![“[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)
Hearts in the song
Performing arts students shine in spring musical
Ensemble cast members signal the start of the musical with none other than “Start of Something New.”
The audience’s quiet chatters silence and as the curtains are drawn back and the dimmed lights slowly illuminate the stage. The instrumental music of the opening song starts playing in the background, and the story of basketball star Troy Bolton (Kayvon Solaimonpour) and academic whiz Gabriella Montez (Chetana Kalidindi) begins.
“It’s amazing to perform something that was part of my and everyone’s childhood,” Dilara Ezer (10), who plays an East High cheerleader, said. “It’s so fun.”
Approximately 40 students performed in the annual spring musical, “High School Musical,” in a total of four shows at the Blackford campus last week.
The cast performed one show each on Thursday and Friday and two shows on Saturday.
“It’s a great cast—they’re all super nice and super talented [and] very, very high-energy. Everyone’s super excited and invested because [‘High School Musical’] was all part of their childhoods,” performing arts director and musical director Laura Lang-Ree said. “Having Corbin Bleu come [during rehearsal] was unbelievable. We’ve just been having a really good time.”
During a day of rehearsal in spring break, actor Corbin Bleu visited and helped direct the show.
Many members of the cast particularly enjoy this year’s musical because “High School Musical” is well known amongst students.
“This musical is different than the others because it’s about ‘High School Musical,’ which most of us have watched,” Charlotte “Charley” Huang (11), who plays a cheerleader in the muscial, said. “We all can relate to a character in the movies, and it’s great to see it in life performed by your peers because it makes it even more relatable.”
Auditions for the musical originally took place in late November, with approximately 70 students across all four grades auditioning.
Following auditions, the selected cast then started rehearsals for the show in February.
“We’ve been working for weeks. We started with singing and then layering in lots of choreography in rehearsals. Then, we tie[d] it in all together with scenic and character work,” Lang-Ree said. “Everything has been pulled together, and then we extract[ed] all of the character types, so that they all [came] to life really nicely.”
Actor Corbin Bleu, who plays Chad Danforth in the High School Musical movies, visited the cast during one of their rehearsals over spring break this month. Bleu also helped to direct the show for a day.
“There was a huge collective scream, [and] everyone freaked out. It was really awesome, and it was just really surreal to see someone who made the role come to life,” Sana Aladin (12), who plays Ms. Darbus, said. “The person who plays Chad in our musical got to hug him. I think it was really surreal for all of us.”
This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on May 11, 2017.
Nicole Chen (12) is Harker Aquila's Editor-in-Chief. She joined the journalism program in her freshman year as a reporter and became features editor as...
Jenna Sadhu (10) is a Social Media Reporter for the Winged Post and has been a part of the Harker community since Kindergarten. She plays on lacrosse,...