An estimated 650 people arrived at the middle school campus on March 23 for the 2018 Cancer Walk. The annual event raises awareness of cancer and money for Camp Okizu, which organizes outings for children living with cancer. The event was started in 2007 by former Harker computer science teacher Michael Schmidt, whose mother died of cancer in 2006. Money was raised by selling baked goods, hot chocolate, T-shirts and other items at stations set up at various points around the walking area, which was adorned with flags that had written tributes to loved ones who died from cancer as well as survivors and those currently fighting it. In the days leading up to the event, several classroom doors were decorated to promote the event and encourage participants. Donations for the fundraiser totaled more than $6,300. To date, the Cancer Walk has raised more than $100,000 since its first year in 2007.
On Monday, Dave Hart’s middle school music students were visited by Brad Hogarth, band and orchestra director at San Francisco State University. A friend of Hart’s since their time at the Eastman School of Music, Hogarth worked with the students on a section of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite,” advising them on technique and how to sound more enthusiastic while performing. One of his methods was to ask the students for words that came to mind while playing various sections of the piece, which helped them bond with the music and deliver more sincere, heartfelt performances.
“The main thing that I was trying to get them to do today was give them permission to use all the energy that they naturally have at this age and put it into their instruments,” Hogarth said.
This article was written by Radhika Jain, Harker DECA director of communications.
From March 2-5, 84 students and six chaperones from The Harker School DECA chapter traveled to the Anaheim Marriott to compete in the 2018 California State Career Development Conference (SCDC).
At the conference, students competed in events, attended workshops and networked with students from throughout the state. Harker performed respectably, with 27 overall finalists. Thirteen of those finalists also qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), to be held in Atlanta in April.
“With the State Career Development Conference being my last conference as a member of Harker DECA, it was definitely memorable for me,” said Ashna Chandra, grade 12, Harker DECA co-CEO. “I’m excited to see the outcomes of chapter members in future years, and I know they’ll be successful in whatever they pursue.”
Members placing in the top eight are as follows:
First Place
Andrew Sun, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Nishka Ayyar and Riya Gupta, both grade 11, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Aditi Ghalsasi, grade 10, Advertising Campaign
Erin Liu, grade 11, Business Growth Plan
Second Place
Emma Andrews, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Rishi Dange, grade 10, Accounting Applications Series
Evan Cheng, grade 10, Business Services Marketing Series
Naveen Mirapuri, grade 10, Food Marketing Series
Alyssa Huang, grade 10, and Enya Lu, grade 11, Financial Services Team Decision Making
Third Place
Vignesh Panchanatham and Ashna Chandra, both grade 12, Learn and Earn Project
Fourth Place
Aditya Singhvi, grade 9, Principles of Finance
David Feng, grade 10, Marketing Communications Series
Bryan Wang, grade 10, Retail Merchandising Series
Fifth Place
Aditi Ghalsasi, grade 10, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Arnav Joshi and Nikhil Sharma, both grade 10, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Sayon Biswas and Suraj Pakala, both grade 11, Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
Zara Vakath and Ronit Gagneja, both grade 10, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
Shania Wang and Enya Lu, both grade 11, Public Relations Project
Arushi Saxena, grade 9, Innovation Plan
Sixth Place
Claire Luo, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Anay Karwal, grade 10, Automotive Services Marketing Series
Ashna Chandra, grade 12, Quick Serve Restaurant Management Series
Michelle Si, grade 9, Financial Consulting
Seventh Place
Jeffrey Liu, Rakesh Nori, both grade 10, Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
N Wang and Andrew Sun, both grade 9, Innovation Plan
Eighth Place
Arun Sundaresan, grade 10, Business Services Marketing Series
Ramesh Nori and Jeffrey Liu, both grade 10, and Alisa Su, grade 12, Independent Business Plan
On Friday, students had a chance to relax and study before examinations later that day. From 4-8 p.m., students took their respective tests and gathered soon after for the grand opening session in the Marquis Ballroom.
Saturday was the first day of competitions, and students performed their role-play events throughout the day. Competitions finished around 4 p.m., and students had the options of going to Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm, or staying at the hotel.
