The Harker chapter of the National Honor Society inducted a record 50 new members on Oct. 6 during a ceremony held at Nichols Hall auditorium.
“We believe that these (and all) NHS members represent the highest ideals of Harker – avid scholarship, impeccable character, strong leadership and a proven dedication to serving others,” said biology teacher Mike Pistacchi, who serves as Harker’s NHS moderator.
Founded in 1921, the National Honor Society recognizes high school students who demonstrate excellence in a variety of areas, including scholarship, student leadership and service.
This year’s NHS inductees are:
Joyce Zhao, grade 12; Akhil Arun, Anika Banga, Richa Bhattacharya, Rahul Bhethanabotla, Shreyas Chandrashekaran, Jerry Chen, Adrian Chu, Aria Coalson, Shaan Gagneja, Megan Huynh, Anamika Kannan, Linus Li, Millie Lin, Sameep Mangat, Rahul Mehta and Tanvi Singh, all grade 11; and Raymond Banke, Logan Bhamidipaty, Alycia Cary, Timothy Chang, Nicole Chen, Esha Deokar, Rose Guan, Constance Horng, Shafieen Ibrahim, Hannah Lak, Taylor Lam, Enya Lu, Ihita Mandal, Sonal Muthal, Rithvik Panchapakesan, Ayush Pancholy, Brian Park, Ashwin Rammohan, Nishant Ravi, Ashwin Reddy, Anjay Saklecha, Ruhi Sayana, Kelly Shen, Kaushik Shivakumar, Neha Tallapragada, Katherine Tian, Alyson Wang, Cindy Wang, Richard Wang, Shania Wang, Kelsey Wu, Stephanie Xiao and Connie Xu, all grade 10.
Seventeen students and four teachers from Harker’s upper school joined about 40 other concerned citizens to remove litter from San Jose’s Guadalupe River Trail on Oct. 15.
Armed with heavy gloves, litter sticks and garbage bags, workers started the cleanup at the Coleman Avenue intersection of the trail and continued northwestward to the Taylor Street overpass.
Ricky Davis, volunteer coordinator of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, estimated 2,000 pounds of garbage were gathered on that Saturday morning. AP Environmental Science teacher Jeff Sutton noted that the next day’s rainstorm would have washed much of that trash into the San Francisco Bay about 8 miles north had it not been collected.
The cleanup tackled one of the most heavily used portions of the trail adjacent to the Guadalupe River Park, which includes the Heritage Rose Garden and Historic Orchard. Students learned firsthand the difficulties of maintaining valuable green space amid urban centers. Despite the obstacles, Christine Tang, grade 9, thinks such work is necessary. Parks and trails “give us a little piece of nature where we can relax and stop off to breathe in fresh air,” she observed.
Harker teams divided cleanup efforts on both sides of the trail, some veering west toward the large city park and others traveling on the east side of the running path near the river’s edge. Both groups encountered debris left by trail users as well as San Jose’s homeless population. As such, the volunteer effort was about more than just litter. Regarding her work collecting trash from no-longer-occupied homeless camps, Green Team vice president Satchi Thockchom commented that non-homeless “produce just as much if not more waste than the homeless people. We just have the fortune of taking out the trash every week and never having to deal with it again.”
Last week’s work was the first of four community service opportunities coordinated by the Green Team, the upper school environmental club, and activities coordinator Kerry Enzensperger. Upcoming efforts will include planting trees with Our City Trees on Nov. 12 and maintaining native plant species at Don Edward National Wildlife Refuge on Feb. 25.
The boys varsity water polo team continues to dominate the Santa Clara Valley El Camino league as it picked up back-to-back 20-4 victories over Cupertino and Milpitas last week. The Eagles travel to Lynbrook this Thursday to try to avenge their only league loss of the season, followed by the Ron Freeman Memorial Tournament over the weekend.
Girls Golf
The girls varsity golf team picked up two big league wins last week, defeating Notre Dame-Belmont and Mercy Burlingame. At 8-2, the Eagles sit just one game behind first place Menlo in the WBAL standings. This week, the ladies take on Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday and Castilleja on Wednesday, before league championships begin next week.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team dropped a tough 6-1 match to Menlo. Bringing home the only victory of the day was Rachel Broweleit, grade 9, playing No. 1 singles. Later in the week, the Eagles took down Crystal Springs 5-2 behind big performances from Broweleit, Srivani Vegesna, grade 9, Amanda Cheung, grade 9, and the duo of Connie Miao, grade 12, and Kathleen Cheng, grade 11. The Eagles face off with Castilleja on Tuesday.
