Nirban Singh Bhatia, grade 9, took eighth place in the fall 2014 InvestWrite contest, sponsored by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). The “innovative national writing competition,” produced by The Stock Market Game program, requires critical thinking that reinforces classroom concepts. Thousands of essays are submitted each year from students nationwide. Go Nirban!
Tags: Featured StoryDuring the course of this year, Harker’s upper school journalism students have won a number of prestigious awards. Here is a look back at honors the students have received from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and the Journalism Education Association (JEA).
Of special note were first-place wins from the CSPA by seniors Apoorva Rangan, Jessica (“Fred”) Chang and Priscilla Pan. Working together, Chang and Pan took first place in the video feature package for a piece about making mint chocolate soufflé, titled “In a Nutshell: Mint Chocolate Souffle.”
Ellen Austin, who directs Harker’s upper school journalism program, noted that the video was very innovative, and on the cusp of big trends both culturally and journalistically. “The fact that this won over other more ‘traditional’ videos is a mark of the innovative approach they are taking,” she said.
The CSPA is an international student press association whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisors at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges, textbooks, critiques and award programs. CSPA is affiliated with Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
The NSPA is a nonprofit organization for high school and secondary school publications in the United States. The association is membership-based and annually hosts high school journalism conventions across the country. The NSPA is considered to be one of the most prestigious award bodies in high school journalism, comparable to the Pulitzer Prize.
The National High School Journalism Convention is a semiannual gathering of high school journalists and advisors sponsored by the JEA and the NSPA. The associations partner to prepare hundreds of practical and professional learning sessions.
Below are the 2014-15 awards received by Harker’s journalism students:
Publication Awards
CSPA Silver Crown, April 2015: Presented for the year’s work for Winged Post 2013-14: Nikil Dilip, then grade 12, and Meena Chetty, then grade 12 (editor-in-chiefs)
Winged Post, Third Place, Broadsheet 17+ pages, Best of Show, Denver, Spring JEA/NSPA National Journalism Conference
Aquila, Fourth Place, Publication Website Small School, Best of Show, Denver, Spring JEA/NSPA, National Journalism Conference
Winged Post, Seventh Place, Broadsheet 17+ pages, Best of Show, Washington D.C., Fall National Journalism Conference, November 2014
Individual Awards
NSPA Story of The Year (presented November 2014): Mariam Sulakian, grade 12, Honorable Mention
Sports Multimedia, Story of the Year competition
Shay Lari-Hosain, grade 11, Honorable Mention, Infographics, Design of the Year competition
Columbia Scholastic Press Association Newspaper Awards, print work (September 2014)
First Place, Photo Layout; Portfolio of Work: Apoorva Rangan, grade 12
Second Place, Feature Page Design Portfolio of Work: Apoorva Rangan
Columbia Scholastic Press Association Digital Awards, online work, (February 2015)
First Place, Video Feature Package: Jessica Chang, grade 12, and Priscilla Pan, grade 12, “In a Nutshell: Mint Chocolate Souffle,” Harker Aquila
Third Place: Video Feature Package: Jessica Chang and Priscilla Pan, “In a Nutshell: Bruschetta,” Harker Aquila
Second Place, Personal Opinion, Off-Campus Issues: Shay Lari-Hosain,“The Middle East: A Muslim Perspective,” Harker Aquila
Third Place, Humor: Kathryn Duan, grade 10, and Alex Jang, grade 12, “A Guide to Commuting Across Campus,” Harker Aquila
Tags: Featured Story, Featured Story Photo, topacademics, upper schoolIn April, Mike Tirabassi accepted a new position as Harker’s head football coach. Tirabassi joined Harker as a defensive coordinator in 2012 and in 2013 served as offensive coordinator. Previously he was JV offensive coordinator at Santa Margarita High School and head coach at Pinewood High School.
“My coaching philosophy is very simple,” Tirabassi said. “Use football as a medium for developing life skills.” He believes many of the skills taught in football can be applied to other areas of a successful life, and that paying close attention to the reasons behind learning these skills can result in people who better both themselves and their communities. “As long as we stay true to that vision, competitive success will take care of itself,” he added.
Tirabassi also will continue developing an environment where players feel both safe and comfortable with their skills. “I believe in removing any chance of players being put into a situation in which they aren’t ready,” he said. One system he’s implementing will separate new players from experienced ones to ensure new players can learn the fundamentals of football at a suitable pace.
New players are given a white jersey, while players returning to the team wear green jerseys, Tirabassi explained. “During practice, no player wearing a white jersey will have any padded contact with a player in green,” he said. Players in white jerseys must have a form signed by the player, a parent or guardian, and an athletic trainer to certify that they are ready to wear a green jersey. Only players practicing in green jerseys will be allowed to play in varsity football games. This new program, Tirabassi said, “will allow players to learn these skills slowly and without pressure.”
