The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Humans of Harker: Leading with every lesson
Humans of Harker: Leading with every lesson
“For me, discipline can only happen when I try the things that I really like. Since I like basketball and I like guitar, I'm willing to contribute to the discipline. It's not really discipline at that point — it's passion," senior Advay Monga said.
Humans of Harker: Dribble and drive
“Working on Roobi has taught me how to bounce back from failures, and that problems need to be addressed one bit at a time because you can't just tackle huge goals. I learned to not be afraid of failure because every failure is a step towards success. I try not to look back and wish I could change something because I can't. It's the past. Instead, I look forward," senior Daniel Dorfman said.
Humans of Harker: Steeped for success
“With volleyball and Medical Club, I love working with people. I get to work with people who aren't necessarily in my classes or aren't my friends specifically, but we get to work hard and work together towards a common goal. That collaboration aspect is really important to me," senior Navya Samuel said.
Humans of Harker: Cooperation through competition
“Human connection is very important to staying grounded and stable. The people around me are one of the reasons that I'm not fully burnt out, so I really prioritize keeping a good schedule for myself. Being able to prioritize the things in life that give me internal satisfaction is important to me because that's what allows me to have the drive to do good with the rest of my time. Talking to people is a way for me to replenish," senior Kashish Priyam said.
Humans of Harker: Pep in every step
Humans of Harker: Cooking with creativity
Humans of Harker: Cooking with creativity
“There's a lot of value in every moment and everyone around you. I appreciate people who just appreciate the little things. For me, I feel like everyone you meet can teach you a little bit, and that's something that I've really internalized over the years. I think that's part of why I like being around people and different communities so much. Because in each of these communities, you can learn so many different things from everyone," Olivia Xu ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: Purpose towards progress
“I get to choose how much effort and detail I put in, and that’s what you’re going to see in the end. I love that you can see the truth on paper. A lot of my work is in black and white, so I can’t rely on color to cover it up or make it more interesting — I can only rely on my skill and willingness to go into the studio and add to my piece," Katelyn Zhao ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: Envisioning the everyday
"I used to think that I have to keep doing dance just because it's what I’m known for. But now I’ve realized there’s beauty behind all the madness that happens. And it’s now a part of me, so not doing dance or not having Legos is like I’m losing a part of my identity," Luke Mehta ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: Building with style
“Why not? So many things are very foreign or unknown to us, but there’s not much to lose by just trying things. I initially wasn’t very comfortable with DECA, especially with impromptu, but the community really helped me grow out of that. And DECA is now one of my top high school memories. Just giving things a try is really worth it, and if it fails, the worst thing that can happen is you just try something else," Claire Luo ('24) said.
Humans of Harker: It’s all in the details
"Being a lifer, I really want to put my knowledge to use. Being a TEDx speaker is a really big honor in and of itself, but to be able to actually address the Harker community was really important to me because I wanted to have an impact on the place that I've been at for 13 years," Arissa Huda ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Prescribing change
"I’ve learned discipline: practicing a lot and then knowing what your strengths are, knowing where to improve. That discipline is definitely going to stay with me. If I’m trying to get a big piece of work done in general when I'm interested in it, I'll stop at nothing to reach my goals," Linette Hoffman ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Artistry in motion
"I have this philosophy with theater. I wholeheartedly believe that my life was made for the stage, and all my make or break moments have happened there. While some people learn best through lectures or visuals, I learn best from having a spotlight on me," Zubin Khera ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Scripts to success
