![Setter Emma Lee (9) sets the ball to the middle during the match against Pinewood on Sept. 12. “[I’m looking forward to] getting more skilled, learning more about my position and also becoming better friends with all of my teammates, Emma said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_4917-2-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasnt been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but Ive had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. Theres so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesnt exist, you can build it yourself, Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“Animation just clicked in a way. I had been interested in art, but that felt different. [Animation] felt like it had something behind it, whereas previous things felt surface level. I wasnt making that crazy of things, but just the process of doing it was much more enjoyable, Carter Chadwick (22) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Screen-Shot-2022-08-16-at-9.44.08-AM-900x598.png)
![“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 its played such a major role in who Ive 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 Im [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)
![“[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)
![“Im 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 theres a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyones 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)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you arent going to get those championships if you arent 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)
![“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)
School meeting recap 1/11/22: National Chocolate Cake Day, stress level and new dress code
TALON Yearbook Organizations Editor Rachel Ning (11) announces that club photo day will be next Tuesday as the Olivas advisory looks on through Zoom last Tuesday. Class and school meetings will take place over Zoom until further notice.
January 18, 2022
Associated Student Body (ASB) President Dawson Chen (12) started the school meeting, which advisories watched together through Zoom, last Tuesday.
Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) Vice President Sawyer Lai (11) and HSLT Director of Community Events Kris Estrada (11) announced spirit days in January: “Bring Anything but a Normal Backpack” on this Friday, National Compliment Day next Monday and National Chocolate Cake Day on Jan. 27. HSLT will be handing out chocolate cake during lunch or office hours for National Chocolate Cake Day.
TALON Yearbook Organizations Editor Rachel Ning (11) announced that club photo day will be next Tuesday after school meeting or during lunch. All club officers should have filled out tiny.cc/talonclubs with their club’s member roster, time preferences and number of club members who will be in the photo by this past Friday. Questions can be directed to [email protected].
“Please make sure that the time we prefer works for all members of your club, and make sure that no one that isn’t in your club shows up for your time slot,” Rachel said.
Harker Conservatory played a video promotion for the Winter Choral Concert, which took place this past Thursday at 7 p.m. In the video, Ayla Apsey (11) shared her experience in Harker choir and encouraged interested students to join choir as well.
BB Ajlouny (11) led the “put your eagles up” activity and delivered the Eagle Update. A boys tennis interest meeting was held on Tuesday in the team room.
Girls soccer remained undefeated at 7-0 with a 1-0 victory over Notre Dame San Jose the week of Jan. 3. The team carries a number 15 CCS ranking according to maxpreps.com. The team opened league play at Crystal Springs this past Tuesday and played King’s Academy on Friday.
Boys varsity and junior varsity boys basketball teams opened league play with wins over Crystal Springs the week of Jan. 3, and boys varsity basketball improved to 7-4 overall. The teams played Menlo High School on Tuesday and Woodside Priory School on Thursday.
Girls basketball will play against Castilleja this upcoming Tuesday.
Boys soccer held a number nine ranking on maxpreps.com. They played Crystal Springs this past Wednesday and King’s Academy this past Friday.
Car Club co-presidents Rahul Herrero (11) and Joanna Bejar (11) introduced the 2022 Car Show and asked everyone to fill out tiny.cc/HarkerCarShow2022 with time preferences for the car show and any vehicles community members would be interested in bringing to the show.
School meeting recap 1/5/22: Traffic and safety, Kicks Against Cancer and Student Directed Showcase
School meeting recap 12/9/21: Culture Day, Kicks Against Cancer and 1,500 donut holes
School meeting recap 12/3/21: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser, Honor Choir and Review Bowls
Yejin Song (12) from Oeconomia, Harker’s economic society, and Melody Luo (12) from CareerConnect announced a joint question-and-answer speaker panel with Zoom Chief Financial Officer Kelly Steckelberg this past Thursday in Nichols auditorium.
“Ms. Steckelberg [shared] a lot of insights on how to get involved in finance, what her day-to-day work schedule is like and how Zoom is adjusting to broader economic trends,” Melody said.
Harker Eclectic Literature and Media (HELM) junior co-editors Brian Chen and Claire Chen announced that the deadline for art and writing submissions for the upcoming HELM issue was this past Friday. This year’s theme is Renaissance. HELM’s “Modern Kindness” writing contest also closed submissions this past Friday. Contest winners will automatically be selected for publication in the upcoming HELM issue and will also be given gift cards to a local bookstore.
Sawyer, Varun Fuloria (10) and Fiona Yan (10) from Harker Tri-M Society announced an upcoming virtual concert hosted by the Cupertino retirement center. Upper school students who are not on the Tri-M email list can participate by emailing [email protected] or [email protected] by today. Once students sign up, they can send in a recording of themselves playing their chosen piece by this Wednesday. Recordings will be sent to and compiled by the retirement center. Students who send in a video will receive five hours of community service.
Ishaan Parate (12) from the Investment Club announced a speaker event with Harker Chief Financial Officer Marty Bradford, who talked about his career in the finance industry, his investing experience and how he manages Harker’s finances during long lunch this past Tuesday in the Innovation Center.
Upper School Head Butch Keller thanked ASB for running the virtual school meeting. He discussed the results of the survey previously sent out to upper school students about student life at the upper school, emphasizing that all comments made in the survey were read and are being taken seriously.
“During our faculty meeting last week, we talked about comments, positive and not-so-positive,” Keller said. “We talked about how to address the numerous homework comments and the stress level due to competition. So we have discussed that as a faculty, and we’re looking into ways to address that second semester.”
Keller also reminded students that they have numerous advocates on campus: teachers, advisors, counselors and coaches.
Next, Keller introduced the revised community expectations for dress code, which went into effect today. He thanked all students and faculty on the dress code committee, led by upper school history and social science teacher Roxana Pianko and Visual Arts Department Chair Josh Martinez.
The two non-punishable guidelines of the revised dress code are as follows: “For safety reasons shoes must be worn” and “Sleepwear, swimwear, and undergarments should not be worn as an outer layer during the academic day.”
“I hope all the hard work that’s gone into this makes it easier for all of you, all the students on campus, to abide by these guidelines and adhere to them,” Keller said.
Keller ended the school meeting by wishing everyone “a great day.”
