This press release was prepared by Radhika Jain, grade 10, DECA director of communications.
From Aug. 21-22 more than 50 students attended Harker DECA’s fourth annual DECA Launch, a program designed to introduce students to DECA and Harker’s business and entrepreneurship programs and to prepare potential members for the upcoming DECA year. This two-day event consisted of various challenges, presentations, guest speakers and workshops hosted by the Harker DECA officer team.
“DECA Launch is an event that introduces students to not only the business and entrepreneurship program but also the upper school as a whole since most attendees are incoming freshmen or new students,” said Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 12, Harker DECA’s co-CEO. “This event is a great way to give these students a head start on their first year at this campus.”
The first day began early in the morning in Nichols Hall atrium, where students mingled with the chapter advisors, guest speakers and officers while enjoying fresh bagels from Noah’s. Everyone then went into the auditorium where co-CEOs Ashna Chandra, grade 12, and Chandrashekaran began the Opening Ceremony with a brief introduction to DECA.
Then the first two speakers were announced. The first was past Harker DECA co-CEO Riya Chandra ’17, who shared her DECA journey through high school; afterward, former California DECA president Moksh Jawa spoke about the impact of DECA in his own life and how he will carry that into college.
Afterward, the officers led a fun icebreaker to get everyone excited for the activities they would participate in during the next couple of days. The Introduction to Events lecture followed, with each member of the competitions team presenting on their respective positions: role-play, examinations and written event. Students also got to see a live role-play performed by sophomore Phil Han, director of role-play events.
Then everyone went to the Innovation Center to learn and begin the Idea Challenge, in which students grouped up in teams of six to come up with an innovative idea using popsicle sticks. Students received 100 DECA Dollars to buy supplies to build their product. An additional part of the challenge was to create a presentation to pitch to a panel of judges at the closing ceremony.
“Seeing the students share their ideas with their teams was very surprising since not a lot of freshmen show this kind of teamwork and all the groups ended up combining their ideas and interests into a product they were all passionate about,” said Shania Wang, grade 11, Harker DECA’s vice president of public relations.
After getting started on their projects, everyone enjoyed Chipotle burritos for lunch. The Scavenger Hunt was next, in which students were to find the Harker DECA officers who were spread out around the campus. When found, each officer asked the students a question about DECA to educate them more about the chapter. This also gave participants a chance to explore the campus and learn more about the officer team. The students then attended lectures on the different clusters: business management and administration, hospitality and tourism, marketing and finance.
At the end of the day, students had another chance to work on their Idea Challenge products before they went home.
The next day, students arrived early in the morning to attend the DECA Debrief, a presentation about conferences and leadership in DECA. Everyone then learned more about written events with by rotating through six different lectures. Afterward, student entrepreneurs, including Mahi Kolla, grade 10, of The Minty Boutique and Nirban Singh, grade 12, from Xpress Chef presented their own experiences as a high school entrepreneurs (Read more about these two entrepreneurs here).
After having lunch from Pizza My Heart, participants were given more time to work in their Idea Challenge groups. “It was really interesting to see all the officers talk to us, educate us and ensure all the freshmen were understanding the material and having a great time,” said attendee Ashley Gauba, grade 9. “Their hard work really paid off.”
One of the last events of DECA Launch was the Role-play Tournament. Officers and associate mentors worked with small groups of students to help prepare them for role-plays. Then, they paired up and prepared case studies before presenting to a judge.
Following this, the students received some time to finish up their products and presentations for the Idea Challenge. Parents arrived to watch their children present their projects, have dinner and recap the conference in the Closing Ceremony. Students presented their Idea Challenge final products and were judged on innovation, sustainability, and teamwork and presentation. As the judges calculated the scores, parents and students were shown a Launch recap video highlighting the main events of the conference.
Finally, the winners of the Role-play Tournament and Idea Challenge were announced. Chandra, Chandrashekaran and chapter advisor Juston Glass gave closing remarks, concluding the event.
