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.
Seniors Evani Radiya-Dixit, Arjun Subramaniam and Manan Shah were selected as three of the 40 national finalists in this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Society for Science & the Public announced this morning. These three finalists represent the most from any school in the country, and are among three of five finalists hailing from the Bay Area. This number also ties the Harker record of three finalists set in 2015.
The students will be headed to Washington, D.C., in March for the final competition, where $1.8 million in prizes will be up for contention. During their visit, they will have the opportunity to meet with national leadership and present their work to the National Geographic Society.
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Nine Harker students were among the 300 scholars named today in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search (formerly the Intel Science Talent Search). Seniors Kai Ang, Angela Kim, Sandip Nirmel, Srivatsav Pyda (not pictured), Evani Radiya-Dixit, Venkat Sankar, Manan Shah, Scott Song and Arjun Subramaniam made up the largest group of scholars from a single California high school and tied with New York’s Jericho High School and Maryland’s Montgomery Blair High School for the largest number from a single school in the nation.
Each student will receive a $2,000 cash prize, and an additional $2,000 will be awarded to Harker as one of the schools that produced this year’s STS scholars.
On Jan. 24, the Society for Science & the Public will announce this year’s 40 STS finalists, who will travel to Washington, D.C., in March to compete for $1.8 million in prizes.
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.
Several Harker math students had strong scores in National Assessment & Testing’s 2016 Fall Startup Event. Coached by upper school math teacher Anuradha Aiyer, the students worked to make Harker the fifth-highest placing school in the country. Freshmen Jeffrey Kwan and Rohan Cherukuri placed 13th and 20th, respectively, in the grade 9 division. In the grade 10 division, Katherine Tian placed 17th. Swapnil Garg took third placed in the grade 11 division, where Jimmy Lin placed 17th. Finally, in the grade 12 division, Misha Ivkov placed 14th.
Students participating in the Fall Startup Event are given 100 problems and tasked with solving as many as possible within 30 minutes. It is the first of four contests administered by National Assessment & Testing throughout the school year.
What a week it was for the boys water polo team! The Eagles soared through their first two games of the SCVAL-El Camino Tournament, picking up a 20-4 win over Milpitas and a 14-5 win over Fremont, setting up a championship match against league rival Lynbrook. The Vikings had defeated Harker three times during the year, but the Eagles came through with a 12-11 overtime win in the title match. The victory gave the Eagles the co-league championship and a berth to CCS, both firsts for the Harker boys water polo program. On Tuesday, the Eagles faced off with Half Moon Bay in the opening round of CCS, but fell 14-5 to end their season. Congrats on a great run this year!
Girls Varsity Volleyball
The Eagles were defeated last week 3-0 by Notre Dame Belmont, but finished their season on a high note with a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame San Jose on Senior Night. Harker finished the season with a 7-18 record.
Girls Golf
Last week, the girls golf team qualified for CCS with a strong second place finish at the WBAL tournament, in which Katherine Zhu, grade 11, won her third straight individual league title. CCS was held on Tuesday and Zhu was the top Harker golfer, finishing in 15th place out of 99 competitors, with Katelyn Vo, grade 9, finishing 28th. As a team, the Eagles finished ninth out of 13th teams competing at CCS. Congrats on a great year!
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team had 6-1 victories over Presentation and Pinewood. Earlier this week, Rachel Broweleit, grade 9, Srivani Vegesna, grade 9, and the doubles teams of Lizzy Schick, grade 11, and Gina Partridge, grade 9, and Connie Miao, grade 12, and Kathleen Cheng, grade 11, represented Harker at the WBAL tournament. Broweleit played very well and finished in fourth place in the singles bracket. Schick and Partridge took second in doubles. The Eagles play their final regular season match of the year on Thursday against Sacred Heart Prep. The girls will find out this weekend if they will make CCS as a wildcard.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team lost in its first two rounds of the SCVAL tournament last week, 7-1 to Saratoga and 10-2 to Lynbrook. But the season ended on a high note with a 7-1 victory over Milpitas. The girls finished 7-18 on the season.
Football
The football team picked up a victory by forfeit versus Emery Friday. The Eagles are back in action this Saturday for Homecoming as they take on Stellar Prep.
Cross Country
The cross country team takes on the rest of the league in the WBAL championships this Friday at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park.
In early October, sophomore pianist Nicole Chen performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as one of the winners of the 2015-16 American Fine Arts Festival Competition. Chen, who began playing in kindergarten, has had success in numerous competitions over the years. She also is involved with the Music Buddies organization, which organizes youth concerts for senior centers. Way to go!
Niki Iyer, grade 12, was recently named an Athlete of the Week by The Mercury News for her amazing performance at the second WBAL meet held last week. Iyer set the fastest girls time of the season among CCS runners at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, finishing the 3.1 mile course in 18 minutes, 9 seconds. Her time was also the fifth-fastest ever on the course. Next up for Iyer and the cross country team is the WBAL Championships on Nov. 4 at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2016 Harker Quarterly.
