In May, Youth Journalism International announced the winners of its yearly contest, and Harker came up big. Class of 2012 graduates Sanjana Baldwa, Michelle Lo, Priyanka Mody, Jennie Xu, Laura Yau and grade 12 student Samantha Hoffman took second place in team reporting in a news story for their article, “Harpa Symbolizes a Turning Point for Icelandic Culture: A Monumental Resurrection.”
Harker won three awards in the team reporting feature story category, taking first place for a story by Michelle Deng ’12 and Allison Kiang, grade 9, titled, “Celebrating Survivors: Tales of Two Women and Their Victories Against Breast Cancer,” and second place for the story “Great White at Monterey Bay Aquarium” by Alisha Mayor ’12 and Samar Malik, grade 10. Priyanka Mody and Meena Chetty, grade 10, won an honorable mention for their story, “Self-Acceptance: Conquering an Eating Disorder.”
In the profile category, Shilpa Nataraj ’12 earned an honorable mention for “Japanese Musician Shares Traditional Instruments and Music.” First place in the first-person essay category went to Nayeon Kim, who wrote “Musicality, The Beauty of Chamber Music.”
Harker journalism’s photo squad also took home several awards, including first place in sports photo, for a water polo photo titled “Desperate Save,” taken by Megan Prakash, grade 10. Class of 2012 graduates Devin Nguyen and Laura Yau tied for second place in sports photo, Nguyen for his “Varsity Football” photo and Yau for “Running the Ball,” also a football shot. Prakash also took second place in the news photo category for her shot, titled “Pull!”
Middle school Latin students took the National Latin Exam in March, and of the 52 Harker students who received awards, 18 won gold medals and four had perfect papers.
In the Introduction to Latin category, Praveen Batra, Edgar Lin, Andrew Semenza, Eric Tran, Jeffrey Ma, Derek Yen, Rahul Bhethanabotla, Justin Au, all grade 6, and Grace Park, Raymond Xu and Arnav Tandon, all grade 7, received outstanding achievement awards. Achievement awards went to grade 6 students Sanjana Avula, Joshua Broweleit, Michael Kwan, Olivia Long, Sameep Mangat, Grant Chen and Satchi Thockchom.
Grade 7 students Venkat Sankar, Austin Tuan, Aditya Dhar, Amrita Singh, Arjun Subramaniam, Alayna Richmond, James He, Albert Xu and Kshithija Mulam all won gold/summa cum laude awards in Latin I, with Sankar and Tuan each submitting perfect papers. Meanwhile, Alexis Gauba, Manan Shah, Alexander Lam, Peter Wu, Eric Pei, Karthik Sundaram, all grade 7, and Anthony Luo, grade 8, won silver/maxima cum laude awards. Winning magna cum laude were Alex Youn, grade 7, and John Jerney, grade 8. Grade 7 students Brendan Tobin, Brandon Chow and Jackson Su all won cum laude awards.
In the Latin II category, Elisabeth Siegel, Allison Wang, Rishabh Chandra, Sadhika Malladi, Gurutam Thockchom and Michael Moncton, all grade 8, won gold/summa cum laude awards, and Siegel and Wang were recognized for having perfect papers. Arjun Narayan, Grace Guan, Malvika Khanna and Kaushik Sankar, all grade 8, won silver/maxima cum laude awards, and cum laude awards were won by eighth graders Jonathan Dai and Jonathan Yu.
Earlier this year, results for the National Classical Etymology Exam were also revealed, and Sadhika Malladi and Elisabeth Siegel, grade 8, and Venkat Sankar, grade 7 all received gold awards. Rishabh Chandra, Alison Wang, both grade 8, and Nikhil Manglik and Albert Xu, both grade 7, won silver, and grade 7 students Chris Finsterbusch and Alexander Lam won bronze.
This story was originally published in the spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly.
Among 200,000 paintings, short stories, writing portfolios, poems, digital art pieces and other works submitted to the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, only the top seven to 10 percent of submitted works make it to the national level, where the pieces are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts. Five Harker students were awarded Gold Keys, which will move them on to the national judging level, which takes place this month.