On Saturday, students were required to attend one workshop hosted by keynote speakers, as well as take one Protégé exam. These exams are a great way for students to be recognized on stage. Students from Harker DECA who were recognized on stage for their Protégé exams were Aditya Singhvi, Anvitha Tummala, Helen Zhu, Stephanie Shen and Elizabeth Szeto, all grade 9; and Rishi Dange, David Feng, Shomrik Mondal, Allison Jia, Jessie Wang, Bryan Wang, Arun Sundaresan and Martin Bourdev, all grade 10.
“I took the insurance exam, and I found it pretty interesting,” said Zhu. “I’ve never really taken a test of that sort on that topic, so it was a different experience for me.”
Along with those events, there was also a room for Downtown DECA in the Anaheim Marriott, where state candidates campaigned, businesses hosted booths and students took their Protégé exams. In light of the recent tragedy in Parkland, Fla., Harker DECA set up a banner in Downtown DECA for students to write notes of encouragement towards the Marjory Stoneman Douglas DECA chapter.
“In order to commemorate those who have been affected by the recent shooting in Florida, we organized a campaign to raise awareness,” said Jia. “I’m really happy with the outcome of it, and I hope this banner can brighten up the students’ days a little.”
Sunday was written events day, and students presented their written projects to a judge. Similar to Saturday, they were required to attend another workshop as well. After students finished their written presentations, they had down time throughout the afternoon to do homework, attend workshops and hang out with their friends.
To prepare for these events, the Harker DECA officer team had organized various study sessions after school to give students the opportunity to perfect their competitive skills and build confidence. Held one to three times a week, the officer team as well as chapter advisors and mentors were available to help students with their written events and role-plays.
In the evening, Harker DECA gathered in the Marquis Ballroom once again for the grand awards session as well as the closing ceremony. New, this year, mini awards and grand awards were presented together. In total, Harker DECA performed admirably, with a number of teams called up to the stage and qualifying for ICDC.
“Being on stage was amazing and stressful at the same time,” said Anay Karwal, grade 10. “I felt nervous when I was walking up, but the support from my chapter definitely calmed me down. It was one of the best and most surreal moments of my life.”
After awards concluded, the closing ceremony began. The California DECA state officer team for the 2017-18 year said their goodbyes. The new state officer team for the 2018-19 year, including Harker DECA’s very own Enya Lu, took an oath of commitment to always support and serve California DECA.
As the closing ceremony finished, members of California DECA had time to hang out with friends and attend a social dance before curfew. With the conference coming to a close, California DECA cherished these last moments together.
Overall, Harker DECA had a very successful and enjoyable conference, as students were able to hone their competitive skills in their events, learn new things from motivational speakers, and network with other students from around California. Harker DECA looks forward to the next SCDC in San Diego in March 2019.
In preparation for the International Career Development Conference in April, qualifiers have the time to prepare to face the best of the world! Stay tuned for more updates on ICDC.
“At this year’s SCDC, students were given a variety of opportunities to broaden their horizons in business and entrepreneurship and try something new,” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA chapter advisor. “I am extremely proud of all members of Harker DECA, and I really hope students can utilize the skills they learned in future events and conferences.”
About The Harker School DECA Harker DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders.
Contact information: To learn more about this story, please contact Radhika Jain, director of communications 20RadhikaJ@students.harker.org.
Harker celebrated its major donors at the Head of School’s Circle Celebration on March 17. The group, over 400 strong, met in the early evening for hors d’oeuvres and champagne in the Zhang Gymnasium in the athletic center, which opened this past August.
Guests then migrated to the Rothschild Performing Arts Center, which opened Feb. 2, where they enjoyed performances in the Patil Theater by Harker musicians, along with several dance groups and choirs, and received a quartet of heartfelt thank you speeches from senior athletes and performers. The evening ended in the Zhang Gymnasium with dinner, socializing and music by a jazz ensemble of Harker teachers and students.
This past winter was amazing, with many league and tournament championships – and a whole lot of fun! We started off in early winter with boys basketball and girls soccer and finished in late winter with girls basketball and boys soccer.
