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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

Richard Zhang (11) plays with the orchestra during the Big Assembly Day opening number, "Sleigh Ride." Big Assembly Day occurred on Friday, Dec. 9.

K-12 performing arts students shine at in-person Big Assembly Day

by Alysa Suleiman and Sally Zhu January 9, 2022

Crack!  Heads turn, and the audience erupts into peals of laughter.  The infamous slapstick, two wooden boards that upper school orchestra percussionist Yejin Song (12) clapped together to imitate...

Immediately after its release on Sept. 17, the show encountered overwhelming success. In fact, “Squid Game” is the only Korean series to reach first place on Netflix’s top 10 most-viewed global chart, surpassing the combined views on any other streaming network according to content analytics research firm Diesel Labs.

‘Squid Game’ rolls dice on life

by Alena Suleiman, Reporter December 15, 2021

“Hello, sir.” A man in a suit holding a briefcase settles down in the empty spot next to you. “Would you like to play a game with me?” You give the man a once-over, questioning his profession....

The audiobook edition of “Chain of Gold” by Cassandra Clare borrowed from Sora stands next to the hardcover edition. This novel was the first audiobook I ever listened to, and it introduced me to a new form of consuming media that I had previously shunned due to misconceptions.

Reading audiobooks isn’t cheating

by Irene Yuan, Co-Managing Editor December 14, 2021

Listen to the audio reading of the following article at the link below.  harkeraquila · Listen-ature is valid, reading audiobooks isn’t cheating"DAYS PAST: 1897,” a voice intoned. “Lucie Herondale...

Downbeat members Kris Estrada (11), Samvita Gautham (11) and Shayla He (10) smile as they introduce the performances at Santana Row on Tuesday. Upper school performing arts groups Downbeat, Kinetic Krew and Harker Dance Company traveled to Santana Row on Tuesday evening to perform festive routines filled with holiday cheer.

Harker performing arts groups dazzle at ‘Spirit of The Row’ show

by Sally Zhu and Alena Suleiman December 11, 2021

Three high school students, two jazzed up in glittery gold dresses and the other adorned in a navy-blue collared shirt with a gold tie and scarf, chatter animatedly on a stage in front of a 40-foot-tall...

Apex: John Zeng (12)

Apex: Football athlete creates home through team

by Jessica Tang and Alysa Suleiman December 11, 2021

Apex is Harker Aquila’s recurring feature profile on the upper school's student-athletes, delivered either in a written or video format. This Apex profile features John Zeng (12), co-captain of the 2021-22...

Upper school Latin and world history teacher Clifford Hull examines excavated fossils that he has collected and stores in his room, Main 1. Hull is passionate about archaeology, collecting and the past, as evinced by objects atop his cabinet such as the bust of Caesar pencil holder and the American flag he was given when he first came to the country.

Meet your teacher: Excavating upper school history teacher’s world

by Sarah Mohammed and Tiffany Chang December 10, 2021

Bright green, pink and yellow orange squeezers; teapots from Finland from the 50s and 60s and mid 19th century Victorian Age relics of urinals are a combination of objects you’ll most likely never find...

An illustration of a photo album, reminiscent of those of families that were forced to give up personal belongings such as family photos due to being forced to enter concentration camps.

Pulse of the People: ‘Never forget, never again’

by Alysa Suleiman and Emily Tan December 3, 2021

Harker Aquila spoke with upper school faculty and students, local Jewish synagogue members and Holocaust research experts on the lasting impacts of the Holocaust and the value and necessity of integrating...

Hygrangea macrophylla (hygrangea) flowers bloom as groundskeepers Urdelin Justo and Jose Hernandez prune shrubs in the quad on Sept. 16.

Our garden, our home

by Emily Tan, Julie Shi, and Edward Huang December 3, 2021

For the grounds team, the workday starts early — pre-sunrise, 6:00 a.m. early, when the sun's fingers just start creeping over the horizon and the campus lies still, fast asleep. That is when Director...

Vivian Bi (11) teaches Makayla Aguilar (11) how to fold a paper crane. The LIFE Board organized a project to fold 1000 paper cranes for upper school math teacherJane Keller, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Students fold 1000 paper cranes for upper school math teacher recovery

by Alena Suleiman, Reporter December 2, 2021

Laughter emanated from Manzanita Hall and the orchard during the morning office hours block of Oct. 14 as LIFE Board members handed out slips of origami paper, inviting students of all grades to help them...

Many young athletes struggle to prioritize mental health while juggling academic and athletic commitments. A survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin found that 68% of student-athletes have anxiety high enough to require therapeutic support.

‘No athlete wants to step back’

by Sarah Mohammed and Tiffany Chang November 27, 2021

Basketball and track and field athlete Alexa Lowe (12) remembers the winter and spring seasons when she would arrive home late at night after a tiring day of practice. The pressure to be more efficient...

Smoke fills the sky ahead of upper school Spanish teacher and Green Team adviser Diana Moss’s car as she is about to drive past the Dixie Fire. The fire has burnt over 963,309 acres.

‘It burns and it burns and it burns’: California wildfires raze 2.4 million acres in midst of climate emergency, community members recover and reflect

by Sabrina Zhu and Arely Sun October 10, 2021

“It was like driving into hell.” A pitch black sky surrounded upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss as she neared the Dixie fire, while she passed through the small city of Red Bluff in ​​Tehama...

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