Top notch news from the National Debate Coaches Association National Championship! Held at Glenbrook South High School near Chicago, the tournament comprised 188 debate teams from 64 schools from across the nation, and Harker teams finished in the top five in both policy debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate.
In policy debate, Anusha Kuppahally, grade 12 and Maddie Huynh, grade 11, were quarterfinalists. This was Kuppahally’s last debate tournament, and it was the second year in a row that she finished in the top five at this championship. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, Sachin Shah and Quentin Clark, both grade 11, reached elimination rounds, finishing in the top 20 in the nation. Akshay Manglik, grade 10, was named the 10th overall speaker at the tournament and reached the semifinals, finishing in the top three in the nation, an impressive feat for a sophomore. Overall the trip was a great success and the coaches are very proud of the students and all of their hard work. Watch for the summer issue of Harker Magazine, which will include an article on this year’s speech and debate activity!
In one of its best-attended years to date, the Harker Research Symposium attracted about 800 visitors from across the Harker community to recognize the school’s dedication to the sciences and encourage sustainable lifestyles and policies.
Sustainability was the main theme of this year’s event, which fittingly began with upper school vocal groups Cantilena and Camerata performing J. David Moore’s “We Belong to the Earth” under the direction of music teacher Susan Nace. The first keynote speaker was Max Holmes, deputy director and senior climate scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, whose talk detailed how the behavior of rivers around the world can offer insight into global climate change.
Sustainability themes also were prevalent at the exhibitors area at the Nichols Hall atrium, which remained a popular attraction throughout the day. A student-run booth detailing the ways in which people can make their lives more environment-friendly greeted visitors as they walked through the front doors of Nichols Hall, alongside booths showcasing marine life, new technologies and the crucial role bees play in our daily lives (as well as the dangers presented by their decreasing populations).
At the Nichols Hall auditorium, a panel of Harker graduates shared their career retrospectives, including how their time at Harker influenced their trajectories and crucial lessons learned through their experiences. “Your career path is going to be windy and you’re going to be meeting a ton of…different people along the way,” said Shephalie Lahri ’05, associate director of marketing and reimbursement at the genetic testing company Natera. “Carve your own path and make sure you have the right advocates and champions,” she advised. The Nichols Hall rotunda was also busy, as upper school students at the Stem Buddies stations showed young science lovers how to purify water, create a DNA helix and find microplastics in ocean water.
The auxiliary gym once again hosted middle and upper school poster presentations, as students explained and answered questions on their research on a variety of topics, including zoology, physics and social science.
Surbhi Sarna ’03 returned to the Harker Research Symposium as this year’s alumna keynote speaker, giving a talk on her journey from being a patient at the age of 13 to becoming a medical technology entrepreneur and developing a device for early detection of ovarian cancer. Her company, nVision Medical, was purchased by Boston Scientific for $275 million last April.
This year’s afternoon keynote was given by David Haussler, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical institute and distinguished professor of biomolecular engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Haussler took the afternoon audience on an “Odyssey in to the Human Genome,” examining the field of genomics and how the human genome has evolved.
Last month, Harker journalism won three Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, a first for the program “and an extremely rare occurrence for any high school,” said journalism teacher Ellen Austin.
The Talon yearbook’s Gold Crown – its first Crown win in Harker history – was one of just 18 Gold Crowns awarded to high school yearbook programs nationwide. The Winged Post, the upper school newspaper, was one of 11 high school newspapers to haul in a Gold Crown, while the online news site Harker Aquila received a Silver Crown. All publications were awarded for work they did during the 2017-18 school year. Nearly 1,200 student publications were evaluated for this year’s Crown Awards.
Senior Logan Bhamidipaty was recently awarded a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), which funds a full academic year abroad for students studying languages judged as important by the State Department. Following graduation, Bhamidipaty plans to take a gap year to study Mandarin in Beijing before matriculating to Stanford.
Bhamidipaty also was recognized last month with a Congressional Award for his volunteer work with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, and as an immigration intern with Catholic Charities USA. He also was honored for his devotion to becoming fluent in Mandarin, and for studying the history and culture of Japan’s Kansai region during the country’s Edo period. Bhamidipaty is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., in June for a special ceremony attended by awardees and members of the U.S. Congress.
