San Jose Mercury News – Dec. 17, 2014: In the paper’s Around the Valley section, Harker is highlighted in the School Scene for its recent commendation from the city of San Jose for its successful “Wet/Dry” waste program.
Springboard Exchange – Dec. 16, 2014: Upper school art teacher Pilar Agüero-Esparza is the subject of an in-depth profile that covers her work as an artist, her career in education and her recent activities.
San Jose Mercury News – Dec. 11, 2014: Sophomore basketball player Jordan Thompson, who scored 16 points in Harker’s win over Robert Louis Stevenson in the Pescadero Hoop Dreams tournament, appears in the Varsity Extra Highlight Reel.
San Jose Mercury News – Nov. 27, 2014: Volleyball player Shreya Dixit, grade 12, is recognized in the Varsity Extra Highlight Reel for her 10 kills and 13 digs in the CCS Division IV Final against Notre Dame-Belmont.
San Jose Mercury News – Nov. 20, 2014: Football player Keanu Forbes, grade 12, is mentioned in the Varsity Extra Highlight Reel for his performance against St. Francis CCC, in which he ran for 223 yards on 14 carries and had 91 yards on two kick returns.
San Jose Mercury News – Nov. 14, 2014: Rajiv Movva, grade 9, is mentioned in the Around the Valley’s School Scene insert for winning first place in the mathematics category in the Broadcom MASTERS competition.
IndiaWest – Oct. 24, 2014: Sadhika Malladi, grade 11, is mentioned for being named a regional finalist in this year’s Siemens Competition.
ServiceSpace.org – Oct. 23, 2014: A blog post features an image of the Winged Post’s coverage of hip-hop artist and activist Nimo Patel’s visit to the upper school.
San Jose Mercury News – Oct. 22, 2014: Water polo player Emma Brezoczky, grade 9, was recognized for the four goals she scored in Harker’s 10-9 victory over Fremont.
SweetyHigh, Oct. 20 – 2014: Junior Sadhika Malladi and senior Daniela Lee are featured in a post about the Google Science Fair, in which they finished as global finalists.
India West – June 30, 2014: Recent graduates Rahul Sridhar and Vikram Sundar are mentioned in a story about the Indian American students who represented the United States at the International Physics Olympiad in Kazakhstan.
The New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, SFGate.com – June 10-11, 2014: Maverick McNealy ’13, a talented young golfer who recently finished his first year at Stanford, was the subject of three stories about his participation in the U.S. Open.
ABC7News.com – April 29, 2014: Recent graduate Zina Jawadi is the subject of a story about her efforts to help hearing-impaired students.
Santa Clara Weekly – April 2-8, 2014: A recap of the VEX Robotics State Championship highlights features Harker teams Eaglebots (rising eighth graders Andrew Chang, Rithvik Panchapakesan, Chris Gong and Kaushik Shivakumar) and Raining Sunshine (Anooshree Sengupta, Mona Lee, Maya Kumar, Jessica Susai and Aria Coalson, all entering grade 9).
San Jose Mercury News – March 8, 2014: The After School sports blog recaps the Harker boys basketball team’s loss to Sacred Heart Prep.
San Jose Mercury News – Feb. 25, 2014: Campbell’s Brown Chicken Brown Cow restaurant, owned and operated by Harker alumnus Chris Yamashita MS ’90, receives a favorable review.
When his final putt dropped, “I wasn’t sure where I stood with regard to the cut line,” said McNealy, but when I got to the scoring table and saw that I was two shots inside the projected cut with nobody who could realistically pass me, it hit me that I was going to be playing in the US Open.”
In an interview with the Northern California Golf Association, McNealy said about qualifying, “It’s awesome. It’s a great day. It’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life. It’s still sinking in.”
Maverick will have his secret weapon along for the U.S. Open, too. “I am excited to have my dad caddying for me that week, and my three brothers (Scout, grade 7; Colt, grade 9; Dakota, grade 10) and mom will also be there cheering me on from the grandstands!”
At Stanford, McNealy was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and received an All-Pac-12 honorable mention. In his career at Harker, he twice earned the WBAL individual championship and was named to the WBAL All-League first team three times. McNealy is the Harker record holder for lowest nine-hole match score (-6) and most matches as medalist (nine of 10).
