![“[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)
Upper school dancers participate in buddy program
Liana Wang (10) leads members of a fifth-grade dance class in warming up during a March 14 dance class at the Lower School. Karl Kuehn, upper school dance program director, conceptualized the idea for the program with Gail Palmer, dance program director for the Lower and Middle Schools.
March 23, 2016
Upper school dance team members from the varsity, junior varsity and Kinetic Krew dance teams met with lower school dance classes last week to assist teachers.
Upper school dancers helped fourth- and fifth-graders on March 14 and Friday. They worked with second-grade students on March 15 and with first- and third-graders on March 16.
Karl Kuehn, upper school dance program director, conceptualized the idea for the program with Gail Palmer, dance program director for the Lower and Middle Schools.
“We were thinking of ways to make it more unified between the campuses in dance, since it’s a great opportunity because we have K-through-12 here,” Palmer said. “In particular, I’m an advocate for boys dancing, and I think seeing that there’s high school boys dancing can be really good for our lower school and middle school boys.”
Some dancers who volunteered for the program wanted to support dancers at the Lower School and encourage them to continue dancing.
“I just think it’s a fantastic opportunity to help out the younger dancers and get them really inspired,” Timothy Wang (9), a member of Kinetic Krew, said. “A lot of times second graders join to see what it’s like, and I want to make sure that they stay there. This is an opportunity to get them really into the dance program.”
Other dancers thought of their own time at the Lower School when choosing to join.
“It was a great experience. It really brought me back to those days in elementary school,” Liana Wang (10), a member of the varsity dance troupe, said. “I always like assisting teachers; I did that when I was younger, so I would always go for it. I think just being able to teach younger kids is a really good skill to have, and also it’s nice to connect with people in the Lower School.”
Kuehn hopes to expand the program to encompass the Middle School as well as the Lower School later this year and for future years.
“Hopefully the program will continue to grow; the upper school students seemed pretty excited about the opportunity to work with our younger dancers here at Harker,” Kuehn said. “We opened it up to our audition groups and Conservatory certificate students. They’ll be assisting with grade-level classes at the Lower School as kind of a trial, and we would like it to then later on this year happen at the Middle School as well. They will just be providing some assistance and talking to the students about dance at the Upper School and all the things they have to look forward to as they get older.”
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on March 23, 2016.
