In December, sophomore Miki Mitarai, who was a second place winner in the fall 2020 American Protégé International Music Talent Competition, gave a performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, singing “Voi Che Sapete” from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
Each year, American Protégé invites young musicians from around the world to submit video auditions for the competition. Mitarai’s invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall was extended after her placement in the competition, but was postponed for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mitarai, who is a member of the upper school vocal group Cantilena, said the opportunity was “well worth” the long wait.
Prior to her performance, she encountered a group of singers in Central Park, and was greatly inspired “by the emotion and passion in their voices,” determined to carry that inspiration with her into that evening’s performance. “Singing always makes me happy, and that night, the feeling was just amplified,” she recalled. “The concert went super smoothly and I was so proud of how much time, practice and hard work I had put in to get to where I was.”
From Jan. 7-9 the Harker DECA chapter participated in the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), the first competitive conference of the year. The transition back to the in-person environment sparked excitement in the community, as the event garnered over 120 signups. The weekend consisted of written and roleplay presentations in front of professional judges, networking opportunities and motivational speeches from California DECA’s State Officer Team.
On the first day of the conference, each student took exams in their respective clusters: Marketing, Business Management and Administration, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, or Business Administration Core. Later that evening, SVCDC kicked off with the opening session in the Grand Ballroom. California DECA’s vice president of Silicon Valley, Tim Jing, announced the theme of the year, “Maximize Your Momentum,” and encouraged all Silicon Valley DECA members to do so while at the conference. The opening session closed with a talent show featuring two acts from the Harker DECA chapter. Sophomores Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang and junior Anika Muddu performed an acoustic version of “Gone” by Rosé, while sophomore Shreeya Merchia sang a powerful rendition of “Red” by Taylor Swift.
The next morning, roleplay events began, which primarily consist of team decision-making, individual series, principles and personal financial literacy roleplays. Soon after, members competed in their written events where they gave 15-minute presentations in entrepreneurship, integrated marketing campaign, professional selling or business operations research categories. For the remainder of the afternoon, students socialized with friends and explored restaurants nearby.
On Sunday, the mini awards ceremony recognized competitors who performed exceptionally well in the testing, roleplay or presentation subcategories of their events.
“I honestly was so shocked when I received the awards, but I was extremely happy that my hard work paid off and I was able to perform well in my events. In the end it was a great and thrilling experience,” said Saahira Dayal, grade 9, who placed second overall in Principles of Business Management and Administration.
Later, during the grand awards ceremony, a total of 20 Harker teams placed in the top three overall for their events, while many more earned spots in the top 10 awards.
Overall, despite the effects of COVID-19, the conference was a huge success. It provided attendees with a fantastic experience that provided valuable insights into their competitive events and a special chance to forge new friendships.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the officers and attendees for adapting to the new restrictions and environment at this conference. It was great to see how much dedication everyone put into their competitive events, and I can’t wait to maximize our momentum at the State and International conferences this year!” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA’s chapter advisor.
Members placing in the top three are as follows:
First Place:
Shreeya Merchia, grade 10, and Anika Muddu, grade 11: Sports and Entertainment Operations Research
Marcus Blennemann, grade 9: Principles of Finance
Second Place:
Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang, both grade 10: Marketing Team Decision Making
Bowen Xia, grade 9: Principles of Finance
Tanisha Singh, grade 10: Entrepreneurship Series
Medha Yarlagadda, grade 10: Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Claire Luo, grade 10: Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Saahira Dayal, grade 9: Principles of Business Management
Third Place:
Chloe Lee, Kaitlyn Wang and Cynthia Wang, all grade 10: Integrated Marketing Campaign- Event
Marcus Blennemann and Nelson Gou, both grade 9: Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan
Catherine He, grade 12: International Business Plan
Saahira Dayal, grade 9: Franchise Business Plan
Jonathan Wang, grade 9: Principles of Finance
Valerie Li, grade 9: Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research
Ashwin Kuppahally and Adrian Liu, both grade 10: Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
Bowen Xia, Caleb Tang and Jonathan Wang, both grade 9: Finance Operations Research
Sanaa Bhorkar, grade 9: Principles of Business Management
Justin Chen, grade 10: Business Finance Series
Meishin Yen, grade 10: Hotel and Lodging Management Series
Catherine He, grade 12: Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
On Monday, Harker journalism students spoke via Zoom with Jon Elswick, the Associated Press photo editor based in Washington, D.C., whose team covered the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year and received a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the murder of George Floyd and the national reaction it received.
