This year’s upper school spring musical, “Urinetown,” wowed audiences this past weekend at the Patil Theater with its timely satirical tale of political unrest. The cast, who this summer will be the fourth in Harker history to travel to Scotland to appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, were fantastic in their roles as the citizens, businesspeople and politicians caught up in the drama of a town in the clutches of a ruthless megacorporation.
From March 6-9, eight Harker upper school students joined thousands of students from around the world in New York City to participate in the National High School Model United Nations conference, the world’s largest Model United Nations conference for high school students.
Harker students represented a variety of nations in a number of specialized committees, debating international issues and trying to work to diplomatic solutions. While the conference deemphasizes awards, it does recognize several delegations for their exemplary work in research, country representation, communication and diplomacy. Seniors Logan Bhamidipaty and Helen Yang were recognized as the top delegation, as the sole recipients of the Award of Distinction, for their work representing Indonesia in their security council body.
The conference also included keynote speeches from ambassador Jonathan Cohen, acting permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, and Anucha Browne Sanders, UNICEF’s chief engagement, advocacy and global programs officer. The students also engaged in committee sessions full of lively formal and informal debates and negotiations. For some students in specialized committees, such as the security council, this also included a middle-of-the-night crisis committee meeting.
Yesterday, second graders held the annual Ogre Awards, in which 88 students celebrated the characters of their favorite folk tales from all over the world at a special ceremony. Students spent the previous months reading stories from various parts of the world, including China, India and Norway. Their favorite characters from each of these stories were then given special awards in a variety of categories at the show. Students from each grade 2 homeroom also dressed up as characters from the stories they’d read.
Each Ogre Awards also honors members of the Harker community. This year the show recognized grade 2 teachers Ali Bo, Ayesha Tahir, Kerri Clifford and Sejal Mehta.
Earlier this month, the lower school hosted the Kids Heart Challenge to raise money for the American Heart Association as well as increase awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Formerly known as Jump Rope for Heart, the event raised $13,067 as students jumped rope and hula-hooped to show their enthusiasm for the fun and healthy benefits of exercise. Schools across the country hold their own Kids Heart Challenge events every year, and Harker’s involvement stretches back to 2000, when it was brought to the lower school by P.E. teacher Jim McGovern. To date, Harker has raised more than $200,000 for the American Heart Association.
Earlier this month, the students in Clover Cottage at Harker Preschool participated in a scavenger hunt by reading and following clues. The students found various people we are “lucky” to have at our school, such as Mr. Roberto (who fixes things for us), Ms. Warren (who greets us every morning), Mr. Joe (who keeps us safe and gives high-fives), Mr. Bob (who orders us supplies) and Ms. Lisa (who cooks for us).
On March 3, team GetVexed, made up of Harker seventh graders Joe Li, Jordan Labio, Nathan T. Liu, Ramit Goyal and Sriram Bhimaraju placed second in the Robot Skills category in the California VEX Robotics Middle School State Championship in San Jose.
Their Robot Skills score is the 10th highest in US (15th in the world) since the VEX Turning Point season began in July of 2018, and qualifies them to attend the VEX World Championships, to be held April 24-27 in Louisville, Ky. Only three percent of all middle school teams qualify for the VEX World Championships. GetVexed credited team Paradigm – composed of eighth graders graders Nidhya Shivakumar and Amrita Pasupathy – and their coach for helping them in their first season.
In addition, GetVexed also won the Amaze Award, which is given to the team with a consistently top-performing robot. Earlier in the season, the team won a Judges Award at the Gael Force Battle of the Bay High School tournament, and placed second at a tournament at Sacred Heart Middle School.
On Saturday, March 16, more than 100 students attended BEcon, where they spent the morning exploring company booths, listening to the keynote speaker, and attending professional workshops and sHarker Tank, Harker’s own version of “Shark Tank.”
