Winged Post Volume 23, Issue 5

WINGED POST

THE HARKER SCHOOL

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THE UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE HARKER SCHOOL

500 SARATOGA AVENUE, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95129

TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022

‘I couldn’t believe that I made it’

COVID-19 UPDATE

Global, humanitarian crisis ensues after Russian attack on Ukraine

HARKER MASK MANDATE WILL LIFT

alysa suleiman & dilsher dhaliwal

WEEKLY MANDATORY TESTING TO CONTINUE

This is a developing story. Check harkeraquila.com for more updates on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

BOOKS GALORE The ReCreate Reading selections included Harker alumnus Wajahat Ali’s “Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American.”

jessica tang

Upper school students registered for ReCreate reading through Infinite Campus on March 10 at 9:35 a.m. Students selected a book of their choice out of 70 total options sponsored by faculty advisors as well as students. Before meeting next school year in the fall, students are expected to have read their book in preparation for discussions. Five authors are scheduled to join discussion groups — one of which features Harker alumnus Wajahat Ali’s book “Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American.”

Along with designing three ReCreate reading themed bookmarks now available for students, library assistant Taylor Dean also helped feature a glass wall decorated with book covers.

“Sometimes we don’t have all the books in; we’re still waiting on them to be sent to us when we order them,” Dean said. “For the display, it’s just printing the covers, and cutting them out.”

Sock Assassin finalist wins with 16 eliminations

On Feb. 25, 5 a.m., Harker students were barely awake. Some still slumbered in their beds. For high schoolers in the Bay Area, the day had just begun. For high schoolers in the Bay Area, they were safe.

Yet, halfway across the world, Kristina Petrova (11), a 17-year-old girl who lived with one foot in the U.S. and one in Ukraine, her home country, had just crossed the western Ukrainian border on foot into Slovakia after an around 480-mile long escape from Kyiv. The next 33 hours was a nightmare that yanked her from a day as ordinary as ours – homework, after school practice, evenings with friends – to one of war, chaos and upheaval, in which escape and survival became her sole goal.

“I was in Ukraine, in my apartment in central Kyiv, when the Russians invaded Kyiv,” Kristina said. “At 5 a.m., something woke me up — I heard shattering. Then, 20 minutes later, my dad called me from America, and he was panicking. He was like, ‘Kristina, this is not a joke.’”

Kristina lives with a dual identity. After moving from Ukraine to the U.S. when she was 8 years old, Kristina, who currently holds a U.S. green card, attended Los Altos High School from 2018 to 2021 while simultaneously traveling as an international fencer representing Ukraine.

This past fall, when the 2021 to 2022 school year began, Kristina continued online school, living abroad in Ukraine with her grandmother while attending European competitions.

On the evening of Feb. 23, the Ukrainian women’s national fencing team had been scheduled to leave Kyiv for the European Championships in Serbia, a country around 27 hours away by train.

Kristina had everything carefully packed — bags, foils, fencing shoes.

Instead, Kristina woke up to falling bombs, smoke and ash, and rather than

ALYSA SULEIMAN

JESSICA TANG

Upper school registers for ReCreate reading

LOUD AND CLEAR Protestors line up on the sidewalks of San Jose during a vigil demonstration on March 6 to show support for Ukraine and call for an to end to conflict.

meeting her coach and teammates, she frantically prepared to laeve the country, heading to the nearest train station all alone. Just a couple, short hours later, Kristina became one of tens of millions of Ukrainians watching minute-by-minute in shock as the first Russian missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital. Her first instinct: leave the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the invasion as a “special military operation” allegedly to “denazify” the country. As of March 15, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), there have been a recorded 1,834 Ukrainian civilian casualties, with 691 killed and 1,143 injured, though these numbers are likely low estimates.

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PROVIDED BY ANJA REE

APR. 18

VOL. 23 NO.5

IN THE AFTERMATH This photo, taken by junior Anja Ree’s cousin, documents the condition of the city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine after Russian airstrikes on March 11. Her cousin, who lived in Dnipro, is now staying with Anja’s family in the U.S.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week held to promote education, understanding JESSICA TANG

medha yarlagadda

JESSICA TANG

SNEAKY SOCKING Zachary Clark (12) poses after winning the school’s first sock assassin game on Thursday, taking a close first over Shahzeb Lakhani (12). The game was organized by Kailash Ranganathan (12) and several other seniors.

STAY UPDATED! Follow us @harkeraquila

A NEW PERSPECTIVE Junior Keesha Gondipalli leads an activity simulating the challenges of dyslexia last week on Wednesday during morning office hours in an event hosted by the Neurodiversity Committee.

The Neurodiversity Committee hosted Neurodiversity Celebration Week last week to celebrate neurodivergent individuals and inform community members about neurodiversity.

All upper school students attended a virtual speaker event last Monday featuring Professor Lynn Cominksy of Physics and Astronomy from Sonoma State University, who is also Principal Investigator at NASA’s Neurodiversity Network (N3), and 17-year-old autistic college student Jordan O’ Kelley. Professor Cominksy spoke on the importance of supporting neurodiverse individuals while Jordan

shared his experience as a gifted student on the autism spectrum.

Last Wednesday, committee leaders held various simulations to help neurotypical individuals further understand how neurodiverse individuals feel.

“The main goal is to simulate the frustration and the embarrassment that often comes with having a learning difference,” committee chair Alina Yuan (12) said. “It’s also to promote empathy among neurotypical people so they understand what it is like.”

The committee also conducted a town hall panel event last Friday to bring awareness to the neurodivergent members in the community Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY EMILY TAN

2 WINGED POST

23 • ISSUE 5 NEWS VOLUME MARCH 22, 2022

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¡MÚSICA, COMIDA, BAILE! La Noche Cultural returns

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CELEBRATING CULTURE Upper school mathematics teacher Jeannette Fernandez performs a Mexican folk dance to “Las Abajeñas.”

This year’s La Noche Cultural featured foods such as paella and tres leches cake, 14 performances including singing, dancing, comedy and music and the annual salsa dancing competition.

Journalism program wins press freedom award ella yee

The Journalism Education Association (JEA) recognized Harker as a 2022 First Amendment Press Freedom Award (FAPFA) winner on Feb. 24. The FAPFA honors high schools that encourage values of the First Amendment within student media.

Applying for the award involved two phases. In the first phase, which took place in December, Director of Journalism Ellen Austin and Winged Post co-editorin-chief Emily Tan (12) answered questions about student publications at Harker and press freedom. The second phase involved Austin, upper school journalism teacher Whitney Huang, Head of Upper School Butch Keller, and editors-in-chief of Harker publications.

Being one of 17 high schools in America to win marked a significant achievement for the journalism program.

“Just as your rights may be challenged, you can’t ever take your rights for granted: neither should this award be taken for granted,” Austin said.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

“I hope students take away the life, energy and power of the Spanish and Latin American culture”

“I hope the audience really enjoys it,” Nupur said. “I hope they’re energized by it. It’s supposed to be super upbeat, super fun, and we hope they enjoy it.”

Next, seven Cantilena performers sang “Canto a Elegua” as upper school music teacher Susan Nace conducted.

Next, Ansh Sheth (10), Dylan Parikh (11), Bryan Xiao (10), Ryan Barth (10),

ABEL OLIVAS MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT CHAIR “Blue Bossa,” and 19 performed “Chega de Saudade.”

After the performances, attendees participated in the annual salsa dancing competition, and teachers eliminated contestants until a select number of finalists were left. The finalists competed, and at the end, Laszlo Bollyky (12) and Arthur were declared as the winners.

ISHA MOORJANI

ISHA MOORJANI

Ethan Liu (10) and Isha Moorjani (11) performed a skit in the style of the television program “Caso Cerrado,” a courtroom show in Spanish that AP Spanish Language and Culture students typically watch in class.

Following “Caso Cerrado,” Ritu, Olivia Xu (10), Ava Arasan (11), Arthur Kajiyama (12) and Ethan sang “La Carretera” by Prince Royce.

18 Jazz Band Members performed

1. SALSA TIME Ansh Sheth (10) and Stephen Xia (11) dance together during the annual salsa dance competition at the end of La Noche Cultural. The event took place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 11, and Laszlo Bollyky (12) and Arthur Kajiyama (12) won the salsa dance competition.

2. TRES LECHES Upper school Spanish teachers Diana Moss and Isabel Garcia pose for a photo with the tres leches cake at the buffet. This year’s buffet featured five variations of paella and a tres leches cake with the words “Noche Cultural Hispana” written in red frosting in the center.

3. GUITAR SOLO Teresa Cai (12) prepares to perform a guitar rendition of “La Bikina”

by Luis Miguel at La Noche Cultural, an event for past and current Spanish students to celebrate the language and culture. This year’s performance lineup featured 14 acts, including songs, dances, acting, comedy skits and instrumental music.

4. AUDIENCE ENCOURAGEMENT Daniel Lin (10) and Ryan Barth (10) show their support during a performance of “La Carretera” by Prince Royce by turning on their phone flashlights along with the rest of the audience.

Harker to remove indoor mask requirement on April 18 isha moorjani & ananya sriram Harker will no longer require masks indoors for middle and upper school students starting on April 18, according to an email sent by Head of School Brian Yager on March 3.