Football
The Eagles traveled to Modesto last Friday and came away with a huge 41-0 win over Big Valley Christian. Aaron Smith, grade 10, scored two touchdowns in his first varsity game. Anthony Contreras, grade 11, continued his impressive season as he scored on an interception return and a kickoff return. Nate Kelly, grade 11, and Will Park, grade 12, each scored as well. The Eagles face off with St. Francis-Watsonville this Friday at 7 p.m. on Davis Field for Teacher Appreciation Night.
Girls Volleyball
The girls varsity volleyball team dropped two league matches last week. The Eagles fell to Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep, both in three sets. The Eagles host Mercy San Francisco on Tuesday and will compete in the Notre Dame Belmont tournament this weekend.
Girls Water Polo
Last week, the girls water polo fell to Wilcox High 11-8, but Meghana Karinthi, grade 11, scored four goals in the loss. Later in the week, the Eagles put together a great team effort to defeat Milpitas 17-1. This week, the Eagles travel to Homestead on Tuesday and Lynbrook on Thursday before starting the SCVAL Tournament next week.
Cross Country
The cross country team travels to Baylands Park this Thursday to compete at the second WBAL meet of the year. The Eagles are off next week, then compete in the league championships in early November.
Senior Srivatsav Pyda was named the champion of the Voices Foundation Lincoln Douglas Debate Invitational & Round Robin, held at Presentation High this past weekend. He was the top speaker, the top seed and his record was undefeated. After winning six preliminary and five elimination rounds, he was named the tournament champion out of 150 students. Schools from across the country, including from as far away as New Jersey, competed at this event. Congrats, Srivatsav!
This article was prepared from a press release by Shania Wang, director of communications for Harker DECA.
Harker DECA hosted a Parent Night in the Nichols Hall atrium and auditorium in early October to inform parents about the program, including the time commitment, conference details and opportunities for parent involvement.
“Parent Night is a really great time for all the parents involved in the Harker DECA community to come together and learn about what their students do during the school year,” said Alexis Gauba, grade 12, co-CEO of Harker DECA. “Getting parents involved in Harker DECA is very important as judges and in supporting their students, so it’s a way for us to say ‘thank you’ to them and show them what we have planned for the upcoming DECA year.”
Gauba and her co-CEO, senior Riya Chandra, started the night with a video showing the opportunities available within DECA and discussed DECA events, including study sessions, conferences and community outreach programs.
Afterward, Chandra’s mother, Asha, who was the 2014 Harker DECA Parent of the Year, recounted her experience as a DECA judge and parent, noting the growth she witnessed in her daughter.
“I love being a DECA parent, because I get to see what my own daughter has been involved with. I also get to judge and learn about what so many other kids are doing, and I love watching the other kids compete because they all come up with such amazing ideas,” she said.
The other speaker was former Harker DECA CEO Monica Thukral ’14, who is now a junior at the University of Southern California. Thukral discussed the benefits and network DECA provided her with during high school, as well as how it continues to help her in college. She said DECA introduced her to people from all around the world, and gave her the opportunity to explore her passion.
This year’s Parent Night was tremendously successful, as it gave parents a solid understanding of DECA. After all, the Harker DECA program owes much of its success to the continual support and assistance of parents.
“Especially being a parent of a freshman, there are a lot of questions, so being able to get answers to all of those and also see the perspective from not just the officers but previous students as well as parents were very helpful,” said Sameer Joshi, parent to Arnav Joshi, grade 9. “I’m looking forward to Arnav having a good experience trying out different things and finding something he really enjoys.”
Harker DECA looks forward to attending the first conference of the year, the Leadership and Competitive Excellence Conference in November, and gearing up for the competitive season.
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.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
This past spring, two of Harker’s popular outreach efforts, the middle school’s annual Cancer Walk and the upper school’s Kicks Against Cancer event, raised money for the same cause: Camp Okizu. The 10th annual Harker Cancer Walk raised about $14,000, while Kicks Against Cancer raised $1,500, for a total of $15,500.
The funds from both events benefited Camp Oziku, a nonprofit organization that allows children with cancer to “just be a kid for a week.” Located in the Berry Creek area of the Sierra foothills, Camp Okizu offers a free weeklong summer camp that gives cancer patients and their families a sense of normalcy and stability.
Students, parents, family members, faculty and staff from all four campuses gathered at the middle school field on March 22 for the Cancer Walk. “This time was a bit more special as it was our 10th anniversary celebration walk!” said Michael Schmidt, middle school computer science teacher and department chair.
Schmidt had the idea for the walk following the passing of his own mother due to cancer. “This is an event that Harker was kind enough to let me start in 2007 in honor of loved ones afflicted with cancer,” he continued. “Since then, it has been used as a moment for our entire community to come together and celebrate the lives of those we love and those we’ve lost. It is a symbolic walk that is measured not by the miles covered, but by the love and understanding between us all.”
