Category: Upper School

Football Crushes, Cross Country Cruises, Teams Play Hard

Football

Football is 6-1 overall after the team’s 63-0 win at Turlock Christian on Friday night. Check out the game stats at http://www.maxpreps.com/games/football-fall-15/harker-vs-turlock-christian/10-16-2015-bVpdBRqUtkCdD_BtMPNJDA.htm. The squad will host a tough St. Vincent de Paul team at home this Friday on Teacher/Faculty Appreciation Night. The game starts at 7 p.m. (come early for the recognition ceremony at 6:45 p.m.). This is also an important league game, so come out and support the team!

Cross Country

Junior Niki Iyer again cruised to a league cross country victory last Thursday at Baylands Park as the young girls team placed a very respectable third overall. Senior Alex Dellar ran her season’s best, while seniors Lev Sepetov, Jack Rothschild and Connor O’Neill led the varsity boys team, with Sepetov earning top Harker boys honors. The team races tomorrow in its final competition before the league championships.

Golf

The girls golf team defeated Notre Dame last week and lost a close one to Sacred Heart. The team faced Mercy yesterday and will play Castilleja tomorrow afternoon at Palo Alto Hills Country Club.

Tennis

Menlo had to really work to beat our girls tennis team last week. Though we lost 6-1, with freshman Pamela Duke defeating Menlo’s No. 1 player, all matches were very competitive. The girls then defeated Pinewood 7-0 Thursday to improve to 8-2 overall.

Volleyball

Girls volleyball improved to 14-7 (5-0 in league) after its victory at Mercy-Burlingame. Join us for a big game against Menlo this Thursday night at 5:45 p.m. at Blackford!

Water Polo

Water polo’s Senior Day is Thursday! The boys will play at about 4:15 p.m. and the girls will play at about 6:30 p.m. 

Go Eagles!

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Grade 9 Class Heads to Guadalupe River Park Conservancy for Community Service Day

Each year grade 9 students participate in the annual Freshman Community Service Day as an introduction to community service. This year marked the first time that the entire class performed its initial service day at one location: the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy in San Jose.

Some 196 freshman participated in the service learning project, which included a trail cleanup and nature walk, as well as an educational component. The outing kicked off what promises to be a meaningful year of local outreach work for the ninth graders. Throughout the school year, the students will have the opportunity to fulfill a variety community service jobs at a number of organizations.

The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy provides community leadership for the development and active use of the Guadalupe River Park & Gardens through education, advocacy and stewardship programs.

According to conservancy representatives, who welcomed the visit from the upper school, the learning portion of the student’s day included activities at three stations: “macroinvertebrates, dichotomous key for tree identification and a bio blitz.” The service experience, which immediately followed, focused on litter pick up.

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UPDATE! Two Students Named Siemens Regional Finalists out of 13 Harker Semifinalists

UPDATE: Two students, Evani Radiya-Dixit and David Zhu, both grade 11, have advanced as regional finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology! Of the 17 California finalists, 10 are from the Bay Area, while seven are from Southern California. Only two other schools in the state had two finalists. New York State also had 17 finalists, followed by Texas with 11.

The full list of regional finalists can be found here. The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology is considered the nation’s premier research competition for high school students. A total of 97 regional finalists from throughout the U.S. now advance to one of six regional competitions held over three consecutive weekends in November at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Nov. 6-7); Georgia Institute of Technology (Nov. 6-7); University of Notre Dame (Nov. 13-14); University of Texas at Austin (Nov. 13-14); California Institute of Technology (Nov. 20-21); and Carnegie Mellon University (Nov. 20-21).

Winners of the regional events advance to the National Finals at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6-8, where $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.

The competition awards a $1,000 scholarship to each regional finalist, in addition to one $3,000 prize to an individual winner and a $6,000 prize to a team winner at each regional competition.

A complete list of finalists and their projects is available at www.siemens-foundation.org preceding each regional event.

Oct. 16, 2015
The Siemens Foundation announced today that 13 Harker upper school students had been named semifinalists in this year’s Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Harker had the most semifinalists of any California school. 

This year’s semifinalists are: 

Vivek Bharadwaj, Rishabh Chandra, Anthony Luo and Jonathan Ma, grade 12; Rishab Gargeya, Shasvat Jawahar, Alex Mo, Evani Radiya-Dixit, Venkat Sankar, Manan Shah, Arjun Subramaniam and David Zhu, grade 11; and Brandon Mo, grade 10. 

A total of 466 semifinalists were chosen from the 1,700 submissions received by Siemens. These students are now eligible to become regional finalists and travel to Washington, D.C., for the finals in December.