This announcement follows Santa Clara County’s decision to comply with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mask mandate removal in schools starting on March 11 at 11:59 p.m. Masks are recommended but not required.

Masks will be required indoors for one week after spring break so that students can take COVID-19 tests before the new mask guidelines go into effect.

According to Yager, for the remainder of the school year, students will wear masks during indoor athletic and performing arts events, although performers are not required to wear masks. According to upper school nurse Jennifer Olson, class meetings can be in-person or remote.

According to Yager, bus passengers must wear masks, and some teachers

ALYSA SULEIMAN

The Spanish National Honor Society (SNHS) hosted La Noche Cultural, the annual event in which past and current Spanish students celebrate the language and culture through dance, performances and food, on March 11 in the Auxiliary Gym from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The event began with a buffet of five variations of paella, as well as tres leches cake at 5 p.m. Performances began at 6 p.m. with Elena Weng (9) and Atharv Goel (9) performing a song titled “Corcovado” by Antônio Carlos Jobim on the piano and saxophone. Next, Ritu Belani (10) performed an original comedy skit. Then, Marcus Blennemann (9) accompanied on piano as Ian Ogden (10) sang “Dos Oruguitas,” a song from Disney’s “Encanto.”

Then, upper school mathematics teacher Jeannette Fernandez performed a Mexican folk dance to “Las Abajeñas.”

Next, upper school English teacher Beth Wahl sang “Asturiana,” and Jackson Lara (10), Daniel Dorfman (9), Pranav Sukesh (9), Deeya Verma (9), Aidan Wang (9), Rohit Yalla (9) and Rithika Yamasani (9) performed the Macarena.

Next, Teresa Cai (12) performed a guitar rendition of “La Bikina” by Luis Mi-

guel, and Clarice Wang (12) accompanied on guitar as Melody Yazdi (12) sang “Me enamoré” by Shakira. Following Clarice and Melody, upper school history and social sciences teacher Dr. Chuck Witschorik sang “Solamente Una Vez.” Then, Nupur Gupta (11) performed a solo to “X” by Nicky Jam and J. Balvin, and Nupur and Sonya He (11) performed a duet to “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin.

PROVIDED BY OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION

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ROBOTICS WEEKEND Brendon Hayes (9) and Akul Goyal (9), mechanical and machining team members in Harker Robotics, wear masks inside Nichols Hall during a work session.

may require masks during class due to health risks. The school will not require students to remove masks. Students must wear masks during standardized testing.

Weekly COVID-19 testing on Fridays was first implemented on Feb. 4. in the Nichols rotunda and will continue for the rest of the school year.

“I feel slightly uncomfortable about

removing masks indoors despite it being two years since COVID-19 has broken out,” Ipsita Mandal (10) said.

According to Yager, if the county or state does not implement guidelines regarding masking in schools, Harker will not require masks during the summer or next school year.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY ISHA MOORJANI

Upper school hosts second Challenge Day

CHECK IN Bowen Xia (9) and Hanyang “Henry” Shang (9) talk to a DECA volunteer.

EMILY TAN

WINGED POST 3

23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 NEWS VOLUME

Harker DECA attends SCDC in Los Angeles

BE THE CHANGE Facilitator Danny Midborn runs through a tunnel of student leaders on March 4 during the Challenge Day event.

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ALICE TAO (10) CHALLENGE DAY ATTENDEE

“Don’t assume that the face that someone is presenting is necessarily the sum total of what they’re experiencing” IS

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MEREDITH CRANSTON UPPER SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

First Black female justice nominated to Supreme Court sydney ling, ananya sriram & ariana goetting President Joe Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black American attorney and federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, on Feb. 25 to replace justice Stephen G. Breyer in the U.S. Supreme Court. Jackson will become the first Black female justice if confirmed.

“President Biden made that bold statement that he actually wanted to try to increase the diversity and of course have an African American female on the bench,” said upper school history teacher Karen Haley, who identifies as African American. “It was nice to see that he is going to follow through with that. She started off as a public defender and that just speaks volumes [since] she’s already an advocate.”

Democrats will need all 50 votes along with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Black and Indian American, to break the voting deadlock with Republicans and ensure Jackson’s confirmation.

Democrats do not need Republican support in the case of confirming a Supreme Court justice. If confirmed, Republicans will preserve their 6-3 majority.

Jackson’s confirmation would cement the historic event that all current three justices appointed by Democratic presidents would be women. Jackson began her traditional courtesy calls with senators on Capitol Hill on March 1.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

Around 100 students and faculty engaged in community-bonding activities during Challenge Day for underclassmen, which took place on March 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

“Challenge Day is a time where you let your guard down a little bit,” Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) adviser Tyeshia Brown said.

The day began with icebreaker games. Then, in multiple rounds of pairings, students introduced themselves to their partners.

“You got to meet people and have some fun with them even though you hadn’t met them before,” Aaron Bao (9) said. “Especially because there are people from different grades, you probably would have never bumped into them or talked to them if you didn’t go to Challenge Day.” Participants then split up into family groups, which consisted of five to six attendees with one faculty member and one to two student leaders. Upper school

Spanish teacher Diana Moss enjoyed connecting with more students and faculty.

“My favorite part of the day was getting to know my family group,” Moss said.

“The fact that we were sharing in a very intimate way some very personal things really helped me get a sense of connection with that little group.”

Next, facilitators Katie and Danny Midborn shared about their experiences overcoming challenges in their lives. The day ended with a “crossing the line” activity in which the facilitators read out experiences, and participants stood behind a line and crossed it if the experience applied to them.

“There’s a story behind every person, and it’s something that you don’t really think about a lot of the time,” SDC student representative KJ Williams (11) said.

“There’s so many people at school that you’ll never get a chance to interact with, and Challenge Day just shows you that all those people have stories, and they’re all interesting people.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

New Head of Upper School selected, Assistant Head position added edward huang, isha moorjani & nicole tian Paul Barsky will assume the role of Head of Upper School on July 1 and Academic Dean and pre-college counselor Kelly Horan will be the new Assistant Division Head of Upper School following the retirement of current Head of Upper School Samuel “Butch” Keller Jr. Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs Jennifer Gargano, who led the hiring process, and Head of School Brian Yager informed students of the change at the school meeting on Feb. 24 and thanked Keller for his dedication to the upper school community. Gargano announced the change in administration to the upper school faculty on Feb. 23 in a brief Zoom meeting directly after school.

Yager then sent an email announcing the news to all Harker faculty and staff.

NEW HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL Paul According to Yager, Barsky held ad- Barsky will become Head of Upper School ministrative positions at the Francis Park- and will visit campus this spring. er School in San Diego, the Hewitt School Horan said. “So I’m mostly excited for takin New York and the Pilgrim School in ing on some new challenges. It’s always Los Angeles. Barsky also has experience good to feel like you’re growing and that teaching at schools in Asia and Europe. you have new things ahead of you.”

Barsky will visit the upper school camFour final candidates out of a pool of pus during the spring and will work with applicants for the Head of Upper School members of the administration to prepare position underwent interviews conductfor the role. ed by students and faculty from Jan. 28 In addition to the role of Assistant Di- to Feb. 4. Questions mainly focused on vision Head of Upper School, Horan will diversity, equity and inclusion in the stucontinue to give pre-college guidance and dent body. will take charge of the Living With Intent, “[During the interviews], we really Focus and Wellbeing (LIFE) program. wanted to emphasize how Harker is an “There’s a lot of synergies between all-encompassing type of school,” Student what I already do or what I try to do and Diversity Coalition (SDC) President Uma what we try and do with LIFE as well,” Iyer said.

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118 upper school students, accompanied by nine faculty chaperones, attended the California DECA State Career Development Coneference (CA SCDC) in Anaheim, California from Feb. 24 to Feb. 27.

Over three days, participants competed in two events, one roleplay and one written, for a chance to win a spot at the upcoming International Career Development Conference (ICDC). ICDC qualifiers were announced on Feb. 27 during the Grand Award Ceremony, and the conference will take place in Atlanta, Georgia from April 23 to April 27 this year.

Of the 61 freshmen, 23 sophomores, 18 juniors and 16 seniors who attended, nine freshmen, 12 sophomores, 12 juniors and 13 seniors qualified for ICDC by placing in the top four of their written event, top five in their roleplay event or both.

During the Opening General Session, Harker chaperone Jeffery Nott was named Businessperson of the Year, recognized as someone “who has aided significantly in the development and/or progress of DECA and DECA members,” according to the award guidelines.

“My thing is helping students to develop the good story behind that and keep the judges engaged,” Nott said. “DECA is a phenomenal program that helps young people learn great business principles that, even if they’re not going into business, they can take throughout their life.”

As of March 7, 45 Harker students will be competing at ICDC in April.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

PROVIDED BY PAUL BARSKY

“I still talk to the people that I just met at Challenge Day. It brought me closer to everyone”

ANIKA MANI

emily tan

ASSISTANT HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL Academic Dean Kelly Horan will become Assistant Head of Upper School.

Gargano also thanked students who participated in the interviews and all upper school students and teachers at the school meeting.

