In mid-November, three Harker eighth graders were honored in the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest’s junior division. This year’s contest, held by Bow Seat Ocean Programs, received 4,000 entries from around the world and aimed to inspire youth to learn about and take action on climate change. Students researched and wrote about climate issues in their grade 7 expository writing classes, and their essays were entered into the contest as part of the curriculum.
Additionally, middle school English teacher Marjorie Hazeltine received an Educator’s Award along with $750 to put toward education on climate change. “I submitted a summary of the way I used the contest in my classroom at Harker,” Hazeltine said. “The theme last year created the perfect opportunity to teach satire, persuasion, rhetoric and humor.”
Last month, junior Shayla He was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA) in the Original Recording category. The HMMAs honor up-and-coming independent artists in a wide variety of categories. Shayla, who is a member of the upper school show choir Downbeat, attended the Hollywood Music in Media Academy’s award ceremony earlier this month in Hollywood, where she had the opportunity to see performances by Grammy winners Charles Fox and Diane Warren. Celebrities including Tom Hanks were also in attendance.
Harker seniors Annmaria Antony, Brian Chen, Krish Maniar and Sarah Fatima Mohammed were recently named semifinalists in the 2022-23 Coca-Cola Scholars Program. They were among just over 1,500 students selected from more than 91,000 applicants. Following an application review process, 250 of these semifinalists will go on to become regional finalists, 150 of whom will be named Coca-Cola Scholars and receive a $20,000 scholarship. The Coca-Cola Scholars Program is the country’s largest corporate-sponsored scholarship program, and has provided more than $81 million in scholarships since it was founded in 1986. Last year Dawson Chen ’22 was named one of the 150 nationwide Coca-Cola Scholars.
Last month, junior Nathan Liu organized the third Tribute to Fallen Heroes Charity Golf Tournament and Gala. The golf tournament took place at San Jose’s Los Lagos Golf Course, while the gala was held at the Triton Museum of Art. The events raised more than $25,000 for the California Fire Foundation, which will put the funds toward scholarships for the children of California firefighters who died in the line of duty. The gala was attended by Rick Martinez, executive director of the California Fire Foundation, who drove in from Sacramento. Liu worked with Harker students Timothy Deng and Jonathan Szeto, both grade 9, and juniors Cecilia Yang and Jonathan Zhang to organize the events. Harker golfers from the middle and upper schools participated in the tournament, and Deng, Liu, Szeto and Harker alum Spencer Cha ’22 all performed on piano at the Gala, which also featured artwork from both Harker students and 10 other Bay Area High Schools.
Last week, TuffToy founders Rohan Gorti, Arin Jain and Zubin Khera, all grade 12, were named the winners of the California DECA Business Pitch Challenge. Over the summer, the three won the National Pitch Competition in Chicago for their energetic and creative pitch of TuffToy, which sells durable, high-quality dog toys. Each of the students will receive a trophy for placing in the top three.
Upper school debate teacher Greg Achten was recently elected to the executive board of the National Debate Coaches Association. All members of the organization are eligible to vote for the nine-member board. It is a national organization dedicated to supporting best practices in the debate community. The organization hosts one of the national championships and supports new programs with debate curriculum and research support. Achten’s years of community service, especially his expertise in running tournaments, were contributors to his election success. Additional details can be found at the NDCA website.
Arushi Sharma, grade 11, recently received a Congressional Silver Medal Award, one of the highest honors for civilian youths. The award honors young people for their service and achievements. Sharma was recognized for her work with a number of community organizations during the last few years, including Compassion for Seniors, which puts on musical performances for patients in Bay Area memory care facilities. She also organized efforts to send care packages to support caregivers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and mentored students for the organization Inclusive World, which provides skill development and employment opportunities for the differently abled.
On Oct. 21, the 2022 installment of TEDx Harker School took place at Nichols Hall, attended by hundreds of students. In addition to listening to the lineup of speakers, students enjoyed refreshments, vendor and activity booths, and socializing both before and after the speaker appearances.