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Kudos: Sophomore Liao Navigates Tough National Fencing Event to Take Fifth and Earn “A” Rating

Jerrica Liao, grade 10, took fifth place at the USA Fencing North American Cup tournament in Richmond, Va., this past weekend! There were 156 entries in the Women’s Foil Cadet (age 17 and under) field. Liao powered through pools, winning all her bouts with a +12 indicator, seeding 11th into the tableau. She then cruised through her first elimination bout, but had a tough one against the 75-seed, scraping by 4-3 (bouts go to 15 touches or 9 minutes of fencing time). Climbing the tableau, she next pushed past a Ukrainian fencer 10-9, crushed her next opponent to make the top eight 15-7 and finally lost to the eventual silver medalist. Liao reached a serious milestone in any fencer’s career in this event, earning her “A” rating. Most hearty congratulations to this fine swordswoman, a credit to her club, Silicon Valley Fencing Center.

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Seniors Attend Inspiring YWCA Luncheon Celebrating Women’s Empowerment

A group of five seniors, with special interests in the performing arts, journalism or outreach work, recently joined more than 1,000 attendees at the YWCA of Silicon Valley’s annual fall fundraiser.

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the popular event, called the Inspire Luncheon, which featured two keynote speakers: World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda and Oscar-winning actress and filmmaker Helen Hunt. Both spoke to the theme of empowering women and eliminating racism, key tenets of the YWCA’s mission.

Gumbonzvanda joined the World YWCA in 2007 after a decade working with the United Nations in Africa. At the end of her speech, she received the organization’s inaugural Empowerment Award. Hunt, meanwhile, is best known for her roles in movies, such as “As Good As It Gets,” and the TV show “Mad About You.” These days she is also heavily involved in youth and environmental causes.

Harker regularly hosts a table for upper school students with a special passion for the year’s topic. Attending this year’s event were seniors Melina Nakos, Naomi Molin, Helen Woodruff, Adele Li, and Ashi Gautam. Joining them were Emma Hawley ’04 and Aisha Khan ’03. Before the luncheon, the Harker contingent had the opportunity to meet with the event’s speakers.

The annual luncheon features guest speakers who serve as role models for women and girls. Held every October at the Santa Clara Convention Center, event proceeds help support the group’s much-lauded services.

Each year, more than 40 companies and hundreds of individuals sponsor the YWCA’s luncheon. The mission of the YWCA is to empower women, children and families, and to eliminate racism, hatred and prejudice. The organization provides programs in the areas of sexual assault intervention and prevention, counseling services, domestic violence, child care, youth programs, family services, and social and racial justice.

The YWCA of Silicon Valley serves nearly 18,000 Santa Clara County residents each year, and has provided countywide services for more than 100 years. More information can be found at www.ywca-sv.org

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Runners and Golfers Make History; Volleyball, Football, Tennis and Water Polo Score Big Wins

A special shout out to Vivian Wang, grade 10, named Swimmer of the Year/Age Group Girls by Pacific Swimming, the third largest of USA Swimming’s 59 regional associations made up of 120 swim clubs and more than 16,000 swimmers. Every year, the most outstanding and accomplished swimmers in each age group for girls and the boys are nominated for the awards. Way to go Vivian!

Cross Country

Niki Iyer, grade 11, broke her own school record on the famed Crystal Springs course Saturday. Her time is the second best in CCS Division 4 this season. Freshmen Lilia Gonzales and Alycia Cary led the JV girls to a sixth place team finish against 30 teams. Senior Connor O’Neill ran the fastest race for the varsity boys with a time of 18:46 on the hilly 2.95-mile course. He improved by an astounding 3 minutes over last year. Michael Wang, grade 9, broke 21:00 to lead the JV boys. The teams run Thursday at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale in their second league meet.

Golf    

Girls golf made history by shooting Harker’s best score of 189 in back-to-back matches against Castilleja and Menlo, losing by 2 to the Gators and beating the Knights by 4 at Los Lagos last week. The Eagles were paced by sophomore Katherine Zhu’s 29 and 31, tying alumnus Maverick McNealy’s record of 5-under in one round. Seniors Ashley Zhong and Daphne Liang also had their career bests of 35 and 38. Girls golf is now in second place in league. Please congratulate the team on a record-breaking performance.

