On March 7, the upper school choir Downbeat, co-directed by Jennifer Sandusky and Laura Lang-Ree, performed at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts Gala at the gorgeous (and enormous!) San Jose Performing Arts Center.
The gala celebrated the announcement of Broadway San Jose’s upcoming season with performances by Downbeat, Café Society and members of Children’s Musical Theater. Downbeat was selected to perform because of Harker’s long history of success in the San Jose Top Honors Musical Awards program, which is held in the same venue. The head of the gala gave Downbeat a warm welcome and extensively praised Harker for being a leader in performing arts in Northern California.
The boys golf team picked up a 240-197 league win over The King’s Academy last week with Jin Kim, grade 12, leading the way with a 35. This week, the Eagles once again take on King’s on Wednesday, followed by a matchup with Nueva on Thursday.
Track and Field
The Eagles competed in the first WBAL meet of the year last week with some great results, including 15 season bests. Tiffany Shou, grade 12, threw a lifetime best in the discus, only 4 feet off of the school record. All seven Harker hurdlers ran seasonal bests as well. Kismet Singh, grade 10, Lilly Anderson, grade 11, Zoey Rosa, grade 10, Hannah Bohbot-Dridi, grade 9, and Angela Cai, grade 9, for the girls, and in his first hurdle race ever, Gio Rofa, grade 10, won the boy’s 65-meter high hurdles. In the closest Eagle race of the day, Mitch Granados, grade 11, edged out Anthony Contreras, grade 12, in the 100 by 0.006 seconds.
Then over the weekend, the Eagles competed at the very competitive St. Francis Invitational. Anna Weirich, grade 9, opened the meet at 8 am, in 44-degree weather, with a win in the 3,000-meter. She came back three hours later and won the mile run with a time of 5:28. Contreras and Rofa ran well in their sections of the 400 and 100. Shou placed fourth in the girls’ discus while Eric Fang, grade 10, threw a personal best in the frosh-soph discus.
Up next for the track and field team is the Firebird Invitational at Fremont High this weekend.
Boys Volleyball
Last week, the boys volleyball team took a 0-3 loss to Monta Vista, but bounced back with a 3-0 win over Lynbrook later in the week. This week, the Eagles host Mountain View on Wednesday and travel to Los Altos on Friday, then compete in the Monta Vista Tournament over the weekend.
Lacrosse
The lacrosse team picked up two wins last week as it defeated Woodside 14-13 and Stevenson 15-4. The 3-0 Eagles host Notre Dame San Jose on Tuesday and Lincoln on Wednesday.
Baseball
The baseball team returns to action this week with a trip to Crystal Springs Uplands on Tuesday before hosting Summit Prep Ranier on Friday.
Softball
This week, the softball team travels to The King’s Academy on Tuesday and hosts Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team was able to squeeze in a 6-1 win over The King’s Academy last week before the rains came. This week, the Eagles will take on Crystal Springs Uplands on Tuesday and Sacred Heart Prep on Thursday.
Swim
The swim team will host the first WBAL Jamboree this Wednesday at the Singh Aquatic Center.
This article was written by Radhika Jain, Harker DECA director of communications.
From March 2-5, 84 students and six chaperones from The Harker School DECA chapter traveled to the Anaheim Marriott to compete in the 2018 California State Career Development Conference (SCDC).
At the conference, students competed in events, attended workshops and networked with students from throughout the state. Harker performed respectably, with 27 overall finalists. Thirteen of those finalists also qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), to be held in Atlanta in April.
“With the State Career Development Conference being my last conference as a member of Harker DECA, it was definitely memorable for me,” said Ashna Chandra, grade 12, Harker DECA co-CEO. “I’m excited to see the outcomes of chapter members in future years, and I know they’ll be successful in whatever they pursue.”
Members placing in the top eight are as follows:
First Place
Andrew Sun, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Nishka Ayyar and Riya Gupta, both grade 11, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Aditi Ghalsasi, grade 10, Advertising Campaign
Erin Liu, grade 11, Business Growth Plan
Second Place
Emma Andrews, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Rishi Dange, grade 10, Accounting Applications Series
Evan Cheng, grade 10, Business Services Marketing Series
Naveen Mirapuri, grade 10, Food Marketing Series
Alyssa Huang, grade 10, and Enya Lu, grade 11, Financial Services Team Decision Making
Third Place
Vignesh Panchanatham and Ashna Chandra, both grade 12, Learn and Earn Project
Fourth Place
Aditya Singhvi, grade 9, Principles of Finance
David Feng, grade 10, Marketing Communications Series
Bryan Wang, grade 10, Retail Merchandising Series
Fifth Place
Aditi Ghalsasi, grade 10, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Arnav Joshi and Nikhil Sharma, both grade 10, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Sayon Biswas and Suraj Pakala, both grade 11, Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
Zara Vakath and Ronit Gagneja, both grade 10, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
Shania Wang and Enya Lu, both grade 11, Public Relations Project
Arushi Saxena, grade 9, Innovation Plan
Sixth Place
Claire Luo, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Anay Karwal, grade 10, Automotive Services Marketing Series
Ashna Chandra, grade 12, Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series
Michelle Si, grade 9, Financial Consulting
Seventh Place
Jeffrey Liu, Rakesh Nori, both grade 10, Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
N Wang and Andrew Sun, both grade 9, Innovation Plan
Eighth Place
Arun Sundaresan, grade 10, Business Services Marketing Series
Ramesh Nori and Jeffrey Liu, both grade 10, and Alisa Su, grade 12, Independent Business Plan
On Friday, students had a chance to relax and study before examinations later that day. From 4-8 p.m., students took their respective tests and gathered soon after for the grand opening session in the Marquis Ballroom.
Saturday was the first day of competitions, and students performed their role-play events throughout the day. Competitions finished around 4 p.m., and students had the options of going to Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm, or staying at the hotel.
On Saturday, students were required to attend one workshop hosted by keynote speakers, as well as take one Protégé exam. These exams are a great way for students to be recognized on stage. Students from Harker DECA who were recognized on stage for their Protégé exams were Aditya Singhvi, Anvitha Tummala, Helen Zhu, Stephanie Shen and Elizabeth Szeto, all grade 9; and Rishi Dange, David Feng, Shomrik Mondal, Allison Jia, Jessie Wang, Bryan Wang, Arun Sundaresan and Martin Bourdev, all grade 10.
“I took the insurance exam, and I found it pretty interesting,” said Zhu. “I’ve never really taken a test of that sort on that topic, so it was a different experience for me.”
Along with those events, there was also a room for Downtown DECA in the Anaheim Marriott, where state candidates campaigned, businesses hosted booths and students took their Protégé exams. In light of the recent tragedy in Parkland, Fla., Harker DECA set up a banner in Downtown DECA for students to write notes of encouragement towards the Marjory Stoneman Douglas DECA chapter.
“In order to commemorate those who have been affected by the recent shooting in Florida, we organized a campaign to raise awareness,” said Jia. “I’m really happy with the outcome of it, and I hope this banner can brighten up the students’ days a little.”
Sunday was written events day, and students presented their written projects to a judge. Similar to Saturday, they were required to attend another workshop as well. After students finished their written presentations, they had down time throughout the afternoon to do homework, attend workshops and hang out with their friends.
To prepare for these events, the Harker DECA officer team had organized various study sessions after school to give students the opportunity to perfect their competitive skills and build confidence. Held one to three times a week, the officer team as well as chapter advisors and mentors were available to help students with their written events and role-plays.
In the evening, Harker DECA gathered in the Marquis Ballroom once again for the grand awards session as well as the closing ceremony. New, this year, mini awards and grand awards were presented together. In total, Harker DECA performed admirably, with a number of teams called up to the stage and qualifying for ICDC.
“Being on stage was amazing and stressful at the same time,” said Anay Karwal, grade 10. “I felt nervous when I was walking up, but the support from my chapter definitely calmed me down. It was one of the best and most surreal moments of my life.”
After awards concluded, the closing ceremony began. The California DECA state officer team for the 2017-18 year said their goodbyes. The new state officer team for the 2018-19 year, including Harker DECA’s very own Enya Lu, took an oath of commitment to always support and serve California DECA.
As the closing ceremony finished, members of California DECA had time to hang out with friends and attend a social dance before curfew. With the conference coming to a close, California DECA cherished these last moments together.
Overall, Harker DECA had a very successful and enjoyable conference, as students were able to hone their competitive skills in their events, learn new things from motivational speakers, and network with other students from around California. Harker DECA looks forward to the next SCDC in San Diego in March 2019.
In preparation for the International Career Development Conference in April, qualifiers have the time to prepare to face the best of the world! Stay tuned for more updates on ICDC.
“At this year’s SCDC, students were given a variety of opportunities to broaden their horizons in business and entrepreneurship and try something new,” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA chapter advisor. “I am extremely proud of all members of Harker DECA, and I really hope students can utilize the skills they learned in future events and conferences.”
About The Harker School DECA Harker DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders.
Contact information: To learn more about this story, please contact Radhika Jain, director of communications 20RadhikaJ@students.harker.org.
Earlier this week, several Harker students were named national medalists in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Jacqueline He, grade 12, earned a gold medal for “Mollusk Threnody,” her entry in the poetry category. Junior Annabelle Perng was awarded a silver medal for her flash fiction piece, “Name Tag,” and Katherine Zhang, also grade 11, received a silver medal in the journalism category for her article, titled “Trump’s Proposed Budget Cuts Throw the Future of Research into Question.”
At the middle school level, eighth grader Michelle Liu was awarded two gold medals for her submissions in the drawing and illustration category, “The Feast of Harvest” and “Leisure Time.”
As national medalists, these students are invited to attend the national events this summer in New York City. Gold medalists are invited to the national ceremony at Carnegie Hall.
Congratulations to these students for receiving this remarkable recognition!
It was a very successful winter season for Harker athletics and the accolades continued with the announcement of the All-League teams.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team won its first league title in school history and was awarded with the No.2 seed in the CCS playoffs. Jared Anderson, grade 11, was named WBAL Forward of the Year and Rohit Shah, grade 12, was named Midfielder of the Year. In addition, Nick Acero-Blyshak, Sharad Chandra, Mason Menaker and Vedant Shah, all grade 12, were first team selections. Shaya Zarkesh, grade 12, and Andrew Cheplyansky, grade 10, were named to the second team, with Asmit Kumar, grade 10, and Edwin Su, grade 11, receiving an honorable mention.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team finished with a 9-7-1 record and third place league finish. Julia Amick, grade 11, and Stephanie Scaglia, grade 12, were both named to the first team, with Krishna Bheda and Aislinn Coveney, both grade 12, named to the second team. Cameron Zell and Ria Gupta, both grade 11, received honorable mentions.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team made some noise in the CCS playoffs, winning two games and making it to the quarterfinals. Eric Jeong, grade 12, and Jarrett Anderson, grade 11, received honorable mentions in a tough WBAL league.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team entered CCS as the No. 10 seed, but was defeated in the first round. Akhila Ramgiri, grade 11, was a first team selection and Satchi Thockchom, grade 12, received an honorable mention.
Wrestling
Eric Fang, grade 10, was the sole Harker representative at CCS and was named to the All-League roster.
This past weekend, Harker’s Bel Canto and Cantilena choral ensembles garnered unanimous superior ratings at the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Choral Festival, held at Saratoga High School.
Judges commended Bel Canto, Harker’s non-auditioned mixed voice choir, for its very mature and full sound, clean intonation, balance between sections and challenging repertoire. One of the judges was amazed to discover that the ensemble comprises mostly high school freshmen and sophomores.
Judges praised Cantilena, Harker’s treble ensemble, for its outstanding cohesiveness; superlative tone quality, balance, precision and technical facility; highly developed listening and adjusting skills; mature, expressive, dynamic and consistent shaping of musical phrases; and ability to explore a broad stylistic spectrum. “This is a great example of what a women’s choir can sound like,” commented judge Gail Bowers. “Hopefully, you will have the opportunity in college to sing in a group as good as this one.”
Comments from adult audience members, who approached the groups after their performances, included “spectacular performance” and “I’m very impressed by Harker’s choral program.”
The unanimous superior designation, given by four judges, means the choirs not only gave outstanding performances but also demonstrated outstanding music sight reading skills. This designation, if followed by two more in succeeding years, can result in a coveted showcase performance at regional and national choral conventions.
Bel Canto, under the direction of Jennifer Sandusky, sang Hans Leo’s “Hassler’s Cantate Domino” (1601), Emma Lou Diemer’s “Take, O Take Those Lips Away” from “Three Madrigals “(1962) and Stephen Leek’s “Morning Tide” from “Island Songs” (1994).
Cantilena, under the direction of Susan Nace, sang, Caterina Assandra’s “Duo Seraphim” (1609), Clara Schumann’s “Liebst du um Schönheit” (1841), and Abbie Betinis’ “Jerusalem Luminosa” (2006).
Over the weekend, the track and field team competed at The King’s Academy Track Classic and broke four school records. The boys distance medley relay team of Henry Wong, grade 11, Anthony Contreras, grade 12, Alex Rule, grade 11, and Ryan Adolf, grade 11, broke the previous 4,000-meter distance relay record by 50 seconds. Nikki Solanki, grade 10, set new sophomore school records in the 100 and 200, with both times ranking No. 3 on the all-time list. Giovanni Rofa, grade 10, set a sophomore long jump school record with his 17′ 10″ jump; the previous record holder, Davis Dunaway ’17, who was home on break from Carnegie Mellon, assisted him. Anna Weirich, grade 9, ran the third best all-time 1,600 with her 5:25 run, then came back five hours later and ran a 5:21 on a relay. Next up for the Eagles is the first WBAL event of the year at Bellarmine on Wednesday, followed by the St. Francis Invitational on Saturday.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team continued its hot start to the season as it defeated Los Gatos and Oak Grove last week, each 3-0. This week, the 6-1 boys team travels to Monta Vista on Wednesday and Lynbrook on Friday.
Softball
The softball team lost two tough games last week. In a 12-13 loss to Notre Dame San Jose, the Eagles gave up seven runs in the final inning to take the loss. In the game, Molly Mobley, grade 9, and Cameron Zell, grade 11, each had an impressive four hits and two RBIs; Anika Rajamani, grade 11, had three hits and two RBIs; and Taylor Lam, grade 11, had four hits, including a home run. Later in the week, the girls fell to Fremont 6-9. Mobley had two more hits and two more RBIs, and Zell added three hits and an RBI. This week, the Eagles host Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday and Gunderson on Friday.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team was on fire last week as it defeated Nueva, Priory and Aptos, each 7-0, before running into a Menlo roadblock and falling 1-6. This week, the Eagles take on Pinewood, Carlmont and The King’s Academy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Lacrosse
Last week, the lacrosse team picked up the 9-5 win over Salinas to open its 2018 season. This week, the girls host Woodside on Tuesday and Stevenson on Thursday.
Baseball
The baseball team lost a tough one to Independence High 2-7 in extra innings last week. Dominic Cea, grade 12, threw 7.1 innings of three-hit, 10-strikeout ballgame. This week, the Eagles travel to Jefferson High on Thursday.
