The winners of the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search were announced Tuesday, and although Harker’s two finalists, Rohan Mahajan and Nikhil Parthasarathy, both grade 12, were not among top 10 winners, we are tremendously proud of their accomplishment in making it to the finals in Washington, D.C.
Harker was the only school in the U.S. to have more than one finalist, and this year’s contest marked the first time California surpassed New York for the largest number of finalists, with a total of 11 students among the 40 who traveled to Washington for the final round of the competition.
Harker extends its warmest congratulations to all 11 members of the California contingent, especially Evan O’Dorney, 17, of Danville, named the first-place winner of the $100,000 prize for his project, a mathematical comparison of two methods of estimating the square root of an integer. We further extend accolades to the remaining 29 finalists for their impressive application to their projects.
O’Dorney was one of three California students to make the top 10, out of the 1,744 entries from high school seniors nationwide. Selena Li, 17, from Fair Oaks, took fifth place and was awarded $30,000, and San Diego’s Xiaoyu “Carrie” Cao, 17 took eighth and won $20,000. Go science!
Mar. 15, 2011
[Update] KQED radio featured a short interview on their California Report this moring with Nikhil Parthasarathy, grade 12, as he and classmate Rohan Mahajan await the judges’ final decision in the Intel Science Talent Search contest in Washington D.C.. Harker is the only school this year with two finalists in the contest.
The extensive article, lauding the strengths of Harker’s science program, is by veteran reporter Lisa M. Krieger, who made several visits to the campus in February and March to spend time with students and teachers. Longtime Mercury News photographer Patrick Tehan captured the photos for the piece. One impetus for the story was the January announcement from Intel that The Harker School was the only school in the country earning two finalist spots at their annual Intel Science Talent Search in Washington, D.C. Winners are announced March 15, 2011.
The story is inspiring comments from educators, alumni, current students, parents and others passionate about education.
The San Jose Mercury ran a great story about Harker and its science program, saying,
“With 20 Intel semifinalists and four finalists in six years, and many other prestigious science titles already to its credit, Harker is fast becoming the “it” school for aspiring researchers, a springboard to a life of inquiry”
Feb. 22, 2011
[Update] The grade 5boys soccer team, coached by Jared Ramsey and Walid Fahmy, had an exciting win over Sacred Heart 2-1, after playing the same team to a 3-3 tie earlier in the season. The team is currently 2-0-2 and is tied for first place in the league!
The grade 7boys soccer team, coached by Nicholas Hahn and David Ramos, dominated Priory 9-0 and currently is in second place in the league with a 2-1 record.
The grade 7 girls basketball team, coached by Loreen Talagtag and Joe Mentillo, played an exciting game against Menlo last week, falling at the end 25-26.
Feb. 16, 2011
The early winter season of grades 4-8 boys basketball and girls soccer has come to a close. What a fantastic season it was, especially for our boys basketball teams!
EARLY WINTER SEASON
Boys Basketball
Our grade 8 varsity A boys basketball team went 6-0 in league and 10-1 overall. They took home the league championship and won the WBAL end-of-season tournament as well, a Harker first! The team was led by co-MVPs Eric Holt and Srivinay Irrinki, Eagle Award winners Vamsi Gadiraju and Avik Wadhwa and Coaches Award winner Arjun Ashok.
Our grade 7-8 varsity B basketball team went 6-1 in league and 8-2 overall. They took second place in the WBAL and fifth place in the WBAL tournament. The team was led by MVP Sidhart Krishnamurthi, grade 8; Eagle Award winner Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 7; and Coaches Award winner Prithvi Gudapati, grade 7.
The grade 6 junior varsity A basketball team went 3-3 in league for a fourth place finish in league and went 3-5 overall. The team was led by MVP Andrew Gu, Eagle Award winner Alex Mo and Coaches Award winner Alex Youn.
The grade 5 junior varsity B basketball team went 6-0 in league and 7-1 overall. They took home the league championship and took second place in the WBAL tournament. The team was led by co-MVPs Brando Pakel and Siddhart Chari and Eagle Award winner Eric Andrus.
Our grade 4 junior varsity C basketball team went 6-0 in league and also took home the league championship! The team was led by co-MVPs Jackson Williams and Jarrett Anderson and Eagle Award winner Jason Peetz.