Prior to the walk, students engaged in various activities to learn about different forms of cancer and cancer prevention strategies. In a further show of support, many teachers displayed door decorations with themes designed to promote cancer awareness.
And during the walk, honor flags – honoring someone who is fighting or has fought cancer – were placed in the ground along the inner edge of the field’s walking path.
Meanwhile, although the upper school’s soccer teams lost this year’s Kicks Against Cancer games to Menlo High School, Harker students were still excited over the real winner of the event – Camp Okizu. The seventh-annual soccer match took place on Feb. 5, with the junior varsity boys, varsity girls and varsity boys playing against their respective Menlo High School teams. The JV boys lost 0-2, the varsity girls lost 0-3 and the varsity boys lost 1-4.
Sparsh Chauhan, grade 10, scored the only goal for Harker during the last game of the night. After the JV boys finished their game, the varsity girls team presented a check for funds raised to four visiting Camp Okizu families. To help raise money for the camp, Kicks Against Cancer onlookers had the opportunity to buy T-shirts and wristbands, make monetary donations and purchase yummy treats at a bake sale.
During halftime of the last game, spectators were given a chance to play “Butts Up” with some faculty members lined up on the goal line. Cheerleaders, meanwhile, performed a special routine. Be sure to check the Harker News website at http://news.harker. org/tag/outreach for more Greater Good stories.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
By Zach Jones and William Cracraft
Business and entrepreneurship (B.E.) and DECA students have been busy! DECA students attended and earned accolades at the International Career Development Conference in April and the State Career Development Conference in March, and a B.E. student won a $20,000 award for managing personal finances in a nationwide contest.
History Made at 2016 ICDC
In late April, 20 students from Harker’s DECA chapter attended the 2016 International Career Development Conference (ICDC) at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn., with great results, including a first place win.
“The four-day business conference featured competitions with tough opponents, skill building leadership academies and unforgettable experiences,” said Shania Wang, grade 9, director of communications for Harker DECA.
Two Harker teams finished in the top 20 during preliminary competitions, earning them the chance to compete in the final round. And, for the first time in Harker DECA history, a student from the chapter received first place in a role-play event at ICDC. Enya Lu, grade 9, took top honors in the principles of finance category, while teammates Dolan Dworak, Brandon Mo and Michael Sikand, all grade 10, were finalists in the independent business plan category.
“It was a great opportunity to learn about how business works in a culture like that of Nashville and get feedback from local business owners about how to appeal to a non-Bay Area market,” said Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 10, Harker DECA vice president of competitions and strategy and a competitor in the finance operations research category.
Harker advanced two teams to the final round of competitions: Lu and the team of Dworak, Mo and Sikand. Harker DECA members exploded in cheers as Lu was named a top 10 finalist. Within minutes, it was announced that Lu won first place in her event. “It felt amazing,” said Lu. “I was very surprised and I was kind of scared when I went up. I was really excited and I thought that I did well already, but I really wasn’t expecting it. When they announced third and second, I thought that I wouldn’t get it, but then I did, and it was amazing.”
“This year’s ICDC was an amazing experience for students who were able to connect professionally, serve their community, and develop further as future business professionals and emerging leaders,” added Juston Glass, Harker DECA advisor. Read the full story in Harker News: http://wp.me/pOeLQ-7z9.
CardioBand wins at DECA Career Conference
Grade 9 students Natasha Maniar and Kelsey Wu won first place at the DECA State Career Development Conference in March for a product they designed called CardioBand.
“CardioBand is an innovative three-in-one personal medical and fitness device which will revolutionize the way people monitor their heart health,” said Maniar. The proposed device will function as an electrocardiogram, emergency alert and a fitness monitor. Utilizing a Velcro harness and an app, CardioBand would be able to detect irregular heartbeats and prevent deaths related to sudden cardiac failures.
Maniar and Wu recently had their plan reviewed by venture capitalists and financial analysts, and are happy with the feedback they received. “CardioBand is a huge step up,” said Alex Antebi of Connective Capital Management. “It leapfrogs the competition with its continuous monitoring and proactive notification system.” Read the full story in Harker News: http://wp.me/pOeLQ-7CY.
Freshman Entrepreneur Nails Life Finance Challenge
Rithvik Panchapakesan, grade 9, was named an H&R Block Budget Challenge scholarship winner! Panchapakesan won the award for proving himself a personal finance master in the game of “life.”
Students who participated in the challenge were given a virtual job, complete with a 401(k), credit card bills and student loans. They then had to successfully manage their paychecks for 10 weeks. Panchapakesan competed with thousands of students nationwide and was one of only 22 to receive the $20,000 scholarship.