Please see the accomplishments of all of our lower and middle school winter sports teams below:
EARLY WINTER
VA (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball – The Varsity A team, coached by Ed LeGrand Sawyer, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a record of 1-5 and went 4-5 overall. Team awards went to Matthew Chen, grade 7 (MVP), Alex Zhang, grade 8 (Eagle) and Ayan Nath, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball – The Varsity B team, coached by Richard Amarillas, finished in first place (Tri-League Champs) in the WBAL with a 6-1 record and went 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Sasvath Ramachandran, grade 8 (MVP), Zeke Weng, grade 7 (Eagle) and Kaden Kapadia, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB2 (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball – The Varsity B2 team, coached by Jon Cvitanich, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a 2-5 record. Team awards went to Akhilesh Chegu, grade 8 (MVP), Michael Pflaging, grade 7 (Eagle) and Saurav Tewari, grade 8 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Mike Delfino, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a 2-4 record and an overall record of 3-5. Team awards went to Om Tandon (MVP), Zachary Blue (Eagle) and Toju Maku (Coaches).
JVB6 (Grade 6) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity B6 team, coached by Matt Arensberg, finished in first place in the WBAL with a 6-1 record. Team awards went to Jack Shen and Kyle Leung (MVP), Jordan Labio (Eagle) and Ariav Misra (Coaches).
MS Intramural Boys Basketball – Team awards went to Zain Vakath, grade 7 (MVP), Ramit Goyal, grade 6 (Eagle) and Christopher Tonev, grade 7 (Coaches). The team was coached by Raul Rios and Adam Albers.
JVB1 (Grade 5) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity B1 team, coached by Kristian Tiopo, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and took first place in the WBAL tournament finishing with a 10-0 record overall. Team awards went to Gary Jin (MVP), Drew Diffenderfer (Eagle) and Advay Monga (Coaches).
JVB2 (Grade 5) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity B2 team, coached by Tim Hopkins, finished in eighth place in the WBAL with a 2-4-1 record. Team awards went to Rahul Yalla (MVP), Edward Hunter (Eagle) and Max Zhai (Coaches).
JVC (Grade 4) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity C team, coached by Karriem Stinson, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record. Team awards went to Brennan Williams (MVP), and Topaz Lee and Rishaan Thoppay (Eagle).
LS Intramural Boys Basketball – Team awards went to Vedant Yadav, grade 5, and Jackson Powell, grade 4 (MVP), Keshav Kotamraju, grade 5, and Sriram Batchu, grade 4 (Eagle), and Anderson Chung, grade 5, and Veeraz Thakkar, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Tobias Wade.
VA (Grades 7-8) Girls Soccer – The Varsity A team, coached by Brighid Wood, Sara Pawloski and Hannah Grannis, grade 9, finished in eighth place in the WBAL with a record of 1-4-2. Team awards went to Kalyn Su, grade 8 (MVP), Alexandra Wong, grade 7 (Eagle) and Ashley Barth, grade 8 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Girls Soccer – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Brittney Moseley and Vanessa Rios, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a record of 0-5-1. Team awards went to Kate Grannis (MVP), Anya Chauhan (Eagle), and Margaret Cartee and Claire Luo (Coaches).
JVB (Grades 4-5) Girls Soccer – The Junior Varsity B team, coached by Justin Sullivan, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 3-1-2. Team awards went to Claire Anderson (MVP), MacEnzie Blue, grade 4 (Eagle) and Kylie Anderson (Coaches).
LATE WINTER
VA (Grades 7-8) Girls Basketball – The Varsity A team, coached by Richard Amarillas, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and an overall record of 7-1. Team awards went to Maya Hernandez, grade 7, and Haley Hernandez, grade 7 (co-MVPs), Gigi Chan, grade 8 (Eagle), and Ashley Barth, grade 8, and Priya Rohra, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB (Grades 7-8) Girls Basketball – The Varsity B team, coached by Tim Hopkins and Brittney Moseley, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and took first place in the WBAL tournament finishing 9-0 overall. Team awards went to Athena Wu, grade 7 (MVP), Angela Jia, grade 8 (Eagle) and Avery Olson, grade 7 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Jon Cvitanich and Vanessa Rios, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 5-3 record and went 5-5 overall. Team awards went to Anjali Yella (MVP), Kate Grannis (Eagle) and Margaret Cartee (Coaches).
MS Intramural girls basketball – Team awards went to Alice Tao, grade 6 (MVP), Serena Janny, grade 6 (Eagle) and Brindha Chandran, grade 6 (Coaches). The team was coached by Raul Rios and Adam Albers.