Girls Soccer
Our grade 8 varsity A girls soccer team went 2-5 in league, but their record was not indicative of how good the team actually was. All but one of the losses was by a single goal, which was usually scored just before time expired. The team was led by co-MVPs Alyssa Amick and Savi Joshi, Eagle Award winners Diba Massihpour and Safia Khouja and Coaches Award winner Gabi Gupta.
The grade 7 varsity B soccer team went 2-4 in league with a couple very close losses. The team was led by MVP Alisa Wakita, Eagle Award winner Jessica Liou and Coaches Award winner Naomi Molin.
Our grade 6 junior varsity A soccer team went 2-3-1 in league with huge wins over Castilleja and Crystal Springs. The team was led by MVP Anuva Mittal, Eagle Award winner Lyndsey Mitchell and Coaches Award winner Divya Rajasekharan.
Our grades 4-5 junior varsity B soccer team went 1-3-2 in league with a solid victory over Girls Middle School, 6-1, and a couple of 2-2 ties. The team was led by MVP Alexandra Lu, grade 4; Eagle Award winner Lilia Gonzales, grade 4; and Coaches Award winner Krishna Bheda, grade 5.
Our grades 4-5 intramural soccer team enjoyed their introduction to soccer and look forward to competing in games in the near future. The team was led by MVP Priya Bhanot, Eagle Award winner Rebecca Mak and Coaches Award winner Claudia Opris, all grade 4.
LATE WINTER SEASON
After a highly successful early winter season, the late winter girls basketball and boys soccer seasons have gotten off to a productive start. Many teams have already played quite a few games.
Girls Basketball
The grade 8 girls basketball team is 1-4 in league play, competing against very competitive eighth grade teams in the WBAL. Recently the team enjoyed an exciting victory over Priory, 27-11. Key players are Lehka Chirala, Eugene Gil and Savi Joshi.
The grade 7 girls basketball team is 1-2 after starting the season with an exciting win over Stratford, 32-23. Key players are Sadhika Malladi, Shannon Richardson and Namitha Vellian.
The grade 6 basketball team is 1-3 in league play, after starting the season with a win over Girls Middle School, 35-15. Key players are Joelle Anderson, Jordan Thompson and Lindsey Trinh.
The grade 5 girls basketball team is 2-1 in league play with huge wins over St. Matt’s, 22-2, and Sacred Heart 2, 16-10. Key players are Anika Banga, Megan Huynh, Satchi Thockchom and Akshaya Vemuri.
The grade 4 girls basketball team is 1-2 in league play with a victory over Sacred Heart 2, 18-6. The team is led by Kayla Dominguez, Keili FitzGerald, Jennifer Hayashi and Alexandra Janssen.
Boys Soccer
The grade 8 boys soccer team is 1-2 in league play with an exciting win over King’s Academ, 3-1. Key players are Jeremiah Anderson, Edwin Chen, Thomas Doyle and Nikhil Kishore.
The grade 7 boys soccer team is 2-1 in league play with solid victories over Keys, 3-0, and Priory, 9-0. Key players are Jonathon Keller, Andrew Kirjner, Calvin Kocienda, Michael Quezada and Nathaniel Stearns.
The grade 6 boys soccer team is 2-1 in league play with a 6-0 win over Pinewood and a 4-1 win over Crystal Springs. Key players are Kedar Gupta, Sandip Nirmel, Ryan Vaughan and Nicholas Weisbloom.
The grade 5 boys soccer team is 2-0-2 in league play with a 4-1 win over Sacred Heart 1, a 2-1 win over Sacred Heart 2, a 3-3 tie with Sacred Heart 2 and a 1-1 tie with Pinewood. Key players are Jin Kim and Matthew McCallaCreary, Rohit Shah and Vedant Shah.
The grades 4-5 intramural soccer team has enjoyed their introduction to soccer this season and look forward to competing in the near future. The team is led by Nirban Bhatia, grade 5; Jarrett Anderson, grade 4; Chris Gong, grade 4; and Krish Kapadia, grade 4.
Winter sports are wrapping up! January Athletes of the Month are sophomore Priscilla Auyeung, basketball, and classmate Michael Amick, soccer.