“The most challenging part of the budget challenge was managing my credit card utilization rate,” said Panchapakesan. “I think this challenge will help me manage my money in life because it brought the different issues of money management to my attention.” Read the full story in Harker News.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
By Greg Achten and Jenny Alme
Harker’s speech and debate team finished the 2015-16 season strong, with many students earning national honors and awards. The end-of-the-year championship tournaments were a capstone to another great season in which Harker students competed against the best and brightest students nationwide. The success of our students at those tournaments is a testament to their hard work and all that they have learned this year.
Upper School Team Success
Harker’s upper school speech and debate team attended several end-of-year championship tournaments. Qualifying for these tournaments was a great honor, resulting from top performances throughout the year. Twelve Harker students competed at the National Debate Coaches Association National Championship in Orlando, Fla. At the tournament, Raymond Xu and Srivatsav Pyda, both juniors, advanced to the elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Xu lost in the first elimination and finished 17th in the nation, while Pyda reached the quarterfinals and finished fifth in the nation. Several Harker debate students also qualified to the Tournament of Champions, held in Lexington, Ky. Pyda was joined by teammates Aditya Dhar, grade 11, and Michael Tseitlin, grade 11, as well as Alexander Lam, grade 11, in congressional debate; Joyce Huang, grade 11, Emily Chen, grade 10, and Jimmy Lin, grade 10, in international public forum debate; and Emaad Raghib, grade 11, and Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 12, in public forum. At the tournament, Lam and Huang entered the elimination rounds as the top overall seed. They were joined in the elimination rounds by Chen and Lin.
Both teams reached the octofinal round of the tournament, finishing in the top 20 in the nation. In congressional debate, both Dhar and Tseitlin advanced to the semifinals. Dhar also qualified for the National Catholic Forensics League National Tournament in Sacramento, where he reached the final round of the tournament and finished fifth overall in the nation. In speech competitions, three Harker students qualified for the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Denver. Sana Aladin and Divya Rajasekharan, both grade 11, qualified to the tournament in duo interpretation of literature, and Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 9, qualified in original oratory. Dharmaraj advanced to the final round of the tournament and finished fourth overall out of more than 140 students! Dharmaraj is the first Harker student to reach the final round of this prestigious tournament. He also qualified to the National Speech & Debate Association’s National Tournament in Salt Lake City, which will take place in mid-June.
Young Debaters Winning Big
One of the bright spots of the season was the success of grade 9 students throughout the year and especially at the end-of-the-year tournaments. Students from Harker’s team earned top honors at several late-season tournaments designed for students in their first or second year of competition.
The St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas holds a championship tournament in May for grade 9 and younger debaters. At that tournament Anusha Kuppahally, grade 9, and Maddie Huynh, grade 8, reached the semifinals and finished third overall. Both Kuppahally and Huynh also won individual speaker awards. At the Western JV & Novice National Championship at San Francisco State University, three Harker students were crowned national champions in their respective events. In second year public forum, Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang, both grade 9, lost only one ballot on their way to winning the tournament. In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Kelly Shen, grade 9, also won the final round of her division and was named a national champion.
Many other Harker students also won awards at the Western tournament. In policy debate, Esha Deokar, grade 9, and Deven Shah, grade 6, reached the semifinals of the novice division and finished third in the nation. Meghna Phalke and Alycia Cary, both grade 9, reached the octofinal round of novice policy, finishing ninth in the nation.
Kuppahally and Jacob Ohana, grade 10, finished ninth in the second year policy debate division. In novice public forum, Raymond Banke, grade 9, Floyd Gordon, grade 10, Aimee Wang, grade 6, and Alina Yuan, grade 6, finished in the top 20 in the nation, while Sascha Pakravan, grade 6, and Anshul Reddy, grade 6, were in the quarterfinals of the tournament and finished fifth overall. In second year public forum, Betsy Tian, grade 7, and Shomrick Mondal, grade 8, finished the tournament in the top 10 in the country.
In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Karoun Kaushik, grade 6, and Aditya Tadimeti, grade 7, reached elimination rounds and finished in the top 20 overall. Also in novice Lincoln-Douglas, Rishi Jain, grade 6, reached the quarterfinals. In second year Lincoln-Douglas, Cat Zhao, grade 8, Avi Gulati, grade 8, Satvik Narasimhan, grade 9, Nishant Ravi, grade 9, and Suraj Pakala, grade 9, all reached the elimination rounds and finished in the top 20. Annie Ma, grade 8, and Neha Tallapragada, grade 9, both reached the quarterfinals and finished in the top eight in nation. Given the success of these young students, the future of the program is indeed very bright.
