Last month, 29 students headed to Ashland, Ore., for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This annual trip, established in 2009, gives students with a love of literature and theater the chance to enhance their understanding not just of Shakespeare but also the elements of storytelling.
On the trip the students saw productions of Shakespeare’s “Henry V” and “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as an adaptation of the Jane Austen novel “Sense and Sensibility.” In addition, they saw “Snow in Midsummer,” an update of the Chinese play “The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth,” by 14th century playwright Guan Hanqing.
“’Snow in Midsummer’ was in the middle of its U.S. premiere run, and I was blown away by the story, tech and characters,” said senior Ellie Lang-Ree, who has been attending the trip since grade 9. “I’d never experienced the horror genre in the medium of theater, and the diverse cast combined with a story for all was absolutely incredible.”
Senior Hannah Lak, another four-year attendee, said she was greatly impressed with the “high-quality acting and the amazing set design” in “Henry V.”
“As for ‘Snow in Midsummer,’ it was incredible to see an all-Asian cast turn a classical Chinese drama into a modern ghost story on stage,” she said.
During the trip, the students also took part in a workshop in which they explored character archetypes and how they are used by actors to create characters and performances that audiences can relate to. “We talked about how many types of characters embody an archetype, be it the fighter, the ruler, the fool, or the innocent or even multiple archetypes,” said Mathew Mammen, grade 12. “We went on to discuss how archetypes can be connected to symbols, genres and settings as well as characters.”
Following the discussions about various archetypes, students “played games to outline the stereotypes associated with each, using famous theatrical, political and film examples,” said Lang-Ree. “We then broke into groups and worked on the physicalization of these characters using suggestive images and words to create a story and mood.”
It was a very busy and successful, week for the girls golf team. The girls started the week with a 194-297 win over Notre Dame Belmont with Sophie Zhang-Murphy, grade 9, and Natalie Vo, grade 10, each shooting a 37 to take medalist honors. Then, the Eagles defeated Menlo 183-217, with Vo taking medalist honors again, this time with 4-under-par 33. Finally, the Eagles finished the week with a 190-250-317 win over Mercy Burlingame and The King’s Academy, with Olivia Guo, grade 10, shooting a 36 to take the top spot. Harker currently holds five of the top 10 individual scoring averages in the WBAL. This Friday is Senior Night as the girls take on The King’s Academy at Los Lagos.
Football
The football team dominated Elsie Allen High for a 56-0 Homecoming victory last week. Incredible numbers all around, including Mitchell Granados, grade 12, filling in at running back and rushing for 164 yards and three scores, and Jared Anderson, grade 12, catching four balls for 111 yards and two touchdowns. But the most amazing stats of the night came from Giovanni Rofa, grade 11, who intercepted four passes and returned three of them for touchdowns! The 5-2 Eagles host the Oakland Military Institute this Friday at Davis Field.
Boys Water Polo
Last week, the boys water polo team defeated Monta Vista 14-9 and Milpitas 25-11, before falling to Los Gatos 5-16. This week, the Eagles travel to Fremont on Tuesday and host Cupertino on Thursday.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team had a very good week as it defeated Mercy SF 3-1, followed by a second place finish at the Notre Dame Belmont Tiger Cup over the weekend. The girls defeated Gregori, Central Catholic, Cardinal Newman and host Notre Dame Belmont, but fell to Bishop O’Dowd in the finals. Emily Cheng, grade 11, and Katrina Liou, grade 12, were both named to the All-Tournament Team. These results guarantee a spot in the CCS Tournament for the Eagles! The volleyball team looks to keep its recent success going as it hosts Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday before traveling to Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday.
