![“[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 Journalism wins awards at D.C. convention
Harker Journalism earned several awards following the JEA/NSPA national journalism convention in Washington, D.C. from Nov. 19 to 23. The Winged Post won its first Pacemaker in ten years, Harker Aquila won sixth place in Best of Show and four individual stories received honorable mentions in various Story of the Year categories.
November 25, 2019
Harker Journalism was recognized at the national level at the JEA/NSPA fall high school journalism convention in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 23. The recognition followed nominations for 2019 Digital Story of the Year, Social Justice Reporting, Local Climate Change Reporting and a Pacemaker on Sept. 19.
Following an evaluation at the convention which incorrectly placed Harker Aquila in the category of schools with 1500 students or more, the news site garnered sixth place in Best of Show, a contest in which school publications are critiqued by advisors and journalism educators.
The Winged Post, the upper school’s print publication, won its third Pacemaker award in 22 years for the staff’s work in the 2018-2019 school year, under editors-in-chief Prameela Kottapalli (‘19) and Kat Zhang (‘19). The newspaper was among 19 schools in the nation to receive the honor from a pool of 220 news publications who were chosen as finalists in the competition. The Winged Post has been a finalist in the competition six times, and the paper last won this award in the 2007-2008 school year.
Harker Journalism received honorable mentions in Social Justice Reporting and Local Climate Change Reporting for its story by guest writer Mahika Halepete (12) on the refugee crisis and for reporting by Arya Maheswari (11), Varsha Rammohan (11), Lucy Ge (10) and Michael Eng (11) on the Green New Deal.
Harker Journalism also received two honorable mentions in the 2019 Digital Story of the Year category for its story by Eric Fang (12), Kathy Fang (12), Arushi Saxena (11) and Anna Vazhaeparambil on June’s California Democratic Convention and its feature story by Kathy Fang (12) and Jessie Wang (12) on Dr. Thomas Artiss’ beekeeping. This was the first time Harker Journalism’s stories were on the list.
