This season has been incredible for the Harker speech and debate team, particularly in original oratory competitions. Throughout the season, at tournaments from Southern California to South Florida, three Harker students stood out among the nation’s very best.
For these competitions, students write, memorize and perform a 10-minute speech on a topic of their choice. The performance is highly choreographed and revised multiple times during the season.
For much of the season, Avi Gulati, grade 10, has been the top ranked orator in the nation. He has been consistently featured in the finals of a number of tournaments, including Glenbrooks and Blue Key. Gulati’s speech is about mimicry and the risks of conformity.
Haris Hosseini, grade 11 also has held the No. 1 ranking. In his first year of competition, he was crowned champion at the prestigious Blue Key tournament and has been a finalist elsewhere. Hosseini’s speech is about the problems with toxic masculinity.
Over the course of his illustrious six years of competition, Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 11, has amassed numerous awards. Recently, he gave finalist performances at tournaments including ASU and Sunvitational. Dharmaraj’s speech is on the enchantment and magic of everyday life.
These three are not the only students who have achieved success in original oratory. Meghna Phalke, grade 11, made it to elimination rounds twice, and in January, while Alycia Cary, grade 11, took first place at the Milpitas League tournament.
“It is pretty exciting for all of these students to be legitimately competing for the national championship in June,” said Scott Odekirk, speech and debate teacher. “I think it is even more exhilarating for them that some of their primary competition is sitting next to them in their speech class.”
Harker’s upper school math club sent a team to the Princeton University Mathematics Competition, a tier one competition. Overall, our team finished in fifth place out of 60-plus teams – an excellent performance! In the individual subcategory, Swapnil Garg, grade 12, finished in a very impressive second place out of 300-plus students. Go math Eagles!
This story was submitted by upper school Latin teacher Scott Paterson.
On Nov. 18, 23 Harker upper school students headed to St. Francis School in Sacramento to attend Ludi Novembres, a California Junior Classical League event. Nearly 400 students from 18 schools attended this event. Harker students earned 16 individual awards. Additionally, seven students won team awards for Certamen (Latin quiz bowl).
Individual awards in Level 3 were won by grade 9 students Katie Li (tying for second place in grammar), Jason Lin (second place in mythology), Akshay Manglik (second place ties in derivatives and grammar), Maria Vazhaeparambil (first place in vocabulary) and Sara Yen (second place in vocabulary, tied for second place in grammar and derivatives).
Receiving individual awards at the advanced level were Timmy Chang, grade 11 (first place in daily life); Jeffrey Fung, grade 10 (first place in grammar, third place in reading comprehension); Kyle Li, grade 10 (first place in mythology, second place in vocabulary); Edgar Lin, grade 12 (first place in reading comprehension); and Kalyan Narayana, grade 10 (first place in vocabulary, third place in grammar).
In the Advanced Certamen Team Awards, Jeffrey Fung, Saloni Shah, grade 9, and Alex Young, grade 11, took first place, while grade 9 students Akshay Manglik, Sidra Xu and Sara Yen, along with senior Andrew Semenza, received second place awards.
Over the winter break, senior Swapnil Garg and junior Katherine Tian were covered by the San Jose Mercury News for their performance in the 2017 Siemens Competition, which earned them a trip to the national finals in December.
Nov. 6, 2017:
Swapnil Garg, grade 12, and Katherine Tian, grade 11, are off to the Siemens Competition national finals! Their project – titled “Automated Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma Grade Classification with Prognostic Significance” – was selected as one of six team projects that will be considered for top honors at the final stage of the competition, held Dec. 4-5 in Washington, D.C. There, the two students will be eligible to win up to $100,000 in scholarship prizes, split evenly between them. As finalists, the pair are guaranteed a minimum $25,000 prize.
Oct. 18, 2017:
Congratulations to senior Swapnil Garg and junior Katherine Tian, who were just named two of the 101 regional finalists in this year’s Siemens Competition! They each will receive a $1,000 scholarship prize and are eligible to compete at the regional finals for the opportunity to advance to the National Finals in Washington, D.C. Best of luck!
Oct. 17, 2017:
Today, the Siemens Foundation named 10 Harker students regional semifinalists in the 2017 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, the most from any California school. Each year, individual and team research projects from six regions are selected to be semifinalists.
Harker’s semifinalists in the 2017 competition are Cynthia Chen and Jin Tuan, grade 10; Erin Liu, Ashwin Rammohan, Katherine Tian, Laura Wu and Katherine Zhang, grade 11; and Amy Dunphy, Swapnil Garg and Amy Jin, grade 12.