Volleyball

Girls volleyball defeated last year’s Division 1 state runner-up Pitman en route to the finals of the Notre Dame-Belmont Tournament Saturday. The girls lost to the host school in the final match but went 4-1 on the day in the high-level tournament. Seniors Jackie Chen, Shannon Richardson and Doreene Kang led the Eagles offensively. The girls have a big home match on Oct. 22 vs. Menlo that could have huge league implications, so come out and support the team!

Heartiest congrats to Theresa “Smitty” Smith, U.S. women’s volleyball coach, for gaining her 300th career win as a volleyball coach at this event – a huge milestone! A thousand hurrahs for her dedication to the sport!

Football

Football won its fifth game in a row by defeating Emery in Oakland Saturday 34-12 to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. Freshman Demonte Aleem scored two touchdowns, senior Johnathon Keller, and sophomores Angel Cervantes and Anthony Contreras scored the others. The boys travel to Turlock Christian Friday for a non-league game.

Tennis

The girls tennis team won matches over Sacred Heart, Milpitas and Castilleja last week to improve to 7-1 overall.  The girls face state powerhouse Menlo today at Menlo.

Water Polo

Every Eagle recorded a goal for the girls water polo team in their 19-3 win over Milpitas last week. Freshman Samantha Yanovsky led the way with four goals, while fellow freshmen Sophia Angus and Nicole Selvaggio recorded their first high school goals. Freshman Lily Wancewicz led the defense with five saves in goal. The boys team defeated Milpitas and lost to Saratoga last week, and went 2-2 in the Polofest held at Harker Friday and Saturday. The boys are now 8-7 overall. Both the boys and girls teams travel to Homestead today and host Cupertino Thursday.  

Go Eagles!

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Runners and Golfers Make History; Volleyball, Football, Tennis and Water Polo Score Big Wins

A special shout out to Vivian Wang, grade 10, named Swimmer of the Year/Age Group Girls by Pacific Swimming, the third largest of USA Swimming’s 59 regional associations made up of 120 swim clubs and more than 16,000 swimmers. Every year, the most outstanding and accomplished swimmers in each age group for girls and the boys are nominated for the awards. Way to go Vivian!

Cross Country

Niki Iyer, grade 11, broke her own school record on the famed Crystal Springs course Saturday. Her time is the second best in CCS Division 4 this season. Freshmen Lilia Gonzales and Alycia Cary led the JV girls to a sixth place team finish against 30 teams. Senior Connor O’Neill ran the fastest race for the varsity boys with a time of 18:46 on the hilly 2.95-mile course. He improved by an astounding 3 minutes over last year. Michael Wang, grade 9, broke 21:00 to lead the JV boys. The teams run Thursday at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale in their second league meet.

Golf    

Girls golf made history by shooting Harker’s best score of 189 in back-to-back matches against Castilleja and Menlo, losing by 2 to the Gators and beating the Knights by 4 at Los Lagos last week. The Eagles were paced by sophomore Katherine Zhu’s 29 and 31, tying alumnus Maverick McNealy’s record of 5-under in one round. Seniors Ashley Zhong and Daphne Liang also had their career bests of 35 and 38. Girls golf is now in second place in league. Please congratulate the team on a record-breaking performance.

Volleyball

Girls volleyball defeated last year’s Division 1 state runner-up Pitman en route to the finals of the Notre Dame-Belmont Tournament Saturday. The girls lost to the host school in the final match but went 4-1 on the day in the high-level tournament. Seniors Jackie Chen, Shannon Richardson and Doreene Kang led the Eagles offensively. The girls have a big home match on Oct. 22 vs. Menlo that could have huge league implications, so come out and support the team!

Heartiest congrats to Theresa “Smitty” Smith, U.S. women’s volleyball coach, for gaining her 300th career win as a volleyball coach at this event – a huge milestone! A thousand hurrahs for her dedication to the sport!

Football

Football won its fifth game in a row by defeating Emery in Oakland Saturday 34-12 to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. Freshman Demonte Aleem scored two touchdowns, senior Johnathon Keller, and sophomores Angel Cervantes and Anthony Contreras scored the others. The boys travel to Turlock Christian Friday for a non-league game.

Tennis

The girls tennis team won matches over Sacred Heart, Milpitas and Castilleja last week to improve to 7-1 overall.  The girls face state powerhouse Menlo today at Menlo.

Water Polo

Every Eagle recorded a goal for the girls water polo team in their 19-3 win over Milpitas last week. Freshman Samantha Yanovsky led the way with four goals, while fellow freshmen Sophia Angus and Nicole Selvaggio recorded their first high school goals. Freshman Lily Wancewicz led the defense with five saves in goal. The boys team defeated Milpitas and lost to Saratoga last week, and went 2-2 in the Polofest held at Harker Friday and Saturday. The boys are now 8-7 overall. Both the boys and girls teams travel to Homestead today and host Cupertino Thursday.  

