Six Harker students were recently invited to perform with the California Band Directors Association’s 2017 All-State ensembles. Alexa Gross, grade 12, joined the High School Symphonic Band as a bassoonist. Kai-Ming Ang and Katie Chang, both grade 9, will perform with the High School Concert Band on French horn and percussion, respectively. Junior Amy Jin will play violin for the High School Full Orchestra.
Eighth graders Anika Fuloria and Leland Rossi also successfully auditioned for junior high school ensembles. Fuloria, a string bassist, earned a spot on Junior High School Symphonic Band, while Rossi will play trumpet with the Junior High School Jazz Band.
The students will perform with their respective groups at the California All-State Music Education Conference. The event, to be held Feb. 16-19 in San Jose, is organized by the California Music Education Association.
Over the fall semester, Harker Honors and AP Japanese students participated in a video exchange with their friends at Tamagawa Academy in Tokyo. Each student had two buddies at Tamagawa – one they interacted with in Japanese and another they spoke with in English. In the videos, the students discussed topics such as life at their respective schools, hobbies, college plans and their families.
Emma Yu, grade 11, said she enjoyed the project because it enabled her to get to know her buddies on a more personal level. “It was actually seeing them in a video instead of just writing down letters,” she said, “because you can see their personality and habits, and you can feel a stronger connection to them.”
“I really think that the questions and answers really said a lot about their personalities, interests, etc.,” said sophomore Sumantra Banerjee. “I enjoyed being asked and answering questions the most as that’s how the conversation moves forward.”
Other students said it also provided an opportunity to further build on their Japanese language skills. “I would like to do it again, as conversing with the Tamagawa students proved to be beneficial for my oral Japanese skills,” said Leon Lu, grade 10. “I enjoyed creating Japanese videos and emulating the speech styles of the Tamagawa students, and the most challenging thing for me was to be able to use the correct vocabulary and grammar to get my point across.”
While senior Kaitlin Hsu discovered that she and one of her buddies shared an interest in journalism, she felt that “the most interesting things I learned about my friend were actually kind of the most trivial ones, like when we talked about horoscopes and blood type. Just getting to know these kinds of quirks that you don’t usually share with anyone else, but it’s always kind of in the back of your mind.”
Congratulations to Michael Amick ’13, who was selected in the second round (32nd overall) of the MLS draft by the Portland Timbers. Amick played college soccer at UCLA, where he was a three-time team captain, first team All-Pac 12 selection in his sophomore year, honorable mention All-Pac 12 selection in his junior and senior years, Pac 12 All-Academic first team selection in his junior and senior year, and Pac 12 men’s soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year in his senior year. “When I finally heard my name, it was a huge relief and a very exciting moment to walk on stage, taking the next step to pursue my soccer career,” said Amick. See the moment when Amick was selected: http://www.timbers.com/post/2017/01/13/2017-mls-superdraft-defender-michael-amick-s-draft-day-podium-speech
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team dropped a close 37-35 game against Castilleja last week. Jordan Thompson, grade 12, led the Eagles with 18 points in the loss. Later in the week, the Eagles bounced back with a 60-33 win over Mercy Burlingame. Thompson again scored 18 points, with Selin Sayiner, grade 11, adding 11 points. The Eagles have most of the week off until they host The Kings Academy on Friday.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team picked up a 66-50 win over Crystal Springs Uplands last week, with Eric Jeong, grade 11, leading the way with 17 points. The victory also marked the 600th win in the impressive career of coach Butch Keller. However, later in the week, the Eagles fell to Eastside College Prep 51-44. Gene Wang, grade 10, led Harker with 11 points. Next up for the boys are home games versus The Kings’ Academy on Tuesday and Menlo on Friday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team dropped two matches last week, a 2-1 loss to Crystal Springs Uplands and a 4-0 loss to Sacred Heart Prep. This week, the Eagles host Menlo on Friday and Eastside College Prep on Friday.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team was defeated 8-0 by Woodside Priory last week, but looks to rebound with three matches this week. The Eagles travel to Castilleja on Tuesday and Mercy Burlingame on Thursday, before hosting Eastside College Prep on Friday.
US Wrestling
The Eagles wrestling team opened its league season with a 45-36 loss to Los Altos last week. Alan Hughes, grade 11, Eric Fang, grade 9, and Davis Howard, grade 12, all picked up wins by pin. This past weekend, the Eagles competed at the Los Gatos Wildcat Invitational with Fang finishing third in the 195-pound division, Devin Keller, grade 9, finishing fourth in the 136-pound division and Kobe Howard, grade 10, finishing seventh in the 132-pound division. The Eagles host their first match of the year this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Blackford against Saratoga High.
MS Wrestling
Congrats to Dezi Johnsen, grade 7, who took first in the grade 6-8 boys 142-pound division at the prestigious New Year’s Bash middle school wrestling tournament in Clovis this past weekend.
