Category: Upper School

Senior earns State Department language scholarship, Congressional Award

Senior Logan Bhamidipaty was recently awarded a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), which funds a full academic year abroad for students studying languages judged as important by the State Department. Following graduation, Bhamidipaty plans to take a gap year to study Mandarin in Beijing before matriculating to Stanford.

Bhamidipaty also was recognized last month with a Congressional Award for his volunteer work with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, and as an immigration intern with Catholic Charities USA. He also was honored for his devotion to becoming fluent in Mandarin, and for studying the history and culture of Japan’s Kansai region during the country’s Edo period. Bhamidipaty is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., in June for a special ceremony attended by awardees and members of the U.S. Congress.

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In the News: March 2019

It was a very busy month for Harker in the news!

There were a number of articles celebrating Harker’s Regeneron finalists.

https://www.facebook.com/indianamericancommunitynews/photos/a.711141525572685/2387164114637076/?type=3&theater

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/amazing-42-5-of-finalists-in-2019-regeneron-science-talent-search-are-of-indian-origin.606897/

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/regeneron-science-competition-awards-long-island-1.28396811

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/teen-inventor-designs-noninvasive-allergy-screen-using-genetics-and-machine-learning-180971692/

Indian American teens Adam Ardeishar, Eshika Saxena among top winners in 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search

Harker’s boys varsity volleyball team is having a great year!
https://www.noozhawk.com/article/santa_barbara_volleyball_advances_to_gold_division_at_best_of_west_tourname

Harker placed highly on a couple of interesting lists:
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/03/18/these-are-the-best-private-high-schools-in-the-bay.html#g/451310/25

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/03/25/check-out-the-2019-top-30-bay-area-high-schools.html

Harker students regularly participate in a very worthy Critical Issues Forum:
https://www.nonproliferation.org/critical-issues-forum-2019-in-monterey/

Harker’s journalism program had some great results, including a first-time Gold Crown award for the yearbook, Talon.

https://twitter.com/jeaNorCal/status/1109176867393888256

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Harker teams heating up heading into the final few weeks of league play

Lacrosse

Before the break, the lacrosse team picked up two big league wins to go to 6-2 on the season. The Eagles defeated Aragon 4-2 and Notre Dame San Jose 10-6 to run their winning streak to four games. This week, the girls host Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday and travel to Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday.

Baseball

The boys baseball team has been on an absolute tear over the last few weeks, defeating its last three opponents by a combined score of 40-4. Before the break, the Eagles defeated Summit Rainier 11-1 with Luke Wancewicz, grade 10, driving in four runs on two hits. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Westmoor 13-2, with Wancewicz again leading the way with four RBIs, this time on three hits. Then over the break, the team took care of ACE Charter 16-1 to improve to 8-3 on the year. This week, the Eagles travel to South San Francisco on Tuesday and host SSF on Thursday.

Boys Volleyball

The boys volleyball team continued to dominate before the break as it took care of Los Altos and Lynbrook, both 3-0. Then over this past weekend, the Eagles took on some of the best competition in California at the Bellarmine Tournament. The boys went 2-0 on day one, defeating Valley Christian and South Pasadena. Day 2 started with a loss to St. Francis, but picked up as the Eagles defeated Madera South, Valley Christian and Homestead to finish ninth out of 22 teams. This week, the boys host Mountain View on Wednesday.

The Eagles were invited to talk about their season so far with Cal-Hi Sports. Check out the interview starting at 48:26: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3015&v=FACLl1ULZIw

Boys Tennis

Just before spring break, the boys tennis team continued to roll as it picked up its sixth and seventh consecutive wins. The Eagles are off this week before wrapping up league play next week.

