![“[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)
Lily Shi, News Editor: Spirit Week ended with the annual spirit rally, where the seniors earned the title of spirit champions for the year.
Each class took the floor with a spirit dance following their assigned theme. The frosh danced to Candyland-themed music after an opening by frosh advisor Paul Barsky, while sophomores performed a Jumanji-themed routine with songs like “River” by Bishop Briggs and “Legends Never Die” from League of Legends.
The Juniors’ spirit dance featured six teachers dressing up as different characters from Clue.
Seniors gathered a record number of around 100 dancers for their Monopoly-themed performance.
Alexis Santosa (9): I definitely think that it was a really team bonding experience sort of. I got to meet a few people that I hadn’t really gotten to know before in that dance when we were doing our rehearsals, and even though it was a lot of work, it was definitely really fun and especially rewarding when we got to put it all together.
Lily: Seniors won first place in the spirit dance, followed by juniors, sophomores and frosh.
Rushil Jaiswal (12): Our class is very, very pleased with the results. See, a lot of this is because of the work that we put in. This is the first year that we got like more than 100 people doing the spirit dance. And this was our last rally. It was like really, really good to be able to see how all the work that we’ve paid off not only this year, but the community that we’ve built in the last few years, came together and we really showed up for one another today. So not only with the results, but just showing like how far our class has come together really meant a lot to us.
Lily: Other class competitions included the Scream-off, where each class competed to make the most sound.
The class of 2025 was the loudest at 121.3 decibels and juniors, sophomores and frosh followed with 120.4, 116.4, and 116 decibels respectively. Barsky measured each class’s sound level using a decibel meter.
Alexis: What really surprised me, honestly, was how spirited everyone is. It’s really funny to say it, especially since it was a spirit rally, but I think it was really nice to see how bonded everybody became like each class and how happy they were every time they won something or even if they lost, everyone cheered for them either way, so it was great to see that.
Lily: Four representatives from each class participated in mini competitions, including a chariot race, four square, hula hoop game and Hungry Hungry Hippo. The frosh won two games, and the sophomores and juniors won one each.
Robinson Xiang (11): It was intense, man. Because you never know when the music was going to stop. So everyone was trying to get through the hoop as fast as they could.
Brady Tse (11): It’s something that we get to be passionate about that’s like not super intense. It’s just something casual that we get to do for fun and it’s something that helps bond the class and bring everyone together.
Lily: Class deans and teachers raced to find anagrams in a scrabble challenge for the final competition.
Eric Kallbrier, Director of Student Organizations: The activities are always slightly different. The way that the classes represent themselves in the dances always brings a different energy. Really the bones of the event are the same from year to year, and it’s just bringing in the individual personalities of the classes and the people who are creating the events that can make it stand out and feel special.
Lily: Director of Student Organizations Eric Kallbrier presented the Spirit of Spirit Award to corporate receptionist Ted Ujifusa, prompting standing ovations from the crowd.
Students also enjoyed performances from Harker Dance Company and the cheer team during the rally.
The current spirit standings are: the seniors in first place with 3925 points, sophomores in second with 3425 points, juniors with 3150 points and frosh at 1750 points.
Rushil: I guess like I think about it is really emotional. I really love the spirit dance. It was a lot of practicing, but honestly, those practices were a lot of fun. And I think it’s just like how loud we get for one another. We started off as freshmen, we were like really, really quiet. So just how far we’ve come is, I think what I’m going to miss the most. I really wish we could have had many more years like this where we just like show up for one another, but now we’re all kind of gonna go and make a new community for ourselves.
Lily: HSLT also announced rankings for banner painting, where seniors, juniors, frosh and sophomores won first, second, third and fourth place respectively. For dress-up days, seniors won, followed by sophomores, juniors and frosh.
Anu Datar: I was invited to judge a few of the activities by the classes, since I’m not an advisor, I can do that. So I judged the dance today and then also the banners that the classes created. This week itself is pretty exciting and it’s really nice to see students wanting to show their class spirit by participating in all these activities. I really enjoy the games that they include, and I think it’s just a nice bonding experience and it’s it’s something that’s really needed. Wverything that kind of gets the student body together and builds some kind of class spirit among the students is very, very vital and it’s very important.
Robinson: Our classes especially super focused on a lot of academics and spirit is a way to kind of relax from that and not worry about it and just enjoy and have fun spending time with each other. That’s why it’s important for me.
Brady: I’m looking forward to winning, beating the class of 27, class of 28, and class of 29. It’s gonna be a good year next year. We’re gonna win.
Lily: That concludes our spirit week coverage. Thanks for following along!
Additional reporting by Suhani Gupta, Tiffany Zhu, Liana Barooah, Bella Wu and Kanav Gupta.