Winners of sHarker Tank are as follows:
First place: Promelle – Riya Gupta and Nishka Ayyar, both grade 12
Second place: The Minty Boutique – Mahi Kolla, grade 11
Third place: Pillbot – Johnny Wang, grade 12
Fourth place: Nanoseed – Jason Huang and Suraj Pakala, both grade 12
Students first interacted with a variety of company booths from around the Bay Area, such as Gualala Gadget, which manufactures 3D-printed marble machines, and Contrary Capital, which provides funding for student-led projects and businesses.
Afterward, students were led into the Nichols Auditorium for the keynote speaker: Yoram Bauman, the world’s only stand-up economist. Bauman performed his routine, eliciting laughter from the crowd with jokes about economists, capitalism and other topics while still educating students on various economics topics and about his efforts toward climate change legislation. Following Bauman, students transitioned to attend professional workshops on a variety of topics, including Blockchain, Business Analytics, Game Theory and Behavioral Economics. Students learned about different fields in business and economics, and developed new mindsets and skills to tackle business situations.
Students then attended the mentor luncheon, where professionals, including a number of Harker parents, from many fields ate with the students, told them about their daily lives in the workplace, and helped them build their professional networks. The mentors offered valuable business advice and answered questions posed by students.
After the lunch, the students migrated back to the auditorium for sHarker Tank, Harker’s own version of the popular TV show “Shark Tank.” The event was sponsored by venture firm Next47 and their CEO Lak Ananth. Honors Entrepreneurship students presented their companies and ideas to a panel of judges, competing for $15,000 in seed money, $10,000 of which was graciously provided by @Next47.
First to present was The Minty Boutique, which sells customizable and stylish personal planners, notebooks and more. The next company was Pillbot, an automated solution to medicine dispensing with a tamper-proof design and overdose protection. After Pillbot, Promelle gave a pitch for its mobile peer-to-peer clothing rental service. Finally, Nanoseed presented its nonprofit efforts of microfinancing loans in rural China. The winners were presented with oversized checks and met with ringing applause for their achievements!
BEcon 2019 was a success, offering students an opportunity to learn about new business and economics fields, expand their professional networks, and enjoy a Saturday morning filled with fun!
The boys golf team took care of Sacred Heart Prep last week with a 204-229 victory. This week, the Eagles take on Crystal Springs Uplands on Wednesday before traveling to Indio for the Champions Invitational over the weekend.
Lacrosse
The lacrosse team defeated Sequoia 12-3 in its sole matchup last week. The 4-2 Eagles host Aragon on Tuesday and Notre Dame San Jose on Thursday.
Baseball
Last week, the baseball team picked up two big league wins to improve to 5-3 on the season. First, the Eagles defeated Jefferson 6-5 with Levi Sutton, grade 10, Bobby Wang, grade 9, Max Lee, grade 11, Nick Coulter, grade 10, and Luke Wancewicz, grade 10, each driving in a run. Later in the week, Harker defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 16-7 with Lee driving in four runs and Coulter adding three more RBIs. This week, the Eagles travel to Woodside on Monday before hosting Summit Rainier on Tuesday and Westmoor on Friday.
Boys Volleyball
It was an up and down week for the boys volleyball team. After defeating Los Gatos 3-0, the Eagles were ranked first in CCS and No. 7 in the nation (watch the highlights!). However, the boys faced off with rival Monta Vista later in the week and dropped a heartbreaking five-set match. Then over the weekend, the Eagles took on some of the best local competition at the Monta Vista Tournament. The Eagles defeated Clovis, The King’s Academy and perennial CCS powerhouses St. Francis and Bellarmine to advance to the finals against host Monta Vista. But there was no redemption for the Eagles as they fell to the Matadores to take second place. The 18-3 Eagles travel to Los Altos on Wednesday and host Lynbrook on Friday.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team picked up two more league wins last week to improve to 7-1 on the season. The Eagles defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 5-2 and The King’s Academy 6-1. This week, the Eagles host Sacred Heart Prep on Monday and travel to Aragon on Wednesday.
