“This Little Light of Mine,” the 2016 upper school fall choral concert, brought upper school vocal groups together at the Nichols Hall auditorium on Nov. 16. Bel Canto, Camerata, the student-run Guys’ Gig and Cantilena performed a wide selection of songs, ranging from Bel Canto’s renditions of the traditional spirituals “Turn Me ’Round” and “Shine On Me” to the Guys’ Gig reimagining of Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” to Cantilena’s version of Abbie Betinis’ “We Have Come,” which featured instrumental accompaniment from violinist Ashwin Rao, grade 12, and Sumi Wadhwa, grade 11, on tambourine.
The final number of the evening featured all of the performers on stage together, singing a triumphant version of the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”
The girls soccer team officially opened its season on Tuesday, defeating the visiting El Camino Colts 4-1. Joelle Anderson, grade 12, started the season on fire, scoring all four goals for the Eagles! Harker travels to Half Moon Bay on Thursday.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team opened its season with a 65-47 win over Greenfield. Jordan Thompson, grade 12, led the way with 31 points, including six 3-pointers. The Eagles will play in the Pescadero Tournament this weekend.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team defeated Greenfield 51-44 last week to open its 2016-17 season. Gene Wang, grade 10, led the Eagles with 11 points, and Justin Jia, grade 12, added 10 points. Next up for the Eagles is the James Lick Tournament starting this Wednesday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team traveled to Saratoga on Tuesday to open its season, but unfortunately fell 6-2. The Eagles travel to Mills High School on Thursday.
Wrestling
The wrestling team opens its season in January as it heads to Los Altos High School.
Last week, veteran stage actor David Bryant visited the upper school campus to deliver a master class to Harker students and offer them advice on how to get their careers in motion. Bryant, who has been acting professionally since 1980, gave the master class on Tuesday in which students sang and recited songs and selections from plays. Bryant then provided feedback on their performances.
Senior Mia Giammona, who sang the Spanish art song “El tra la la y el punteado,” said that Bryant’s guidance “helped to further my interpretation of the piece, which is very important considering that it’s not in English. Making sure the audience understands the meaning of the song is the most important part.”
On Thursday, Bryant held a workshop to advise students on how to launch their careers. For continued performing arts studies, he recommended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Northwestern University and Syracuse University. He also discussed the process of getting an agent and advised students to develop a multifaceted skill set to become eligible for more roles. “Learning never stops,” he said. “That’s what we do as artists and performers.”
Niki Iyer, grade 12, finished third at the CCS Division 4 cross country championships over the weekend, earning her fourth trip to the state championships, which will be held on Nov. 26 in Fresno. Congrats also go out to Lilia Gonzales, grade 10, who competed in her second CCS championships.
Football
The Eagles’ football season came to an end last Friday as Harker was defeated 48-24 by Moreau Catholic in the first round of the NCS playoffs. The Eagles ended with a 5-6 record on the season.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team won its opening round CCS match with Carlmont last week 5-2, but fell to St. Ignatius in the second round 6-1. That brought an end to the team’s season, but the duo of Lizzie Schick, grade 11, and Gina Partridge, grade 9, will continue their CCS quest as they play in the doubles tournament on Tuesday at the Bay Club Courtside.
Harker student Michael Kwan, grade 11, will try to win $100,000 this Friday, Nov. 11, when he appears on Jeopardy! Teen Tournament. Kwan qualified to be on the show last spring by taking an online test that required him to answer 50 questions in 15 seconds. He was then invited to audition in Los Angeles, where he took another test and participated in a mock episode of the show. Some weeks later, he found himself on a plane to Washington, D.C., to film the episode.
Although Kwan was not able to share the results of the contest, he remembered a handful of “nerve-wracking moments” that occurred while the episode was being taped. “When I heard my name announced for the crowd in the theater and also for the people that would watch in their living rooms, I felt the pressure that performers feel stepping out onto the stage to perform,” he said. “Even talking to Alex Trebek during the commercial breaks made me nervous, because I was finally talking to someone that I had watched every night for a number of years.”