Congratulations to cross country and track coach Scott Chisam on being named a starter at this year’s state track meet. Chisam is a member of the CCS Starters Association and was nominated to join starters from other CIF sections at the finals in June.
Izzy Connell ’13 continues her stellar collegiate career at Pepperdine University as she set two school records in the first meet of the women’s indoor track season. At Northern Arizona’s Friday Night Duals last Friday, Connell broke her own school record in the 60-meter sprint, placing sixth in the event. She also placed sixth and broke the school record in the 400. Connell also holds the school records in the 100, 200, 400, 4×400 and the indoor 200.
Junior Anooshree Sengupta recently led her first WonderBots! program, which she spearheaded to foster interest in technology among local girls in grades 5-8. Designed by Sengupta and Harker computer science chair Eric Nelson, WonderBots! was supported by a grant from AspireIT, an outreach program organized by the National Center for Women and Information Technology. Sengupta won an Aspirations in Computing Award from NCWIT in March 2016.
“The program just concluded, and was very successful, with 80 girls applying for 20 spots,” Sengupta said. Eight two-hour classes were held from October through early December at the West Valley branch of the San Jose Public Library. Attendees engaged with technology by learning how to build and program robots following the CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) Lego Robotics curriculum.
Sengupta hopes to encourage more interest in technology among girls, who account for more than half of all AP test-takers and nearly half of all students taking AP Calculus exams. By contrast, girls make up only 22 percent of AP computer science test-takers, a number that Sengupta aspires to increase with the WonderBots! program.
The success of the initial program has motivated Sengupta to consider expanding the next series of classes to more branches in the San Jose Public Library system this year.
Over the course of the fall semester, middle school computer science students have been learning that software creation is about much more than knowing how to code. Utilizing the concepts defined in the Design Thinking Process (which is currently taught to graduate students at Stanford University), young programmers are learning how to create the best possible user experiences.
One tool being used to teach these concepts is Gamestar Mechanic, a game design program that computer science teacher Sharmila Misra says is useful for learning how to design software with users in mind. “Our students use Gamestar Mechanic as a tool to apply software designing concepts that are essential for programmers,” Misra said. “Nowadays, programming can be learned online too, for free. However, these software development concepts are definitely not something the students can just learn online.”
Using games as a basis for teaching software design seemed like a natural choice, because many students were already so familiar with them. “Using that as the base, students stayed on board with enthusiasm to learn computer science concepts,” said Misra.
The students’ first users were their buddies at Japan’s Tamagawa Academy, who not only are just beginning to learn English but also have varying experiences with games, Misra said, “as they don’t yet have laptops of their own like our students do.”
In their work with Gamestar Mechanic, students learned how to empathize with potential users, which helps them in defining the requirements for the games they create. After defining the challenges that must be surmounted to meet user requirements, they sketched out concepts and took feedback from users and peers who are both like- and different-minded. Prototypes were then made and released to the Tamagawa students, who provided additional feedback, which was then used to finish and release the final products.
Using the knowledge and experience gained from their first projects, the students are now making games for their peers at Harker.
Misra characterized the students’ response to Gamestar Mechanic as “very enthusiastic,” noting that “since the requirements, the design, the feedback, making the game and testing are all using games, students relate to it very easily and get engrossed in it and they don’t even realize they are learning concepts taught in a graduate school.”
Special to Harker News from Shania Wang, grade 10, Harker DECA director of communications.
Harker DECA attended the first conference of the year, the Silicon Valley LACE (Leadership and Competitive Excellence) Conference, in mid-November. This conference included keynote speakers, event and industry workshops and many opportunities to network with other schools.
As a non-competitive conference, LACE is a great opportunity for underclassmen new to or less experienced with DECA to become more familiar with the organization and increase competitive excellence.
“DECA LACE helps freshmen ease into the DECA atmosphere,” said Rahul Mehta, grade 11, Harker DECA’s director of written events. “It gives them a chance to get a feel for the competitive events as well as learn some handy tips to help them in competition.”
On day one, the officer team hosted a competitive preparation session, giving each student an opportunity to practice an exam, and role-play in their chosen events, with members of the officer team.
The opening ceremony began with an introduction from the Silicon Valley District Action Team (SVDAT), which includes three Harker students: Haley Tran, grade 12, executive vice president; Alisa Su, grade 11, vice president of communications; and Erin Liu, grade 10, vice president of fashion. Keynote speaker Scott Greenberg then shared his message, which included an interactive activity for students to meet new people from other schools.
On Saturday, DECA members heard from keynote speaker Chef Jeff, a former felon who discovered a passion for cooking and became an award-winning chef and best-selling author.
“In general, the motivational speakers really encouraged me to go out there, have a competitive mindset and learn,” Sukrit Ganesh, grade 10, said. “The next time I go to a competition, I’ll be way more focused and dedicated, and I’m really going to put my mind to it and try to win.”
