Last week, girls soccer won their season opener against Monta Vista with a score of 5-0. They’re headed to Andrew Hill on Tuesday and will return to Harker on Thursday against Del Mar.
Girls basketball won 44-31 over Sobrato on Tuesday in their home opener. Their schedule this week sees them facing Lincoln on Tuesday, Overfelt on Thursday and San Jose High on Saturday, all at home.
After last week’s loss to Monta Vista, boys basketball looks to bounce back on Tuesday against University Prep before heading to BASIS on Friday.
Boys water polo’s historic season ended the weekend before Thanksgiving break with a 13-7 loss to Gunn High. Their CIF Northern California Championship run included wins over Dixon and Ponderosa. Congratulations to the team on a fantastic season.
More than 200 members of the Harker community headed to the upper school’s Rothschild Performing Arts Center on Nov. 20 for this year’s TEDxHarker School, organized each year by students in Harker’s business and entrepreneurship program.
The impressive lineup of speakers assembled for this year’s event included chef, author and restaurateur Alice Waters, who appeared via Zoom to speak on school-supported agriculture and its effects on climate change and social inequality. She also advocated for the procurement of school foods directly from farmers, and touched on her work with the Edible Schoolyard Project and the Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education, which has partnered with the University of California.
Author Dan Roam spoke on the power of visual storytelling, as detailed in his book, “The Back of the Napkin: How Visual Storytelling Works.” Roam, who has worked with leadership at companies such as Google, Microsoft and Boeing, presented on how simple illustrations can help leaders make sense of complex situations.
Hetal Vasavada, a contestant on the sixth season of the competitive cooking show MasterChef, talked about how she pursued a career outside of the STEM fields pursued by many Indian-Americans. Originally on the path to a career in the sciences, Vasavada discussed her pivot to the food industry and how she convinced her family (as well as herself) that it was the right choice.
This year’s TEDxHarker School student speaker was senior Aaron Tran, whose passions include bioinformatics and scientific ethics and philosophy. Spurred by the worrying amount of misinformation that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tran talked about solutions to the concerning lack of information literacy and the growing mistrust people have of one another.
In addition to the speakers, attendees also enjoyed perusing the exhibitor area, where they played with robotic toys made by Petoi, tried out slime samples from Dots N Stripes and got an up-close look at the Vinci electric bike.
At lunch, students had the chance to sit down with local business mentors to ask questions and receive advice.
Videos of this year’s TEDxHarker speakers are expected to be uploaded to the TEDx YouTube channel in the coming months.
On Saturday, the girls tennis team defeated Menlo for the fourth time this season to become the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Northern California champion for the first time in the program’s history, capping off a massively successful run that also saw the team earn its region’s second consecutive CCS championship.
Displaying dominance for the entire season, the team went undefeated in league play and allowed just 7 points in 10 games. The girls also met division rival Menlo four times, winning every contest, and took second place at the Point Loma Invitational in San Diego, where they defeated CIF Southern California champions Westlake.
As an additional feather in the program’s cap, the duo of Rachel Hernandez, grade 10, and Olivia Guo, grade 9, reached the semifinals of the CCS doubles tournament and Audrey Feng, grade 9, won the individual league title.
On Wednesday, sixth grader Rory Hu appeared on an episode of Nickelodeon’s “Nick News” to host a segment about The Turtle Hospital, a Florida-based organization that rescues and cares for injured sea turtles. Hu met and interviewed the hospital’s staff, toured the facility and watched a surgeon remove a tumor.
Last year, Hu was selected to be a reporter by TIME for Kids, where she wrote recommendations for books and interviewed figures such as Apple CEO Tim Cook. She was later chosen to be a Nick News host after a successful audition.
Boys varsity water polo made history this past weekend with the program’s first-ever CCS championship, defeating Archbishop Mitty 9-5. Girls tennis also had a landmark moment, defeating Menlo to become CCS champions for the second consecutive year. With these wins, Harker has a total of 10 CCS championships across all participating sports. Both teams also advanced to their respective CIF Northern California championships. Boys water polo will face Dixon High at the Singh Aquatic Center at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, while girls tennis heads to Sacramento this Friday and Saturday as the top seed for their matches.
Tennis players also will be in CCS competition this week as Audrey Feng, grade 9, participates in singles, and the duo of Rachel Hernandez, grade 10, and Olivia Guo, grade 9, compete in doubles.
Cross country runners Veyd Patil, grade 10, and juniors Rupert Chen, Rigo Gonzales and Kara Kister finished their seasons at Saturday’s CCS championships, with all running well. Patil, Chen and Gonzales placed 31st, 35th and 48th, respectively, out of 93 runners.
Last week, CareerConnect, Harker’s student-run networking and career preparation program, led a leadership workshop featuring Helen Zhu ’21, who discussed journalism leadership and clubs at Harker, and Avi Gulati ‘20, who talked about the student council and volunteering in high school. Both alumni shared their experiences in finding their passions in high school, experiencing new classes and clubs, and being involved in student leadership.
Claire Cheng, a freshman who attended the session said, “I think that the event was very interesting, because I learned how two successful Harker students were able to navigate their way through high school and obtain leadership positions even in college.”
The workshop was intended to help guide grade 9 students to explore new opportunities, electives and extracurriculars before they settle. Organizers strove to make the experience memorable for the freshmen and sophomores who attended, but also the alumni speakers. “Even though I was halfway across the country from the upper school campus, it was really heartwarming to be able to see the freshman and sophomores in the classrooms through the Zoom screen,” Zhu said. “I was so glad to be able to give back to the Harker community and I really hope the attendees learned something new!”
On Oct. 27, CareerConnect brought nine students on a day trip to Constellation Research’s three-day Connected Enterprise business conference, held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Half Moon Bay, to help them better understand what is currently happening in the business world as well as what is predicted to happen in the future. The participants heard from many highly qualified speakers, many of whom are executives in Fortune 500 companies including Amazon and Salesforce. The students learned about the applications of technology and business models in various industries.
One of the notable speakers was Colin Bryer, a former executive at Amazon as well as the author of “Working Backwards,” which provides an inside perspective on the methodology and culture of Amazon. He discussed his experiences working closely with Jeff Bezos and how businesses like Amazon plan for the long term. Another was Geeta Nayyar, the executive medical director at Salesforce, who described the technological changes in the medical industry as a result of COVID-19.
Overall, the trip was a success and provided inspiration for students interested in business. When asked what he wanted the students to gain from Connected Enterprise, R “Ray” Wang, Constellation’s founder and CEO, explained that he wished for all the students to “see what trends are happening and meet people.” He further elaborated that everyone at the conference was approachable and happy to give advice to the students. Sophomore Claire Miao, reflecting on the benefits of the event, commented, “I thought it was a great experience to meet industry professionals that are at the top of their industry. All of the talks were great, and everyone had a topic to listen to that they were interested in. I also had so much fun at the hotel to see the views.”
The trip proved to be a valuable experience for the attendees, with the nine Harker students networking with new people and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of how the business world works.
Yesterday, senior Tara Ozdemir signed a letter of intent to compete in Division I beach volleyball at Stetson University. A four-year varsity player, Ozdemir was a member of the 2018 team that reached the CCS finals and the 2019 team that won the CCS championship. She was also named to the WBAL’s 2021 first team all-league and had a team-leading 243 digs this season. Congratulations!
Varsity boys and girls water polo have had historic seasons, with both teams recording their first-ever CCS wins. The boys are still in contention after Wednesday’s 13-10 win over Leland in the CCS semifinals. They will face Archbishop Mitty on Saturday in the CCS finals, which will be held at San Benito High School. The girls, meanwhile, are out of the playoffs following Tuesday’s loss to Santa Cruz. Congratulations to them on a great season!
Girls tennis’ success in CCS continued on Tuesday with a 7-0 win over Lynbrook in the second round. They are in action against Monta Vista today in the quarterfinal round. Should they win, they will play in Saturday’s semifinals.
Cross country runners Rupert Chen, Rigo Gonzales and Kara Kister, all juniors, and sophomore Veyd Patil will be competing in CCS this Saturday at Crystal Springs-Hallmark Park. Best of luck!
Sophomore Arushi Sharma recently received her second consecutive President’s Volunteer Service Award, which is awarded to people who have a positive impact on their communities and inspire others to serve. Sharma works with Compassion for Seniors, an organization that stages musical performances for seniors living with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions. Sharma was instrumental in putting together a massive mask donation effort last year, at time when masks were in short supply at senior centers. By her own estimation, she sewed nearly 200 masks by hand.
The President’s Volunteer Service Award was created in 2003 by AmeriCorps, an independent U.S. government agency that coordinates service efforts across the country. Awards are given to eligible volunteers by certifying organizations, which can include nonprofits, schools and community-based organizations.
In August, the App Dev League, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Harker junior Krish Maniar, held its first Appathon for high school students. Participants created business pitch videos, proposals and prototypes of apps they wanted to develop. The event had more than 300 participants and offered $20,000 in prizes thanks to its 20 partners and sponsors. Speakers at the event included Brian Dean, founder of the USA Computing Olympiad, and entrepreneur Damian Musk.
The App Dev League’s leadership is made up of Maniar, Harker sophomore Kabir Ramzan and Saratoga High School juniors Shafin Haque and Ishir Lakhani. Since the organization’s founding in December 2019, it has hosted more than 15 computer science education events with the aim of increasing diversity in the tech industry. Attendees at these events have learned to develop web applications, games, mobile apps and more in a project-based program that is designed to be friendly to those new to development. An estimated 5,000 students have been helped via these events. In the future, the organization hopes to offer technology assistance to schools and create more international branches in addition to monthly events.
One of the most enthusiastic crowds in Harker Concert Series history greeted drummer Jared Schonig and his quintet Friday night, kicking off the first in-person live HCS event in almost two years. The last time the Patil Theater hosted a live Harker Concert Series performance was in February of last year, when The Kronos Quartet played to a packed house.
Remarkably, Schonig and his assembled band of incredible players – saxophonist Patrick Bartley, bassist Matt Clohesy, trumpeter Michael Olmos and pianist Gary Versace – were performing as a group for the first time, though Schonig had worked with each of them individually for years. The group performed eight of Schonig’s original songs, none of which failed to impress. Naturally, Schonig began the show with a drum solo highlighting both his technique and musicality. For the remainder of the set, he was more than content to take the reins at the rhythm section while his bandmates skillfully interpreted his excellent compositions and traded solos.
The highlights were many, ranging from the alternating funk and swing of show opener “Sabotage” to the contemplative “Tig Mack” – a showcase for Versace’s crystalline piano lines – to the steady drive of “Climb,” which displayed Bartley and Olmos’ effortless virtuosity. The band closed with “White Out,” a rhythmically dizzying show of musicianship that could have easily gone off the rails were it not for the expertise and confidence of the people at the controls.
An ever-thankful Schonig, grateful for the opportunity to perform live (“It’s a wonderful thing to get to do it for people again,” he said), stuck around after the standing ovation to chat with concertgoers and sign copies of his double album, “Two Takes.”