Middle School Team Success Harker’s middle school team recently attended the California Middle School State tournament at Skyline High School in Oakland, and many of our students won awards! In impromptu speaking Bryan Wang, grade 8, reached the finals and was crowned state champion. Avi Gulati also reached the finals of impromptu. In storytelling Gulati, Katelyn Chen, grade 8, Arusha Patil, grade 7, and Rhea Nanavati, grade 7, all were finalists.
In prose Nikki Solanki, grade 8, was a finalist. In oratory Gulati and Patil were finalists. In duo interpretation of literature, Chen and Wang were finalists. In dramatic interpretation Solanki was a finalist. In public forum debate the teams of Amanda Cheung, grade 8, and Jason Pan, grade 8, as well as Krishay Mukhija, grade 7, and Anshul Reddy were quarterfinalists.
Also in public forum, the team of Kenneth Liou, grade 8, and Jeremy Ding, grade 8, as well as Zain Awais, grade 7, and Chandan Aggarwal, grade 8, reached the octofinals and finished in the top 20, while the team of Datha Arramreddy, grade 8, and Vibha Arramreddy, grade 8, were double octofinalists. In Lincoln-Douglas Annie Ma and Cat Zhao reached the quarterfinals. Aditya Tadimeti was an octofinalist.
The following students reached the double octofinals in Lincoln Douglas: Sachin Shah, grade 8, Aditi Vinod, grade 7, Akhilesh Chegu, grade 6, and Montek Kalsi, grade 8. In congressional debate Nakul Bajaj, grade 8, and Andrew Sun, grade 7, were finalists.
The middle school team also attended the Glendale Middle School Championships. In policy debate Andy Lee and Jason Lin, both grade 7, were the tournament champions. The teams of Quentin Clark, grade 8, and Shah, as well as Jai Bahri, grade 8, and Deven Parikh, grade 7, were semifinalists.
In Lincoln-Douglas debate, the team swept the tournament, claiming all of the top seven spots with the following students being named co-champions: Shah, Akshay Manglik, grade 7, Tadimeti, Kalsi, Ma, Chegu and Zhao. In public forum Reddy and Mukhija were octofinalists and the teams of Liou and Ding as well as Cheung and Pan reached the quarterfinals.
In congressional debate Sun, Bajaj, and Reiya Das, grade 8, all finished in the top eight at the tournament.
The following students reached the final round of speech competition: Aaditya Gulati, grade 6; Shyl Lamba, grade 8; Annamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 7; Wang and Chen. Patil won the oratory competition while Avi Gulati finished first overall in impromptu speaking and storytelling and Solanki was named tournament champion in both prose and dramatic interpretation.
Karina Momary, head coach of the Harker middle school team, credits the success of the program to the work of the students. “This group of students has certainly worked hard individually, but more importantly has worked collectively as a team to support each other. Our success this year is a direct result of our students working with and for each other,” she said. The middle school team next heads to the National Junior Forensics League National Championship Tournament in Salt Lake City in mid-June.
Welcoming a New Coach
In fall, Marjorie Hazeltine will transition from the middle school to the upper school to become the head coach of the Harker speech and congressional debate teams. Hazeltine had previously worked with the Harker middle school team, in addition to teaching English classes. She joins returning upper school coaches Jenny Alme and Greg Achten. Department chair Alme noted, “The upper school students and coaches are thrilled to have Ms. Hazeltine join us. She is very talented and has a great track record of success as a coach.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
By Greg Achten and Jenny Alme
Harker’s speech and debate team finished the 2015-16 season strong, with many students earning national honors and awards. The end-of-the-year championship tournaments were a capstone to another great season in which Harker students competed against the best and brightest students nationwide. The success of our students at those tournaments is a testament to their hard work and all that they have learned this year.
Upper School Team Success
Harker’s upper school speech and debate team attended several end-of-year championship tournaments. Qualifying for these tournaments was a great honor, resulting from top performances throughout the year. Twelve Harker students competed at the National Debate Coaches Association National Championship in Orlando, Fla. At the tournament, Raymond Xu and Srivatsav Pyda, both juniors, advanced to the elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Xu lost in the first elimination and finished 17th in the nation, while Pyda reached the quarterfinals and finished fifth in the nation. Several Harker debate students also qualified to the Tournament of Champions, held in Lexington, Ky. Pyda was joined by teammates Aditya Dhar, grade 11, and Michael Tseitlin, grade 11, as well as Alexander Lam, grade 11, in congressional debate; Joyce Huang, grade 11, Emily Chen, grade 10, and Jimmy Lin, grade 10, in international public forum debate; and Emaad Raghib, grade 11, and Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 12, in public forum. At the tournament, Lam and Huang entered the elimination rounds as the top overall seed. They were joined in the elimination rounds by Chen and Lin.
