With nearly 100 student organizations, this year’s Club Fair provides students the opportunity to explore diverse topics and interests from music to arts to puzzles and games. Amidst the tried and true staples, this year’s club fair features ten clubs founded this year. Here’s your guide to the new clubs and where to find them at the fair.
Drawing inspiration from middle school computer science teacher Sam Linton’s classroom, juniors Pratulya Rangavazzala, Adrian Roufas, Ava Zarkesh, Axel Szolusha and Nathaniel Idicula co-founded the Maker Club to provide students with an opportunity to work on technical projects of their choice. Pratulya emphasized the variety of what club members may choose to make, from remote control vehicles to robotic arms to video games, depending on where their interests lie.
“It is a place where they can do exactly what they want,” Pratulya said. “A lot of clubs, it’s for this reason or for that reason. Here we're not forcing them to do anything, and we're not requiring them to do anything. It's a really cool opportunity because it's somewhere that you can develop your skills, you can grow as a person, and you can apply yourself technically.”
First project ideas: blinking lights, tripwires, small scale robotic arms
Club fair booth: 26, in the back of the Nichols Atrium
Logic Club hopes to provide a space for students to work on various logic puzzles, from the standard Sudoku to more niche puzzles like Futoshiki.
“Last year, I participated in a logic tournament, and I found some really interesting but also really underrepresented games, so I wanted to share them with the community,” James said. “I hope people know that this club is low commitment, but if they want to go deeper, that’s also an option.”
Recommended puzzle: Train Tracks puzzle
Club fair booth: 77, by the giant chess board
Inspired by English teacher Christopher Hurshman’s senior game nights, sophomores Sudhith Gondipalli and Aiden Young founded Deduction Game Club to play social games like Blood on the Clocktower, Mafia, One Night Werewolf and Love Letter with more of the student body.
“We want them to have a great experience and opportunity to meet some new people, learn about a new game, and just have a new experience that they haven't had a chance to to have in the past,” Sudhith said.
Recommended deduction game: Blood on the Clocktower
Club fair booth: 46, outside the Nichols Atrium entrance
The Classical Music Club fosters community around classical music. Junior Cameron Rampell was inspired to start the club after connecting with a student composer. He hopes to collaborate with the Harker orchestra, integrating classical music into the Harker community.
“It is so valuable to be able to talk to other people about classical music, which is something that I really care about,” Cameron said. “I wanted to create this club so I could have more experiences like that, so I could meet more people who really are passionate about classical music and so I could have more of those conversations.”
Recommended piece: Mahler’s Second Symphony
Club fair booth: 73, outside Nichols
Co-founded by juniors Sanjith Senthil, Haofang Zhu and Kevin He, Dodgeball Club aims to give students an opportunity to be physically active while having fun. The club plans on hosting around ten games throughout this school year, with the first set for the month of September.
“Back in middle school, we used to go to dodgeball games, and then we were like, ‘why'd they get rid of it?’” Sanjith said. “So we decided to start a dodgeball club because it's a really fun game. You come there to have fun.”
Message to students: “Show up if you like dodgeball!”
Club fair booth: 80, by the giant chess board
The coffee club taps into Harker’s coffee consumption culture to connect students with the art of coffee-making. From a trip to Africa over the summer club co-founder Disha Gupta (12) learned about the history of coffee as well as its craftsmanship and cultural significance.
“One of my goals is to promote community engagement,” Disha said. “What I really want to do is try to appeal to people and make it feel like a collaborative, engaging space where they can actually explore a love for coffee. I want to invite baristas, invite masters of this craft to be able to come and share their expertise so that people can understand a little bit more of what they're actually drinking.”
Coffee recommendation: Phil’s Coffee ‘Philtered Soul’
Club fair booth: 4, left-hand side inside Nichols Atrium
Illustration by Leah Krupnik
The bioinformatics club plans to host monthly events, bringing in university professors and professional researchers to educate students about the field.
“It’s a really big emerging field in science, and Harker in general is really interested in research and STEM,” founder Srishti Dhawan (11) said. “We thought it would be cool to give interested students the opportunity to explore [bioinformatics and] its potential applications in research.”
Club fair plan: Guessing games with prizes included!
Club fair booth: 75, by the giant chess board
The architecture club will educate students about architecture, especially since there is currently no architecture course offered at Harker. Founder Zoe Wang (11) hopes to combine science with art through a strong focus on sustainability.
“I have a passion for architecture and love the sustainability and artistic aspects that come with it,” Zoe said. “This club would be a great way for students with the same passion to come together and share ideas about architecture and work together on projects.”
Project idea: 3d printing a model of the school
Club fair booth: 93, in front of Nichols
![“[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)