JVB (Grade 5) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity B1 team, coached by Karriem Stinson, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and took 1st place in the WBAL tournament finishing 10-0 overall. Team awards went to Isabella Lo (MVP), Claire Anderson (Eagle) and Kylie Anderson (Coaches).
JVC (Grade 4) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity C team, coached by Kristian Tiopo and Belle Carley, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 6-0 record. Team awards went to Minal Jalil (MVP), Elie Ahluwalia (Eagle) and Tanvi Sivakumar (Coaches).
LS Intramural Girls Basketball – Team awards went to Menaka Aron, grade 5, and Arushi Sahasi, grade 4 (Co-MVP) and Hannah Streeper, grade 5 (Coaches). The team was coached by Tobias Wade.
VA (Grade 8) Boys Soccer – The Varsity A team, coached by Brighid Wood, Adyant Kanakamedala and Deven Parikh, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 3-1-1, and an overall record of 6-1-1. Team awards went to Ishaan Mantripragada (MVP), Raj Patel (Eagle) and Sasvath Ramachandran (Coaches).
VB (Grade 7) Boys Soccer – The Varsity B team, coached by Brighid Wood, Adyant Kanakamedala, grade 12, and Deven Parikh, grade 9, finished in second place in the WBAL with a league record of 4-2-1. Team awards went to Ben Tian and Michael Pflaging (co-MVPs), Pranav Mullappalli (Eagle) and Rupert Chen (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Boys Soccer – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Colleen Campbell, finished in third place in the WBAL with a record of 2-4 and an overall record of 2-5. Team awards went to Alexander Guo (MVP), Ryan Barth (Eagle) and Ramit Goyal (Coaches).
JVB (Grade 5) Boys Soccer – The Junior Varsity B team, coached by Matt Arensberg, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 3-2-1. Team awards went to Alec Zhang (MVP), Advay Monga (Eagle), and Veer Sahasi and Vyom Vidyarthi (Coaches).
LS Intramural Boys Soccer – Team awards went to Ryder Hewitt, grade 4 (MVP), Cyrus Ghane, grade 4 (Eagle) and Kaan Kurtoglu, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Walid Fahmy.
Today, schools across the country organized walkouts to remember the 14 students and three staff members killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
At the upper school, students, faculty and staff wore black in remembrance of the victims. A morning vigil was held at the athletic center’s Zhang Gymnasium to honor each of the 17 victims. One by one, students and faculty stood before the assembly to read prepared statements about each of the students and staff who lost their lives in the incident, fondly recalling the qualities that made them such treasured people in their communities. Once all the statements were read, candles were lit to commemorate the enduring memories of those killed, as The Harker String Quartet performed a solemn, heartfelt tribute. As students exited the athletic center, they used special stations set up to contact their local representatives to urge them to address gun violence.
Middle school faculty organized several activities for students to remember the Parkland victims and show their support for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas community, such as creating cards and a large poster with supportive messages that will later be sent to the school. In the library, students watched interviews with MSD students and wrote down their reactions. The middle school community also began the creation of an “empathy chain” to show their support for the families and communities affected by the tragedy.
This past weekend, Harker’s Bel Canto and Cantilena choral ensembles garnered unanimous superior ratings at the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Choral Festival, held at Saratoga High School.
Judges commended Bel Canto, Harker’s non-auditioned mixed voice choir, for its very mature and full sound, clean intonation, balance between sections and challenging repertoire. One of the judges was amazed to discover that the ensemble comprises mostly high school freshmen and sophomores.
Judges praised Cantilena, Harker’s treble ensemble, for its outstanding cohesiveness; superlative tone quality, balance, precision and technical facility; highly developed listening and adjusting skills; mature, expressive, dynamic and consistent shaping of musical phrases; and ability to explore a broad stylistic spectrum. “This is a great example of what a women’s choir can sound like,” commented judge Gail Bowers. “Hopefully, you will have the opportunity in college to sing in a group as good as this one.”
Comments from adult audience members, who approached the groups after their performances, included “spectacular performance” and “I’m very impressed by Harker’s choral program.”
The unanimous superior designation, given by four judges, means the choirs not only gave outstanding performances but also demonstrated outstanding music sight reading skills. This designation, if followed by two more in succeeding years, can result in a coveted showcase performance at regional and national choral conventions.
