Actor D.J. Blickenstaff ’09 loved both baseball and theater when he entered high school at Harker, but their schedules conflicted. The acting bug had bitten him when he was a member of the Harmonics vocal group in middle school, so he decided to say goodbye to baseball and audition for the spring musical. He hasn’t looked back. On May 17, 2019, Blickenstaff, along with Gabrielle DeMers ’03, was given Harker’s inaugural Life in the Arts award.
“D.J. made his love of performing very clear to everyone very early on,” said Laura Lang-Ree, performing arts chair, “and it was easy to see why. As soon as I saw him shine on stage in Harmonics, I understood why. He loved performing.
“D.J. entered high school as a complete force of nature, unlike one we had ever encountered. With impeccable manners, a fantastic attitude and willingness to go the extra mile, D.J. easily became somebody all of us wanted to work with – which makes sense because we always tell our certificate students, ‘If you want to make it in this business, you not only have to be talented, but the nicest person in the room.’ That’s D.J.”
Blickenstaff shone in Harker productions “Urinetown: The Musical” (Lockstock) in 2007, “Annie Get Your Gun” (Frank Butler) in 2008 and “The Music Man” (Harold Hill) in 2009.
“My passion for acting began at Harker, and has just grown from there,” said Blickenstaff, who was part of the Conservatory’s inaugural trip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. “Harker’s teachers gave me a strong core on which to build.”
Blickenstaff went on to earn a B.F.A. from the University of Southern California, where – while performing as Joey in “The Most Happy Fella” – he was approached by a management agency interested in representing him. “They were scoping for talent, and I got lucky,” he said. “I was able to build a really solid team of six different agents working for me in different areas of the industry.”
Blickenstaff’s first jobs included acting in NBC’s “Diversity Scene Showcase,” a one-night event spotlighting up-and-coming talent, and delivering a one-liner on “Sean Saves the World.” He currently has a recurring role on Netflix’s “Dear White People” and recently shot the pilot of a show called “#Fashionvictim,” which – if picked up – would be his first regular role in a series.
He previously appeared in multiple episodes of “Catching a Break” and “Colony” and is the author of a web series about the Hollywood business industry. When he’s not auditioning, Blickenstaff keeps busy with live theater in Los Angeles and as the voiceover announcer for USC’s public events.
“I enjoy pursuing entertainment for social change – letting art be something that drives people to make changes in their lives or the world,” Blickenstaff said. “It’s a beautiful thing to be on a set with so many people who believe in the story we’re telling.”
Life in the Arts awardees are those alumni who have the character, talent, drive and determination to pursue their passion as their livelihood. Our inductees come from the stage, screen, classroom, backstage and rehearsal halls. They are passionate about their art and create at the highest level within their domain.
In mid-May, junior Allison Jia was named one of two winners of the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair! Jia’s project, which studied proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases, won her a $50,000 prize! It also was named Best in Category for cell and molecular biology and won a First Award, earning Jia an additional $5,000 and $1,000, respectively.
Senior Ruhi Sayana also did well at the fair, winning a $10,000 scholarship from the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association for her project in the biomedical and health sciences category, in which she also won a $1,000 Third Award from Intel ISEF and a $500 Second Award from the Ashtavadhani Vidwan Ambati Subbaraya Chetty Foundation. In the computational biology and informatics category, junior Cynthia Chen received a Third Award of $1,000. All three students won trips to the Intel ISEF at the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Technology Championship in March.
Jia’s efforts were writtten up in several publications:
Juniors Cynthia Chen and Allison Jia and senior Ruhi Sayana were all grand prize winners at the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Technology Championship in March, each earning a trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, held in May in Phoenix. Junior Aditi Ghalsasi was a grand prize alternate winner, which earned her a trip to the California State Science Fair. Nearly 40 Harker students were winners this year; the Synopsys championship website contains a list of all middle and upper school winners.
In mid-April, CareerConnect hosted an Excel Workshop with Dean Lizardo, one of Harker’s statistics and economics teachers, who is well-versed in data analytical functions. During the lunch workshop, he discussed useful features of Excel and gave valuable tips to the students. Using sample problems and powerful formulas on spreadsheets, Lizardo showed attendees how to quickly and easily analyze information as well as create effective visuals.