"One of the most important things for me about performing is its transformative power. There was one concert where we were singing this commission about gun violence, followed by a piece about climate change, a piece about the Holocaust. Watching the audience's expressions and how they reacted to the music we were singing was the first time that I was like, ‘Whoa, music has the power to change lives and engender positive change,’” Sawyer Lai ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Symphony of spirit
"It’s been fun getting to know the chefs at La Mar, their team and how different cultural influences blend together. For example, they make ceviche, which is a traditional Peruvian dish, but they infuse it with many different cultures. They have a version of their ceviche which is inspired by African tastes and spices, and they also have a Japanese form of that same ceviche dish. I think it’s interesting to watch how these fusion dishes form," Alex Lan ('23) said.
Humans of Harker: Flavors of knowledge
Prakrit Jain ('22) searches for new animal species to help the environment and wildlife.
Humans of Harker: Scorpion spotter
Arnav Gupta ('22) moves a DNA construction.
Humans of Harker: Coding for a cause
“[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.
Humans of Harker: Blast of creativity
"Every single person I've interviewed for Humans of Harker has said one killer quote that has stuck with me even through four years of high school, and I think I really do internalize those messages. There are nuances in every single person's experience that makes it unique to them and also makes it a good lesson for everyone else. It's just amazing to see how much wisdom every single person at Harker has, and it's fascinating to learn about those stories," Erica Cai ('22) said.
Humans of Harker: Harmony in humanity
“Something I took away from baseball is that there's always the opportunity to bounce back when things don't go particularly right. Even the best hitters only go one for three, so being able to push through that is one of the most important parts of the game. Being able to identify what goes wrong and learning from that is important to being able to find success in the future," Mark Hu ('22) said.
Humans of Harker: The perfect pitch
Humans of Harker: Perseverance on par
Humans of Harker: Perseverance on par
It's been obviously rough, turning on the news and seeing another death, seeing another acquittal every single time … but, ‘How much can I do?’ is the question I'm asking myself. ‘How much can I help, and what impact can I have?’” Brian Pinkston ('21) said.
Humans of Harker: For the future and the present
“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.
Humans of Harker: Leading with DECA-cation
Class of 2021: Humans of Harker compilation, part three
Class of 2021: Humans of Harker compilation, part three
“I feel really good about myself when I'm relaxed and enjoying the world. There’s so much to learn about the world and so many ways to do so," Daniel Wang ('21) said.
Humans of Harker: Mapping the unknown
"I'm the person that always has a plan for everything. And then I have backups for the plan, and I have backups for the backups," Nicole Chen ('19) said.
Humans of Harker: Calendars for a cause
"I don’t ever intend on letting the internal love of life that I have leave me. As I grow up and I maintain my love for the random things I do, I know I’ll be happy– and hopefully people around me will be, as well," Mathew Mammen ('19) said.
Humans of Harker: Jack of all trades, master of fun
Humans of Harker: To dance, to feel
Humans of Harker: To dance, to feel
"The more serious side, people will never see. You'll never see who's behind one of these websites that people may be using," Neil Ramaswamy (12) said. "Several freshmen have approached me like, 'hey, you're the really funny guy at school meeting' and I'm like 'hey, yeah, nice to meet you' and at the same time they might be using an application that I've written not knowing that it's me. I kind of get that personal satisfaction knowing that there is a serious side to me, you just don't know about it."
Humans of Harker: Dueling with duality
Humans of Harker: Humanity in art
Humans of Harker: Humanity in art
“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.
Humans of Harker: Neymika Jain finds balance in life
“A lot of the time, when I’m out at nail salons, nailers ask me if I‘m Vietnamese. I say yes, but they say that I don’t speak the language and have never been back to Vietnamese, so am I really? I always felt disconnected, like I would be Vietnamese-American but never Vietnamese. When I went to Vietnam for the first time, it brought me closer to my culture. I realized I shouldn’t view myself as a different. I have to see Vietnamese-American and Vietnamese as one and the same," Haley Tran (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Haley Tran values her cultural identity
“One time, I was hiking up this giant off-trail path, and this is going to make me sound like a complete hippy, but what I was thinking at the moment was that every single tree out there must have had some sort of backstory. Even when I was walking to Shah, there was this tree right next to the building, and I was like, ‘Maybe this tree had a lot of other tree friends, but then this building came up and they had to get cut down.’ That made me pretty sad. So, when I was coming up with backstories for trees, it reminded me of my childlike innocence of playing pretend or playing with my stuffed animals because I thought my imagination would never run as wild as it once did. But, this experience made me feel happy because it’s something that I’ve lost, and I feel like I gained some of it back," Aashish Jain (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Aashish Jain finds inspiration in painting through watching Bob Ross videos
“For me, robotics has always been a great way to learn about how to build things and how things work. Honestly, that is the reason why I love robotics. When you see everything working, you look at it and say 'I helped make this happen,' which is really really gratifying," Andrew Tierno (12) said.
Humans of Harker: Andrew Tierno reflects on his passion for robotics
“A lot of being a choreographer is about digging deep, understanding, and finding out which event leads to the next, which is basically what science is. You would take a circuit and break it apart to understand each of the components, and you would do that to a song,” Sneha Bhetanabhotla (‘17) said.
Humans of Harker: Sneha Bhetanabhotla learns to connect robotics and dance
“I can be serious, and I care a lot about a lot of things, but I also just like having fun and people feeling comfortable being their true selves,” Isabella Spradlin (12) said. “You don't have to be one-sided — you can have different sides of your personality, and different moods.”
Humans of Harker: Isabella Spradlin gleans insight from sisterhood
“This is like a melting pot of Cupertino, Lynbrook, Saratoga, some people from De Anza, so you meet all kinds of people,” Rahul Mehta (12) said. “Half the time I’m not even playing with my friends, so I’m playing with random people. You start off in the beginning a bit wary of each other, and then by end you’re playing like they’re your friends. It’s kind of gradual. Like after a really cool play, you’ll high five each other, and that’s how it all begins.”
Humans of Harker: Rahul Mehta befriends others through banter
"People are always debating, you know, ‘should I go up to a higher weight or not?’ And I’ll just yell, ‘do it, you won’t,’" Tiffany Shou (12) said. "And then, you know, it’s like that challenge, and so it always pushes them pick that higher weight, and then they can accomplish it, so it’s even more gratifying."
Humans of Harker Video: Tiffany Shou pushes her limits in the weight room
“First, I start at my house,” Sparsh Chauhan (12) said. “Then, I turn on Saratoga, and it’s always crowded with traffic and stuff. That’s when I’m setting the music, checking the tire pressure, the gas. After downtown, the road gets smooth, which is when I put the windows down. I go all the way down until there’s a dip and then I go back. Even when I have stuff to do, I drive that same route every day. I don’t have to take directions. I know all the traffic times; I know exactly where I’m going.”
Humans of Harker: Sparsh Chauhan takes pride in his work
“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.”
Humans of Harker: Angel Cervantes chases his goals
“[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.
Humans of Harker: Learning to fall
“You just have to go for it. You think, 'In the future, if I think back and regret it, is that how I want to end up — or would I rather just try something and see what happens?' Usually, it turns out well,” Montek Kalsi (’20) said. 
Humans of Harker: All fun and games
“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.
Humans of Harker: Leadership and love
Humans of Harker: Grit and grind
Humans of Harker: Grit and grind
Humans of Harker: Artistic nonconformity
Humans of Harker: Artistic nonconformity
The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
Jonathan Szeto

Jonathan Szeto, STEM Editor

Jonathan Szeto (11) is a STEM editor for Harker Aquila and the Winged Post, and this is his third year on staff. This year, he hopes to improve his photography skills and interview more people around campus. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano and violin and learning more about aerospace.

All content by Jonathan Szeto
Culture Week Day 5: Performances and street-food fair

Culture Week Day 5: Performances and street-food fair

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
March 4, 2025
Ashish Mathur explains research showing how heart disease is more prevalent among South Asians at younger ages and at lower body mass indices. He is the co-founder and executive director of the South Asian Heart Center at the El Camino Hospital.

Heart disease expert provides health management tips

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
February 26, 2025
STEM Simplified Episode 1: Bird flu outbreak intensifies nationwide

STEM Simplified Episode 1: Bird flu outbreak intensifies nationwide

by Ashley Mo and Jonathan Szeto
February 16, 2025
Research Revelations Episode 9: Grading vocal performance recordings with Saanvi Bhargava

Research Revelations Episode 9: Grading vocal performance recordings with Saanvi Bhargava

by Ashley Mo and Jonathan Szeto
February 16, 2025
Juniors Justin Yang, Eric Dong and Katherine Wang put the final touches on their stilted house in the design-build part of the competition. Teams competed to construct the tallest and most wind-resilient model homes using common materials like straws and paper.

Engineering contest challenges students in weather-resistant building design

by Mihir Kotbagi and Jonathan Szeto
February 13, 2025
Sophomores Stellan Lindh and Vera Sorotokin taste strawberries after eating miracle berries. The fruits turn acidity in foods into sweetness by binding to sweet receptors in the mouth.

Club Corner: Cooking Club turns sour into sweet with miracle berries

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
February 8, 2025
As global temperatures and sea levels rise, climate change intensifies weather patterns. California has seen stronger and more frequent wildfires, drier and hotter droughts and stronger winds and waves during storms.

Global Reset: Stronger storms, fiercer fires

by Jeremy Peng and Jonathan Szeto
February 6, 2025
Physics teacher Mark Brada speaks to Astronomy Club president Eric Dong (11) about his experiences as academic and career journey in engineering. Astronomy Club hosted the event as part of the A Space for Space speaker series.

Astronomy Club hosts speaker event about science career paths

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
February 1, 2025
Three seniors Andrew Liang, Aarush Vailaya and Varun Thvar were named Regeneron STS Scholars on Jan. 8. They were chosen among the top 300 students in the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search.

Q&A with Harker’s Regeneron STS Scholars

by Jonathan Szeto and Nathan Yee
January 26, 2025
Today, the filibuster is a tool that grows ever more crucial to the stability of the federal government and the healthy functioning of our democracy. It ensures the Senate performs the job it was made for, to prevent fast-tracked, partisan or extreme laws and allows the minority a voice in the nation’s government.

A protection against partisanship

by Jonathan Szeto, STEM Editor
January 23, 2025
Research Revelations Episode 7: Macaque monkey neuroscience with Cyrus Ghane

Research Revelations Episode 7: Macaque monkey neuroscience with Cyrus Ghane

by Jonathan Szeto and Nathan Yee
January 11, 2025
Varsity tennis team member Olivia Guo (12) leaps to serve the ball during a singles match. Finishing the season with an 11-3 overall record, the team advanced to the CCS semifinal.

Nichols Hall features several energy-saving innovations like solar panels and climate control systems designed to reduce energy use. Classroom lights also automatically turn off when not in use.

Global Reset: Education meets environment

by Lily Shi and Jonathan Szeto
November 22, 2024
Participants attempt to solve 25 physics problems during the 90 minute competition. Open to middle and high school students, the contest awarded $800 in prizes, with first place winner Owen Zhou receiving $250.

Harker Physics Invitational draws international participation

by Jonathan Szeto, STEM Editor
November 19, 2024
Sophomore Chetana Pramanik and frosh Dyuthi Vallamsetty learn about the different competitive events at HOSA conferences. Categories include Health Informatics and Medical Law and Ethics.

STEM Spotlight: HOSA

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
November 16, 2024
Vice President of Conference Affairs Angelina Antony (11) speaks about her experience participating in the Biomedical Laboratory Science competition. Officers introduced members to the organization's mission and conference events.

Talagala discusses how AI tools can hold biases as a result of skewed training data. She also answered questions about AI in cybersecurity and the workplace.

Civic Tech Club hosts machine learning expert to discuss Artificial Intelligence

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
November 13, 2024
Nov. 5 marks Election Day, and Harker Aquila is following along with national news with their own live coverage, including polls and community responses. Check this page for more information about the presidential, Senate and House of Representatives races, as well as California's propositions.

Live Coverage: 2024 Presidential Election

by Emma Milner, Alison Yang, Lily Shi, Eva Cheng, Disha Gupta, Suhani Gupta, Mendy Mao, Ashley Mo, Jonathan Szeto, Tiffany Zhu, Leah Krupnik, Lindsay Li, Vivek Moorjani, Lily Peng, Samuel Tong, Chelsea Xie, Cynthia Xie, Nathan Yee, and Elizabeth Zhang
November 5, 2024
AP Biology students Savitha Satish (11) and Sophia Bagley (11) conduct the Catalase Lab. Students grouped together in pairs, with one person dropping the yeast spheres into the solution and the other person timing the reaction.

Biology students test enzyme reactions with catalase and yeast

by Ashley Mo and Jonathan Szeto
October 25, 2024
Olivia Guo (12) hits the ball during her match against Menlo's Emily Li. She started off strong, winning 7-6 in her first set, but went on to lose 2-6 and 3-10 in a hard-fought game.

Varsity girls tennis suffers 3-4 loss to Menlo

by Mihir Kotbagi and Jonathan Szeto
October 18, 2024
As more people turn to ChatGPT and other AI tools like Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, increased usage poses the increased threat of droughts. Global AI demand is projected to rise exponentially to over $1.5 trillion by 2030.

Global Reset: AI revolution or climate devastation?

by Ashley Mo and Jonathan Szeto
October 12, 2024
Friday Five: Underrated STEM subjects

Friday Five: Underrated STEM subjects

by Jonathan Szeto and William Jiang
October 11, 2024
Ankola works with companies around the world to provide a wide selection of cosmetic offerings. By testing products himself before offering them on the Spyra app, he ensures that the products supplied to his customers stay true to their advertising.

Blooming from the STEM: Connecting through cosmetics

by Jonathan Szeto and Vivek Moorjani
October 11, 2024
Students chat and eat together during lunch. Every day, the kitchen staff serves over a thousand lunches within an hour.

Follow life cycle of food

by Victor Gong, Katerina Matta, Mihir Kotbagi, Ashley Mo, Jonathan Szeto, Cynthia Xie, and Alison Yang
October 11, 2024
Two Harker Day attendees play with slime at a booth in Nichols Hall. Nichols featured a variety of different booths to engage with students and parents.

Community celebrates fourth annual Harker Day

by Mihir Kotbagi, Ashley Mo, Jonathan Szeto, Samuel Tong, Risa Chokhawala, Lily Peng, and Charlie Wang
October 8, 2024
A face painting artist draws a design on a Harker Day attendee's forehead. Students and parents also had the opportunity to receive a caricature of themselves in the Quad.

An attendee balances a ball between two rods while playing Space Miner in the Quad. Students and parents enjoyed various activities including carnival games, face painting and foosball.

Gender and Sexuality Alliance member Bee Chadwick (11) helps a student pot succulents at the organization’s booth in the Quad. Other clubs also hosted activities, like Key Club’s candy fundraiser and Green Team’s smoothie-making.

Neuroscience Club President Danielle Steinbach (11) speaks about the anatomy of the brain during the lecture. The presentation is part of a series aimed to help club members prepare for the Bay Area Brain Bee competition.

STEM Spotlight: Neuroscience Club

by Jonathan Szeto and Nathan Yee
October 8, 2024
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice Policy and Legal Services Manager J Vasquez argues for voting in favor of Proposition 6. The ballot measure would prohibit involuntary labor as a punishment in California prisons.

San Jose residents talk criminal justice, prison reform at community forum

by Jonathan Szeto and Tiffany Zhu
October 7, 2024
Jackson tackles an Anzar player at the 16 yard line. The Anzar player only gained 5 yards.

Live coverage: Harker challenges Anzar High School for Homecoming football game

by Emma Milner, Alison Yang, Eva Cheng, Tiffany Zhu, Sidak Sanghari, Gabe Sachse, Hima Thota, Aishani Singh, Kairui Sun, Ashley Mo, Jonathan Szeto, Charlie Wang, Suhani Gupta, Claire Yu, Janam Chahal, Mihir Kotbagi, Mendy Mao, Ella Guo, Samuel Tong, Caden Ruan, Sam Li, Lily Peng, Claire Xu, Chelsea Xie, and Katerina Matta
October 5, 2024
3D Printing and Design Club president Evan Zhang (11) smiles as he explains the functionality of the 3D printer to members. To prepare the printer, users needed to preheat the print bed and load the model’s computer-aided design (CAD) file.

STEM Spotlight: 3D Printing and Design Club

by Ashley Mo and Jonathan Szeto
October 4, 2024
As part of a school-wide Wi-Fi upgrade, the IT team replaced old wireless access points with new Ruckus devices in every classroom. Members of the community should expect reliable internet connection anywhere on campus with improved speeds and security.

Wi-Fi overhaul hopes to bring widespread coverage across campus

by Jonathan Szeto, Mihir Kotbagi, and Charlie Wang
September 30, 2024
Senior Navya Samuel plays with her Eagle Buddy group on Davis Field. Students had the option to interact with their Buddies on the field, as well as tour the upper school campus.

Sophomores and seniors connect with Eagle Buddies as freshman and juniors attend LIFE sessions

by Aryana Bharali, Jonathan Szeto, Leah Krupnik, and Victoria Li
September 29, 2024
TALON photo editor Ram Batchu (11) discusses framing techniques while analyzing a photo taken by an attendee. Participants took 15 minutes to capture scenes from the convention, after which journalism photo editors critiqued their photos.

Journalism photo editors help attendees “Snap Better Photos” at JEA NorCal Media Day

by Mihir Kotbagi, Jonathan Szeto, and Charlie Wang
September 28, 2024
Creative writing, storytelling and skit director Cyrus Ghane explains the process of writing a futuristic scene to FPS Launch attendees. Club members learned how to analyze and solve problems for a scenario set in the future during the introductory event.

Future Problem Solving Launch introduces members to problem-solving process

by Jonathan Szeto, Co-STEM Editor
September 19, 2024
Students gathered in the Nichols auditorium to learn about Synopsys guidelines and requirements. Only 15 RRI and 15 non-RRI projects are allowed to be submitted through the application process.

Synopsys interest meeting promotes student-led scientific research

by Ashley Mo and Jonathan Szeto
September 11, 2024
Harker Conservatory representatives announced upcoming events. They spoke of Fall Play auditions, Harker Concert Series Tropicales performance and Dance Production auditions.

School Meeting 9/6: Performing arts auditions, AMC and homecoming week

by Jonathan Szeto and Claire Xu
September 9, 2024
The Olympics emitted 1.58 million tons of carbon dioxide, less than its target of 1.75.

Global Reset: “Green” policies create controversy at Olympics

by Lily Shi and Charlie Wang
August 25, 2024
This year, Intel is on track to earn only $38.3 billion, less than half of its revenue in 2021. The company’s per-share price tanked 26% just a day after it announced a $10 billion cost-cutting plan in its second-quarter report on Aug. 1.

Chip crisis: Intel tumbles amidst layoffs and lackluster earnings

by Victor Gong, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
August 23, 2024
Juniors Veeraz Thakkar and Mikhil Kiran paddle in a kayak during the Class of 2026's trip to Angel Island. Students had the option to participate in various activities including hiking, kayaking and playing on the beach.

Kayaking, climbing and connecting: Sophomores, juniors kick off school year with class trips

by Lily Shi, Jonathan Szeto, and Charlie Wang
August 22, 2024
"Even though I was able to connect to so many people through speech, individually it also made me a better communicator. A lot of speech is just being comfortable talking to other people, sharing your ideas, the way you talk and the way you respond to other people. It’s made me more aware of other people and their thoughts and feelings, and I know it’s made me a better person too," Fiona Yan (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Eloquence for benevolence

by Jonathan Szeto, Co-STEM Editor
May 6, 2024
As tools like the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in soccer have grown in usage over the past decade, the number of fouls and red cards has decreased. Similarly, sports like baseball, volleyball and tennis utilize the Hawk-Eye system, which allows referees and umpires to accurately make out-of-bounds calls.