Cross Country
The cross country teams opened up its league season with some very good marks on the Crystal Springs XC Course. The varsity girls added four freshmen to the mix and the team placed fourth out of the 13 league teams, its highest finish in several years. Anna Weirich, grade 10, took a 50-meter early lead before suffering a foot injury just past the mile mark. She still placed fifth with a personal best. The boys added two sophomores and one freshman to the squad, with Ryan Adolf, grade 12, leading the Eagles with another lifetime best run. The Eagles face off with the WBAL again on Oct. 18 at Baylands Park.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team picked up a 5-2 win over Castilleja, followed by a 5-2 loss to Sacred Heart Prep. This week, the Eagles take on Homestead on Monday and Castilleja on Tuesday.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team continued its winning ways as it defeated Monta Vista 11-3 and Milpitas 11-3 last week before defeating Salinas and Milpitas in the Milpitas High Tournament. The Eagles’ six game winning streak was snapped as the girls fell to Presentation 4-8 in the finals of the tournament. This week, the Eagles travel to Lynbrook on Tuesday and host Cupertino on Thursday.
Anna Weirich, grade 10, competed at the prestigious Stanford Invitational over the weekend and showed why she is one of the top runners in the state. Weirich finished second among 186 D2 state runners, posting the best sophomore time of the day; she had one of the top 10 best times for any runner in the six division invitational. Weirich rejoins the rest of the Harker runners this Thursday at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park for the first WBAL meet of the year, followed by the Artichoke Invitational in Half Moon Bay over the weekend.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team stayed hot as they picked up two more wins last week. In an 8-2 win over Wilcox, Cas Ruedy, grade 11, led the team with two goals, while Arushi Madan, grade 11, had 14 saves. Later in the week, the girls defeated Santa Clara 7-2. The 12-3 Eagles travel to Monta Vista on Tuesday, host Milpitas on Thursday and compete in the Milpitas Tournament over the weekend.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team started last week with a 196-261 win over Sacred Heart Prep, led by Sophie Zhang Murphy, grade 9, who shot a 36 to earn medalist honors. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Notre Dame SJ and Mercy Burlingame 184-233-254 in a league tri-match. Natalie Vo, grade 10, and Tina Xu, grade 9, tied for medalist each shooting a 35. The girls have a busy week as they take on Notre Dame Belmont on Monday, Menlo on Tuesday and King’s Academy and Mercy Burlingame in a tri-match on Wednesday.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team went 1-1 last week as they fell to a tough Menlo team 7-0 before defeating Notre Dame Belmont 7-0 later in the week. The Eagles host Castilleja on Tuesday and Sacred Heart Prep on Thursday.
Girls Volleyball
Last week, the girls volleyball team fell to Menlo in 4 games before defeating Mercy Burlingame in an exciting five-game set. The Eagles head into the week with a 6-8 record and will face off with Mercy San Francisco on Tuesday at home before competing at the Notre Dame Belmont Tiger Cup over the weekend.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team started last week with a 10-8 loss to Wilcox, but finished the week with a 16-3 victory over Santa Clara. This week, the 7-8 Eagles travel to Monta Vista on Tuesday, host Milpitas on Thursday and travel to Los Gatos on Saturday.
Football
After a bye week, the 4-2 football team hosts Elsie Allen at Homecoming on Friday.
Alumni Sports News
Great result for Katherine Zhu, last week as she levered UC Berkeley into fourth place with her most excellent second place tie!
The football team dominated visiting Lowell on Friday to the tune of 50-0. It was also Senior Night, and the Seniors had quite a night! Anthony Meissner, grade 12, connected with Jared Anderson, grade 12, on a 58-yard scoring play, and with Mitchell Granados, grade 12, on a 64-yard touchdown. Meissner also scored on two rushing touchdowns. Marcus Tymous, grade 12, also had two rushing scores, with Ayush Vyas, grade 12, adding another rushing TD. In addition, Vyas recovered a fumble and Sid Dudyala, grade 11, intercepted his second pass of the year. The Eagles take this week off before returning for Homecoming next Friday, Oct. 5, against Elsie Allen High.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team stayed hot as it defeated Lynbrook 4-3 and Cupertino 11-2 last week, before going 3-1 at the Watsonville Tournament over the weekend. The girls racked up 10 straight wins over the last few weeks before losing in the finals of the tournament. In the win over Lynbrook, Alicia Xu, grade 11, Sammi Yanovsky, grade 12, Cas Ruedy, grade 11, and Anna Arnaudova, grade 10, each scored. Abby Wisdom, grade 12, led the way for the Eagles with three goals in the win over Cupertino, and led the team with 15 goals throughout the weekend tournament. The Eagles look to continue their excellent play as they host Wilcox this Tuesday at 4 p.m. and Santa Clara this Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team fell to Sacred Heart Prep 3-0 early last week before dropping a heartbreaking match 2-3 against Notre Dame Belmont. This week, the Eagles travel to Menlo on Tuesday before hosting Mercy Burlingame on Thursday.
