![“[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)
Green Team and HarkerDev collaborated to develop Swap N’ Share, a textbook sharing app for students that will launch beta testing in January. To encourage student participation and feedback, the two organizations will enter the participant names into a raffle for a $25 gift card.
Students can exchange old textbooks rather than relying on high priced versions elsewhere if they put books up for sale on Swap N’ Share for points. They use these points to “purchase” other books they may need if they are available on the app.
Green Team officer Elaine Zou (10) originally proposed Swap N’ Share at the Cupertino Library for Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action conference in February of 2024 to address environmental issues with textbook waste at the local level.
“[The app] creates a circular economy, so a lot of seniors have textbooks they no longer use,” Elaine said. “Whenever you move up a grade, we just have a lot of leftover resources, so it allows students to pass them down to lower grades.”
Elaine wrote a proposal for the app at the conference and earned a grant of $7,350 from Silicon Valley Clean Energy. Elaine and Green Team adviser Diana Moss discussed their goals for this app, and figured out a way to act by involving other groups of students.
“It’s thrilling because I love that clubs are beginning to collaborate to do projects,” Moss said. “I love that sustainability is something that we are keeping in our mind, like how we use less resources and textbooks are super expensive. So it’s a win-win in that regard.”
The app was created in partnership with Elaine and HarkerDev administrator Kabir Ramzan (‘24) previously. Kabir contributed to the functionality for the app, helping other HarkerDev including members Demi Zheng (10) and Adrian Roufas (10) continue with the process for three months. Demi designed the app and navigation, and Adrian dedicated work to the back end code that allows computers to communicate to manage and store books.
One main concern with the software that the HarkerDev members ponder is ensuring that all users can participate equally and honorably without taking advantage of the system.
“We’re having trouble figuring out how to keep track of the value of certain books, because at the present moment somebody could reserve a bunch of books and not give a single book to anybody else,” Adrian said. “We’re trying to discourage that, so it becomes more of an exchange.”
Green Team and HarkerDev met with the school administration and the faculty-led Sustainability Committee to discuss final logistical details last month.
“The biggest thing I’m worrying about is the point system,” Demi said. “If somebody runs out of points and they don’t have any books to list, what do they do? We hope that the people who use our app aren’t trying to do this for profit but genuinely want to save paper for the environment and to give items to their friends or classmates for this whole process to happen.”
