Students attending the State Latin Convention at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco April 21-22 had a lot of fun at workshops, sports, assemblies and competitions. In addition to dozens of individual awards (listed below, for those who like all the details!) the Harker delegation (middle school and high school combined) had the top individual at four of the seven levels of competition.
At the middle school 2 (MS2) level, Akhilesh Chegu, grade 7, was the individual academic and individual overall champion.
At the middle school 3 (MS3) level, Sara Yen, grade 8, was the individual academic champion, while Anna Vazhaeparambil was individual arts and individual overall champion.
Both middle and upper school placed first in the state (in their respective small delegation categories) due to the effort and enthusiasm of all the delegates.
The middle school delegation took second for Scrapbook and T-Shirt Design. In MS2 certamen, the team of Malar Bala, Akhilesh Chegu, Madelyn Jin, Brandon Park, Ann Ryan and Thresia Vazhaeparambil, all grade 7, took second place, and in MS3 certamen, the all-grade 8 team of Jason Lin, Akshay Manglik, Anna Vazhaeparambil, Maria Vazhaeparambil and Sara Yen placed first.
MS1 awards (Latin 1A/grade 6):
Katelyn Abellera: First in Reading Comprehension I, first in Sight Latin Reading
Rupert Chen: Third in History
Andrew Fu: Third in Mythology
Jacob Huang: First in Vocabulary (tie)
Michelle Jin: Second in History
Sukrit Kalsi: Played on the first place open certamen team
Jeremy Ko: Played on the second place open certamen team
Edward Sun: First in Vocabulary (tie)
Anthony Tong: Third in Grammar 1, third in high school mixed doubles tennis
Trisha Variyar: First in Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes, second in Daily Life, second in Sight Latin Reading
MS2 awards (Latin 1B/grade 7):
Akhilesh Chegu: First in Sight Latin Reading, second in Latin Oratory, third in Derivatives, third in Vocabulary
Madelyn Jin: Second in Derivatives
Brandon Park: First in Mythology
Ann Ryan: Second in Dramatic Interpretation (Girls)
Thresia Vazhaeparambil: First in Latin Oratory, third in Daily Life
MS3 awards (Latin 2M/grade 8):
Jason Lin: Second in Mythology, third in Pentathlon, third in Latin Oratory, third in Sight Latin Reading
Akshay Manglik: First in Derivatives, first in Dramatic Interpretation (Boys)
Anna Vazhaeparambil: First in Dramatic Interpretation (Girls), first in Sight Latin Reading, first in Cartoons, first in Greeting Cards, second in Pentathlon, third in Vocabulary
Maria Vazhaeparambil: First in Reading Comprehension II, second in Derivatives, second in Vocabulary, second in Greeting Cards
Sara Yen: First in Grammar II, first in Pentathlon, first in Vocabulary, second in Sight Latin Reading
Last week, middle school tinkerers enjoyed a variety of creative activities at a special Mini-Maker Faire organized by middle school learning, innovation and design director Scott Kley-Contini. Harker students designed the activities, which emphasized creativity and ingenuity. The “Airplane Miniature Golf” station, designed by sixth graders Dominick Piscione and Sam Jonker, challenged students to make their own paper airplanes and fly them through six holes, while keeping score on their efforts.
Students also worked on an activity – developed by Andrew Fox, grade 6, with help from Aydin Tiritoglu, grade 8 – involving the creation of simple LED circuits using switches and resistors.
Tanay Sharma, grade 6, and George Wehner, grade 8, developed a special Minecraft coding station where students could use their laptops to tackle coding challenges in the popular computer game.
At the Augmented Reality Gallery, created by Kley-Contini and Harper Brada, grade 6, students used cell phones and tablets to interact with student-made augmented reality content, created using an app called Aurasma.
Congratulations to Remi Edvalson, grade 8, who was recently chosen for USA Diving’s 2017 Junior National Squad. Edvalson was one of only 30 divers nationwide – and one of just three Californians – invited to be a part of this prestigious group. “The program is aimed at providing these athletes the resources needed to help them continue to progress in their training, with the ultimate goal of developing into future senior national team members and potential Olympic team members,” according to teamusa.org.
Harker’s speech and debate team has had a great run at this spring’s championship tournaments. Harker students, including some middle schoolers, have placed at championships in all five events: Lincoln-Douglas, policy, congressional and public forum debate, as well as individual speech events.
Our younger debaters had a great showing at the Western JV and Novice National Championship, held at San Francisco State University in March. Jai Bahri, grade 9, and Deven Shah, grade 7, were semifinalists in JV policy.
In JV Lincoln-Douglas, Kelly Shen, grade 10, also made it to semifinals. Joining her were Sachin Shah, grade 9, in quarterfinals, and Annie Ma, grade 9, and Alycia Cary, grade 10, in octofinals. In JV public forum, the duo of Kashov Sharma, grade 9, and Raymond Banke, grade 10, made it to the octofinals, as did partners Aimee Wang and Sascha Pakravan, both grade 7. Elen Guo and Phil Han, both grade 9, made it to octofinals in novice public forum.
Harker also had an outstanding showing in speaker awards at the championship. The first place speaker in JV Lincoln-Douglas debate was Sachin Shah. Also placing in JV Lincoln-Douglas were Shen in sixth place, Ma in 12th place, Cary in 13th place and Arely Sun, grade 7, in 20th place.
In JV policy, Deven Shah took second place, and his partner, Bahri took 10th. In JV public forum, Datha Arramreddy, grade 9, took sixth, Banke was ninth, Amanda Cheung, grade 9, was 13th and Wang was 15th. In novice public forum, Guo took sixth.
The season continued with the National Debate Coaches Association Championship. That event was held at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, in April. Srivatsav Pyda, grade 12, made it to quarterfinals in Lincoln-Douglas, while Serena Lu, grade 11, and Emmie Malyugina, grade 12, were octofinalists. Also representing Harker at the tournament were the policy duo of Molly Wancewicz, grade 12, and Anusha Kuppahally, grade 11. In Lincoln-Douglas, Sachin Shah, Quentin Clark, grade 9, Lauren Fu, grade 9, and Ma also contributed to the strong team performance. Malyugina was also the 10th speaker.
Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 10, qualified to compete at the state championship in original oratory and advanced to the semifinals. The tournament was held at Arcadia High School at the end of April.
Rounding out the spring series was the Tournament of Championships, held the last weekend of April at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. This is one of the most difficult tournaments to qualify for and Harker is extremely proud of Pyda and Malyugina for representing us in Lincoln-Douglas. Avi Gulati, grade 9, and Jason Huang, grade 10, also qualified in congressional debate. Pyda ended his season with a quarterfinal finish at the event.
Looking ahead, we will be excited to cheer for Aditya Dhar, grade 12, as he performs at the World Schools Debate Championships in Bali, Indonesia, in August. He was one of only five American students chosen to compete at this elite event. At the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in May, Nikki Solanki, grade 9, will compete in dramatic interpretation, and Gulati and Dharmaraj will compete in original oratory. Also, in June, the National Speech & Debate Association Championship will be hosted in Birmingham, Ala., and Harker will be represented by Huang in World Schools Debate, and Galati and Dharmaraj in original oratory. We are excited to report further as these events take place.
Parents, both those new to Harker and those new to a campus, have the opportunity to meet each other at revamped new parent meetings. The outings are relaxed, offering information as well as plenty of time to socialize!
On April 11, Kumi Matsui’s Japanese language students embarked on a field trip to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, where they put their Japanese skills into practice and learned more about Japanese culture.
The first stop on the trip was a local Japanese eatery called Tomi Sushi. “The staff of this restaurant usually speaks native Japanese and they serve authentic Japanese dishes,” said Matsui. “The students had the opportunity to order dishes only in Japanese.”
Upon reaching Hakone Gardens, the students took an opportunity to learn more about Japanese culture by participating in a tea ceremony, after which they enjoyed a walk through the famously lush gardens, stopping for a moment at a pond to feed fish and turtles.
Over Presidents Day weekend, three Harker middle schoolers competed at the California State Games hockey tournament in Escondido, where they won the 12U PeeWee A championship in dramatic fashion. Playing for the San Jose Jr. Sharks, Robert Zhang, grade 6, Carter Chadwick, grade 7, and Rupert Chen, grade 6, went 3-1 in the tournament, taking the final two must-win games, including the 4-2 victory against the undefeated LA Jr. Kings in the championship. Congratulations!