Cross Country
The young Eagle runners stole the day at the Pacific Tiger Invitational at the University of the Pacific on Saturday. The frosh-soph girls team, led by the race winner Anna Weirich, grade 10, trophied with a third place finish out of 42 teams. Sophomores Aditya Singhvi and Arya Maheshwari led the boys frosh-soph team to a fourth place finish. Weirich defended her individual race title, winning last year by four seconds, this year by 50 seconds. Senior Ryan Adolf continued to shine as the varsity boys leader as he ran 17:44 in the golf course 5k run, improving by 1:00 over last year’s run. Adolf also represented Harker in the “Mascot Dance Contest”. Weirich will next run Saturday in the prestigious Stanford Invitational cross country meet. (Update provided by Coach Scott Chisam.)
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team took care of Fremont 13-9 last week before suffering a tough 10-11 loss to Cupertino in OT. The Eagles take on Wilcox this Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. and Santa Clara this Thursday at 4 p.m., both at the Singh Aquatic Center.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team took a tough 3-4 loss to Sacred Heart Prep, but bounced back to defeat Crystal Springs Uplands 5-2. This week, the Eagles face off with Menlo on Tuesday and Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team is back in action today against Sacred Heart Prep, followed by a tri-match against Mercy Burlingame and Notre Dame San Jose on Wednesday.
The football team dominated visiting Lowell on Friday to the tune of 50-0. It was also Senior Night, and the Seniors had quite a night! Anthony Meissner, grade 12, connected with Jared Anderson, grade 12, on a 58-yard scoring play, and with Mitchell Granados, grade 12, on a 64-yard touchdown. Meissner also scored on two rushing touchdowns. Marcus Tymous, grade 12, also had two rushing scores, with Ayush Vyas, grade 12, adding another rushing TD. In addition, Vyas recovered a fumble and Sid Dudyala, grade 11, intercepted his second pass of the year. The Eagles take this week off before returning for Homecoming next Friday, Oct. 5, against Elsie Allen High.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team stayed hot as it defeated Lynbrook 4-3 and Cupertino 11-2 last week, before going 3-1 at the Watsonville Tournament over the weekend. The girls racked up 10 straight wins over the last few weeks before losing in the finals of the tournament. In the win over Lynbrook, Alicia Xu, grade 11, Sammi Yanovsky, grade 12, Cas Ruedy, grade 11, and Anna Arnaudova, grade 10, each scored. Abby Wisdom, grade 12, led the way for the Eagles with three goals in the win over Cupertino, and led the team with 15 goals throughout the weekend tournament. The Eagles look to continue their excellent play as they host Wilcox this Tuesday at 4 p.m. and Santa Clara this Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team fell to Sacred Heart Prep 3-0 early last week before dropping a heartbreaking match 2-3 against Notre Dame Belmont. This week, the Eagles travel to Menlo on Tuesday before hosting Mercy Burlingame on Thursday.
Cross Country
The young Eagle runners stole the day at the Pacific Tiger Invitational at the University of the Pacific on Saturday. The frosh-soph girls team, led by the race winner Anna Weirich, grade 10, trophied with a third place finish out of 42 teams. Sophomores Aditya Singhvi and Arya Maheshwari led the boys frosh-soph team to a fourth place finish. Weirich defended her individual race title, winning last year by four seconds, this year by 50 seconds. Senior Ryan Adolf continued to shine as the varsity boys leader as he ran 17:44 in the golf course 5k run, improving by 1:00 over last year’s run. Adolf also represented Harker in the “Mascot Dance Contest”. Weirich will next run Saturday in the prestigious Stanford Invitational cross country meet. (Update provided by Coach Scott Chisam.)