Cindy Tay, Grade 12
Cindy Tay, grade 12, won the Gold Key for her creative writing portfolio. After keeping most of her work to herself and close friends and teachers, Tay decided to submit her portfolio to the Scholastic Art and Writing contest. “It was time for me to put myself out there and get some new eyes on my work,” said Tay.
The pieces Tay chose were a reflection of her personality and experiences: “Meditations on Frozen Vegetables,” a story about Tay’s inability to remain calm under all circumstances; “Rice Paper and Red Eyes,” written about the struggles of a first-semester senior; “Needlework,” a piece about the afterlife; and her favorite, “Soliloquy to the Lost Hour,” a tale of teenage sleep deficiency.
To Tay, writing is how she best expresses herself. “I can be a little shy and sometimes lost for words. On writing assignments, however, my pen becomes the sassy, sharp tongue I wish I could deploy physically.” To future students, Tay says to actively pursue feedback, even from those who may not have a creative writing background. She also has a bit of college application advice: “Keep all your pieces for senior year …. Many of my college essays were derived from personal memoirs I had written previously.”
Meilan Steimle, Grade 7
Meilan Steimle, grade 7, submitted nine of her works to the competition. Three won Silver Keys, one an Honorable Mention, but it was her short story, “Yosemite Grasslands,” that won the Gold Key. The story is about a trip to Yosemite and “a girl who is as kooky as her parents, but fails to recognize it until she is forced to room with ‘normal’ people.” Originally an English assignment in grade 6, Steimle revised it heavily and submitted it to Enlight’ning, the middle school’s literary magazine. After revising the piece again this year, Steimle submitted the piece to Scholastic. “A lot of my other stories are pretty dark, and most of my family prefer ‘Yosemite Grasslands’ because it is lighter and funnier,” said Steimle. “It wasn’t my personal favorite, but I guess it’s all subjective.
Echoing the feelings of many writers before her, Steimle recognized the most challenging part of creating her piece was returning to it and revising it. “I just felt like I had already been there and done that.” After all revisions were complete, however, the story had been changed for the better. For aspiring writers, Steimle says not to worry if a favorite piece receives no recognition, as writing is subjective. Ultimately, says Steimle, “Write because you want to. If you read something you wrote and it makes you laugh or cry or even smile, you’ve won, even if you didn’t get recognition. In the end, your most important audience is yourself.
Carissa Chen, Grade 7
Carissa Chen, grade 7, won a Gold Key for her self- portrait, shown at left. She entered the competition to receive feedback and improve, as well as for the opportunity to share her art with others. “One of the necessities in drawing is to understand what you are drawing and what you are trying to ‘say,’” says Chen. She chose her self-portrait because it felt like a journey; exploring every crevice and detail of her face was meticulous, but rewarding. “It helped me understand my physical image as well as incorporate little hints of my own personality into a drawing.”
Drawing is Chen’s preferred form of expression. “I’m actually a shy person and I tend to plaster and veil my own thoughts. Drawing helps me show my own ideas.” Though she loves to draw, Chen was worried about facing the possibility of rejection when entering the contest. “Because I put hours of work and my own ideas into my drawing, the idea of it being rejected would not only hurt my pride as an artist, but also what I believe in.”
To future students, Chen advises hard work, dedication and rejecting limiting beliefs like “you have to be born with it.” To Chen, being a good artist is about much more than having technical ability: “Artistic talent isn’t the ability to draw a perfect circle naturally or place the colors in the right order or way. Rather, it’s the ability to become vulnerable in each drawing and the desire to work hard.”
Max Maynard, Grade 12
Max Maynard, grade 12, won the Gold Key for his digital art piece, “Depression,” first created in his AP Studio Art class. Maynard enjoys creating digital art because of its ease of manipulation and the endless creative possibilities engendered by working on a computer. He likes that he needs nothing more than his computer to do the work, as well as the creative options available to him through digital art. “It is possible to perhaps create something by the combination of elements that aren’t always able to combine in other media,” says Maynard.
The greatest challenge for Maynard while producing his piece was making sure he followed the proper creative commons licenses when using others’ photos, an important consideration for any digital artist. For those interested in creating digital art, Maynard counsels, “Technical skill in art comes with experience, so don’t worry too much about that. Focus more on your vision for the work as an artist.”
Cherry Xie, Grade 12
Xinyi “Cherry” Xie, grade 12, won the Gold Key for her painting, “Balcony,” which also received the first place painting award in the upper school’s juried art exhibit in May. Of everything she has done in the past few years, it’s the piece with which she is most satisfied. What she likes most about the piece are the colors. “I love the greens and contrasting red-orange, the shades of brown and blue and the caramel-like tone on the side.” The way in which the colors were mixed played into Xie’s technical skills as a painter. “I think I’ve always been super-sensitive to colors and somewhat obsessed with balancing palettes.”
To future AP Studio Art students, Xie has some sage advice: “Listen to [your teacher] and submit your pieces! It’s worth the extra effort!” Xie says as the creator of a piece of art, it is difficult to judge it objectively, and hard to realize that what was created was in fact very special. “No matter how you feel about your works,” says Xie, “that should not prevent you from just taking a leap of faith and showing it to others or submitting it in contests, because you never know how special it might be for someone (or everyone) else. Believe in yourself.” Sage advice, indeed!
For more information on the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, visit www.artandwriting.org.
William Chang, grade 12, has won an $800 award for an essay contest. Chang was a district finalist in the Elks Most Valuable Student Contest following his performance in the recent state judging.
Reached for comment, Chang, who currently studies advanced journalism and English composition, said he found out about the competition during one of his class meetings. ” I was still in the college application mindset, so I decided to apply for the scholarship as well. I basically wrote about my general interests, extra-curriculars, and community service and leadership roles, and my reasons for pursuing them. It was very much the typical introspective college application essay. It was my first scholarship award and I was really happy to have received it,” he recalled.
The contest was sponsored by The Elk’s National Foundation, a charitable organization which awards 500 four-year scholarships to the highest-rated applicants in the competition. Applicants must advance through local, district and state competitions to reach national judging level.
Harker’s student journalism news website, TalonWP.com, has been awarded the prestigious Gold Crown Award for digital news from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). According to the CSPA, this year 1,351 printed magazines, newspapers and yearbooks and 182 digital publications bycurrent CSPA members were eligible to enter the competition. Online news media were judged at Columbia University by the Board of Crown Judges in February 2012. Publications were judged on writing/editing, design, content, concept, photography, art and graphics. Only 13 digital news publications received the Gold Crown Award, which has been presented annually since 1983.
This year’s award is only the latest in the past several years of recognition for Harker’s journalism program, which is directed by Chris Daren. TalonWP.com won a Silver Crown in 2011 and a Gold Crown in 2010. The Winged Post won a Silver Crown in 2010 as well. Read more about the Harker journalism program in the current issue of Harker Quarterly.
Enlight’ning, a magazine published every spring at the middle school which showcases artwork, poetry and prose created entirely by middle school students, has been awarded a gold medal by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA).
The judges commented on the exceptional prose, citing, among others, eighth grader Samyukta Yagati’s “Snack Cart,” which they called “a gem. It’s syntactically advanced and strongly plotted.”
The poetry was praised as well – eighth grader Cindy Liu’s poem “Painting” was in fact called, “one of the best two pieces here,” and was noted for its “vibrant imagery.”
And for their artwork, Carissa Chen, grade 6 and Kevin Ke, grade 7, were told their pieces were “strikingly precocious” and “hilarious and well-executed,” respectively.
The magazine scored a comprehensive 823 points out of a possible 1,000.
The CSPA was founded in an effort to improve student publications by providing members with an annual written review of the previous year’s publications. Harker’s “Enlight’ning” has continually received high marks.
