Sophomore Spencer Cha recently won the Southwest division of the Music Teachers National Association’s Composition Competition and will head to Chicago in March as a national finalist. Cha, who has studied piano for more than 12 years and has studied composition for three years, also will perform with the Golden State Youth Orchestra in May.
Cha also has won numerous piano competitions, including the California Association of Professional Music Teachers State Honors Competition, the San Francisco Chopin Competition for Young Pianists and the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition, in addition to being a soloist with the Palo Alto Philharmonic and performing at Carnegie Hall. He currently performs with the upper school orchestra as an oboist.
Harker journalism students spent Nov. 19-23 in Washington, D.C., attending the Journalism Education Association and National Scholastic Press Association’s Fall High School Journalism Convention, where the Winged Post newspaper received an NSPA Pacemaker award.
The upper school’s Winged Post newspaper was awarded the Pacemaker for the 2018-19 school year, which was the third Pacemaker in journalism department history, following a 2016 win for the upper school news website, Aquila, and the Winged Post’s first Pacemaker win in 2008. The Winged Post was one of just 19 school publications chosen from among 220 finalists. Aquila was awarded sixth place in Best of Show in the Website category.
Individual awards included an honorable mention for Social Justice Reporting for senior Mahika Halepete’s story on the refugee crisis, and another honorable mention in Local Climate Change Reporting for a story covering the Green New Deal by juniors Arya Maheshwari, Varsha Rammohan and Michael Eng, and sophomore Lucy Ge.
Honorable mentions were also won for 2019 Digital Story of the Year for coverage of the California Democratic Convention by seniors Eric Fang and Kathy Fang, and juniors Arushi Saxena and Anna Vazhaeparambil, and a story by Kathy Fang and senior Jessie Wang on biology teacher Thomas Artiss’ beekeeping hobby.
Congrats to Anna Weirich, grade 11, who had a great showing at the state cross country finals over the weekend, finishing 19th out of the top 212 D4 girls runners in California.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team went 2-1 on its road trip to Hawaii over the break. The Eagles started the week with a win over Seabury Hall 55-49 with Jack Connors, grade 12, leading the way with 15 points. Then the boys dropped a 51-53 matchup with King Kekaulike as Arjun Virmani, grade 11, led the scoring with 17 points, adding seven rebounds and four steals. The Eagles finished their trip with a 61-42 win over Maui High with Connors and Virmani each scoring 14 points. Prep2Prep had a short write-up on the trip: http://www.prep2prep.com/feature.aspx?ArticleID=28600. The boys begin competing at the James Lick Tournament on Wednesday.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team dropped all three games during its trip to Maui last week. In their first contest, the Eagles were defeated by Seabury Hall 26-70 with Gianna Chan, grade 10, and Sara Sullivan, grade 12, each scoring six points. The girls then fell to King Kekaulike 32-56 as Maria Vazhaeparambil, grade 11, led the scoring with seven points. In their final game against Maui High, the girls were defeated 24-67. The Eagles are back in action on Dec. 11 as they host Pioneer.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team opened its season with a 3-2 win over Saratoga last week. The Eagles travel to Monta Vista on Tuesday before hosting Santa Clara on Thursday.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer season opener was postponed last week, so the Eagles will make their 2019-20 debut on Wednesday as they host Harbor, followed by a trip to Independence on Friday.
Natalie Vo, grade 11, and Claire Chen, grade 9, represented the Eagles this week at the state girls golf finals at Poppy Hills. Vo finished 46th and Chen competed for the top spot all day, finishing in a tie for seventh shooting a 2-over-par 73. Great job ladies!
Cross Country
Good luck to Anna Weirich, grade 11, who will compete at the state cross country finals in Fresno on Nov. 30.
WINTER SPORTS
Girls/Boys Basketball
The girls and boys basketball teams will open their 2019-20 season on the road – in Hawaii! The Eagle teams each have three games scheduled during the Thanksgiving week on the island of Maui. Both teams have their home opener on Dec. 11 as the girls take on Pioneer and the boys face off with St. Thomas More.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team opens its season on Monday at Lynbrook. The first home game of the year is on Dec. 4 against Harbor.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team travels to Saratoga on Tuesday to open its season with the first home game on Dec. 5 against Santa Clara.
Bohemian Trio brought a world of sounds to the Patil Theater on Friday night, as the group performed a series of varied and eclectic pieces with its unique instrumental combination – made up of saxophonist Yosvany Terry, pianist Orlando Alonso and cellist Yves Dharamraj. Their first set consisted mainly of pieces written for the trio by close friends and associates, an arrangement that works well for them due to their unusual configuration. Pieces such as the tender, contemplative “Impromptu No. 1 for Gershwin,” composed by Cuban pianist Manuel Valera, contrasted well with Alexis Cuadrado’s “Trivium,” a hauntingly lively number that reflects the composer’s homeland of Barcelona.
The second half of the show featured Terry’s own works, including the lively “Tarde en la Lisa,” a tribute to the working-class neighborhood in Havana where he lived. Its complex melodies and harmonies (particularly Alonso’s piano work) created a portrait of what Terry called a “dynamic” community. They closed with “Okonkolo,” the title track from their latest album, named after the smallest member of the Batá family of drums originating from Nigeria. Beginning with an extended percussion intro, with vocalizations led by Terry, the trio launched into a vigorous section reflecting Terry’s trademark Afro-Cuban style, venturing into territory both melodic and dissonant.
By Gianna Chan, grade 10, DECA director of communications
Over 50 students traveled to Anaheim in early November for California DECA’s first Fall Leadership Development Conference (FLDC), giving new members a closer look at three DECA industry clusters in a noncompetitive environment. As the students’ first official DECA conference, they learned the basics of the various tracks offered: leadership, hospitality and entrepreneurship, and had the opportunity to listen to leaders in the business world reflect on their entrepreneurial journeys.
“FLDC’s various tracks provided a pathway for students to become familiar with some of DECA’s clusters and demonstrate growth as leaders,” said Bryan Zhang, grade 11, DECA’s director of written events. “With the conference being the students’ first experience pitching their ideas to fellow competitors, FLDC allowed them to master their presentation skills while networking with people across California. Furthermore, the variety of keynote speakers taught the attendees about resilience and personal development through engaging activities and meaningful anecdotes. Overall, I think FLDC was an enriching experience for both seasoned veterans and novices of DECA.”
At the opening session, students were introduced to the conference theme, “Leadership Wins Championships,” and heard keynote speaker Jake Kelfer, author of the bestseller “Elevate Beyond,” discuss his career journey and life lessons.
“FLDC was very well run and gave me many new opportunities to learn from mentors and speakers,” said Lexi Nishimura, grade 9. “During the conference, I also got to bond with my chapter and make new friends in my track group.”
Later, students assembled with their respective tracks for a testing session and an introduction to the field. Through teamwork activities, members met other California DECA members and laid the groundwork for their final presentation with their groups.
On Saturday morning, attendees gathered for the morning session, where speaker Scott Mathie, founder of Nix Your Limits, talked about Walt Disney’s leadership and creative problem-solving skills. Then, the students transferred into their track groups to learn key concepts for their respective clusters and begin working on their final presentations.
The entrepreneurship track brainstormed ideas for a business proposal, while the leadership and hospitality tracks learned basic terminologies and leadership styles. Students then went out to lunch in Anaheim before reconvening in the afternoon to polish and practice their presentations.
“As the first conference of the year, FLDC was an incredible experience for kids to learn about DECA,” said Mahi Kolla, grade 12, co-chief executive officer of Harker DECA. “The conference provided students a great introduction to the different clusters, especially as each track was based on a competitive event that DECA offers. Our members’ creative presentations impressed me and showed how many highly skilled future DECA competitors and emerging leaders are within our chapter.
“The keynote speakers were also some of the best I’ve seen so far and gave attendees invaluable advice on leadership and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the conference allowed our members to bond with each other, and I think the balance between fun and learning created an amazing first DECA experience for our chapter,” Kolla added.
At the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) international final, held Nov. 8-10 in Hungary, sixth graders Aidan Okyar and Mikhil Kiran and their teammate achieved perfect scores in a competition to design a SMART city. The team’s final ranking, including its robots’ mission completion times, was 22nd out of 92 teams in the Regular Elementary category, which made the trio the highest-ranking team from the United States across every age group. Congratulations!
Congrats to Joelle Anderson ’17 on being named to the 2019 All-West Coast Conference Women’s Soccer First Team! Read more here!
Meanwhile, Matthew Hajjar ’19 and Alex Wang ’18 have been crushing it on the Caltech water polo team! On Oct. 19, in a 8-16 loss to Whittier, Wang scored twice and Hajjar once. On Oct. 24, the two made the stats sheet again, with each man scoring in a 9-14 loss to Chapman. Then on Nov. 2, Hajjar racked up another goal in a rematch against Whittier, and just three days later, on Nov. 5, he picked up two goals against Cal Lutheran in an 8-14 loss. On Nov. 13, Hajjar picked up another goal in a valiant 8-10 effort against Occidental and, finally, on Nov. 16 he garnered a goal vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. Hajjar is the second highest scorer on the team with 26 in the goal and two assists; Wang is sixth highest scorer with 12 goals and six assists.
In more alumni soccer news, Macalester College’s men’s soccer team advanced to the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on penalty kicks in the shootout when it scored on four shots, including one by Rohit Shah ’18. With no score in regulation and overtime play, the penalty shot phase was Macalester’s opportunity to dominate and make the semis.
On Friday, RHYTHM – a youth outreach organization formed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus – visited Harker’s middle and upper school campuses, where it performed at a pair of assemblies, joined by middle school librarian Bernie Morrissey. The 50-man chorus sang a variety of songs from its repertoire, including George Michael’s “Freedom” and “If You Were Gay” from the musical Avenue Q. In between songs, members of the chorus shared their personal stories about growing up feeling different because of their orientation, providing valuable lessons about love, acceptance and building a more inclusive community.
RHYTHM coordinator Mitch Galli visited Harker the previous week to work with middle and upper school vocal groups as well as each campus’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA). Each assembly included a special performance of The Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge,” featuring Harker singers and students reading aloud hopes, written anonymously, for greater inclusivity in schools and communities.