Track and Field

The Eagles traveled to The King’s Academy before the break to compete against the rest of the WBAL at the second meet of the year. Anton Novikov, grade 10, posted two wins and a second place finish; Andrew Chen, grade 9, and Gio Rofa, grade 11, placed first and second in the triple jump; Alexa Lowe, grade 9, set another school record in the triple jump; Erica Cai, grade 9, won her mile race; Kismet Singh and Zoey Rosa, both grade 11, finished second and third in the 100-meter hurdles. The track and field team then competed at the Firebird Invitational at Fremont High. Ritika Rajamani, Ashley Barth and Erica Cai, all grade 9, placed third, fourth and fifith in the frosh-soph 2 mile run, and Bayden Yazalina, grade 10, won his 400-meter heat. This Saturday, the track and field team heads to San Mateo for the Bearcat Invitational.

Boys Golf

The boys golf team picked up a 202-269 win over Crystal Springs Uplands just before the break with Bradley Lu, grade 12, shooting a 32 to earn medalist honors. This week, the Eagles take on Sacred Heart Prep on Monday.

Softball

Before the break, the Eagles suffered a 14-2 loss to The King’s Academy before picking up a win via forfeit to Mercy SF. The 2-7 Eagles are back in action this week with a game at Notre Dame San Jose on Tuesday.

Swim

Harker swimmers took on Priory, The King’s Academy, Nueva, Castilleja, and Mercy SF on the Thursday before the break. The varsity girls went second and first in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. Nikela Hulton and Ysabel Chen, both grade 9, went second and third in the 200 IM. Chen added a third place in the 50 free. Ainsley Millard, grade 9, kept her winning streak going in the 50 fly. The varsity boys were first in the 200 medley relay, followed up by wins  from Alex Yu, grade 12, in the 200 and 100 free. Jay Thilking, grade 9, was second in the 200 IM. Matthew Chung and Jason Kwok, both grade 10, went first and second in the 50 free with Chung also winning the 100 back. Arnav Joshi, grade 11, was third in the 100 free. Rhys Edwards, grade 10, won the 100 fly. Andrew Chang, grade 12, took the 500 free. Harker went one-two-three on the 100 breast for Kwok, Edwards and Andrew Chang, grade 10. Special recognition for Matthew Chung and Rhys Edwards, who qualified for CCS in every event. This week, the Eagles host The King’s Academy on Thursday and compete at the Palo Alto Sectional Challenge over the weekend.
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“Urinetown” enthralls audiences with timely satirical story

This year’s upper school spring musical, “Urinetown,” wowed audiences this past weekend at the Patil Theater with its timely satirical tale of political unrest. The cast, who this summer will be the fourth in Harker history to travel to Scotland to appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, were fantastic in their roles as the citizens, businesspeople and politicians caught up in the drama of a town in the clutches of a ruthless megacorporation. 

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Seniors win Award of Distinction at national Model UN conference in NYC

From March 6-9, eight Harker upper school students joined thousands of students from around the world in New York City to participate in the National High School Model United Nations conference, the world’s largest Model United Nations conference for high school students. 

Harker students represented a variety of nations in a number of specialized committees, debating international issues and trying to work to diplomatic solutions. While the conference deemphasizes awards, it does recognize several delegations for their exemplary work in research, country representation, communication and diplomacy. Seniors Logan Bhamidipaty and Helen Yang were recognized as the top delegation, as the sole recipients of the Award of Distinction, for their work representing Indonesia in their security council body.

The conference also included keynote speeches from ambassador Jonathan Cohen, acting permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, and Anucha Browne Sanders, UNICEF’s chief engagement, advocacy and global programs officer. The students also engaged in committee sessions full of lively formal and informal debates and negotiations. For some students in specialized committees, such as the security council, this also included a middle-of-the-night crisis committee meeting.

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Business and economics students enjoy BEcon2019, $15,000 awarded!

On Saturday, March 16, more than 100 students attended BEcon, where they spent the morning exploring company booths, listening to the keynote speaker, and attending professional workshops and sHarker Tank, Harker’s own version of “Shark Tank.”

