Today, eighth grader Anika Pallapothu was named one of the top 30 finalists in the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS program. Her project, titled “Predict Using AI: Diagnosing of Diabetic Eye Diseases Using Convolutional Neural Networks for Computer Vision,” details how artificial intelligence can be used to detect diabetic retinopathy, the disease that is the leading cause of blindness. As a finalist, Pallapothu is eligible to participate in the Virtual Broadcom MASTERS event, which takes place Oct. 16-21.
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Sept. 3, 2020:
Yesterday, the Society for Science & the Public announced that 15 Harker students – a school record – are among the top 300 contestants in the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS program, one of the top middle school science competitions in the country. The Top 300 MASTERS entered the competition during the 2019-20 school year by being nominated at a science fair affiliated with the Society for Science & the Public.
Ninth graders Gautam Bhooma, Zachary Blue, Ramit Goyal, Jordan Labio, Ella Lan, Heidi Lu, Anika Maji, Anika Mantripragada and Ananya Sriram; eighth grader Anika Pallapothu; seventh graders Hubert Lau, Serena Lau, Brenna Ren, Kallie Wang and Carissa Wu each received a prize package that includes $125 from DoD STEM and a subscription to Science News magazine. The 30 finalists in this year’s competition will be announced Sept. 16. The final stage of the competition is being held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, sixth grader Neel Kumar launched a series of free educational videos called “Effortless Java,” which are designed to help younger students learn how to code. He was partially inspired to create the series after completing an online course only to find out he was too young to receive certification. In addition, the platform he had planned to use to host his course disqualified him as a teacher on the basis of his age. Kumar hopes his videos will reach children around the world and give them a means to escape poverty. To support this effort further, he launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Children International, a long-running humanitarian organization that works to help impoverished children.
Along with thousands of families throughout California, some of Harker’s faculty and staff also have been impacted by the devastating fires in the state. Many have been evacuated and are still working through the process of returning to their homes. Others have lost their homes. Please continue to look for community updates on fundraising efforts that support our Harker families. Two current efforts, organized by family and friends of impacted staff, are raising funds to help upper school English teacher Beverley Manning and lower school academic counselor Patty Marsette. Questions or other information on fundraising efforts can be sent to communications@harker.org.
The latest middle school campus construction update is now live! Join facility manager Mike Bassoni as he updates the community on the pumping and finishing of the concrete that will form the floor of the new classroom building.
In July, junior Vayun Tiwari was declared the youth winner in the 2020 Audubon Photography Awards. The photo, a striking image of a northern jacana at the New River in Belize, was taken in 2018 during a boat ride. Tiwari spotted a group of the birds and asked the boat captain to stop. “I couldn’t believe my luck when one walked closer and closer to us,” he told the National Audubon Society. Tiwari snapped the photo when one of the birds paused to look at a nearby water lily. The National Audubon Society also posted a short video in which Tiwari details how he discovered and developed his passion for bird photography. This year’s award winners were narrowed to 10 from more than 6,000 submissions.
Over the summer, upper school English teacher Chris Hurshman led a book club with several Harker alumni, meeting each week to discuss Fyodor Dostoevsky’s final novel, “The Brothers Karamazov.”
“I was dreading losing connection with people and longing for a bit of intellectual community over the summer,” said Hurshman. “So I posted an open call to Harker alums on Facebook and invited them to join me in reading and discussing a long novel of their choice.” With similar summer reading activities already established with current students, Hurshman decided to “carry on that habit with our alums.”
“Karamazov” was selected via an online poll, edging out George Eliot’s “Middlemarch.” “When Mr. Hurshman reached out, I thought it was a great opportunity to get to know some new people and take my first step into Russian literature,” said Sana Pandey ‘20. “‘The Brothers Karamazov’ has been called one of the best books of all time, and I wanted to read it and hear about other people’s perspectives on it.”
“I was interested in participating because the book club seemed like a good way both to spend some time with my former classmates and also explore subjects not included within my college studies,” said Derek Yen ‘18, who is currently attending MIT. “Between the interests of the student body and the structure of my coursework, I haven’t had as many opportunities to enjoy literature and participate in literary discussion in college.”
The club met each week via Zoom, and participants found both the reading and the discussions fruitful. “This might have been a byproduct of how ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ is written, but I really enjoyed the intellectual debates that some of the plot points or themes sparked,” said Pandey. “Oftentimes, even though book club was meant to last an hour, we would continue deliberating on the moral or social groundings of a character’s decisions and standpoints for at least an hour after we were supposed to end.”
Hurshman said he hopes that these organized discussions will continue, and possible topics for the next summer are already being discussed, “with some asking to read ‘Middlemarch’ and others to organize a discussion group centered on film or on poetry reading,” he said. “I’m hopeful that, regardless of its final form, this can become a growing tradition and that we’ll be able resume these conversations in person someday.”
