One representative from every advisory and club joined together to discuss and share their ideas about what the community is like at Harker along with ways to improve the school at the Harker Summit in the Nichols Atrium this morning from 8 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Previously known as the Honor and Ethics Conference, the Harker Summit is held by the Honor Council in hopes of providing new insight and student opinions into the school community.

“It’s been called the Honor and Ethics Conference prior but it’s similar ideas in the sense of getting a lot of students talking and putting their brains together,” Honor Council advisor Evan Barth said. “This is the third time we’ve done that, [and] we wanted to not focus on honor as honor but more just as part of what we are at this school and draw a bigger circle.”

The event was separated into three sessions. The first one was more about optimism and what everyone’s ideal Harker is like.

The second session was about the impediments in the community and the obstacles prohibiting the student body from achieving the ideal Harker.
Many students voiced out their opinions about how there was a lot of transparency between the students and the administration, as well as the internal relationships between the students and teachers.

The last session dealt with ways to solve these impediments, and the discussion ended with some students talking about their general overview of their experience today.

Many students who attended the event thought that it was an effective way to bring together the community and for the students to voice their ideas and opinions.

“I think it was really good because different people could come together and express their ideas and it kind of showed that everyone kind of wants [a] community here,” Kristen Ko (12) said.

Faculty members also believed that change will occur in the community as a result of the Harker Summit discussion.

“I know there will be change, how visible and tangible all that change will be or when it will be, that’s to be determined,” English teacher Thomas Wicklund said. “But I would say absolutely I am confident that some things will change in a positive way.”

Some students feel that despite the discussion brought about a lot of student ideas, there still remains a certain level of transparency between the students and the administration.

“I think it was a good step towards the administration getting student input on a bunch of really important issues but we will walk away not really knowing if our ideas are heard,” Aliesa Bahri (10) said.

Students who attended as representatives will discuss the topics talked about during the Harker Summit with their advisories on Oct. 7.