Both teams reached the octofinal round of the tournament, finishing in the top 20 in the nation. In congressional debate, both Dhar and Tseitlin advanced to the semifinals. Dhar also qualified for the National Catholic Forensics League National Tournament in Sacramento, where he reached the final round of the tournament and finished fifth overall in the nation. In speech competitions, three Harker students qualified for the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Denver. Sana Aladin and Divya Rajasekharan, both grade 11, qualified to the tournament in duo interpretation of literature, and Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 9, qualified in original oratory. Dharmaraj advanced to the final round of the tournament and finished fourth overall out of more than 140 students! Dharmaraj is the first Harker student to reach the final round of this prestigious tournament. He also qualified to the National Speech & Debate Association’s National Tournament in Salt Lake City, which will take place in mid-June.
Young Debaters Winning Big
One of the bright spots of the season was the success of grade 9 students throughout the year and especially at the end-of-the-year tournaments. Students from Harker’s team earned top honors at several late-season tournaments designed for students in their first or second year of competition.
The St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas holds a championship tournament in May for grade 9 and younger debaters. At that tournament Anusha Kuppahally, grade 9, and Maddie Huynh, grade 8, reached the semifinals and finished third overall. Both Kuppahally and Huynh also won individual speaker awards. At the Western JV & Novice National Championship at San Francisco State University, three Harker students were crowned national champions in their respective events. In second year public forum, Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang, both grade 9, lost only one ballot on their way to winning the tournament. In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Kelly Shen, grade 9, also won the final round of her division and was named a national champion.
Many other Harker students also won awards at the Western tournament. In policy debate, Esha Deokar, grade 9, and Deven Shah, grade 6, reached the semifinals of the novice division and finished third in the nation. Meghna Phalke and Alycia Cary, both grade 9, reached the octofinal round of novice policy, finishing ninth in the nation.
Kuppahally and Jacob Ohana, grade 10, finished ninth in the second year policy debate division. In novice public forum, Raymond Banke, grade 9, Floyd Gordon, grade 10, Aimee Wang, grade 6, and Alina Yuan, grade 6, finished in the top 20 in the nation, while Sascha Pakravan, grade 6, and Anshul Reddy, grade 6, were in the quarterfinals of the tournament and finished fifth overall. In second year public forum, Betsy Tian, grade 7, and Shomrick Mondal, grade 8, finished the tournament in the top 10 in the country.
In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Karoun Kaushik, grade 6, and Aditya Tadimeti, grade 7, reached elimination rounds and finished in the top 20 overall. Also in novice Lincoln-Douglas, Rishi Jain, grade 6, reached the quarterfinals. In second year Lincoln-Douglas, Cat Zhao, grade 8, Avi Gulati, grade 8, Satvik Narasimhan, grade 9, Nishant Ravi, grade 9, and Suraj Pakala, grade 9, all reached the elimination rounds and finished in the top 20. Annie Ma, grade 8, and Neha Tallapragada, grade 9, both reached the quarterfinals and finished in the top eight in nation. Given the success of these young students, the future of the program is indeed very bright.
Middle School Team Success Harker’s middle school team recently attended the California Middle School State tournament at Skyline High School in Oakland, and many of our students won awards! In impromptu speaking Bryan Wang, grade 8, reached the finals and was crowned state champion. Avi Gulati also reached the finals of impromptu. In storytelling Gulati, Katelyn Chen, grade 8, Arusha Patil, grade 7, and Rhea Nanavati, grade 7, all were finalists.
In prose Nikki Solanki, grade 8, was a finalist. In oratory Gulati and Patil were finalists. In duo interpretation of literature, Chen and Wang were finalists. In dramatic interpretation Solanki was a finalist. In public forum debate the teams of Amanda Cheung, grade 8, and Jason Pan, grade 8, as well as Krishay Mukhija, grade 7, and Anshul Reddy were quarterfinalists.
Also in public forum, the team of Kenneth Liou, grade 8, and Jeremy Ding, grade 8, as well as Zain Awais, grade 7, and Chandan Aggarwal, grade 8, reached the octofinals and finished in the top 20, while the team of Datha Arramreddy, grade 8, and Vibha Arramreddy, grade 8, were double octofinalists. In Lincoln-Douglas Annie Ma and Cat Zhao reached the quarterfinals. Aditya Tadimeti was an octofinalist.
The following students reached the double octofinals in Lincoln Douglas: Sachin Shah, grade 8, Aditi Vinod, grade 7, Akhilesh Chegu, grade 6, and Montek Kalsi, grade 8. In congressional debate Nakul Bajaj, grade 8, and Andrew Sun, grade 7, were finalists.
The middle school team also attended the Glendale Middle School Championships. In policy debate Andy Lee and Jason Lin, both grade 7, were the tournament champions. The teams of Quentin Clark, grade 8, and Shah, as well as Jai Bahri, grade 8, and Deven Parikh, grade 7, were semifinalists.