Swim
Last week, the Harker swim team took on six teams at the latest WBAL Jamboree. Highlights included:
The girls 400 relay team took first place, with the medley relay team taking second and the 200 free relay team taking third.
The boys won the 200 medley and 200 free relays and took second in the 400 free relay.
Matthew Chung, grade 10, won the 100 free and 100 breast.
Rhys Edwards, grade 10, won the 200 individual medley and the 500 free.
Alex Yu, grade 12, took second in the 200 individual medley and third in the 500 free.
Andrew Chang, grade 12, was third in the 100 breast.
Jay Thilking, grade 9, took second in the 50 back.
Ethan Hu, grade 11, took first in both the 100 fly and 100 back.
Nikela Hulton, grade 9, and Ysabel Chen, grade 9, went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley.
Hulton, Nageena Singh, grade 9, and Katie Li, grade 10, went 1-2-3 in the 100 fly.
This week, Harker swimmers head to Priory on Thursday for another WBAL Jamboree.
Track and Field
Zoey Rosa, grade 11, set a school record in the demanding 400-meter hurdles on Saturday at DeAnza College. Alexa Lowe, grade 9, set a frosh school record with her 15′ 1.5″ long jump. The boys 4×100 relay team medaled for the second week in a row, improving its season’s best of 46.03, placing second in the varsity boys race. Gio Rofa, grade 11, and Andrew Chen, grade 9, both went past 17′ in the long jump. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, returned to her usual good form, winning her heat in the 100, running under 14 seconds.
The team competes Tuesday at The King’s Academy in a WBAL league meet, then at Fremont High School on Saturday in the Firebird Invitational.
Softball
The softball team dropped its only game last week 7-18 to Mercy Burlingame to go to 1-6 on the year. This week, the Eagles travel to The King’s Academy on Tuesday and host Mercy SF on Thursday.
Winter All-League
The Harker winter teams had great success this past season and it showed as many Eagles were honored with All-League awards:
The boys basketball team qualified for CCS and was name a CCS Academic Champion. Jack Connors, grade 11, was given first team honors to represent Harker.
The girls basketball team also qualified for CCS with Akhila Ramgiri, grade 12, earning first team honors. Maria Vazhaeparambil, grade 10, and Lily Wancewicz, grade 12, also earned honorable mentions.
The boys soccer team reached the semis of CCS thanks to help from first team honorees Jared Anderson, grade 12, and Andrew Cheplyansky, grade 11, as well as second team honorees Sasvath Ramachandran, grade 9, and Edwin Su, grade 12. Jeffrey Fung and Brandon Lin, both grade 11, were also given honorable mentions.
The girls soccer team was also well-represented with Julia Amick, grade 12, receiving a first team award, Ria Gupta, grade 12, earning second team, and Cameron Zell and Lilia Gonzales, both grade 12, receiving honorable mentions.
Usua Amanam MS ’05, an energy resources engineering Ph.D. candidate at Stanford, was named a 2019 Siebel Scholar in October 2018. Amanam attended Harker from pre-kindergarten thorough grade 8. The Siebel Scholars program annually recognizes nearly 100 exceptional students from the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, energy science and bioengineering. Read more about Amanam’s incredible journey at Stanford Earth.
Amy Jin ’18, now attending Harvard, stopped by Harker to talk about her journey and life after high school, as well as answer questions about her path and the project that has brought her several prizes. In 2018, while still a senior, Jin was named one of five students nationwide to receive the Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing. She also was named a 2018 Davidson Fellow Laureate in the technology category for her project, which gives surgeons with a way to assess their technique by analyzing their movements and providing feedback on a variety of criteria, such as economy of motion and bimanual dexterity. Read more here: https://staging.news.harker.org/amy-jin-18-awarded-prestigious-davidson-fellowship-for-project-on-tracking-surgical-tools/
And here are two further articles of interest about Jin: