This article originally appeared in the winter 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Teams across the middle school sports spectrum finished with solid records, with our junior varsity B softball team and middle school golf team taking league titles and with first-place finishers in cross country and swimming.
Football
Varsity A football (grade 8) was 1-6; varsity B football (grade 7) was 5-0-2 in league play, 10-2-2 overall and finished in second place in the WBAL; junior varsity A football: 5-2 in league play, 6-3 overall record and finished in third place in the WBAL.
Softball
Varsity A softball (grades 6-8) had a 6-1 record and finished in second place in the WBAL.
Cross Country
At the WBAL finals we had several top 10 finishers: Kevin Chen, grade 6, ninth place; Gina Partridge, grade 6, first place; Mason Payne, grade 7, seventh place; Julia Amick, grade 7, first place; and Lilia Gonzales, grade 7, seventh place.
Swimming
Harker had several first-place finishers at the WBAL finals, including Jeffrey Ma, grade 8, boys I00-meter; Sarah Savage, grade 8, girls 100-meter, girls backstroke and girls breaststroke.
Golf
The Harker team won the fall WBAL golf tournament held at Shoreline Golf Course with a score of 155. This is the fourth tournament in a row that the team has won!
This article originally appeared in the winter 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Editor’s note: As always, we thank the athletic department for its thorough and timely reports.
Fall 2013 was a monster season for numerous athletes at Harker’s upper school. A pair of runners took home huge honors and ran in the state meet (see complete story on page 39). A golfer became the best in the league for the second year in a row. The football team saw an offensive explosion in its three games. And the volleyball team reached the CCS semifinals.
Here are the results and records from the first season of the 2013-14 school year:
Cross Country
It was a spectacular fall season for the cross country team, as junior Corey Gonzales took home the 2013 CCS Division 4 league championship, and both Gonzales and freshman phenom Niki Iyer won West Bay Athletic League championships. Gonzales, Iyer and the team’s veteran leader, senior Claudia Tischler, all qualified for CCS after running great races at the WBAL championship. Gonzales and Iyer went on to represent Harker in the state meet, where Iyer took seventh in a stellar finish to her first varsity season, while Gonzales finished 85th, a distinct departure from his consistent single digit finishes of the season. He said he was fit for the race, but could have prepared better mentally. “Next season, I’ll just have to concentrate on state and make that my main focus rather than CCS,” he said.
Iyer’s first season at Harker was one for the ages. After winning her very first race, beating challengers by 30 seconds en route to the best time of any underclassman out of more than 450 runners, Iyer took on a varsity field in her second-ever race at Harker and finished second overall, missing out on first place by a single, solitary second. In her follow-up race, Iyer took home her first varsity win, obliterating the record for a Harker female runner by nearly a minute and scoring one of the 10 best times ever for a freshman in the course’s 70-year history. Iyer also won her first WBAL league race, but missed out on setting a new course record by, once again, a single second. The race after that, she succeeded in setting a new course record, this time by beating the previous year’s league champion. Amid her strong and record-breaking season, Iyer was named Santa Clara County girls athlete of the week by The San Jose Mercury News.
New CCS champion Corey Gonzales also had an incredible season, setting new school and course records en route to becoming the best runner in the division. (See feature story, page 39.)
Golf
Senior Kristine Lin became the most decorated female golfer in Harker’s history after winning the WBAL league championship for the second year in a row and then shooting the best score of any Harker girls golfer in CCS history. The team broke records as well, first shattering the mark for best score in Harker history in a 211-199 loss and then following that up a week later by beating the record it had just set, this time in a 210-265 win. The victory also saw a few Harker golfers shooting their personal best scores, including senior Connie Li and sophomores Daphne Liang and Ashley Zhong. “This is by far the hardest working and most improved team I have ever coached,” raved Ie-Chen Cheng.
