The president of Harker’s Philosophy Club, Sophia Gottfried, grade 11, had an essay, titled “An Essay on Nothing,” published in the online magazine Philosophy Now.
The Glasgow Group tweeted about the Student Diversity Leadership gathering held at Harker on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The theme of the event was “We Are All Integrators.”
The Society for Science & the Public announced that senior Cynthia Chen is among the 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. The Chinese-language website World Journal also reported on the semifinalists. A previous post noted that Chen and fellow senior Joshua Zhou were among the top 300 scholars selected from nearly 2,000 entries. Harker Aquila also ran an article on the awards.
An article in The Los Altos Town Crier quotes Harker senior Mahi Kolla, a member of the Los Altos Youth Commission, which is campaigning to make young people aware of the dangers of vaping.
Senior Mahika Halepete is among five students featured in a Washington Post article about young inventors, philanthropists and activists, and the parents who raised them.
The girls soccer team remained undefeated at 12-0-3 for the year as it defeated Eastside College Prep 7-0 and Notre Dame San Jose 1-0 last week. The girls sit in first place in the WBAL Skyline division heading into the last week of the regular season. On Tuesday the Eagles host Crystal Springs Uplands followed by a trip to Mercy SF on Friday.
Boys Basketball
Last week, the boys basketball team defeated Pinewood 64-58 in OT to pick up its first league win of the year, but then dropped a 41-78 game with Sacred Heart Prep. In the win over Pinewood, Jack Connors, grade 12, lit up the scoreboard with 25 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and five steals. In the loss to SHP, Eric Zhu, grade 11, led the offense with 14 points. This week, the Eagles host Crystal Springs Uplands on Tuesday and travel to Eastside College Prep on Friday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team improved to 10-2-2 on the year as it defeated The King’s Academy 5-0 and Woodside Priory 5-0 last week. This week, the Eagles host Crystal Springs Uplands on Wednesday and Eastside College Prep on Friday.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team went 1-2 last week to bring its season record to 11-9. The Eagles started the week with a 47-53 loss to Mercy Burlingame, followed by a 42-68 loss to Lynbrook, but finished the week with a 63-26 win over Crystal Springs Uplands. This week, the girls host The King’s Academy on Tuesday and Mercy SF on Friday.
The girls soccer team won both of its league games last week, defeating Pinewood 3-0 and Castilleja 3-1 to move into sole possession of first place in the WBAL. This week, the girls travel to Castilleja on Monday, host Eastside College Prep on Wednesday and travel to Notre Dame San Jose on Friday.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team won its third and fourth consecutive games last week to bring its season record to 10-7. The Eagles defeated Lincoln 55-32 and picked up a league win over Castilleja 44-33. This week, the Eagles host Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday, Monta Vista on Wednesday and Crystal Springs Uplands on Friday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team came back from a 0-2 deficit to play to a 3-3 tie against the team it shared first place with, Sacred Heart Prep, before falling to Menlo 0-3 and dropping to third place in the WBAL. This week, the 8-2-2 Eagles host The King’s Academy on Monday and travel to Priory on Friday.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team dropped two more league games last week to fall to 6-11 on the year. In a 44-68 loss to Menlo, Ray Wang, grade 11, led the offense with 13 points. Later in the week, in a 45-56 loss to The King’s Academy, Naveen Mirapuri, grade 12, scored 14 points to lead the team. This week, the Eagles host Pinewood on Tuesday and travel to Sacred Heart Prep on Friday.
Three Harker students were recently selected to be members of 2020 California All-State ensembles that will perform at the California All-State Music Education Conference in Fresno on Feb. 21. Varun Fuloria, grade 8, was selected to be the drummer for the Junior High School Jazz Band. Violinist April Zhang, grade 10, successfully auditioned for the High School Symphony Orchestra, and freshman violinist Sawyer Lai will join the High School String Orchestra. All students went through a rigorous audition process, which involved submitting recordings to judges for evaluation.
In mid-January, CareerConnect held a workshop on interview tips and mock interviews. Michael Acheatel, business and entrepreneurship teacher, started the event with a presentation in which he gave advice on how to handle interviews and the characteristics that interviewers are seeking.
One-on-one mock interviews were then conducted with industry professionals, allowing students to implement Acheatel’s advice. The students were asked common interview questions by the professionals and responded. In the end, students received personalized feedback from their interviewers to help them improve for the future.