From Aug. 15-16, 70 students attended Harker DECA’s seventh annual Launch event, which is designed to introduce prospective members to DECA and the Harker School’s business, economics and entrepreneurship department. Through detailed lectures, interactive activities, mock competitions, guest speakers and alumni panels, students were given an idea of what this year will look like. Due to the current circumstances, Launch was held over Zoom this year. Because this was the first virtual Launch, the officer team tried to simulate the in-person experience online.
“The Innovation Challenge allows our DECA Launch attendees to design a mini business plan for a product or service that they see a need for in the market. Along with creating an executive summary, groups present their ideas before a panel of alumni judges at the end of DECA Launch,” said Harker DECA co-chief executive officer Lisa Barooah, grade 12. “Since this year DECA Launch was held virtually, we redesigned the activities to be more engaging and more considerate of screen time. We added three icebreaker activities for group bonding and inserted 10-minute breaks into the schedule. Finally, after noticing room for improvement in the groups’ presentations at last year’s launch, our director of technology held a graphic design workshop on day two. Students presented impressive pitches in the Closing Ceremony due to these changes, which I thoroughly enjoyed.”
Early Saturday morning, students joined the Zoom call and viewed a slideshow of images from past conferences while the operations team took attendance. Then, sophomore Rohan Gorti as well as CEO of the 2019-20 school year, Phil Han ‘20, spoke about their past experiences with Harker DECA.
The officers held an icebreaker game for the attendees to get to know their innovation challenge teammates and the officers. Junior Melody Luo, director of writtens, introduced the students to the weekend’s main activity, the Innovation Challenge, before students went into breakout rooms with their teams and assigned officers. With the guidance of an upperclassman mentor, attendees brainstormed product ideas on virtual whiteboards and started working on their executive summaries.
“Despite the unprecedented online format, this year’s Launch was just as memorable, if not more so, as past events, with students embracing each part of the experience with brimming enthusiasm,” Luo said. “As they learned the ins and outs of roleplays with their mentors and collaborated together on their very first executive summary, there was an emerging sense of community that DECA is so known for. Launch is always special to the DECA officer team because it’s our first opportunity to bond with the new members and share with them the thrilling aspects of the competitive season.”
Next, the attendees bonded with their Innovation Challenge teams through an at-home Scavenger Hunt, in which they were asked to complete a DECA Bingo and pitch a random item for 30 seconds, along with other various activities. Through this exercise, students formed a stronger bond with their mentors and teammates. Attendees were then introduced to the several sectors of DECA events through the Cluster Presentations.
The last day of Launch, Juston Glass, business and entrepreneurship teacher and DECA chapter advisor, presented on all of Harker’s business and entrepreneurship programs. Next, sophomore Anika Muddu, director of roleplays, hosted a presentation introducing the attendees to roleplays before senior Bryan Zhang, VP of competitions, hosted a Kahoot! game covering the Business Administration Core exam topics. Afterward, Catherine He, grade 11, director of technology, hosted a graphic design workshop, which further prepared attendees for their Innovation Challenge presentations. Attendees then went back to their breakout session to work on the Innovation Challenge.
The Roleplay Tournament was a key part of Launch and took place on Sunday afternoon. Mentors were assigned to small groups and explained the process and guidelines of a roleplay. Subsequently, students were paired up with judges to present their roleplays.
“Launch was a fun and exciting way to learn more about DECA. I enjoyed with my team on the innovation challenge and competing in the roleplay and I look forward to participating in these events during the school year,” said Olivia Xu, grade 9.
Attendees were given extra time after the Roleplay Tournament for practicing their Innovation Challenge presentations before the parents joined the session for the Alumni Panel and the Closing Ceremony. The students and parents were given the opportunity to ask five alumni – Vignesh Panchanatham ’18, Enya Lu ’19, Lucas Wang ’17, Shania Wang ’19 and Savi Joshi ’15 – questions about how DECA has impacted their high school and college paths, as well as career choices. Afterward, teams pitched their Innovation Challenge ideas to the judges, who graded them on, presentation, innovation and teamwork. Attendees and parents watched a Launch recap video while the judges worked on scoring the teams. Closing speeches from Glass and the CEOs and the award ceremony concluded the weekend.
“Despite it being online, I really enjoyed the DECA launch this year and I can’t wait to attend conferences!” said attendee Sonya Apsey, grade 9.
Harker DECA is excited to welcome all new and returning members and is looking forward to starting the next school year with an exceptional group of future leaders.
“While the event was unprecedented in its delivery format, both the participants and our DECA officer team were very open, receptive and excited to dive right into the program. Students were able to meet new friends, prepare for the upcoming DECA year and finished the weekend with amazing business ideas and pitches. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds for our Harker DECA chapter. Go Eagles!” said Glass.
Students that won awards are as follows (all winners are in grade 9):
On Saturday, Harker students were invited to explore a virtual replica of the upper school campus, created in Minecraft by a team of about 40 students. The detailed recreation features nearly every room on campus, including teachers’ classrooms and staff offices.
“We’ve filled in many rooms and will make it as accurate as possible,” said senior Jason Lin, a lead on the project. “In some places, the detail is truly impressive. For instance, the inside library room, from which students are often ejected for being too loud, permanently has a red card next to its door, which signifies that it’s getting too loud.”