“This was an amazing experience. We came all the way here from another state, and DECA was the first event that we attended at Harker,” said Sid Biswas, parent to attendee Sayon Biswas, grade 11. “It was great to see this organization and event that the school put together, and all the students really did well.”
Harker DECA is thrilled to welcome all the new and recurring members and looks forward to another successful year as a community and chapter.
“Seeing what they have accomplished in the last two days, just imagine what these students will accomplish throughout the year. They truly are #limitless,” said Glass.
Students that won awards are as follows:
WWW.HARKERDECA.ORG
Role-play Tournament:
First place: Karan Bhasin (9), Billy Fan, both grade 9
Second place: Andrew Sun (9), Aditya Singhvi (9)
Third place: Benjamin Gicqueau (9), Sayon Biswas (11)
Overall: Jacqueline Au (9), Luisa Pan (9), Michelle Si (9), Aditya Singhvi (9),
Andrew Sun (9), Bryan Zhang (9)
About The Harker School DECA
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.
Upper school students welcomed the 2017-18 school year on Friday morning with the annual matriculation ceremony. Students filled the upper school quad, which was renovated over the summer. As with previous ceremonies, grade 9 students arrived last, greeted by the enthusiastic applause of students in grades 10-12.
Shortly after members of the Class of 2021 took their seats, new Head of School Brian Yager gave his historic first opening remarks at a Harker matriculation ceremony. He welcomed this year’s seniors into their new roles as student leaders, noting the opportunity “for you to make the most of your own journey while also inspiring and preparing those who will follow you to do the same.” He advised the incoming ninth graders to “enjoy and embrace the process, and look to the students in the grades above you for guidance and inspiration.”
Per tradition, upper school division head Butch Keller also spoke, delivering one of his favorite adages: “It’s not the situation that’s important. It’s the reaction that’s everything.” To illustrate his point, he offered examples of people he had read about over the summer. The first was Jay Williams, a promising former NBA player who suffered a career-ending injury and subsequent drug addiction but eventually maneuvered into a career as an analyst at ESPN. Another was Craig Sager, the legendary sportscaster who chose to fight leukemia rather than succumb to it. Even though Sager’s illness returned, resulting in his death in 2016, his decision to persevere left Keller “humbled.” These stories, Keller felt, also demonstrated virtues of kindness, compassion and empathy he hoped the students would carry with them through the coming year.
ASB president Jimmy Lin, grade 12, welcomed the seniors with a lesson on learning how to get comfortable with trying new things. To illustrate, he shared a story about a visit to Google with his friends. While there, he recalled, the discussion turned to grabbing a few bikes that Google makes available to its employees and riding them to get lunch. It was then that Lin made a confession to his friends: He had never learned to ride a bike. Deciding it was time to learn, “I finally had to swallow my pride and ask my friends to teach me.” After spending time practicing in the Google employee parking lot, Lin finally was able to make the two-block ride to the local eatery. “It was a learning moment that came from trusting my friends to help me embrace this hurdle,” Lin said. “Even though it came 10 years late.” He hoped his story would encourage the incoming freshmen to embrace new challenges, knowing they had their fellow students to help them.
As always, entertainment was a key part of the ceremony, which featured performances by the upper school women’s choir Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace, and The Harker String Quartet, directed by Chris Florio. The ceremonies concluded with the annual “Freshman 101” series of comedy skits, put on by the Student Council and Honor Council, which introduced the grade 9 students to various aspects of school life in a fun and light-hearted manner.
This report prepared by Shania Wang, grade 10, Harker DECA director of communications
In early March more than 100 students from Harker’s DECA chapter traveled to the Santa Clara Marriott to compete in the 2017 State Career Development Conference (SCDC). This four-day business conference featured competitions with tough opponents, skill-building workshops and unforgettable experiences. Harker proved its competitive excellence with 49 teams in the top ten and 21 groups in the top four across various categories, qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
“I think Harker DECA did amazingly in terms of competitive success at states this year. It was our best conference ever, with 21 teams qualifying,” said Vignesh Panchanatham, grade 11, Harker DECA’s director of examinations. “The students all put in a lot of hard work to prepare, and it obviously paid off.”
