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

 While popular culture associates Gen Z with short attention spans and addiction to technology, Stanford research shows that Gen Z strives to address current issues and solve them, whether through protests, activism, and more. “It’s our collective responsibility to ensure that we hear a variety of distinct and diverse perspectives in order to produce the most holistic and effective policy,” Gordon Chen (12) said.

Pulse of the People: ‘Our collective responsibility’

by Vika Gautham and Desiree Luo March 28, 2023

Content warning: This article mentions gun violence and abortion.  When Sara Bhowmick (12) became a political intern for Saratoga City councilmember Rishi Kumar the summer before her junior year at...

Illustration for the Catching fireflies piece in this installment of Life’s Tiny Treasures. For 30 minutes, we were there in the middle of the night, wind and rain in our hair, dancing outdoors in the lamplight, catching fireflies.

Sincerely, spring: Raindrops, fireflies, crows and puppies

by Vika Gautham, Desiree Luo, Katerina Matta, and Ananya Sriram March 28, 2023

It’s now spring — flowers bloom and the days get longer. To many, it’s the season of new beginnings and fresh starts. To others, it is the marker of cultural celebrations: Carnival, Holi and Easter....

Vibrant colors soar as kids and adults fling “gulal,” or colored powder, at each other, their once white clothes dusted with colors of spring, resembling fields of flowers to welcome the new season. Also known as the Festival of Color, Holi is observed during March as a way to welcome spring and to honor the triumph of good over evil.

Holi celebrations: Welcoming the blooming of the season

by Vika Gautham and Sarah Mohammed March 23, 2023

Vibrant colors soar as kids and adults fling “gulal,” or colored powder, at each other. Their once white clothes become dusted with colors of spring, resembling fields of flowers to welcome the new...

A row of vibrantly colored country flags sway with the wind, above the outdoor skating rink and famous golden statue of Prometheus in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. Upper school journalism staff visited Rockefeller Center on Thursday, exploring its various shops, restaurants and monuments.

New York City’s Rockefeller Center: Where culture meets community

by Tiffany Chang, Michelle Wei, and Kevin Zhang March 18, 2023

NEW YORK — A row of vibrantly colored country flags sway with the wind, beckoning visitors to visit the vast outdoor skating rink and famous golden statue of Prometheus below. Visitors decked in warm...

An illustration of censorship of a student newspaper. The debate over student press freedom continues to rage on at the state level across the country.

Fight for their rights: Student publications stand up for freedom of press

by Arjun Barrett and Sally Zhu March 17, 2023

NEW YORK — “First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or...

Upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth poses with his recent book titled “Desolation Peak: Collected Writings, a collection of Beat Generation poet Jack Kerouac’s writings. “I did some good investigation, and it was really fun,” Shuttleworth said. “I love [Kerouacs] writing, I really respect it, so to be able to transcribe it just for myself was worth it. Overall, I felt I got to know and understand him better than I ever had.”

Taking a peek into “Desolation Peak”

by Olivia Xu, Humans of Harker Managing Editor February 16, 2023

With $14.57 in his pocket and 900 miles to travel, Jack Kerouac hitchhiked to the North Cascades National Park in July of 1956. Beyond fulfilling his role as a fire lookout, he sought enlightenment, an...

Although they often go unnoticed, the Anna’s hummingbird is here on campus all the time. They frequent the red flowers in the orchard; they enjoy the company of the sage bushes in the quad; they sing their animated song in the trees near the Zhang Athletic Center.

Find a feathered friend: The Anna’s hummingbird

by Mirabelle Feng, TALON Reporter February 6, 2023

Believe it or not, there are wild fighter jets on campus. You can catch a glimpse of the green blurs as they zoom around the orchard and the quad, parking on trees by Manzanita Hall and the front loading...

Lunar New Year decorations spice up a local Gogo Pho restaurant. We celebrate happiness and success together and hope to have good luck for earning more money in the new year, Gogo Pho waiter Tung Nguyen, who identifies as Vietnam, said.

Lunar New Year welcomes in Year of the Rabbit

by Emma Gao, Ella Yee, and Sabrina Zhu January 27, 2023

“I miss my parents so much.” Eight years ago, Tung Nguyen, a waiter at local restaurant Gogo Pho and student at San Jose State University, left his family in Vietnam to study electrical engineering...

As the Holiday season arrives, many students celebrate a variety of different holidays. “Its less of the religious aspects behind it, or the traditional meaning of Christmas,” Zubin Khera (12) said. “Its more so a reason to meet up with family, have a good time and spread the cheer to your friends.”

Dashing into the season of celebration

by Vika Gautham and Isabella Lo December 25, 2022

The chilly December breeze, the smell of hot chocolate, and the sound of carolers— signs that point to the start of the holiday season. For Zubin Khera (12), he recalls spending one Christmas in Truckee,...

Aastha Mangla (12) answers a question during the GSA panel on Oct. 21, which featured other students and teachers. Olivas moderated and asked questions to the panelists about their life experiences surrounding their identities.

‘We’re not colorblind:’ Upper school commemorates members of the community during LGTBQ+ month

by Felix Chen, Vika Gautham, and Sidak Sanghari November 15, 2022

A sea of rainbow stickers glimmers in the sun, placed on the sweatshirts, masks and even foreheads of students. Scattered around campus, Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) members offer these stickers to...

A group of friends hold up peace signs. Being kind to myself is knowing and accepting that at times, we might be perceived as falling short, and thats okay, upper school Assistant Academic Dean and LIFE Board Adviser Kelly Horan said. Were all human, and we only have so much time and so much bandwidth.”

Building kindness and gratitude

by Sabrina Zhu, Winged Post Co-Editor-in-Chief November 15, 2022

From holding a door to giving a family member a call, there’s an endless number of ways that you can be kind to the people you love. And with International World Kindness Day taking place  tomorrow,...

Students craft up creative costumes for Halloween. Check out the costumes of Jeremy Ko (12), Isabella Ribeiro (11), Shareen Chahal (11) and Ava Arasan (12) in the video.

Students craft up creative costumes for Halloween

by Sally Zhu, Selina Xu, and Medha Yarlagadda November 8, 2022

Students and faculty donned a variety of costumes from internet memes to childhood show characters and even other community members to celebrate Halloween on Oct. 31. In addition, Harker Spirit Leadership...

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