Last week, 150 dancers lit up the stage at the Blackford Theater for the middle school performing arts department’s annual Dance Jamz production. Directed by Gail Palmer, who also acted as a choreographer along with Kimberley Teodoro, Kento Vo, Jessalyn Espiritu, Alexandra Venter, Rachelle Haun and Brianna Alday, the show featured 18 routines performed to songs by Ciara, Imagine Dragons, David Guetta and The Black Eyed Peas. Check out the accompanying photos for a look at the excitement!
Middle school cellist Angeline Kiang, grade 7, recently won first prize in the second edition of the Enkor International Music Competition, in the strings category for musicians ages 11-15. A member of the Grades 7-8 Orchestra, Kiang scored a stellar 94.37 from the jury, which comprises more than 500 members.
This report prepared by Shania Wang, grade 10, Harker DECA director of communications
In early March more than 100 students from Harker’s DECA chapter traveled to the Santa Clara Marriott to compete in the 2017 State Career Development Conference (SCDC). This four-day business conference featured competitions with tough opponents, skill-building workshops and unforgettable experiences. Harker proved its competitive excellence with 49 teams in the top ten and 21 groups in the top four across various categories, qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
“I think Harker DECA did amazingly in terms of competitive success at states this year. It was our best conference ever, with 21 teams qualifying,” said Vignesh Panchanatham, grade 11, Harker DECA’s director of examinations. “The students all put in a lot of hard work to prepare, and it obviously paid off.”
Finalists are as follows:
First Place
Rohan Cherukuri, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Evan Cheng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Enya Lu and Shania Wang, both grade 10, Public Relations Project
Mishu Nitulescu, grade 11, Professional Selling Event
Second Place
Enya Lu, grade 10, Business Finance Series
Nishka Ayyar and Riya Gupta, both grade 10, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Reiya Das, Zara Vakath and Katelyn Vo, all grade 9, Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan
Arnav Joshi, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Alex Chen, grade 11, Principles of Marketing
Third Place
Alexis Gauba, grade 12, Business Services Marketing Series
Erin Liu, grade 10, Business Growth Plan
Chandan Aggarwal, Jeffrey Liu and Rakesh Nori, all grade 9, Independent Business Plan
Ashna Chandra, grade 11, Haley Tran and Lucas Wang, both grade 12, Entrepreneurship Promotion Project
Riya Chandra and Alexis Gauba, both grade 12, Learn and Earn Project
Phil Han, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Shivani Awasthi, grade 12, Professional Selling Event
Haley Tran, grade 12, Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Fourth Place
Allison Jia, grade 9, Innovation Plan
Vignesh Panchanatham, grade 11, Professional Selling Event
Derek Kuo, grade 11, Retail Merchandising Series
Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Fifth Place
Mona Lee, grade 11, Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
Dolan Dworak and Michael Sikand, both grade 11, Marketing Management Team Decision Making
Sachin Shah, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Larissa Tyagi, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Sixth Place
Roma Gandhi, Jessica Jiang and Larissa Tyagi, all grade 9, International Business Plan
Rishi Dange, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Seventh Place
Rahul Mehta, grade 11, Advertising Campaign
Amitej Mehta and Vignesh Panchanatham, both grade 11, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Nikhil Sharma, grade 9, Business Services Operations Research
Shivani Awasthi and Ankita Uppugunduri, both grade 12, Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
Eighth Place
Eric Fang, grade 9, Financial Consulting Event
Naveen Mirapuri, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Ninth Place
Karena Kong, Ananya Krishnan and Aashe Sreekumar, all grade 11, Buying and Merchandising Operations Research
Shreyas Chandrashekaran and Shaan Gagneja, both grade 11, Business Services Operations Research
Helen Yang, grade 10, Business Services Marketing Series
Nikhil Sharma, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Bryan Wang, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Radhika Jain, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Phil Han and Max Lee, both grade 9, Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan
Shania Wang and Kelsey Wu, both grade 10, Travel and Tourism Marketing Team Decision Making
10th Place
Michael Sikand, grade 11, Advertising Campaign
Natasha Maniar, grade 10, Startup Business Plan
Jessica Pan, grade 10, Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan
Jai Bahri, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Shea Tuli, grade 11, Personal Financial Literacy
Ronit Gagneja, grade 9, Principles of Finance
David Feng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Rahul Mehta and Vanessa Tyagi, both grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
“What excited me most was how excited our freshmen were,” said Riya Chandra, grade 12, Harker DECA co-Chief Executive Officer. “To see all the hard work they put in was just a great feeling as a leader and mentor of Harker DECA, so my favorite part as a senior now is seeing freshmen feel confident about their project. If they get on stage, it’s so amazing to see the smiles on their faces.”