“You are kind, you’re empathetic, you ask insightful questions, and you often exhibit a maturity of thought beyond your years,” Gargano said at the meeting. “This is what attracts the best teachers that come to Harker, and this is what made those who interviewed for our division head position know right away that this was a truly special place.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY ISHA MOORJANI

4 WINGED POST

Russian invasion of Ukraine provokes humanitarian and global catastrophe

AGAINST WAR Protestors in a vigil march in San Jose hold signs decrying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on March 6.

ALYSA SULEIMAN

23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 GLOBAL VOLUME

History of conflicts in Ukraine and Russia

ALYSA SULEIMAN

alysa suleiman & dilsher dhaliwal

FIGHTING FENCER Kristina Petrova, a 17-year-old fencer from Los Altos, displays the Ukrainian flag.

UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT WITH FAMILY IN UKRAINE

flood out of the country, just hours after the invasion.

After arriving in Mukachevo, Kristina’s fencing teammate’s father picked her up by car to send her to the border.

“The road that crosses Slovakia, there was a big traffic jam,” Kristina said, recalling the moments before she crossed the border.

HOW TO HELP Donate to the Ukrainian Red Cross and International Rescue Committee by calling 1-800-HELP NOW Support UNICEF to provide mental and physical healthcare for refugees unicefusa.org/war-ukraine Support the U.N. appeal for $1.7 billion dollars for refugees crisisrelief.un.org Support the upper school Associated Student Body (ASB) fundraiser with Key Club during lunch (cash only) *Note: Ukrainians in Ukraine cannot receive PayPal donations.

DESIGN BY ANANYA SRIRAM

SOURCE: NPR.ORG AND PBS.ORG

ANJA REE (11)

ILLUSTRATION BY ANANYA SRIRAM

“Having this personal connection to it — it feels very different. That’s my country, that’s where I’m from, and they’re destroying it”

“Ukrainian soldiers were blocking the entrance because Ukrainian men can’t leave the country. It was basically impossible to leave the car.”

A couple of hours later, after passing through customs, Kristina was finally – though temporarily – safe.

“I couldn’t even believe that I made it,” Kristina said. “The day before, my parents had no hope that I was going to make it out.

When I saw that almost all the tickets were sold out and none of the trains were leaving, I was losing hope.”

Anja Ree (11), whose grandmother and uncle live in Ukraine, received a call from her uncle on the evening of the invasion. Her uncle resides in Odessa, a suburb around 295 miles from Kyiv in the south of Ukraine, and was at the Odessa International airport when the invasion first shook the city.

“For NATO countries to take in refugees would be really helpful,” said Anja, whose mother is Ukrainian. “I understand that there’s a limited capacity, but we don’t really have a choice.”

The U.N. estimates that around 3 million refugees and nearly 2 million internally displaced persons have been created by the invasion.

“We have all of these refugees from Ukraine who are currently seeking assistance in neighboring countries,” Anja said.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an invasion on the news, but just having this personal connection to it — it definitely feels very different. That’s my country, that’s where I’m from, and they’re destroying it.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article

SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

begun to shelter. As of March 17, three weeks later, Kristina’s grandmother, along with Kristina’s younger cousin, have also safely left the country and currently seek refuge in Germany.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and have bombed multiple Ukrainian cities. The invasion came after months of a buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and warnings from the U.S. intelligence community of a potential Russian invasion. Thousands of Ukrainians began to

PROVIDED BY ANJA REE

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“At 7 a.m. I took my grandma and we went to the train station,” Kristina said.

“It was crazy. People were pushing and shoving, and some people who worked at the train station [Kyiv Passazhirskiy] — ­ they just left. I got the second to last ticket to Slovakia.”

At 9 a.m., Kristina bought her ticket. For nine hours, she returned to her apartment anxiously awaiting the arrival of her train.

At 6 p.m., she returned to the train station, boarded and left for Mukachevo at 8 p.m.

In the hours leading up to her departure, she played one memory from that morning through her mind — pleading for her grandmother to leave with her.

“I tried to convince my grandma to come with me, but she said, ‘Even if I make it to Europe, or even if I make it to the west of Ukraine, I’ll have nowhere to go,’” Kristina said. “She gave me 330 euros (362.88 USD).

I packed my phone, my passport, my books and folders for school and I took very little clothes: one sweatshirt, one pair of pants, two shirts, two pairs of socks.”

Even if Kristina’s 76-year-old grandmother left Ukraine, the future could prove even more unstable than her current situation in Kyiv. Unlike Kristina and her family, who all hold green cards, Kristina’s grandmvother was rejected each time she applied for an American visa. In these last parting moments, Kristina made her grandmother promise her that she would move to the bomb shelter, converted from the lowest level of their local high school, where hundreds of people in their neighborhood had already

Russia and Ukraine have a long history of tense relations, with both nations claiming heritage from the medieval kingdom of Kievan Rus. Ukraine was absorbed into the Russian Empire during the mid17th century, during which the Russian government enforced policies to ensure the “Russification” of Ukraine by forcing Ukrainians to learn and speak Russian and not speak Ukrainian languages, as well as suppressing Ukrainian literature and art.

After the Russian Empire was dissolved in 1917 and the subsequent Russian Civil War, the Soviet Union was established in 1922 with Ukraine as a founding member. Under the Soviet Union, Russification policies softened under Vladimir Lenin but became more strict under Joseph Stalin’s reign.

Stalin’s policies led to several prominent Ukrainian academics and educators being executed or sent to forced labor camps. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine became an independent state and gave up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from Russia that they would not attack Ukraine after signing the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Russia then annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, violating the Memorandum and beginning the conflict in the Donbas between pro-Russian forces and Ukrainian forces. Russia continued military action in the Donbas.

The lead-up to the invasion of Ukraine began last November, with the U.S. and Ukraine observing unexpected movement of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border by Nov. 28, 2021.

By Jan. 24, NATO deployed troops on standby, and the conflict escalated on Feb. 17, with increased Russian shelling in the separatist Donbas regions. Russia then began the full invasion on Feb. 24.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article

WINGED POST 5

23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 FEATURES VOLUME

Cooking for community Upper school mathematics teacher shares desserts and kindness

alena suleiman & edward huang

FAVORITE DAILY WORDLE ANSWERS

Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus BC and vegan desserts may appear an unlikely combination, but upper school mathematics teacher Bradley Stoll combines the two effortlessly. Walking into Dobbins 102 on a lucky day, what draws your attention immediately might not be the myriad of motivational posters — more than a few integrating math puns — bedecking the walls, but instead the warm, inviting smell of freshly baked brownies.

This setting, a safe and welcoming environment, emulates Stoll’s compassion for others around him, extending not just to humans but also animals.

Stoll joined a volunteer organization called ServiceSpace in 2014, and he was influenced by the members' generosity and respect for animal lives to become a vegan himself.

Stoll recalls attending ServiceSpace one Wednesday night at the usual gathering location, the organization’s founders’ house, where he saw their son meticulously trapping mosquitoes one by one in a jar instead of swatting them. His actions helped Stoll come to the realization that a human's life is not any more important than an animal’s.

“There could be 10 [mosquitoes], and he would trap them one at a time and bring them outside, just because he had such respect for life," Stoll said. "After [that] I said, ‘Yeah, why is my life any more important than a mosquito’s life in the big picture?’”

After educating himself about the treatment of animals in the dairy and food industry, Stoll took the next step in his journey: switching his eating habits. A few quick Google searches led him to some of his current favorite recipes, all free of animal products. These recipes exposed Stoll to a variety of new plant-based ingredients that he enjoys cooking with and eating.

“I found a couple of great websites [for vegan recipes] that have some of the most amazing food,” he said. “I hesitate to say it's a healthier diet, but I have started to love eating things like mushrooms which I used to not like. I also never really ate much tofu, and now I like it.”

Five years ago, Stoll started bringing vegan desserts to his classes, bonding with

ALENA SULEIMAN

arely sun & irene yuan

SPREADING GENEROSITY Upper school mathematics teacher Bradley Stoll holds a heartshaped paper cut-out with the word "share" painted over it. Ever since becoming vegan in 2014, Stoll has discovered new ways of cooking and sharing his baked goods with others.

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GIVING BACK Change the End cofounders Ada Praun-Petrovic (11) and Ayla Apsey (11) pose with bags of trash after the Alameda Creek Trail cleanup. Ada and Ayla created Change the End after seeing wildfires rage over California during the early stage of the pandemic.

Then-freshman Dawson Chen (12) had few expectations when he joined a volunteer trip to tree nursery Our City Forest. He intended initially to try out different community service opportunities, but his search ended with Our City Forest: struck by the warm culture, he has continued to volunteer at the nursery ever since.

“I stayed there because the staff were super, super friendly, and there’s always a wide range of volunteers there,” Dawson said. “[There are] a lot of different people and perspectives.”

Dawson developed a routine as a freshman, waking up “bright and early” every Saturday morning to pull weeds, trim bushes and transfer trees around the nursery. He continued to visit Our City Forest during lockdown, though many other workers there left because of the pandemic. He found a solution to the staffing problem when he observed another group in need because of lockdown.

