Kimi Yashar (‘26) bustles around the kitchen, measuring different levels of oil and kneading dough for the latest recipe of her cooking class. A few months later, she stirs chemicals in petri dishes in the same kitchen, testing an experiment to bring to local schools. Crystals erupt from the center of the dish and spread outwards, and Kimi takes a step back, admiring her work. 

For Kimi, the kitchen is a multidimensional space. Flour clouds and gas explosions seem worlds apart, but Kimi sees both as a chance for experimentation and curiosity, imagining the smiles on the faces of her family huddled around a cutting board or the laughter of children as they compete to grow the largest crystal.

Economics teacher Sam Lepler sees Kimi’s curiosity as she actively engages in discussions during class and extends realistic questions that counter the class curriculum.

“She is not a passive acceptor of information,” Lepler said. “She’s the kind of person who will say, ‘What about this? You say that, but what about this counterpoint from real life?’ That is the sign of true curiosity and a true learner. Kimi is not just interested in being deferential. She is going to challenge and push back, and in doing so, deepen everyone’s learning, including her own.”

Every week, Kimi volunteers for Sunday Friends, providing food packages for families who need the support. As she chatted with the families there, she felt sad when she realized that many of them did not know what produce they were given and could not appreciate cooking the way she does. After she realized this, Kimi created a monthly cooking class at Sunday Friends to introduce families to different recipes from different cultures and create a lighthearted environment where everyone can learn from one another.

“I get to talk to these people about their day-to-day lives,” Kimi said. “I don’t always understand what they’re saying, but I can be there to listen and comfort them. We can laugh when someone’s food doesn’t turn out correctly, and then I bring leftovers so that everyone can take some home to their families. It’s a safe space with a lot of laughter and memories.”

While Kimi initially saw the language barriers as a challenge for communication, the love and the human relationships she built from such a welcoming community eventually transcended differences in language.

“If you love something as much as you can, it is difficult for someone to see the value that you see  in it,” Kimi said. “It’s hard to put into words, especially when it’s something intrinsic and hard to convey. Having to do that without English or being able to talk to them is difficult for me, when you’re able to see they get super excited, there’s still some amount of success there.”

Close friend Aline Grinspan (‘26) has known Kimi since elementary school and believes that her curiosity-driven mindset continues to persist as she opens herself up to meeting new people and diving into new topics. For Aline, Kimi has grown into a person she can always trust.“She’s my person, and I’m her person,” Aline said. “The basis of our friendship at this point is we kind of fill in each other’s gaps. We’re there for each other when we need each other and communicate exactly what we need. That’s what has made us friends for so long — we have high expectations for each other and we meet them.”

Kimi carried this dedication to community involvement from her interest in science. When she found out that nearby middle schools suffered from funding cuts to their science curricula during the spring of her junior year, she strived to help these students receive a more hands-on learning experience and arranged with the school’s science department to organize a lab for the students.

“As someone who really likes science, I can remember all of the labs that I’ve ever done,” Kimi said. “It disheartened me to hear that some students were not going to be able to have that same experience, so I started thinking about what that actually means for these students. I really like the hands-on part of science, and I wanted to bring them these experiments that made me fall in love with science.”

After receiving funding from the non-profit organization Girls Give Back Foundation that she was a part of, Kimi researched different types of experiments to gauge which would be the most interesting for middle-schoolers. She decided to design a lab where they would grow crystals in petri dishes by combining table salt and sodium acetate. 

“I was using our stove as a heat plate, so I was running all these experiments in my kitchen to see what would work best to bring to the kids,” Kimi said. “When the actual day came, I got to meet like 100 different students and I was guiding them. They would pull me over and show me the crystals they made, and they’d be really proud of it and competing for who can grow their biggest crystal.”

In total, Kimi created more than 100 lab kits. After the students finished the day of laboratory learning, the petri dishes, chemical reagents and various other equipment used were all donated to the school. What started as a simple passion for science grew into a charity project where Kimi hopes to spread a love for science and creativity.

“If these kids don’t have the experiences that make them fall in love with science, and if we let that happen on a large scale, there will be a huge shortage in the scientific community,” Kimi said. “I vehemently believe that science and curiosity is what pushes us forward. Curiosity empowers advancements. The reason why I wanted to do this class was because I value that contribution to the scientific community.”

Close friend Aanya Shah (‘26) affirms Kimi’s kindhearted attitude towards her friendships with her peers, recounting how Kimi had approached her when Aanya was a new student to Harker in ninth grade.

“Instead of hanging out with her friends, Kimi took the time to make sure that I had someone to talk to and made me feel so welcome,” Aanya said. “She’s still the same person, and she always goes out of her way to make people feel comfortable. She’s a good person to be rolling on the floor laughing with, but she can also make you feel so much better.”

Through guiding people in cooking and growing crystals, Kimi lives by the motto “tikkuni olam,” a Jewish phrase meaning repairing the world. When she discovers a community of people who are suffering, she actively seeks to find ways to aid them.

“Fulfillment is very important to me,” Kimi said. “I want to make sure that I’m doing things that are worth my time and things I think have a lot of value and I believe in 110%. In all the different initiatives I start or any extracurricular I do, I want there to be a tangible impact. Even if that impact is I put a smile on these people’s faces, I was still able to improve this experience for this person.”