In Lincoln-Douglas debate, the team swept the tournament, claiming all of the top seven spots with the following students being named co-champions: Shah, Akshay Manglik, grade 7, Tadimeti, Kalsi, Ma, Chegu and Zhao. In public forum Reddy and Mukhija were octofinalists and the teams of Liou and Ding as well as Cheung and Pan reached the quarterfinals.
In congressional debate Sun, Bajaj, and Reiya Das, grade 8, all finished in the top eight at the tournament.
The following students reached the final round of speech competition: Aaditya Gulati, grade 6; Shyl Lamba, grade 8; Annamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 7; Wang and Chen. Patil won the oratory competition while Avi Gulati finished first overall in impromptu speaking and storytelling and Solanki was named tournament champion in both prose and dramatic interpretation.
Karina Momary, head coach of the Harker middle school team, credits the success of the program to the work of the students. “This group of students has certainly worked hard individually, but more importantly has worked collectively as a team to support each other. Our success this year is a direct result of our students working with and for each other,” she said. The middle school team next heads to the National Junior Forensics League National Championship Tournament in Salt Lake City in mid-June.
Welcoming a New Coach
In fall, Marjorie Hazeltine will transition from the middle school to the upper school to become the head coach of the Harker speech and congressional debate teams. Hazeltine had previously worked with the Harker middle school team, in addition to teaching English classes. She joins returning upper school coaches Jenny Alme and Greg Achten. Department chair Alme noted, “The upper school students and coaches are thrilled to have Ms. Hazeltine join us. She is very talented and has a great track record of success as a coach.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
By Greg Achten and Jenny Alme
Harker’s speech and debate team finished the 2015-16 season strong, with many students earning national honors and awards. The end-of-the-year championship tournaments were a capstone to another great season in which Harker students competed against the best and brightest students nationwide. The success of our students at those tournaments is a testament to their hard work and all that they have learned this year.
Upper School Team Success
Harker’s upper school speech and debate team attended several end-of-year championship tournaments. Qualifying for these tournaments was a great honor, resulting from top performances throughout the year. Twelve Harker students competed at the National Debate Coaches Association National Championship in Orlando, Fla. At the tournament, Raymond Xu and Srivatsav Pyda, both juniors, advanced to the elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Xu lost in the first elimination and finished 17th in the nation, while Pyda reached the quarterfinals and finished fifth in the nation. Several Harker debate students also qualified to the Tournament of Champions, held in Lexington, Ky. Pyda was joined by teammates Aditya Dhar, grade 11, and Michael Tseitlin, grade 11, as well as Alexander Lam, grade 11, in congressional debate; Joyce Huang, grade 11, Emily Chen, grade 10, and Jimmy Lin, grade 10, in international public forum debate; and Emaad Raghib, grade 11, and Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 12, in public forum. At the tournament, Lam and Huang entered the elimination rounds as the top overall seed. They were joined in the elimination rounds by Chen and Lin.
Both teams reached the octofinal round of the tournament, finishing in the top 20 in the nation. In congressional debate, both Dhar and Tseitlin advanced to the semifinals. Dhar also qualified for the National Catholic Forensics League National Tournament in Sacramento, where he reached the final round of the tournament and finished fifth overall in the nation. In speech competitions, three Harker students qualified for the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Denver. Sana Aladin and Divya Rajasekharan, both grade 11, qualified to the tournament in duo interpretation of literature, and Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 9, qualified in original oratory. Dharmaraj advanced to the final round of the tournament and finished fourth overall out of more than 140 students! Dharmaraj is the first Harker student to reach the final round of this prestigious tournament. He also qualified to the National Speech & Debate Association’s National Tournament in Salt Lake City, which will take place in mid-June.
Young Debaters Winning Big
One of the bright spots of the season was the success of grade 9 students throughout the year and especially at the end-of-the-year tournaments. Students from Harker’s team earned top honors at several late-season tournaments designed for students in their first or second year of competition.
The St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas holds a championship tournament in May for grade 9 and younger debaters. At that tournament Anusha Kuppahally, grade 9, and Maddie Huynh, grade 8, reached the semifinals and finished third overall. Both Kuppahally and Huynh also won individual speaker awards. At the Western JV & Novice National Championship at San Francisco State University, three Harker students were crowned national champions in their respective events. In second year public forum, Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang, both grade 9, lost only one ballot on their way to winning the tournament. In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Kelly Shen, grade 9, also won the final round of her division and was named a national champion.
Many other Harker students also won awards at the Western tournament. In policy debate, Esha Deokar, grade 9, and Deven Shah, grade 6, reached the semifinals of the novice division and finished third in the nation. Meghna Phalke and Alycia Cary, both grade 9, reached the octofinal round of novice policy, finishing ninth in the nation.