Go Eagles!

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Runners and Golfers Make History; Volleyball, Football, Tennis and Water Polo Score Big Wins

A special shout out to Vivian Wang, grade 10, named Swimmer of the Year/Age Group Girls by Pacific Swimming, the third largest of USA Swimming’s 59 regional associations made up of 120 swim clubs and more than 16,000 swimmers. Every year, the most outstanding and accomplished swimmers in each age group for girls and the boys are nominated for the awards. Way to go Vivian!

Cross Country

Niki Iyer, grade 11, broke her own school record on the famed Crystal Springs course Saturday. Her time is the second best in CCS Division 4 this season. Freshmen Lilia Gonzales and Alycia Cary led the JV girls to a sixth place team finish against 30 teams. Senior Connor O’Neill ran the fastest race for the varsity boys with a time of 18:46 on the hilly 2.95-mile course. He improved by an astounding 3 minutes over last year. Michael Wang, grade 9, broke 21:00 to lead the JV boys. The teams run Thursday at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale in their second league meet.

Golf    

Girls golf made history by shooting Harker’s best score of 189 in back-to-back matches against Castilleja and Menlo, losing by 2 to the Gators and beating the Knights by 4 at Los Lagos last week. The Eagles were paced by sophomore Katherine Zhu’s 29 and 31, tying alumnus Maverick McNealy’s record of 5-under in one round. Seniors Ashley Zhong and Daphne Liang also had their career bests of 35 and 38. Girls golf is now in second place in league. Please congratulate the team on a record-breaking performance.

Volleyball

Girls volleyball defeated last year’s Division 1 state runner-up Pitman en route to the finals of the Notre Dame-Belmont Tournament Saturday. The girls lost to the host school in the final match but went 4-1 on the day in the high-level tournament. Seniors Jackie Chen, Shannon Richardson and Doreene Kang led the Eagles offensively. The girls have a big home match on Oct. 22 vs. Menlo that could have huge league implications, so come out and support the team!

Heartiest congrats to Theresa “Smitty” Smith, U.S. women’s volleyball coach, for gaining her 300th career win as a volleyball coach at this event – a huge milestone! A thousand hurrahs for her dedication to the sport!

Football

Football won its fifth game in a row by defeating Emery in Oakland Saturday 34-12 to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. Freshman Demonte Aleem scored two touchdowns, senior Johnathon Keller, and sophomores Angel Cervantes and Anthony Contreras scored the others. The boys travel to Turlock Christian Friday for a non-league game.

Tennis

The girls tennis team won matches over Sacred Heart, Milpitas and Castilleja last week to improve to 7-1 overall.  The girls face state powerhouse Menlo today at Menlo.

Water Polo

Every Eagle recorded a goal for the girls water polo team in their 19-3 win over Milpitas last week. Freshman Samantha Yanovsky led the way with four goals, while fellow freshmen Sophia Angus and Nicole Selvaggio recorded their first high school goals. Freshman Lily Wancewicz led the defense with five saves in goal. The boys team defeated Milpitas and lost to Saratoga last week, and went 2-2 in the Polofest held at Harker Friday and Saturday. The boys are now 8-7 overall. Both the boys and girls teams travel to Homestead today and host Cupertino Thursday.  

Go Eagles!

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Students Head North for Annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival Trip

A group of 27 upper school students traveled to Ashland, Ore., for the annual visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), a professional theater company that specializes in classic and contemporary works. There, the students attended the OSF production of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat” and Stan Lai’s “Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land.”

In addition, the OSF provided intensive workshops, run by OSF actors and teachers, to enhance the students’ overall understanding of the plays they attended. In one session, students learned about the literary concept of the hero’s journey by having a student cover their eyes while other students acted as guides.

Read more about Harker’s annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the upcoming Winter 2015 issue of the Harker Quarterly.

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Students Head North for Annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival Trip

A group of 27 upper school students traveled to Ashland, Ore., for the annual visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), a professional theater company that specializes in classic and contemporary works. There, the students attended the OSF production of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat” and Stan Lai’s “Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land.”

In addition, the OSF provided intensive workshops, run by OSF actors and teachers, to enhance the students’ overall understanding of the plays they attended. In one session, students learned about the literary concept of the hero’s journey by having a student cover their eyes while other students acted as guides.

Read more about Harker’s annual trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the upcoming Winter 2015 issue of the Harker Quarterly.

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