Winners of sHarker Tank are as follows:

First place: Promelle – Riya Gupta and Nishka Ayyar, both grade 12

Second place: The Minty Boutique – Mahi Kolla, grade 11

Third place: Pillbot – Johnny Wang, grade 12

Fourth place: Nanoseed – Jason Huang and Suraj Pakala, both grade 12

Students first interacted with a variety of company booths from around the Bay Area, such as Gualala Gadget, which manufactures 3D-printed marble machines, and Contrary Capital, which provides funding for student-led projects and businesses.

Afterward, students were led into the Nichols Auditorium for the keynote speaker: Yoram Bauman, the world’s only stand-up economist. Bauman performed his routine, eliciting laughter from the crowd with jokes about economists, capitalism and other topics while still educating students on various economics topics and about his efforts toward climate change legislation. Following Bauman, students transitioned to attend professional workshops on a variety of topics, including Blockchain, Business Analytics, Game Theory and Behavioral Economics. Students learned about different fields in business and economics, and developed new mindsets and skills to tackle business situations.

Students then attended the mentor luncheon, where professionals, including a number of Harker parents, from many fields ate with the students, told them about their daily lives in the workplace, and helped them build their professional networks. The mentors offered valuable business advice and answered questions posed by students.

After the lunch, the students migrated back to the auditorium for sHarker Tank, Harker’s own version of the popular TV show “Shark Tank.” The event was sponsored by venture firm Next47 and their CEO Lak Ananth. Honors Entrepreneurship students presented their companies and ideas to a panel of judges, competing for $15,000 in seed money, $10,000 of which was graciously provided by @Next47.

First to present was The Minty Boutique, which sells customizable and stylish personal planners, notebooks and more. The next company was Pillbot, an automated solution to medicine dispensing with a tamper-proof design and overdose protection. After Pillbot, Promelle gave a pitch for its mobile peer-to-peer clothing rental service. Finally, Nanoseed presented its nonprofit efforts of microfinancing loans in rural China. The winners were presented with oversized checks and met with ringing applause for their achievements!

BEcon 2019 was a success, offering students an opportunity to learn about new business and economics fields, expand their professional networks, and enjoy a Saturday morning filled with fun!

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Impressive week for spring athletics; winter All-League teams announced

Boys Golf

The boys golf team took care of Sacred Heart Prep last week with a 204-229 victory. This week, the Eagles take on Crystal Springs Uplands on Wednesday before traveling to Indio for the Champions Invitational over the weekend.

Lacrosse

The lacrosse team defeated Sequoia 12-3 in its sole matchup last week. The 4-2 Eagles host Aragon on Tuesday and Notre Dame San Jose on Thursday.

Baseball

Last week, the baseball team picked up two big league wins to improve to 5-3 on the season. First, the Eagles defeated Jefferson 6-5 with Levi Sutton, grade 10, Bobby Wang, grade 9, Max Lee, grade 11, Nick Coulter, grade 10, and Luke Wancewicz, grade 10, each driving in a run. Later in the week, Harker defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 16-7 with Lee driving in four runs and Coulter adding three more RBIs. This week, the Eagles travel to Woodside on Monday before hosting Summit Rainier on Tuesday and Westmoor on Friday.

Boys Volleyball

It was an up and down week for the boys volleyball team. After defeating Los Gatos 3-0, the Eagles were ranked first in CCS and No. 7 in the nation (watch the highlights!). However, the boys faced off with rival Monta Vista later in the week and dropped a heartbreaking five-set match. Then over the weekend, the Eagles took on some of the best local competition at the Monta Vista Tournament. The Eagles defeated Clovis, The King’s Academy and perennial CCS powerhouses St. Francis and Bellarmine to advance to the finals against host Monta Vista. But there was no redemption for the Eagles as they fell to the Matadores to take second place. The 18-3 Eagles travel to Los Altos on Wednesday and host Lynbrook on Friday.

Boys Tennis

The boys tennis team picked up two more league wins last week to improve to 7-1 on the season. The Eagles defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 5-2 and The King’s Academy 6-1. This week, the Eagles host Sacred Heart Prep on Monday and travel to Aragon on Wednesday.