These 10 students are among the 491 semifinalists nationwide chosen from more than 1,860 projects submitted. Each of the semifinalists’ projects will be evaluated to determine which students will be named regional finalists, who in November will enter into six regional competitions. Winners from the regional finals events are eligible to attend in the National Finals, held at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where finalists will compete for $500,000 in scholarships.
The finalists announcement is set to take place tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Every year, student news publications from CSPA-member schools are selected to be Crown Finalists after a “head-to-head comparison,” the CSPA website states. Criteria considered in judging include design, writing, photography and coverage. Every Crown Finalist will be awarded either a Gold Crown or Silver Crown at the CSPA ceremonies, to be held in New York City in March.
In-depth news/feature story: “Behind the Statistics: Student Stories of Survival in Silicon Valley,” by Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12, Kshithija Mulam ‘17 and Meilam Steimle ‘17
First-person experience: “Stripping ‘Quiet’ of Its Negative Connotations,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Cultural feature: “Top Binge-Worthy Shows to Watch During Spring Break,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Photo story: “At the Pools,” by Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12
Photography/Portfolio of work: Ashley Jiang, grade 12
Informational graphics/Portfolio of work: Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12
Single-subject news or feature package, double-truck: “Science of Sleep,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Aditya Dhar ’17 was awarded a final accolade for his high school speech and debate efforts by the Stennis Center for Public Service Leadership. He was named to the 2017 National Student Congress as a member of the senate, based on his performance at the National Speech & Debate Association’s National Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., in June. Dhar was also the Senate Leadership Bowl Winner. Read more about Harker’s results in Birmingham.
At the National Economics Challenge finals in New York City, Harker’s team took fourth place overall in the Adam Smith division, narrowly missing the top two and a chance to appear on CNBC. Nevertheless, the students performed admirably to place in the top four nationwide. Congratulations!
Update May 1, 2017:
Harker’s National Economics Challenge team received word on Friday that it had qualified for the 2017 National Finals, set to take place in New York City May 20-22. The team – made up of Arindam Ghosh, Sumer Kohli, Adriano Hernandez and Praveen Batra, all grade 11 — previously won the state-level competition, placing it among the top four teams in the country. More than 10,500 students participate in the competition each year.
The final competition will consist of three multiple choice exam rounds, a case study presentation and a quiz bowl round.
April 4, 2017
Harker has qualified two teams for the national semifinals of the 2017 National Economics Challenge, which tests students’ knowledge of economics using real-world scenarios. Following qualification, competitions are held at the state, national semifinal and national final levels for high school students in two divisions: the Adam Smith Division for advanced placement, international baccalaureate and honors students; and the David Ricardo Division for semester general economics students. Harker competes in the Adam Smith Division.
After qualifying the maximum of two teams per school via the initial online test, both Harker teams qualified at state finals for the next round, the national semifinals. Harker teams finished first and second at state finals, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on April 3. The first place teamcomprised Praveen Batra, Adriano Hernandez and Sumer Kohli. Arindam Ghosh is also on the team but missed this round due to the flu. All are grade 11.
The second place team is Alex Lam, grade 12; and Eric Jeong, Derek Kuo and Alex Wang, all grade 11. The national semifinals are a proctored exam held at each team’s school on April 25. Scores will be tallied nationwide and the four top-scoring teams will then meet in New York City on an all-expenses-paid trip to compete for the championship.
Two Harker students won awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, held last week in Los Angeles.
Junior Amy Jin’s project, titled “Deep Learning-Based Automated Tool Detection and Analysis of Surgical Videos to Assess Operative Skill,” won her a Second Award in the robotics and intelligent machines category. She also won a First Geno Award, which included a $1,000 cash prize, from the Samvid Education Foundation.
Recent graduate Manan Shah ’17 won a Second Award in the computational biology and bioinformatics category for his project, titled “Deep Learning Assessment of Tumor Proliferation in Histopathological Images for Categorical and Molecular Breast Cancer Severity Diagnosis.” The project also earned him an honorable mention from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
Both students won their trips to Intel ISEF at the Synopsys Science & Technology Championship in March, where they each received grand prizes.
Harker’s middle school speech and debate team, coached by Christopher Thiele, had a successful trip to the Middle School Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Ky., this past weekend. Harker students earned numerous awards at the event, in which 33 schools representing 145 of the best middle school debate/speech entries across 15 states participated.
Policy: First place, Deven Shah, grade 7, and Julia Biswas, grade 8; second place, Andy Lee and Jason Lin, both grade 8; third place, Akshay Manglik and Aditya Tadimeti, both grade 8; and fifth place, Helen Li and Deven Parikh, both grade 8. Manglik got eighth speaker, Lee got fourth speaker, Biswas got third speaker and Shah got first speaker.