Swim
The swim team competed at the Small School invitational over the weekend with amazing results:
The Eagles host the first WBAL jamboree on March 21.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team picked up a 227-204 victory over Crystal Springs Uplands last week with Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 12, leading the way shooting a 36. Then, over the weekend, the boys traveled to Nevada to compete in the Pahrump Valley Invitational and finished fourth out of 18 teams. Jin Kim, grade 12, and Jaimin Bhagat, grade 10, were the top Eagle golfers, tying for 19th place. This week, the Eagles take on The King’s Academy on Monday.
Five Harker students – senior Debarati Chatterjee, juniors Elizaveta Egorova and Elizabeth Yang, and sophomores Eric Fang and Sofia Kassaras – were recently selected to be featured as part of New Museum Los Gatos’ ArtNow program. The students’ art will be displayed in a juried exhibition from March 29-May 6, along with the works of high school students throughout Santa Clara County.
For the theme of this year’s exhibition, “Perspectives,” each student created a piece exploring various points of view, such as a young person’s outlook on the future, a young girl grappling with the loss of a loved one and the implications of living in an increasingly technologically advanced world.
The exhibition will be held at New Museum Los Gatos, located at 106 E. Main St. in Los Gatos.
Harker Aquila, the upper school’s student news website, was recently named a finalist in the 2018 National Scholastic Press Association’s Online Pacemaker competition. One of the oldest scholastic journalism awards, the Pacemakers are awarded to a range of school media outlets, including newspapers, yearbooks and magazines. Pacemaker candidates are evaluated on criteria including content quality, design and photography.
Judging for the competition will take place until April, as NSPA judges make almost daily visits to Harker Aquila and other finalists’ websites to assess them and determine the winners, which will be announced on April 14.
Journalism teacher Ellen Austin congratulated the Aquila staff and contributors, applauding them for their “hard work all year long.”
The boys golf team officially opened its season with a strong fifth place finish out of 25 of the best Bay Area teams at the very competitive Livermore Cowboy Classic. Jaimin Bhagat, grade 10, led the Eagles with a 2-over-par 74. This week, the Eagles take on Crystal Springs Uplands on Tuesday before traveling to Nevada for the Pahrump Valley Invitational on Thursday.
Track
The track and field team opened its season at the Willow Glen Invitational over the weekend. Marcus Tymous, grade 11, Andy Koonmen, grade 11, and Nikki Solanki, grade 10, were each heat winners in their events. Anton Novikov, grade 9, ran his debut Harker 100-meter, placing seventh out of 75 frosh-soph sprinters. The varsity boys 400m relay team of Tymous, Angel Cervantes, grade 12, Mitchell Granados, grade 11, and Anthony Contreras, grade 12, placed fourth to earn medals for the team. Anna Weirich, grade 9, was a medalist in her first Harker race, placing fourth during the coldest part of the day in the 800m. The Eagles are back on the track this Saturday at The King’s Academy Track Classic.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team opened its season with a 7-0 win over Sacred Heart Prep, followed by a 5-2 win over Aragon last week. This week, the boys stay busy as they take on Nueva on Monday, Priory on Tuesday, Aptos on Wednesday and Menlo on Thursday.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team opened its season with a 3-0 win over Saratoga before going 3-1 at the Wilcox Tournament earning the Silver Division Championship. This week, the Eagles host Los Gatos on Wednesday, then travel to Oak Grove on Friday.
Baseball
The baseball team fell to Menlo 11-0 last week, but the Eagles turned what is believed to be the first triple play in school history. Max Lee, grade 10, Zach Hoffman, grade 11, Dominic Cea, grade 12, and Bobby Schick, grade 12, were all involved in this rare baseball feat. This week, the Eagles host Independence High on Monday before traveling to Jefferson High on Thursday.
Softball
The softball team took a tough 13-16 loss to Palo Alto last week in a wild back and forth game. The Eagles host Notre Dame San Jose on Tuesday and travel to Fremont High on Friday.
Swim
The swim team competes next at the Small School Invitational on March 10 at Sacred Heart Prep.
Lacrosse
The lacrosse team opens its season on Tuesday by hosting Salinas High.