CareerConnect was given the opportunity to bring nine female students to the 2019 Watermark Conference for Women under the Young Women’s Program. The conference gave students the opportunity to listen to lauded keynote speakers, network with professionals and learn about different companies’ initiatives.
As part of the interactive opportunities of the conference, students got a chance to attend two workshops. The first workshop was centered on community change and was led by Krista Suh, one of the creators of the Pussyhat Project. The second workshop was led by Kati Mortin, a therapist and YouTuber, who discussed adolescent mental health.
Students also were able to hear from inspiring keynote speakers, including Gloria Steinem, Brené Brown, Amanda Southworth, Whitney Wolfe Herd and Serena Williams, who discussed their experiences as women in the workplace and the changes they are making in different industries.
“Seeing all these empowering women inspired me to stand up for what I believe in and speak with confidence as a woman,” commented freshman Andrea Thia. “Learning from each individual’s speaking style and wisdom was such a unique experience.”
Junior Tiffany Zhao expressed that Watermark “showed me that I am not alone in my aspirations for female empowerment in the workplace. This is an issue that has troubled me for very long, and this experience has made me realize that I have an entire community of strong and capable women fighting to solve this issue alongside me. Ultimately, this experience has given me hope, optimism and faith that women’s current role in the workplace will change for the better.”
Overall, students had a fantastic and educational time at Watermark and came back with lessons on how to take initiative in their own career pursuits.
More than a score of students from Harker’s DECA team toured the Fremont Tesla factory in late February and had an amazing time. The factory, the largest manufacturing facility in California, is the size of 92 NFL football fields or 55 Costco warehouses, the group was told.
“I was amazed by all of the difference components that they are able to manufacture under one building. The robots, the presses, and the overall process is just so impressive,” said Alexa Lowe, grade 9.
It takes about five days to make a Tesla and they make about 1,000 per day. All of the robots are named after comic book characters, such as those from X-Men, Game of Thrones, etc. “I had never been to a factory before and it was cool to see how the overall process is so unified, especially considering all of the different systems and parts that are involved,” said Suraj Pakala, grade 12.
Juston Glass, DECA advisor, noted “We had to sign a [nondisclosure agreement] and we couldn’t take any photos inside, but we got to see the whole process from start to finish!”
The visit impressed Andrea Thia, grade 9, philosophically. “It was inspiring to see how such a small dream could turn into such a large business!” she said.
Middle school math students had a great showing at a the Santa Clara chapter Mathcounts contest, held Feb. 16 at the upper school campus. A team of four grade 8 students – Riya Gupta, Ashley Hu, Connie Jiang and Sally Zhu – took first place in the team portion of the event, repeating last year’s success. They will appear at the state-level competition, to be held March 23 at Stanford University.
In individual competition, eighth grader Rohan Bhowmik took second place overall, winning a tiebreaker over Ashley Hu, who placed third. Both had a score of 44 out of 46 points. Other notable placers were Sally Zhu in fifth place with 43 points, seventh grader Ethan Liu in seventh place with 42 points, Angelina Hu in 10th place with 41 points, Riya Gupta in 12th place with 40 points, Connie Jiang in 13th with 40 points (after a tie-breaking decision based on which problems each student solved) and seventh grader Emma Gao in 16th with 38 points. Bhowmik and Liu also qualified for the state competition.
A total of 112 students from 14 schools were present at the contest, which is believed to be one of the toughest chapter-level competitions in the country. “This is a highly competitive chapter as can be seen … with every point differential,” said middle school math department chair Vandana Kadam. “It is commendable that eight Harker students placed in the top 16.”
The children and families of Acorn Cottage celebrated the Lunar New Year with a party last week! The children made “tang yuan,” which are dumplings in ginger syrup, and the parents put on a puppet show describing the order of the animals in the Chinese zodiac calendar. The children later enjoyed a delicious snack of traditional Chinese treats and a Chinese New Year story. It was a delightful day of cultural learning!
Over the weekend of Feb. 22-24, Harker Green Team officers Anvi Banga, Alex Shing and Anthony Shing, all grade 11, and Natasha Yen, grade 10, attended the 2019 Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions International Youth Summit at the Algalita Ocean Institute in Dana Point, along with their advisors, science teacher Kate Schafer and Spanish teacher Diana Moss.