Elswick briefly surveyed his career as a photojournalist, which began in Chicago, where he mainly covered sports teams such as the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, and later moved to Washington. When the George Floyd protests erupted in the summer of 2020, Elswick worked in Washington, receiving and editing photos submitted to him by AP photojournalists from across the country, including the images that won his team the Pulitzer. “We had photographers from really all over the country,” he said. “Two of our photographers in Washington took photos that were part of those entries, and I happened to be editing both of them.”
On the day of the Jan. 6 riots, Elswick was one of three AP photo editors in Washington, D.C, “which doesn’t seem like very many, and it’s not very many,” he said. “Up until about a year and a half ago, there were only two of us here in Washington.” Elswick said his team didn’t predict there would be violence, but nevertheless made sure to have the right people in place. Two photographers specializing in protest and riot coverage – one of which was Julio Cortez, who recorded one of the George Floyd protests’ most famous images – were in Washington to cover the rally that led to the riot at the U.S. Capitol. “We didn’t know what was going to happen, but those photographers that specialize in this, we provide them vests, helmets, masks, just things to keep them safe,” said Elswick, who emphasized that photographers are not sent alone to events that may become violent. “They’re always paired up, because while they’re both shooting, they can both watch each other’s back.”
AP also had photographer Evan Vucci in the “tight pool” of media crew who followed former President Donald Trump to the rally, and “back stand” photographer Jacqueline Martin at the site of the rally. “This is pretty typical coverage for what AP does with any big campaign event,” Elswick explained. “The back stand photographer gets there and … they’re on the back stand further away from the stage.”
Elswick recalled that AP had a pair of photographers each at the site of the rally and at a place near where the rally took place. A last-minute decision was made to send another staff photographer with a freelancer, who were given the task of heading to the Capitol after Trump was heard saying a protest would be taking place there.
When he noticed that crowds outside the Capitol Building were becoming violent, Elswick began contacting the photographers placed in building, one of which was Andy Harnack. “I said, ‘Hey, get to a window where you can see something. What’s going on outside?’” he recalled. It was hard to keep up with what was going on, but I had the other photographer, Manny Ceneta, in the Statuary Hall.” Elswick instructed Ceneta to make his way to the north end of the building. “And almost immediately when he got over there, he started encountering protestors, smoke, smoke bombs, pepper spray,” Elswick said.
Elswick, who was working from home at the time, recalled telling his wife as the event unfolded, “You’re not going to believe the pictures I am just seeing.” While it was common for photographers and photo editors in Washington to see Secret Service members and response teams carrying weapons, “We don’t see these police officers drawing their weapons, and these were all pretty much plainclothes capitol police security, whether they would be security for the House leadership or just regular undercover or plainclothes officers. They all had their firearms out and pointed to the door.”
As soon as they were able, the photo editors confirmed the safety of the photographers, one of whom, Scott Applewhite, had been locked in the Senate chamber. Despite the chaos of that day, the team never lost sight of their objective. “We just knew what we needed to do was to get the pictures out, and let the pictures tell the story and get them linked to the stories that the reporters are doing,” Elswick said. “Finally, the photographers got back into the capitol and the business of certifying the election continued and finished at three in the morning.”
Michelle Wei, grade 10, and Helen Gu, grade 8, recently won Silver Awards for their submissions to the 2021 Ocean Awareness Contest. The competition was held by Bow Seat Ocean Programs, an organization that promotes ocean conservation efforts through a variety of initiatives that engage middle and high school students.