By Zach Jones and William Cracraft
Business and entrepreneurship (B.E.) and DECA students have been busy! DECA students attended and earned accolades at the International Career Development Conference in April and the State Career Development Conference in March, and a B.E. student won a $20,000 award for managing personal finances in a nationwide contest.
History Made at 2016 ICDC
In late April, 20 students from Harker’s DECA chapter attended the 2016 International Career Development Conference (ICDC) at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn., with great results, including a first place win.
“The four-day business conference featured competitions with tough opponents, skill building leadership academies and unforgettable experiences,” said Shania Wang, grade 9, director of communications for Harker DECA.
Two Harker teams finished in the top 20 during preliminary competitions, earning them the chance to compete in the final round. And, for the first time in Harker DECA history, a student from the chapter received first place in a role-play event at ICDC. Enya Lu, grade 9, took top honors in the principles of finance category, while teammates Dolan Dworak, Brandon Mo and Michael Sikand, all grade 10, were finalists in the independent business plan category.
“It was a great opportunity to learn about how business works in a culture like that of Nashville and get feedback from local business owners about how to appeal to a non-Bay Area market,” said Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 10, Harker DECA vice president of competitions and strategy and a competitor in the finance operations research category.
Harker advanced two teams to the final round of competitions: Lu and the team of Dworak, Mo and Sikand. Harker DECA members exploded in cheers as Lu was named a top 10 finalist. Within minutes, it was announced that Lu won first place in her event. “It felt amazing,” said Lu. “I was very surprised and I was kind of scared when I went up. I was really excited and I thought that I did well already, but I really wasn’t expecting it. When they announced third and second, I thought that I wouldn’t get it, but then I did, and it was amazing.”
“This year’s ICDC was an amazing experience for students who were able to connect professionally, serve their community, and develop further as future business professionals and emerging leaders,” added Juston Glass, Harker DECA advisor. Read the full story in Harker News: http://wp.me/pOeLQ-7z9.
CardioBand wins at DECA Career Conference
Grade 9 students Natasha Maniar and Kelsey Wu won first place at the DECA State Career Development Conference in March for a product they designed called CardioBand.
“CardioBand is an innovative three-in-one personal medical and fitness device which will revolutionize the way people monitor their heart health,” said Maniar. The proposed device will function as an electrocardiogram, emergency alert and a fitness monitor. Utilizing a Velcro harness and an app, CardioBand would be able to detect irregular heartbeats and prevent deaths related to sudden cardiac failures.
Maniar and Wu recently had their plan reviewed by venture capitalists and financial analysts, and are happy with the feedback they received. “CardioBand is a huge step up,” said Alex Antebi of Connective Capital Management. “It leapfrogs the competition with its continuous monitoring and proactive notification system.” Read the full story in Harker News: http://wp.me/pOeLQ-7CY.
Freshman Entrepreneur Nails Life Finance Challenge
Rithvik Panchapakesan, grade 9, was named an H&R Block Budget Challenge scholarship winner! Panchapakesan won the award for proving himself a personal finance master in the game of “life.”
Students who participated in the challenge were given a virtual job, complete with a 401(k), credit card bills and student loans. They then had to successfully manage their paychecks for 10 weeks. Panchapakesan competed with thousands of students nationwide and was one of only 22 to receive the $20,000 scholarship.
“The most challenging part of the budget challenge was managing my credit card utilization rate,” said Panchapakesan. “I think this challenge will help me manage my money in life because it brought the different issues of money management to my attention.” Read the full story in Harker News.
Rising senior Niki Iyer won the women’s age 17-18 3000-meter race in 10:05.08 at the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships at Sacramento State University in late July! Check out this great interview with her as she recaps her motivation for the race and talks about her upcoming season at with the Harker team.
Grade 8 students Kathy Fang and Amla Rashingkar received certificates of recognition from the Promising Young Writers Program, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Fang and Rashingkar were among just 122 eighth graders in the United States and Canada who received this recognition for superior writing. Papers were judged for content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style.
“This contest was an opportunity for me to see if my voice in writing is eloquent enough to be heard. The results of the contest have proven the saying ‘be yourself’ to be true; by expressing my thoughts and testing my creativity, I have emerged as a winner,” said Fang.
Rashingkar added that the competition really helped push her limits as a writer. “Moreover, I now can say I am one of the top writers in the nation, and the win inspired me to keep writing,” she said.
The Promising Young Writers program represents NCTE’s commitment to early and continuing work in the development of writing. The school-based writing program was established in 1985 to stimulate and recognize students’ writing talents and to emphasize the importance of writing skills among eighth-grade students.
Students, who must be nominated for the honor by their teachers, are required to submit a best writing sample in response to a themed topic.