Finalists are as follows:
First Place
Rohan Cherukuri, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Evan Cheng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Enya Lu and Shania Wang, both grade 10, Public Relations Project
Mishu Nitulescu, grade 11, Professional Selling Event
Second Place
Enya Lu, grade 10, Business Finance Series
Nishka Ayyar and Riya Gupta, both grade 10, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Reiya Das, Zara Vakath and Katelyn Vo, all grade 9, Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan
Arnav Joshi, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Alex Chen, grade 11, Principles of Marketing
Third Place
Alexis Gauba, grade 12, Business Services Marketing Series
Erin Liu, grade 10, Business Growth Plan
Chandan Aggarwal, Jeffrey Liu and Rakesh Nori, all grade 9, Independent Business Plan
Ashna Chandra, grade 11, Haley Tran and Lucas Wang, both grade 12, Entrepreneurship Promotion Project
Riya Chandra and Alexis Gauba, both grade 12, Learn and Earn Project
Phil Han, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Shivani Awasthi, grade 12, Professional Selling Event
Haley Tran, grade 12, Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Fourth Place
Allison Jia, grade 9, Innovation Plan
Vignesh Panchanatham, grade 11, Professional Selling Event
Derek Kuo, grade 11, Retail Merchandising Series
Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Fifth Place
Mona Lee, grade 11, Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
Dolan Dworak and Michael Sikand, both grade 11, Marketing Management Team Decision Making
Sachin Shah, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Larissa Tyagi, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Sixth Place
Roma Gandhi, Jessica Jiang and Larissa Tyagi, all grade 9, International Business Plan
Rishi Dange, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Seventh Place
Rahul Mehta, grade 11, Advertising Campaign
Amitej Mehta and Vignesh Panchanatham, both grade 11, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Nikhil Sharma, grade 9, Business Services Operations Research
Shivani Awasthi and Ankita Uppugunduri, both grade 12, Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
Eighth Place
Eric Fang, grade 9, Financial Consulting Event
Naveen Mirapuri, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Ninth Place
Karena Kong, Ananya Krishnan and Aashe Sreekumar, all grade 11, Buying and Merchandising Operations Research
Shreyas Chandrashekaran and Shaan Gagneja, both grade 11, Business Services Operations Research
Helen Yang, grade 10, Business Services Marketing Series
Nikhil Sharma, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Bryan Wang, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Radhika Jain, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Phil Han and Max Lee, both grade 9, Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan
Shania Wang and Kelsey Wu, both grade 10, Travel and Tourism Marketing Team Decision Making
10th Place
Michael Sikand, grade 11, Advertising Campaign
Natasha Maniar, grade 10, Startup Business Plan
Jessica Pan, grade 10, Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan
Jai Bahri, grade 9, Principles of Business Management and Administration
Shea Tuli, grade 11, Personal Financial Literacy
Ronit Gagneja, grade 9, Principles of Finance
David Feng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Rahul Mehta and Vanessa Tyagi, both grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
“What excited me most was how excited our freshmen were,” said Riya Chandra, grade 12, Harker DECA co-Chief Executive Officer. “To see all the hard work they put in was just a great feeling as a leader and mentor of Harker DECA, so my favorite part as a senior now is seeing freshmen feel confident about their project. If they get on stage, it’s so amazing to see the smiles on their faces.”
After arriving at the hotel, there was a last-minute study session for students to prepare their role-plays, tests and written presentations. That afternoon and evening, all students took their written examinations.
The next day, students gathered to compete in their role-play events. Competitions occurred throughout the day, with each student receiving an individual time slot. At the general session, aside from learning valuable lessons from keynote speaker John Beede, a mountain climber and motivational speaker, Harker also earned recognition for being one of five schools in California to complete all chapter campaigns at the Thrive Level, earning six spots at the Thrive Leadership Academy at the ICDC. Furthermore, Harker’s very own Alisa Su, grade 11, received a plaque for designing the winning California ICDC pin, and advisor Juston Glass was honored for five years of service to DECA.