Lincoln-Douglas: Akhilesh Chegu and Rishi Jain, both grade 7, and Aditi Vinod, grade 8, all placed fifth. Chegu got eighth speaker, Jain got seventh speaker and Krishay Mukhija, grade 8, got fourth speaker.
Public Forum: Second place, Anshul Reddy and Sascha Pakravan, both grade 7; Reddy got fifth speaker.
Congress: Third place, Andrew Sun, grade 8.
Dramatic Interpretation: First place, Rhea Nanavati; second place, Arusha Patil, both grade 8.
Original Oratory: Fourth place, Arusha Patil, grade 8.
This article prepared from a report by Shania Wang, grade 10, vice president of public relations for Harker’s DECA chapter.
Students in Harker’s DECA chapter traveled to Anaheim for the 2017 International Career Development Conference (ICDC) this spring. The conference consisted of tough competitions, inspiring leadership academies and unforgettable memories. Eight teams from Harker DECA ended up in the preliminary finalists round. Six of those eight teams had the opportunity to compete in the finalist round, with three teams placing in the Top 10, one team taking third place and one student taking first place.
Finalists are as follows:
First Place
Evan Cheng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Third Place
Nishka Ayyar, Riya Gupta, both grade 10, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Top 10 Finalists
Enya Lu, grade 10, Business Finance Series
Shania Wang, grade 10, Public Relations Project
Neelesh Ramachandran, grade 11, Virtual Business Challenge – Accounting
Top 20 Finalists
Haley Tran, grade 12, Restaurant and Food Service Management
Testing – Top 10 Finalists
Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Mona Lee, grade 11, Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
Wednesday, some students ran the DECA 5K at Angel Stadium to raise money and awareness for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. That evening, members attended the grand opening session, along with the 19,000 other ICDC attendees. The session included a fashion show presented by the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, an inspiring keynote keynote speaker, and performances from country singer Billy Gilman and band Echosmith.
Three students began their Emerging Leader Series in the Ignite Academy to build their leadership skills, and the next day, the group gave presentations and performed in role plays in the initial round of the competition.
“The atmosphere before our presentation was definitely different than previous conferences. We were sitting among tough competitors, and this definitely stressed us out,” said Katelyn Vo, grade 9, competitor in Fashion Merchandising Plan. “However, my partners and I pulled through, and I think we did really well overall. It was a great experience getting to compete at ICDC.”
After the competitive events and academies concluded, members could visit Disneyland for the rest of the day. Students also had the chance to visit the booths including exhibits by various business colleges and corporations.
Saturday was the last full day of ICDC. In the morning, students and chaperones gathered for the achievement awards session to find out whether they would move on to the final round of competitions taking place that day. In each event, approximately 20 competitors from the more than 200 teams would advance to finals. Top participants for presentations, career cluster exams and overall performers were recognized individually. Harker had an amazing turnout, with eight teams receiving the opportunity to come up on stage for their achievements. A total of six teams qualified to compete in the final round of competitions.
“In terms of competition, Harker DECA had its most successful ICDC thus far, which is really a result of everyone’s hard work over the past year,” said Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Harker DECA co-CEO and testing finalist in Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series. “I loved seeing how much these students learned and improved regardless of whether they were finalists or not. Everyone was cheering on and rooting for their fellow students, and there was a real sense of camaraderie among them. We really came together as a group and that really contributed to the overall high energy of the chapter this year,” he said.
Five Harker teams were announced as top 10 finalists. The group roared its approval when Cheng was announced as first place winner in the Principles of Hospitality and Tourism event, and that Ayyar and Gupta received third place in the Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making event.
“It felt amazing going on stage,” said Gupta. “We didn’t believe it and it was really surreal, but we realized our accomplishment afterwards and my partner and I were really happy. I will truly never forget this moment.”
Wang, a top 10 finalist in Public Relations Project, also was recognized on stage for being a part of the ICDC Anaheim Live Social Media Team. Throughout the conference, she worked with DECA Inc. staff to ensure satisfactory social media coverage on all outlets. As part of the editorial team, Shania also wrote several articles for DECA Direct that will be posted in the upcoming weeks.
After the awards ceremony, Harker DECA celebrated all of their accomplishments throughout the past year with the rest of California DECA at the state dinner. ICDC 2017 definitely was one to remember for attendees.
“ICDC this year was an unforgettable experience for the Harker DECA chapter. We were able to come exceptionally prepared with our strongest competitors and they saw great success!” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA advisor. “My hope is that the positive energy experienced here will carry on into next year and bring our chapter to the next level. Most importantly, students were able strengthen their business acumen, develop professionally and grow in confidence as emerging leaders and entrepreneurs. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them as they own their future.”