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team took care of Fremont 13-9 last week before suffering a tough 10-11 loss to Cupertino in OT. The Eagles take on Wilcox this Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. and Santa Clara this Thursday at 4 p.m., both at the Singh Aquatic Center.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team took a tough 3-4 loss to Sacred Heart Prep, but bounced back to defeat Crystal Springs Uplands 5-2. This week, the Eagles face off with Menlo on Tuesday and Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team is back in action today against Sacred Heart Prep, followed by a tri-match against Mercy Burlingame and Notre Dame San Jose on Wednesday.
The football team dominated visiting Lowell on Friday to the tune of 50-0. It was also Senior Night, and the Seniors had quite a night! Anthony Meissner, grade 12, connected with Jared Anderson, grade 12, on a 58-yard scoring play, and with Mitchell Granados, grade 12, on a 64-yard touchdown. Meissner also scored on two rushing touchdowns. Marcus Tymous, grade 12, also had two rushing scores, with Ayush Vyas, grade 12, adding another rushing TD. In addition, Vyas recovered a fumble and Sid Dudyala, grade 11, intercepted his second pass of the year. The Eagles take this week off before returning for Homecoming next Friday, Oct. 5, against Elsie Allen High.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team stayed hot as it defeated Lynbrook 4-3 and Cupertino 11-2 last week, before going 3-1 at the Watsonville Tournament over the weekend. The girls racked up 10 straight wins over the last few weeks before losing in the finals of the tournament. In the win over Lynbrook, Alicia Xu, grade 11, Sammi Yanovsky, grade 12, Cas Ruedy, grade 11, and Anna Arnaudova, grade 10, each scored. Abby Wisdom, grade 12, led the way for the Eagles with three goals in the win over Cupertino, and led the team with 15 goals throughout the weekend tournament. The Eagles look to continue their excellent play as they host Wilcox this Tuesday at 4 p.m. and Santa Clara this Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team fell to Sacred Heart Prep 3-0 early last week before dropping a heartbreaking match 2-3 against Notre Dame Belmont. This week, the Eagles travel to Menlo on Tuesday before hosting Mercy Burlingame on Thursday.
Cross Country
The young Eagle runners stole the day at the Pacific Tiger Invitational at the University of the Pacific on Saturday. The frosh-soph girls team, led by the race winner Anna Weirich, grade 10, trophied with a third place finish out of 42 teams. Sophomores Aditya Singhvi and Arya Maheshwari led the boys frosh-soph team to a fourth place finish. Weirich defended her individual race title, winning last year by four seconds, this year by 50 seconds. Senior Ryan Adolf continued to shine as the varsity boys leader as he ran 17:44 in the golf course 5k run, improving by 1:00 over last year’s run. Adolf also represented Harker in the “Mascot Dance Contest”. Weirich will next run Saturday in the prestigious Stanford Invitational cross country meet. (Update provided by Coach Scott Chisam.)
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team took care of Fremont 13-9 last week before suffering a tough 10-11 loss to Cupertino in OT. The Eagles take on Wilcox this Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. and Santa Clara this Thursday at 4 p.m., both at the Singh Aquatic Center.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team took a tough 3-4 loss to Sacred Heart Prep, but bounced back to defeat Crystal Springs Uplands 5-2. This week, the Eagles face off with Menlo on Tuesday and Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team is back in action today against Sacred Heart Prep, followed by a tri-match against Mercy Burlingame and Notre Dame San Jose on Wednesday.
Ashley Gauba, grade 10, contributed to this report
The first business & entrepreneurship Crash Course event was held this week to tell incoming high school students how to get involved in the B.E. program. The officer team explained the purpose of each facet of the program, including TedX, BeCon, Podcast, Oeconomia, DECA and CareerConnect.
