...

Iconic southern longhorn pitying you (Olivia Northcutt)

Column

Idioms or idiocy: Yeehaw y’all

Olivia Northcutt • May 19, 2026

As a southern girl, born and bred, I am no stranger to an idiom. It’s taken some embarrassing encounters with northerners to figure out that...

Column

How to stay productive over summer without wasting it on your phone

Elay Khoursandi, Guest Contributor • May 18, 2026

Summer break is supposed to be relaxing, but for many high school students, it ends up feeling wasted. Days go by quickly and before you know...

News

Literary-Art Magazine club presents Maverick Mosaic volume 3

Yena Nam, Editor-in-Chief • May 15, 2026

We are thrilled to present Maverick Mosaic volume 3 for the 2025-2026 school year! This issue marks the third year since the launch...

The Unbranded

Unbranded Broadcast 10/9/2024

Rushika Jayaprakash, Jaylen Meadows, Maliek Hawkins, Elijah Maynor, Janelle Nelson, Sairam Koppula, Brooks Johnson, and Jacob Logan

October 9, 2024

What are you most excited to see this year from the Emerson Theatre Company?

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Rushika Jayaprakash anchors as Jaylen Meadows and Maliek Hawkins highlight the fall play, Elijah Maynor and Janelle Nelson ask government trivia on Mavs in the Hallway, and Sairam Koppula take a deep dive into voter registration for the upcoming election.

Watch our previous videos, read student newspaper articles from The Charge, participate in our latest poll, and more at ehscharge.org. Follow us @unbrandedehs on Instagram for bonus content.

About the Contributors

Rushika Jayaprakash, Unbranded Staff Reporter

Rushika Jayaprakash is a senior at Emerson High School and serves as a Staff Reporter for the Unbranded. She has always had a passion for cinema and is working to produce films and enhance her skills as a content creator. When she is not working for the Unbranded, she enjoys dancing, singing, photography, and listening to K-pop. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in film and business entertainment.

Jaylen Meadows, Unbranded Staff Reporter

Jaylen serves as a Staff Reporter for the Unbranded. He is interested in being a part of the Unbranded team because he thinks it is a good way to gain experience in his field of work. Outside of the Unbranded he is a sports videographer and photographer and enjoys filming and editing a lot of player mixtapes.

Maliek Hawkins, Unbranded Staff Reporter

Maliek Hawkins is an first-year Unbranded staff member at Emerson High School. He is interested in being on the Unbranded because he likes photography. Maliek has won multiple district awards for football, and he plans to attend The University of Oklahoma for football.

Elijah Maynor, Unbranded Staff Reporter

Elijah Maynor is a senior at Emerson, and he is a part of the Unbranded as a Staff Reporter. He enjoys being apart of the Unbranded due to his love of filming and editing, and his favorite part of being a part of the Unbranded is being able to use his creativity to get the perfect shots and also being able to make entertaining videos for others to enjoy. Outside of the Unbranded his hobbies include making skateboarding videos, exploring with his friends, and attempting to make music. His main goal in life is to travel the word with his friends to make skateboarding videos, and that’s what he wants to be known for in life.

Janelle Nelson, Unbranded Executive Producer

Destiny “Janelle” Nelson is a Junior at Emerson High School and she serves as the Executive Producer The Unbranded. This is her second year with The Unbranded, but her fourth year as a news reporter. She has always had a passion for connecting with her community and sharing people’s stories. She aspires to pursue a professional career in Broadcast Journalism. She is a big fan of all things media and when she’s not working on the next Unbranded show, you’ll find her watching the latest movies.

Sairam Koppula, Unbranded Staff Reporter

Sairam Koppula is a senior at Emerson High School and serves as a Staff Reporter for The Unbranded. He enjoys being on the Unbranded and producing news segments to showcase. He is interested in video and film making and joined Audio/Video Production 1 to pursue his passion. Outside of the Unbranded, he likes to play basketball and video games.

Brooks Johnson, Unbranded Lead Editor

Brooks Johnson is a senior at Emerson and he serves as the Lead Editor for the Unbranded. He joined the Unbranded in 2021 and has been in the program for 3 years. He joined the class due to his passion for video editing and video compositing. Outside of the Unbranded, he likes playing the guitar and hanging out with friends.

Jacob Logan, Unbranded Associate Producer

Jacob Logan is a senior at Emerson and he serves as the Associate Producer for the Unbranded. He joined the Unbranded in 2022 and has been in the program for 3 years. He joined the class due to his love for movies, YouTube, and all things revolving around video. Jacob hopes to pursue film not just as a hobby, but a career too, planning to go to film school post-graduation. Whenever Jacob isn’t in school, or working on news stories, he’s usually playing drums, going to concerts, or hanging out with his close friends.