![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.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)
NEW YORK — Twenty-five Harker journalism editors attended the 2026 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Spring Convention at Columbia University on Thursday and Friday. Harker Aquila and Winged Post received Silver Crown awards recognizing their excellence in the digital news and print news categories respectively.
“I was really proud to go up on the stage and receive our awards,” Harker Aquila Editor-in-Chief Lily Shi (12) said. “Everyone works so hard on our publications — it’s really rewarding for us to receive recognition and to be able to celebrate with the staff. I hope it makes the current staff motivated to continue maintaining the quality of our work and improving it.”
Students attended workshops hosted by journalism professionals and other schools’ journalism programs from across the country. Some sessions shared technical skills like building creative secondary mods for yearbooks and writing investigative longforms, while others focused on soft skills, like leadership and team building.
Director and sideline reporter for the Liberty North High School North Nation Media Ava Tucker (12) presented the “Game Production 101“ session on Thursday morning. She shared how her school organizes live game broadcasts, which are featured on ESPN.
“In sideline reporting, I started experimenting more with my interviews and branching out my questions – that helped my love for journalism grow,” Ava said. “I’m so glad I joined even if it seemed scary at first because otherwise I wouldn’t have as many great experiences as I do now.”
Harker hosted three workshops across the two days. Director of Journalism Whitney Huang, CJE and Harker Journalist-in-Residence Mark Murray hosted “Boring Photos? Break Out of the Box!,” focused on exploring advanced photography techniques. “Humans of [Your School]” shared how to adapt Humans of Harker to other schools. Finally, Harker Aquila staff members shared how to navigate difficult coverage and emphasize the positives with “Celebrate the Silver Lining.”
“It was a really meaningful experience to present at CSPA because we did a new presentation this time where we shared a lot of our experiences from our journalism team this year,” Lily said. “I was really proud that we were able to share our experiences. A lot of people showed up to listen to our presentation, and I really hope that we were able to help them”
Between convention sessions, the journalism staff toured the city visiting the Museum of Arts and Design and watching “The Great Gatsby” on Broadway on Thursday. On Friday, they embarked on a sunset ferry to see the iconic Statue of Liberty and bask in the city lights. As a final stop in the city, they toured The New York Times’ headquarters, led by New York Times News Page Designer John Grippe on Saturday.
“I really loved exploring New York outside of just the conference,” copy editor William Jiang (11) said. “The subways and food trucks are things you don’t really see in California. My favorite part was seeing The Great Gatsby at Broadway after finishing the book for English class and seeing how the director adapted the story for the stage.”
Huang emphasized the entirety of the trip, from publication critiques to independent coverage opportunities, as an important learning experience for the students.
“Friday’s tour in front of the Statue of Liberty was really special — a lot of people were just enjoying being together,” Huang said. “I often try to find opportunities for us to be organically phone-free, not scrolling on social media. It was one of those moments where everybody was living in the moment. I’m really excited for this to ignite more passion in journalism. New York is so vibrant and alive with culture, and one of the most beautiful things of going through this program is you get to learn adaptability and embrace it.”
![“Probably the most important thing that I can do is to help raise awareness amongst youth because [students] are the ones that sadly are going to inherit this mess. It’s important for us, the people who helped take the planet to the place it is now, to really lean in and make a difference about this issue," Moss said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_9315-e1778880890147-1200x873.jpg)