As this workshop was an opportunity to get valuable advice from industry professionals, students learned a lot from the event. “I definitely think it was a very beneficial experience,” said Trisha Variyar, grade 9, “I’ve never done an interview before so having some sort of way to test it out before the real one was very helpful.”
In all, the interview tips and mock interview workshop was a great success and helped students develop their professional skills as they start applying for opportunities such as club officer positions, summer programs, jobs and internships.
Middle and upper school musicians delighted audiences last week at a pair of concerts. The talents of grade 6 were showcased at WinterFest on Jan. 16, which featured the Grade 6 Jazz Band and Orchestra, directed by music teacher Naoki Taniguchi. The Jazz Band kicked off the show with performances of “Freddie Freeloader” by Miles Davis and “Killer Joe” by Benny Golson. The Grade 6 Orchestra entertained the crowd with renditions of the themes from the “Star Wars” and “James Bond” film series. The grade 6 choir Dynamics then made a special appearance before the finale, which featured a huge assemblage of all sixth grade music students
At the following evening’s Winter Instrumental Concert, the upper school’s Lab Band, Jazz Band and Orchestra performed at the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Led by Taniguchi, the Lab Band performed a series of jazz works by Duke Ellington, Fred Sturm, Mark Filsinger and Sonny Rollins. Music teacher Dave Hart directed the Jazz Band, which performed works by Eddie Harris and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as a jazzed-up rendition of Coldplay’s “Yellow.” The Orchestra, also directed by Hart, finished the evening with works by George Gershwin, Pablo de Sarasate, Schubert and Camille Saint-Saens.
The girls basketball team picked up two big league wins last week bringing their season record to 8-7 and moving them into a first place tie in the WBAL. The Eagles opened the week with a 62-49 win over Mercy SF with Cindy Su, grade 10, scoring 15 points, and Leisha Devisetti, grade 9, and Maria Vazhaeparambil, grade 11, each scoring 14 points. Later in the week, the girls defeated Notre Dame San Jose 47-41. This week, the Eagles host Lincoln on Wednesday and Castilleja on Friday.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team went to 6-9 on the season after two league losses last week. The boys fell to Woodside Priory 52-31 and Eastside College Prep 65-55. Jack Connors, grade 12, led the team with 20 points and five rebounds in the loss to Eastside College Prep. This week, the boys travel to Menlo on Tuesday and host The King’s Academy on Friday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team dominated in their two league wins last week. The Eagles defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 4-0 and Eastside College Prep 6-0 to go to 8-1-1 on the year, remaining in a first place tie in the WBAL. This week, the Eagles host Sacred Heart Prep on Wednesday for sole possession of first place, and travel to Menlo on Friday.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team was on fire last week as they defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 4-1, Pinewood 3-1 and Mercy SF 7-1. The three wins improved the Eagle’s record to 7-0-3 moving them into first place in the WBAL. This week, the Eagles host Pinewood on Tuesday and Castilleja on Friday.
By Gianna Chan, grade 10, director of communications for Harker DECA
In mid-January, more than 110 students from Harker’s DECA chapter attended the 2020 Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC) at the Santa Clara Marriott. Harker performed admirably, with 73 overall finalists and 30 top three winners.
“This conference was an amazing experience for all our students!” said Mahi Kolla, grade 12, Harker DECA’s co-chief executive officer. “With record high attendance, more students had an opportunity to present the business plans they had spent months working on and demonstrate their business knowledge in our cluster tests. I think it was especially exciting for our students who staged and got to see their work over the past few months come to fruition.”
Members placing in the top three are as follows:
First Place
Rishi Dange and Evan Cheng, both grade 12, and Aditya Singhvi, grade 11, Integrated Marketing Campaign – Service
Elaine Zhai, grade 11, Professional Selling
Andrea Thia, grade 10, Business Growth Plan
Anvitha Tummala and Fonda Hu, both grade 11, Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research
Rishi Dange, grad 12, Accounting Applications Series
Jason Hoang, grade 11, Business Services Marketing Series
Victoria Han, grade 10, Entrepreneurship Series
N Wang, grade 11, Hotel and Lodging Management Series
Allison Jia and Aditi Ghalsasi, both grade 12, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Luisa Pan, grade 11, Personal Financial Literacy
On day one, the California DECA officer team kicked off the opening ceremony by welcoming all of the SVCDC competitors with the SV factor, the annual talent show, and an impromptu speaking exercise involving all chapter presidents. Campaigns for DECA vice president of Silicon Valley also began during the session, and Claire Luo, grade 11, Harker DECA’s VP of operations, gave her election speech and continued her campaign throughout the weekend.