The Ocean Awareness Contest is held annually and invites students to submit creations across a wide range of media, including art, creative writing, music and film. Wei submitted a short story called “Water Monster” about a mother and son living in an area with very limited access to clean water, and Gu’s submission was an elegiac poem titled “see her fall,” about the ongoing harm being done to the world’s oceans. They received support from middle school English teacher Marjorie Hazeltine.
The contest received had nearly 6,000 participants, and winners in every category have been featured in a special ocean advocacy gallery.
Harker speech and debate has had a wonderful first semester. Across 16 tournaments, students in all of the events have earned prestigious awards. Speech and debate is unique in that there are not just regional competitions, nor are schools put into divisions by size. Nearly all tournaments are open for national entries, and Harker attends the toughest events in the country. The coaches have been very proud of the resilience of and hard work put in by the students. The tournaments were still online, but the students have usually been able compete on campus.
Harker had a large number of students reach the final rounds of various tournaments with several championships. In Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, seniors Anshul Reddy and Deven Shah, as well as junior Rahul Mulpuri, have reached varsity final rounds, with Reddy and Shah being declared tournament champions. Their wins were especially impressive because each won an elite round robin for the top LD debaters in the nation. Additionally, Valerie Li, grade 9, won a novice tournament, and juniors Muzzi Khan, Annmaria Antony and Deeya Viradia, sophomores Ansh Sheth, Kabir Buch and Gordy Sun, and ninth graders Aarush Vailaya and Stefan Maxim have reached varsity elimination rounds. In junior varsity, Sahngwie Yim, grade 9, made it to elimination rounds. They debated on topics ranging from pharmaceutical patents to labor relations.
In the speech events, Harker had several outstanding performances. Sophomores Alex Fu and Ella Lan were in final rounds for informative speaking. In original oratory, juniors Dyllan Han and Zubin Khera reached the finals, as did sophomores Fiona Yan and Spencer Mak. Junior Michelle Jin impressed audiences in the finals with her extemporaneous speaking and impromptu skills. Juniors Jessica Zhou and Claire Jin, as well as freshman Kasish Priyam appeared in an impromptu final round. Senior William Chien also qualified for elimination rounds in extemporaneous speaking, as did juniors Sara Wan and Austina Xu in original oratory.
In public forum debate, seniors Vedant Kenkare and Caden Lin, junior Carol Wininger and sophomore Max Xing were in varsity elimination rounds. In junior varsity, sophomores Mariana Rai, Diya Mukherjee and Daphne Avkarogullari, and freshman Valerie Li also won awards. They debated about NATO protection for the Baltics and cryptocurrency regulation.
Finally, in Congressional debate, junior Arissa Huda represented the team in elimination rounds. She had to prepare against a wide variety of current events proposals. This semester, debate is looking forward to traveling to competitions in Berkeley, Nashville and Lexington, Ky., in addition to competing in more online events.
On Dec. 4, a group of Harker students led by Harker sophomore Nathan Liu partnered with students from other Bay Area high schools to hold the second “Tribute to Fallen Heroes” concert, a special benefit concert supporting the California Fire Foundation.
Held at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, the event raised $18,000 for the foundation, which provides aid to the families of California firefighters who died while battling the many blazes that have occurred across the state. Last year’s event raised $13,000.
Performers at the event included violinist Ray Iwazumi of the Juilliard School, pianist and University of Utah professor Koji Attwood, pianist Nina Yen and cellist Jennifer Chou. Harker students were on the bill as well, including cellist Lucas Chen, grade 12, and guitarist Vardaan Ghai, singer Shayla He, rhythmic gymnast Anna Lee and dancer Ella Yee, all grade 10 .
As part of the organizers’ sustainability goals, the concert went paperless, holding ticket sales via Eventbrite and enabling ticketholders to receive updates on the concert by scanning a QR code.
Last month, Amelia Huchley ’19 was featured in a story by The Student Life, the newspaper of the Claremont Colleges, which covered her recent win in the Claremont Concert Orchestra’s Concerto Competition. She is the first vocalist in more than a decade to win.