Saturday, written event presentations were made and, in the evening , chapters once against convened at the convention center for the Formal Recognition Session, where individuals who placed highly in their event were awarded medals. Harker DECA energetically supported all of its members as numerous students staged. Later that night, students had the option to attend a formal dance.
Throughout Friday and Saturday, students were given the opportunity to visit corporate booths, attend workshops and take protégé events. Several company sponsors set up tables to provide DECA members with more information, including The Men’s Wearhouse, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and Arizona State University. Workshop topics ranged from internship success to teen entrepreneurship, and many students enjoyed the chance to improve their skills and meet business professionals.
“I really enjoyed that this conference was really interesting and fun and additionally offered many more opportunities and things besides competing,” said Ronit Gagneja, grade 9. “In the workshop I went to, I learned to always have a positive attitude and believe in myself.”
Protégé events tested students’ aptitude in association/nonprofit management, event planning, green business, investing, insurance and real estate. Although these tests do not quality participants for ICDC, Harker still had many finalists, including Rishi Dange, grade 9, Enya Lu, grade 10, Arnav Joshi, grade 9, Jeffrey Liu, grade 9, Sachin Shah, grade 9, Bryan Wang, grade 9, Jessica Jiang, grade 9, Arun Sundaresan, grade 9, Johnny Wang, grade 10, Max Lee, grade 9, Evan Cheng, grade 9, Rohan Cherukuri, grade 9, Ronit Gagneja, grade 9, Mahi Kolla, grade 9, and Naveen Mirapuri, grade 9, Moreover, throughout the entire conference, students had a chance to network with other schools and expand their social connections.
“I really loved SCDC this year! It was such a great experience, and my favorite part was being able to meet so many new people and forming new friends,” said Riya Gupta, grade 10.
Finally, the Grand Awards Session occurred on Sunday morning. Harker performed admirably, earning the notice of other schools on YikYak after the constant cheering and staging of students.
“I really loved seeing the students in another light, really seeing what they’re passionate about, stepping out of their normal roles at school and just watching them get really excited about DECA,” said Kevin Williamson, Harker upper school dean of students and Harker DECA chaperone. “I was surprised by the level of professionalism that they showed, and the level of interest made it very exciting to be a part of the whole program.”
For some of the nine seniors in attendance, the 2017 state conference also marked the end of their DECA careers, causing a bittersweet moment. The entire chapter took a moment to recognize all their commitment and contributions to DECA over the past four years.
“I think that DECA conferences are crazy and thrilling, in a good way, and that I’m going to miss the people I met the most,” Chandra said. “Some of my best friends really came from DECA. Our officer team is all pretty close as well, so I’m definitely going to miss them! While it’s hard to move on from DECA, I think it’s time for a new chapter in my life, and I can’t wait to come back as an alumna and judge next year.”
Everyone then gathered to take chapter photos before saying goodbye to SCDC, ending yet another successful and amazing conference for Harker DECA. Qualifying students will have the opportunity to compete at ICDC in Anaheim April 25-30. Go Eagles!
About The Harker School DECA
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.
This report prepared by Neha Tallapragada, grade 10.
In late February, CareerConnect hosted a Resume Building Workshop led by Marissa Enfantino, a recruiter for Adobe and former recruiter for Facebook University. She spoke to around 40 students about how to craft the perfect resume for colleges, internships and jobs.
At the luncheon, students learned the importance of both content and appearance in a resume. Speaking from her experiences as a job recruiter, Enfantino discussed topics ranging from the importance of engaging with the community to the significance of having a resume that looks professional and organized. Anusha Kuppahally, grade 10, said of the event, “I really liked the resume workshop; it was very informative on how we should format our resumes to have a higher chance of getting selected for the programs we apply to.”
Overall, it was a valuable opportunity for students to receive advice that applies to their experiences outside of the classroom.
A score of female Harker students attended the Watermark Conference for Women this year, thanks to the conference organizer, which provided 20 tickets for Harker students.
