More than a score of students from Harker’s DECA team toured the Fremont Tesla factory in late February and had an amazing time. The factory, the largest manufacturing facility in California, is the size of 92 NFL football fields or 55 Costco warehouses, the group was told.
“I was amazed by all of the difference components that they are able to manufacture under one building. The robots, the presses, and the overall process is just so impressive,” said Alexa Lowe, grade 9.
It takes about five days to make a Tesla and they make about 1,000 per day. All of the robots are named after comic book characters, such as those from X-Men, Game of Thrones, etc. “I had never been to a factory before and it was cool to see how the overall process is so unified, especially considering all of the different systems and parts that are involved,” said Suraj Pakala, grade 12.
Juston Glass, DECA advisor, noted “We had to sign a [nondisclosure agreement] and we couldn’t take any photos inside, but we got to see the whole process from start to finish!”
The visit impressed Andrea Thia, grade 9, philosophically. “It was inspiring to see how such a small dream could turn into such a large business!” she said.
Over the weekend of Feb. 22-24, Harker Green Team officers Anvi Banga, Alex Shing and Anthony Shing, all grade 11, and Natasha Yen, grade 10, attended the 2019 Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions International Youth Summit at the Algalita Ocean Institute in Dana Point, along with their advisors, science teacher Kate Schafer and Spanish teacher Diana Moss.
The Harker team was selected on the basis of its proposal, titled “Buy Better Boba.” The students’ plan addresses the excessive amount of plastic produced by sales of boba milk tea, a popular drink often sold by Harker student clubs to raise funds. The students acquired reusable glass straws with brush cleaners, repurposed glass jars and designed a sticker to create a cup alternative to the single-use plastic cup, lid, straw and wrapper that comes with each purchase of boba tea.
Team members also have been in contact with local boba shops to encourage the use of their cups and to provide bulk dispensers for clubs that use their cups for their fundraisers. They will launch the sale of their repurposed cups during Earth Week in April, which is also their club week.
The conference was attended by 125 students from various parts of the U.S., as well as from countries including Kenya, Tunisia, Canada, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Mexico. Students had the opportunity to learn about each other’s projects, to hear from experts in the field of ocean pollution and to engage in team building activities. Additionally, mentors worked with each team to help them hone the details of their projects and envision ways to extend their projects into the greater community to have a more powerful impact.
“The best part of the conference for me was meeting other students from around the world and hearing about their projects,” said Banga. Added Yen, “Seeing all this creative energy working towards a common goal was inspiring.”
The team also enjoyed being right on the beach at the Algalita Ocean Institute and took a short cruise on the ocean with Captain Charles Moore, author of “Plastic Ocean,” who first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Harker team was one of three teams selected to present about their project before the entire assembly on the final day of the conference.
Last week, the lacrosse team opened up its 2019 season with a 19-11 win over visiting Willow Glen. The Eagles host Newark on Monday and Mountain View on Wednesday.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team went 2-0 last week to kick off the season as it defeated Homestead 3-0 and Cupertino 3-0. The Eagles host Branham on Tuesday in their home-opener, then travel to Mountain View on Wednesday and Lynbrook on Friday.
Baseball
The baseball team opened its season with a 26-0 win over San Jose High. Big games from every Eagle, but Nick Coulter, grade 10, led the way with four hits, four runs and four RBIs. The Eagles travel to Prospect on Wednesday and Oak Grove on Friday.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team opened its season with a 184-265-275 win over The King’s Academy and Crystal Springs Uplands. Aditya Tadimeti, grade 10, and Jaimin Bhagat, grade 11, tied for medalist honors, each shooting a 36. The boys head to Livermore this Wednesday to compete at the Cowboy Classic.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team officially gets the season started on Monday as it hosts Nueva before hosting The King’s Academy on Tuesday and traveling to Sacred Heart Prep on Thursday.
Softball
The softball team gets its season going on Tuesday as it travels to Gunderson, before its home-opener on Thursday against Notre Dame Belmont, and then it’s back on the road on Friday to face off with Cupertino.
Track and Field
The track and field team will be off and running on March 13 as it opens the season with the first WBAL meet of the year at Sacred Heart Prep.