During the workshop, students got to follow along on their own computers and practice what they learned on a provided spreadsheet. Throughout his presentation, Lizardo challenged students to use specific worksheet formulas to solve problems involving data analysis. As a result, students were able to apply the knowledge from the workshop and engage in interactive activities in order to develop their Excel skills further.
In addition, Lizardo explained to the students the advantages of using Excel and the real world applications, especially when presenting information to others. For example, he showed different types of graphs and gave tips and tricks to make efficient and attractive visuals for various purposes.
Students found the workshop to be very practical and helpful. “[The information] is really useful in analyzing data,” said Kevin Wang, grade 9. “It has good real-life applications, so I learned a lot from the workshop.”
By Jenny Achten, Speech and Debate Department Chair, Grades 6-12
The middle school speech and debate team had an outstanding weekend at the Middle School Tournament of Champions, hosted by the University of Kentucky on May 11-12.
The team won first place in overall sweepstakes for the best performance at the tournament by any school. Shoring up this award were the top speaker in Lincoln-Douglas debate, Ansh Sheth, grade 7, and top speaker in policy debate, Deeya Viradia, grade 8. Arjun Krishna, grade 7, Krishna Mysoor, grade 7, and Mir Bahri, grade 8, also won debate speaker awards.
Harker had a three-way closeout of the final round in Lincoln-Douglas debate with Alexander Lan, grade 8, Kabir Buch, grade 7, and Mysoor sharing the championship. Joe Li, grade 7, and Sheth also cleared in Lincoln-Douglas. The policy team of Bahri and Viradia made it to semifinals. Additionally, Arissa Huda, grade 8, was in the final round of extemporaneous speaking.
The coaches are all thrilled with the results of our students’ hard work! A special thanks to Shania Hunt, middle school debate teacher, who did a fabulous job of organizing this large and complicated trip. The students were not only well prepared, but were safe and had fun.
Sibling chess enthusiasts Vyom and Omya Vidyarthi – grade 6 and grade 3, respectively – have done it again! The pair traveled to Nashville over the weekend to compete at the US Chess National Elementary Championship. Both students were winners in their respective sections, with Vyom taking first in K-6 and Omya placing first in K-3. Approximately 2,000 players traveled to this event from around the US.
Previously, at the Susan Polgar National Open Championship in April, Vyom and Omya had top placements in their groups. Omya won the Under 16-Under 18 girls group, where she was the youngest competitor. Vyom, who competed in the Under 16-Under 18 boys category, tied for second place and placed third overall after a tiebreaker. Notably, he also met the 2200 rating requirement to earn the United States Chess Federation title of “National Master.”
Both students also performed well in Blitz chess events, where Vyom placed second in the Grade 5 and Up category and Omya took second place in the Grade 4 and Under section.
Sibling chess enthusiasts Vyom and Omya Vidyarthi – grade 6 and grade 3, respectively – have done it again! The pair traveled to Nashville over the weekend to compete at the US Chess National Elementary Championship. Both students were winners in their respective sections, with Vyom taking first in K-6 and Omya placing first in K-3. Approximately 2,000 players traveled to this event from around the US.
Previously, at the Susan Polgar National Open Championship in April, Vyom and Omya had top placements in their groups. Omya won the Under 16-Under 18 girls group, where she was the youngest competitor. Vyom, who competed in the Under 16-Under 18 boys category, tied for second place and placed third overall after a tiebreaker. Notably, he also met the 2200 rating requirement to earn the United States Chess Federation title of “National Master.”
Both students also performed well in Blitz chess events, where Vyom placed second in the Grade 5 and Up category and Omya took second place in the Grade 4 and Under section.
Sibling chess enthusiasts Vyom and Omya Vidyarthi – grade 6 and grade 3, respectively – have done it again! The pair traveled to Nashville over the weekend to compete at the US Chess National Elementary Championship. Both students were winners in their respective sections, with Vyom taking first in K-6 and Omya placing first in K-3. Approximately 2,000 players traveled to this event from around the US.
Previously, at the Susan Polgar National Open Championship in April, Vyom and Omya had top placements in their groups. Omya won the Under 16-Under 18 girls group, where she was the youngest competitor. Vyom, who competed in the Under 16-Under 18 boys category, tied for second place and placed third overall after a tiebreaker. Notably, he also met the 2200 rating requirement to earn the United States Chess Federation title of “National Master.”
