![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
The Spanish National Honor Society released the second issue of its semiannual newsletter Pòrtico al mundo hispano this week in an effort to promote Spanish cultural awareness throughout the school.
The newsletter, which translates to “Gateway to the Spanish World,” is available electronically through a link on the Daily Bulletin. This is the first time the newsletter is available only through an electronic format, according to Spanish teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair Abel Olivas, who said that this decision was made to increase readership.
Some of the articles that Olivas highlighted include a review of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotamayor’s memoir My Beloved World, a piece on the nature-based tourism in Latin America, interviews with former Spanish students on internships in Mexico City, and an interview with alumna Shrestha Singh (’08) regarding her service involvement with immigrant communities in Philadelphia.
“It’s a lot of fun to watch the kids use their Spanish outside of the classroom and explore various aspects of Hispanic culture and society through their articles,” Olivas said. “The students working on the Spanish NHS newsletter inspire other language students in all levels of our program.”
The four Spanish teachers, Olivas, Isabel Garcia, Daniela Rozanes, and Diana Moss work with the students throughout the process, from article selection to publication.
“I help with the whole process of editing: we, the teachers, make the corrections,” Rozanes said. “We help guiding the students, selecting the articles that they want to write. We make sure that everything is in proper writing Spanish.”
The students have worked on this issue for over two months. According to Olivas, the article selection process began near the end of January. After the Spanish teachers corrected the students’ articles, the four designers, junior Shivani Gillon and seniors Madeleine Dawson, Nayeon Kim, and Joy Li, consolidated the pieces into a newsletter format.
“This year, our issues have featured more articles about current events in politics, society, and culture and their impact and relationship to Latin and Spanish culture,” editor Vikas Bhetanabhotla (11) said. “In order to widen our reader base, we began to include English translations of articles that we felt could apply to many people at Harker outside the Spanish community as well.”
The newsletter was first published in 2008 and since 2009 has been publishing twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. The electronic version of the newsletter is available here http://goo.gl/Uv8FU.