Aside from the taping, Kwan and the other contestants took a bus tour of Washington, to see the city’s many sights and film promotional videos for the show. “I got to connect with other kids who shared my interest in the show and the trivia knowledge that came with it, and we still keep in touch daily as a group even months after the filming of the show,” Kwan said.
Another highlight, of course, was the opportunity to meet Trebek, who met with the contestants before the show to offer them tips and inspiration.
Jeopardy!’s official website has more information on the Teen Tournament and its contestants, as well as a station locator to help viewers find out where and when to tune in.
What a week it was for the boys water polo team! The Eagles soared through their first two games of the SCVAL-El Camino Tournament, picking up a 20-4 win over Milpitas and a 14-5 win over Fremont, setting up a championship match against league rival Lynbrook. The Vikings had defeated Harker three times during the year, but the Eagles came through with a 12-11 overtime win in the title match. The victory gave the Eagles the co-league championship and a berth to CCS, both firsts for the Harker boys water polo program. On Tuesday, the Eagles faced off with Half Moon Bay in the opening round of CCS, but fell 14-5 to end their season. Congrats on a great run this year!
Girls Varsity Volleyball
The Eagles were defeated last week 3-0 by Notre Dame Belmont, but finished their season on a high note with a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame San Jose on Senior Night. Harker finished the season with a 7-18 record.
Girls Golf
Last week, the girls golf team qualified for CCS with a strong second place finish at the WBAL tournament, in which Katherine Zhu, grade 11, won her third straight individual league title. CCS was held on Tuesday and Zhu was the top Harker golfer, finishing in 15th place out of 99 competitors, with Katelyn Vo, grade 9, finishing 28th. As a team, the Eagles finished ninth out of 13th teams competing at CCS. Congrats on a great year!
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team had 6-1 victories over Presentation and Pinewood. Earlier this week, Rachel Broweleit, grade 9, Srivani Vegesna, grade 9, and the doubles teams of Lizzy Schick, grade 11, and Gina Partridge, grade 9, and Connie Miao, grade 12, and Kathleen Cheng, grade 11, represented Harker at the WBAL tournament. Broweleit played very well and finished in fourth place in the singles bracket. Schick and Partridge took second in doubles. The Eagles play their final regular season match of the year on Thursday against Sacred Heart Prep. The girls will find out this weekend if they will make CCS as a wildcard.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team lost in its first two rounds of the SCVAL tournament last week, 7-1 to Saratoga and 10-2 to Lynbrook. But the season ended on a high note with a 7-1 victory over Milpitas. The girls finished 7-18 on the season.
Football
The football team picked up a victory by forfeit versus Emery Friday. The Eagles are back in action this Saturday for Homecoming as they take on Stellar Prep.
Cross Country
The cross country team takes on the rest of the league in the WBAL championships this Friday at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park.
This year’s upper school fall play, “Around the World in 80 Days,” took audiences on a fun, globe-hopping adventure that made use of some very creative casting, acting and set design. Staged “in the round” – with the action at the center of the theater, seating the audience on four sides – the play retold Jules Verne’s classic tale of Phileas Fogg, the British explorer who wagers he can circumnavigate the known world in no more than 80 days.
In keeping with the Harker Conservatory’s mission to offer its students an expansive range of challenges and growth opportunities, each cast member played at least two roles, which required actors to portray multiple characters with varying personalities and dialects.
The circular stage, designed by Paul Vallerga, symbolized the play’s theme of global travel and featured a rotating sub-section that was manipulated by pulling on ropes placed on the stage.
This past July, students Mahi Gurram, Connie Xu, Donna Boucher, Lilly Anderson, all grade 10, and Sam Boucher, grade 7, traveled to Tibet, China for a cultural exchange program with the Maizhokunggar County School.
