Junior Anooshree Sengupta recently led her first WonderBots! program, which she spearheaded to foster interest in technology among local girls in grades 5-8. Designed by Sengupta and Harker computer science chair Eric Nelson, WonderBots! was supported by a grant from AspireIT, an outreach program organized by the National Center for Women and Information Technology. Sengupta won an Aspirations in Computing Award from NCWIT in March 2016.
“The program just concluded, and was very successful, with 80 girls applying for 20 spots,” Sengupta said. Eight two-hour classes were held from October through early December at the West Valley branch of the San Jose Public Library. Attendees engaged with technology by learning how to build and program robots following the CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) Lego Robotics curriculum.
Sengupta hopes to encourage more interest in technology among girls, who account for more than half of all AP test-takers and nearly half of all students taking AP Calculus exams. By contrast, girls make up only 22 percent of AP computer science test-takers, a number that Sengupta aspires to increase with the WonderBots! program.
The success of the initial program has motivated Sengupta to consider expanding the next series of classes to more branches in the San Jose Public Library system this year.
Harker junior Jerrica Liao had a pair of very respectable finishes at the January North American Circuit event in Columbus, Ohio, this past weekend. Liao, an A-rated foilist with scores of tournaments behind her, finished 63rd of 166 fencers the senior event, which includes international and Olympic fencers and is largely composed of collegiate and older fencers. She had a great finish at No. 24 in the junior event.
In the senior event, Liao split her pool – three wins and three losses – seeding 98th, then flipped her 33rd-seeded opponent out of the 64 bracket by a score of 10-4, putting herself into the 64th slot. She then lost to one of the top foilists in the country to end her day.
Two days later, in the junior event, Liao won five of her six pool bouts and, in a reversal of her senior event, seeded 33rd, and cleaned up her first elimination bout against the 96th seed, 15-7. Liao went on to again flip up a bracket, beating the 32 seed to move into the top 32. Then, in a twist of fate, she fell to the No. 1 seed, the same fencer who defeated her in the senior event earlier in the week, putting Liao at No. 24, a very solid finish.
The points earned at senior events count toward National Team membership. Liao is just breaking into the senior events as she ages out of the cadet category (up to age 17). She has been fencing for many years and trains at Silicon Valley Fencing Club. Liao is nationally ranked in three categories: 56th in cadet, 74th in junior and 98th in senior – and it is early in the season. Go, Jerrica!
On Tuesday night, Butch Keller reached an impressive milestone: his 600th career win as a boys basketball coach.
In a 66-50 win over Crystal Springs Uplands, the Eagles brought home the benchmark in Keller’s 31st season as a coach. In 2007, after 25-plus years coaching in Virginia, where he racked up eight state finals appearances, won three state championships and was named Coach of the Year a wondrous 18 times, Keller and wife, Jane, a upper school math teacher, came to Harker. Keller began coaching Harker’s boys basketball in 2011.
Amazingly, Keller’s 600 wins do not even include his AAU, summer league or girls basketball wins. “Six hundred is just a number, a big number, but just a number nonetheless,” said Keller, also Harker’s upper division head, with characteristic humility. “It means I have been coaching a long time.”
Over the years, what has continued to impress Keller is the athletes he has coached. “I have been blessed with the opportunity to coach a lot of incredible young men for 31 seasons. The work ethic, attitude and talent that they bring to the sport has made coaching an incredible privilege,” stated Keller. “The wins, championships and accolades are all a by-product of the process and relationships.”
Student athletes spoke to Keller’s leadership skills. Tri-captain Eric Jeong, grade 11, scored a team-high 17 points in the win over CSU and was quick to point out the bond between Keller and his players. “Coach Keller always has great relationships with every player on the team,” said Jeong. “He knows how to get the best out of every player and always encourages us to be ourselves on the court.”
Jordan Goheen, grade 12, added, “What impresses me the most about Mr. Keller is that he genuinely cares about each player on the team.”
Being a coach requires a lot of extra time on nights and weekends, and Keller said he couldn’t do it without his family. “The support that I have received from everyone in the schools I have worked has been phenomenal, but the biggest thing has been the support I have always had from my family,” said Keller. “My family has sacrificed a lot to allow me to coach and I am very grateful.”
And there are a thousand young men who played under Keller who are grateful, too. Heartfelt congratulations, Coach Keller, and unending thanks for your time and dedication; Harker is fortunate to have you. Here’s to many more wins with the Eagles!
The girls soccer team continued its hot start to the season as it picked up two wins last week. In an 8-0 victory over Mercy San Francisco, Joelle Anderson, grade 12, had four goals, with senior Lyndsey Mitchell and sophomores Sahana Narayan, Sara Min and Julia Amick scoring the remaining goals. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Pinewood 4-2 behind three goals from Anderson and another from Amick. Anderson now has 22 goals in seven games this season, which is highest in the CCS according to maxpreps.com. The 5-1-1 girls team hosts Pacific Collegiate on Tuesday and travels to Priory on Thursday.
Girls Basketball
Last week, the girls basketball team dropped two league games as it was defeated 51-47 by Notre Dame San Jose and 65-56 by Mercy San Francisco. In the loss to Mercy, Jordan Thompson, grade 12, led the way with 28 points, while Selin Sayiner, grade 11, added 11 points. In the loss to NDSJ, Thompson led the Eagles with 28 points to become Harker’s all-time career scoring leader, passing Alex Abarca ’09 who held the previous record with 1,723 career points. Last year, Thompson passed Daniza Rodriguez ’13 to become the all-time female scorer in Harker history. Thompson is currently the leading female scorer in the CCS, averaging 27.1 points per game, according to maxpreps.com. The Eagles take on Castilleja on Tuesday and Mercy Burlingame on Friday, both at the Blackford campus.
Wrestling
Last week, the Harker wrestling team competed in the Ruppel 2nd Man Tournament and the Bianchini Varsity Tournament, both held at Cupertino High School. Highlights included Devin Keller, grade 9, taking fifth in the 132-pound division and Justin Su, grade 11, taking the consolation championship in the 113-pound division, both at the Ruppel 2nd Man Tournament. At the Bianchini Tournament, Davis Howard, grade 12, placed sixth in the 285-pound division. The Eagles open their league season this Thursday as they travel to Los Altos High.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team was defeated 5-2 by Hillsdale in its only match last week. This week, the Eagles host Crystal Springs Uplands on Wednesday and travel to Sacred Heart Prep on Friday.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team dropped two league games last week, a 53-36 loss to Sacred heart Prep and a 61-39 loss to Priory. Jordan Goheen, grade 12, led the Eagles with nine points and 10 rebounds against SHP, and Justin Jia, grade 12, had eight points, eight rebounds and five steals against Priory. This week, the Eagles travel to Crystal Springs Uplands on Tuesday and Eastside College Prep on Thursday.
Several Harker math students had strong scores in National Assessment & Testing’s 2016 Fall Startup Event. Coached by upper school math teacher Anuradha Aiyer, the students worked to make Harker the fifth-highest placing school in the country. Freshmen Jeffrey Kwan and Rohan Cherukuri placed 13th and 20th, respectively, in the grade 9 division. In the grade 10 division, Katherine Tian placed 17th. Swapnil Garg took third placed in the grade 11 division, where Jimmy Lin placed 17th. Finally, in the grade 12 division, Misha Ivkov placed 14th.
Students participating in the Fall Startup Event are given 100 problems and tasked with solving as many as possible within 30 minutes. It is the first of four contests administered by National Assessment & Testing throughout the school year.
Harker teacher and Green Team member Diana Moss and her son Kevin Moss ’14, along with sisters Anika Banga, grade 11, and Anvi Banga, grade 9, and their dad, Gaurav, helped pick up some seriously nasty stuff by the roadway over the break. As part of a large group effort that included students from other schools, the Harker team cleaned up the Southwest Expressway-Meridian Avenue interchange, filling 12 bags in just over two hours, according to the Adopt-A-Highway organizer. Go Harker Green Team!
The boys basketball team went 1-2 over the break with their sole win coming in a 50-36 victory over Redwood Christian. Nice performances came from Brando Pakel, grade 11, with 11 points against Redwood Christian; Gene Wang, grade 10, with 11 points against Monta Vista; and Jordan Goheen, grade 12, with a 19-point, nine-rebound game also against Monta Vista. The Eagles host Sacred Heart Prep tonight and Priory on Friday.
Girls Basketball
Over the break, the girls basketball team went 2-4 with wins over Pacific Collegiate and Watsonville. Jordan Thompson, grade 12, once again led the Eagles in scoring, including a 31-point performance against Watsonville. Satchi Thockchom, grade 11, also had a good break with back-to-back 18-point games against Watsonville and Santa Cruz. The girls return to action tonight at Notre Dame San Jose and Friday at Mercy San Francisco.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team lost 3-0 to Saratoga High just before the break. The Eagles travel to Mercy San Francisco today and host Pinewood on Thursday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team picked up a 3-1 win over Wilcox the Friday before the break. The Eagles are now 3-2 on the season. This Friday, the boys travel to Hillsdale High School.
Wrestling
The Harker wrestling team will compete this Friday at the Ruppel 2nd Man Tournament at Cupertino High School.
Earlier this year, four Harker seniors – Colt McNealy, Sandip Nirmel, Srivatsav Pyda and Alayna Richmond – were notified that they had all earned perfect scores on the Advanced Placement Microeconomics exam administered in May. In addition to receiving the top score of five, these students also earned the maximum number of points possible on the exam, which contains both multiple-choice and free-response portions. This achievement places these four students among just 75 students worldwide, or 0.09 percent of AP Microeconomics test takers. Congratulations!
Next fall, senior Niki Iyer will take her talents to UC Berkeley. Last week, she committed to run track and cross country for the Cal Golden Bears, a Pac-12 powerhouse. But initially Cal was not Iyer’s first choice. “Honestly, I didn’t start looking at Cal till probably September or October of this year,” stated Iyer. “In my junior year, I thought that I would most likely be heading to the East Coast, so I had turned my focus to a couple of Ivy League schools.” But after visiting a few of those schools, Iyer knew there was something missing. That’s when she visited Cal and knew she found her school. “The first thing I noticed about Cal … was the incredible team,” remembered Iyer. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, because the team is so unbelievably close knit.”
Iyer hopes to pursue biomedical engineering and gives a big “shout out to Dr. Koodanjeri and Mr. Pistacchi for inspiring me to pursue this field!”
During her time at Harker, Iyer was a WBAL league MVP three times in cross country and once in track; she was a top three CCS finisher in cross country all four years and a top five CCS finisher in the 3,200-meter three years in a row, including a CCS championship last spring; and she has finished as high as fifth at the state finals in cross country and third in the 3,200m. Iyer also holds the school record for the 800m, 1,600m and 3,200m.
Iyer still has the spring track season to look forward to before heading off to Berkeley. “It’s going to be so bittersweet to wear the H jersey for one last season, but I hope to go out with a bang.”
Special to Harker News from Shania Wang, grade 10, Harker DECA director of communications.
Harker DECA attended the first conference of the year, the Silicon Valley LACE (Leadership and Competitive Excellence) Conference, in mid-November. This conference included keynote speakers, event and industry workshops and many opportunities to network with other schools.
As a non-competitive conference, LACE is a great opportunity for underclassmen new to or less experienced with DECA to become more familiar with the organization and increase competitive excellence.
“DECA LACE helps freshmen ease into the DECA atmosphere,” said Rahul Mehta, grade 11, Harker DECA’s director of written events. “It gives them a chance to get a feel for the competitive events as well as learn some handy tips to help them in competition.”
On day one, the officer team hosted a competitive preparation session, giving each student an opportunity to practice an exam, and role-play in their chosen events, with members of the officer team.
The opening ceremony began with an introduction from the Silicon Valley District Action Team (SVDAT), which includes three Harker students: Haley Tran, grade 12, executive vice president; Alisa Su, grade 11, vice president of communications; and Erin Liu, grade 10, vice president of fashion. Keynote speaker Scott Greenberg then shared his message, which included an interactive activity for students to meet new people from other schools.
On Saturday, DECA members heard from keynote speaker Chef Jeff, a former felon who discovered a passion for cooking and became an award-winning chef and best-selling author.
“In general, the motivational speakers really encouraged me to go out there, have a competitive mindset and learn,” Sukrit Ganesh, grade 10, said. “The next time I go to a competition, I’ll be way more focused and dedicated, and I’m really going to put my mind to it and try to win.”
Students attended workshops including Team Decision Making and Marketing Representative and Principles, hosted by Harker DECA’s own Enya Lu, grade 10. Available choices for the second round included Operations Research, Online Events and Professional Selling.
“I really like how they clarified what role-plays were during the teaching sessions,” Adhya Hoskote, grade 9, said. “Before I had an understanding of them, but now everything makes a lot more sense.”
Afterward, everyone listened to two industry workshops, with topics including finance, health care, technology, fashion and entrepreneurship, the last of which was presented by Harker DECA’s advisor Michael Acheatel. The last mandatory event for the day was The DECA Difference in College, which gave students an opportunity to ask DECA alumni about their college experiences and the role DECA had. This session also featured Harker alumni Shannon Hong ’16.
Later that night, Harker DECA attended the ever-popular LACE Fashion Show, which was hosted by Liu and sponsored by Group USA and Men’s Warehouse. Four Harker students participated: all three SVDAT members, along with Bryan Wang, grade 9. Su and Wang were later announced the winners of the show! Afterward, everyone enjoyed the LACE Dance, which featured a live DJ and free pizza.
Sunday morning began with the closing ceremony, including a keynote speech from last year’s California DECA president. The session also consisted of chapter goals, with Harker DECA’s co-CEOs Riya Chandra and Alexis Gauba, both grade 12, sharing Harker DECA’s accomplishments and continued plans for improvement.
Overall, LACE proved to be an awesome experience for all who attended. “I think DECA LACE was a really great opportunity for all the students to come together as a chapter and experience their first DECA conference,” said Gauba. “They were able to gain valuable knowledge through the leadership workshops from students who had previously competed network with students from the other schools.”
Many freshmen, who are all first-year DECA members, especially enjoyed their first taste of a DECA conference while improving competitively and gaining industry knowledge.
“I think that LACE was especially beneficial to our freshmen who got to experience what the conference environment is like,” Acheatel said. “Aside from hearing industry workshops and the benefit of listening to some really interesting speakers, they got a little introduction to what the competitions will be about and how to compete well.”
All the students who attended, from upperclassmen to underclassmen, also appreciated the opportunity to bond as a chapter and form new friendships.
“I think LACE really helped grow my network,” Mahi Kolla, grade 9, said. “I met a lot more people, and I think getting so many more contacts was one of the best and most beneficial parts.”
“LACE really helped create this sense of family amongst the members of DECA,” said Alex Chen, grade 11. “We really got to connect in a way that wasn’t present before.”
Following LACE, Harker DECA is in full preparation for the first competitive conference in January, the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), and hopes to once again have an amazing DECA season this year.
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.