The girls tennis team opened its season this weekend in Clovis at the California Tennis Classic, and dominated the competition on the way to a Division 6 championship. Over the two-day tournament, the Eagles went 5-0 with an unbelievable 353 games won to only 66 games lost. Even more impressive, the Eagles won 59 sets and only lost one, and in that case rebounded by winning the 10-point third-set tiebreaker. The Eagles did all this with only 10 players, seven of them freshmen. Congratulations ladies! Next up for the Eagles is their league opener against Menlo on Sept. 20.
Football
The varsity football team looks to bounce back from a 48-0 loss to Menlo last Friday as it hosts Encinal this Friday at 7:30 p.m. It’s also Teacher Appreciation Night, so come out to support the football team as well as our awesome Harker teachers.
Girls Golf
It’s a busy week for the girls golf team! Today the Eagles travel to Poplar Creek Golf Course for the Helen Lengfeld Memorial Tournament, followed by a home match against Palo Alto High on Tuesday and a league match against Notre Dame Belmont on Wednesday.
Cross Country
The Harker cross country team opened its season and turned in some impressive performances at the Lowell Invitational in Golden Gate Park. Rishi Dange, grade 9, led the Eagles with a top 25 finish as the boys freshman team finished seventh out of 40 teams. Anika Rajamani, grade 10, led the frosh-soph girls team to a 13th-place finish out of 40 schools. Finally, Niki Iyer, grade 12, opened her final Harker season with a second-place finish in the 2.93-mile race, posting the fastest CCS time. Check out an interview with Iyer after the race!
Next up for the XC Eagles is the De La Salle Invitational in Concord on Saturday.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team fell 11-5 to Monta Vista last week before going 2-2 at the Charger Varsity Invitational at Wilcox High School over the weekend. Abigail Wisdom, grade 10, led the Eagles with 10 goals during the tournament. The girls will host Santa Clara on Tuesday and travel to Saratoga on Thursday.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team defeated Fremont High 16-3 last week before going 2-2 at the Connolly Invitational Tournament over the weekend. The Eagles are now 5-4 for the season.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team continued its brutal schedule, taking on some of the best teams in the Bay Area. They lost to Valley Christian in three games last week and will face off with a tough Saint Francis on Wednesday in Mountain View. Go Eagles!
Felix Wu ’15 recently decided to take a break from his studies at Emory University for a full-time position with the Iowa Democratic Party. During an Aug. 10 rally in the Iowa state capitol of Des Moines, Felix gave a speech to the large crowd that had assembled for an appearance by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “Felix has always been very passionate about politics and civil service, and we are glad that he continues to pursue his passion after Harker,” said May Lau, Felix’s mother. Read about another alum working on the Clinton campaign, ‘Isabella Liu ’02 in “Alumna Takes on Clinton Campaign Role.”
Sept. 9, 2016
Junior Amy Dunphy’s project, titled “Poison Oak: Neutralized,” received a 2016 Popular Mechanics Youth Breakthrough Award. The awards celebrate “research, innovators, scientists and students who’ve made the world a little better this year.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
The mood was bittersweet as parents of seniors gathered to mark their students’ final days at Harker, during a pair of celebrations for moms and dads held on the afternoon and evening of May 16.
At the annual Harker Senior Moms’ Luncheon, held in the gym, mothers of graduating seniors enjoyed a delicious meal served by the moms of juniors, while surrounded by collages commemorating the students’ academic journeys. During the event, mothers took to the podium to share memories of their children’s Harker experiences.
“Drink in this [graduation] week … it is a beautiful and special time,” Chris Nikoloff, head of school, advised the moms in attendance.
Later in the day, fathers enjoyed a new event of their own: Dads of Grads. The evening gathering, held on the quad, was a casual barbecue for all upper school fathers, with fathers of freshman, sophomores and juniors hosting the senior dads.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
Harker’s annual baccalaureate ceremony on May 18 offered the Class of 2016 a chance to say their goodbyes and welcome the juniors into their new roles as leaders. Attendees gathered at the upper school campus quad, as the upper school vocal group Cantilena serenaded the audience with their wistful yet spirited version of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” followed by a stirring Harker String Orchestra performance of the first movement from Ottorino Respighi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite 3.”
College counselor Martin Walsh, who was chosen by the seniors as this year’s faculty speaker, asked both the soon-to-be graduates and soon-to-be seniors not to be wary of ceremony. Recalling a helicopter ride to Kazakhstan, he said, “I had finally made that mythical transition into adulthood. In retrospect, I desperately needed that helicopter ride. Up to that point in my life I was sleepwalking through all of life’s ceremonies.” He then urged the students to “not sleepwalk through your ceremony,” as it, like the helicopter ride, is an important signifier of change. “Something big is happening here.”
Edward Sheu, grade 12, delivered the student farewell, recalling his time as an aspiring water polo player who felt nervous for having to wear a Speedo. He eventually relented and tried one on, only to find “a shorts tan so blinding it was like two marble and diamond pillars sitting above my knees.” Despite his initial uneasiness, Sheu pressed on. “Water polo went on to be an activity that taught me work ethic, teamwork, perseverance and other values that made me into who I am today.” His story contained a valuable lesson for both the graduating seniors and the juniors about how to push past one’s apprehensions in pursuit of their passions.
