![“[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)
Students perform in annual holiday concert
Upper school vocal group Cantilena performs at Big Assembly Day (BAD). All performing groups also visited the lower and middle school campuses for BAD.
December 8, 2017
Upper, middle and lower school performing arts groups toured the three campuses today for their annual Holiday Concert, also known as Big Assembly Day (BAD).
The show began with performances from the orchestra of each campus being performed at and included numbers from Bucknall choir and Dance Fusion; middle school choirs Dynamics, Harmonics and Vivace; middle school dance troupes High Voltage and Showstoppers; upper school choirs Bel Canto, Cantilena, Camerata and Downbeat and upper school dance troupes Kinetic Krew, JV and Varsity dance.
“I always look forward to going over to Bucknall because I used to teach over there, and it’s a lot of joy teaching over there,” upper school vocal music teacher and director of Bel Canto Jennifer Sandusky said. “It’s really fun to see the older kids interact with the younger kids.”
With the completion of the new athletics center, the show was able to be performed at the high school campus instead of being livestreamed, as it was last year.
“It’s exciting; it’s better this year because now that we have the new gym, we can actually perform in front of the students,” Kinetic Krew member Linus Li (12) said. “As it was last year, the streaming was a little bit glitchy, but I think it’s just interesting performing in a new facility with different acoustics.”
While the new performing arts center will be complete in time for the next BAD, it does not have enough seats to hold all the upper school’s students and faculty. A decision is yet to be made whether or not BAD will be held there from now on.
“The theater won’t seat the entire school, so I don’t know what the decision will be around that, whether it’ll be two shows or if it’ll be in the gym,” Sandusky said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Upcoming school productions include the Student Directed Showcase (SDS) shows on Jan. 5 and 6 and the upper school’s annual dance production on Jan. 26 and 27.