Kuppahally and Jacob Ohana, grade 10, finished ninth in the second year policy debate division. In novice public forum, Raymond Banke, grade 9, Floyd Gordon, grade 10, Aimee Wang, grade 6, and Alina Yuan, grade 6, finished in the top 20 in the nation, while Sascha Pakravan, grade 6, and Anshul Reddy, grade 6, were in the quarterfinals of the tournament and finished fifth overall. In second year public forum, Betsy Tian, grade 7, and Shomrick Mondal, grade 8, finished the tournament in the top 10 in the country.
In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Karoun Kaushik, grade 6, and Aditya Tadimeti, grade 7, reached elimination rounds and finished in the top 20 overall. Also in novice Lincoln-Douglas, Rishi Jain, grade 6, reached the quarterfinals. In second year Lincoln-Douglas, Cat Zhao, grade 8, Avi Gulati, grade 8, Satvik Narasimhan, grade 9, Nishant Ravi, grade 9, and Suraj Pakala, grade 9, all reached the elimination rounds and finished in the top 20. Annie Ma, grade 8, and Neha Tallapragada, grade 9, both reached the quarterfinals and finished in the top eight in nation. Given the success of these young students, the future of the program is indeed very bright.
Middle School Team Success Harker’s middle school team recently attended the California Middle School State tournament at Skyline High School in Oakland, and many of our students won awards! In impromptu speaking Bryan Wang, grade 8, reached the finals and was crowned state champion. Avi Gulati also reached the finals of impromptu. In storytelling Gulati, Katelyn Chen, grade 8, Arusha Patil, grade 7, and Rhea Nanavati, grade 7, all were finalists.
In prose Nikki Solanki, grade 8, was a finalist. In oratory Gulati and Patil were finalists. In duo interpretation of literature, Chen and Wang were finalists. In dramatic interpretation Solanki was a finalist. In public forum debate the teams of Amanda Cheung, grade 8, and Jason Pan, grade 8, as well as Krishay Mukhija, grade 7, and Anshul Reddy were quarterfinalists.
Also in public forum, the team of Kenneth Liou, grade 8, and Jeremy Ding, grade 8, as well as Zain Awais, grade 7, and Chandan Aggarwal, grade 8, reached the octofinals and finished in the top 20, while the team of Datha Arramreddy, grade 8, and Vibha Arramreddy, grade 8, were double octofinalists. In Lincoln-Douglas Annie Ma and Cat Zhao reached the quarterfinals. Aditya Tadimeti was an octofinalist.
The following students reached the double octofinals in Lincoln Douglas: Sachin Shah, grade 8, Aditi Vinod, grade 7, Akhilesh Chegu, grade 6, and Montek Kalsi, grade 8. In congressional debate Nakul Bajaj, grade 8, and Andrew Sun, grade 7, were finalists.
The middle school team also attended the Glendale Middle School Championships. In policy debate Andy Lee and Jason Lin, both grade 7, were the tournament champions. The teams of Quentin Clark, grade 8, and Shah, as well as Jai Bahri, grade 8, and Deven Parikh, grade 7, were semifinalists.
In Lincoln-Douglas debate, the team swept the tournament, claiming all of the top seven spots with the following students being named co-champions: Shah, Akshay Manglik, grade 7, Tadimeti, Kalsi, Ma, Chegu and Zhao. In public forum Reddy and Mukhija were octofinalists and the teams of Liou and Ding as well as Cheung and Pan reached the quarterfinals.
In congressional debate Sun, Bajaj, and Reiya Das, grade 8, all finished in the top eight at the tournament.
The following students reached the final round of speech competition: Aaditya Gulati, grade 6; Shyl Lamba, grade 8; Annamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 7; Wang and Chen. Patil won the oratory competition while Avi Gulati finished first overall in impromptu speaking and storytelling and Solanki was named tournament champion in both prose and dramatic interpretation.
Karina Momary, head coach of the Harker middle school team, credits the success of the program to the work of the students. “This group of students has certainly worked hard individually, but more importantly has worked collectively as a team to support each other. Our success this year is a direct result of our students working with and for each other,” she said. The middle school team next heads to the National Junior Forensics League National Championship Tournament in Salt Lake City in mid-June.
Welcoming a New Coach
In fall, Marjorie Hazeltine will transition from the middle school to the upper school to become the head coach of the Harker speech and congressional debate teams. Hazeltine had previously worked with the Harker middle school team, in addition to teaching English classes. She joins returning upper school coaches Jenny Alme and Greg Achten. Department chair Alme noted, “The upper school students and coaches are thrilled to have Ms. Hazeltine join us. She is very talented and has a great track record of success as a coach.”