The evening’s first speaker was veteran tech evangelist Guy Kawasaki, formerly of Apple and now of Canva. Kawasaki shared several important lessons he learned over his long career, such as not to worry too early on about discovering a passion. “I’m 68 years old. Three years ago, I discovered podcasts,” he said. “Now podcasts are my passion.” Other important lessons he imparted to the students were to build things they would want to use and break into a chosen field any way they can, using the example of Jane Goodall, who began working at the Leakey Foundation due to her secretarial skills.
Up next was Harker speech and debate teacher Scott Odekirk, who talked about society’s relationship to death and how it should be improved to become a “full, empathetic and community-based relationship,” he said after the event. Odekirk shared his own experience being in close proximity to this unique trauma with the death of his first wife. While in support groups, he met others who had similar experiences, including armed services veterans and health care workers. He then asked the audience to reflect on the ways mourning, as well as mourners, are treated. “My ultimate ask is for everyone to think about the way that we can make mourning more central to our community relationships,” he said.
Senior Arissa Huda, the final speaker for the evening, spoke on what she believed to be ineffective uses of empathy and how it could also be used to improve quality and length of life. Huda explained that “empathy in the mainstream is ineffective and our progress is stagnated as a result through performative activism, for example,” she said after the event. She also used health care as an example of how empathy can be effective, noting that doctors’ enactment of empathy results in better patient care plans, which in turn leads to improved quality and length of life for their patients. In closing, Huda shared how the community “could implement genuine and authentic empathy into our lives,” she said.
Earlier this month, junior Nathan Liu was honored in a special celebration recognizing the winners of the 2021 Teens Dream Video Changemaker Challenge, a video contest in which young people submit videos related to one of the United Nations’ sustainability goals. Liu was named the California winner in March for his video on wildfire prevention. Previously, Liu’s work was celebrated by Turkish America TV as one of its TATV Staff Picks.
This story was contributed by Lisa Masoni, middle school Latin teacher, and Scott Paterson, upper school Latin teacher.
The California Junior Classical League celebrated its return to in-person events with an epic Ludi Octobres (October Games) hosted by Saint Ignatius High School in San Francisco on Oct. 22. Twenty-three Latin students from the middle and upper schools participated in assemblies and workshops, academic testing, face-painting, Kahoots, naumachia (staged ship battles), a service project and Certamen (a Latin-themed quiz bowl). The best parts of the day included a return to in-person traditions, such as spirit cheers and the chance to interact with more than 600 students from 21 northern California schools.
Harker students brought home the following individual awards:
Middle School 1 (Grade 6)
Ryo Sugaya: Third in Roman Daily Life
Ethan Weyn: First in Derivatives, first in Mythology
Middle School 2 (Grade 7)
Jacob Chung: First in Latin Grammar 1, second in Derivatives
Shreyas Karnam: First in Reading Comprehension Novice, third in Latin Grammar 1, member of the first-place Open Certamen Novice team
Zahra Syed: First in Derivatives
Middle School 3 (Grade 8)
Shamik Khowala: First in Derivatives, first in Reading Comprehension Intermediate
Ameera Ramzan: Second in Latin Vocabulary, second in Reading Comprehension Intermediate
Demi Zheng: First in Latin Vocabulary, second in Derivatives
Upper School, Level 3
Rahul Sundaresan: Second in Derivatives, second in Mythology
Upper School, Advanced Level
Ainslie Chen: First in Vocabulary, second in Reading Comprehension Advanced, member of third-place team in Open Certamen
Felix Chen: Third in Daily Life
Trisha Iyer: First in Daily Life, first in Reading Comprehension Advanced, member of first-place team in Open Certamen
Hannah Levanon: Member of first-place team in Open Certamen, second in Daily Life
Kabir Ramzan: First in Derivatives, second in Vocabulary