![“[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)
Economics teacher Samuel Lepler receives California Teacher of the Year award from CASET
Economics teacher Samuel Lepler was presented with his Teacher of the Year Award from the California Association of School Economics Teachers (CASET) during the annual CASET conference in San Francisco last Friday. “It’s great. It’s an honor. It’s nice to be able to get credit for things that other people do, because I don’t take the tests, but it’s fun and it feels nice,” Lepler said.
October 23, 2017
Economics teacher Samuel Lepler received the Teacher of the Year award from the California Association of School Economics Teachers (CASET) last Friday.
The award was presented to Lepler during the annual CASET conference in San Francisco. CASET is an organization which promotes economics education in schools across the U.S. The organization chooses a teacher based off efforts to promote economics education and the performance of their students on the AP exams.
In 2013, Lepler had the most students in the world earn perfect scores on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam. Ten of his students received perfect scores on the AP Microeconomics exam, and one student also received a second perfect score on the AP Macroeconomics exam. Lepler is also recognized for his involvement in the community of economics education in California.
“It’s great. It’s an honor. It’s nice to be able to get credit for things that other people do, because I don’t take the tests, but it’s fun and it feels nice,” Lepler said.
Lepler and history and social science teacher Damon Halback presented at the conference about MobLab, an interactive online platform where students can play against each other and learn about basic concepts in economics. While Halback and Upper School Head Butch Keller were notified about Lepler’s award in June, Lepler was not told until the conference last Friday.
“They told us several months ago that he was getting the award. We presented at the conference, and he thought we were there just to present, but in fact he was there to get the award as well,” Halback said. “It was a surprise for him, and it was really fun.”