Speakers outlined the focus of each program, how to get involved and how to become an officer. The Crash Course also highlighted the benefit of involvement in each of these areas, and how they offer students endless opportunities and more exposure to different industries and fields.
At the end of the event, the officers held a Q&A session to allow students to talk more in-depth about programs they were interested in and ask questions about how they could become more involved.
“I really liked how they explained the different opportunities for each event and that really interested me and got me wondering how I could contribute to each separate program,” said William Chen, grade 9. Fellow freshmen Tina Zhong noted, “Everyone explained the events and the program really well.
Overall, the event was a success in introducing underclassmen to the myriad B.E. programs Harker offers, and gave students insights to the industries and opportunities the B.E. department has to offer.
Environmental activist Jackie Nunez visited the upper school today for a special assembly on the use of plastic and how disposable plastic products – straws, in particular – are discarded in the ocean, where they cause harm to aquatic life and enter the food chain after being consumed by animals. Students watched a pair of films about the dangers of plastic waste and learned how they can help reduce consumption and harmful disposal of plastic, including using fewer straws and requesting not to have drinks served with them at restaurants.
Later, Nunez toured the upper school lunchroom and discussed with students various ways ways in which single-use plastics could be reduced on campus, such as proposing a plastic-free day for the school and carrying their own utensils. She also left them with cards they could use to convince local establishments to only provide straws on request, as well as 100 stainless steel straws to share with their fellow students.
Harker hosted a basketball tournament to build awareness of the Hi5 Youth Foundation in the athletic center this past weekend. Organized by Akhila Ramgiri, grade 12, it was the inaugural event for the organization’s U.S. offices. The organization, founded in 2015 and based in India, is dedicated to improving the lives of children through sports – mainly basketball. The event included free throw and 3-point shooting contests, and food and soft drinks were available for purchase. Eight teams from various high schools participated in the event.
“I got involved when the founders of the organization were visiting the Bay Area (where they lived before they moved back to India),” said Ramgiri. “They told me about what they were doing, and because I have played basketball my entire life, the cause appealed to me.”
About 300 people attended the event. “The event was great,” said Ramgiri. “It was the first event that Hi5 USA has had, so it was a great way to kick off! The organization’s motto is ‘children helping children.’” They want the adults in the organization to provide the infrastructure, but they want high school kids like myself to be the driving force in helping the kids in India. So, to mobilize high school kids, we decided to hold this tournament to seek out kids like myself who are passionate about basketball and may want to volunteer or get involved.
“The players and spectators had a lot of fun and it was a great time. This was primarily meant to be an awareness event rather than a fundraiser, however, the money that was raised will be put toward resources such as clothes and basketball shoes for the kids in the Hi5 programs in India.”
Ramgiri has seen the results of the organizations efforts firsthand. “I went to visit the kids for one week during the summer,” she said. “The impact that I saw was incredible. Some of the children have really turned their lives around through basketball. It provides them a means for expression and a way to seek something bigger for themselves and gives them hope that they are more than their family’s income. I would strongly encourage anyone who is passionate about sports or helping children to consider joining the Hi5 USA team or if they had the chance to try to make it out to Mumbai, India, to experience this firsthand.”
In recognition of Constitution Day, recognized this past Monday, upper school history teacher Julie Wheeler’s AP U.S. history students participated in a video chat discussion on the First Amendment with students from Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.
“My students learned a lot about the First Amendment and how complex the rule of law actually is when you try to explain yourself to an attorney,” Wheeler said. Paul W. Kaufman, an assistant U.S. attorney from Pennsylvania, served as a moderator for the discussion.
The National Constitution Center chose Wheeler’s students to be part of its classroom exchange, in which 26 classes nationwide (comprising about 650 students) were chosen to take part in discussions about the U.S. Constitution. Discussions were student-led and moderated by legal scholars and practicing lawyers.