Wrestling
Wrestler Santosh Swaminathan, grade 12, became Harker’s first-ever league champion this past weekend! Classmate Chris McCallaCreary placed second, losing 4-2 in the finals. Senior Jason Mendel also placed second in his weight, making this the first time Harker has ever had three league finalists. All three have qualified for CCS in two weeks. At the end of January, McCallaCreary won the 160-lb. weight class at Overfelt High School. McCallaCreary defeated both the first- and second-ranked wrestlers in CCS on his way to taking the tournament championship.
The girls basketball team lost their first-ever WBAL league playoff game to Sacred Heart Prep 56-41 in mid-February and now await their CCS seeding. They defeated Crystal Springs and King’s Academy in early February to finish up the regular season with a record-setting 19-3 overall record and second place league finish. In their Jan. 25 Mercy-Burlingame match, a close game was anticipated, but no one expected three overtimes. Mercy-Burlingame made last-second shots to tie at the end of regulation and again to force the second and third overtimes, but our Eagles eventually held off the Crusaders for a 56-53 victory. Rodriguez scored 27 points for the Eagles, and Tanya Rai, grade 12, had 12 rebounds in that game.
Boys basketball had their final home game in mid-February versus a tough Pinewood team, nailing them 61-52. Senior Partha Mahajani scored 15 points, junior Stephen Hughes had 12 and Nikhil Panu, grade 10, scored 10 points. In previous play, the boys defeated Crystal Springs but lost to King’s Academy in early February. Prior to that, the team put up a tough fight against first place Sacred Heart, losing 56-38 (Vik Jain, grade 11, had 10 points) but in late January handled ECP, 44-29.
Cheerleading
In late January, our two senior cheerleaders, Amanda King and Alice Loofbourrow, were recognized for their four years of contributing to Harker athletics. Thanks to both girls!
Soccer
Varsity boys soccer had a fine week in early February defeating Crystal Springs and Pinewood to improve to 5-4-3. Catch their final two home games Wed., Feb. 16 and Fri., Feb. 18 on Davis Field. Ambrish Amaranathan and Isaac Madan were the senior boy soccer players lauded for their years of participation in mid-February prior to their game against KIPP San Jose Collegiate on Davis Field.
Girls soccer lost to ECP and Crystal Springs in early February and face Notre Dame Feb. 15. The team lost to Notre Dame in late January, but three cheers to Alicia Clark, grade 9, who was awarded the game ball by coach Troy Thiele for her improved game. Girls soccer seniors Monisha Appalaraju, Lydia Demissachew, Michelle Holt, Arthi Kumar and Priya Sahdev were thanked for their contributions in mid-February on Davis Field. GO EAGLES!
Feb. 16, 2011
[Update] Nikhil Parthasarathy and Rohan Mahajan were awarded commendations during the San Jose City Council meeting in mid-February. “The Harker School has a long history of producing high-achieving students,” said Councilman Pete Constant. “Each year since I’ve been representing San José’s Council District 1, it seems I have the chance to recognize such students for their achievements. It’s great to have Rohan and Nikhil carrying on this tradition of excellence and I congratulate The Harker School for being the only school in the nation with two finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search.”
Feb. 9, 2011
San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant has invited Harker Intel Science Talent Search finalists Rohan Mahajan and Nikhil Parthasarathy, both seniors, to attend the San José City Council meeting on Tues., Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Constant will formally recognize and congratulate the budding scientists for their noteworthy achievement. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed will invite the young men to the lectern where he and Constant will present the commendation, and give the recipients a chance to say a few words. Read the full story of their Intel wins and of the record seven semifinalists from Harker this year.
Those planning to attend should arrive 10 minutes early. City Hall is located at 200 E. Santa Clara Street, in downtown San José. The meeting is held in the Council Chambers in the Wing section of City Hall.
Jan. 26, 2011
Intel representatives returned to Harker today to announce that Nikhil Parthasarathy and Rohan Mahajan, both grade 12, were named finalists in this year’s Intel Science Talent Search. They will travel to Washington, D.C., from March 10-15 to compete as two of the 40 finalists selected from around the country.
The announcement, made at a special lunchtime assembly, was accompanied by the news that Harker is the only school in the country with more than one finalist. Notably, California this year finally surpassed New York as the state with the highest number of finalists, with a total of 11 students. Harker had a record seven semifinalists in the contest, this year.
