![“[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)
Harker community celebrates opening of new performing arts facility
Upper school instrumentalists practice in one of the rehearsal spaces of the center. The facility also includes a series of dressing rooms.
February 9, 2018
The Harker community gathered together for the opening ceremony of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center at the upper school last Friday. The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, performances in the Patil Theater and self-guided tours to explore the various classroom and rehearsal spaces in the new building.
The three ribbons were cut by the Patil and Rothschild families with the Board of Trustees, the architects in charge of building the new center and the teachers in the upper school performing arts department joined by select students representing different performing arts disciplines.
Welcome speeches were given by Head of School Brian Yager as well as Chair of the Board Diana Nichols.
“It is the vision. It is the talent of our performing arts teachers, who have for so many years now motivated our students, so their needs became greater and greater. We owe to them their talent, their motivation and their ability to inspire students to move to greater heights,” Nichols said.
Guests were divided into two groups, who either went on a self-guided tour or watched a showing in the Patil Theater. Performances by Harker students and alumni included Michelle Holt’s ’11 rendition of “Regnava nel silenzio” from the opera “Lucia di Lammermoor” and John Ammatuna’s ‘11 interpretation of “Corner of the Sky” from the musical “Pippin.” The two groups switched activities after the first showing.
The building features a video screen, which is composed of three-inch LCD squares. Each square can be individually programmed to produce different effects and projections. The screen showed the names of every Harker alumni on the day of the opening. The pavement outside the building is lined with donor tiles, each of which has the names of major Harker donors engraved in them.
“The beautiful oak tree and the donor tiles mark the new entrance to the upper school between these wonderful two buildings,” Yager said. “These stones name various contributors, reflecting the utter generosity and the multitudes of support of the Harker community, who contributed to the completion of this project.”
Attendees were able to visit different rooms, including theater, dance, choir and orchestra spaces, and watch simulated class exercises.
“In my freshman and sophomore years, we were in the old orchestra room. I remember that when it rained, we used to put buckets down because [the ceiling] would literally leak. Then, we transitioned to the auxiliary gym, which had pretty bad acoustics. To now have this ‒ a soundproof practice room ‒ is just really rewarding and definitely something to treasure,” Anamika Kannan (12), principal french horn of the upper school orchestra, said.
Students and faculty began transitioning into holding classes in the new performing arts center on Monday of this week.
