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THE HARKER SCHOOL
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL
VOL. 22 NO.4
500 SARATOGA AVENUE, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95129
Feb. 27
The second pick-up day of the semester
Biden, Harris take office with Inauguration following Jan. 6 riots, election fraud claims President signs 29 executive orders undoing Trump policies lucy ge
UPCOMING DATES Feb. 8 to 15: School closed for President’s Week Feb. 26: Second Dr. Ron McCurdy Master Class March 8: Grade Book Detail #4 March 10: PSATs PROVIDED BY WHITEHOUSE.GOV
March 13: Third pick-up date of the semester March 16: Third Dr. Ron McCurdy Master Class
sabrina zhu A total of 49.9 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been distributed across the country. California has administered 3.5 million doses, or about 8,740 per 100,000 people. Bay Area counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma, have administered a total of 752,454 doses. Go to p. 13 for more.
SPECIAL COVERAGE With Black History Month, we want to broaden the discussion on the current and historical issues of structural racism, diversity and inclusion.
Go to the following pages: • Professor Dr. Bettina Love’s speaker event in Pulse of the People on p. 6 • Editorial “Equity and inclusion requires showing up” on p. 11 • Back page for Black History Month-themed crossword + full text of “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman
Upper school unlikely to return to campus soon but continues planning for senior activities
LIFE Board hosts sex educator for student assembly on consent
sara yen Head of upper school Butch Keller wrote in an email with Harker Aquila that as long as Santa Clara County remains in the purple tier, and teachers are not vaccinated, the chances of returning to full in-person learning are “not very strong.” The purple tier, also known as Tier 1, is the
“We are planning every detail as if the Senior activities including the Senior Trip are going to happen. If we can do all of these activities safely and by the rules we are given, we will” BUTCH KELLER HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL
most restrictive in California’s four-tier system and describes the virus as “widespread.” “As the county shifts tiers, and vaccines become available, the discussion will change according to county guidelines,” Keller wrote. “In other words, I honestly don’t know because returning
ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL
Vaccine distributions advance across country, California receives 5.7 million doses
SWORN IN Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president on Jan. 20. His vice president, Kamala Harris, made history as he first woman and person of color to hold the office.
PROVIDED BY MARK KOCINA / OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION
March 29 to April 2: School closes for Spring Break
President Biden has signed 29 executive orders in his first few weeks in office aimed at reversing Trump policies and addressing the pandemic as well as other issues since taking office on Jan. 20. After taking office, Biden has rejoined the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, increased refugee admissions, used the Defense Production Act to increase production of COVID-19 testing supplies and required masks in federal buildings. “What [the Biden administration] needs to do is get COVID relief to people, improve the situation with the pandemic, improve the economic situation and show to people that government can work,” upper school history teacher Byron Stevens said. “Getting the job done is the most important thing that will help heal the nation, because people will have faith in government again.” Go to pg. 8 for more on politics.
CAMPUS PLANS The upper school does not currently have definite plans for students and teachers to return to campus.
depends on so many variables beyond the school’s control.” Keller said, however, that vaccines are a personal choice, and more definitive answers regarding them will come in the near future. He added that the school is moving forward with preparing for senior activities, such as graduation and the traditional trip to Laguna Beach. “We are planning every detail as if the Senior activities including the Senior Trip are going to happen,” Keller wrote. “At this point I have no idea what any of this really looks like because I cannot predict the situations that I discussed above, but if we can do all of these activities safely and by the rules we are given, we will.”
PROVIDED BYJUSTINE FONTE
NEXT UP IN FEBRUARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021
Justine Fonte speaks about sex positivity, gender roles, rape culture using examples from modern entertainment, media
sabrina zhu The LIFE Program invited sex educator Justine Fonte to speak with upper school students about sexual consent last Thursday. She discussed the importance of enthusiastic consent and also gave a “Sex 101” presentation to parents on Thursday. Upper school counselor Jonah Alves and upper school LIFE program director Jane Keller were available last Friday to discuss with students about the presentation. Although freshmen and juniors have discussions on relationships, decision making and sexuality every year, Keller felt a speaker event on consent would be helpful for all students. “Justine Fonte is an amazing speaker, she’s dynamic, and she’s very effective in her words,” Keller said. Visit harkeraquila.com for full article. DESIGN BY SARA YEN