Huchley, who graduated from the Harker Conservatory with a musical theater certificate and now attends Scripps College, told The Student Life about pursuing a career in music and the difficulty of making a living as a professional singer.
“At a lot of turns, I do get a lot of people saying to me, ‘You know how hard it is to make this work, right?’ And I do,” she said. “But on the other hand, I feel like I’m learning, and I’m making progress with my voice, and obviously some people do become professional opera singers. It’s not like it’s never going to happen. … I know it’s going to be really difficult. I do feel like I owe it to myself to try it and see if I can do it.”
She also discussed her love of singing and why she finds performing live so fulfilling.
“Even if you get up and do the exact same performance the next day, even if the performance that you did was recorded, it’s never going to happen exactly that way again, and that is really freeing.”
See the full story for more of Huchley’s thoughts on music and performance.
Harker upper school singers were recently named to three honor choirs. Seniors Teresa Cai and Anya Warrier, juniors Alan Jiang and Aniket Singh, and sophomores Anya Chauhan and Miki Mitarai will represent Harker in the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) National Honor Choir. They will perform in a virtual concert to be held Jan. 22-24.
Mitarai, Jiang and junior Aria Jain also will be members of the American Choral Directors Association Western division’s honor choir, which is slated to perform in Long Beach in March, at the ACDA Western region’s regional conference.
The California All-State Choir, selected by the California Choral Directors Association, will feature Cai, Jain, Jiang, Mitarai and Singh, as well as juniors Ava Arasan, Kris Estrada and Anika Pandey, sophomores Shayla He and Katelyn Hsu, and Varun Bhupathi, grade 9. According upper school music teacher Susan Nace, Harker has a higher percentage of students participating in the All-State Choir than any high school, and the highest rate of acceptance among independent schools.
“The directors of all the honor choirs are highly respected composers and conductors from throughout the United States,” Nace said. “Although we require our Certificate Candidates to audition every year, any of our choral musicians may audition. The audition is rigorous and includes sight-reading, vocal technique evaluations, and vocal quality evaluations.”
Nace added that Harker’s rate of acceptance this year was the school’s highest yet.
Varsity girls soccer is off to a very strong start, boasting a 3-0 record after their latest win against Del Mar. The team also has yet to allow a single goal. Their schedule this week sees them taking on Pacific Collegiate School on Wednesday and Terra Nova on Thursday, both at home.
After opening their season with a 3-0 win over Del Mar last Wednesday, varsity boys soccer played to a 2-2 tie against a tough North Salinas on Friday. They are at home against Santa Clara today and will head to Andrew Hill on Thursday before returning home to play Santa Cruz on Friday.
Girls varsity basketball is currently 4-0 – defeating Sobrato, Lincoln, San Jose and Overfelt – heading into tomorrow’s home game against King’s Academy.
Boys varsity basketball, meanwhile, bounced back from their season opening loss to Monta Vista and are now at 2-1 after last week’s wins over University Prep and BASIS. They are competing this week in the Lynbrook Winter Classic tournament.
On Dec. 2, Shikha Mittal ’05 spoke to middle school students via Zoom about her path to becoming a lawyer. Starting out as a finance major at Santa Clara University, she decided to lean into her love of debate and negotiation and go into law. “I realized pretty early on in my college years that law was an area that might be a good career fit for me.” She ended up in the tech industry as an in-house lawyer at a Bay Area startup, and currently works at Databricks, an enterprise software company.
While discussing the rigors of law school, she recalled long study sessions for exams and preparing for the bar exam, which she described as “one of the hardest exams you’ll ever take in your life.” However, she advised that those factors shouldn’t dissuade students from seeking a career in law. “If you feel like you are interested in law and you want that to be your career, I wouldn’t say law school should be a detractor,” she said.
Mittal also talked about the differences between being an outside counsel lawyer, who works at a firm that is hired by companies, and an in-house lawyer, who is an employee of the company. She said that she has enjoyed the work-life balance as an in-house lawyer, as well as other perks of being an employee where she works.