On the second day, attendees competed in their events, utilizing time before and between the events to practice with their teams and mentors. Luo and the rest of the Harker DECA officer team set up a booth for Luo’s election campaign to help spread her vision for Silicon Valley DECA and encourage people to vote.
“It was really cool to meet people from different chapters around Silicon Valley,” said Luo, “and I was given the opportunity to speak to chapter presidents as well as new members who told me what changes they wanted to see from Silicon Valley DECA. I think it was a really valuable experience and I learned a lot about speaking to people, making a speech, and campaigning your ideas. I really appreciated the chapter’s support; all of the members, from the freshmen to the seniors, were extremely supportive when I gave my speech, and cheered me on throughout the weekend.”
“Being able to compete with my friends in my event was really fun, and I learned a lot about presenting professionally in a team,” said Zeke Weng, grade 9. “We had been working on this plan for a long time, and to see our work pay off and stage was an incredible experience.”
After finishing their competitions, members were free to relax for the rest of the day and visit the Game Night that Silicon Valley DECA hosted to meet students from other school’s chapters.
“The conference was a really great opportunity for testing the waters before an even bigger conference like SCDC,” said Leisha Devisetti, grade 9, “and I was able to receive great feedback from judges on everything from my soft skills to the business ideas I presented. I think SVCDC and DECA in general has helped me prepare for my future because the role plays help with thinking on the spot and all of the competitions build my presentation skills.”
Early on day three, Sunday morning, the chapter reconvened in the ballroom to attend the award ceremony, where Harker proudly sent 73 teams to the top 10 during the Mini Awards.
“For me, personally, SVCDC was not so much about the results but rather the experience and skills I learned from being able to present to professionals,” said Robert Zhang, grade 9. “Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, but it’s all about what you gained from your experience and using that knowledge to be even better next time.”
After Mini Awards wrapped up, students enjoyed a buffet breakfast before the Grand Awards session, where Harker DECA members continued to receive recognition. In total, Harker DECA saw 30 teams win top three during Grand Awards.
“Although competing was overwhelming at times, knowing the entire Harker DECA chapter was rooting for each other gave me confidence,” said Andrea Thia, grade 10. “The loud cheers from each member every time ‘Harker DECA’ was announced made me laugh and cheer louder.”
Overall, the 2019-20 Silicon Valley Career Development Conference was an extremely successful event for our chapter and an inspiring experience for all Harker DECA competitors. All of the members enjoyed the first competitive conference of the season, gaining useful skills and feedback for the upcoming States competition, and left feeling motivated to continue with their DECA journey.
“This year’s SVCDC was an amazing start to the competitive season, and just a glimpse of what our chapter members can do,” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA’s chapter advisor. “I’m extremely proud of all of the attendees’ dedication in preparing for their events and am looking forward to seeing the students’ progress during states and beyond.”
Every Friday in the weeks leading up to SVCDC, Harker DECA hosted weekly study sessions in the Innovation Center for students to practice their role-plays in front of an officer, receive live feedback for their written events and take mock exams. In preparation for the California State Career Development Conference, DECA suggests that all members attend these weekly study sessions. Go Eagles!
About Harker DECA
Harker DECA is an international competitive business organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders.
Last Friday, middle school students made special pouches for Australian wildlife orphaned in the bushfires that have been ravaging the country. Students used cut-out patterns to sew the pouches, which were sent to the Oakland Zoo to be delivered to Australia. “The middle school’s Student Leadership Council did a presentation on the Australian fires at a school meeting, and [Assistant Head of School] Patricia Lai Burrows asked me to talk as I had just returned from Australia,” said math teacher Margaret Huntley, who is originally from Australia. “We were brainstorming about what we could do in response and I had seen this in the news.”
Fabric for the pouches was donated by the faculty, and some students have continued cutting fabric for more pouches, which Huntley hopes to send very soon.