Parthasarathy’s project used recently gathered data to study the structures of distant galaxies and find out how similar or different they were to galaxies in the local universe. He was mentored by Dr. Sandy Faber, professor of astronomy at U.C. Santa Cruz, and Dr. Kamson Lai, a postdoctoral scholar at the U.C. Santa Cruz department of astrophysics.
Mahajan, whose project involved developing a hydrogen-producing solar cell as a source of renewable clean energy, worked with Dr. Yat Li, assistant professor of chemistry at U.C. Santa Cruz, and was mentored at Harker by Mala Raghavan, upper school chemistry teacher and, incidentally, Parthasarathy’s proud mother.
Today’s announcement followed on the heels of one two weeks ago, when a record seven Harker students were named semifinalists in the competition.
Both students will receive a cash prize of $5,000 upon their arrival in Washington, D.C., and will compete for the top prize of $100,000, as well as meet Nobel laureates and members of congress.
Harker just received results from the National Classical Etymology online exam that students in grades 9-10 took in November. Harker students earned 20 medals: 13 gold, five silver and two bronze! The exam consisted of Latin and Greek derived words that students had to define in English based on their root meanings.
Gold Medalists: Erik Anderson, Cobi Ashkenazi, Jonathan Cho, Nik Datuashvili , Simon Orr, Christopher Sund, Ashvin Swaminathan, Apurva Tandon, all grade 10; Sarika Bajaj, Kevin Duraiswamy, Connie Li, Sreyas Misra, Brian Tuan, all grade 9. Silver medals were won by Daphne Millard, grade 10 and freshmen Tiffany Chu, Helena Huang, Saachi Jain and Urvi Gupta. Bronze medals were won by Andy Wang and Nikhil Dilip, both grade 9.
Jan. 12, 2011
Harker set a new California record for Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists on Jan. 12, with seven students being named at a special morning assembly.
The students – Roshni Bhatnagar, Josephine Chen, Benjamin Chen, Rohan Mahajan, Nikhil Parthasarathy, Susan Tu and Jason Young, all grade 12 – were each awarded a $1,000 prize and have a chance to travel to Washington, D.C., in March for the final competition. The first place winner will receive a $100,000 grand prize.
Projects ranged from researching optical coatings for telescope lenses to comparisons of distant galaxies to those more proximate. Each student partnered with university-level mentors to perform the research for his or her project. Most students also had a Harker mentor to help the students write and finalize the project. Bhatnagar worked with Nicole Giuliani, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Her Harker mentor was Savitha Sastry, upper school biology teacher. Dr. Sophie Kusy, postdoctoral research fellow, and Joel Dudley, bioinformatics specialist, both from Stanford, worked together with Josephine Chen, whose Harker mentor was Anita Chetty, science department chair.
Benjamin Chen was mentored by Dr. Raja Guhathakurta, professor at UC Santa Cruz’s department of astronomy and astrophysics, and Dr. Evan Kirby, a postdoctoral scholar at CalTech. Chris Spenner, upper school physics teacher, acted as his Harker mentor. Mahajan completed his project with Dr. Yat Li, assistant professor of chemistry at UC Santa Cruz and was mentored at Harker by Mala Raghavan, upper school chemistry teacher.
Parthasarathy was mentored by Dr. Sandy Faber, professor of astronomy at UC Santa Cruz and mother of Harker alumna Holly Faber MS ’89, and Dr. Kamson Lai, postdoctoral scholar at UCSC’s department of astrophysics. Lick Observatory’s David Hilyard, optician, Brian Dupraw, optician, and Dr. Andrew Philips, astronomy researcher, acted as Tu’s mentors. Her Harker mentor was Dr. Mark Brada, upper school physics teacher. Jason Young completed his project with mentorship from Dr. Wei Wang, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry and UC San Diego and was mentored at Harker by Dr. Matthew Harley, upper school biology teacher. Finalists will be announced in two weeks.
Harker wrestlers competed in Cupertino’s Gary Bianchi Memorial Tournament Jan. 8 and came away with two championships. Santosh Swaminathan, grade 12, placed first in the 103 pound class; classmate Chris McCallaCreary defeated a state ranked wrestler from St. Francis to win his championship. Coach Karriem Stinson called McCallaCreary’s victory “the biggest win in the program’s history.” Read more about Harker winter sports!