Swim
The Harker swim team begins its season traveling to the Palo Alto Invitational this Friday.
Boys Soccer
Last week, the boys soccer team’s season came to an end as it fell to King City High 4-1 in the semifinals of the D4 CCS playoffs. Congrats on a great season!
During the Presidents’ Week break, nine upper school students (accompanied by French teachers Agnes Pommier and Galina Tchourilova) embarked on a new international education trip to Quebec, where they were treated to an extensive look at the Canadian province’s history and culture. The five-day trip started with a tour of Quebec City and its numerous landmarks, a curling lesson and a visit to Wendake, a Huron-Wendat Nation reserve. In the following days, students made drawings from copper at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, visited an ice hotel, went tubing down snow-covered slopes and sampled crepes in Montreal. More info and photos are available at a special blog set up for the trip.
Five Harker upper school students’ poems were recently selected to be made into pieces of public art as part of the city of San Jose’s “Litter-ature” project. Ishani Cheshire and Annabelle Perng, both grade 12, and Sophia Gottfried, Katerina Fenner and Nathan Ohana, all grade 10, submitted poems highlighting environmental issues that have been used to make art pieces that in March will decorate 500 public litter cans in San Jose. The students’ poems and accompanying artwork can be viewed at the city of San Jose’s website.
In January, CareerConnect hosted a three-part workshop series to help students develop their professional skills in interviewing and resume-building.
The first workshop, the LinkedIn Resume Building Workshop, was designed to help students create an effective LinkedIn profile. Michael Acheatel, CareerConnect advisor, prepared a presentation to give an overview of the features of LinkedIn and its applications, and members of the CareerConnect officer team were on hand to help students with their individual profiles. The skills taught in this workshop are very useful as students explore professional internship and job opportunities.
In late January, CareerConnect invited senior Enya Lu to speak at the Interview Tips & Trick Workshop. Lu has had experience interviewing for jobs, internships, summer programs, club officer positions, college and other opportunities. In her presentation, she described the different types of interviews and gave advice about what to do before, during and after interviews. In addition, alumnus Lucas Wang ’17, now at NYU Stern School of Business, was at the workshop to give his advice about interviewing. Their tips for the attendees were very practical and provided a great way to prepare for future interviews. “This event I felt was really helpful,” said Ishaan Parate, grade 9, “I do feel like I can put this information to use in the near future.”
As the final part of the professionalism series, CareerConnect held the Mock Interview Workshop on Jan. 29. This event consisted of one-on-one mock interviews with industry professionals and allowed students to put to use the advice that they received in the previous workshop. During their interviewing sessions, students were given the choice of either interviewing for a club officer position or research internship. Then, they were asked questions by the professionals and responded. In the end, students received personalized feedback from their interviewers to help them improve for the future. As this workshop was an opportunity to get valuable advice from industry professionals, students learned a lot from the event. “The interviewers were really helpful in teaching me techniques for getting a later job,” said Camilla Lindh, grade 9. Similarly, April Sun, grade 9, said, “It helped me understand what to do in a future interview, and [the interviewer] helped give me some tips on what to do.”
In all, the professionalism series was a great success and helped students develop their professional skills as they start applying for opportunities such as club officer positions, summer programs, jobs and internships.
Harker took second in the annual Department of Energy Regional High School Science Bowl. “While Harker won the last two years, we graduated four of five members last May, so I was not expecting a three-peat,” said chemistry teacher Robbie Korin, who advises the group. “However, we almost got one! Our Harker Team 1 lost in the finals to an older Lynbrook team. Both Team 1 and Team 2 were 6-0 in their morning round-robin bracket.”
Both Harker teams were in the top eight, so they made it to the afternoon elimination rounds. Team 2 lost out quickly in the afternoon, but Team 1 pushed through to the finals before succumbing.
Members:
Team 1: Emily Liu, grade 11, Rishab Parthasarathy, grade 9, Alexander Young, grade 12, Russell Yang, grade 10, and William Zhao, grade 9.
Team 2: Kyle Li, grade 11, David Dai, grade 9, Harsh Deep, grade 9, Alexander Hu, grade 9, and Kaushik Shivakumar, grade 12.