Upper school students had a blast at the Aug. 28 spirit kickoff, in which students from each class competed for points in a number of activities, including a fierce dodgeball competition and a fun-filled race on exercise balls.
Last week, grade 7 science students put their engineering skills to the test by building airplanes in the middle school campus’ innovation lab. Teacher Raji Swaminathan had taken the students to the middle school amphitheater to try out normal paper airplanes when, she said, “Scott [Kley Contini, grades 6-8 Learning, Innovation and Design Director], who was walking by, asked me if the Innovation Lab could have helped the kids build the planes.”
The students then headed to the lab and were instructed to build planes with the wealth of materials that were available to them. Kley Contini offered the students advice on how to get creative as they worked on their aircraft. One group of students went so far as to construct a wind tunnel to test the effects of tailwinds and headwinds. “I would’ve used just a fan, but Scott came up with the idea for a wind tunnel that would channel the breeze from the fan through which the plane flew,” said Swaminathan. “It was just a fantastic experience for those of my classes who were able to go to the Innovation Lab.”
Over the summer, Harker juniors Divija Bhimaraju, Emily Chen, Peter Connors and Sameep Mangat spent a few days at the annual Hugh O’Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership Seminar. These events, held throughout the country, are designed to help high school students build leadership skills through various activities. Students attend the seminars after being nominated by their school.
One of Chen’s favorite activities was an ice cream-themed game that demonstrated societal class structure. Teams were separated into three different “flavors” and planned cities with resources provided to them. The purpose of the exercise was to show how social change was necessary to curb social stratification.
“Strawberry members were allowed to play loose with the rules without fear of punishment and were provided with the best building materials and media presence; Mint was treated averagely throughout the entire game; and Vanilla was thoroughly abused,” Chen recalled. “Vanilla members frequently went to ‘jail’ for transgressions such as wearing denim, talking too loudly, talking too quietly and pretty much for existing. The media demonized Vanilla as much as it lauded Strawberry.”
Mangat particularly enjoyed the HOBY Hugs activity, in which attendees exchange gifts of candy and nice messages. “The message usually is [about] how that person impacted you in a positive way, and how much you appreciate their friendship,” she said. “Reading those in the car ride home put a smile on my face as I sobbed. I didn’t expect for these people to impact me in such a strong way, yet when I left, I could feel the loss deep in my heart.”
Another highlight was the appearance by speaker Jamie Utt, a highly regarded presenter on diversity and inclusion, who spoke about “breaking down walls of negativity and how we’ve become socially conditioned to view people and constructs in pejorative manners,” said Chen. “Jamie gave a charged speech following a powerful activity about internalization of prejudice and what we can do to combat systemic antagonism.”
Chen and Mangat both enthusiastically recommended that students attend a HOBY seminar if given the opportunity. “It’s a life-changing experience, and there’s no other way I can put it,” Mangat said. “The people that you meet, the interactions that you have, and the lessons that you learn change the way that you view the world around you and it re-energizes you in a way that nothing else ever could.”
The team members Chen met and bonded with at the event helped make the event special for her. “They’ll have your back, because this is a diverse collection of the region’s future leaders, and you’ll learn so much about humanity and the difference youth can make in the present and in the future.”
Shay Lari-Hosain ’16 is taking a gap year before starting college and, not one to let the grass grow under his feet, already has been published in The Mercury News. Lari-Hosain was very active in Harker’s Journalism program and, as assistant editor in chief and designer, was instrumental in founding Wingspan, the student longform magazine. Here’s his interview with The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj.
Fall sports are in progress and although some starts have been rough, teams are pulling together to put their best efforts forth as the season matures!
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team dropped its home opener to Lynbrook 12-11 in a heartbreaking overtime loss on Tuesday. Next up for the Eagles is a trip to Fremont High on Thursday, followed by the Connolly Tournament this weekend.
Girls Water Polo
Playing under the lights for its home opener, the girls water polo team fell 6-4 to visiting Lynbrook. Abigail Wisdom, grade 10, led the Eagles with two goals. Harker travels to Monta Vista on Thursday, then competes in the Charger Varsity Invitational at Wilcox on Friday.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team lost in its season opener to Valley Christian last week, but Katherine Zhu, grade 11, was the medalist shooting an even 36. Katelyn Vo, grade 9, was also outstanding, shooting a 2-over-par 38. On Tuesday, the Eagles bounced back with a convincing 203-301 league victory over Notre Dame San Jose. The Eagles were led once again by Zhu and Vo, each shooting a 1-under to tie for medalist honors. The girls golf team will compete next at the Helen Lengfeld Memorial Tournament at Poplar Creek Golf Course on Monday.
Football
The Eagles suffered a tough 17-14 loss at Prospect last Friday. Will Park, grade 12, led the way for Harker with 63-yards rushing and a TD. Come support the Eagles this Friday as they play their home opener against Menlo at 7 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team dropped a pair of matches last week bringing the team record to 2-6 in this early season. The Eagles fell to Monte Vista Christian and Presentation, both in three games. Harker travels to Valley Christian this Thursday.
Girls Tennis
Making the trip into the Central Valley, the girls tennis team opens its season this weekend at the California Girls Tennis Classic in Clovis.
Cross Country
The cross country team will officially start its season this Saturday at the Lowell Invitational in Golden Gate Park.