![“[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)
KANSAS CITY – Seventeen Harker student editors presented at three sessions of the 2024 Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association National High School Journalism Convention on Friday.
At the “Humans of [Your School]” session, senior Kevin Zhang, juniors Aryana Bharali, Katerina Matta and Jonathan Xue and sophomores Ella Guo, Ashley Mo and Claire Yu presented to over 75 attendees.
Speakers emphasized the community significance of the Humans of Harker project, which showcases graduating seniors and their passions with in-depth profiles and environmental portraits. The presenters walked attendees through the publication process and provided several methods to implement similar programs at their schools, referencing examples of past Humans of Harker profiles.
“I was super excited to present the Humans of Harker project,” Ashley said. “I’ve done a few Humans of Harker articles over the years, and I really enjoyed the process. I was really happy with how [the presentation] turned out: the audience seemed to enjoy it, and they asked a lot of questions.”
The inaugural presentation of “Bringing Smiles to Your Staff” followed with over 60 attendees, sharing tactics to foster community and friendships within a staff. Student presenters talked about building relationships among staff, highlighting how other schools may include activities and ideas into their program to brighten moods and commend journalists on their work.
Junior presenters Vika Gautham, Steven Jiang, Isabella Lo, Young Min, Charlize Wang, Jessica Wang and sophomore Suhani Gupta highlighted Harker journalism’s Cub/Big initiative, which pairs experienced staff members with Introduction to Journalism students, and Winged Post “Wowzers,” videos that celebrate the team’s hard work on the print paper. Speakers also distributed blank “shoutouts,” staff-designed cards with encouraging messages for others, to audience members to fill out and invited them to share.
Student journalist Alessandra Trusk from Davis Senior High School enjoyed learning about Harker journalism’s community-building initiatives and planned to share them with her own staff.
“I got a lot of ideas of things to bring to my school to introduce the students into the upper level class,” Alessandra said. “I really liked how you guys are very appreciative of each other. There’s a lot of notes and letters that get sent around, really just highlighting students and their works.”
Juniors Felix Chen, Katerina Matta, Emma Milner and Alison Yang presented “Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable” to over 50 attendees in the afternoon. The presentation explored the reporting of controversial issues and the importance of diverse sourcing and coverage, giving a glimpse into several of Harker’s diversity, equity and inclusion-focused pieces. The presentation also covered the publication’s process for addressing community responses and feedback.
Attendee Josephine Petersen from Albert Lea High School looked forward to implementing the knowledge she gained during the presentation at her own school to encourage her peers to speak up about controversial issues.
“I’m from a small town with very strong political opinions that are not really inclusive,” Josephine said. “I want to just slowly get it to where those kids who aren’t necessarily in those opinions can feel safer in this school and not feel like they have to hide who they are.”
Battle High School journalism adviser Mechelle Neuerburg similarly hoped to implement guidelines for engaging with responses like those that the presenters shared.
“The talk was engaging because it really broke down a very good plan to deal with the controversial topics that you might be covering,” Neuerburg said. “I learned the most from the process that you guys developed for responding to criticism. That’s something my students really need to take in.”
Following their presentations, students recharged with dinner at Café Gratitude, an organic vegan restaurant. They return from their trip on Sunday.
