![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
History teacher Carol Green opened the school meeting on Thursday in the Zhang Gymnasium.
Green reminded students not to cut through the Shah parking lot during morning drop off and instead take the sidewalk and pedestrian crosswalks to enter campus.
Shaila Tandon (12), Robinson Xiang (11), Aanya Muhkerjee (10) and Bazigh Tahirzad (10) announced the first Startup World Cup. Students can compete with their startup ideas for a chance to win $1,000,000 in San Francisco. They will have their first meeting in Rothschild Performing Arts Center on Sept. 21 where they will compete for $1,000 and will win a spot at the San Francisco conference. They also offered $5 for the first 50 registrations to spend on student company products.
Harker Robotics members Deeya Verma (12), Tiffany Gu (12), Atharv Goel (12) and Brenna Ren (11) invited students to join Robotics and attend weekly Thursday meetings. Members can specialize in various aspects of Robotics such as programming, engineering or business.
History teacher James Tate introduced the Critical Issues Forum, a conference for students to discuss nuclear proliferation. He explained how the miscalculation of a nuclear test caused great destruction. At the end of the program, two students will present a nuclear nonproliferation policy research paper at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, with participants from US and Japan.
HSLT member Charlotte Ludlow (11) announced the Athletes of the Week, highlighting frosh and varsity girls golfer Sai Kaneshiro, who scored +2 in the Chappy Wheeler tournament. The second athlete of the week featured was varsity football player Jackson Powell (11), who scored three touchdowns and 17 tackles in a single game.
Assistant Upper School Division Head Kelly Horan explained the purpose of having emergency drills and announced that students would practice an emergency evacuation drill. She then explained students’ responsibilities during emergency field line-ups, like remaining quiet and calm until further instruction.
Students then practiced the evacuation procedure, exiting the Zhang Gymnasium from multiple directions to line up at Davis Field. After ten minutes, the drill ended and students were dismissed by grade level.
