![“[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)
Clubs collectively raised $1,509.47 in a fundraiser for Afghanistan refugees by selling a variety of goods to members of the community on Oct. 29 and 31.
UNICEF Club proposed the Project Peace Wheel fundraiser, and after coordination with the ASB Community Service committee, many other clubs joined the cause. Featured clubs included Japanese National Honor Society (JNHS), Harker Amnesty, Art Club, Robotics, Tri-M Honor Society, Table Tennis Club, Key Club and UNICEF Club.
Among the items sold included food and drinks like UNICEF’s Cup Noodles, JNHS’s matcha and passion fruit mochi donuts, Key Club’s homemade cookies and Table Tennis Club’s boba. Art Club’s officer team designed stickers which they had at their booth, Amnesty Club sold do it yourself charm bracelets and Robotics distributed pins.
Hoping to host more diverse fundraising, ASB Community Service committee initially suggested a farmer’s market-style event for many clubs to contribute, and after UNICEF recommended initiatives in aiding Afghanistan, the committee decided to merge the two ideas into Project Peace Wheel.
ASB posted fliers throughout the campus encouraging clubs to support the cause. Junior member Luke Wu also contacted clubs who expressed interest in helping out. He emphasized the importance of planning and logistics to make sure the event ran smoothly, whether from placement of tables to standardizing pricings.
“There always needs to be constant communication between student council and the different clubs that are engaging in this fundraiser,” Luke said. “We ended up having like two clubs sort of drop out because people were sick, and that may be in part because we didn’t hold them accountable enough in our emails. Moving forward for any initiative in general, there needs to be constant dialogue and accountability.
President of Amnesty Club Valerie Li (12) shared how the club’s participation with Project Peace Wheel and contribution to its cause aligned with its mission to support global human rights.
“With the Afghan refugees, especially children coming here right now, it is a super prevalent problem,” Valerie said. “It’s important to be able to provide them the resources when they migrate over here and to support human rights there as well which is why I think the goal is aligned with our club.”
Sophomore Nicole Dean, member of the ASB Community Service committee, reflected on the process of putting the fundraiser together and the difficulties her committee faced in managing such a large project.
“The highlight was definitely seeing it all come together at the end because we really weren’t sure if we were even going to be able to get [the fundraiser] done,” Nicole said. “There’s a lot of obstacles to get through, and we were really tight on that deadline.”
Additional reporting by Risa Chokhawala and Cynthia Xie.