With the help of friends Arjun Dixit (12), Aaditya Gulati (12), he created Houseless Environmental Volunteers Ini-

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Students strive to go above and beyond in community service tiative (HEVI), a program offering people without homes the opportunity to work at Our City Forest. Creating this program gave him the chance to connect with people from an older generation when they visited Our City Forest to work.

During the 2020 to 2021 school year, Ada Praun-Petrovic (11) co-founded the nonprofit Change the End with fellow junior Ayla Apsey (11).

Ada and Ayla worked to create informative posts and social media content on Instagram to encourage youth to fight climate change with small lifestyle changes, such as using sustainable replacements for products that use plastic.

Change the End has organized two cleanups, one at Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz and one at Alameda Creek Trail. Ada now hopes to expand the ways people can volunteer with Change the End and to also get involved with advising legislation regarding climate change.

“What I really hope we’re able to do is to make people climate activists,” she said. "There’s always the chance that this kind of work will make a big impact.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

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VEGAN BAKING Upper school mathematics teacher Bradley Stoll holds out a tray of homemade vegan banana bread. Many of Stoll's favorite vegan recipes originate from online sources.

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said. "I sent him a brownie recipe recently after I gave him one of my brownies.”

After trying Amiya’s brownies, Stoll recreated them, bringing the finished product of vegan chocolate goodness to his students. Even though the recipe was

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“Because my starting word is almost always 'crane,' I got three letters right on the first guess, so I was able to get the word right on my second try”

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"When other people make things and offer it, it always tastes better. It doesn't matter what it is"

the same, Stoll believes that food shared by other people always tastes better.

“I have noticed that there's a psychological thing," Stoll said. "When other people make things and offer it, it always tastes better and [has] their love in it. It doesn't matter [what it is], it really is better. Those brownies Amiya made initially and brought me were so good.”

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students like Amiya Chokhawala (11) over his love for baking.

“Stoll started making things and giving them to me after I sent him some vegan cookies I had baked for Christmas," Amiya

In just a few months, what began as a personal project for a software engineer catapulted into popularity, becoming the sensational game with over 300,000 players known as Wordle. Fans try to guess a five-letter word updated daily in under six tries, and solving the puzzle has become an entertaining routine for many.

Other creators have introduced Wordle-adjacent guessing games such as Nerdle, where players guess a math equation; Semantle, where users attempt to find a word based on semantic proximity of guesses; Taylordle, which features words from Taylor Swift song lyrics; and Poeltl, which has National Basketball Association (NBA) players as solutions.

Faculty and students alike play these puzzles regularly at school and at home, together and individually. Students share their experiences with Wordle and some unique words they’ve come across since they started playing.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

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Speaking out in the silence

ILLUSTRAATION BY PRAMEELA KOTTAPALLI

OF THE PEOPLE

23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 FEATURES VOLUME

Graduate students, including Harker alumna, accuse Harvard professor of harrassment

LENA WARNKE; ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE LIU

Pulse of the People covers timely social justice stories relevant to our community.

In this issue, we dive into the recent sexual harrassment case taking place at Harvard, with whistleblowers who include a Harker alumna. We explore topics of institutional betrayal and the role of allyship in speaking up.

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INSTITUTIONAL BETRAYAL Harvard graduate students Amulya Mandava (‘06), Lilia Kilburn, and Margaret Czerwienski filed a lawsuit against Harvard University for its handling of sexual harrassment allegations against anthropology professor John Comaroff.

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students in the U.S report nonconsensual sexual contact through physical force or inability to consent during their time enrolled in college

6.9% male undergraduate students in the U.S report nonconsensual sexual contact

SOURCE: STANFORD ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSIITES SURVEY

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The foundations of institutions, the bricks on which they stand, feel strong.

Supportive. But what happens when they totter or tilt? When we find the parts of the building that are torn? Amulya Mandava (‘06), a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, calls this feeling “institutional betrayal” — when the educational system that was supposed to protect you turns its back.

Mandava is one of the whistleblowers on the sexual harrassment case against Dr. John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American Studies and of Anthropology at Harvard University. Mandava remembers feeling like she was “screaming into the void” for three years before the case became public. Realizing that Dr. Comaroff harassed those around her, she found support in survivors and allied with them.

“You really can only step into your power when you’re going up against institutionalized patterns like this when you work with others,” Mandava said. “Harassers and their enablers intentionally try to isolate you so that you can’t stand in your power with other people.”

Together, she, Lilia Kilburn and Margaret Czerwienski came together as whistleblowers on Feb. 8 in a lawsuit against

Harvard University for ignoring allegations against Dr. Comaroff and for permitting his behavior of threatening students if they spoke out.

“A very difficult aspect of the past several years has been that so many of these processes are confidential,” Mandava

not just in academics, is that they tend to be under reported,” Gilbert said. “If they are reported, the numbers are skewed because often they’re covered up, and they’re silenced. And the women who report them are silenced, and that has been the biggest problem.”

Katherine “Kat” Zhang (‘19), a current undergraduate student at Harvard University, didn’t feel necessarily shocked by the case — she knew the anthropology department had issues with misogyny in the past — but still felt saddened. One of her professors signed a letter in support of Dr. Comaroff, although the professor did later retract their statement.

As a member of Student Council throughout high school, Zhang worked closely with class dean Christopher Florio, who was one of the first teachers she met after being elected for the position in September of her freshman year. She remembers feeling very disheartened after hearing about the reason he was leaving the school: inappropriate conduct with a student.

“Especially at a school like Harker where everyone knows everyone, teachers need to be good about setting boundaries first,” Zhang said. “You feel really close to people, but I think that boundaries need to be set very solidly.”

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“Especially at a school like Harker, you feel really close to people, but I think that boundaries need to be set very solidly” GLORIA ZHANG

female undergraduate students in the U.S. report nonconsensual sexual contact

KATHERINE “KAT” ZHANG (‘19) HARVARD STUDENT

said. “I think the confidentality aspects of this are part of what can be so damaging to people who have been through harm at the hands of a powerful person.”

Upper school art history and history teacher Donna Gilbert, who also advises FEM (Feminism) Club, advocates for people to believe the victims and for a system, such as in universities, to protect these victims and their privacy and right to speak out.

“In general, for sexual assault cases,

‘I feel like I’m surrounded in every way’ Latinx students and faculty connect to their heritage with cultural food and family gatherings

La Noche Cultural, organized by Spanish National Honor Society (SNHS), took place in the Auxiliary Gym on March 11 for a celebration of culture. The event featured performances as well as a medley of Spanish dishes such as paella. The delicious aromas of similar foods bring back memories of family gatherings and childhood for students and teachers alike.

One of these such memories is held closely by upper school Spanish teacher Isabel Garcia, who identifies as Spanish, as she visited bar de tapas, restaurants that create small plates similar to appetizers, in Spain almost daily with her family.

“It’s nice because every place has their own specialties that you can en-

joy,” Garcia said. “It’s always fun because you don’t stay in one place. Families get together and say ‘What is your favorite tapas? What do you want to try? Okay, ev-

eryone’s trying calamari?’ so it’s a familyoriented thing too.”

Some of Makayla Aguilar-Zuniga’s (11) fondest memories of family take

TASTE OF FAMILY Makayla Aguilar-Zuniga (11) and her extended family share a Salvadoran dinner. When reunited, they eat a delicious meal and play board games together.

PROVIDED BY MAKAYLA AGUILAR-ZUNIGA

emma gao, trisha iyer & kinnera mulam

place in her cousin’s San Jose house. Here, she recalls hearing the boisterous shouts of her male relatives cheering for the Barcelona soccer team on TV. “Sometimes when I come to school, I’m disconnected from my culture, so when we have these gatherings, it’s rekindled and it’s coming alive again, and I’m starting to feel ‘Oh, this is who I am,’” Makayla said. “It feels like seeing a long lost friend after a long time, and you’re starting to catch up after a while.”

Joanna Bejar (11) typically visits her parents’ home country Mexico two to three times a year to reconvene with relatives. During her first night in Mexico City, her father, brother, cousins, aunt and uncles visit a taco restaurant.

“They all have so much personality as well; they’re there living every single day in Mexico,” Joanna said. “I’m in the States, so I hardly get, if any, Mexico in my life except when I go visit there, so whenever I see them it’s like I’m surrounded in every way: they’re my family, they’re tied to more of the country than even I am.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY SARAH MOHAMMED

WINGED POST 7

23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 A&E / LIFESTYLE VOLUME

Coloring the campus

STUDENT OSCARS PREDICTIONS

Art Club finalizes mural design to paint in the Quad

TOWN HALL Art Club town hall attendees listen to the presentation of potential ideas and designs for the Quad mural on Jan. 24.

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“I thought [‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’] was a really nice movie, I enjoyed a lot of the action sequences. It was very visually stunning. There were a lot of moving parts and a lot at the grand scale of things. As a viewer, I was very much engaged in the film” SA

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“I really liked ‘Encanto’ because it addresses a lot of issues like family relationships.

There’s a lot of really cool animations; for example, at the end of the film when the house turned into magic again, the animations accentuated how important the moment was” VI

MOVEMENT IN ELEMENTS Arkita Jain’s (12) paintings and handmade ceramics stand on display in the downstairs Shah Gallery during her HDP show.

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that I’m seeing in a movie or a book that I’ve already read.”

Over the semester, the five students created works for the final portfolio show, starting with brainstorming and researching inspiration and artistic style, planning and ideation and then finally execution and showcasing.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

BRIGHTEST LIGHT, DARKEST SHADOW Madeline Hansen (12) and Ysabel Chen (12) attend the reception for Michelle Liu’s (12) HDP exhibition.

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Walking into the Nichols Atrium on March 8, instead of being greeted by dark gray concrete walls and empty space, you’d walk into an absorbing two-story museum of artwork, artwork painting the Nichols walls red and yellow, dark and light, flat and three-dimensional, artwork all created by upper school art students.

The Advanced Placement (AP) Art Exhibitions opened on March 4 in the Nichols Atrium, featuring five pieces of artwork from each of

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The Honors Directed Portfolio art showcases started the week of Jan. 31 and will continue through the week of March 21, displaying the works of five senior students who are taking the Honors Directed Portfolio course.

Arianna Weaver’s (12) exhibition took place the week of Jan. 31, followed by Michelle Liu (12) the week of Feb. 7, then Arkita Jain’s (12), Brooklyn Cicero’s (12) and Gloria Zhu’s, (12) the weeks of March 7, March 14 and March 21 respectively. The students, all of whom took the Honors Directed Portfolio course last semester, created works for the final portfolio show and reception, starting with brainstorming and researching inspiration and artistic style, planning and ideation and finally execution and showcasing.

“I think a lot of [my inspiration] came from books and movies that I was surrounded by at the time or that I found myself drawn to,” Michelle said. “I like being able to kind of explore the same themes

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BHAVYA SRINIVASAN (9) FAN OF “DON’T LOOK UP” FOR BEST PICTURE

“I think Andrew Garfield definitely deserves to win Best Actor, not just for ‘Tick Tick...

Boom!’ but also for his cameo in ‘SpiderMan’ this year, which was a total banger. I think he also did really well working with his co-star Vanessa Hudgens and all the other actors”

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METAL DRESS A dress made by Shea Bryden (11) in the AP Art Exhibition in Nichols Hall.

20 students created over the course of the year.

Art students from the AP Studio Art classes installed their work, part of their Sustained Investigation portfolios, last week in the upstairs and downstairs of the Nichols building, and they hosted a reception on March 8 during long lunch. The artwork in the exhibition was on display until March 10.

AP 3D Art student Shea Bryden (11) decided to create sculpture pieces, including a metal dress made out of thrifted materials and bright wall-mounted pieces.

“Sculpture is my favorite medium,” Shea said. “A lot of my work is inspired by the materials that I find around me. I took ideas and materials I have and found a way to combine them.”

During the reception on March 8, dozens of upper school students, teachers and parents visited the Nichols Atrium, enjoying cookies and cheesecake bites as they gazed at the variety of artwork. Visitors could also ask the artists about their work.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

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AP Art Exhibition displays 2D and 3D artworks by 20 students

“‘Don’t Look Up’ was abstract art to me, and there are people who love it or hate it. I thought it was definitely interesting because of the concept of being blown up by this crazy meteor in the sky. I think it should [win Best Picture] because it definitely got me thinking for a really long time” O

A majestic eagle soars past trees and California poppies into the sky as its wing caresses a ribbon-like banner displaying green, black, white and yellow stripes, the four class colors at the upper school. In the background, two pink hands hold each other as books and a basketball dot the surroundings. After voting took place, Art Club and the Associated Student Body (ASB) “GUIDING LIGHT” Community Service Committee will lead the 8 feet by 32 feet Quad mural painting initiative.

Art Club and ASB are collaborating to create a mural that showcases the diverse array of student activities at Harker, community life and California nature. Voting opened on Feb. 24 and closed with nearly 300 student and faculty votes.

“I knew that since we were away for a year online, I wanted “FLAME OF KNOWLEDGE” something that could excite people being back at school in-person,” said ASB Community Service Committee Head Alex Lan (11). “That’s where the idea originated.”

Art Club hosted their first town hall on Nov. 16, where they discussed ideas, symbols and potential themes, and they hosted their second town hall on Jan. 24 to discuss designs. ASB Community Service Committee is contributing through assisting with “HARMONY” logistical planning.

“This process of creating a mural in a community setting is so much about collaboration,” upper school visual arts teacher and art club adviser Pilar Agüero-Esparza said. “Being able to respect each other’s points of views — that’s challenging, but it’s a great experience for students.”

Additional reporting by Brandon Zau. DIGITAL DESIGNS Digital renditions of the four mural ideas Visit harkeraquila.com for full article. designed in teams by members of the Art Club.

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WINNING DESIGN: “SOARING SPIRIT IN COLOR”

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On March 27 approaches the nation’s largest, most prestigious film award show, the Oscars in the 94th Academy Awards. Taking place in the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center, the Oscars will honor films released in 2021 in a total of 23 categories, from the coveted Best Picture to Music (Original Score) and Visual Effects.

This year’s Academy Awards nominations have broken new records, with Jane Campion as the first woman to receive two directing nominations in the award show’s 94 year history, and Troy Kotsur making history as the first nominated deaf actor. Streaming services such as Netflix and Apple TV+ also received a record-breaking 40 nominations.

Leading this year’s nominations are the western film “The Power of the Dog” with nominations in 12 categories, followed by films including “Dune,” “Belfast” and “West Side Story.

Tune in to the 94th Academy Awards, hosted by Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall on March 27 at 5 p.m., and read which film four upper school students hope will win an Oscar in different categories, along with each of their reasonings, below.

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MICHAEL TRAN (12) FAN OF “SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS” FOR BEST VISUAL EFFECTS DESIGN BY SALLY ZHU AND ALENA SULEIMAN

8 WINGED POST

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SPRING MUSICAL: “The Drowsy Chaperone”

VOLUME 23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022

Stand-up comedian?

March 24-26

kinnera mulam The Hoscars show will take place on March 30, featuring dance, singing and instrumental performances from students of all grade levels.

The annual performances will return to in-person in the Patil Theater. Groups in dancing or singing created audition videos and have prepared in the previous weeks to refine their performances, including the AP Art History class’s tradition of an art scene tableau.

AN EVENING OF JAZZ April 14 alena suleiman Upper and middle school Jazz Bands and Lab Band will perform at “An Evening of Jazz” from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on April 14 in the Patil Theater.

The upper school ensembles that will perform, Jazz Band and Lab Band, led by Dr. David Hart will play pieces they’ve worked on this semester.

JUST DANCE April 17 alena suleiman The Just Dance performances will occur on April 14 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Patil Theater with routines from all upper school, middle school and lower school dance teams.

The upper school dance teams include Harker Dance Company and Kinetic Krew, taught by Karl Kuehn and Rachelle Haun.

with what she loves to do, taking comfort in seeing other women in the otherwise intimidating dark bars.

“When I do see other women, [there’s] an immediate sense of companionship, like we’re in this together,” she said.

Remembering how she had to overcome both self-doubt and a broken microphone at her first set, Lambert credited her willingness to take a chance on her hobby for her growth as a performer.

“You have to care — as a comedian, you have to care [about] your jokes and if people find them funny,” Lambert said.

“But also, if it’s something you want to do, you shouldn’t let anything stop you from doing it. So just start writing jokes.” COURSE OF A COMEDIAN Stand-up Visit harkeraquila.com for full article. comedian Crystal Lambert performs a set

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one of those old fashioned ones [from] the 1920s,” she said. “I remember being terrified. I remember trying to figure out if people were laughing or not. [Then] things [went] blank; you transform into another world where time no longer exists. I got people to laugh and then I felt invincible.

Because if you can get there, it’s proof you can’t die from embarrassment.”

After only a few thrilling nights performing in early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic spurred a nationwide lockdown, and Lambert was stuck at home.

She seized this time as an opportunity to refine her process for writing jokes.

“I always keep something to write with,” Lambert said. “Whether it’s my phone, a notebook [or] scraps of paper, since I get inspiration from everywhere and anywhere.”

Lambert has also refined her ap-

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“If it’s something you want to do, you shouldn’t let anything stop you. So just start writing jokes”

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This year’s Spring Musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” will take place on March 24, 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. and with a 2 p.m. show on March 26 in the Patil Theater.

Directed by performing arts director Laura Lang-Ree, the story follows a middle-aged narrator with a love for musicals as he watches a recording of his favorite play, the performance’s title. The story acts as a parody of musicals and their tropes, according to ensemble member Sonya Apsey (10).

“Meeting everyone in the cast has been my favorite thing,” Sonya said.

“Meeting different cast members and interacting with the whole group as an experience is really nice.”

When Crystal Lambert performed comedy for the first time nearly two years ago, she had to push herself into following through on delivering her set. Though she felt dread and wondered, “Why do I think I’m funny?” at one point, she fought to find an inner calm as she performed — though at the outset, things went awry.

“I broke the microphone — it was

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proach to crafting sets to be more relaxed, basing them on trial and error. Once she’s written a sizable amount of new material, she tests the jokes in front of a smaller audience and edits based on the reception.

“You try to gauge if people laughed, how they reacted to it,” she said. “Sometimes people laugh at places you’re not expecting. Sometimes nobody laughs at your punchline at all.”

Lambert’s current day job is in the fast-paced technology industry, so she’s used to adapting to changes at warp speed, such as adjusting to a work environment with a male majority. With both STEM and stand-up comedy being male-dominated fields, Lambert has grown to accept and face the mental challenges that come

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MASTERING MUSIC Anoushka Khatri (12) and Samvita Gautham (11) rehearse on Feb. 4 in the RPAC for the Spring Musical.

This recurring profile series features stories and experiences of individuals with unique professions

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Crystal Lambert shares jokes and cheer with audiences

at Google in May 2020.

Upper school choral students excel with record-breaking year claire bauschlicher Upper school choral students excelled with records, awards and performances this year, from a sophomore performing at Carnegie Hall to a record-breaking number of Honor Choir acceptances.

After winning the American Protege competition last year, Miki Mitarai (10) was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Dec 3.

“I’m so glad it worked out because it was really a dream come true,” Miki said.

“Carnegie [Hall], as a musician, is this prestigious, far-off goal, and so the fact that I was able to perform there, and at a young age as well, it’s so special.”

Miki started off her Harker singing experience in freshman year, singing in Bel Canto, one of the upper school choirs, and continued her love of singing in sophomore year by joining Cantilena.

Other choral students excelled as

well, with the National, All-State and Regional Honor Choirs welcoming 13 students this school year, a new record for the upper school. These choral students were seniors Teresa Cai and Anya Warrier; juniors Alan Jiang, Aniket Singh, Aria Jain, Ava Arasan, Kris Estrada and Anika Pandey; sophomores Miki Mitarai, Anya Chauhan, Shayla He and Katelyn Hsu; and freshman Varun Bhupathi.

The honor choirs hosted the California All-State Choir in Fresno from Feb. 17 to Feb. 19 and the Western Division regional conference in Long Beach, from March 2 to March 5. Students received choral pieces to learn on their own before joining with their fellow choralists, and they rehearsed and performed together at the conferences. The students also learned group-oriented performance techniques to build up stamina when rehearsing in long singing-only sessions.

“The best part is meeting the direc-

tors because every director has something totally different, which they want to share with you,” Aria, who is in her third year of Honor Choir, said. “They each have their own different techniques, which is super cool to learn.”

According to upper school vocal teacher Jennifer Sandusky who instructs upper school choirs Bel Canto and Downbeat, the students learn from world-renowned directors and conductors through the choirs. Sandusky expressed her appreciation for the accepted students’ hard work and effort for dedicating time outside the classroom.

“This is a great opportunity for the kids because they don’t get to do a lot of large choir music here at Harker because we have such small choirs,” Sandusky said. “It provides an opportunity for them to get their feet wet in other music that they don’t get to do here.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

SPRING CHORAL CONCERT April 21 All upper school choirs will participate in the Spring Choral Concert on April 14 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The choirs, which are conducted by upper school choir director Jennifer Sandusky, feature students of all grade levels and a variety of vocal ranges.

GATHERED ON-STAGE Choral students perform together on-stage at the conference for the California All-State Choir in Fresno.

DESIGN BY SALLY ZHU AND ALENA SULEIMAN

PROVIDED BY AVA ARASAN

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Editors-in-Chief Michelle Liu Emily Tan Managing Editor Mark Hu News Editor Isha Moorjani Assistant News Editor Ananya Sriram Features Editor Sarah Mohammed Assistant Features Editor Edward Huang A&E/ Lifestyle Editor Sally Zhu Assistant A&E/ Lifestyle Editor Alena Suleiman Opinion Editor Muthu Panchanatham Assistant Opinion Editor Margaret Cartee STEM Editor Sabrina Zhu Assistant STEM Editor Arjun Barrett Sports Editor Vishnu Kannan Assistant Sports Editors Desiree Luo Katelyn Zhao Photo/Video Editor Jessica Tang Copy Editors Kinnera Mulam Emma Gao Adviser Ellen Austin, MJE Aquila Editors-in-Chief Nicole Tian Alysa Suleiman Aquila Managing Editors Arely Sun Irene Yuan Lucy Ge Vishnu Kannan Columnists Saurav Tewari Nicholas Wei Arjun Barrett Humans of Harker Editors-in-Chief Esha Gohil Erica Cai Humans of Harker Managing Editor Nicholas Wei Humans of Harker Profilers Olivia Xu Michelle Wei Reporters Tiffany Chang Carter Chadwick Lavanya Subramanian Sydney Ling Trisha Iyer Rachel Ning Anika Maji Ella Yee Catherine Wong Julie Shi Visit The Winged Post online at www.harkeraquila.com Follow us on Instagram with the handle @harkeraquila The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism: News and Advanced Journalism: News courses at Harker’s upper school, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, California 95129.

The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, sports and STEM articles in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials represent the official opinions of The Winged Post. Opinions and letters represent the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Winged Post. All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty or adviser.

Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to harkeraq@gmail.com and must be signed, legible and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities and letters that call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to The Winged Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.

The Winged Post is the official student newspaper of Harker’s upper school and is distributed free of cost to students. It provides a student voice forum for members of our community. Students hold the copyright to work published in Harker journalism publications.

2020-2021 NSPA Pacemaker Finalist 2021 Spring NSPA Best-of-show, Fourth Place 2020 Spring NSPA Best-of-show, First Place 2019-2020 NSPA Pacemaker Winner 2018-2019 NSPA Pacemaker Finalist 2017-2018 NSPA Pacemaker Winner 2016-2017 NSPA Pacemaker Finalist 2022 CSPA Crown 2021 CSPA Silver Crown 2019 CSPA Gold Crown 2018 CSPA Gold Crown 2017 CSPA Silver Crown 2016 CSPA Gold Crown

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WINGED POST 9

Fighting from home with support and action

Addressing the situation in Ukraine through understanding

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE LIU

23 • ISSUE 5 OPINION VOLUME MARCH 22, 2022

EDITORIAL: THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST

editorial board

A Ukrainian mother who worked for a Palo Alto startup and her children mark one of the most infamous scenes of death captured in Ukraine, killed on a street while trying to flee.

A Ukrainian American 17-year-old junior from Los Gatos High School representing Ukraine as an international fencer has barely escaped the conflict, forced to leave her grandmother behind.

Stories like these of devastating destruction from Russia’s invasion into Ukraine are flooding our social media, defining our TikTok pages and Twitter feeds. This once-in-a-century crisis, even on the other side of the globe, affects all of us.

Russia launched its attack on Feb. 24, with missiles hitting Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and several other cities. Although the invasion has sparked outrage from around the world, Russia’s offensive continues, consisting of multiple ground onslaughts and air strikes. Over 2 million people have fled Ukraine, taking refuge in neighboring countries such as Poland and Hungary.

While those directly impacted by the invasion may come from a different background than us, it’s important to remember the similarities we share. We are all humans, and that allows us as the Harker community, both students and staff, to empathize with the afflicted.

By grounding ourselves in the reality of the situation in Ukraine, we can work towards concrete actions to help those affected.

The Harker community has worked together to construct avenues through which we can provide aid. Associated Student Body (ASB) has established a GoFundMe page to facilitate gathering proceeds for the United Na-

tions Refugee Agency (UNHCR), an organization centered around protecting and aiding refugees. Since a majority of the refugees are women and children, Women for Women International (WWFi) has created a separate donation fund specifically for women facing the crisis in Ukraine.

Through events hosted by the ASB food subcommittee and other student organizations from March 14 to March 25, our community can contribute to safeguarding people displaced by the violence in Ukraine.

Outside Harker, the San Jose Peace and Justice Center and San Jose Friday Peace Vigil led a protest for a ceasefire in Ukraine at the Peace Crossroads in San Jose.

As the combat progresses, headlines will change and misinformation will spread.

Re-contextualized media, including photos taken in other military conflicts portrayed as taken in Ukraine, pervade social media platforms aiming to influence viewers’ perspectives. Information obtained through word of mouth often becomes distorted from person to person, losing its original context in the process. Fact-checking data through credible sources not only limits the circulation of inaccurate claims but also helps correct existing errors.

Harker Journalism will strive to provide current and accurate updates to address concerns surrounding community initiatives and the situation in Ukraine as a whole. Visit our “explainer” site about Ukraine for detailed responses to frequently asked questions we’ve heard around campus. If you have specific questions about the conflict, reach out to us through email or social media (@harkeraquila) and we will work to answer them.

Other sites that we trust include BBC and NPR, which have additional information from sources around the world.

Even though the conflict takes place overseas, we are not powerless. We can still make a difference from here.

Corrections TO ISSUE 4 FRONT PAGE: Kinetic Krew misspelled as “Kinetic Crew” STEM A9: Challenging misspelled as “challening” at the bottom of the page in the Regeneron piece michelle liu, emily tan & mark hu Recently, walking through the orchard each day has been a kaleidoscope of change. The first few days of spring 2022 have begun, and as nature goes through her own growth, we too look forward to the end-of-year changes in store for our community.

In this issue, we spotlighted the vibrant diversity at Harker. Flip to the doubletruck to see the explosion of color and culture that Culture Week brought to

our campus earlier this month. Harker’s beloved annual La Noche Cultural has returned to this issue’s News section. Our backpage highlights March as National Women’s Month, and our Features section reveals the work still to be done in granting women an equal power dynamic, bringing to light the unacceptable sexual harrassment occuring in higher academic institutions.

Finally, as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time to harkeraq@ gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

SPORTS B10: • Sid Krishnamurthi played wide receiver at Harker, not quarterback • Sahil Varma (9) misidentified as Dylan Parikh (11) in the bottom right photo SPORTS B11: • Elbow misspelled as “eblow” • Ulnar collateral ligament misspelled as “ulnar colateral ligament” • Laszlo Bollyky misspelled as “Lazslo Bollyky” DESIGN BY MUTHU PANCHANATHAM

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DOUBLETRUCK

C E LE RA B On March 2, food trucks served lunch outside of the Zhang Athletic Center, spanning a diverse array of cultures.

ROLLING DUCK Irene Yuan (12) and Teresa Cai (12) order from Rolling Duck, which represented East Asian

PERSIA Ava Arasan (11) and Melody Yazdi (12) speak to students about the Persian language.

MOMO’S PLACE Austin Wang (12) and Shrey Khater (12) enjoy fried chicken from Momo’s Place, which served soul food.

PARAGUAY Upper school biology Teacher Johnson shares his culture with a colorful display at the Paraguay booth.

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LOS JAROCHOS The Los Jarochos Grill food truck offered Mexican meals such as burritos and quesadillas.

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PALESTINE Norah Mehanna (9) holds up a Palestinian scarf representing freedom.

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BLACK STUDENT UNION Brooklyn Cicero (12) shares at the BSU booth.

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INDIA Upper school attendance coordinator Ritu Raj draws a henna design at the India booth.

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KOREA Sahngwie Yim (9) serves Korean rice cakes.

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COLORFUL CULTURAL CLOTHING Left to right: Gwen Yang (11) wears a M traditional Eritrean dress; Makayla Aguilar-Zuniga (11) wears a Mexican huip

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“I was going down the row; all the different booths were all happy to see me and then share their culture with me as well, so it was amazing.

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On March 1, the SDC encouraged students and teachers alike to wear traditional attire to school. The community donned clothing from a wide variety of cultures, including India, Romania and China.

KATELYN ZHAO

The Student Diversity Coalition (SDC) hosted Cultural Week on campus from Feb. 28 to March 4, scheduling unique activities and events throughout the week in order to honor diversity and promote the sharing of culture.

Monday Feb. 28 featured a community cultural playlist played during lunch; Tuesday, a dress as your culture day; Wednesday, cultural booths and food trucks; Thursday, a world map and art exhibit and Friday March 4, Challenge Day. For the first day of cultural week, students could suggest songs for a cultural playlist which played from a boombox in front of Manzanita Hall during lunch. Jacob Fernandez (11) recognized some of the tunes on the playlist and appreciated the variety of the songs as well as their personal significance.

“It’s more personal than playing the most popular songs,” Jacob said. “To me, I just feel like it’s nice to have more personal songs for whoever’s listening.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

MARGARET CARTEE

MARGARET CARTEE

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ART JESSICA TANG

OFF THE WALLS Colorful paper artworks made by Harker lower school students hang in the downstairs Shah Gallery.

Throughout the week, the Shah Gallery featured art from the lower and upper schools, including portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Frida Kahlo and an identity-inspired piece by Ariana Gauba (9).

SALLY ZHU

Malaysian sarong; Roxana Pianko wears traditional folk attire from Romania; Nupur Gupta (11) wears an Indian sharara dress; Dina Ande (10) wears a pil dress; Karina Chen (11) and Lucy Feng (11) wear traditional Chinese hanfu garments and Kris Estrada (11) wears a Filipino barong tagalog shirt.

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“It was so awesome, and it just put a smile on my face. Seeing cultures from around the world represented — it’s always really cool to see the way that fashion is different. It’s so beautiful”

“You don’t get to learn about people’s cultures that often. Having Culture Week was a nice catalyst to be able to understand them” C

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“Back in 1948, there was a Zionist community that forced about 700,000 Palestinians out of their home. It was either stay and get killed or leave and go somewhere else. My grandparents had to go to Egypt, but even then, they weren’t accepted there”

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ROXANA PIANKO UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER DESIGN BY MICHELLE LIU AND SALLY ZHU

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per school community share vibrant heritage on campus

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A SIGN FOR CHANGE

Harker should offer sign language as a course Moving a finger to your lips to shush others, giving someone a thumbs-up, wagging a finger in disapproval: all examples of sign language. From the moment we’re born, we’ve relied on signs by counting on our fingers and waving with our hands to greet others. Without even realizing it, we use signs in our everyday lives.

Over the past years, I’ve seen my friends and people on social media learn American Sign Language (ASL) or encourage others to do so. Intrigued, I attempted to do the same over Thanksgiving break last year and mastered some basic signs through an online website. After a couple days, I knew how to sign numbers one through 10, how to ask if someone is hearing or deaf, how to greet people and more. But an issue arose when I returned to school after break: I’d forgotten most of what I had memorized.

I wished I had an opportunity to learn this new language as part of my usual school curriculum — a possible reality for me if Harker offered ASL as a course.

Learning sign language offers the same benefits as any spoken language such as advanced communication skills, increased memory span and improved academic performance according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). ASL also has

President Joe Biden at the beginning of last year during presidential conferences.

Since then, an ASL interpreter has been present at all daily press briefings as a new effort by the Biden administration to disseminate information to all communities.

The surge of sign language usage, difficulties arising for the hard of hearing community and the new demand for the language makes learning it even more beneficial. Learning ASL would let us interact with another community and propagate the accessibility movement.

Harker Aquila has taken steps to service its audience this year by implementing Aquila Audibles, narrations of articles.

As a community, we can further increase accessibility by taking actions like using captions during Zoom meetings.

Through ASL, we can listen to the opinions and thoughts of those who are perhaps unheard. Most of us will live in a much more diverse environment as we graduate high school and enter college.

Sign language offers the benefits of verbal languages not only to learners but also to the deaf community. Around the globe and at Harker, people are moving forward with accessibility and inclusivity, and sign language achieves just that — it educates while opening doors.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

kinnera mulam additional advantages compared to other languages, as learners become more expressive, and sign language also fosters verbal communication development according to a 2009 study by Northern Illinois University. Harker students themselves

Sign language offers the benefits of verbal languages not only to learners but also to the deaf community have expressed interest in the language, as according to Harker Aquila’s Instagram poll, out of 99 upper school students who responded, 73% stated that they would enroll in a sign language course at school even if it was semester-long. The class itself could consist of a teacher educating students about various issues regarding disabilities while also teaching ASL. The number of ASL users has been climbing with over half a million users in the U.S. currently, and I’ve seen multiple uses of it over the past years as part of inclusivity and accessibility movements. For instance, I saw an ASL interpreter next to

Pro-nuance: more than just a label Abortion opinions can fall between pro-choice, pro-life

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The first time I “officially declared” my stance on abortion was in the pages of the Winged Post in the second semester of my sophomore year. Before that, I had mentioned it in casual conversation when the topic came up, but those little mentions were insignificant compared to the permanence of my words in the physical pages of a newspaper distributed to the school.

When a reporter for that Winged Post piece first reached out for an interview, I was 100% sure about my stance. Back then, abortion was still a black and white issue to me. I had certainty in my opinion but overwhelming uncertainty about potential backlash from my community.

Even then, I recognized that there were strong negative connotations to both my stance and relevant aspects of my identity: being pro-life and being Christian.

The paper stated that 85% of 173 upper school student respondents identified as pro-choice as of Nov. 10, 2019, as opposed to 1.2% who identified as pro-life.

Upon reflection, my unwavering stance likely arose from how I first encountered the issue of abortion. My first conscious memory of learning about abortion was in sixth grade, when my youth pastor invited a volunteer from Planned Parenthood to speak. She spoke about abortions she had undergone when she was younger, her struggle with reli-

DANGEROUS LABELS On nuanced issues such as abortion, labelling people one of two ways is more harmful than helpful, because it implies so many unsaid words.

gion during that time and how much she regretted her abortions now.

From that night, I took away the stance that I still hold now. The stance that, as a Christian, I believe that all life is precious and that the right to live should never be infringed upon.

Despite all the back and forth in my mind, I never found the need to flesh out the exact nuances of my thoughts until I had a long argument about abortion with a friend over text. In truth, by that point in my life, I had realized that I didn’t think the government should be able to make laws denying the legality of abortion. But

ILLUSTRATION BY ARIANA GOETTINGILLUSTRATION BY MARGARET

irene yuan

that didn’t negate the other aspects of my pro-life stance. I still believed in prolife; I only changed how I thought change should be addressed — through increased resources and education and advocating against going through with an abortion rather than enacting laws against it.

After that discussion, I first began to truly reflect upon not only my stance on abortion but also the technicality of the terms involved.

