![“[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)
Speaker Justine Fonte discusses consent with upper school students for LIFE Program
Provided by Justine Fonte
Justine Fonte spoke with upper school students and parents about topics surrounding sex, consent, and positive relationships as part of the LIFE program.
February 6, 2021
The LIFE Program invited Justine Fonte to speak with upper school students about sexual consent on Feb. 4, covering topics like sex positivity and enthusiastic consent. Fonte also gave a “Sex 101” presentation to parents later on the same day.
“I really liked how enthusiastic she was. I feel like a lot of times when it comes to sex-ed, it’s very hush hush or taboo, but she seemed really passionate about it. I feel like her energy made it a lot easier to listen to the presentation and for some of my friends, to focus on it,” Defne Avkarogullari (9) said.
Although freshmen and juniors have discussions on topics like healthy relationships, decision making and sexuality every year, Jane Keller, upper school LIFE director, felt a speaker event about consent would be helpful for all students.
“Consent is something that we address on a fairly regular basis that we try to educate our students about, and it’s a much broader topic than people realize,” Keller said. “The lack of education regarding consent has found people to allow themselves to do things they didn’t want to do and they really don’t realize until after.”
In her presentation, Fonte discussed themes like sex positivity and negativity, gender roles, and rape culture, using examples from modern entertainment and media. She answered questions from students and shared images of clothing and alcohol advertisements, songs and university posters related to sex and consent. Although the content in her two presentations largely overlapped, Fonte focused more on self-worth with the ninth and tenth graders and on pleasure with the eleventh and twelfth graders.
The LIFE Program decided to also present a related topic to the parents after realizing that the conversation would also be helpful for them. Parent education has been provided before frequently, especially with more sensitive topics.
“I always think that it is important that families are on the same page around the topics their young peoples are getting, so if I’m afforded an opportunity to speak to the parent environment as well, it will hopefully allow for communication around these things to transcend the school environment,” Fonte said.
As follow-up events, upper school counselor Jonah Alves and Keller were available to have discussions and answer questions about Fonte’s speaker event with students on Feb. 5, and alumna Daisy Mohrman (‘11) was available to speak about her experience with consent with students on Feb. 18.
“There’s a lot of misinformation [surrounding sex], and kids learn from each other. In high school, I didn’t go to my parents or teachers to learn about sex and relationships and dating, I went to my friends. No high schooler knows better than any other high schooler, so we were all just wandering around in the dark, giving each other bad advice,” Daisy said. “I wanted somebody to learn from my mistakes and to hear my story and hopefully not have the same story to tell.”
Additional reporting by Lucy Ge.