The conference “was a fun and valuable opportunity for many of our female students involved in business and entrepreneurship at Harker,” said Neha Tallapragada, grade 10. “They learned not only about the different spheres of business, but also about personal lessons to apply to their lives outside of their future vocations.”
Speakers included Madeleine Albright, Sheryl Sandberg, Condoleezza Rice and the prolific and accomplished actor, Viola Davis.
“Of the keynote speakers, the most popular was Viola Davis, who spoke at the conference about her hardships and financial instability growing up, and how she persevered past that to achieve both personal and career success,” said Tallapragada.
“Enya Lu, grade 10, of Harker DECA and Harker Podcast, said that it was ‘really inspiring’ to listen to Davis and garner wisdom from her experiences,” Tallapragada noted. “Sheryl Sandberg spoke at the conference as well, and was also a crowd favorite among the Harker students. Overall, Watermark was a supportive, motivating, and exciting time for our Lady Eagles and we are definitely looking forward to returning next year.”
About Watermark:
Watermark is a community of executive women in the San Francisco Bay Area, whose mission is to increase the representation of women at executive levels to drive innovation, human development and economic growth. The Watermark vision is to ensure women are able to make their mark in and for their companies, their careers and their communities by providing programs focused on connection, development and advocacy.
The women of Watermark have created and led the most innovative and successful enterprises, contributing to all aspects of business, nonprofits, technology, media, education, healthcare, law, government and society. Founded in 1993 as the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), Watermark has since expanded to include women leaders in all disciplines and industries.
This article was prepared by Shania Wang, grade 10, Harker DECA director of communications.
In early January, DECA chapter members competed in the 2017 Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC). With 51 finalists and 23 top three winners, Harker earned first place in terms of wins per capita.
In preparation for SVCDC, the chapter held weekly study sessions in the Innovation Center to give members a chance to work on their testing, role-plays and written presentations. This year also continued the the officer mentorship program, which helped many new members in their competitive excellence.
“This SVCDC marks Harker DECA’s best in terms of competition, with our highest numbers of finalists and winners,” said Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Harker DECA vice president of competitions and strategy. “There definitely are still areas for our students to improve in, so I look forward to seeing their growth and development in the future.”
Check out these results, as well as the event video!
First Place
Derek Kuo, grade 11, Professional Selling
Enya Lu and Shania Wang, both grade 10, Innovation Plan
Nishka Ayyar and Riya Gupta, both grade 10, Independent Business Plan
Bryan Wang, grade 9, Principles of Finance
Vedant Shah grade 11, Automotive Services Marketing Series
Enya Lu, grade 10, Business Finance Series
Alexis Gauba, grade 12, Business Services Marketing Series
Haley Tran, grade 12, Restaurant and Food Service Management Series
Lucas Wang, grade 12, Personal Financial Literacy
Rahul Mehta and Vanessa Tyagi, both grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making
Second Place
Bryan Wang, grade 9, Professional Selling
Erin Liu, grade 10, Business Growth Plan
Shaya Zarkesh, grade 11, Start-Up Business Plan
Shreyas Chandrashekaran and Shaan Gagneja, both grade 11, Business Services Operations Research
David Feng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Reiya Das, grade 9, Principles of Marketing
Mona Lee, grade 11, Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
Ria Gandhi, grade 12, Retail Merchandising Series
Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Shea Tuli, grade 11, Personal Financial Literacy
Third Place
Ria Gandhi, Haley Tran and Lucas Wang, all grade 12, International Business Plan
Michael Sikand, grade 11, Automotive Services Marketing Series
Chandan Aggarwal, Rakesh Nori and Jeffrey Liu, all grade 9, Independent Business Plan
Competitions began on Friday, with students taking written examinations. The opening ceremony, organized by Silicon Valley DECA’s District Action Team, followed, with the main feature being the annual talent show. Saturday consisted entirely of competitions. Students competed in their written event presentations and role-plays throughout the day at their assigned time.
“I experienced what it was like to be in a business-like environment, and it really helped me hone my skills and learn what to do in the future,” said Rakesh Nori, grade 9.