Those who did not have a Minecraft account were invited to view a special livestream for a tour of the campus. Minecraft players and viewers on the livestream combined for a total of nearly 200 visitors.
The project – led by Lin and seniors Richard Chang, Arusha Patil and Ethan Steeg, as well as junior Kailash Ranganathan and sophomores Rupert Chen, Kris Estrada, Michelle Jin and Anthony Tong – was staged on a Minecraft server set up toward the end of the 2019-20 school year with the help of upper school learning, innovation and design (LID) director Diane Main. “We worked with Mrs. Main to make sure that this server would be a positive, contained environment,” Lin said. “It went pretty well – dozens of people met with classmates, built houses together and just had fun on these servers amidst shelter-in-place.”
The upper school campus project was started over the summer, with map data, aerial footage and an online graphing calculator being used to recreate the campus. Lin hopes the Minecraft campus can continue to be a place for students to convene. “[Upper school dean of students Kevin Williamson] and the class deans have been very open and helpful in this process,” said Lin. “We will work with them to make sure that the server can be a positive, contained space for students to have fun together throughout the year.”
Lin said visiting the virtual campus with his friends has helped foster a sense of community in a time when students are spending so much time apart. “Nothing beats the feeling of racing down the hallways of [the campus’ main building] again with six friends,” he said. “Even though it’s Minecraft, the sense of togetherness is real.”
This morning, upper school students attended a virtual version of the 2020 matriculation ceremony, which featured welcoming speeches by Head of School Brian Yager and upper school Division Head Butch Keller. Yager encouraged the Class of 2021 to lead “in a manner that honors and builds upon the efforts of the 127 years of graduates preceding you.” To the incoming freshmen, he advised, “enjoy and embrace the process, and look to the students in the grades above you for the guidance and inspiration, as well as for examples of what will be expected of you in the years to come.”
Keller remarked at the lack of students in front of him, as well as the unusual silence that greeted his mention of each class. “Typically this is the first attempt for the seniors to demonstrate their superiority,” he joked. He nevertheless offered advice on showing gratitude and exhibiting determination. He also reiterated one of his favorite maxims: “It’s not the situation that’s important. It’s your reaction to the situation.”
Students were treated to a performance of Andy Grammer’s “Keep Your Head Up” by senior Alexander Kumar, and heard from ASB president Jason Lin, grade 12, and ASB vice president Arusha Patil, who led the recitation of the upper school’s matriculation oath. Lin related a story of playing soccer in his backyard during the summer and shattering one of the outdoor lamps, which was followed by dread over having to inform his parents. This event reminded him of the importance of communication, which became the theme of his speech. “Communication is key, now more than ever,” he said, following with examples of how the community can stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ceremony ended with a hilarious and informative video package that included a musical tour of the upper school campus and introductions to various elements of school life, such as the dress code, waste disposal, spirit and the honor code. A video of the entire event is available on Vimeo.
Three student films were recently selected for the All American High School Film Festival, one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals of its kind. Rising seniors Jason Lin and Ajay Madala created the short film “Duality” for Nicholas Manjoine’s English class, in which students developed creative projects based on the works studied in class. “Ajay and I had made our own films before, so we decided to partner up to make a short film,” said Lin. “We chose Emerson and Thoreau texts, because we felt that they exposed meaningful relationships between individuals and society.”
“Duality” was structured to reflect the two creators’ perspectives, “mine representing nature and Jason’s representing society,” Madala said. “We used quotes about nature and society from Emerson and Thoreau to contrast the difference between the two. The way I represented nature and the way Jason represented society were decidedly opposites of each other.”
Lin and Madala worked on the film separately, each creating their own half without managing the other’s portion. “I know Jason as a great filmmaker and knew he would do a good job,” said Madala. “He also had trusted me as a filmmaker and believed I would make something up to the task.” Once each half of the film was ready, a transition from one section of the film to the next was added to make the film function as a whole.
Madala’s own film, titled “Stay Inside,” also was chosen for the film festival. A surrealist work that deals with feelings of isolation, boredom and confusion during the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was inspired by Madala’s readings “about a person who wakes up in a room and has no idea how they got there, why they’re there or even who they are,” he said. “I immediately connected this to quarantine and started writing.”
“Stay Inside” is purposefully light on dialogue and narrative structure and was originally 15 minutes long. “The festival had a time limit on their shorts, so I decided to make a much shorter version that would encapsulate the same energy and tone of the 15-minute version with even less dialogue and plot,” said Madala.
Both filmmakers expressed surprise at being selected for the All American High School Film Festival, with Lin describing his own reaction as “incredulous disbelief.” Madala found after checking the festival’s Twitter account, which posted the list of selections that included “Duality,” “Stay Inside,” and “Cmd-Delete,” a film Lin created with classmates Sara Yen and Amar Karoshi that was named the grand prize winner of C-SPAN’s StudentCam contest in March.
The All American High School Film Festival, historically held in New York City, takes place Oct. 9-11 and will be hosted online this year due to closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.