This story was submitted by Ariana Gauba, grade 10.
From April 21-26, more than 40 Harker DECA members attended the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), at the Orlando Convention Center.
“ICDC was a truly unique experience where I got to meet new people and network with people across the globe!” said Harker DECA’s 2023-2024 VP of Public Relations Gabriel Jacob Li, grade 10.
Throughout the conference, chapter members explored Orlando, visited Disney’s Epcot Park and Universal Studios, and competed in their events. Harker DECA was extremely competitively successful, having multiple teams placed in the top 5, including Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making and Franchise Business Plan.
Last weekend, five Harker students were awarded in the Journalism Education’s spring 2023 National Student Media Contest. Jessica Wang, grade 10, received a Superior award in Editorial Writing; junior Desiree Luo was given an Excellent award in the Sports Writing category; sophomore Felix Chen received an Excellent award in Press Law and Ethics; Mirabelle Feng, grade 10, was awarded Superior in Literary Magazine: Illustration; and senior Katie Wang received an Honorable Mention in Photography Portfolio.
National Student Media Contests are held twice a year in the fall and spring. Submissions are evaluated by a team of judges, whose critiques are made available to the students entering the competition. Winning entries receive awards at three levels: Superior, Excellent and Honorable Mention.
Arushi Sharma, grade 11, performed earlier this month at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of the Winners Recital of the American Protégé International Vocal Competition. Sharma was named a second place winner in the competition’s intermediate category. Her performance of Giacomo Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro” was well-received by the audience in attendance. Sharma, who has been in vocal training for more than 10 years, is a member of Harker’s Cantilena vocal group and also has participated in Harker musical theater productions since grade 9.
At the University of Kentucky’s 2023 Tournament of Champions, held earlier this month, senior Muzzi Khan won the national championship in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The topic was “Resolved: Justice requires open borders for human migration.” After an excellent preliminary record, Khan went on to win five single elimination rounds. In the final round, he successfully defended the affirmative side of the resolution against a team from Strake Jesuit in Houston. Harker also won the National Debate Coaches Association national championship, making it only the third time in history that a team has won both titles in the same year.
Several other students also had excellent showings at the tournament. Gordy Sun, grade 11, was named second in the nation in extemporaneous speaking. Fellow junior Daniel Lin was a finalist in congressional debate. The duo of Sasha Masson and Adrian Liu, both juniors, made it to the elimination rounds of public forum debate. Dyllan Han, grade 11, and Joy Hu, grade 9, won awards in original oratory. Lastly, juniors Ansh Sheth and Kabir Buch advanced in Lincoln Douglas debate.
Because qualifying for the Tournament of Champions is a difficult task, coaches expressed their pride in the following participants who competed in a variety of speech and debate events: Michelle Jin and Carol Wininger, grade 12; Iris Fu, Panav Gogte, Ariav Misra, Max Xing and Fiona Yan, grade 11; Robert Fields, Jacqueline Huang, Kashish Priyam, Ruhan Sahasi, Veer Shasi and Jason Shim, grade 10; and Roshan Amurthur, Pavitra Kasthuri and Sofia Shah, grade 9.
Ava Bhowmik, grade 9, recently received a first place award at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. Her project, which measured fluid droplet sizes and the efficacy of protective masks, was the top oral presentation in the Engineering and Technology category, earning her a $12,000 scholarship.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Defense, the National JSHS took place April 12-15 in Virginia Beach, Va., and invited 227 high school students to compete, judged by teachers, university faculty, STEM industry professionals and more. Bhowmik was among the 48 national winners who reached the national stage by participating at one of the 49 regional competitions hosted in the United States, Puerto Rico and Department of Defense Education Activity schools across the world.
Alec Zhang, grade 11, and Jingjing Liang, grade 9, were recently awarded Project of the Year in the senior division at the California Science & Engineering Fair. Their project, titled “Development of an Innovative Eye-Tracking and Audio Hybrid System for ASD Early Detection,” won the pair the top prize of $5,000.
“We really appreciate the wonderful research programs at Harker, the intellectual vitality of the environment and the amazing mentors and peers at school to support us along this journey,” Zhang said. The two students plan to donate half of their winnings to science fairs serving underprivileged communities and the other half to youth with special needs.
Many other Harker students also performed well at CSEF.
Junior Division:
Brandon Labio, grade 8, Honorable Mention, Applied Mechanics and Structures
Nathan Yee, grade 8, Honorable Mention, Applied Mechanics and Structures
Anish Kosaraju, grade 8, Honorable Mention, Behavioral and Social Sciences
The 2023 upper school spring musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” has been nominated for Rita Moreno Awards for Overall Production and Outstanding Actress (Selina Xu, grade 11). A total of 36 productions – as well as 263 individual performers – were nominated in the competition, which includes high school theater programs north of Santa Barbara. Students who win Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Actor will head to New York City for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, where they will showcase for industry professionals and compete for scholarships. As part of the competition, the cast of “Spelling Bee” will perform a seven-minute compilation of scenes from the show on May 8 at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are available.
The upper school robotics team, FIRST FRC Team 1072: Harker Robotics, participated in the Sacramento Regional at the University of California, Davis, this past weekend. There, 46 teams from as far away as Shanghai participated in the 2023 FIRST ENERGIZE competition.
In the first 10 qualification matches on Saturday morning, Harker Robotics was No. 1 in the team rankings, making a strong impression on the attending teams. By the end of the qualification matches on Sunday, it was ranked 11 and was the first pick for the fourth alliance going into the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, the team’s alliance lost both of its initial rounds and was done competing in the games for this event. The team was disappointed, of course, but had done an excellent job in engineering, networking, team building, scouting and team promotion. After packing up the robot and the engineering pit, there was nothing left to do other than watch the remaining games and patiently sit through the awards ceremonies.
The last award given out at every event is the FIRST Impact Award. It is considered the most prestigious award that a team can receive – higher than even being on the winning alliance at the event. According to FIRST, this award “honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST.”
Judges at the Sacramento regional said that 1072 “hosted multiple events, providing opportunities for young students to learn about science, technology engineering and math. Students were exposed to the world of robotics and the ability to pursue careers in STEM education. The impact of this team was felt worldwide.”
The response of the team members was explosive with screaming, jumping, running and many tears. Receiving this award makes 1072 eligible to attend the championship event in Houston in April, where it will compete once again against other Impact Award winners from the other regional events.
After a four-way closeout, seniors Muzzi Khan and Rahul Mulpuri and juniors Ansh Sheth and Panav Gogte were declared the National Debate Coaches Association’s Lincoln-Douglas co-champions this week, making Harker the national Lincoln-Douglas champion for the third consecutive year. In another exciting development, Harker was presented with the Leading Chapter Award by the National Speech and Debate Association for consistently being the top program over the last decade, spanning 2012-2022. “I’m proud when the students win individual awards but especially love these team wide recognitions, because the record of every debater and speaker since 2012 contributed,” said Jenny Achten, speech and debate department chair. “I’m so grateful for the support the team receives from the school and the outstanding group of coaches I get to work alongside.”
Yesterday, team FRESH.mInD were selected as finalists in the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, emerging as one of the top 10 teams in this year’s competition. Nearly 1,400 teams entered this year’s contest, numbering approximately 3,200 students in total. They will compete at the Global Finale, held April 21-22 at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia.
This annual contest, run by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, tasks teams of high school students with developing a financial plan and investment portfolio. Semifinalists will submit a video presentation based on the information in their reports.