In early June, recent graduate Vladimir Sepetov and rising senior Jessica Lin attended a special ceremony held at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the national winners of this year’s Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Sepetov received a silver medal award for mixed media, and Lin won a silver medal in the novel writing category.
“It was awesome,” Sepetov recalled. “A lot of really talented students were there and it was really amazing to see the breadth of work that won and was exhibited.” One of the highlights for Sepetov was seeing famed conceptual artist John Baldessari speak at the ceremony. “I was actually able to meet him before the ceremony for a quick handshake,” Sepetov said. “It was super cool.”
“It was really magical to be surrounded by other young artists who share amazing dedication and passion for the arts,” Lin said. “Everyone became friends really quickly, and we took turns telling the crazy stories behind our projects.”
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk also appeared as a surprise guest speaker, as he was one of the judges for new video game category. The Empire State Building was also illuminated during the night of the ceremony.
The day after the ceremony, Scholastic’s “Talk & Tours” program gave attendees the opportunity to view lectures and get a better view at various art and design programs. Sepetov went to a lecture at the School of Visual Arts that discussed how the arts could be used to benefit society. “I plan on majoring in design next year so it was really cool to get another look at design professionally,” Sepetov said.
Both students looked back fondly on their experience participating in the competition. “As a young writer/painter/sculptor/etc., there’s a lot of uncertainty about your work and you don’t really know where to start,” said Lin. “The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards gives young artists an opportunity to gain recognition and confidence.”
The creativity and hard work of Harker students translated into significant success in this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Student artist Vladimir Sepetov, grade 12, won a Gold Key, two Silver Keys and two honorable mentions at the regional level and was awarded a Silver Medal at the national level in the mixed media category. Jessica Lin, grade 11, won a silver medal in the Novel Writing category. Junior Jessica Shen received two honorable mentions in the regional competition. As national winners, both Lin and Sepetov were invited to attend a special ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City to receive their awards.
In the writing portion, Cindy Tay, grade 11, was recently named a regional Gold Key medalist in the personal essay category. Three other student writers – Emily Wang, Justin Gerard and Shelby Rorabaugh, all grade 10 – received Merit awards.
Held every year by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest recognizes high school students in the United States, Canada and in overseas American schools with interests in the visual and literary arts. This year’s contest had 185,000 entries.
Harker just received results from the National Classical Etymology online exam that students in grades 9-10 took in November. Harker students earned 20 medals: 13 gold, five silver and two bronze! The exam consisted of Latin and Greek derived words that students had to define in English based on their root meanings.
Gold Medalists: Erik Anderson, Cobi Ashkenazi, Jonathan Cho, Nik Datuashvili , Simon Orr, Christopher Sund, Ashvin Swaminathan, Apurva Tandon, all grade 10; Sarika Bajaj, Kevin Duraiswamy, Connie Li, Sreyas Misra, Brian Tuan, all grade 9. Silver medals were won by Daphne Millard, grade 10 and freshmen Tiffany Chu, Helena Huang, Saachi Jain and Urvi Gupta. Bronze medals were won by Andy Wang and Nikhil Dilip, both grade 9.
Over the summer, enlight’ning, Harker’s middle school literary magazine, was recognized by the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) and Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) for its exemplary product.
The National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) awarded the 2009-2010 edition of enlight’ning the First Class award with marks of distinction for concept, writing and editing. ASPA named Kevin Ke, now Gr. 7, Best Artist for his artwork “Octopus Wreck” and gave the publication first place with special merit. “We are all very proud of the staff members’ work,” adviser Patricia Lai Burrows said.
enlight’ning editor Nila Banerjee, now Gr. 9, was delighted to hear about the awards. “As part of the staff, I really enjoyed working as a team to build the magazine,” she said, “It’s such a great feeling when everyone enjoys something that you help make.”
CSPA named this edition a Silver Medalist winner, scoring the design, writing and organization very highly. The adviser-judge who critiqued enlight’ning offered ways to improve and also offered her praise, calling “Changing Life” the best poem in the magazine. The judge also commended the clean look and standout images and gave the literary magazine a comprehensive 741 points out of 1000.