After arriving at the hotel, there was a last-minute study session for students to prepare their role-plays, tests and written presentations. That afternoon and evening, all students took their written examinations.
The next day, students gathered to compete in their role-play events. Competitions occurred throughout the day, with each student receiving an individual time slot. At the general session, aside from learning valuable lessons from keynote speaker John Beede, a mountain climber and motivational speaker, Harker also earned recognition for being one of five schools in California to complete all chapter campaigns at the Thrive Level, earning six spots at the Thrive Leadership Academy at the ICDC. Furthermore, Harker’s very own Alisa Su, grade 11, received a plaque for designing the winning California ICDC pin, and advisor Juston Glass was honored for five years of service to DECA.
Saturday, written event presentations were made and, in the evening , chapters once against convened at the convention center for the Formal Recognition Session, where individuals who placed highly in their event were awarded medals. Harker DECA energetically supported all of its members as numerous students staged. Later that night, students had the option to attend a formal dance.
Throughout Friday and Saturday, students were given the opportunity to visit corporate booths, attend workshops and take protégé events. Several company sponsors set up tables to provide DECA members with more information, including The Men’s Wearhouse, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and Arizona State University. Workshop topics ranged from internship success to teen entrepreneurship, and many students enjoyed the chance to improve their skills and meet business professionals.
“I really enjoyed that this conference was really interesting and fun and additionally offered many more opportunities and things besides competing,” said Ronit Gagneja, grade 9. “In the workshop I went to, I learned to always have a positive attitude and believe in myself.”
Protégé events tested students’ aptitude in association/nonprofit management, event planning, green business, investing, insurance and real estate. Although these tests do not quality participants for ICDC, Harker still had many finalists, including Rishi Dange, grade 9, Enya Lu, grade 10, Arnav Joshi, grade 9, Jeffrey Liu, grade 9, Sachin Shah, grade 9, Bryan Wang, grade 9, Jessica Jiang, grade 9, Arun Sundaresan, grade 9, Johnny Wang, grade 10, Max Lee, grade 9, Evan Cheng, grade 9, Rohan Cherukuri, grade 9, Ronit Gagneja, grade 9, Mahi Kolla, grade 9, and Naveen Mirapuri, grade 9, Moreover, throughout the entire conference, students had a chance to network with other schools and expand their social connections.
“I really loved SCDC this year! It was such a great experience, and my favorite part was being able to meet so many new people and forming new friends,” said Riya Gupta, grade 10.
Finally, the Grand Awards Session occurred on Sunday morning. Harker performed admirably, earning the notice of other schools on YikYak after the constant cheering and staging of students.
“I really loved seeing the students in another light, really seeing what they’re passionate about, stepping out of their normal roles at school and just watching them get really excited about DECA,” said Kevin Williamson, Harker upper school dean of students and Harker DECA chaperone. “I was surprised by the level of professionalism that they showed, and the level of interest made it very exciting to be a part of the whole program.”
For some of the nine seniors in attendance, the 2017 state conference also marked the end of their DECA careers, causing a bittersweet moment. The entire chapter took a moment to recognize all their commitment and contributions to DECA over the past four years.
“I think that DECA conferences are crazy and thrilling, in a good way, and that I’m going to miss the people I met the most,” Chandra said. “Some of my best friends really came from DECA. Our officer team is all pretty close as well, so I’m definitely going to miss them! While it’s hard to move on from DECA, I think it’s time for a new chapter in my life, and I can’t wait to come back as an alumna and judge next year.”
Everyone then gathered to take chapter photos before saying goodbye to SCDC, ending yet another successful and amazing conference for Harker DECA. Qualifying students will have the opportunity to compete at ICDC in Anaheim April 25-30. Go Eagles!
About The Harker School DECA
Harker DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders.