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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

Demonstrators carry vibrant signs inscribed with protest slogans. Bay Area activists organized marches and rallies in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.

Not one more: Thousands participate in March for Our Lives protests in Bay Area

by Nicole Chen and Prameela Kottapalli March 26, 2018

Over 800 March for Our Lives protests took place on Saturday, pressing for tighter gun control and safer school environments. In the Bay Area, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland marches, among others,...

 “A couple years ago, I had a blood test, and my doctor said I had to watch out for pre-diabetes," Jay Ali said. "My family has a history of having diabetes and a bunch of diseases. I’ve seen my grandma inject insulin in her body every day, and I decided I didn’t want to go down that path. I started working out every day and trying to get in shape, because I didn’t want to have diabetes for the rest of my life. I think health is really important because without health, nothing else is important in life. For example, Steve Jobs. He didn’t have such a healthy body, but he was a really special guy to everyone else. I kind of want to be that guy, but with no health issues so I can live my life to the fullest."

Humans of Harker: Jay Ali focuses on self-improvement

by Nilisha Baid, Reporter March 26, 2018

Jay Ali (12) plays the bassoon — an instrument most people don’t recognize. “At the beginning, I wasn’t that good,” he said. “I was last chair, and there were four others ahead of me. I...

Instrumental music teacher and director of the upper school orchestra Chris Florio stands with the ensemble at the end of one of their pieces for the collaboration concert with the Santa Monica High School Wind Symphony. The upper school orchestra will be traveling to Chicago from March 29 to April 2 to perform at the Chicago International Music Festival.

Upper school orchestra to perform at Chicago International Music Festival

by Karina Chen and Kat Zhang March 26, 2018

The upper school orchestra will embark on its annual trip, heading to Chicago from March 29 to April 2 to perform at the Chicago International Music Festival. The orchestra will be judged along with three...

Yellow goldfields bloom on the trail as the group continues hiking. This species is also known as Lasthenia californica, but much of the Lasthenia genus itself is native to California and is important to the ecosystems of coastal regions.

Harker community returns to Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

by Irina Malyugina, Reporter March 24, 2018

Twenty-five students and staff hiked an exclusive trail at the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve on March 10. The Santa Clara Open Space Authority invited the freshmen to return to the preserve for...

Humans of Harker: Jacqueline He embraces magical realism

by Nicole Chen, Features Editor March 23, 2018

Creative writing can be a science; programming can be an art. Jacqueline He (12) resides in that intersection. “I think it’s kind of like the left brain, right brain divide,” she said when comparing...

Anika Banga (12) sings Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" as Akshaya Vemuri (12), Sumi Wadhwa (12), Satchi Thockchom (12) and Megan Huynh (12) accompany her on various instruments. The group is planning on performing another song at the upcoming Quadchella talent show on May 2.

Student council hosts annual talent show Hoscars in Patil Theater

by Farah Hosseini, Reporter March 23, 2018

Upper school students and faculty attended the return of talent show Hoscars today in the Patil Theater of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Due to limited seating in the venue, two showings of...

Gun debate participants Andy Semenza (12), Serena Lu (12), Sophia Gottfried (9), Sachin Shah (10), Edgar Lin (12) and Jason Huang (11) take audience questions about their speeches. Today's event in Nichols Auditorium was moderated by Aliesa Bahri (12), Dolan Dworak (12), Sahana Srinivasan (12) and Jai Bahri (10).

Students discuss gun control in after school nonpartisan gun debate, town hall

by Rose Guan, Wingspan Senior Staff Writer and Designer March 23, 2018

Six students discussed gun control in a nonpartisan town hall and question-and-answer session hosted by ASB and the debate and journalism programs today at 3:15 p.m. in Nichols Auditorium. In two groups...

Art Club members Zara Vakath (10), Connie Xu (11), Katrina Liou (11), Charlie Molin (11) and Donna Boucher (11) organize baked goods sales outside Manzanita during the club's club week. “We’re trying to fundraise for an art gallery in Shah, and basically we need these boards that kind of look like walls, but it’s easy to put drawings on them without ruining them. We also need really good lights and stuff like that, so Mr. Martinez said we need about $3,000," Art Club member Kaitlyn Nguyen (12) said.

Art Club fundraises for Shah art gallery through baked goods, sweatshirt sales

by Arya Maheshwari, Reporter March 23, 2018

Art Club raised funds for a new school art gallery through sales of baked goods and hoodies for their club week this week. After school on Monday and Tuesday, club members sold homemade cookies, and...

"I've been working on a compiler for my own programming language, not related to the Harker course, just because I wanted to make my own language as a sort of challenge," Sumer Kohli (12) said. "I wanted to see if I could make something actually useful. So far it's called Sumer code, but I'll come up with a better name, I promise."

Humans of Harker: Sumer Kohli programs with a purpose

by Saloni Shah, Reporter March 22, 2018

Some start with Python; others with Scratch. Some start with robotics, others with online courses and camps. But Sumer Kohli’s (12) programming start came with “The Bros,” the fifth-grade friend...

“I play golf because I love it. I dance because, well one, it’s exercise, and two, I love it. I love music; I love dancing; I love moving; I love movement. It makes me feel good. That’s one thing that I truly believe in,” Victor Shin (12) said. “If you’re going to do something that you don’t like, and it doesn’t make you feel good, then why do it? Don’t do it. It makes me feel good; that’s why I do it.”

Humans of Harker: Victor Shin lives colorfully

by Varsha Rammohan, Reporter March 21, 2018

“Colorful, loud, spontaneous, not afraid to do anything, loud,” Victor Shin (12) said, pausing after his attempt to describe how others perceive him. “Did I say loud?” Everything from his pastel...

One of the restaurant’s most popular items, the “Fried Po’ Boy” combines sandwich and salad in a brioche burger that encapsulates fried shrimp and a spring mix salad. To go with the setting of the eatery, Rustic House serves the burger with thick handcut potato fries and a housemade coleslaw.

Rustic House re-energizes Los Altos downtown

by Anoushka Buch, Reporter March 20, 2018

Though alive with excitement during the day, the streets of Los Altos downtown at 8 p.m. are quiet and dark. The stillness of the area is interrupted, however, by a bar-and-grill that, from the outside,...

"During summer, I had an internship in [San Francisco], and I brought my junior mentality with me, so I was trying to be perfect and I was stressed about everything," Preethi Madabusi (12) said. "The manager sat me down and we had a performance review, so he was analyzing my performance and he said that I was a really hard worker but there was one thing I needed to fix, and that was that I needed to calm down. He said that I tried to be perfect and no one can be perfect. That's when I realized if other people can notice that about me, that's something I should really change."

Humans of Harker: Preethi Madabusi opens up during conversations

by Shreya Srinivasan, Reporter March 19, 2018

Preethi Madabusi’s (12) English teacher, Mr. Christopher Hurshman characterized Preethi as a “gentle soul.” “She is very ready and eager to see other people’s perspective and to extend empathy...

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