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.
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.
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:
On March 13, senior Raymond Banke and junior Kathy Fang were named national gold medalists in the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Banke won for his piece in the Future New category, titled “American Dreamers,” and Fang for her critical essay “A New Woman: A Rediscovery of Women’s Roles in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.” They are the first Harker students to receive the honor since Xinyi “Cherry” Xie ‘12 in 2012.
As national medalists, both students are now eligible to attend the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national events in New York City in June. The national events include a ceremony at Carnegie Hall and an exhibition featuring the works of top honorees. Earlier this year, Banke received a total of 16 regional awards, including Gold Keys in printmaking, design and art portfolio, as well as Silver Keys in architectural and industrial design, sculpture, printmaking and photography. His nine honorable mentions were awarded for two works each in drawing and illustration and mixed media, as well as submissions in the art portfolio, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and architecture and industrial design categories. In addition to her Mold Medal, Fang also received a regional Gold Key for her essay and two honorable mentions for photography.
Three other students also received national recognition in the form of silver medals. Junior Eric Fang won in photography for his piece, titled “Into the Unknown”; Anna Gert, also a junior, won for her critical essay “Illnesses in Frankenstein: An Explication of Victor’s Recurring Sickness”; and senior Alexander Young’s “A Iaccian Sestina” won in the poetry category.
A total of 64 upper school students were recognized in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this year, receiving regional Gold Keys, Silver Keys and honorable mentions.
Upper school students recognized in visual arts are:
Katelyn Chen, grade 11: Three honorable mentions (one for mixed media, two for drawing and illustration)
Elizaveta Egorova, grade 12: Three Gold Keys (one for digital media, two for design), three Silver Keys (digital art) and two honorable mentions (comic art and digital art)
Eric Fang, grade 11: Gold Key (photography)
Kathy Fang, grade 11: Two honorable mentions (photography)
Anna Gert, grade 11: Gold Key (painting)
Lilia Gonzales, grade 12: Gold Key (digital art)
Rose Guan, grade 12: Two honorable mentions (photography)
Ellen Guo, grade 11: Two honorable mentions (painting, and drawing and illustration)
Susan He, grade 12: Two Gold Keys (digital art), honorable mention (drawing and illustration)
Alexander Young, grade 12: Two Gold Keys (poetry, flash fiction), six honorable mentions (two for poetry, two for personal essay/memoir, humor, writing portfolio)
Katherine Zhang, grade 12: Three honorable mentions (journalism, two for poetry)
A previous version of this story mistakenly omitted Kathy Fang’s Gold Medal win as well as this year’s Silver Medal winners. Harker News apologizes for the error.
The upper school received a visit today from the Langston Hughes Project, a fusion of music, literature and history led by Ron McCurdy, a professor of music at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
McCurdy first gave a morning lecture on Langston Hughes and the many artists of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Later, the accomplished trumpeter was joined by drummer Mike Mitchell, bassist Giulio Cetto and pianist (and 2001 Harker middle school graduate) Yuma Sung at a special assembly at the Athletic Center, where McCurdy gave a powerful performance of Hughes’ poetic suite “Ask Your Mama,” reciting and singing Hughes’ lines as images and film reels of figures and events of African-American history were displayed behind the group.
Members of the upper school’s Jazz Band later attended a special master class given by McCurdy, where they performed Cannonball Adderley’s “Work Song” and received his feedback. McCurdy advised students to use their sheet music as a roadmap and avoid scanning it too much as they played. He also told them to learn the history behind the pieces they learn: “If you understand the history of why you’re doing what you’re doing, it’ll make a whole lot more sense to you.”
McCurdy also worked with the Downbeat show choir, which had been learning Nina Simone’s version of the 1960s show tune “Feeling Good.” After hearing their rendition, McCurdy coached the singers supporting the soloists to do more than simply sing the notes in their part. “Sing like you mean it,” he said, referring to the optimism in Simone’s performance. “I’ve got to hear that joy, that optimism.”