Both students also performed well in Blitz chess events, where Vyom placed second in the Grade 5 and Up category and Omya took second place in the Grade 4 and Under section.
It was another huge day for our Harker swimmers, this time at the state championships on Saturday. Ethan Hu, grade 11, and Matthew Chung, Rhys Edwards and Jason Kwok, all grade 10, laid down the best performance in Harker swimming history with a fourth place overall finish at the CIF State Championship.
Hu won the 200 individual medley, dropping almost three seconds and breaking the state record. Hu would go on to win the 100 fly in record time of 45.72, just missing the national high school record by 0.20. Chung was seventh in the 200 individual medley and ninth in the 500 free and dropped 2.69 from his prelim time. Kwok was third in the 100 breaststroke, dropping 1:46 from his prelim swim. Edwards was in both the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay as the anchor. The relays swam 20.92 and 20.95, respectively, placing third and fourth.
Congrats on a great season! And check out this article putting Hu’s record-setting performance into perspective:
The boys volleyball team blew through the CCS D3 brackets, defeating Sacred Heart Prep, Pacific Collegiate and Carmel, all 3-0, to become the first CCS team champions in Harker history. The Eagles head into the NorCal D1 playoffs as the No. 2 seed and host Northgate of Walnut Creek on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Track and Field
Congrats to Ayush Vyas, grade 12, who finished at No. 31 in CCS in the shot put and Gio Rofa, grade 11, who finished at No. 29 in CCS in the triple jump. But the story of the day was Alexa Lowe, grade 9, who qualified for the triple jump finals on Friday at Gilroy High with her top 10 performance. Congrats to Ayush and Gio, and good luck to Alexa.
Baseball
The baseball team ended the regular season on a high note with a 17-1 win over Westmoor and a 14-9 win over Thomas More to finish the year with a 15-8 record. In the win over Westmoor, Zach Hoffman, grade 12, Max Lee, grade 11, and Luke Wancewicz, grade 10, each drove in two runs, while four pitchers combined for a one-hitter. The Eagles just missed out on the CCS playoffs, but congrats on a great season.
Softball
The softball team started its week with an 11-5 loss to Mercy Burlingame, but ended the week and season on a high note with a dramatic 23-22 win over Notre Dame San Jose. After falling 2-19 in the fifth inning, the Eagles exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth, eight runs in the sixth and four runs in the bottom of the seventh to win. Huge games from Cameron Zell, grade 12, and Molly Mobley, grade 10, who each had four hits and four RBIs, and Natasha Yen, grade 10, who added four RBIs on two hits.
Lacrosse
The lacrosse team headed into the WBAL tournament as league champs, but after defeating Aragon 7-6, fell to Woodside 6-9 to end the season. The Eagles were 14-4 on the year.
Boys Tennis
The doubles team of Ramanand Vegesna and Mihir Sharma, both grade 11, will begin their CCS tennis journey as they face the duo from Carmel on Tuesday.
Boys Golf
Boys golf heads to Laguna Seca on Tuesday for CCS finals.
Last week, the lower school library hosted its annual Book Fair, where attendees partook of a wide selection of books for all reading levels. A variety of fiction (from sci-fi to historical fiction to mysteries) and non-fiction (history, sports and biographies) were available for both children and adults.
“The Book Fair promotes reading at all levels, and provides more books to our community,” said lower school librarian Kathy Clark. Because the Book Fair coincided with Grandparents’ Day on Friday, “parents and grandparents purchase books that their students are interested in reading, titles for summer reading and gifts,” she continued. Families also often show their generosity and gratitude to Harker teachers by purchasing books for the classrooms. Money raised by the Book Fair goes into library budget so that more books can be purchased.
By Clark’s estimation, the Book Fair started in 1998 and was first held in the lower school gym’s lobby. In addition to being a great way to find new books, the Book Fair also fosters “a sense of community!” Clark said. “Students and their friends meet in the library, sharing the books they find. Parents meet in the library too, talking about the books their students want to read. Our library staff spends a lot of time recommending titles that are appropriate for the various age levels, and it gives us a chance to get to know the parents a little better.”
Parents also get involved with the Book Fair by volunteering to run the cash registers and assist students in finding books that interest them. “We can’t operate the fair without them,” said Clark. “Some volunteers return year after year because they enjoy working during the fair.”