![“[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 maintenance removes teetering branch from tree outside Dobbins Hall
A Commercial Tree Care truck is stands in front of the tree outside Dobbins as students and maintenance faculty walk around yellow caution tape around the truck. Yellow caution tape was placed around the tree in Dobbins to ensure the safety of faculty and students during the branch removal.
October 13, 2021
The upper school campus maintenance staff oversaw the removal of an unsteady branch near the top of the largest tree in front of Dobbins Hall for one hour on Tuesday after school.
By barricading the main steps to enter the building with yellow caution tape, the maintenance staff and administration permitted students and faculty to only enter Dobbins via a separate side ramp or through the doors behind the building to ensure the safety of students and faculty.
According to upper school maintenance director JR DelAlto, the broken tree branch had a six-inch diameter resting precariously on the tree at around a height of 45 feet. After noticing the wobbling branch and recalling similar previous incidents with the same tree, the upper school administration and maintenance decided to remove the branch via Commercial Tree Care, a service based in the East Bay counties in California that provides tree health care, removals, tree emergency services and more. A Commercial Tree Care worker ascended up the tree in a lift and lowered a large bucket with the branch in it.
“We don’t want [the branch] to land on anybody’s head,” DelAlto said. ”If you look [up], you can see where the branches have split.“We’re actually being overly cautious to prevent an accident from happening.”
The staff conducted similar operations before in the upper school. Two years ago, three trees on campus had broken branches and required pruning and cutting to maintain safety on campus. According to DelAlto, this procedure took 30 to 45 minutes per tree, which was less time-consuming than this branch removal.
“This [maintenance] is more complicated, so it [took] slightly longer to do this than the previous ones,” DelAlto said.