The Harker team was selected on the basis of its proposal, titled “Buy Better Boba.” The students’ plan addresses the excessive amount of plastic produced by sales of boba milk tea, a popular drink often sold by Harker student clubs to raise funds. The students acquired reusable glass straws with brush cleaners, repurposed glass jars and designed a sticker to create a cup alternative to the single-use plastic cup, lid, straw and wrapper that comes with each purchase of boba tea.
Team members also have been in contact with local boba shops to encourage the use of their cups and to provide bulk dispensers for clubs that use their cups for their fundraisers. They will launch the sale of their repurposed cups during Earth Week in April, which is also their club week.
The conference was attended by 125 students from various parts of the U.S., as well as from countries including Kenya, Tunisia, Canada, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Mexico. Students had the opportunity to learn about each other’s projects, to hear from experts in the field of ocean pollution and to engage in team building activities. Additionally, mentors worked with each team to help them hone the details of their projects and envision ways to extend their projects into the greater community to have a more powerful impact.
“The best part of the conference for me was meeting other students from around the world and hearing about their projects,” said Banga. Added Yen, “Seeing all this creative energy working towards a common goal was inspiring.”
The team also enjoyed being right on the beach at the Algalita Ocean Institute and took a short cruise on the ocean with Captain Charles Moore, author of “Plastic Ocean,” who first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Harker team was one of three teams selected to present about their project before the entire assembly on the final day of the conference.
Last week, the lacrosse team opened up its 2019 season with a 19-11 win over visiting Willow Glen. The Eagles host Newark on Monday and Mountain View on Wednesday.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team went 2-0 last week to kick off the season as it defeated Homestead 3-0 and Cupertino 3-0. The Eagles host Branham on Tuesday in their home-opener, then travel to Mountain View on Wednesday and Lynbrook on Friday.
Baseball
The baseball team opened its season with a 26-0 win over San Jose High. Big games from every Eagle, but Nick Coulter, grade 10, led the way with four hits, four runs and four RBIs. The Eagles travel to Prospect on Wednesday and Oak Grove on Friday.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team opened its season with a 184-265-275 win over The King’s Academy and Crystal Springs Uplands. Aditya Tadimeti, grade 10, and Jaimin Bhagat, grade 11, tied for medalist honors, each shooting a 36. The boys head to Livermore this Wednesday to compete at the Cowboy Classic.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team officially gets the season started on Monday as it hosts Nueva before hosting The King’s Academy on Tuesday and traveling to Sacred Heart Prep on Thursday.
Softball
The softball team gets its season going on Tuesday as it travels to Gunderson, before its home-opener on Thursday against Notre Dame Belmont, and then it’s back on the road on Friday to face off with Cupertino.
Track and Field
The track and field team will be off and running on March 13 as it opens the season with the first WBAL meet of the year at Sacred Heart Prep.
Swim
The Harker swim team begins its season traveling to the Palo Alto Invitational this Friday.
Boys Soccer
Last week, the boys soccer team’s season came to an end as it fell to King City High 4-1 in the semifinals of the D4 CCS playoffs. Congrats on a great season!
The upper school campus became an eveningland of lights, music and fun on Saturday night, as Harker held the 125th Anniversary Gala, its first gala since 2016. Held in the new athletic center and branching out to the Rothschild Performing Arts Center’s Patil Theater, more than 370 parents, alumni, faculty and staff were feted with custom videos, singing, live music, dancers, top-drawer food and drink, a hot band and great company.
Actor D.J. Blickenstaff ’09 and opera singer Gabrielle DeMers ’03 brought their special talents to their alma mater for the evening, along with a host of current student performers.
The gala, reformed and resurrected following the opening of the new athletic center (2017) and Rothschild Performing Arts Center (2018), was also the final major event in Harker’s 125th anniversary celebration. Suspended during construction, the event took place in the newest portion of the upper school campus, opening with the show in the Patil Theater at 6:30 p.m.
The Gala Show was emceed, and included a special performance, by Blickenstaff (“Dear White People,” “Colony” and “Catching a Break”). Segments highlighting aspects of Harker’s programs were enhanced by historical photos and related performances by the Harker Jazz Band, Varsity Dance Troupe, Cantilena, Dance Fusion and Downbeat.
DeMers, a professional opera singer, sang the tour de force aria “The Jewel Song” from Gounod’s “Faust.” The show’s finale brought back Blickenstaff and DeMers, and culminated in – for the first time ever – all of Harker’s vocal, dance and instrumental groups performing together, including the middle school’s Concert Choir; boys hip-hop group, Kinetic Krew; and Showstoppers, the grade 7-8 dance troupe. Head of School Brian Yager shared a few remarks and announced the launch of the school’s new 125th Gift Initiative.
