Last week, the girls golf team stayed red hot as it took third in CCS and will head to the NorCal regionals on Monday. Natalie Vo, grade 11, led the way for the Eagles, shooting a 72 and finishing fifth in CCS. A top three finish at NoCals would send the girls to the state finals later this month.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team dominated the early rounds of the SCVAL Tournament as it defeated Cupertino 17-1 and Wilcox 11-1 before falling to Santa Clara 3-8 in the finals. The Eagles ended their season with a 20-4 record.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team ended the regular season with a 3-0 win over Castilleja, improving its record to 18-8. The Eagles earned the No. 3 seed in the D4 CCS playoffs and will host Pacific Grove on Tuesday night.
Boys Water Polo
In the SCVAL Tournament, the boys water polo team defeated Fremont 11-5 before falling to Santa Clara 5-10. The Eagles then fell to Cupertino 12-13 in their final match of the tournament. The boys finish up the year with a 17-12 record.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team takes on Notre Dame Belmont in a WBAL playoff on Tuesday.
Cross Country
On Friday, the cross country team heads to Crystal Springs Cross Country Park for the WBAL Finals.
Football
The final football game of the season was cancelled at El Molino due to the air quality caused by the fires. The Eagles finish the year with a 1-5-1 record.
Grade 7 embarked on its annual national parks trip last week, experiencing the natural beauty and history of some of the country’s most picturesque spots. The trip started in Arizona, where each bus group hiked through Sedona. The following day, the group trekked to one of the world’s most breathtaking natural wonders, the Grand Canyon. On day three, students headed to Mystery Valley to learn about the history of the Navajo people, particularly their relationship to the U.S. military and their ongoing fight to preserve their culture. Navajo historian Wally Brown shared some important aspects of the culture with students, such as the importance of the number 4, which is represented by the four seasons, the four cardinal directions and the first four Navajo clans, among other things.
On the journey to Utah’s Bryce Canyon, the students stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam to learn about the benefits afforded by the dam as well as the problems it posed. During a stop at the Pink Coral Sand Dunes, the students had a great time running up and down the face of the dunes. At Bryce Canyon the next day, the students enjoyed a full-day hike, taking in the spectacular views. The students’ final stop was Zion National Park, famous for its red cliffs.
Students filled Nichols Hall earlier today for this year’s Service Fair, where student-run organizations, as well as representatives of local and national organizations, answered questions about the many community service opportunities available. Mainstays including Harker’s Key Club and National Honor Society were present, as were organizations such as MusiCodes, which utilizes the arts as a means to teach and foster interest in computer science among local youth.
“We wanted a way to combine the two, because we think it’s much easier to code and form associations with it if you introduce a musical aspect,” said junior Michelle Si, a MusiCodes co-founder. Participants in MusiCodes workshops build small pianos, which Si said is “more engaging because it’s hands-on, but also the kids really enjoy it because it’s something that they’re very familiar with.” In the past year, MusiCodes has expanded its reach to include at-risk and foster youth.
Another participating organization, New Visions of Tomorrow, founded in 2013 and run by students from several area schools, works with visually impaired youth in the area. “We do fundraising as well as enrichment activities and we work very closely with Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired,” said senior Jin Tuan, a co-president of the organization. Members of the organization have hosted art workshops and museum visits and have volunteered at local sporting events to raise funds for the Vista Center.
In mid-September, three Harker sixth graders took top spots at the World Robot Olympiad USA national championship in Sunnyvale. Kallie Wang and her teammates won first place in the elementary group (for ages 12 and under) in the regular category, and Mikhil Kiran and Aidan Okyar’s team placed third and won the best robot design award. As a result, both teams have been invited to the international finals in Hungary, set to take place in November.
Since its inaugural season in 2004, the World Robot Olympiad robotics competition has provided young people from more than 65 countries the opportunity to develop their design and problem solving skills. Each year it attracts more than 26,000 teams.
The upper school’s Green Team was today awarded a Distinguished Honorable Mention in the Bow Seat Marine Debris Creative Advocacy Competition. The annual competition, which ended this year after starting in 2016, judged advocacy campaigns created by students aged 11-18 that brought awareness and encouraged action on marine debris in their schools and communities.
Seniors Anvi Banga, Alex Shing, Anthony Shing, and juniors Sachi Bajaj and Natasha Yen created the Buy Better Boba campaign to reduce the proliferation of single-use plastics on campus, particularly those used by bubble tea drinks that have become popular in student fundraisers. The campaign provided reusable glass jars as well as materials that could be used to promote this effort at other schools. The team also engaged with local bubble tea businesses and encouraged them to incentivize the use of reusable containers by their customers.
According to the Bow Seat website, the judges were impressed that, “The Green Team identified a problem that was unique to their school, created a simple and inexpensive solution, and developed strategies to make it scalable in their broader community.”
After picking up a forfeit win over Menlo and taking its second straight league championship, the girls golf team dominated the league tournament, taking first place by 41 strokes. The Eagles head to the CCS Championships at Laguna Seca on Tuesday.
Cross Country
The cross country team took on the WBAL at its second league meet last week. Anna Weirich, grade 11, took second place in the girls varsity race and Rigo Gonzales, grade 9, was the top varsity boy, finishing 12th. The Eagles race again on Nov. 8 for the WBAL Finals.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team fell to Menlo 5-2 before defeating Sacred Heart Prep 7-0, finishing the regular season with an 11-2 record. The girls head to Menlo this Friday for the CCS qualifiers.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team picked up a 15-3 win over Cupertino and an 18-3 win over Milpitas last week to improve its record to 18-3 on the year. The Eagles take on Cupertino at Lynbrook High on Tuesday to begin the SCVAL Tournament.
Boys Water Polo
Last week, the boys water polo team defeated Cupertino 12-8 and Milpitas 16-8 to finish the season with an 11-10 record. The boys host Fremont on Tuesday to begin the SCVAL Tournament.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team fell to Notre Dame Belmont 0-3 before defeating Notre Dame San Jose 3-0 on Senior Night last week. The Eagles finish up their regular season at Castilleja on Tuesday before beginning CCS play this weekend.
Football
The football team fell to Stevenson 20-46 on Senior Night and will travel to El Molino on Friday to wrap up the season.
Harker preschoolers enjoyed a delightful pre-Halloween activity, reading the book “Pumpkin Jack” and carving their own pumpkins!
“In this story, a boy named Tim carves a pumpkin that he loves very much and names Jack,” explained Amanda Crook, preschool STEM specialist. “Jack starts getting old and Tim takes Jack to their garden where you watch page by page the transformations Jack makes during the decomposing process.
“In the middle of the book, nothing remains but a stem, old skin and some seeds. Tim says goodbye as he covers the seeds with dirt. Springtime arrives and Tim finds a sprout where Jack was. Tim nurtures the sprout as we follow the life cycle and growth of the pumpkin plant. By the end of the story Tim has many pumpkins that he shares with friends but keeps one for himself. Tim carves another face on his pumpkin and welcomes Jack back,” Crook said.
As the year progresses, each cottage will watch their pumpkin decompose and, hopefully, sprout again. The children will learn new vocabulary as they document the process through photos and observational drawings. “The students are excited to see this process through, and it will give them the opportunity to see that science does not always have instant results and often takes time and patience,” said Crook. For now, each cottage’s pumpkin has been placed outside the front of the STEM lab in the butterfly garden, and the cycle continues!
Last week, grade 9 students went to Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve in Morgan Hill for Freshman Service Day, working to clear and widen the preserve’s trails. The annual effort, which takes place on days when sophomores and juniors take the PSAT, helps students gain a greater appreciation for the various nature preserves in the Bay Area.
Volunteers at the preserve also taught students about various topics, including tracking wildlife, native plants and bird watching, and Harker teachers in attendance led outdoor classes on observing and appreciating nature, journaling and the environment.
Grade 4 students enjoyed a special Diwali celebration today, making lanterns for the annual multiday festival – celebrated in Hindu, Sikh and Jain cultures – that commemorates light as a symbol of virtue and knowledge triumphing over evil and ignorance. In addition to the fun craft activities, the students also enjoyed an assortment of delicious snacks.