He noted, “at Harker I figured out that I wanted to pursue both golf and my academics seriously; hence, it was a pretty easy decision to choose Stanford. I plan on majoring in management science and engineering with a minor in computer science.”
In a 2013 Harker Quarterly article on Harker athletes playing in college, McNealy noted he was learning the game when he was learning how to walk and “loved to go outside and whack balls around with a plastic club.” Arriving at Harker in grade 9, McNealy immediately excelled on the links, but he believes that “until I shoot 18 in every round, there will always be room to get better.”
Given that drive, it is no wonder that McNealy is acutely aware of the life lessons golf provides: “Golf, to me, is the ultimate game of personal responsibility,” he said. “Your performance is a direct result of the time and effort you put into the game, and you take complete responsibility for your play. If you hit a bad shot, you can only blame yourself because you were the only one to swing the club. Conversely, if you make a hole in one, you can take complete pride in your accomplishment.”
March 6, 2014
UPDATE: Huge congratulations to our boys basketball team and Coach Keller on their history making performance Tuesday night! The #6 seeded Eagles defeated #2 seed Seaside 71-61 in the CCS semifinals at Menlo. The win propels the boys into the CCS finals Saturday at Independence High at 4 p.m. vs. league rival Sacred Heart Prep. Additionally, qualifying for the finals entitles them to compete in the Northern California playoffs which start next week. This is the first Harker boys team to qualify for the section finals in any sport!
News Flash: A generous donor has stepped forward to sponsor this Saturday’s entry fee for K-12 students, faculty, and faculty spouses. Last night’s supportive crowd certainly made a huge difference for the boys so please come on out and help the boys bring home the title! GO EAGLES!! Bracket:
http://www.cifccs.org/playoffs/results/13-14/BASKETBALL%20BOYS%20D4%202014.pdf
March 5, 2014
UPDATE: Here are a couple articles on our recent activity in boys basketball!
March 3, 2014
Spring sports get started, but varsity boys basketball is extending its season!
Basketball Last week, both the boys and girls varsity basketball squads competed in CCS Tournament games. The boys advanced to the semifinals after defeating Soquel on Saturday, following their defeat of Carmel 46-40. The score Saturday was 49-42 with Nicholas Nguyen, grade 11, leading the team in assists, steals and deflections while hitting three clutch free throws in the final minute. He was supported by teammates Eric Holt, grade 11, who had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and spark-plug Dylan Patel, grade 11, off the bench, who provided both defensive and offensive fire power in the final quarter. The boys will compete in the semifinals for the second time in three years Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. against No. 2 seed Seaside High at Menlo. Please come show your support!
The girls’ season ended after they lost a close third round match-up against Mercy Burlingame, 30-27, at College of San Mateo.
Track and Field The Eagles began their track and field season on a cold, rainy day at Mitty. SeniorArjun Kumar and juniorJulia Wang opened up the season with wins in the shot put, while freshman Niki Iyer, making her high school track and field debut after a tremendous cross country season earlier this school year, won the 800m run with a time of 2:24.84.
Tennis The boys tennis team kicked off its season with a 6-1 victory over Leigh High School.
Soccer The girls’ season ended when the team lost a heartbreaker to King’s Academy in the last 30 seconds of the game. A King’s Academy goal gave Harker’s rival a 2-1 win and catapulted them into the CCS Tournament, stunning Harker. The tough loss ended one of the great seasons in Harker’s history, as the girls won the most victories ever for a Harker girls soccer team en route to a 12-3-1 overall record and a league championship.
The incredible run did not end on the field, however, as the team had one last great act left in them. The squad changed the start time of their year-end banquet to be able to travel to watch the varsity boys basketball team win in their CCS Tournament game against Carmel. The gesture was just the latest reminder of the great work Harker’s athletes do both on and off the field.
The boys soccer team lost their senior day 4-2 to ECP, with juniorJeremiah Anderson and sophomore Oisin Coveney accounting for the scoring. The boys finish the year with an 11-6-2 record. Go Eagles!
