![“[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 English teacher delivers lecture for Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival
Provided by Charles Shuttleworth
Upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth poses with “Desolate Angel,” a biography of Jack Kerouac. Shuttleworth, who was chosen as the annual Moses Greeley Parker lecturer, presented his research on American novelist Kerouac in a virtual lecture titled “Kerouac: The Buddhist Years.”
October 16, 2020
Hands clasped together, leaning on a wooden podium in his classroom, upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth, who was chosen as the annual Moses Greeley Parker lecturer, presents his research on American novelist Kerouac in a virtual lecture titled “Kerouac: The Buddhist Years.”
Since being granted access to The Jack Kerouac Archive in the New York Public Library three years ago, Shuttleworth has transcribed 230 pages of Kerouac’s unpublished writings, previously traveling back and forth from New York with a Harker grant.
“Because I’m focusing on a narrow period, I’m just able to uncover some really specific and very exciting new information about Kerouac, and I think it ultimately illuminates his craft and his artistry,” Shuttleworth said.
As he detailed in the lecture, which was available to watch on the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac website from Oct. 8 to Oct. 12, Shuttleworth has been teaching “English 4: Jack Kerouac and the Beat” at Harker for six years, a class that involves field trips to San Francisco and Mill Valley. Past and current students of this course, along with a few teachers, read excerpts of Kerouac’s unpublished works in the lecture.
Andrew Rule (‘17), a past student of Shuttleworth’s who took the Kerouac elective and read in the lecture, found the video’s focus on one specific part of Kerouac’s life informative and enjoyed seeing his and his former classmates’ clips featured in the lecture.
“It was fun to think back on that class and those field trips and realize that [class] was actually a really unusual and special opportunity,” he said. “It was very cool to see Mr. Shuttleworth, who I’ve only ever known in a Harker context, as a scholar, which isn’t a chance that we get very often with our high school teachers.”
Multimedia specialist Eric Marten from the Harker Office of Communications, Dawson Chen (11) and Alexander Lan (11) assisted Shuttleworth with the editing of the video. For Shuttleworth, his favorite part of the end product was seeing the video clips sent in by students and teachers.
“They took the time to understand what they were saying and to deliver the material in a way that really reflected the emotion of what Kerouac was saying,” he said. “It was really rewarding to see that.”
Additional reporting by Isha Moorjani and Emily Tan.