After landing in Lhasa, the group stayed in Tibet for a total of 11 days, in which they exchanged cultures with Tibetan children, grades 3 through 6. The Tibetan children, who had had very little, if any, contact with foreigners, listened to short stories in English and practiced their conversation skills through fun games that the Harker students had brought with them. The Harker students shared photos of California and other major cities and states in the U.S. with the curious Tibetan children. The children teamed up to played soccer and catch on the school’s field, and Harker girls braided some of the Tibetan girls’ hair with colorful ribbons.
In exchange, Tibetan children performed a few Chinese jump rope routines and taught the Harker students several Tibetan phrases and authentic games. Harker students were invited to eat lunch in the teachers’ lounge and talked to several teachers who had also never seen foreigners. The teachers were mesmerized by Donna Boucher’s green eyes, Anderson’s curly hair, Xu’s ability to speak both Mandarin and English fluently, Gurram’s darker complexion and photos of Sam Boucher playing hockey. Both parties seemed to have gained an immense understanding of the other. Overall, the five Harker students participated in one of the most eye-opening and thrilling experiences of their lives.
Manan Shah, grade 12, was awarded second place in the individual category at the national Siemens Competition award ceremony in Washington, D.C., this morning! His win brings a $50,000 scholarship. The ceremony was live-streamed from Washington. Anita Chetty, science department chair noted, “We have not achieved this level in the individual category before. I join our entire K-12 team in celebrating this outstanding achievement for our school!” Heartiest congratulations to Manan!
UPDATE: Nov. 7, 2016
In early November, the Siemens Foundation announced that senior Manan Shah is a national finalist in the 2016 Siemens Competition. Shah’s work – a computational model designed to speed up and increase the accuracy of assessing the severity and growth of breast cancer tumors – won him top individual honors and a $3,000 scholarship.
Shah now moves on to the final stage of the competition in Washington, D.C., which will take place in early December. A total of $500,000 in scholarships will be distributed to winners, and two contestants will be awarded the top prize of $100,000
The Siemens Foundation announced on Oct. 20 that Harker senior Manan Shah and juniors Randy Zhao and Rajiv Movva were named regional finalists in this year’s Siemens Competition. These three students will compete in November for a chance to move on to the final stage of the competition in Washington, D.C. One of the country’s most prestigious science competitions, the Siemens Competition rigorously evaluates individual and team research projects submitted by high school students and awards more than $600,000 in scholarships through regional and national events.
Earlier this week, 19 Harker students were named Siemens semifinalists, the most of any school in California. More than 1,600 projects were submitted for the 2016 competition, and 498 students were named semifinalists. Harker’s semifinalists make up 3.8% of the total.
Harker’s semifinalists for 2016 are Rishab Gargeya, Joyce Huang, Nikhil Manglik, Connie Miao, Sandip Nirmel, Venkat Sankar, Manan Shah, Scott Song and Arjun Subramaniam, all grade 12; and Akhil Arun, Jerry Chen, Amy Jin, Jimmy Lin, Rajiv Movva, Sahana Srinivasan, Justin Xie, Kevin Xu, Shaya Zarkesh and Randy Zhao, all grade 11.
“Amazing process and outcomes from our powerhouse science departments,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school.
Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school, noted the high number of student submissions to the competition (40 in all) and said, “It is great to see such participation and involvement in research. Thank you to all science teachers who contribute to that love of science and curiosity.”
Anita Chetty, upper school science chair, recognized the efforts of the science faculty at the lower and middle schools, exclaiming, “The upper school science department celebrates with our amazing colleagues in the lower school who lay the foundation and the middle school that develops our farm team!”
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) recently recognized two upper school publications: the Winged Post, the campus student newspaper, and HELM, its annual literary magazine. Additionally, the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) awarded the Winged Post with an All-American rating. See Harker Aquila’s full story for more details.