![“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)
“Something Rotten!” performers brought select scenes of the musical to the stage for the Rita Moreno Awards at the San Jose Center of Performing Arts on May 18.
Among the 40 shows and 380 performers registered for a chance to be nominated, “Something Rotten!” was nominated for Overall Production, Simon Kirjner (‘26) for Lead Actor as Nick Bottom and junior Omar Khan for Supporting Performer as Shylock.
“When I heard [the awards] were coming out that day, I was on the edge of my seat,” Simon said. “There was a lot of learning I had to do over summer for this musical—it’s the most amount of time I’ve ever spent. Overall, it was a very good experience and I’m happy I got nominated.”
This annual regional award honors talent and achievement in high school musical theater. To nominate performers and productions for this award, a panel of judges watched high school musicals around the Bay Area and chose productions and individual actors for final categories. Winning actors have the opportunity to go to the National High School Musical Theatre Awards in New York City.
On the morning of the awards, individual nominees performed an audition consisting of two songs in front of a panel of judges. This audition was used to determine the final winners of the awards. Simon sang a solo of “God I Hate Shakespeare” from “Something Rotten!” and “Not While I’m Around” from the movie Sweeney Todd.
“It’s a huge contrast between songs. One is super energetic and high energy, and the other one is much more ballad-y and emotional,” Simon said. “For ‘God I Hate Shakespeare,’ it was difficult to figure out because the song is not meant for solo singing. For the second song, it was a lot of tinkering in terms of how I should act when I’m singing. I felt really good about my audition, and I did the best that I could.”
For the awards, the cast performed the scene leading into “Bottom’s Gonna Be on Top” as well as the song itself. Frosh performer Lucy Wang explained how the actors reworked some parts of the scenes due to changes in the cast.
“The Rita Moreno date landed right in the middle of senior trip, so for the main cast, that meant a couple of blocking changes,” Lucy said. “In the tap number, we had to make sure that all the choreography was clean, and we also had to change the tempo of our music. It was a challenge at first to get the new tempo into our bodies and muscle memory, so that took a lot of rehearsing, but eventually we were able to make it cohesive.”
Given changes to choreography as well as the time that had passed since she had last performed the production, Lucy felt a mix of emotions before presenting the scenes at the competition.
“I really wanted to do our show justice, and I wanted to show everybody the best version of the show it could possibly be,” Lucy said. “Backstage, all of us were hyping each other up and helping each other feel better. Once we actually got on stage, all my nerves just disappeared. Performing for that many people on such a big stage with the people I love is an experience that I will forever cherish.”
When preparing the musical scenes for the awards, K-12 Performing Arts Director Laura Lang-Ree aimed to highlight the talents of all the cast members. The performance showcased short solos from select actors as well as detailed group numbers. Lang-Ree reflected on the excitement and pride she felt during the awards.
“I was just thrilled,” Lang-Ree said. “My ambition as a professional director and educator is to not have inconsistency, so I’m always striving to meet my cast where they are and take them to the highest level. I was just absolutely, completely proud of how they nailed it, not only on stage during the competition, but also in the rehearsal process itself.”
Adjudicators emailed feedback regarding the casts’ performance of “Something Rotten!” to Lang-Ree, describing the ensemble as “united, consistent and certainly energetic” and the overall musical as “well designed and directed.” Lang-Ree emphasized how the online praise and the verbal feedback the musical received during the tech rehearsal reflected the tight-knit community of Harker’s performing arts program.
“When we were teching, the head of the program came up behind me,” Lang-Ree said. “He told me he had never seen such a clean tech, and it was amazing how all the cast listened to each other and helped each other take notes. That’s such a deeply fostered way our musical theater program works, and that was just amazing high praise.”
