Boys varsity basketball is on a three-game winning streak going into today’s home contest against King’s Academy, its second league game of the season. Saturday’s victory over Monta Vista was earned in dramatic fashion with a late game-winning layup by senior Abhi Namala in overtime to take the game 45-44 and grant coach Alfredo Alves his 100th career win.
Girls varsity soccer suffered its first loss to Menlo on Thursday and now has an overall record of 7-1-1. They’re up against Notre Dame Belmont today at Davis Field, where they also will face Priory on Friday. Boys soccer, meanwhile, hopes to bounce back today against King’s Academy after losses to Menlo and Crystal Springs
Girls basketball is headed to Pinewood tonight following losses to Menlo and King’s Academy. The team will play Notre Dame Belmont at home on Friday.
This story was submitted by Jia Jia Jiang, grade 10.
On Wednesday, Harker’s CareerConnect club hosted an event with entrepreneur and venture capitalist Atit Jariwala, who reflected on his high school, college and work experiences. He spoke to students about how he was able to transform his success from his early years into the business world. Additionally, he provided insightful advice on the transition from school to work and how students could better their opportunities. Jariwala graduated valedictorian of his high school. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford University. Since then, he has founded startups in real estate and technology, opened a restaurant chain and worked in the venture capital industry. Jariwala also shared about some recent projects he had been working on in states including Missouri and New York, and discussed the change from in-person to online work.
The event was helpful for many students who wanted to hear personal advice from a working professional. Sophomore Deeya Verma, reflecting on Jariwala’s journey to success, commented, “Learning about the route he took to success was interesting and plausible for anyone with determination and passion, making it an overall eye-opening and informative experience.” Sophomore Sam Parupudi believed that “his knowledge about all things business combined with his academic skills and an easy-to-follow manner of speech made this the perfect event.” Overall, the attendees enjoyed listening to Jariwala’s story and experiences and were glad to hear from someone with knowledge in many industries.
Girls varsity soccer remains undefeated with a Monday win over Crystal Springs and yesterday’s 1-1 tie with Notre Dame San Jose in their first league game. League play continues tomorrow with an away game against Menlo School.
Meanwhile, boys varsity soccer picked up their second win this week over Eastside College Prep. They have two away games this week, facing Menlo today and Crystal Springs on Friday.
Girls varsity basketball is 7-4 after Tuesday’s loss to Menlo and last week’s overtime win against Christopher High. By securing a .500 record in non-league play the team has qualified to apply for the CCS tournament. They will face King’s Academy on Friday in their first league game of the season.
Boys varsity basketball rebounded from last week’s loss to BASIS to defeat Crystal Springs Tuesday in their first league game, improving to 11-2 overall. They will host Woodside High tomorrow at the Athletic Center and play Monta Vista in an away game on Saturday.
Last month, sophomore Emma Milner published a feature on Harker Aquila about Robert Rothbart MS ’00, who now plays basketball professionally in the Israeli National League. The story was selected as Best of SNO by Student News Online and was praised by Rothbart, who said, “I have been interviewed hundreds of times in my career, and this is hands down the only article I cherish.” The story goes into Rothbart’s early life in former Yugoslavia and his difficulty adjusting to American life after joining Harker as a fourth grader when his mother was hired as a basketball coach. Rothbart began playing basketball at Harker that same year and soon decided he wanted to be a professional player, following in his parents’ footsteps.
The Harker Math Club, coached by upper school math teacher Anu Aiyer, just won the fall 2022 high school Math Madness championship. It was the club’s first time winning the competition since 2015. Held by AreteLabs, the biannual online competition consists of four league rounds and six tournament bracket rounds. Teams compete in 30-minute matches with two teams facing off at a time. Teachers schedule the times for their teams to complete the seven or eight multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions that make up each match. Approximately 20,000 students participate in Math Madness competitions each year.
Following their big win in the James Lick Invitational tournament, varsity boys basketball dropped a very close game against Del Mar High School with a final score of 53-55, the team’s first loss of the season. The team bounced back two days later with a 47-24 win over University Prep Academy, and faces Design Tech at home this Friday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m.
Varsity girls soccer is off to a great 4-0 start, defeating Scotts Valley, James Lick High School, Prospect High School and Castilleja since their Nov. 29 start. The team will play Half Moon Bay in an away game this Friday at 5 p.m.
Varsity girls basketball defeated Lincoln San Jose last week, coming back from losses against Evergreen Valley and American High School in the Sandi Stober Classic tournament. The team will be busy during the winter break, facing Independence High this Saturday at home, followed by away games against Piedmont Hills and North Salinas and participating in the Cupertino Classic tournament at Cupertino High School.
Boys varsity soccer lost last week to Santa Clara High, and played to a tie against Lynbrook on Friday. The team’s final game of 2022 will be at home versus Yerba Buena this Friday at 3 p.m.
Chess enthusiasts Vyom Vidyarthi, grade 10, and Omya Vidyarthi, grade 7, participated in the North American Youth Chess Championship in Mexico City from Dec. 1-6, each winning their respective sections. Vyom placed first in the U20 section and earned his second grandmaster norm, while Omya won the U20 girls section. Earlier this year, Vyom and Omya each won gold at the Pan American Youth Chess Championship.
The fourth-annual Santa Clara Children’s Business Fair, organized by ninth grader Mikhil Kiran, took place Oct. 22 at Live Oak Park in Santa Clara, during which 100 young entrepreneurs pitched their product ideas to visitors from the local community. “We had a really good event, with a wonderful turnout,” said Kiran, who estimated that several hundred people attended.
Kiran, who is also the founder of the nonprofit Kidzrule, has run the event since he was a fifth grader. He started the nonprofit to create and inspire the next generation of young entrepreneurs.
Harker students participating at the fair included fifth grader Ryan Santosh, who created Nature Designs, and Aditya Shivakumar, grade 9, and Trisha Shivakumar, grade 8, of Magic Escape.
Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Santa Clara City Councilmember Kathy Watanabe, who gave special speeches to the entrepreneurs, were present at the fair, encouraging and congratulating the young entrepreneurs on their first adventures into business.
Last month, junior Shayla He was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA) in the Original Recording category. The HMMAs honor up-and-coming independent artists in a wide variety of categories. Shayla, who is a member of the upper school show choir Downbeat, attended the Hollywood Music in Media Academy’s award ceremony earlier this month in Hollywood, where she had the opportunity to see performances by Grammy winners Charles Fox and Diane Warren. Celebrities including Tom Hanks were also in attendance.
Junior Veyd Patil ran well at the State Cross Country Championships over the weekend in Fresno, placing 67th out of 201 runners while setting a new personal record. Congratulations!
Frosh, junior varsity and varsity boys basketball all won their season openers last week. The frosh defeated Stratford with a score of 45-18 while JV and varsity each had wins against Yerba Buena with scores of 61-14 and 83-28, respectively.
Girls soccer’s season starts tomorrow against Scotts Valley on Davis Field at 4 p.m. The team returns to Davis Field on Friday at 5:30 p.m. to face James Lick. Also this week, boys soccer will visit Half Moon Bay tomorrow and play at home on Thursday against San Francisco International. Girls basketball will be playing in the Sandi Stober Classic tournament this week, hosted by Lynbrook High School. Their first game is scheduled for Thursday at 4:45 p.m.