Volleyball
After a fantastic regular season, the girls varsity team reached the semi- finals of the CCS tournament, finally falling to third-ranked Menlo. The team pushed Menlo to a fifth set in a tight and dramatic loss that stood between Harker and the state tournament. The game was set up by a thrilling win in the quarterfinals, when the Eagles rebounded from a first set loss to win the next three in a row in front of a raucous home crowd.
For the season, Divya Kalidindi, grade 12, led the team with 327 kills. Shannon Richardson, grade 10, and Shreya Dixit, grade 11, had 259 and 236 kills, respectively, while Dixit led the team with a 49.7 kill percentage. Editor’s note: As always, we thank the athletic department for its thorough and timely reports.
Selin Ozcelik, grade 10, led the team with a whopping 797 assists. Seniors Kalidindi, Mercedes Chien, Renu Singh and Christina Wong provided veteran leadership for the club, setting a powerful
example for the team to follow in the years to come.
The future is bright for that team. The junior varsity girls became co-league champions, defeating Mercy High School San Francisco in the dramatic conclusion to a stellar 15-3 season, and the freshmen girls split their season series with Milpitas. The majority of the varsity team will be returning next year, as Harker looks to make another push for the CCS championship.
Football
Varsity football played three games this season, dropping their Homecoming game to Mt. Pleasant despite
recording 420 total yards of offense and blowing out Faith Christian and Livermore Prep by the insane scores of 41-0 and 58-16, respectively. In their first game against Faith Christian, running back Kevin Moss, grade 12, scored two touchdowns, kicker Alyssa Amick, grade 11, recorded 11 points, and Samir Chaudhry, grade 12, snagged two interceptions. Moss also added 128 yards and a touchdown in the Homecoming contest.
In that game, quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 11, ran for two touchdowns and threw another to senior wide receiver Adarsh Battu, who caught five passes for a total of 142 yards. In the third and final game, Moss ran for two touchdowns, returned an interception for a touchdown, and raced a kickoff back for his fourth touchdown that day. Forbes also ran for a touchdown and threw three more, hitting his targets with passes to wide receiver Sid Krishnamurthi, grade 11, and running back Johnathon Keller, grade 10. All told, Harker racked up 387 yards of total offense. The defense also added eight sacks on the day.
The junior varsity team had a tremendous season of its own, going 6-1 with a mix of blowouts, tense games and big comebacks.
Water Polo
The varsity boys squad went 6-9 for the year but finished strong, winning two out of three games in its final tournament of the season. The varsity girls put up a 4-14 record, while the junior varsity boys went 2-10.
The most exciting game of the year came courtesy of the girls varsity team, when Delaney Martin, grade 11, scored a triple-overtime goal to give the team a sudden-death victory over San Lorenzo. The teams’ senior day was another highlight, as both the boys and the girls defeated Cupertino, with the boys crushing the Pioneers in a 15-3 blowout and the girls scoring a dramatic 5-4 win in a game where goals by two seniors made the difference.
Tennis
The girls battled hard in a season in which they were beset by injuries, finishing with a solid 9-6 record. Highlights included a clutch come-from-behind win by Megy Appalaraju, grade 11, and Era Iyer, grade 9, in a victory against Crystal Springs Uplands. Sophomore Izzy Gross also provided heroics, battling back from triple match point for a thrilling win of her own against Crystal Springs Uplands and overcoming a devastating 1-6 opening set against Santa Catalina School on her way to a spectacular 12- 10 third-set victory.
Mehta, whose previous business sold for $200 million, got the idea for Stoodle during his first year at Harker. Shortly after transferring to Harker during his sophomore year, “I noticed a significant difference from the public school I attended my freshman year and realized that there was a great opportunity to connect students from different schools to share knowledge,” he said.
Developed by Mehta, Simar Mangat ’13 and senior Divyahans Gupta, Stoodle enables students to collaborate on things such as school projects and homework assignments. Maverick McNealy ’13 was also involved in the project, but left due to his growing golf career.
When legendary entrepreneur Vinod Khosla visited Harker as the keynote speaker for the 2012 Research Symposium, Mehta spoke to him about Stoodle. Khosla referred Mehta to his wife, Neeru, who was impressed with Stoodle and its team. Neeru’s CK-12 Foundation, which provides open source educational materials to students and teachers, soon began funding Stoodle, which is already generating buzz. Just this week, Stoodle was one of about 40 companies featured at the “Education Datapalooza” held at the White House, a joint event run by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy and the Departments of Education and Treasury, which showcased apps and services available to help students succeed.
“The response has been fantastic,” Mehta said. “Teachers and students across the nation are praising Stoodle.org for its helpfulness, flexibility and ease-of-use, as well as, of course, for being free.” The tool reportedly already has thousands of users since launching last month, and Gordon Jones, managing director of the Harvard Innovation Lab, recently joined the company’s board, alongside Neeru Khosla, Richard Schmalensee, dean emeritus of MIT’s Sloan School of Management and Stanford Graduate School chief technology officer Paul Kim.
“The positive buzz we have been getting from educators across the country has been overwhelming,” said Mehta. “People are loving it! Notable individuals like U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Jim Shelton have also recognized and tweeted about us! As you can probably tell from my excessive exclamation mark use, this is a very exciting time for my team and me!” he finished.
In addition to Stoodle, Mehta also has worked with head of school Chris Nikoloff, advancement head Joe Rosenthal and business and entrepreneurship teacher Juston Glass to form a startup incubator for Harker students. Mehta said his experience with the business and entrepreneurship program has been “very beneficial, mostly through the quality of individuals the school invites to campus.”
The grades 2-3 holiday show, titled “The Most Wonderful Time of Year,” packed the Bucknall Theater on Dec. 19, as the students in both grades celebrated the season with holiday songs both new and old.
Directed by Carena Montany, the show began with students in both grades singing the holiday classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” They continued with more seasonal favorites, including “Feliz Navidad,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Winter Wonderland.” Their repertoire also featured nods to other cultures, such as the Liberian folk song “African Noel” and the Hawaiian Christmas anthem “Mele Kalikimaka.” The choreography by Kimberley Teodoro and amusing narration by students between songs kept the atmosphere light and provided smooth transitions between performances. Paul and Toni Woodruff accompanied for the singers on piano and violin, respectively.
The show ran smoothly thanks to the efforts of longtime technical director Danny Dunn and assistant technical director Carol Clever, as well as Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater students.
The 2013 lower school Winter Concert on Dec. 5 brought warmth and a bit of holiday cheer to the audience and showcased the diverse talents of Harker’s lower school musicians. Lower school musical groups, including the orchestra and jazz ensemble, were featured, with special solo performances and appearances by groups from the middle and upper schools.
The lower school orchestra, conducted by Louis Hoffman, kicked things off with “King William’s March” by Jeremiah Clarke. Next up was the lower school string ensemble performing Brian Balmages’ “A Beethoven Lullaby,” the first of two pieces it played that evening. The string ensemble then made way for the lower school’s jazz combo, also conducted by Hoffman, which played the somewhat odd but nevertheless well-liked “Summertime” by George Gershwin.
Though not a holiday-themed concert, a smattering of seasonal songs were included. “A Festive Holiday” was performed by the string ensemble and arranged by David Shaffer and Toni Woodruff, who led the ensemble. Bob Cerulli’s “A Christmas Sing Along: Traditional,” performed by the lower school orchestra, continued along the winter theme.
A number of individual students had the chance to shine at various points throughout the concert. Kailash Ranganathan, grade 4, performed a sitar duet with renowned sitarist Pandit Habib Khan. Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango” was performed by cellist Angeline Kiang, grade 4, who was accompanied by pianist Chen Woo. Later, the lower school orchestra performed grade 5 student Paul Kratter’s original piece, “The Title.”