Spring practice will begin May 15. Anyone interested in playing football is welcome to give the sport a try, Tirabassi said. “This is a great time for players who haven’t played before to come and see if football is for them,” he said. “It’s also a great time for me to see the progress that our returning players have made in the off-season.” Tirabassi hopes to field a team of dedicated players who are committed to the vision of football as a means of personal and social betterment. “If we have a group of players that are committed to the vision, every member of our team has the potential to have a life-changing experience and we have the potential to be a source of pride for the entire Harker community,” he said. “This is what matters to me.”
Tirabassi also is excited to be more involved with the Harker community. “I have already had multiple interactions with members of the faculty and administration and can honestly say that there is no place that I have ever seen that is like Harker,” he beamed. “The unadulterated care that the faculty and staff have for the students is amazing.”
Tags: Featured Story Photo, SportsAlthough all middle school Latin students took the National Latin Exam and National Mythology Exam, there were some who wanted a bigger challenge and participated in four optional contests. There will be a lot of jingling as they walk away from Junior Classical League Awards on May 21!
National Classical Etymology Exam (Greek and Latin roots of English words), Novice level (grades 8 and below)
Bronze medals: Cynthia Chen, Avi Gulati, Eileen Li, all grade 7
Silver medals: Arushee Bhoja, Taylor Lam, both grade 8
Gold medals: Arohee Bhoja, George Wehner, both grade 6; Jack Hansen, Jin Tuan, Angele Yang, all grade 7; Nikhil Dharmaraj, Ayush Pancholy, Akshay Ravoor, Ashwin Reddy, Alexander Young, all grade 8
National Roman Civilization Exam (history and culture), Novice level (grades 8 and below)
Bronze medals: Akshay Ravoor, Ashwin Reddy, Alexander Young, all grade 8
National Latin Vocabulary Exam
Level 1/2, all grade 6:
Bronze: Saloni Shah
Silver: Akshay Manglik
Gold: Arohee Bhoja, Annamma Vazhaeparambil
Level 1, all grade 7, except where noted:
Silver: Avi Gulati, Jack Hansen, Allison Jia
Gold: Eileen Li, Kalyan Narayanan, Jin Tuan, George Wehner, grade 6
Level 2, all grade 8:
Silver: Akshay Ravoor, Ayush Pancholy
Gold: Nikhil Dharmaraj
Medusa Mythology Exam (This year’s theme was “Monstra in Corporibus,” mythological monsters sorted by body type)
Corona Olivae: George Wehner, grade 6; Jasmine Wiese, Jack Hansen, both grade 7; Allison Cartee, grade 8
Corona Laurea: Akshay Manglik, Annnamma Vazhaeparambil, both grade 6; Katelyn Chen, grade 7; Akshay Ravoor, Timothy Chang, Sara Min, all grade 8
Bronze: Allison Jia, Kyle Li, both grade 7; Alexander Young, grade 8
Tags: Featured Story, topacademicsThe upper school’s junior varsity boys, varsity girls and varsity boys soccer teams emerged victorious at this year’s Kicks Against Cancer Games. The sixth-annual fundraiser benefits Camp Okizu, a program for families affected by childhood cancer.
The amount raised by the late-January event is still being tallied, as donations continued to roll in after the games. Last year, Kicks Against Cancer raised nearly $12,000.
The event comprised three back-to-back games. First up, the junior varsity boys played Woodside Priory, winning 7-0. Next, the varsity girls beat Notre Dame San Jose 2-0. In the final match of the evening, the varsity boys triumphed over Woodside Priory 2-0.
Onlookers had the opportunity to buy T-shirts and wristbands, as well as make monetary donations, to support the effort. 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.
Camp Okizu is a week-long summer camp that gives cancer patients and their siblings a sense of normalcy and stability. The camp is free of charge to attendees, but it costs $700 to $1,000 to provide a week-long camp experience for one child. Therefore, the camp relies on donations, making fundraising efforts incredibly important. For more information, visit the camp website at http://okizu.org/faq/.
To read about another Harker effort in support of Camp Okizu: https://staging.news.harker.org/ninth-annual-cancer-walk-raises-over-10000-for-camp-okizu/.
Tags: Featured Story Photo, OutreachOn Friday, April 24, a new Harker tradition was born: Green & White Day. Eagle pride was shown on all four campuses that day as students, faculty, staff and parents dressed in green and white. Green & White Day is slated to become an annual event for the entire Harker community so start planning next year’s garb, now!
Enjoy these fun photos taken at the preschool, lower, middle and upper schools, capturing an array of green and white looks. Go Harker Eagles!
Tags: Featured Story PhotoHarker’s elite summer soccer camp, one of its most popular summer sports programs, provides a comprehensive, fun and supportive environment for soccer players from a wide range of ages and skill levels. Enthusiasts in grades 2-12 will engage in daily activities including Futsal, psycho-motor training and full- and half-court games, in addition to stations that emphasize key soccer skills such as passing, receiving, dribbling and shooting.
To ensure that the camp appeals to a as many players as possible, campers are grouped by order of their age, playing ability and gender, and are taught a new age-appropriate skill every day, which they then practice and integrate into daily game play.
This year, to better meet the needs of individual players, camps are being offered separately at two of Harker’s San Jose campuses. Players ages 10-16 will be assigned to the Harker upper school campus at 500 Saratoga Ave., and players aged 6-9 will attend the camp the middle school campus, located at 3800 Blackford Ave.
This camp will be held in three sessions: June 15-19, July 6-10 and July 13-18. Each day begins at 8:30 a.m. with a warm-up session and ends at 11:30 a.m. with small-sided games.
Harker varsity soccer coach and two-time UCLA MVP awardee Shaun Tsakiris will head up the camp, bringing with him a team of dedicated and highly qualified coaches. A veteran of four NCAA tournaments, Tsakiris played professionally for the United Soccer League’s Rochester Rhinos from 2002-06.
For more information on this and other summer sports camps, including pricing, please visit the Harker Summer website.
Tags: Featured Story PhotoA who’s-who of iconic fairy tale characters got much more than they wished for at this year’s spring musical, a raucous production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods,” which played at the Blackford Theater April 16-17.
Noted for its thematic and musical depth, “Into the Woods” intertwines the stories of Cinderella (Caroline Howells, grade 12), Jack (Rishabh Chandra, grade 11), Little Red Riding Hood (Zoe Woehrmann, grade 12) and other popular fairy tale characters who all have a wish they want fulfilled. At the center of the story are a Baker (Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari, grade 12) and his wife (Madi Lang-Ree, grade 12), who wish to have a child, but are stymied by a curse put upon the Baker’s house by a Witch (Ishanya Anthapur, grade 12) after the Baker’s father was caught stealing six beans from the Witch’s garden. Each of them sets off toward the titular woods to seek out the objects of their desires, unaware of what may lie beyond their supposedly happy endings.
The through-sung musical, directed by Laura Lang-Ree, featured inspired performances from its cast, who brought out the surprising complexity of characters known mostly for their simple and moralistic stories. The woods themselves, designed by Paul Vallerga and lit and shaded by lighting designer Natti Pierce-Thomson, were consistently mysterious and foreshadowing and Caela Fujii’s costume design found the right mixture of homage and originality. Conducted by Catherine Snider, who also played piano, the orchestra provided the ideal soundtrack to the onstage action, interpreting Sondheim’s complex work with the appropriate whimsy and emotional depth.
Tags: Featured Story Photo, Performing ArtsAlex Youn, grade 10, was selected by the Asian American Journalists Association to attend JCamp, a six-day multicultural journalism-training program. He is one of only 42 high school students selected nationwide.
“JCamp is a fantastic opportunity for some of the brightest young journalists from across the country to work together and learn from the best teachers in a facility that rivals the biggest newsrooms in the nation,” said Al Tims, director of the University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication, which will host the camp.
Nearly 600 students have graduated from JCamp since 2001. “2015 will mark the 15th anniversary of JCamp and I am extremely proud of AAJA for building a sustainable pipeline of young talent into journalism,” said Paul Cheung, AAJA national president and director of interactive and digital news production for the Associated Press. “Over the past 15 years, we have seen our students grow and now work at major media outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, ABC, CNN, The Washington Post and more.” Read more: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/aaja-selects-talented-students-jcamp-192109890.html
Tags: Featured Story Photo, tophumanitiesCongrats to three Harker seniors for receiving recognition in the National YoungArts Foundation competition! Apoorva Rangan was awarded an honorable mention for her flute playing and Sindhu Ravuri received an honorable mention for writing/creative nonfiction. Cindy Liu, who has received many past accolades for her photos, received a merit award in the photography category.
This year, YoungArts named 787 winners out of more than 11,000 applications from students in 47 states. Submissions were judged through a multi-tiered, blind adjudication process and evaluated by celebrated masters in their artistic fields.
The National YoungArts Foundation was established in 1981 to identify and support the next generation of visual, literary, design and performing artists; assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development; and raise appreciation for the arts in America. Each year, YoungArts receives about 11,000 applications from 15-18 year old artists (grades 10-12). From these, about 800 winners are selected. At the request of the Commission on Presidential Scholars, which is appointed by the president, YoungArts is the exclusive path to the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts Awards.
Tags: Featured Story Photo, topfinearts, toppa