![“[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)
Spirit Week bridges upper school community virtually
Provided by Zubin Khera
A flier made by the freshman class summarizing the events taking place throughout Spirit Week. “I was definitely looking forward to the spring spirit rally, but I’m glad HSLT and the student council worked together to ensure a virtual version of spring spirit still would happen,” Michelle Jin (9) said.
April 26, 2020
Upper school students participated in a virtual spirit week for the first time this year, with various events and dress-up days organized by the Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) throughout the week of April 13.
Each class made their own virtual “quilts,” collages of drawings students were invited to submit of their favorite things. Monday was pajama day, Tuesday was fandom day, Wednesday was neon day, Thursday was throwback day and on Friday students dressed up in class colors. In addition, the HSLT organized activities, such as Mad Libs with upper school theater teacher Jeffrey Draper at lunch on Tuesday, name the tune during Thursday’s lunch and the opportunity to submit pictures of hand-baked goods adhering to the theme of spring throughout the week.
The score results from the week’s activities, revealed via video on Friday, left the junior class in fourth place with 260 points, the senior class in third with 335 points, the freshman class in second with 625 points and the sophomores taking first with 840 points.
Overall point tallies for the year were also announced: freshmen finished in fourth with 2,475 points, sophomores came in third with 3,190 points and juniors took second with 3,910 points, leaving the senior class in first as they were named this year’s spirit champions.
HSLT placed an emphasis on bringing ideas and activities that would be engaging and fun to bring the community together. Grace Hajjar (12), HSLT president, recognized that the switch to an online spirit week was not easy.
“When we first met at the beginning of [shelter-in-place], we came in with the mindset that we would still be returning to school after spring break, and everything was totally going as planned,” Grace said. “But eventually we found out that wasn’t going to happen anymore, so we started thinking of ways that we could transfer the activities that we had planned already.”
While arranging spirit week plans, Grace wanted to make sure that activities were still accessible despite students likely being unable to go out and buy outfits for dress-up days.
“We made [dress-up days] more accessible because you could change your virtual background to be something related to that. We’re just trying to make it easier for kids to still be participating in spirit. It’s not the same and we understand that, but we’re still trying to create activities that bring the community together,” Grace said.
Lisa Barooah (11), the vice president of competitive events, noted that spirit’s central goal — bringing the community together — has been harder to fulfill due to the closure of in-person school.
“In general, we try to involve as many people as possible in spirit events, because spirit is watching your grade come together. It’s been difficult to do that when we are so far apart,” Lisa said.
The HSLT has also faced challenges with keeping students aware as to how they can participate in spirit even with the barrier of distance. The team tried their best to send out updates, and in the end, they recognized spirit as a means for keeping the community together.
“When we’re not at school, it’s hard to keep track of everything that’s going on. The challenge is keeping everyone aware and updated on what’s happening,” Grace said. “We’re just trying to promote happiness and a sense of community during this really strange time.”
Jai Vir Mehta (9) loved virtual spirit week as an opportunity to engage with his class further and feel connections with his community.
“I really liked how everyone got into the spirit of 2023 pride regardless of the physical boundaries that separated one another,” Jai Vir said. “Many freshmen were urgently texting other freshmen to send in pictures of something yellow to represent their class. In this way, despite the physical boundaries imposed by social distancing, we were able to mentally join together and compete against the other classes.”
Michelle Jin (9) enjoyed participating in the virtual spirit week, though she missed having the chance to participate in the annual spirit rally.
“I was definitely looking forward to the spring spirit rally, but I’m glad HSLT and the student council worked together to ensure a virtual version of spring spirit still would happen,” Michelle said. “It’s been a lot of fun sending in funny dress up photos for the dress up days, attending the various Zoom activities and submitting in a cool quilt for the quilt contest.”
