The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

An illustration of the choreography in “Naatu Naatu, which inspired a variety of dance trends on Instagram and TikTok. This song won at this years Academy Awards for Best Original Song, making it the first Indian film song to be both nominated for and win an Oscar.

The significance of ‘Naatu Naatu’’s Oscar win for India

by Ananya Sriram, Co-Features Editor March 23, 2023

“Not salsa, not flamenco, my brother … Do you know Naatu?”  And with the pulsating beat of drums, the tune of a mandolin and bright vocals, the concept of “Naatu” comes to life. As I sat...

Downbeat performers pose for a photo at the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) on March 10. Downbeat placed fourth in the quarter finals against seven other a cappella groups from California.

Downbeat places fourth at ICHSA quarter finals

by Young Min and Alison Yang March 20, 2023

Harker’s show choir, Downbeat, placed fourth in the quarter finals of the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) on March 10 at John Burroughs High School, competing against seven...

Anna Yang is a twelfth grader at Notre Dame High School in San Jose and is the 2022-2023 Santa Clara Youth Poet Laureate. Anna’s writing has been published in The New York Times and KQED. Anna spoke with Harker Aquila about her experiences in poetry, and how it relates to her identity and past.

The Poet’s Project: ‘Depths of my mind’

by Felix Chen and Aishani Singh March 16, 2023

Anna Yang is a twelfth grader at Notre Dame High School in San Jose and is the 2022-2023 Santa Clara Youth Poet Laureate. Anna’s writing has been published in The New York Times and KQED. Anna spoke...

The poster at the entrance of Nichols Atrium. 3-D and 2-D work occupied the majority of the downstairs floor and walls and 2-D work resided in the upstairs walls.

AP Art Exhibitions showcase works by 22 students

by Alison Yang and Alena Suleiman March 13, 2023

Nichols Atrium is typically an echoey cavern inhabited by backpacks, fish and the occasional robotics student. Yet over a rainy weekend, tan partitions half a story high begin to populate the area, a labyrinth...

Harmonics poses at the end of Lullaby of Birdland. The middle school show choir performed with white hats, dancing across the stage and weaving through formations.

United Voices strike a chord

by Alison Yang, Assistant A&E Editor March 8, 2023

At a school like Harker, distance is inevitable. It hides between campuses, between ages and between the cracks left by the pandemic. United Voices, held on March 3 for the first time since 2018, examines...

An illustration depicting Rihannas half-time performance during Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12. Her jumpsuit revealed her pregnancy, with a baby bump visible through the layers of red.

Light up the sky: A review of Rihanna’s half-time performance

by Emma Milner and Hima Thota March 8, 2023

After seven years away from the stage, Rihanna is back, at least for the Super Bowl.  Performing in an all-red jumpsuit, Rihanna’s performance to her hits also served as a pregnancy reveal with the...

Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: Stay cozy with Aquila

by Alena Suleiman, Co-Arts & Entertainment Editor March 6, 2023

Music Monday features a different category of songs on a weekly basis. Each Monday, Harker Aquila will release seven songs, one song for each day of the week. With a forecast of light rain for the week,...

AP Art History recreates Georges Seurats A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The AP art history tableau is a beloved Hoscars tradition.

Trip down memory lane: Nostalgia-themed Hoscars return for fifth annual run

by Jessica Wang February 21, 2023

Spotlight. To thunderous applause and a dramatic backing track, on saunters Gordon Chen (12) carrying Kris Estrada (12) to the center of the stage. And so begins the fifth annual Hoscars performances,...

Yasmin Sudarsanam (10), Eileen Ma (12) and Maya Affaki (10) dance to  Peer Pressure. Eileen choreographed the dance by translating her favorite moments from the song to dance movements.

Growing “Better 2Gether”: Students perform in annual Dance Production

by Young Min and Alison Yang February 19, 2023

The curtains draw back as the Patil Theater is plunged into darkness. Suddenly, strings of neon light descend, illuminating the stage as the first notes of “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock...

At the center of Japantown towers the five-story concrete Peace Pagoda. The Buddhist stupa was a gift from the former sister city of Osaka, Japan and now serves as an iconic landmark and gathering spot of Japantown.

A Day in Japantown, San Francisco

by Katerina Matta and Alison Yang February 18, 2023

San Francisco’s Japantown, or “Nihonmachi,” boasts a wealth of delicious restaurants, family-owned businesses and vestiges of the hidden history of the Japanese-American community. Despite the once...

Harshini Chaturvedula (11) plays the viola with Orchestra during the Winter Instrumental Concert. Held on Jan. 13, the concert invited audiences to watch multiple upper school instrumental groups and soloists perform various musical styles, ranging from upbeat Latin jazz to slow ballads.

Annual Winter Instrumental Concert showcases diverse musical styles and performances

by Ariana Goetting and Young Min February 2, 2023

Warm orange lights illuminate the stage as Lab Band settles into their chairs, carefully preparing their instruments. With the flick of the conductor’s wrist, music flows and reverberates throughout...

Ellen Bass is the author of four poetry collections, including most recently, “Indigo,” published in 2020. Bass spoke with Harker Aquila about her experiences reading, writing, and teaching poetry, making a home and a life out of this art.

The Poet’s Project: ‘The magic and mystery of it’

by Felix Chen and Sarah Mohammed January 24, 2023

Ellen Bass is the author of four poetry collections, including most recently, “Indigo” (Copper Canyon Press 2020). Her poems have been published in the New Yorker and the American Poetry Review and...

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