![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.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)
Online publication receives top journalism award: Live coverage, political work leads staff to first Gold Crown
Provided by the CSPA official Twitter account.
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced last Friday that Harker Aquila was one of eight high school sites nationwide to receive the Gold Crown award in digital news.
March 25, 2020
Harker Aquila, the journalism program’s online news site, was one of eight high school sites to receive the Gold Crown award in digital news from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) last Friday, the highest honor given to student publications by the organization.
“It’s really nice to see our work acknowledged, beyond just our immediate school community,” Harker Aquila Editor-in-Chief Kathy Fang (12) said. “It reminds us that the work we are doing has a greater impact, and it feels really validating that our initiative is being recognized. We’re on the right track in taking student journalism to where it needs to go.”
The Crown Awards honor the overall excellence of the top student publications in the nation from the 2018-2019 school year. They are selected by a panel of Crown Judges, who meet for several days to review entrees from schools and evaluate them based on five major categories: content, design, coverage, photography and writing and editing.
“I’m really proud of everyone who contributed to Aquila in the past year. It feels good to have our work recognized on a national platform, and I’m excited to see everything we accomplish next year,” Varsha Rammohan (11), one of two managing editors of Harker Aquila, said.
After earning a Silver Crown for the 2017-2018 year, staff members were excited to hear that their work last year, specifically with their live coverage of the 2018 midterms and of the volleyball NorCal finals, spurred them to gold this time.
Only seven other schools across the nation also earned this distinction: Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, MO; duPont Manual High School in Louisville, KY; Parkway West High School in Ballwin, MO; Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, NV; Foothill Technology High School in Ventura, CA; Legacy High School in Mansfield, TX; and Liberty High School in Frisco, TX.
Nicole Chen (‘19), Harker Aquila’s Editor-in-Chief last year, reflects on the progress the staff has made during her years in the program and what made them stand out these last two years, when they earned Crown Awards for the first time in publication history.
“When I was a freshman, we were mostly producing pieces with a few pictures, and as I went to sophomore and junior year people started podcasts, videos, doing all sorts of alternative media. We started posting videos on Facebook that resonated with our audience,” Nicole said. “I’m super excited and very proud of my staff for everything we did last year and for being able to experiment with something new.”
Kathy, who has served in Aquila strategic for the last two years, hopes that the staff will only grow from this point, continuing to improve their coverage and be a greater service to the upper school community.
“I hope that the momentum from the political coverage we’ve been doing doesn’t stop here. I hope it continues through November of 2020 and into the future, because there will always be more midterms, more elections, more political issues that need covering on the student level,” she said. “And I hope that as we find new and creative ways to communicate the news to our community, more people will start tuning in to the work that we do. This award, if anything, just elevates [that].”
