The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila
“After I joined choir, I realized how important a sense of community and belonging is. It’s not vital to having a good time in high school. Before that, I was perfectly happy in sophomore year. But joining choir in junior year gave me that sense of working toward a long-term goal together and trying to perfect it and practice it with other people," senior Harrison Chen said.
Humans of Harker: Exploring sound and science
“I want to be remembered as someone who helped my friends and people I know in the grades below to be able to appreciate all of our experiences together. I find it very inspiring to watch all my friends mature over time and want to help this community grow," senior Max Zhai said.
Humans of Harker: Mentoring the next generation
Humans of Harker: Bonds and bullseyes
Humans of Harker: Bonds and bullseyes
Humans of Harker: Piecing together a narrative
Humans of Harker: Piecing together a narrative
“When I was a VP, I had this urge to think, ‘I was a director last year. I know exactly what to do. I'm gonna do it myself, and then the directors can watch and take it on for the next year.' But then I had to realize that it's important to delegate and let them go through the hardship that it took me the year before. Even if they don't understand it, it's also important for them to go through that experience so that they can get to the point where I am now," senior Sanaa Bhorkar said.
Humans of Harker: Directing effort, coordinating action
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
The bear statue next to Dobbins references Jason Berry's nickname "Bear" and commemorates his impact on the Harker community. "You would think he was here forever," English teacher and department head Pauline Paskali said. "It seems his presence is still here with us, and I know we all teach with him in mind."

Campus Compass: Jason Berry’s Bear Statue

by Emma Li, Opinions Editor • March 30, 2025

Students stream out of Dobbins Hall as the bell rings. A curiously shaped installment draws gazes, prominent against Dobbin’s bright pink backdrop. Before the wall, a metal teddy bear with a collar and...

Varsity boys basketball seniors Matthew Chen, Mike Sullivan, Abhi Namala, Gordon Chen, Rishi Cherukuri and KJ Williams pose for a group photo with their families and coaches.

Varsity boys basketball team smashes Eastside College Prep 62-40 on senior night

by Ella Yee • February 18, 2023

The varsity boys basketball team coasted to a 62-40 victory over Eastside College Preparatory on Tuesday after their senior night ceremony at 6:30 p.m. During the ceremony, varsity boys basketball coach...

Butch Keller and upper school math teacher Ms. Jane Keller. "The cancer diagnosis was pretty life changing for Mr. Keller and I, and it kind of helped us realize that life is a little short, and we really need to spend time with our family," Ms. Keller said.

Greatest goodbyes: Departing upper school faculty bid farewells

by Katelyn Zhao, Claire Bauschlicher, Sabrina Zhu, Olivia Xu, and Sarah Mohammed • June 6, 2022

Mr. Samuel “Butch” Keller, Jr., Head of School We say K through life, and Mrs. Keller and I are going to embrace that for life. I do a quote of the day every day, and I have forever. There...

Members of the Class of 2022 clap during their graduation ceremony. The ceremony took place at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga on May 19 at 5 p.m.

Class of 2022 graduates at Mountain Winery

by Kinnera Mulam, Ananya Sriram, and Olivia Xu • May 28, 2022

The class of 2022 concluded their high school careers at their graduation ceremony at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga on May 19 at 5 p.m. Graduates and faculty arrived at the winery at 3 p.m., followed...

Students from the classes of 2022 and 2023 listen as Cantilena performs an arrangement of "You're My Best Friend" by John Deacon during baccalaureate on Davis Field. “[Performing at baccalaureate] is definitely a very bittersweet occasion,” Cantilena leader Teresa Cai (‘22) said. “I’ll definitely miss being at high school and the people I'm with, but I'm excited to go off and make the people here proud.”

Annual baccalaureate transfers leadership from graduating to rising senior class

by Desiree Luo and Olivia Xu • May 27, 2022

As the sun began to set on Davis Field, the classes of 2022 and 2023 filed onto the field in advisory clusters, dressed in formal attire. As their peppered conversations faded away, an arrangement of “Café...

(Left) Paul Barsky will become Head of Upper School and visit campus this spring. (Right) Academic Dean Kelly Horan will become Assistant Head of School.

New Head of Upper School appointed for next school year

by Edward Huang, Isha Moorjani, and Nicole Tian • February 24, 2022

This article has been updated on Thursday, March 24, with photos of Paul Barsky and Kelly Horan as well as a quote from Horan. Paul Barsky will assume the role of Head of Upper School, and Academic...

Keller encourages his team at the varsity boys basketball game against Oak Grove high school on Nov. 16. Keller has served as head coach for the varsity boys basketball team at Harker for 15 seasons, coaching for 25 years before coming to Harker.

Head of Upper School Butch Keller to retire

by Sriya Batchu, Reporter • February 13, 2022

Coach. Mentor. Adviser. Leader. After 15 years at Harker as Head of Upper School and varsity boys basketball coach, Samuel “Butch” Keller, Jr. announced his retirement in early fall. He and his wife,...

Holding the basketball, Kevin Zhang (10) crouches to see if any of his teammates are open. The boys beat University Prep Academy 67-24 on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Varsity boys basketball team crushes University Prep Academy 67-24

by Katelyn Zhao and Alysa Suleiman • December 7, 2021

The varsity boys basketball team defeated University Prep Academy 67-24 on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Abhi Namala (11) secured the opening tip-off, and Charles Ding (12) put the Eagles on the board with a 3-pointer....

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...

Seniors Aimee Wang, Emily Zhou and Tina Zhong sit on Davis Field during a 10-minute break in upper school history teacher Donna Gilbert's third period AP Art History class on Oct. 26. Upper school students have been receiving varied amounts of break times in different classes since the beginning of the school year.

Do in-class breaks matter?

by Sarah Mohammed, Anika Maji • December 1, 2021

Every day her Introduction to Journalism classes meet, upper school journalism teacher Whitney Huang gives all her students a five-minute break, sectioning off the 85 minutes into two blocks with a small...

Sophomores traveled to the Blackford campus on Thursday for their in-person orientation. The day consisted of various bonding activities in advisory groups.

Sophomores meet in-person for first time during orientation, junior class trip cancelled due to nearby fires

by Sally Zhu and Isha Moorjani • August 22, 2021

The Class of 2024 traveled to the Blackford campus on Thursday for their orientation, marking the first in-person gathering of the entire sophomore class. While both the sophomore and junior events were...

A pair of bronze eagles stand in a fountain in front of Shah Hall. The sculpture, a gift from the Class of 2021, had previously been installed in Dobbins Hall.

Graduates’ gift: Class of 2021 funds new eagle fountain, places near Shah Hall

by Sabrina Zhu and Nicholas Wei • August 17, 2021

A pair of sparring bronze eagles grasp at a flowing American flag, suspended over a glassy pool of water. The birds of prey lock claws in the air, their talons gleaming in the sunlight. Two rings of stone...

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