Following the show, guests moved to the athletic center’s Zhang Gym, now deep in party trim, for cocktails and more entertainment, including an auction.
Master of Ceremonies Jeff Draper welcomed attendees and led them through some games. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks were available in a beautifully decorated area on the gym floor, where guests could bid on auction items and try to win jewelry and wine. The evening’s food was prepared by the outstanding Harker culinary staff lead by Chef Steve Martin.
During dinner, Draper introduced a tribute to the seniors, which included some recorded memories by students and a slide show of every member of the Class of 2019. The event really got swinging after dinner as the Cosmo Alleycats brought their special brand of music to the dance floor. Other features of the evening included a special 125th anniversary photo booth with cool props where guests could take selfies or have a portrait taken.
The whole extravaganza was made possible by many kind donors, including presenting sponsors Rao and Rohini Mulpuri, and Fermi Wang and Jean Aida Kung. Gold sponsors were Atiq Raza and Nandini Saraiya of Reveti Jewels Inc., and Bobby and Ann Johnson, as well as an anonymous donor. Gold group sponsorship included DJ and Devika Patil, Vik and Roma Ghai, Amrita and Sunit Mukherjee, Priya and Shiva Shivakumar, and Suneela Muddu and Muddu Sudhakar.
Silver sponsors were Neeraj and Anisha Gupta; Nikki Lin and Brian Duff; and Yoko, leok SiTou and Tony Lau. Bronze sponsors were Ganesh and Sunitha Krishna, Robert Lee & Associates LLP, Devcon Construction Inc., and Vivek Thoppay, managing director at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
During the Presidents’ Week break, nine upper school students (accompanied by French teachers Agnes Pommier and Galina Tchourilova) embarked on a new international education trip to Quebec, where they were treated to an extensive look at the Canadian province’s history and culture. The five-day trip started with a tour of Quebec City and its numerous landmarks, a curling lesson and a visit to Wendake, a Huron-Wendat Nation reserve. In the following days, students made drawings from copper at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, visited an ice hotel, went tubing down snow-covered slopes and sampled crepes in Montreal. More info and photos are available at a special blog set up for the trip.
Five Harker upper school students’ poems were recently selected to be made into pieces of public art as part of the city of San Jose’s “Litter-ature” project. Ishani Cheshire and Annabelle Perng, both grade 12, and Sophia Gottfried, Katerina Fenner and Nathan Ohana, all grade 10, submitted poems highlighting environmental issues that have been used to make art pieces that in March will decorate 500 public litter cans in San Jose. The students’ poems and accompanying artwork can be viewed at the city of San Jose’s website.
In January, CareerConnect hosted a three-part workshop series to help students develop their professional skills in interviewing and resume-building.
The first workshop, the LinkedIn Resume Building Workshop, was designed to help students create an effective LinkedIn profile. Michael Acheatel, CareerConnect advisor, prepared a presentation to give an overview of the features of LinkedIn and its applications, and members of the CareerConnect officer team were on hand to help students with their individual profiles. The skills taught in this workshop are very useful as students explore professional internship and job opportunities.
In late January, CareerConnect invited senior Enya Lu to speak at the Interview Tips & Trick Workshop. Lu has had experience interviewing for jobs, internships, summer programs, club officer positions, college and other opportunities. In her presentation, she described the different types of interviews and gave advice about what to do before, during and after interviews. In addition, alumnus Lucas Wang ’17, now at NYU Stern School of Business, was at the workshop to give his advice about interviewing. Their tips for the attendees were very practical and provided a great way to prepare for future interviews. “This event I felt was really helpful,” said Ishaan Parate, grade 9, “I do feel like I can put this information to use in the near future.”
As the final part of the professionalism series, CareerConnect held the Mock Interview Workshop on Jan. 29. This event consisted of one-on-one mock interviews with industry professionals and allowed students to put to use the advice that they received in the previous workshop. During their interviewing sessions, students were given the choice of either interviewing for a club officer position or research internship. Then, they were asked 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. “The interviewers were really helpful in teaching me techniques for getting a later job,” said Camilla Lindh, grade 9. Similarly, April Sun, grade 9, said, “It helped me understand what to do in a future interview, and [the interviewer] helped give me some tips on what to do.”
In all, the professionalism series 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.