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.
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.
On Friday night, the Harker Speaker Series hosted a special evening with legendary composer David Amram. During his nearly 70-year career, Amram has collaborated with many of the 20th century’s most influential cultural figures, including Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Hunter S. Thompson and Leonard Bernstein.
The event began with a scintillating performance by the upper school jazz band, which was joined by Amram on flute and percussion, demonstrating that his skills as a soloist remain sharp. He then sat down with Harker English teacher Charles Shuttleworth for a live interview, during which Amram shared his incredible life story, beginning with his interest in classical music, which he discovered at age 11. He later became enamored with jazz, gospel and folk music from around the world. Amram described much of his life as “serendipity,” having been repeatedly blessed to be put in contact with (and subsequently work with) top musicians. After serving in the military, he was introduced to jazz bassist Charles Mingus, with whom he began playing while studying at the Manhattan School of Music. He later met Thelonious Monk, who complimented Amram on his French horn playing. “I almost fainted,” Amram recalled.
After concluding the interview, Amram joined the Harker upper school orchestra to perform Franz Schubert’s haunting “Unfinished Symphony,” as well as an original work he wrote as a tribute to Afro-Cuban percussionist and composer Chano Pozo during a 1977 cultural exchange trip to Cuba. Titled “En Memoria de Chano Pozo,” the piece incorporates audience participation, and the audience happily clapped along toward the finale. Following the event, Amram participated in an audience Q&A session before signing copies of his books in the lobby for the appreciative attendees.
Last week, the girls volleyball team dominated in its run through CCS as it defeated Pacific Grove, Harbor and Sacred Heart Prep all 3-0 on its way to the D4 CCS championship. This is just the second CCS team title in Harker history! The Eagles were bumped up to D2 for the NorCal tournament and will travel to Modesto to face off with Central Catholic on Tuesday night.
Girls Golf
Last week, the girls golf team had its best finish in Harker history as it ended the season with a fifth place finish at the NorCal Regionals. Although the team season came to an end, Natalie Vo, grade 11, and Claire Chen, grade 9, each shot a 3-over-par 75 and qualified for the state championships that will be held at Pebble Beach on Nov. 19.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team defeated ND Belmont 7-0 in a WBAL playoff match last week. The win helped push the Eagles into CCS where they open at Salinas High on Monday.
Cross Country
The cross country team competed at the WBAL finals last week and, for the first time since 2015, the girls team qualified for CCS with Anna Weirich, grade 11, leading the way with a third place finish in the girls varsity race. Rigo Gonzales, grade 9, placed 14th in the varsity boys race and qualified as an individual for CCS. The CCS finals will be held on Saturday at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course.
Scholastic Teams
Each season, CCS honors the teams that produce the highest GPA in their specific sport. For the fall season, Harker boys cross country (3.953) and football (3.554) each finished with the highest GPA in their sports, and boys water polo (3.670) finished third. Congratulations to our amazing student athletes!
Krish Mysoor, grade 8, had a record-setting weekend in debate, placing first at the Damus Hollywood Invitational, hosted by the Harvard-Westlake and Notre Dame schools in Los Angeles, Nov. 2-4.
Mysoor is the only eighth grader in memory to take first place at a varsity national qualifier to the Tournament of Champions (TOC). TOC-designated tournaments are considered to be the most challenging debate tournaments because they attract the most competitive schools from multiple states. The topic for the event was whether or not the United States ought to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels.
Students who reach a certain level of elimination-round success at two of those events are invited to compete at the most elite varsity championship at the end of the year. It is extremely rare for a middle school student to even reach early elimination rounds at TOC tournaments, let alone to have a perfect preliminary record and then go on to win five elimination rounds in a row. The team is very proud of his outstanding accomplishment.
Lincoln Garrett, the head debate coach of the University of Kentucky, which hosts the Tournament of Champions, noted of Mysoor’s accomplishment, “That is incredible. To go from learning the activity a short while ago to winning a competitive tournament is remarkable.”
Mysoor is known for his hard work and being a great teammate. His remarkable success has attracted quite a bit of attention from the national debate community. Go Harker speech and debate!
As part of the business and entrepreneurship department’s CareerConnect program, and thanks to the generous support of the Constellation Research organization, four upper school Harker students attended the annual Constellation Research Conference on Tuesday at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay.
The event is a three-day innovation summit and executive retreat with one-on-one interviews with marketing visionaries, “executive exchanges, fireside chats and disruptive technology demos,” according to its website. Attendees included leaders from Arby’s Restaurant Group, CBRE Group, Estée Lauder, Spotify, Symmons Industries, The University of Texas System and the U.S. government.
Students had the opportunity to hear from amazing panelists and speakers including the “Father of the Internet,” Vint Cerf, among others, on the topic “Inside Exponential Business Models – From Post Digital Divide to Winner Takes All Networks.” Cerf spoke at Harker in 2013; read about it in Harker News.
There also was a great social luncheon where students were able to network with thought leaders around the world (see pictures attached), noted Juston Glass, teacher in the BE program, “and it was overall an amazing experience for the students to take part in this exclusive, leading-edge, professional experience/conference.”
During the middle school’s trip week, sixth graders headed to Redwood Glen for four days of fun and bonding. The first day was busy, as students played human foosball, traversed balance beams and participated in various activities meant to build trust with one another. Cooperative activities comprised a significant part of the trip, as students navigated a ropes course and went kayaking at Elkhorn Slough. These and other activities also gave them a chance to appreciate many natural marvels and wildlife, spotting owls, sea lions and otters as well as watching the Orionid meteor shower thanks to the clear evening skies.
During the middle school’s trip week, sixth graders headed to Redwood Glen for four days of fun and bonding. The first day was busy, as students played human foosball, traversed balance beams and participated in various activities meant to build trust with one another. Cooperative activities comprised a significant part of the trip, as students navigated a ropes course and went kayaking at Elkhorn Slough. These and other activities also gave them a chance to appreciate many natural marvels and wildlife, spotting owls, sea lions and otters as well as watching the Orionid meteor shower thanks to the clear evening skies.
During the middle school’s trip week, sixth graders headed to Redwood Glen for four days of fun and bonding. The first day was busy, as students played human foosball, traversed balance beams and participated in various activities meant to build trust with one another. Cooperative activities comprised a significant part of the trip, as students navigated a ropes course and went kayaking at Elkhorn Slough. These and other activities also gave them a chance to appreciate many natural marvels and wildlife, spotting owls, sea lions and otters as well as watching the Orionid meteor shower thanks to the clear evening skies.