Swim

Last week, the Harker swim team took on six teams at the latest WBAL Jamboree. Highlights included:

  • The girls 400 relay team took first place, with the medley relay team taking second and the 200 free relay team taking third.
  • The boys won the 200 medley and 200 free relays and took second in the 400 free relay.
  • Matthew Chung, grade 10, won the 100 free and 100 breast.
  • Rhys Edwards, grade 10, won the 200 individual medley and the 500 free.
  • Alex Yu, grade 12, took second in the 200 individual medley and third in the 500 free.
  • Andrew Chang, grade 12, was third in the 100 breast.
  • Jay Thilking, grade 9, took second in the 50 back.
  • Ethan Hu, grade 11, took first in both the 100 fly and 100 back.
  • Nikela Hulton, grade 9, and Ysabel Chen, grade 9, went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley.
  • Hulton, Nageena Singh, grade 9, and Katie Li, grade 10, went 1-2-3 in the 100 fly.

This week, Harker swimmers head to Priory on Thursday for another WBAL Jamboree.

Track and Field

Zoey Rosa, grade 11, set a school record in the demanding 400-meter hurdles on Saturday at DeAnza College. Alexa Lowe, grade 9, set a frosh school record with her 15′ 1.5″ long jump. The boys 4×100 relay team medaled for the second week in a row, improving its season’s best of 46.03, placing second in the varsity boys race. Gio Rofa, grade 11, and Andrew Chen, grade 9, both went past 17′ in the long jump. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, returned to her usual good form, winning her heat in the 100, running under 14 seconds.

The team competes Tuesday at The King’s Academy in a WBAL league meet, then at Fremont High School on Saturday in the Firebird Invitational.

Softball

The softball team dropped its only game last week 7-18 to Mercy Burlingame to go to 1-6 on the year. This week, the Eagles travel to The King’s Academy on Tuesday and host Mercy SF on Thursday.

Winter All-League

The Harker winter teams had great success this past season and it showed as many Eagles were honored with All-League awards:

  • The boys basketball team qualified for CCS and was name a CCS Academic Champion. Jack Connors, grade 11, was given first team honors to represent Harker.
  • The girls basketball team also qualified for CCS with Akhila Ramgiri, grade 12, earning first team honors. Maria Vazhaeparambil, grade 10, and Lily Wancewicz, grade 12, also earned honorable mentions.
  • The boys soccer team reached the semis of CCS thanks to help from first team honorees Jared Anderson, grade 12, and Andrew Cheplyansky, grade 11, as well as second team honorees Sasvath Ramachandran, grade 9, and Edwin Su, grade 12. Jeffrey Fung and Brandon Lin, both grade 11, were also given honorable mentions.
  • The girls soccer team was also well-represented with Julia Amick, grade 12, receiving a first team award, Ria Gupta, grade 12, earning second team, and Cameron Zell and Lilia Gonzales, both grade 12, receiving honorable mentions.
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Amy Jin ’18 visits, talks about path and project

Amy Jin ’18, now attending Harvard, stopped by Harker to talk about her journey and life after high school, as well as answer questions about her path and the project that has brought her several prizes. In 2018, while still a senior, Jin was named one of five students nationwide to receive the Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing. She also was named a 2018 Davidson Fellow Laureate in the technology category for her project, which gives surgeons with a way to assess their technique by analyzing their movements and providing feedback on a variety of criteria, such as economy of motion and bimanual dexterity. Read more here: https://staging.news.harker.org/amy-jin-18-awarded-prestigious-davidson-fellowship-for-project-on-tracking-surgical-tools/

And here are two further articles of interest about Jin:

Fireside chat with Bill Gates

Superstar from the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford. 

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Mentorship banquet celebrates bond between students and mentors

By Ashley Gauba, grade 10

CareerConnect held its annual mentorship banquet in mid-March. The goal of the mentorship program is to connect students to industry professionals who can help them gain valuable insight into industries of interest to them. The program lasts from March to the beginning of fall. During that time students establish a consistent dialogue with their mentors and meet with them about three times, as well as have a workplace visit if possible. The mentorship banquet gave students the chance to meet with their mentors, discuss their interests, and complete their “cup activity,” in which students write what they want to achieve or learn from their mentor on a coffee cup and give it to the mentor to keep.

“The mentorship banquet was such a great experience. I learned so much from my mentor, and I’m excited to talk to her again to learn more about her work,” said Andrea Thia, grade 9.

Sophomore Rohan Varma noted, “This experience was really nice for me, as I was able to gain insight from an industry professional who has dabbled in several industries and expressed to me the factors that helped guide her to where she is today.”

Overall, the banquet was a great success! Students had an exciting time at the event and are looking forward to learning more and meeting their mentors again!

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Upper school students win national gold and silver medals in Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, more than 60 recognized

On March 13, senior Raymond Banke and junior Kathy Fang were named national gold medalists in the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Banke won for his piece in the Future New category, titled “American Dreamers,” and Fang for her critical essay “A New Woman: A Rediscovery of Women’s Roles in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.” They are the first Harker students to receive the honor since Xinyi “Cherry” Xie ‘12 in 2012.

As national medalists, both students are now eligible to attend the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national events in New York City in June. The national events include a ceremony at Carnegie Hall and an exhibition featuring the works of top honorees. Earlier this year, Banke received a total of 16 regional awards, including Gold Keys in printmaking, design and art portfolio, as well as Silver Keys in architectural and industrial design, sculpture, printmaking and photography. His nine honorable mentions were awarded for two works each in drawing and illustration and mixed media, as well as submissions in the art portfolio, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and architecture and industrial design categories. In addition to her Mold Medal, Fang also received a regional Gold Key for her essay and two honorable mentions for photography.

Three other students also received national recognition in the form of silver medals. Junior Eric Fang won in photography for his piece, titled “Into the Unknown”; Anna Gert, also a junior, won for her critical essay “Illnesses in Frankenstein: An Explication of Victor’s Recurring Sickness”; and senior Alexander Young’s “A Iaccian Sestina” won in the poetry category.

A total of 64 upper school students were recognized in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this year, receiving regional Gold Keys, Silver Keys and honorable mentions.

Upper school students recognized in visual arts are:

Cynthia Chen, grade 11: Gold Key (Digital Art), Silver Key (printmaking), honorable mention (painting)

Katelyn Chen, grade 11: Three honorable mentions (one for mixed media, two for drawing and illustration)

Elizaveta Egorova, grade 12: Three Gold Keys (one for digital media, two for design), three Silver Keys (digital art) and two honorable mentions (comic art and digital art)

Eric Fang, grade 11: Gold Key (photography)

Kathy Fang, grade 11: Two honorable mentions (photography)

Anna Gert, grade 11: Gold Key (painting)

Lilia Gonzales, grade 12: Gold Key (digital art)

Rose Guan, grade 12: Two honorable mentions (photography)

Ellen Guo, grade 11: Two honorable mentions (painting, and drawing and illustration)

Susan He, grade 12: Two Gold Keys (digital art), honorable mention (drawing and illustration)

Grace Huang, grade 11: Honorable mention (digital art)

Katrina Liou, grade 12: Two Silver Keys (sculpture, mixed media), two honorable mentions (mixed media, and drawing and illustration)

Adrian Ma, grade 12: Gold Key (painting), two honorable mentions (painting, printmaking)

Annie Ma, grade 11: Two Gold Keys (photography), Silver Key (photography), honorable mention (photography)

Devanshi Mehta, grade 12: Three honorable mentions (design, painting, photography)

Gina Partridge, grade 11: Honorable mention (printmaking)

Andrew Skrobak, grade 12: Silver Key (art portfolio)