In the evening, students had free time, including the option to attend the DECA Dance. The conference came to a close on Sunday morning at the awards ceremonies. At Mini-Awards, Harker performed very well with a total of 59 teams placing.
Afterward, there was a conference-wide breakfast, followed by the Grand Awards Ceremony. Harker DECA’s energy and excitement was unmatched as the many Harker recipients walked on stage to receive their awards.
“I really loved seeing the enthusiasm and the hard work that the students put into it,” chaperone Byron Stevens said. “It was just great energy throughout the whole weekend.”
Overall, this year’s SVCDC was a huge success for Harker DECA. Students not only enjoyed their first conference of this year’s competitive season, but also had the opportunity to delve further into business and expand their network with new connections.
“I feel like this conference was a really great opportunity to compete and see their hard work pay off in real time,” said Alexis Gauba, Harker DECA’s co-CEO. “It was great for everyone to see their efforts rewarded, and I’m really excited to see how everyone is going to improve for the state conference.”
About The Harker School DECA
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.
This past July, students Mahi Gurram, Connie Xu, Donna Boucher, Lilly Anderson, all grade 10, and Sam Boucher, grade 7, traveled to Tibet, China for a cultural exchange program with the Maizhokunggar County School.
After landing in Lhasa, the group stayed in Tibet for a total of 11 days, in which they exchanged cultures with Tibetan children, grades 3 through 6. The Tibetan children, who had had very little, if any, contact with foreigners, listened to short stories in English and practiced their conversation skills through fun games that the Harker students had brought with them. The Harker students shared photos of California and other major cities and states in the U.S. with the curious Tibetan children. The children teamed up to played soccer and catch on the school’s field, and Harker girls braided some of the Tibetan girls’ hair with colorful ribbons.
In exchange, Tibetan children performed a few Chinese jump rope routines and taught the Harker students several Tibetan phrases and authentic games. Harker students were invited to eat lunch in the teachers’ lounge and talked to several teachers who had also never seen foreigners. The teachers were mesmerized by Donna Boucher’s green eyes, Anderson’s curly hair, Xu’s ability to speak both Mandarin and English fluently, Gurram’s darker complexion and photos of Sam Boucher playing hockey. Both parties seemed to have gained an immense understanding of the other. Overall, the five Harker students participated in one of the most eye-opening and thrilling experiences of their lives.
This report provided by Shania Wang, grade 10, DECA marketing associate.
TEDxHarkerSchool held its sixth annual event on Oct. 15. With over 200 attendees, the conference featured amazing speakers, interactive booths and inspiring mentors.
“TEDx was a very innovative and inspiring event, and I was really excited to hear some of the of the speakers,” said attendee Enya Lu, grade 10. “I really learned a lot about all of the speakers’ topics and enjoyed getting to see many innovative products from the booths.”
A total of seven speakers presented their talks at the conference throughout the day, sharing their ideas with the community.
One speaker was Stanford economics professor Raj Chetty, whose talk was titled “Improving Equality of Opportunity in America: New Lessons from Big Data.”
“It was an interesting opportunity to have an influence on talented young kids,” Chetty said. “I hope my talk showed them how you can use modern technology to tackle social problems and not just the private sector of problems that people usually focus on.”
Other speakers included piano prodigy Umi Garrett, UCSC professor Katherine Isbister, civil rights lawyer Shahid Buttar and artificial intelligence researcher and author Prateek Joshi. Aside from professional speakers, TEDxHarkerSchool also featured two student speakers, seniors Alexander Lam and Sarisha Kurup.
“I applied to be a student speaker because I was really passionate about sharing my experiences and my journey throughout high school, which is what I’m talking about,” said Lam, who presented about the pursuit of happiness and how ancient philosophy can influence modern thought. “My favorite part about speaking at TEDx was the ability to directly address the Harker community and share ideas that I felt are very important and valuable to me.”