Bel Canto, under the direction of Jennifer Sandusky, sang Hans Leo’s “Hassler’s Cantate Domino” (1601), Emma Lou Diemer’s “Take, O Take Those Lips Away” from “Three Madrigals “(1962) and Stephen Leek’s “Morning Tide” from “Island Songs” (1994).
Cantilena, under the direction of Susan Nace, sang, Caterina Assandra’s “Duo Seraphim” (1609), Clara Schumann’s “Liebst du um Schönheit” (1841), and Abbie Betinis’ “Jerusalem Luminosa” (2006).
Members of Harker’s middle school speech and debate team competed at four tournaments in February in California and Nevada. As always, our students primarily compete against high school students.
At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from Feb. 3-5, 90 schools across 17 states representing 313 entries competed in debate events. Five Harker middle school students competed. In novice Lincoln-Douglas speaker awards, Arjun Krishna, grade 6, came in ninth.
At Stanford University from Feb. 10-12, 270 schools across 27 states representing 2,262 entries competed in speech and debate events. Twenty-five Harker students competed. In junior varsity impromptu speaking, Arely Sun and Madeleine Hansen, both grade 8, were quarterfinalists and finished 20th and 26th, respectively. In JV public forum, Vienna Parnell and Alivia Li, both grade 8, were triple-octofinalists, finishing 33rd; in varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Anshul Reddy and Akhilesh Chegu, both grade 8, were triple-octofinalists, also finishing 33rd.
In Harker’s fourth intramural contest of the year, in early February, about 50 Harker students competed in four distinct events. In speech (memorized interpretive events) Hansen was first and Zubin Khera, grade 7, was second. In public forum, Carol Wininger and Deeya Viradia, both grade 7, took first. Public forum speaker awardees were Krishna Mysoor, grade 6, first place; Ansh Sheth, grade 6, second; Karan Kathuria, grade 6, third; Muzzi Khan, grade 7, fourth; and Stephen Xia, grade 7, fifth. In Lincoln-Douglas, Rahul Mulpuri, grade 7, earned first place.
Sixth graders had their own events. In the intro category, Om Tandon came in first, Angelina Zhu placed second, Bryan Xiao was third and Ramit Goyal was fourth. In intro speaker awards, Goyal was first, Tandon was second and Zhu was third.
At the University of California, Berkeley, from Feb. 17-19, 180 schools across 17 states representing 2,193 entries competed in speech and debate events. This is the most competitive tournament Harker attends during the year, based on entry numbers and skill level. About 90 Harker middle school students competed. In varsity expository speaking Michelle Jin, grade 7, was a quarterfinalist, finishing 24th. In varsity impromptu speaking, Jin was a quarterfinalist, finishing 21st. In JV Lincoln-Douglas speaker awards, Alex Lan, grade 7, came in 17th.
In JV public forum, Carol Wininger and Deeya Viradia earned 36th; Vienna Parnell and Ysabel Chen, both grade 8, were 41st; and Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang, both grade 6, were 45th. All three teams had 4-2 records. In JV public forum speaker awards, Dhruv Saoji, grade 8, was seventh and Aaditya Gulati, grade 8, was 21st. In varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Anshul Reddy, grade 8, was a triple-octofinalist, finishing 33rd.
Ten Harker students have moved on to the invitational round of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad! Seniors Swapnil Garg, Joanna Lin, Rajiv Movva and Derek Yen; juniors Rose Guan, Katherine Tian, Michael Wang and Katherine Zhang; Rishi Dange, grade 10; and Luisa Pan, grade 9, will take part in the next stage of the contest next week for a chance at eligibility to compete in the International Linguistics Olympiad in Prague this summer.
About 1,700 students compete in NACLO every year, solving linguistic puzzles developed by professionals in various linguistic fields. Problems tackled during the contest include translating languages into English, solving arithmetic problems written in other languages, and deciphering writing systems and using them to compose a text. Congratulations and best of luck to these 10 next week!
Last month, senior Swapnil Garg was invited to participate in the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition, held Feb. 21-26 in Bucharest. He followed up this already-impressive feat by being one of just 10 competitors worldwide to win a gold medal. Garg’s performance in the competition also helped the United States team take first place overall. Receiving an invitation to RMM is a major achievement for math students, who must first perform well enough in the team selection test (TST) or team selection exam (TSE), which is taken by students who place among the top competitors in the USA Mathematical Olympiad.