Maria Teplova, grade 10: Silver Key (painting)

Nellie Tonev, grade 11: Silver Key (painting)

Zara Vakath, grade 11: Honorable mention (painting)

Anna Wang, grade 12: Gold Key (digital art), Silver Key (sculpture)

Catherine Wang, grade 12: Silver Key (painting), three honorable mentions (art portfolio, sculpture, and drawing and illustration)

Esther Wu, grade 9: Gold Key (photography), five Silver Keys (photography)

Stephanie Xiao, grade 12: Silver Key (photography)

Alina Yuan, grade 9: Two Silver Keys (drawing and illustration, and photography)

Alex Zhai, grade 10: Four Gold Keys (photography), Silver Key (photography), three honorable mentions (photography)

Joshua Zhou, grade 11: Four honorable mentions (photography)

Gloria Zhu, grade 9: Silver Key (drawing and illustration)

Upper school students who won recognition in literary categories are:

Prena Ahcaryya, grade 11: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Chandan Aggarwal, grade 11: Honorable mention (critical essay)

Raymond Banke, grade 12: Gold Key (critical essay)

Eva Chang, grade 11: Honorable mention (science fiction/fantasy)

Cynthia Chen, grade 11: Honorable mention (poetry)

Emily Cheng, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Ishani Cheshire, grade 12: Two Silver Keys (flash fiction, science fiction/fantasy), honorable mention (poetry)

Kaitlyn Dai, grade 11: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir)

Eric Fang, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Kathy Fang, grade 11: Gold Key (critical essay)

Anika Fuloria, grade 10: Honorable mention (critical essay)

Anna Gert, grade 11: Gold Key (critical essay), Silver Key (critical essay)

Aditi Ghalsasi, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Sophia Gottfried, grade 10: Honorable mention (poetry)

Victoria Han, grade 9: Silver Key (poetry)

Catherine He, grade 9: Honorable mention (poetry)

Angela Jia, grade 9: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Vivian Jin, grade 10: Five honorable mentions (three for poetry, one for flash fiction, one for personal essay/memoir)

Jeffrey Liu, grade 11: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Andrew Lu, grade 10: Silver Key (critical essay)

Carolyn Lu, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Annie Ma, grade 11: Two Silver Keys (poetry, critical essay), honorable mention (critical essay)

Kalyan Narayanan, grade 11: Silver Key (poetry)

Luisa Pan, grade 10: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Annabelle Perng, grade 12: Two honorable mentions (poetry, science fiction/fantasy)

Amla Rashingkar, grade 11: Honorable mention (short story)

Michael Tang, grade 11: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Betsy Tian, grade 10: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir), honorable mention (poetry)

Nicole Tian, grade 9: Silver Key (critical essay)

Nellie Tonev, grade 11: Silver Key (critical essay), honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Larissa Tyagi, grade 10: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Nerine Uyanik, grade 11: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir)

Annamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 10: Silver Key (journalism), two honorable mentions (journalism)

Lily Wancewicz, grade 12: Gold Key (short story), Silver Key (flash fiction), honorable mention (flash fiction)

Bryan Wang, grade 11: Honorable mention (critical essay)

Daniel Wang, grade 10: Gold Key (personal essay/memoir)

Shania Wang, grade 12: Two Silver Keys (critical essay), honorable mention (critical essay)

Dylan Williams, grade 10: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir)

Alexander Young, grade 12: Two Gold Keys (poetry, flash fiction), six honorable mentions (two for poetry, two for personal essay/memoir, humor, writing portfolio)

Alina Yuan, grade 9: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Irene Yuan, grade 9: Two Silver Keys (short story, flash fiction)

Elaine Zhai, grade 10: Honorable mention (poetry)

Katherine Zhang, grade 12: Three honorable mentions (journalism, two for poetry)

A previous version of this story mistakenly omitted Kathy Fang’s Gold Medal win as well as this year’s Silver Medal winners. Harker News apologizes for the error.

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