“Thanks to all of you as these kids know a great deal of science and math!” Korin added. Go Eagles!
Last week, the boys soccer team lost to Sacred Heart Prep 3-0 and Menlo 6-2, but still qualified for the CCS D4 playoffs with a 13-5 record. In the opening round of CCS, the Eagles defeated Gunn High 3-2 for the program’s first-ever CCS win. The boys advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday to play the No. 1 seed King City.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team lost its final regular season game of the year 41-65 against Mercy Burlingame with Akhila Ramgiri, grade 12, leading the way with 9 points. Even with the loss, the Eagles qualified for the CCS D4 brackets. However, the girls lost to James Lick 55-64 in the opening round of the playoffs. The Eagles ended the year with a 13-10 record.
Boys Basketball
Last week, the boys basketball team completed its regular season with a 77-50 win over Pinewood. Jack Connors, grade 11, led the offense with 19 points. The Eagles qualified for the CCS D4 playoffs, but came up short in the first round as they fell to Palma 53-62 ending the season with an 11-14 record. Jarrett Anderson, grade 12, ended his Harker career with a team-high 14 points.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team ended its season with an 8-7-3 record as it defeated Castilleja 2-1 last week.
Wrestling
At the SCVAL Championships last week, Eric Fang, grade 11, placed seventh overall in his weight class.
Spring Sports
Spring sports are off and running this week as baseball opens its season on the road against San Jose High on Wednesday; boys volleyball travels to Homestead on Wednesday and Cupertino on Friday; and lacrosse opens its season on Friday at home against Willow Glen. Boys tennis opens at home on Feb. 25 against Nueva; softball travels to Gunderson High on Feb. 26; boys golf kicks off its season at the Cowboy Classic on Feb. 27; swimming takes to the pool at the Palo Alto Invitational on March 1; and track and field opens at the first WBAL meet at Sacred Heart Prep on March 13.
By Jenny Achten, Speech and Debate Department Chair
The Harker speech and debate team has continued its winning streak this winter with successes at a host of tournaments across the nation. Students traveled to tournaments across California as well as in Illinois, Georgia, Arizona and Florida. Harker is having an especially strong season and we are proud of the success of all of the students.
In early November, students attended a tournament at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. Sachin Shah, grade 11, was in the semi-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kelly Shen, grade 12, also made it to elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas. Anuhsa Kuppahally, grade 12, Maddie Huynh, grade 11, Andy Lee, grade 10 and Deven Shah, grade 9, all qualified for elimination rounds in policy debate.
At the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago, our speech and congress students shined in late November. Haris Hosseini, grade 12, was first place in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, was fifth place program oral interpretation and made it to semi-finals in dramatic interpretation. Jason Lin, grade 10; David Feng, grade 11; Andrew Sun, grade 10; and Nathan Ohana, grade 10, all made it to the semi-final round of congressional debate.
Students also won multiple awards at local league tournaments throughout the area. Meghna Phalke, grade 12, was a finalist in original oratory. In congressional debate tournaments Tiffany Zhao, grade 11, and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second, Brandon Lin, grade 11, was third, while Andrew Lu, grade 10, and Aaditya Gulati, grade 9, both placed fifth.
Travel continued to the College Preparatory School in Oakland in late December where Akshay Manglik, grade 10, made it to the octo-finals in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Sachin Shah, Shen and Anshul Reddy, grade 9, also made it to elimination rounds of Lincoln-Douglas.
At the Arizona State University tournament in early January Sachin Shah, reached the octofinals in Lincoln-Douglas debate while Julia Biswas, grade 10, and partner Deven Shah reached the octofinals in policy debate. In congressional debate, Sun placed fifth and Jason Huang, grade 12, also reached finals. Ashwin Rammohan, grade 12, Annie Ma, grade 11, Bajaj, Ohana and Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, reached semifinals of congress. Additionally, Hosseini placed first in original oratory.
Students also won awards at the Sunvitational Tournament in Fort Lauderdale this January. Jason Huang, grade 12, was in semis of congressional debate. Avi Gulati, grade 11, was third in extemporaneous speaking and made it to semi-finals of original oratory. Hosseini, was third in original oratory. Solanki, was in semis of program oral interpretation.
