![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
Upper school takes precautionary measures against COVID-19 as California governor Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency
A custodial worker cleans the classrooms in Main after school yesterday. Harker is taking extra precautionary actions to ensure the appropriate sanitation of its campuses.
March 7, 2020
Governor of California Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on March 4 to increase medical resources and standardize guidance in mitigating the spread of the virus in response to the concerns over COVID-19 in California, which has 60 confirmed cases as of March 6 and includes one death of an elderly adult with underlying health conditions in Placer County, which is near Lake Tahoe.
The state of emergency allows the Office of Emergency Services to use state-owned properties and any fairgrounds to assist in recovery efforts. In addition, the declaration requires that healthcare providers cover the costs of COVID-19 testing.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approved the usage of some of the 21 million N95 filtering facepiece masks in emergency planning reserves in an announcement made Tuesday.
“The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus,” said Governor Newsom in a news release on Wednesday. “This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly.”
The upper school has started to take precautionary measures to keep students and faculty safe. Teachers are able to request cleaning supplies such as spray sanitizer, microfiber towels and nitrile gloves to wipe down desks and other hard surfaces, and administration has asked all employees to take 15 to 20 minutes at the end of each workday to sanitize workspaces in an announcement made by Janet Rohrer, Assistant Facilities Director. In addition, the science department is mandating that students wash their hands before and after class.
In a community update from Brian Yager, Head of School, the administration has implemented additional steps to keep students safe. International travel programs are canceled for the rest of the school year, including the art and anatomy trip to Italy during spring break. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association also canceled its spring convention, which Harker Journalism planned to attend later this month. Self-serve stations in the cafeteria have been closed, and the school plans to follow the COVID-19 Risk Level Response Plan to determine further action as the situation develops.
Several organizations and communities in the Bay Area have decided to cancel events that consist of large numbers of people in a tight area. The Youth Climate Action Summit, which was scheduled to take place at the Tech Interactive in San Jose today, has been canceled due to caution regarding the coronavirus; all tickets will be refunded. The Fremont Union High School District has also decided to cancel all school rallies, assemblies and dances until April 3.
A previous version of this article implied that Harker had canceled the journalism’s trip to New York, yet CSPA decided to cancel the convention due to concerns over the coronavirus. The article has been updated to reflect this error.