In the morning, the Nichols Hall atrium also buzzed with students learning more about the corporate booths present: Alchema, VEX Robotics, XROUND, MOTA, PocketChef, Made In Space, HS Mixers and Puzzlebox. The startup Magnetic also supplied magnetic paper, allowing students to finish the prompt “TEDx Makes Me …”
“TEDx was a really good way to outreach since our product is really beneficial for students, and it provided us with great opportunity to maximize our interactions with the target market,” said Kedar Gupta, grade 12, co-founder of PocketChef.
The event then moved to the gym for lunch, where conversation filled the air as students interacted with mentors from a variety of fields who shared their personal insights and industry experience to engage and enlighten attendees.
“There’s a youthful energy here, so it was nice to see people that are in high school that had a curiosity and desire to grow and learn different things,” said mentor James Goheen, senior risk specialist for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and father to senior Jordan Goheen. “I talked to them about my career and shared with them briefly about the federal reserve system in general and more specifically about what I do there. I also got asked for some life advice, so I gave some insight on how important it is to be able to get along with others and write well.”
“I think the event went very well, and I was really excited to see so many students check out all that TEDx had to offer this year!” said curator Aditya Dhar, grade 12. “I think TEDx creates a fantastic environment directed towards spreading innovation in all areas, from art and entertainment to science and business, and that really parallels Harker’s spirit of ingenuity that drives so many of the wonderful programs around campus. “
About TEDxHarkerSchool
TEDxHarkerSchool is an innovative youth-only conference that aims to spread cutting-edge ideas throughout our community and reach out to embrace the culture of Silicon Valley. We provide guidance for some of the brightest minds of the new generation – the future of what TED stands for: technology, entertainment and design. Through the help of corporate booths, speakers, and mentors, TEDxHarkerSchool supplies the unique toolkit that enables our audience to imagine, innovate and inspire. Our overall goal is to bring students to greater intellectual heights and lead students to wisdom, revolution, innovation and passion. TEDxHarkerSchool fully believes that young people will make positive change in the world.
This article was prepared from a press release by Shania Wang, director of communications for Harker DECA.
Harker DECA hosted a Parent Night in the Nichols Hall atrium and auditorium in early October to inform parents about the program, including the time commitment, conference details and opportunities for parent involvement.
“Parent Night is a really great time for all the parents involved in the Harker DECA community to come together and learn about what their students do during the school year,” said Alexis Gauba, grade 12, co-CEO of Harker DECA. “Getting parents involved in Harker DECA is very important as judges and in supporting their students, so it’s a way for us to say ‘thank you’ to them and show them what we have planned for the upcoming DECA year.”
Gauba and her co-CEO, senior Riya Chandra, started the night with a video showing the opportunities available within DECA and discussed DECA events, including study sessions, conferences and community outreach programs.
Afterward, Chandra’s mother, Asha, who was the 2014 Harker DECA Parent of the Year, recounted her experience as a DECA judge and parent, noting the growth she witnessed in her daughter.
“I love being a DECA parent, because I get to see what my own daughter has been involved with. I also get to judge and learn about what so many other kids are doing, and I love watching the other kids compete because they all come up with such amazing ideas,” she said.
The other speaker was former Harker DECA CEO Monica Thukral ’14, who is now a junior at the University of Southern California. Thukral discussed the benefits and network DECA provided her with during high school, as well as how it continues to help her in college. She said DECA introduced her to people from all around the world, and gave her the opportunity to explore her passion.
This year’s Parent Night was tremendously successful, as it gave parents a solid understanding of DECA. After all, the Harker DECA program owes much of its success to the continual support and assistance of parents.
“Especially being a parent of a freshman, there are a lot of questions, so being able to get answers to all of those and also see the perspective from not just the officers but previous students as well as parents were very helpful,” said Sameer Joshi, parent to Arnav Joshi, grade 9. “I’m looking forward to Arnav having a good experience trying out different things and finding something he really enjoys.”
Harker DECA looks forward to attending the first conference of the year, the Leadership and Competitive Excellence Conference in November, and gearing up for the competitive season.
About The Harker School DECA
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.