Eagle Update: The boys basketball team defeated Pinewood-Los Altos Hills 51-45 Thursday evening throwing a loop into that schools league title hopes– read the Merc article here!
Feb. 18, 2014
Huge news for the girls soccer and boys basketball teams, as one earned the first league championship in school history and the other earned a spot in the San Jose Mercury News after a dramatic upset.
Soccer:
For the first time in Harker’s history, the girls soccer team is the league champion! Two goals from freshman Joelle Anderson and one apiece from freshman Kailee Gifford and junior Gabi Gupta gave the team a 4-0 shutout victory over Summit Prep to complete the girls’ ascent to the title. Now, after their 12-2-1 season and 8-1-1 league campaign, the girls will play a one-game, winner-take-all playoff against the WBAL Foothill Division’s fourth place team, King’s Academy, for a shot at the league’s final remaining CCS playoff birth. Fans can catch the high-pressure action this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at King’s Academy!
Thursday also will mark senior day for the boys soccer team, which plays at 4 p.m. on Davis Field. Their senior day ceremony will be held just before the game’s start.
Basketball:
More exciting news for Harker sports: For only the third time in 10 years, the boys varsity basketball team defeated rival Sacred Heart Prep 71-65 on the road. Senior Huck Vaughan started in place of injured senior Will Deng and rose to the occasion, scoring a career-high 23 points, shooting 11-16 from the field. Junior Eric Holt anchored the team with a double-double, netting 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The boys’ dramatic upset earned a full report in the San Jose Mercury News, where they were written up as exciting spoilers to Sacred Heart’s title hopes. Vaughan was commended for his “huge game,” and Harker’s coach, Butch Keller, was quoted. The team will ride this wave of momentum into a senior night showdown this Thursday against first place Pinewood.
Wrestling:
Davis Howard has become only the third freshman in Harker’s history to qualify for the CCS Tournament after he and senior Darian Edvalson competed in last week’s league championships and finished sixth in their respective weigh classes, each earning a place in the tournament. Freshman Danny Reidenbach placed fourth in the Junior Varsity Championships.
When grade 8 students in Cyrus Merrill’s history class began an assignment in the fall writing letters to their national representatives in Washington, D.C., they had no idea the effort would yield such tangible results.
In addition to writing their state representatives about reform issues, some students chose the “blanket” approach (as part of their lobbying plan), writing to state, local and national officials, as well as various newspapers.
Thanks to the class’ letter-writing campaign, several members of Congress contacted Harker about meeting with the grade 8 students during their upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.
“That helped allow us to choose who we wanted to meet with while we were in D.C., so all of their lobbying worked,” recalled Merrill.
In addition, Akhil Arun’s letter to the editor was published in the San Jose Mercury News during the government shutdown. Meanwhile, classmate Millie Lin received a call from a representative in state Sen. Jerry Hill’s office in response to her letter, which also expressed concern over the shutdown.
“The letter was a history assignment given when the government shutdown occurred,” explained Lin. “I really enjoyed this assignment. I also sent it to two other senators and a newspaper and got normal responses. My mom picked up the phone, because I was not at home. During the talk, the topic of internships was brought up. They needed someone who could write.”
Based on Lin’s writing (and passionate analysis about the debt crisis and government shutdown), the representative began discussing the possibility of an internship before realizing that Lin was only in middle school. Typically, students interested in public service and federal government are eligible to apply for an internship in a senator’s office as undergraduate college students.
The California State Senate has a legislative body of 40 members, with each member representing approximately 931,000 people. Due to the state’s large population and relatively small legislature, the state Senate has the largest population per representative ratio of any state legislative house.
“Millie Lin really wowed the senator’s staff!” enthused Cindy Ellis, middle school head.
Most recently, the grade 8 students embarked on a new letter-writing campaign to their state representatives as an extension of studying the reform era in the 19th century. The students are making modern appeals and expressing concerns over such topics as mental health, alcohol related topics, and the treatment and protection of women.