Students attended workshops including Team Decision Making and Marketing Representative and Principles, hosted by Harker DECA’s own Enya Lu, grade 10. Available choices for the second round included Operations Research, Online Events and Professional Selling.
“I really like how they clarified what role-plays were during the teaching sessions,” Adhya Hoskote, grade 9, said. “Before I had an understanding of them, but now everything makes a lot more sense.”
Afterward, everyone listened to two industry workshops, with topics including finance, health care, technology, fashion and entrepreneurship, the last of which was presented by Harker DECA’s advisor Michael Acheatel. The last mandatory event for the day was The DECA Difference in College, which gave students an opportunity to ask DECA alumni about their college experiences and the role DECA had. This session also featured Harker alumni Shannon Hong ’16.
Later that night, Harker DECA attended the ever-popular LACE Fashion Show, which was hosted by Liu and sponsored by Group USA and Men’s Warehouse. Four Harker students participated: all three SVDAT members, along with Bryan Wang, grade 9. Su and Wang were later announced the winners of the show! Afterward, everyone enjoyed the LACE Dance, which featured a live DJ and free pizza.
Sunday morning began with the closing ceremony, including a keynote speech from last year’s California DECA president. The session also consisted of chapter goals, with Harker DECA’s co-CEOs Riya Chandra and Alexis Gauba, both grade 12, sharing Harker DECA’s accomplishments and continued plans for improvement.
Overall, LACE proved to be an awesome experience for all who attended. “I think DECA LACE was a really great opportunity for all the students to come together as a chapter and experience their first DECA conference,” said Gauba. “They were able to gain valuable knowledge through the leadership workshops from students who had previously competed network with students from the other schools.”
Many freshmen, who are all first-year DECA members, especially enjoyed their first taste of a DECA conference while improving competitively and gaining industry knowledge.
“I think that LACE was especially beneficial to our freshmen who got to experience what the conference environment is like,” Acheatel said. “Aside from hearing industry workshops and the benefit of listening to some really interesting speakers, they got a little introduction to what the competitions will be about and how to compete well.”
All the students who attended, from upperclassmen to underclassmen, also appreciated the opportunity to bond as a chapter and form new friendships.
“I think LACE really helped grow my network,” Mahi Kolla, grade 9, said. “I met a lot more people, and I think getting so many more contacts was one of the best and most beneficial parts.”
“LACE really helped create this sense of family amongst the members of DECA,” said Alex Chen, grade 11. “We really got to connect in a way that wasn’t present before.”
Following LACE, Harker DECA is in full preparation for the first competitive conference in January, the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), and hopes to once again have an amazing DECA season this year.
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.
In mid-November, Grammy-nominated Ghanaian musician and activist Rocky Dawuni visited lower school history teacher Tobias Wade’s fourth grade class. Students learned about various aspects of Ghanaian culture, including a board game called oware, a popular dish known as fufu and kente cloth, a type of silk important to Ghana’s history and culture.
“All of the students loved the visit,” said Wade. “They were really enamored by Rocky and even persuaded him to sing for us.”
Dawuni, whose brother is the chief of the Konkomba tribe of northern Ghana, also answered questions about the role of the chief in a democratic society and the daily lives of children.
“Overall, it was a great opportunity for the students and myself,” Wade said. “It really opened their eyes to a whole world around them.”
Nine Harker students were recently named members of the All-State High School Honor Choir by the California chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Seniors Ashwin Rao and Tiffany Zhu, juniors Krishna Bheda and Millie Lin, sophomores Karli Sharp and Catherine Wang and freshmen Emily Chen, Joel Morel and Kalyan Narayanan will perform with the choir at San Jose’s Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph on Feb. 18.
These students make up the largest group ever from Harker to successfully audition for the choir, and the third largest group (tied with Lynbrook) from any school in California. It is also the first time three grade 9 students have qualified for the all-state choir.
The ACDA operates the All-State Honor Choirs in collaboration with the Southern California Vocal Association. To qualify, students must first successfully audition for a regional honor choir in their area. Those interested in singing with the all-state choir are then evaluated to determine whether they will participate.
Last week, the middle school’s performing arts department held its annual fall plays, treating audiences to staged versions of two classic tales by Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Middle school theater teacher Katie Champlin directed both plays, each of which featured multiple roles for narrators and storytellers, moving the plots at a brisk pace without losing the dramatic effect. The sixth graders’ version of “Rip Van Winkle” contained many of Irving’s original words, and students used percussion instruments to create sound effects reminiscent of the Catskill Mountains, where the story takes place.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a grades 7-8 production, was a comedy-infused retelling of the frightful tale of Ichabod Crane’s encounter with the terrifying Headless Horseman. For the finale, several students played the part of Sleepy Hollow’s whirling trees during the Headless Horseman’s legendary ride.