![“[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)
School meeting recap 8/31/21: Dress code, carpooling and casting
Junior class council representative and head of the Campus Life Committee Kris Estrada (11), senior class council representative Sujith Pakala (12) and sophomore class council representative Anaya Mandal (10) provided reminders to the school community, such as putting bowls, plates, trays and utensils away properly.
September 5, 2021
ASB President Dawson Chen (12) began the meeting and introduced head of school Brian Yager.
Yager addressed the upper school students and faculty and spoke about expectations for the upper school campus and community. He encouraged everybody to take care of each other and to take care of the campus, such as by picking up after themselves. He also spoke about a book titled “A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold to emphasize the importance of taking care of each other and the environment.
Upper school Dean of Students Kevin Williamson spoke about the campus and the dress code. He encouraged students to take care of the campus and gave a reminder about the lost-and-found. Williamson also addressed the upper school dress code and showed the Community Expectations from the Student Handbook.
“Remember, by choosing Harker you agree to abide by the policies and rules of the school,” Williamson said. “So please choose conservative, modest attire. Of course be comfortable, but not overly casual.”
Upper School Production Manager Brain Larsen spoke about using a microphone correctly and addressed the positioning of the microphone, the microphone stand and clip.
Diane Main, upper school Director of Learning, Innovation and Design, announced that Harker Google accounts would no longer have access to the Youtube feature, which means that students will no longer be able to upload Youtube videos on their student account. Teacher accounts still have access to the Youtube feature. Main also announced that a video would be put on the Upper School Students Schoology group detailing how to work around this and make videos for classes without using Youtube. Main also reminded students to ensure that they receive notifications from the Upper School Students group.
“Our student accounts for Google are no longer going to have the YouTube piece functioning,” Main said. “You won’t be able to upload videos to your YouTube channel. It’s outside of our control, and we don’t like it, but that’s what’s happening. Teacher accounts will still work, so teachers will be able to upload videos to YouTube. I am going to be making a video today, and I’m going to put it out via the Upper School students Schoology group, and it’s going to explain to you the workaround for if you need to create and upload videos for classes and clubs and things like that. So you’ll still have the ability to do it, you just won’t be able to use YouTube for it.”
Student Council includes four committees and the Student Activities Board (SAB). Dawson oversees the Community Service Committee, ASB Secretary Spencer Cha (12) oversees the Student Events Committee, ASB Vice President Ayan Nath (12) oversees the Publicity Committee, ASB Treasurer Aaditya Gulati (12) oversees the Campus Life Committee and ASB Spirit Coordinator William Chien (12) oversees SAB.
Junior class council representative and head of the Campus Life Committee Kris Estrada (11), senior class council representative Sujith Pakala (12) and sophomore class council representative Anaya Mandal (10) provided reminders to the school community, such as putting bowls, plates, trays and utensils away properly. They also emphasized the Compost and Other system for throwing trash away, and they mentioned that teachers will have bins designated for unneeded paper in their classrooms. Lastly, they addressed printing on campus and announced that students should be patient when printing and also only print if necessary.
Kris announced the Carpool to School program, which allows students to coordinate carpools, bike pools and walk pools. Users can choose to create regular pooling events or short term ones if needed. Kris also emphasized that when students and faculty who drive to school have parked on campus, they should turn off the engine when not driving.
Sujith and Anaya spoke about the importance of bringing water bottles to school and reminded students of the locations of water-refilling stations, such as in Manzanita Hall, Nichols Hall, the Zhang Athletic Center and the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Anaya also announced that there are bins for plastic film recycling in Main Hall and Nichols Hall.
Anoushka Khatri (12), Kai Due (12), Kris Estrada (11) and Anya Warrier (12) spoke about the Conservatory and upcoming performing arts opportunities. They welcomed all new Conservatory apprentices, and their first required meeting took place on Friday, Sep. 3, during lunch. After-school dance classes started on Aug. 30, and auditions for the dance production, Blast from the Past, will be held on Sep. 11 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; the registration form will be on Schoology.
This year’s fall play, Much Ado About Nothing, will have two casts, and auditions took place on Tuesday, Aug. 31 and Wednesday, Sep. 1. Callbacks will take place on Thursday, Sep. 2, after school.
Anika Mani (12) and Shinjan Ghosh (12), co-editors-in-chief of the TALON Yearbook, announced that the Spring Supplement for last year’s yearbook is now available, and copies were delivered to sophomore, junior and senior advisories during advisory time on Wednesday, Sep. 1. TALON will post on Schoology about how to insert the supplement, and they will also post on their instagram, @harkertalon.
Emily Tan (12) and Michelle Liu (12), co-editors-in-chief of the Winged Post, and Mark Hu (12), managing editor of the Winged Post, announced that Issue 1 was distributed and that people can receive a copy from the news boxes around campus, which are located in front of the journalism room near Manzanita Hall, in front of Dobbins Hall, in front of Shah Hall, and inside Nichols Hall. They also welcomed any feedback and letters to the editor, in which members of the community can send feedback or questions to the journalism staff.
Alysa Suleiman (12) and Nicole Tian (12), co-editors-in-chief of Harker Aquila, along with Lucy Ge (12), Vishnu Kannan (12), Arely Sun (12) and Irene Yuan (12), co-managing editors of Harker Aquila, announced that students can visit Harker Aquila at harkeraquila.com for any information they might need, and they can also follow on Aquila’s social media accounts, which include Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and will soon expand to include TikTok. They also welcomed feedback, which can be submitted either to Instagram through direct messaging @harkeraquila or through emailing [email protected]. They also announced that Aquila will reach out to clubs and organizations for feedback as well.
Erica Cai (12) and Esha Gohil (12), co-editors-in-chief of Humans of Harker, and Nicholas Wei (11), managing editor of Humans of Harker, announced that the project, which will feature each senior in the Class of 2022, has begun. Past Humans of Harker profiles can be found on the Harker Aquila website, and a new profile for the Class of 2022 will be published every week on Instagram.
To end the meeting, Dawson announced a presentation from the Honor Council for freshmen and sophomores and a presentation from the Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) for juniors and seniors.