“I can understand why Millie enjoys Mr. Merrill’s assignment: These types of assignments inspire the students to be engaged in current affairs that are history in making. They are very creative and thought-provoking. It’s very different from the way I learned history, which was mainly based on memorization,” noted May Chen, Lin’s mother.
San Jose Mercury News – Dec. 18, 2013: Andrew Jin and Steven Wang, both grade 11, are mentioned in a “School Scene” story about their success in the Siemens Competition.
Connecticut Cottages & Gardens – Dec. 2013: The magazine’s holiday gift guide lists a yoga mat by Alexander Wang, MS ’98.
UPDATE: The San Jose Mercury News has a great write up on one Harker’s 30 Under 30 listees! Surbhi Sarna was interviewed on her medical devices development. Read the article, here!
Jan. 10, 2014 Several Harker alumni made Forbes magazine’s coveted “30 Under 30” lists, which showcase young movers and shakers working in various fields.
Sharing the spotlight with notable young celebrities such as snowboarder Shaun White, actress Olivia Wilde and activist Shiza Shahid are three talented Harker grads: Neil Mehta ’02, Surbhi Sarna ’03 and Ilya Sukhar ’03. The third-annual issue was released Jan. 6.
To compile the prestigious lists, Forbes consulted with experts in 15 industries to select the top 30 in each category, totaling some 450 individuals (all under 30 years of age) who are making things happen. The magazine started working on the project in the fall, by choosing the categories and assembling the panel of judges.
A leading source for reliable business news and financial information, Forbes is well known for its listings and rankings. On the cover of its “30 Under 30” issue, it calls the individuals who made the lists “450 game-changers in 15 industries who are building tomorrow – today.”
Below is a look at the three Harker alums who made the “it” lists:
Neil Mehta ’02, Founder of Greenoaks Capital
Neil Mehta ’02 is the managing director of Greenoaks Capital Management LLC, a global principal investment firm dealing in private equity, venture capital, real estate and public market opportunities.
Prior to that, 29-year-old Mehta was a senior investment professional at Orient Property Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-based real estate investment and development firm financed by D.E. Shaw, a premier $20 billion global hedge fund and investment firm based in New York.
Forbes listed Mehta in its finance category, crediting him with managing some $600 million, investing in industries ranging from ecommerce to insurance. The magazine also noted that he “hit home runs” with early investments in a Palo Alto-based software company called Palentir as well as a South Korea-based e-commerce company named Coupang.
“I owe a lot to my colleagues, friends and family. We still have long way to go at Greenoaks, though,” said Mehta, adding that he was proud and impressed to see so many Harker alumni on the list.
Surbhi Sarna ‘03, Founder of nVision Medical
Surbhi Sarna ’03 was this year’s alumni speaker at Harker’s eighth annual Research Symposium, which drew more than 400 attendees. There, she shared the story of how she suffered from painful ovarian cysts in her early teens, which caused her to later become determined to create better conditions in the field of female health.
To this end, the 28-year-old founded the venture-backed nVision Medical in 2009 to develop technology to help gynecologists more quickly detect ovarian cancer. To date, her company has raised some $4.5 million from Catalyst Health Ventures, Draper Associates and Astia, a group that assists female entrepreneurs.
“It is a great honor to be chosen as one of Forbes “30 Under 30.” I know Harker has a lot do to with my drive to be an entrepreneur and I’m grateful for all of the teachers that inspired me while I was there,” she said of her placement in the medical category.
Ilya Sukhar ’03, Co-Founder and CEO of Parse
Ilya Sukhar ’03 made the news several months ago when Facebook acquired his company, Parse, of which he served as co-founder and CEO. Currently, Sukhar runs the Parse business at Facebook, where he also works on platform products.
“There’s a lot of people I really admire on that list, so it’s a nice honor for me to be included,” reported 28-year-old Sukhar, adding “I got back to work pretty quickly, though.”
Sukhar, who is listed in the tech category, said he got the idea for Parse after he experienced the pains of building a mobile app. According to Forbes, he has since turned Parse into a critical service for mobile developers that now provides the backend infrastructure for more than 180,000 apps, including those built by Ferrari, The Food Network and Sesame Street. Facebook bought Parse in April 2013 in a deal reportedly valued at $85 million.