At the Harvard Westlake Lincoln-Douglas tournament in January, Manglik made it all of the way to the semi-final round. Shen and Sachin Shah also qualified for elimination rounds.
During the same weekend as Harvard-Westlake students also competed at the James Logan tournament in Union City. Ayan Nath, grade 9, and Ellen Guo, grade 11, reached the elimination rounds; Nath was named the fourth overall speaker and partner Guo placed 14. Prerana Archaryya, grade 11, placed fifth in dramatic interpretation of literature.
Finally, at the Barkley Forum Invitational at Emory University in Atlanta, Avi Gulati placed first in original oratory and Hosseini, placed third. Sun reached the finals of congressional debate while Ma, Ohana and Bajaj reached congressional semifinals. In policy debate, Kuppahally and Huynh reached double octo-finals.
The speech and debate season will continue until June with tournaments ranging all over California as well as Dallas, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky.
By Jenny Achten, Speech and Debate Department Chair
The Harker speech and debate team has continued its winning streak this winter with successes at a host of tournaments across the nation. Students traveled to tournaments across California as well as in Illinois, Georgia, Arizona and Florida. Harker is having an especially strong season and we are proud of the success of all of the students.
In early November, students attended a tournament at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. Sachin Shah, grade 11, was in the semi-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kelly Shen, grade 12, also made it to elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas. Anuhsa Kuppahally, grade 12, Maddie Huynh, grade 11, Andy Lee, grade 10 and Deven Shah, grade 9, all qualified for elimination rounds in policy debate.
At the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago, our speech and congress students shined in late November. Haris Hosseini, grade 12, was first place in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, was fifth place program oral interpretation and made it to semi-finals in dramatic interpretation. Jason Lin, grade 10; David Feng, grade 11; Andrew Sun, grade 10; and Nathan Ohana, grade 10, all made it to the semi-final round of congressional debate.
Students also won multiple awards at local league tournaments throughout the area. Meghna Phalke, grade 12, was a finalist in original oratory. In congressional debate tournaments Tiffany Zhao, grade 11, and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second, Brandon Lin, grade 11, was third, while Andrew Lu, grade 10, and Aaditya Gulati, grade 9, both placed fifth.
Travel continued to the College Preparatory School in Oakland in late December where Akshay Manglik, grade 10, made it to the octo-finals in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Sachin Shah, Shen and Anshul Reddy, grade 9, also made it to elimination rounds of Lincoln-Douglas.
At the Arizona State University tournament in early January Sachin Shah, reached the octofinals in Lincoln-Douglas debate while Julia Biswas, grade 10, and partner Deven Shah reached the octofinals in policy debate. In congressional debate, Sun placed fifth and Jason Huang, grade 12, also reached finals. Ashwin Rammohan, grade 12, Annie Ma, grade 11, Bajaj, Ohana and Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, reached semifinals of congress. Additionally, Hosseini placed first in original oratory.
Students also won awards at the Sunvitational Tournament in Fort Lauderdale this January. Jason Huang, grade 12, was in semis of congressional debate. Avi Gulati, grade 11, was third in extemporaneous speaking and made it to semi-finals of original oratory. Hosseini, was third in original oratory. Solanki, was in semis of program oral interpretation.
At the Harvard Westlake Lincoln-Douglas tournament in January, Manglik made it all of the way to the semi-final round. Shen and Sachin Shah also qualified for elimination rounds.
During the same weekend as Harvard-Westlake students also competed at the James Logan tournament in Union City. Ayan Nath, grade 9, and Ellen Guo, grade 11, reached the elimination rounds; Nath was named the fourth overall speaker and partner Guo placed 14. Prerana Archaryya, grade 11, placed fifth in dramatic interpretation of literature.
Finally, at the Barkley Forum Invitational at Emory University in Atlanta, Avi Gulati placed first in original oratory and Hosseini, placed third. Sun reached the finals of congressional debate while Ma, Ohana and Bajaj reached congressional semifinals. In policy debate, Kuppahally and Huynh reached double octo-finals.
The speech and debate season will continue until June with tournaments ranging all over California as well as Dallas, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky.