In mid-November, grade 3 students headed to the East Bay to visit the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA).
The OMCA opened its doors more than 40 years ago, bringing together art, history and natural sciences under one roof. The museum’s collection now comprises more than 1.8 million objects, including works of art, historical artifacts, natural specimens and photographs.
Following an engaging morning tour, the students, who were accompanied by teacher Kathy Ferretti, enjoyed a relaxing lunch on the museum lawn before heading back to school.
Three teams of Harker students — the most of any school — have reached the top 20 in the 2013-14 DECA Stock Market Game.
In the game, students create and manage a virtual investment portfolio. “They started out on Sept. 3 with just $100,000. With diligent and thorough research, attending our Investment Management Seminar Series presentations, and some healthy risk taking, these teams earned over $99,000 put together within three months!” said Juston Glass, director of Harker’s business and entrepreneurship department. “That’s impressive, and yes, they are now taking offers for investment advice.”
The team of Alex Tuharsky, grade 11, Aditya Batra, grade 12, and Pranav Batra, also grade 12, are currently the top team from Harker, boasting returns 29.25 percent above the S&P 500 and ranking fourth in the Western region and 10th internationally. Meanwhile, junior Andrew Zhang is ranked fifth in the region and 16th internationally with a return of 21.92 percent over the S&P 500, and the team of David Lin and Ashwath Thirumalai, both grade 11, are following close behind, showing a 21.74 percent return and ranking sixth in the region and 17th overall.
These stellar rankings qualify the students for the championship round at the DECA International Conference in Atlanta in May, where they will compete with the top 25 teams from each of the four regions. Each team’s portfolios, research methods and investment strategies will be presented and evaluated to see who will be named the DECA Stock Market Game champion.
At the core of Silicon Valley startups is the idea of rapid expansion. This rapid-growth philosophy has been taken to heart by Harker’s new business and entrepreneurship (BE) department. The department is already flourishing with business classes, a podcast series, stewardship of Harker’s TedX program and its thriving DECA chapter. Harker’s chapter is one of 3,500 DECA organizations that educate young leaders and entrepreneurs on marketing, finance, hospitality and management. (Formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, the organization adopted the acronym as its full name when it became an international body.)
November was DECA month; chapters around the world promoted the club and prepared members for competition season. Harker’s DECA chapter was no exception, as students kicked off the school year at a fever pitch. One of their primary goals is maximizing the chapter’s visibility on campus. The chapter has gone from six members in 2009 to125 in 2012 and is looking to continue that impressive growth streak.
Chapter vice president Ariana Shulman, grade 12, says, “I am looking forward to seeing the underclassmen get excited and involved in the DECA chapter this year.” To publicize the chapter, DECA has organized numerous events, the first of which was an ice cream social to kick off DECA month. On Nov. 1, students flocked to the event to enjoy sundaes and learn about the chapter. Shannon Hong, grade 10, public relations officer for freshmen and juniors, said, “It was a great way to let over 200 students have fun while getting to know DECA.”
The chapter is using more than just frozen treats to inform the community about its activities. DECA participated in Harker’s student club fair, showcasing its events and highlighting what the students would learn over the course of the school year. The chapter even held its own competitive events fair to discuss its upcoming competitions and events.
DECA is making sure to keep parents informed about what their students are up to through frequent press releases and events, including a Nov. 9 DECA parents night. More than 150 parents attended the event in the Nichols Hall atrium, where they learned about the chapter’s upcoming competitive schedule. Club president Monica Thukral, grade 12, said the parents visited event-specific booths to learn “how they could be involved as parents and what their students would be doing at each event.”
DECA also is participating in The Stock Market Game, a nationwide stock market competition. The SMG gives teams a virtual $100,000 to invest and measures their returns in real time. More than 130 Harker students and faculty are participating, which has led to a good-natured competition between the student and faculty participants. At press time, two student groups were ranked third and sixth in the Western region, out of approximately 1,200 teams; they are ninth and 17th nationally.
The top 25 teams in the region will present their investment strategies to fellow attendees at a conference in May. To further enhance learning, three investment speakers will visit Harker during the semester to discuss their stock market strategies and successes. On Oct. 30 Rajeev Seth kicked off the series by sharing his strategies for navigating the stock market. Seth is a leader in financial services who has worked with asset managers and hedge funds, and recently served as senior vice president at Bank of America.
Contributing to the community is a key part of DECA’s charter and, in that spirit, the chapter already has launched two efforts this year. On Nov. 6 DECA worked with the Red Cross Club to assemble 100 emergency preparedness kits during a lunch period. The kits, containing toothbrushes, hand sanitizer and other emergency essentials, were donated to those in need.
The DECA chapter also has partnered with the student council to help recycle Capri Sun containers at the end of every lunch period. Large banners on the wall of the Edge implore students not to throw the estimated 400 containers a day in the garbage, but instead recycle them to help promote a green Harker campus. Meanwhile, the business and entrepreneurship department
The BE program, which is in its infancy, has hit the ground running. Juston Glass, the department’s advisor, says the goal for the program is “to connect the students with the outside business world” and eventually “be the most comprehensive business program at the high school level.”
One of the ways the program is connecting its students with the real business world is through its podcast series. Over the course of the school year, local business leaders will be interviewed and share their knowledge with the burgeoning entrepreneurs in the program. The first guest, Satish Dharmaraj, is a partner at Redpoint Ventures and was the CEO and co-founder of Zimbra. The program’s host, Glenn Reddy, grade 11, said, “It’s been great that I’ve been able to connect at a more personal level with these entrepreneurs and the podcast will give … watchers a lot of great information.”
The BE classes also are giving students practical experience on how to run a business through the Finish Line Challenge, put on by the athletic apparel retailer. During the Finish Line Challenge, future business leaders tackle real business problems. Students are asked to help design a more interactive, and ultimately more profitable, customer experience in Finish Line stores by using market research to evaluate and give suggestions to improve the retailer’s omnichannel strategy. To give real-world perspective on their solutions, Glass arranged for two guest speakers: a store manager with five years of firsthand experience and the Northern California district manager. The store manager provided the students with insight into how new employees are trained to engage customers and gave them an inside look into store operations.
After the session, the classes broke into groups and pitched their improvement ideas to the manager. The winning groups from each period were guaranteed interviews for a seasonal job at Finish Line. Ones of the winners, Scott Song, grade 9, said, “The best part of the Finish Line visit was learning the ins and outs as a manager of a store.”
Neither the DECA chapter nor the BE program show any signs of slowing down, with investment discussions held in late November and early December and more podcasts being recorded. DECA president Thukral was particularly excited for the Harker DECA fundraising outing to the premiere of the second “Hunger Games” movie on Nov. 22, calling it “an event for the whole school and a bonding event for DECA.” The Harker community can look forward to a packed calendar full of informative and entertaining events – and hopefully more ice cream.
Grade 5 students recently went on a high-tech field trip to the Intel Museum. Located at Intel’s headquarters in Santa Clara, the museum’s exhibits showcase Intel’s products and history, as well as semiconductor technology in general.
The museum got its start in the early 1980s as an internal project to record Intel history. It opened to the public in 1992; in 1999 its size was tripled and a store was added. It is a popular destination for grade-school educational programs. Intel is especially relevant to many Harker students, who live in the area or have parents who work in the technology industry.
After the first group (out of 129 students) returned to Harker after visiting the museum, their teachers overheard them telling other students that they were going to “love the museum and that the exhibits were cool,” according to Lisa Diffenderfer, lower school assistant director of instructional technology.
Diffenderfer also reported that Stephanie Denova, Intel’s museum coordinator, wrote her a note stating how glad she was that the fifth graders had such a great visit and that “we were all impressed with your students and how well-behaved they are.”
Just before Thanksgiving break, grade 3 students Rahul Mulpuri, Dominick Piscione and Grant Sims won first place in the project category at a First Lego League (FLL) robotics tournament. The team, the youngest in the tournament, was chosen from 24 competing teams for their idea/presentation on early warning systems for earthquakes.
In advance of the tournament, the trio benefited from an informal practice session/demonstration in front of their teachers and classmates on the lower school blacktop.
“They did a wonderful job describing their initiative and showing us their Lego demonstration,” said Kim Cali, director of the lower school’s BEST program.
Cali said she was impressed that the third graders had the initiative to request to present their project in front of their teachers and classmates as practice for the event.
“They were very excited to be given the opportunity and committed to putting their presentation together for us and for FLL,” she recalled.
The First Lego League is a well-known robotics program for children ages 9-14, designed to get young people excited about science and technology, while teaching them valuable employment and life skills.
While FLL is often used in the classroom, it is not designed solely for this purpose. Teams comprise up to 10 children (with at least one adult coach) and are often associated with pre-existing clubs or organizations. Currently, there are over 20,000 FLL teams competing in more than 70 countries.
A huge congratulations to Harker’s boys cross country and boys water polo teams, who each earned the CCS Scholastic Championship Team award for the highest GPA! The award, which began in 1985, honors five varsity teams in each sport for their academic achievements. The boys cross country team’s 3.882 GPA and the boys water polo team’s 3.664 GPA topped the charts in their sport. Three more Harker teams also earned honors. The girls golf team came in third with a 3.744 GPA. The girls tennis team came in second with a 3.720 GPA. And the girls water polo team came in third with 3.615 GPA. Congratulations to all of Harker’s scholar-athletes!
Basketball
The varsity boys basketball team pulled out an impressive 52-40 win against Homestead in the Lynbrook Tournament, extending their winning streak to start the season to three games. Senior Will Deng had 8 points and 10 rebounds.
The varsity girls dropped their first round game of the Santa Clara High Tournament, 48-32. Freshman Jordan Thompson and senior Nithya Vemireddy led the team in scoring with nine and eight points, respectively. The loss dropped the team to 3-1 overall.
Soccer
Girls soccer crushed Pacific Collegiate 7-1, boosting their record to 3-1 overall. Juniors Nikita Parulkar and Safia Khouja both netted two goals, while junior Alyssa Amick, freshman Joelle Anderson, and senior Julia Fink each scored as well. Senior goalie Alicia Clark had eight saves.
The boys varsity soccer team is still undefeated after three games, thanks to wins against Saratoga High and Terra Nova High last week. Junior Felix Wu, sophomore Omar Hamade and senior Sravan Rajathilak all scored in the 3-1 victory against Terra Nova.
Coming Up:
After a few days without games, action resumes with big days Friday and Saturday. On Friday, varsity and junior varsity soccer each face off against Lynbrook High School at 3:30 p.m.; the varsity team plays at home, while JV plays on the road. Then, at 5 p.m., the freshman boys basketball team heads down the coastline to compete against Santa Cruz High School.
Saturday is a huge day for Harker basketball, with four games, all at home. The varsity girls team kicks off the action in the morning with a 10:30 a.m. game against Wallenberg High School. At noon, the JV boys play Westmont High School. At 1:30 p.m., the freshman boys take on Livermore Valley Prep. Then, at 3 p.m., the varsity boys have their shot at Livermore Valley Prep. Catch the quadruple-header!
In early November, 126 students from grade 5 (accompanied by nine Harker teacher chaperones) journeyed to the scenic Marin Headlands for a two-and-a-half day educational field trip.
“All of the students were able to visit the Marine Mammal Center to explore the facility and observe sea lions that were being treated there,” reported Kristin Giammona, elementary division head.
She noted that students participated in a night hike to Rodeo Beach to look at “glow-in-the-dark creatures,” as well as enjoyed hikes to various vistas in the headlands. While some groups visited the Point Bonita Lighthouse, others hiked to a special spot called “Scotty’s Bluff.”
Students also worked with microscopes and completed a lab in the touch pool classroom at the Headlands Institute. Both students and chaperones stayed in former army barracks located in Fort Cronkite and enjoyed locally sourced meals.
The Marin Headlands has been called one of the most unique areas in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Along with its historical attractions, the area also boasts varied hiking trails, a dog-friendly beach, and astonishing views of the coast and San Francisco.
The Harker journalism department received a special visit in early December from Nick Ferentinos, former journalism advisor at Homestead High School, whose student newspaper, “The Epitaph,” was among the first school newspapers to be censored under the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court ruling of 1988. The ruling limited the speech of student newspapers that were not designated as forums for student expression.
Ferentinos recounted that mere hours after the ruling was handed down, the principal at Homestead demanded the withholding of an “Epitaph” story about a student at the school who had been diagnosed HIV-positive. Because the paper was school-sponsored, the staff at first felt compelled to comply with the principal’s request. However, California Education Code 48907 acted as a counter to the Hazelwood ruling, protecting student speech and allowing the story to run.
“What was really heartwarming about Ferentinos’ narrative was that he really emphasized how the publication staff stuck together to get through the ordeal, and the entire case was an issue of the publication’s integrity and not just that of the student’s,” said “Winged Post” staffer Juhi Gupta, grade 11.
“They stood by the accuracy and importance of their story and the integrity of the author. I think our whole class really appreciated the reminder that we have rights, as Mr. Ferentinos said, but also a responsibility to ‘be stubborn,’ said junior Apoorva Rangan, who also works on the “Winged Post.”
For Gupta, Ferentino’s story provided a valuable lesson about complacency and vigilance among young journalists: “I learned from his experience that student journalists should never get too comfortable and assume that backlash from administration will never happen, because as shown by the Homestead case, it could be provoked by anything.”
“I think bringing in these individuals who have had these life experiences that we may not have had reminds us that journalism isn’t really taught by books as much as it’s taught by people,” Rangan added.
Big news on all campuses in the world of sports today!
First off, lower school:
Our grade 5 JVB1 boys basketball team took the championship last night in what turned out to be a tight game. The boys led most of the game, but Pinewood closed the gap to three points near the finish. Harker pulled it out, though, winning 31-28. The team finished 8-0. Congrats to coach Walid Fahmy and players McCoy Buchsteiner, Brandon Coulter, Nicholas Coulter, Gowtham Irrinki, Michael Mitchell, Jr., James Pflaging, Srinath Somasundaram, Levi Sutton, Dario Tzeng and Eric Zhu.
Middle school:
The grade 6 JVB6 boys basketball team lost in the championship game last night to Sacred Heart after enjoying a fantastic season. The team finished as tri-league champs based on their regular season record of 7-1. The team finished with an overall record of 8-2.
Grade 6 JVA boys basketball team defeated Pinewood, 37-16, to finish the season as third place tournament champs. The team finished with an overall record of 5-5.
In the upper school, two cross country runners were honored by the San Jose Mercury News yesterday: freshman Niki Iyer made first team All-Mercury News for cross country and junior Corey Gonzales made All-Mercury News honorable mention for boys. This is one of the highest honors for high school athletes in CCS. Congratulations to both runners!
Harker kicked off the basketball season with an eight-win day! On Thursday, all eight Harker basketball teams that played won their games. That includes the upper school varsity girls, varsity boys, junior varsity boys and freshman boys, as well as the middle school varsity A boys, varsity B boys, varsity B2 boys and junior varsity A boys.
The upper school varsity girls opened the season with three wins and a tournament championship as they beat KIPP San Jose, Point Arena and Alma Heights at Pescadero High School. Senior Nithya Vemireddy made the all-tournament team and freshman Jordan Thompson scored 16 points in the championship game. The girls head into another tournament Thursday night, facing Santa Clara in the opening round.
The varsity and JV boys each opened the season with two wins over Gunn High and Monta Vista High School. For the varsity team, senior Will Deng was 7-9 in shooting and a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line against Gunn, while junior Eric Holt had a double-double against Monta Vista, scoring 16 points with 19 rebounds. The freshman boys went 1-2, including a dramatic 27-25 victory over Woodside. Varsity plays Homestead in the Lynbrook Tournament on Thursday.
Soccer:
Girls soccer won twice last week, outscoring their opponents 14-0 after a 5-0 victory against Andrew Hill and a 9-0 blowout against Redwood Christian. Against Redwood Christian, Kailee Gifford, grade 9, led the offense with four goals. Julia Fink, grade 12, and Joelle Anderson, grade 9, put up two apiece, while Safia Khouja, grade 11, scored one. Goalies Alicia Clark, grade 12, and Sadhika Malladi, grade 10, combined for the shutout, with Clark saving four shots in the first half and Malladi saving three in the second half. The team’s schedule gets tougher this week as it faces off against Wilcox High today and Pacific Collegiate on Thursday.
The boys varsity team kicked off its season on a high note, defeating KIPP Collegiate 6-2 in the season opener Wednesday. Nikhil Kishore, grade 11, and Omar Hamade, grade 10, each netted two goals, while Jeff Hanke, grade 12, and Alan Guo, grade 11, also scored. The boys play Terra Nova today. The JV team lost to KIPP 3-1 on Wednesday, with Joseph Krackeler scoring Harker’s lone goal.
Wrestling:
Harker’s wrestlers compete against Fremont High on Saturday.