About midway through the concert, the grade 6 strings group, directed by Dave Hart, arrived to perform the “Spring” portion of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” as well as a string arrangement of Coldplay’s “Clocks.” The upper school string quartet, directed by Chris Florio, also showed up later in the evening, performing the first movement of Mendelssohn’s “String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor” and the Guns N’ Roses hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
Following two more songs by the jazz combo and jazz ensemble, the lower school orchestra ended the concert with the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.”
Just days before the holiday break, people eager for seasonal cheer flocked to the Bucknall Theater on Dec. 17 for the annual grade 1 holiday show, titled “Our Favorite Time of Year” and directed by Carena Montany.
The homeroom classes of Imelda Kusuma, Cindy Proctor, Larissa Weaver and Rita Stone gathered on stage to sing a selection of odes to the holidays, including favorites such as “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” “The First Noel” and “Jingle Bells.” Other notable performances included the Hanukkah-themed tune “Spin a Little Dreidel” and “Christmas Everyday” by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, which featured a dance routine choreographed by Gail Palmer.
Accompanying the singers during the concert were pianist Melissa Lin and violinist Toni Woodruff. Technical director Danny Dunn, assistant technical director Carol Clever and Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater students made sure the show ran well from start to finish.
It was a happy, song-filled Friday at Harker Preschool on Dec. 20, the last day of school before winter break. To leave on a warm “note,” the youngsters held a sing-a-long, intended to become an annual tradition. The children sang a variety of holiday and other songs. The transitional kindergarten group performed first that morning, followed by the Acorn/Pebble cottages in the late morning and the Clover/Feather cottages in the afternoon. A good and musical time was had by all!
This story was prepared from a press release provided by Shannon Hong, grade 10, director of Public Relations for Harker DECA; photos also provided by Harker DECA.
The students of Harker’s DECA chapter, nearly 100 in total, spent the weekend of Jan. 3 at the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference in San Jose. During the conference, the students participated in a number of activities and competitions designed to build their leadership and business skills.
Harker students performed admirably in the competitions, with 21 students ending up in the top three. Placing first were Harker DECA president Monica Thukral, grade 12, in the Food Marketing Individual Series Roleplay; Ray Xu, grade 9, in Principles of Finance; Freshman Srivatsav Pyda and senior Arthur Shau in Business Team Decision Making; and Safia Khouja and Sabrina Sidhu, both grade 11, in Hospitality Team Decision Making.
Second place finishers were the team of sophomores Shannon Hong, Michael Zhao and Annie Zhou for Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan; Aathira Menon and Natasha Santhanam, both grade 10, for International Business Plan; juniors Glenn Reddy and Felix Wu for Business Operations Research Written Plan; Julia Fink, grade 12, in Apparel and Accessories Marketing; Mabel Luo, grade 12, in Business Service Marketing; Shannon Hong in Restaurant and Food Service Management; Victoria Ding, grade 10, and Sapna Suresh, grade 12, in Marketing Team Decision Making; and seniors Adithram Rengaramchandran and Rohan Kapatkar, grade 12, in Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making.
Taking third place was the team of seniors Gaurav Kumar and Adarsh Battu in Business Team Decision Making.
“At SVCDC, we were able to not only present our projects that we had worked so long on but also meet old friends and make new ones. I never expected to make it to the stage, so when they called my name I was already in shock,” said Zhao. “Winning second place together with my friends was the best part; all of our work was worth that moment of pride when we stood together on stage.”
Aside from the many competitions they entered, Shannon Hong, Sophia Luo, grade 10, and Haley Tran, grade 9, were elected to the next Silicon Valley District Action Team.
“SVCDC was an exhilarating experience. I learned new skills as a competitor and a candidate, meeting different people from all over the Silicon Valley and being a part of this wonderful community of intellectually curious and business minded high school students,” Hong said. “Standing on stage, twice, was thrilling; I hope to do even better during States.”
UPDATE: The San Jose Mercury News has a great write up on one Harker’s 30 Under 30 listees! Surbhi Sarna was interviewed on her medical devices development. Read the article, here!
Jan. 10, 2014 Several Harker alumni made Forbes magazine’s coveted “30 Under 30” lists, which showcase young movers and shakers working in various fields.
Sharing the spotlight with notable young celebrities such as snowboarder Shaun White, actress Olivia Wilde and activist Shiza Shahid are three talented Harker grads: Neil Mehta ’02, Surbhi Sarna ’03 and Ilya Sukhar ’03. The third-annual issue was released Jan. 6.
To compile the prestigious lists, Forbes consulted with experts in 15 industries to select the top 30 in each category, totaling some 450 individuals (all under 30 years of age) who are making things happen. The magazine started working on the project in the fall, by choosing the categories and assembling the panel of judges.
A leading source for reliable business news and financial information, Forbes is well known for its listings and rankings. On the cover of its “30 Under 30” issue, it calls the individuals who made the lists “450 game-changers in 15 industries who are building tomorrow – today.”
Below is a look at the three Harker alums who made the “it” lists:
Neil Mehta ’02, Founder of Greenoaks Capital
Neil Mehta ’02 is the managing director of Greenoaks Capital Management LLC, a global principal investment firm dealing in private equity, venture capital, real estate and public market opportunities.
Prior to that, 29-year-old Mehta was a senior investment professional at Orient Property Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-based real estate investment and development firm financed by D.E. Shaw, a premier $20 billion global hedge fund and investment firm based in New York.
Forbes listed Mehta in its finance category, crediting him with managing some $600 million, investing in industries ranging from ecommerce to insurance. The magazine also noted that he “hit home runs” with early investments in a Palo Alto-based software company called Palentir as well as a South Korea-based e-commerce company named Coupang.
“I owe a lot to my colleagues, friends and family. We still have long way to go at Greenoaks, though,” said Mehta, adding that he was proud and impressed to see so many Harker alumni on the list.
Surbhi Sarna ‘03, Founder of nVision Medical
Surbhi Sarna ’03 was this year’s alumni speaker at Harker’s eighth annual Research Symposium, which drew more than 400 attendees. There, she shared the story of how she suffered from painful ovarian cysts in her early teens, which caused her to later become determined to create better conditions in the field of female health.
To this end, the 28-year-old founded the venture-backed nVision Medical in 2009 to develop technology to help gynecologists more quickly detect ovarian cancer. To date, her company has raised some $4.5 million from Catalyst Health Ventures, Draper Associates and Astia, a group that assists female entrepreneurs.
“It is a great honor to be chosen as one of Forbes “30 Under 30.” I know Harker has a lot do to with my drive to be an entrepreneur and I’m grateful for all of the teachers that inspired me while I was there,” she said of her placement in the medical category.
Ilya Sukhar ’03, Co-Founder and CEO of Parse
Ilya Sukhar ’03 made the news several months ago when Facebook acquired his company, Parse, of which he served as co-founder and CEO. Currently, Sukhar runs the Parse business at Facebook, where he also works on platform products.
“There’s a lot of people I really admire on that list, so it’s a nice honor for me to be included,” reported 28-year-old Sukhar, adding “I got back to work pretty quickly, though.”
Sukhar, who is listed in the tech category, said he got the idea for Parse after he experienced the pains of building a mobile app. According to Forbes, he has since turned Parse into a critical service for mobile developers that now provides the backend infrastructure for more than 180,000 apps, including those built by Ferrari, The Food Network and Sesame Street. Facebook bought Parse in April 2013 in a deal reportedly valued at $85 million.
Now on display at the middle school campus is a wall highlighting words that are meaningful to the exhibit’s participating students – powerful words like respect, imagine and awesome.
The exhibition, which showcases photographs of various students holding up signs with their favorite words, is sponsored by Activity Avenue, a project of the BEST (Blackford Enrichment & Supervision Team) program.
“The project is going really well. We asked students, ‘What is the most important word to you?’ … We have roughly 44 photographs so far for the wall that we are developing, and more people interested in participating,” reported BJ Hathaway, assistant director of BEST.