Technology in sports: To use or not to use?

by Jonathan Szeto, Co-STEM Editor
May 3, 2024
Students cheer during the knockout basketball tournament in the spirit assembly on Monday. Max Xing (12) won the competition, gaining points for the Class of 2024.

Spirit Week Day 1: Grades represent class themes, fight for first in Spirit Assembly

by Jonathan Szeto and Charlie Wang
March 25, 2024
Ritu Belani (12), Anna Lee (12) and Caden Ruan (10) choose food options from the LIFE Board's snack bar after school on March 14. The board set up the snacks as a healthier alternative option with orange juice, donuts and more.

LIFE nutrition month encourages healthy eating through speaker event and snack bars

by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor
March 25, 2024
California Rep. Adam Schiff speaks about the Protecting our Democracy Act, which he introduced to the House in 2021. Schiff, who is a Democrat, advanced in the primary for California's special Senate election on March 5 along with former professional baseball player and Republican Steve Garvey. (Provided by schiff.house.gov)

Candidates advance in California Senate race, Trump and Biden clinch nominations

by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor
March 18, 2024

Varsity boys tennis team triumphs over Sacred Heart Preparatory 6-1

by Jonathan Szeto, Charlie Wang, and Mihir Kotbagi
March 17, 2024
The Panama Canal Authority cut traffic through the canal indefinitely by 36% on Jan. 17, leading to global shipping delays. An ongoing El Niño exacerbated the drought in Panama. (Provided by statemag.state.gov)

Severe drought in Panama slashes traffic in canal by a third

by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor
February 9, 2024
Samuel Tong (10) fills out his answer form for the 2024 NACLO competition in Nichols Auditorium on Jan. 25. “It was a fun experience even though the questions were a little challenging, and I got the opportunity to do some critical thinking," Samuel said.

Students compete in annual national linguistics competition

by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor
February 3, 2024
Former President Donald Trump delivers an update on the United States' foreign policy in December 2017. Trump won a record majority of the votes cast and half of the state's 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention in July. (Provided by br.usembassy.gov)

Trump dominates Iowa caucuses, DeSantis narrowly outperforms Haley for second place

by Disha Gupta and Jonathan Szeto
January 28, 2024
“Even though a car as a whole can seem super complex, when you break one down into its individual parts, it becomes a lot simpler. Taking stuff apart and seeing how it all works together really helps me learn how things work, not just cars. I need to see something in action and work with it before I completely understand how to solve a problem,” Ashwin Kuppahally (12) said.

Humans of Harker: Racing to rescue

by Jonathan Szeto, Co-Assistant News Editor
January 15, 2024
Head of Upper School Paul Barsky speaks to frosh, sophomores and juniors in the Athletic Center on Tuesday. Barsky announced he was working with student leadership and faculty to combat cheating and reminded students of the importance of integrity and personal responsibility.

School meeting 1/9/24: Academic integrity, kindness and course selections

by Jonathan Szeto, Assistant News Editor
January 13, 2024
Book Blog member Kristiyan Kurtev (9) helps students choose books during the book swap at lunch in the Quad on Thursday. Last year, Book Blog also hosted a book drive, except it was in collaboration with the Green Team for Earth Week.

Readers exchange mysteries, memoirs and more in second annual book swap

by Charlie Wang and Jonathan Szeto
December 1, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on as he directs a large-scale missile attack simulation from land, sea and air on Oct. 25. Rockets from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a submarine in the Barents Sea, and a Tupolev Tu-95 in the air were fired to retaliate against a mock enemy nuclear attack. (Provided by AP News)

Russia conducts massive nuclear strike drill, withdraws from test ban treaty

by Mihir Kotbagi and Jonathan Szeto
November 18, 2023
Sergeant Hing, portrayed by Thomas Campisi (10), gives a monologue to to other members of the Tectonic Theater Project in this year's fall play "The Laramie Project." The production performed in three shows and presented the murder of gay student Matthew Shepard and its aftermath.

A murder and a message

by Jessica Wang and Jonathan Szeto
November 7, 2023
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