Associated Student Body (ASB) President Dawson Chen (12) opened the school meeting last Monday in the Athletics Center.

Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) Co-Secretary of Athletic Affairs BB Ajlouny (11) led the “put your eagles up” activity and began the Eagle Update, joined by HSLT Outreach Coordinator Elvis Han (12) and HSLT Co-Secretary of Athletic Affairs Zain Vakath (11).

Despite an initial 0-3 setback, varsity girls lacrosse hold a 7-game win streak with their recent victories against Notre Dame-Belmont over the last two weeks. Additionally, Kyra Hawk (11) earned last week’s ​​Mercury News Athlete of the Week Award. The team lost in an away game against Castilleja School last Monday and in a home game against Hillsdale High School last Wednesday. They lost 10-12 against Notre Dame-Belmont last Friday. 

Varsity boys golf secured a victory against Nueva at the Crystal Springs Golf Course on April 14 despite ending the match early due to inclement weather. Freddy Hoch (12) earned his fourth medalist honor by scoring a one over par before the weather began to affect the match, and Athreya Daniel (11) also contributed to the win with a two over par. The team remains undefeated 5-0 and stands atop the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) standings along with Crystal Springs high school.

Varsity boys tennis defeated Pinewood School on April 12 6-1, improving 9-2 overall. They lost against Menlo School last Tuesday. 

Varsity swimming competed in the WBAL Jamboree 5 on April 12 with strong individual and team performances. Seniors Evan Zau and Nikela Hulton both swam the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, with Evan setting a personal record in both events and Nikela placing second in the 100-yard freestyle. Jay Thilking (12) finished in fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke. Nicholas Wei (11) finished in eighth place in the 100-yard breaststroke and landed second place in the 200-meter individual medley relay along with Victor Gong (9), Nolan Chen (9) and Vincent Zhang (11). Ashley Hong (10) achieved her CCS cut time in the 100-yard fly. Victor finished in first place in the 50-yard fly and the 100-yard individual medley. Jason Li (9) and Thomas Wisdom (11) recovered from injuries and propelled their team towards first place in the 200-yard free relay, along with Indigo Lee (11) and Adam Pawliger (9). Oskar Baumgarte (9) finished second place in the 100-yard breaststroke. The team traveled to Castilleja School for the WBAL Jamboree 6 last Wednesday. 

Varsity baseball lost 5-9 to El Camino High School on April 14 despite a home run by Bobby Wang (12) and a triple and single by Mark Hu (12). They lost 0-8 and 1-8 in games against Menlo School last Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. 

Varsity boys volleyball fell to Monta Vista and Homestead on April 13 and 15. They won against Los Gatos High School last Wednesday before attending the Bellarmine Invitational Tournament last Friday and Saturday. 

On behalf of the varsity football team, juniors Nicholas Delfino, Zeke Weng, Dylan Parikh and Rohan Gorti encouraged students interested in football to attend an informational session last Wednesday during long lunch at 12:45 p.m. in upper school business and entrepreneurship teacher Juston Glass’ room. They also introduced the new football head coach, Siddarth “Sid” Krishnamurthi (‘15), who presented a slideshow on the upcoming season during the information session. 

Senior Conservatory members Malar Bala, Nikki Kapadia and Richie Amarillas updated students on recent and upcoming performing arts events. Malar began by congratulating lab band, upper school jazz band and the middle school jazz band for their “Evening of Jazz” performance on April 14, which received a standing ovation. She then announced the Spring Choral Concert which took place last Thursday at 6:30 p.m., with performances by upper school singing groups Bel Canto, Camerata, Cantilena and Downbeat. This year’s theme is Peace, Hope and Love. Tickets for the concert were available here.

Next up, Downbeat took the stage with an a cappella arrangement of TV show “Euphoria”’s song “All for Us,” capturing the audience with dynamic movements and intricate harmonies. 

DECA Executive Director of Technology Shreeya Merchia (10) congratulated Harker’s “DECA Diamonds” on their stellar competitive performance at the State Career Development Conference (SCDC) in late February. She then announced DECA’s upcoming International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, for which around 50 students departed last Friday morning and Saturday evening. To wrap up the announcements, Shreeya played a self-made video recap of SCDC. 

In celebration of Earth Week, the upper school faculty Sustainability Committee played a video of national youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s spoken poem “Earthrise,” a piece about coming together to protect the Earth against climate change. 

“The climate change issue is the largest story of my lifetime,” upper school theater teacher Jeffrey Draper said. “And it might end up being personally impactful to you or your loved ones in the years to come. However, there is reason to hope. With a lot of solid work by everyone, we can get to a place where we can bend things to a more sustainable direction.”

Green Team co-Presidents Camilla Lindh (12) and Sriya Batchu (12) and Vice President Gary Ding (11) announced various activities for last week’s Green Team club week, including a station for writing letters to local legislators regarding climate action bills, poster boards where students could share sustainability tips and a water bottle reclaim and adopt table. Participating in an activity could earn students a ticket to a raffle with various eco-friendly prizes. Additionally, students could earn a ticket by bringing an item of clothing for the Green Team clothing drive to a donation box in Main, Shah Hall or the Rothschild Performing Arts Center (RPAC). The prizes were announced at Spring Quadchella last Friday.

Green Team also hosted a speaker event with Vidisha Raj from the Factory Farmers Awareness Coalition last Monday during long lunch at 12:45 p.m. in Draper’s room. During the event, Raj spoke on animal agriculture and its impact on the environment.

Sriya announced that Green Team relaunched its “Buy Better Boba” campaign last week, offering classic milk tea and lychee green tea in reusable mason jars with straws and a straw pouch. The initial price is $8 and jar refills are available for $6. They sold the teas outside of Manzanita Hall during lunch and after school on Tuesday and Friday. 

Green Team announced that upper school history and social science teacher Roxana Pianko would hold a thrift shopping seminar during long lunch at 12:45 p.m. in Draper’s room, spreading awareness about the negative impacts of fast fashion. Green Team has since delayed the seminar to this Thursday. 

Closing off club week, the second installment of Quadchella, themed “Spring into Climate Action,” took place during long lunch on Friday, which was Earth Day. To celebrate Earth Day, Green Team shared climate facts between the performances and announced the raffle winners. Gary then played an informational video on the event. 

Finally, Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson played a video in which he presented the lockdown drill, also known as the “Run, Hide and Defend” drill. In the video, Williamson explained signs of an attacker on campus, the lockdown protocols, how to barricade a classroom and more. 

“Unfortunately, it’s a part of our reality and that’s something we need to prepare for on a regular basis,” Williamson said. “I think you understand why we take this drill seriously and why we do it.”

Williamson dismissed students with 10 minutes to go to their classes before the lockdown drill began.