![“[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)
Emoji system fails to help kitchen
The kitchen staff gives students a sad emoji on Feb. 2. The emoji system has not helped students clean up Manzanita, according to the kitchen staff.
March 3, 2016
ASB announced at a school meeting, on Jan. 5, that the kitchen staff was going to start the emoji system again to help change student attitudes towards cleaning up Manzanita Hall.
The emoji system involves students being rated on how well they clean up Manzanita Hall during lunch. Students receive emojis as a rating. If they are rated with a frowning emoji for three days straight, fries will be taken off the menu for the next lunch. If they are rated with a smiling emoji for five consecutive days, then the kitchen staff will provide the students with an ice cream bar for dessert during lunch.
“I think that the emoji system is helping students clean up through a combination of both positive and negative reinforcement,” Alexander Lam (11), secretary for the class of 2017, said.
Callie Stanley, executive director of food services, and Gustavo Parra, a member of the kitchen staff, are in charge of displaying the emoji outside of Manzanita Hall everyday.
Stanley explained how the emoji system helps the kitchen staff.
“It helps us a lot because we have one person that is all they do after lunch, just clean up,” Stanley said. “It just helps us a lot so that we do not have to stay later in the day just because we had to take a couple hours a day to clean up the whole area.”
Parra observed the student’s behavior towards cleaning.
“First day they do very good, but then later like in a week, it’s like everybody forgot that,” he said. “This time, it’s like [the emoji system] almost never even impacted them.”
He has a solution to the neglect of cleaning up Manzanita Hall.
“I think we need to talk to the students and make [it] something that’s important to do because this version is not working,” Gustavo said. “The result is not there, and in the beginning [if] it does not work, later it is very more difficult to keep it to stay.”
Callie Stanley points out the recurring messes and emojis that show up almost daily.
“[The] paper boats left out on tables, same tables each day that don’t clean up, especially the outside ones, full plates left out, and napkins everywhere,” she said. “The sad and straight face [emojis] show up the most.”
The kitchen staff believes that the emoji system has failed to help the students improve cleaning up after themselves during lunch.
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 3, 2016.
