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

Head of upper school Paul Barsky claps after reading excerpts from English teacher Charles Shuttleworths recently published book “Desolation Peak: Collected Writings. Barsky read from number 11 of 12 choruses and thanked Shuttleworth for his scholarship.

School meeting recap 11/28/22: Winterfest, “Desolation Peak” and Middle Eastern Student Association

by Felix Chen, Assistant News Editor December 6, 2022

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Kris Estrada (12) opened the school meeting on Nov. 28 after students entered Zhang Gymnasium to the tune of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”...

Alicia Ran (10) answers a prompt to the Finish the Lyrics game. Junior Luke Mehta emerged as the first place winner and earned a Starbucks gift card as his prize.

School meeting recap 11/3/22: Youth Activism Club, Student Diversity Coalition and Halloween costume contest results

by Emma Milner, Assistant Sports Editor November 6, 2022

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Kris Estrada (12) opened the first school meeting of November by welcoming students and faculty on Thursday.  Youth Activism Club president Mir Bahri (12), vice...

Freshman students read the matriculation oath while standing up. Upper school students and faculty gathered on Davis Field for the 2022-23 Matriculation ceremony on Friday to welcome the incoming class of 2026 and mark the commencement of the new academic year.

Matriculation ceremony welcomes Class of 2026 to upper school

by Isha Moorjani and Sally Zhu August 23, 2022

Upper school students and faculty gathered on Davis Field for the 2022-23 matriculation ceremony on Friday to welcome the incoming Class of 2026 and mark the commencement of the new academic year. The...

Members of the Wilt advisory watch an announcement from Art Club during the school meeting last Friday. The meeting covered topics including the Ukraine Task Force Fundraising Initiative, upcoming spring musical and Quad mural.

School meeting recap 3/18/22: Ukraine fundraiser, Spirit painting kickoff and Drowsy Chaperone

by Selina Xu, Co-Asst. Multimedia Editor March 24, 2022

Associated Student Body (ASB) Secretary Spencer Cha (12) opened the last Zoom school meeting of the year last Friday.   Spencer began with an update on the Ukraine Task Force Fundraiser initiative,...

Facilitator Danny Midborn runs through a crowd of student leaders on March 4 during Challenge Day. The upper school held Challenge Day for underclassmen, and upperclassmen who attended the Challenge Day in the fall volunteered to help out.

Harker underclassmen forge community bonds during second Challenge Day of the year

by Michelle Wei March 21, 2022

 harkeraquila · Winged Post Audible: Upper school hosts second Challenge Day Around 100 students and faculty engaged in community-bonding activities during Challenge Day, which took place Friday,...

Nationally-recognized diversity practitioner and consultant and adult session speaker Toni Graves Williamson presents on turning fragility into agility through steps such as self-reflection and being willing to listen to others. More than 50 people attended this years Student Diversity Leadership Gathering, and attendees from the Harker community were joined by students and teachers from other schools such as Menlo High School and the Kirby School in Santa Cruz.

Student Diversity Coalition holds fourth annual Student Diversity Leadership Gathering

by Julie Shi and Isha Moorjani March 21, 2022

Warning: The following story contains an image with headlines mentioning violence and suicide and may be upsetting to some readers. Student, teacher and faculty attendees begin piling into the Zoom...

The Black History Month board in Main hallway is decorated with short biographies and pictures of various influential Black people from around the world in celebration of Black History Month. Notable Black people which the Black Student Union (BSU) included in the Student Diversity Coalition board range from athletes to actors to politicans.

Upper school Black Student Union holds fundraiser celebrating Black History Month

by Ananya Sriram and Ariana Goetting March 10, 2022

Members of Harker’s Black Student Union (BSU) celebrated Black History Month in February by selling desserts from local Black-owned businesses during long lunches outside of Manzanita to promote mental...

Music Monday is a new installation featuring a different category of songs on a weekly basis.

Music Monday: Celebrate Culture Week with Aquila

by Sabrina Zhu, STEM Editor February 28, 2022

Music Monday features a different category of songs on a weekly basis. Each Monday, Harker Aquila will release seven songs, one song for each day of the week The Student Diversity Committee is hosting...

Faculty and students listen to privilege walk prompts. During the privilege walk, students and faculty took steps forward as SDC co-leaders KJ Williams (11) and Dina Ande (10) read out prompts ranging from “if your sex or race is widely represented in the U.S. Congress” to “if you had more than 20 books in your home as a child.”

Students and faculty explore meaning of privilege, participate in discussions at SDC kickoff

by Lucy Ge, Co-Managing Editor November 4, 2021

Over 60 students and faculty participated in a privilege walk and fishbowl discussion at the Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) open meeting kickoff on Davis Field on Tuesday. During the privilege walk,...

ASB Secretary Spencer Cha (12) announced the lunch line protocol on rainy days. Students can eat lunch in Manzanita (capacity 220-240 inside and outside the building), Dobbins (capacity 100-150), Nichols (capacity 300-350, including the outside of the building), the Auxiliary Gym (capacity 100-125) or other overhangs (capacity 50-75) such as those outside the Rothschild Performing Arts Center (RPAC) and the Athletic Center.

School meeting recap 10/22/21: Senior nights, ‘Squid Game’ and snack bar

by Olivia Xu and Anika Maji October 24, 2021

Associated Student Body (ASB) Vice President Ayan Nath (12) began the school meeting with introducing ASB Secretary Spencer Cha (12), who announced the lunch line protocol on rainy days.  The protocol...

Samvita Gautham (11) dances with a partner during one of the bonding activities. After upper school participants linked arms and danced to music, they turned around and shared their answers to a prompting question introduced by a Challenge Day facilitator.

Strength in community: Challenge Day embraces growth with return to in-person format

by Anika Maji and Alena Suleiman September 25, 2021

“I love my neighbor, especially the ones who… go to Harker!” A commotion fills the Blackford gym as all students and faculty leap up from their seats and jog to an empty chair across the room....

Student Diversity Coalition representatives Uma Iyer (12) and Brooklyn Cicero (12) introduce Challenge Day on Friday. “[Challenge Day] was truly a transformative experience,” Brooklyn said in her speech. “It brought me a lot closer to my peers and allowed me to get very vulnerable with them, something that was a bit hard to do at first, but eventually I got used to it.”

Student Diversity Coalition announces Challenge Day event for juniors and seniors

by Isha Moorjani, News Editor September 7, 2021

The Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) gave a presentation to juniors and seniors in the Auxiliary Gym on Friday about Challenge Day, which will be held on Friday, Sept. 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m....

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