Stories from quarantine: “The outfit I never wore”
by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Varsha Rammohan, and Aditya Singhvi
May 25, 2020
Over the last week, members of Harker Journalism dug through their closets to pull out outfits and accessories they haven't touched since quarantine started—a glimmer of normalcy in a time of uncertainty and change. These images showcase the styles, fashions and trends of our yearbook and newspaper...
COVID-19 testing and treatments explained: Cases ramp up as researchers race to find sustainable cures
by Mark Hu, Katie Wang, and Nicholas Wei
May 20, 2020
As COVID-19 infections continue to spread across the nation, hospitals across Santa Clara Valley are taking measures to increase the number of resources available for patients, including ventilators and hospital beds, as researchers search for a vaccine, a long term solution to the virus. Commercial and academic laboratories throughout the Bay Area are faci...
Meal with Love: Giving back to our medical workers
by Nicholas Wei, Reporter
May 12, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, some medical workers are facing an unexpected problem: the lack of time to cook. To address this issue, a group of Bay Area women have started a fundraising effort to pay for and deliver meals to hospitals where medical staff have been struggling to find time to eat....
Creativity during COVID-19: Writers reflect on quarantine
by Anna Vazhaeparambil, Aquila Co-Sports Editor
May 10, 2020
Hopeful reflections. Brooding thoughts. Nostalgic memories. The upper school writing contest, Creativity during COVID-19, gave students the chance to record these feelings about living during a worldwide pandemic and responding to this new reality. Hosted by English teacher Jennifer Siraganian, the contes...
New Jersey doctor speaks to Harker community about working on front lines of COVID-19 pandemic
by Lucy Ge, Winged Post Asst. News Editor
May 10, 2020
Family medicine physician Dr. Akanksha Kumar spoke to 63 Harker students and faculty via Zoom during long lunch on Friday about her experience working on a COVID-19 team at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey. With this speaker event, organized by Riyaa Randhawa (10), Dr. K...
Print to protect
![Parts of 15 orange and black masks that Will Yashar (10) 3D-printed lie on a table. “It was nice to see everyone helping for the common good, that was inspiring,” Will said. “Everyone’s helping in their own way, [this] was just the way I could help.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/image4-2-475x320.jpg)
by Sally Zhu, Reporter
May 1, 2020
The soft whir of the Prusa I3 Mk3 3D printing machine hums in Will Yashar’s (10) garage-turned-workspace as he pulls up the plastic mask prototype on his laptop. Surrounding the printers are large rolls of white PLA plastic filaments, some finished masks to be delivered and broken printer pieces and ...
Stories from quarantine: A game night to remember
by Lavanya Subramanian
April 28, 2020
Faded primary colors fill the different pictures and numbers on the six cards in my hand. In front of me, more cards lay stacked on top of each other, each with a different word written in a black graffiti font. I unknowingly toy with the fraying edge of one of my cards as I watch my dad contemplate h...
Senior spring online: making the most out of virtual college visits
by Gloria Zhang, Winged Post Editor-in-Chief
April 19, 2020
Congratulations! *Cue the confetti* After months of waiting for “an update to your application status”, seniors, we finally reached the moment to embark on our college adventure. Yet, instead of spending our spring break with air travel or road trips on the way to admit weekends, we have inst...
Upper school athletic department helps athletes stay in shape with spring sports season cancelled
![The tennis courts at Westmont High in Los Gatos remain locked up. “It’s sort of hard to transition from playing tennis every single day to just not doing anything and sitting around,” varsity tennis co-captain Ramanand Vegesna (12) said. “Sometimes when you’re doing your own workouts it’s hard to stick to something and you kind of get lost in what you want to work on, so I think [Volt is] a really good tool, and people who don’t have a lot of experience working out can use it and figure out what exercise they want to do.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_3499-475x356.jpg)
by Saurav Tewari, Reporter
April 18, 2020
Eight upper school sports have had their seasons canceled after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the statewide regulatory body for high school sports, released a statement on April 3 announcing the statewide cancellation of the spring sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
Finding a new fun: discovering hobbies during quarantine
by Sabrina Zhu, Reporter
April 17, 2020
As she gently presses on the strings with one hand, Arissa Huda (9) strums her acoustic Hohner guitar with the other, playing a version of Selena Gomez and Kygo’s “It Ain’t Me.” She smiles and nods her head to the music, which has quickly become her new hobby and form of escape during this peri...
Editorial: Be brave
March 28, 2020
On Jan. 24, Harker Aquila ran its first story on the coronavirus outbreak, reporting 1,287 worldwide cases. Over the next month and a half, we watched — and continued reporting — as the virus traveled around the world, creeping closer and closer to home in what felt like a hyperreal sci-fi movie. I...
Santa Clara County announces shelter-in-place directive
by Mark Hu and Aditya Singhvi
March 17, 2020
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced a “shelter-in-place” directive for all residences yesterday, joining five other Bay Area counties as the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 155 within the county and 4,226 nationally. Six counties — Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin and Alameda — issu...