Squash enthusiast Sarah Thiru, a rising fifth grader, posted impressive results on both coasts over the last month, taking second place in the GU11 category at both the West Coast Junior Gold tournament in Fremont and the New York Junior Gold tournament in New York City over the July 4 weekend. She finished her run in US Squash’s GU11 division ranked eighth in the country and will soon begin competing in the next division.
June 17, 2021:
Rising fifth grader Sarah Thiru’s squash success continued as she placed first in the GU11 category at the Junior Gold tournament, held June 4-6 at McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville, Va.
June 3, 2021:
Over Memorial Day weekend, fourth grader and squash player Sarah Thiru took second place at the West Coast Regional Junior Championships, held in Redwood City. Thiru competed in the GU11 category, for girls under the age of 11. Congratulations!
Recent graduates Vivian Jin and Katie Li were today announced as winners of college-sponsored scholarships in the final round of National Merit Scholars announced in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. The announcement brings the total number of Harker winners to 20. Congratulations to all of the students who were recognized in this year’s program!
—-
June 2:
Utkarsh Priyam ’21 was today announced as another winner of a National Merit College-Sponsored Scholarship from Purdue University, bringing the total number of Harker winners this year to 18. These scholarships are funded by US colleges and universities and provide winners with funding for their undergraduate education for up to four years at the institution financing the scholarship. In April, Priyam was named a semifinalist in the 2021 Presidential Scholars competition. The next round of National Merit scholarship winners is slated to be announced July 12.
—-
May 19:
An additional 15 seniors won National Merit scholarships last week, bringing the total number of winners so far to 17. This round of $2,500 scholarships was awarded to National Merit finalists in each state who were assessed according to their academic achievements and their potential to do well in college. The winners were: Manasa Bhimaraju, Preston Ellis, Jason Lin, Andrew Lu, Claire Luo, Arya Maheshwari, Akshay Manglik, Krishay Mukhija, Aditya Singhvi, Andrew Sun, Betsy Tian, Daniel Wang, N Wang, Sidra Xu and Russell Yang.
—-
April 30:
Yesterday, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. Seniors Fonda Hu and Helen Zhu were named winners in this round, each receiving scholarships from NVidia. Corporate sponsors award scholarships to National Merit finalists who are children of employees, are residents of the companies’ local communities or are pursuing careers in industries the sponsor supports.
This is the first round of winners announced in this year’s National Merit Scholarship Program. This story will be updated if and when more Harker winners become known.
Last month, rising seventh grader Xianyao He qualified for the U13 (under 13) boys national table tennis team following a terrific performance at the national team trials in Pleasantville, N.Y. He is now eligible to represent Team USA at the International Table Tennis Federation’s Pan American U11 and U13 Championships, set to be held in Cuenca, Ecuador, in October. Xianyao has been training diligently at the Spartans Table Tennis Center in Santa Clara and is among the highest-ranked U13 boys players in California.
On Saturday, 14 Harker students were among the first guests at the newly reopened Beat Museum in San Francisco. The museum features many of the original works of the Beat Generation of American writers, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs.
The museum was closed for the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the annual field trip taken by the students in Charles Shuttleworth’s class on Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation was also canceled. Upon hearing that the museum would be reopening, students jumped at the chance to visit.
During the visit, the students received a tour from Jerry Cimino, the museum’s owner, and listened to a talk by beat poet and biographer Neeli Cherkovski, who offered his perspectives on the Beat Generation’s great influence as a literary and social movement. The reopening was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle, which briefly mentioned the Harker students’ visit in their story on the event.
Yesterday, rising eighth grader Danielle Steinbach was named a finalist in the 2021 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Steinbach’s project explored how to improve the accuracy of diagnosing and treating neurological disorders and brain diseases using neural networks. Students who enter the competition each create a video explaining their solution to a current scientific problem. Finalists are awarded $1,000 and are invited to take part in a summer mentorship program with a 3M scientist. The grand prize winner will receive $25,000 and a two-day, one-night trip. The final event is scheduled to take place at 3M’s headquarters in Saint Paul, Minn., in October.
Harker had incredible results at the final speech and debate tournament of the season. The National Speech & Debate Association tournament took place online June 13-19. It is one of three major national championships. Thousands of students try to qualify to attend the tournament in each event, a few hundred are selected to compete, and only the top 16 competitors win awards. Harker had four students make it to their respective final rounds!
Rising senior William Chien was in the final round of domestic extemporaneous speaking and placed third. Chien said that his favorite thing about the experience was “meeting people from all across the country and getting to know their different backgrounds, ideas and perspectives.” Rising junior Michelle Jin was in the finals of international extemporaneous speaking and came in fifth. Jin commented that speech has helped her confidence, noting, “In [extemporaneous speaking], where you only have 30 minutes to organize your speech, you just have to trust yourself when you begin speaking.”
In congressional debate, recent graduate Andrew Sun placed third and was awarded the Leadership Bowl for Most Outstanding Legislator by his peers. Sun summed up his many years on the team, saying, “Speech and debate has been a defining part of my middle school and high school experience at Harker; I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Rising junior Arissa Huda also qualified to compete in congress.
In the middle school division, rising eighth grader Pavitra Kasthuri was a finalist in prepared prompt speaking.
Several Harker students were also named Academic All-American by the NSDA, placing them in the top 1 percent of student members in terms of speech and debate records and grade point averages. Recent graduates Andy Lee, Jason Lin, Akshay Manglik, Nathan Ohana and Andrew Sun, as well as rising seniors William Chien, Melody Luo, Deven Shah and Rohan Thakur were honored.
Harker coaches also received awards. Scott Odekirk was named an Educator of the Year! Only one to three coaches receive that award per year, out of thousands of coaches. Department Chair Jenny Achten was awarded a fourth Diamond, meaning that she has coached a large and successful team for 20 years.
Last month, rising eighth grader Kira Bardin was named the U-15 (under 15) National Champion for both the individual and mixed relay divisions at the USA Modern Pentathlon National Championship, held in Roswell, N.M. Her performance also qualified her for an invitation to the elite USA Modern Pentathlon Olympic Development program – an intensive, week-long residential training program at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Bardin qualified for the national event after a decisive win at the Wolfpack Regional Pentathlon.
Modern Pentathlon combines swimming, fencing, horse jumping and laser-run (in which competitors run laps and shoot targets with laser pistols) into a single, one-day event. It has been an Olympic sport since 1912. Bardin will compete in the U-17 division next year and hopes to join the USA Modern Pentathlon Junior World Team with a goal towards representing the United States at the international level in 2022 and beyond. To follow her journey, please visit https://www.kirabardin.com.
Last week, Natasha Sarin ‘07 was featured in a piece by The New York Times, which focused on her work in President Joe Biden’s administration to track down and claim the revenue owed by tax cheats (also known as the tax gap), and how it figures into the president’s infrastructure plan.
According to the story, Sarin’s appointment indicated the importance of tax code compliance in the administration. Trained at Harvard and formerly a professor of law and finance at the University of Pennsylvania, she was hired in March by Janet Yellen, U.S. secretary of the treasury, and worked with economist (and former treasury deputy secretary during the Clinton administration) Larry Summers at Harvard to devise a way to reduce the tax gap. Their research, published in 2019, stated that the tax gap could be reduced by 15 percent by empowering the Internal Revenue Service to increase audits of the wealthy and instituting more thorough reporting requirements.
The piece also touches on Sarin’s other notable collaborations, including her work with Congressman Ro Khanna, as well as her activities and achievements as a Harker student, such as captaining the varsity basketball team and her involvement in hiring rapper Snoop Dogg for an event on youth violence.
Rising sophomore Arushi Sharma recently took top spots in two vocal competitions. The singer won a grand prize across all age groups in the 2021 US New Star Vocal Competition, in which competitors prepare two solo vocal pieces to perform. In the International Youth Music Competition, which featured submissions from across the world, Sharma took second prize in the Broadway, Disney and Musical Theatre category. A singer for more than 10 years, Sharma has performed in many Harker productions, including the spring 2021 production of “Les Misérables.”
Harker baseball won a thriller on Saturday to take its first ever CCS title. The Eagles were trailing top-seeded Stevenson 14-5 with two outs in the final inning when a string of batters, 12 in all, reached the bases. The incredible 11-run comeback was “mainly walks and singles,” coach Mike Delfino told the Mercury News, with a two-run double from recent graduate Andrew Chavez giving Harker the lead. Pitcher Ian Williamson ’21 earned the winning strikeout after Stevenson rallied to within one run of Harker with the bases loaded.
Harker track and field athletes also had a great weekend. Long jumper Andrew Fu, grade 10, won the first place medal with a 21’ 8” jump on his final attempt, his first CCS title. In her final meet as a Harker competitor, Anna Weirich ’21 finished second in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs, and the boys took fifth place in the 4×100 relay.