Merriam Webster defines pro-life as “opposed to abortion.”

I agree. In principle, I don’t agree with abortion in any situation.

Merriam Webster defines pro-choice as “favoring the legalization of abortion.”

I find myself also in agreement with this statement. Despite my disagreement with abortion as a concept, I also believe that the government should not be able to control whether or not a woman chooses to abort her baby. In every situation, I would advocate against abortion, and I would never get one myself, but I do understand that different women make different choices in different situations. It took me a long time to understand that the stand I take does not have to align with what I would personally do in a situation.

Although I morally agree with prolife and reluctantly recognize that upon technicality I agree with pro-choice, when asked, I still choose to identify myself as pro-life before elaborating on my stance because of the connotations of both sides.

I can’t say I completely understand why, but I would rather someone first judge me and assume I’m against women’s reproductive rights than for them to assume that I’m okay with the concept of abortion.

Thus, on nuanced issues such as abortion, labelling people one of two ways is more harmful than helpful because it implies so many unsaid words. Without diving further into conversation with each individual, it is impossible to determine where they lie on the spectrum.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY MARGARET CARTEE AND MUTHU PANCHANATHAM

ILLUSTRATION BY ARIANA GOETTING

I love you

A NECESSARY EVIL A HOLLOW VICTORY Standardizing the game emma gao “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death, taxes and standardized tests.”

For almost a century, high school students in the U.S. hoping to attend a university inevitably encountered either the SAT or ACT, the ultimate college admissions exam. Although almost all high school students can agree on their dislike of standardized tests, they should remain a component of the college admissions process to ensure equal opportunity for students of all backgrounds.

In recent years, criticisms about standardized tests as well as limitations from the recent pandemic have led several colleges, including Harvard and the University of Chicago, to make submitting SAT and ACT scores optional for the next few years. In a more drastic move, the ten colleges in the University of California system announced last November that they would no longer even provide the option of submitting SAT or ACT scores. These changes reflect a troubling shift away from a reliance on standardized tests in college admissions.

Since curriculums and grading practices fluctuate between and even within schools, a well-designed standardized test provides a reliable way for students to check whether or not they are meeting national expectations of their education.

With feedback from these tests, students can work to fill in knowledge gaps that school GPAs fail to reveal. This remedial work would better equip them for the next step in their education.

The objective nature of standardized tests provides an impartial evaluation of applicants’ college readiness: studies have shown that performance on the SAT accurately predicts success in college and beyond. While consideration of other components of the application, such as essays and extracurricular activities, leave room for both conscious and unconscious bias from admissions officers to seep in, a universal metric such as the SAT establishes a basis for comparing students solely based

on merits: the numbers speak for themselves. Of course, colleges should (and do) consider each application holistically, but an SAT or ACT score should be part of that package. Without such safeguards, colleges will face less accountability when making potentially biased decisions.

Proponents of eliminating the SAT and ACT claim that they place low-income Black and Latino students at a disadvantage in the college application process as they score lower than their more affluent counterparts. First, taking test scores out of the picture will not make the application process more “fair.” A study from Stan-

Sacrifice for unfair metrics trisha iyer

There’s a phrase that always inspires a mix of relief and discomfort in me when I hear it: “You won’t see this on the test.”

This is all well and good when I don’t have to worry about what a rotated conic section degenerates into, but the thought of discussing ethnic tensions played into the breakup of Yugoslavia fills me with guilt.

When my classmates and I must instead spend valuable class or Office Hours time on the concepts on the Advanced Place-

Since curriculum fluctuates Teachers prioritize between schools, a wellgeneralized curriculum designed standardized test standards and have less provides a reliable way bandwidth to cultivate for students to check lifelong healthy habits in whether or not they meet their students like a love national expectations of of reading and in general, a education thirst for knowledge ford’s Center for Education Policy Analysis shows that the quality of admissions essays reflects household income more than standardized test scores. This shouldn’t be a surprise. Students who score higher on these tests can access the same resources that allow them to write better essays and develop stronger extracurriculars.

Thus, eliminating the SAT or ACT is a classic case of addressing the manifestation of a problem and not its root. If we want to truly help low-income students, we should invest in better education in low-income areas. Just because test scores would no longer reveal educational disparities doesn’t mean they wouldn’t exist.

At the end of the day, standardized tests are the best tool we have for making the college admissions process equitable and fair.

ment (AP) World History: Modern exam in May, engaging in such a niche discussion seems thoughtless.

At Harker, I’m thankful that I have teachers who often are willing to find some time to explain wacky molecular geometries to me, despite my misgivings about the otherwise fast pace of the course. In other schools, the stress of standardized testing makes teaching solely test material a more tangible, disheartening phenomenon. Many teachers in public schools have been evaluated based on student test scores. A 2010 reform on education in Houston even allowed teachers to be fired if their students performed in a poor percentile on standardized tests. Since the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed funds to reform education in

2018, only nine states have explicitly stated that public school teachers may not be held accountable in such a drastic way because of test scores. The result: common academic culture overwhelmingly pressures teachers to confine their teaching goals to boosting test performance rather than instilling values and understanding.

This culture has failed teachers and students too. According to a 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center, 23% of U.S. adults no longer read a single book for their own joy in a year. Because standardized tests make teachers prioritize generalized curriculum standards, they have less bandwidth to cultivate lifelong healthy habits in their students like a love of reading and, in general, a thirst for knowledge.

A perfect 36 on the ACT or 1600 on the SAT doesn’t even prove much, considering that the concept of a standardized test germinated when intellectual Carl Brigham created a biased measure of American intelligence. Writing in the 1920s in the U.S., he hoped that such a tool would definitively prove, through test scores, the superior intelligence of white people over Black people and other American students of color.

Test scores uphold racial discrepancies in education: Black and Latinx students scored an average of 90 to 190 points lower on the math section of the SAT than their white or Asian peers, according to College Board’s 2020 SAT Suite of Assessments Report. Since many Black and Latinx communities are underfunded, according to Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research, this gap in scores often comes down to a lack of access to the resources and education provided to privileged students; it’s not a matter of lacking intelligence.

Standardized tests have never provided a level playing field for students.

When the test creates a culture tempting us into confining our learning to the standardized curricula, tying our self worth to these scores and draining our pockets on test prep books, which the underserved communities a neighborhood away may never touch, the gleam of a perfect 1600 can only be a hollow victory.

DESIGN BY MUTHU PANCHANATHAM

ILLUSTRATION BY MARGARET CARTEE

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Students prepare for annual Research Symposium

Future Problem Solvers

RESEARCH REVELATIONS Adrian Liu (10) works on his project with help from Jonathan Zhang (10). Adrian plans to present his reserach on biopolymer drug delivery for fibrosis treatment at the annual Research Symposium, which is organized by the Women in STEM club.

sabrina zhu & kinnera mulam Upper school students competed in the annual Synopsys Science & Technology Championship on March 10 while Women in STEM (WiSTEM) Club prepares for the annual Harker Research Symposium, which will take place on April 16.

The science fair invited student researchers to present their findings to a panel of judges during 15-minute judging sessions. Like the previous two years, the championship took place online due to COVID-19. Harker sponsored around 45 projects this year, according to upper

school science research teacher Chris Spenner. Since he has watched the projects develop since the fall, Spenner admires students’ growth and ability to adapt despite COVID-19 restrictions.

“My favorite part is when students are brave enough to attempt a project that is connected to something bigger,” Spenner said. “They’re picking projects that are relevant to these really big complex problems, and it’s not that we hope to solve them with this project, but we have learned something more about that problem and start to chip away at it.”

For the past few weeks, WiSTEM has been organizing the Symposium, and o

ensure that safety precautions are met despite the in-person format. At Symposium, themed “STEM Will Save Us” this year, students are invited to present their work as either poster or speaker sessions.

In addition, WiSTEM officers organize activity stations, where attendees can perform various science experiments.

“For the younger students, [we hope Symposium] can show them how expansive science can be and allow them to foster a love of science,” Arissa said. “Symposium also allows the entire community to just see how much hard work and dedication students put into [their research].”

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SABRINA ZHU

Harker Programming Club hosts annual invitational competition

PANELIST SESSION Eighth-grader Tiffany Zhu attends the Harker Programming Invitational (HPI) on March 13. Middle and high school students participated in HPI virtually.

sabrina zhu The Harker Programming Club hosted the Harker Programming Invitational (HPI) on March 13 virtually, with the event consisting of a two-hour long algorithmic coding contest followed by a keynote speaker and panel session. Similar to

last year’s contest and the Girls Programming League (GPL) Challenge of the fall, which was also organized by the Programming Club, HPI was held virtually due to the pandemic.

Over 150 students from across the country attended HPI, themed Computer Science and Space, and competed in

either the Novice or Advanced Divisions.

The competitors attempted to solve a total of 10 algorithmic programming problems written by Programming Club officers.

Following the main contest, participants attended a keynote speaker event with Dr. John Bresina, the Senior Research Computer Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center.

In the afternoon, a panel of three professional scientists, Dr. Jane Bae, Assistant Professor of Aerospace at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech; Dr. Eugene Tu, Center Director at NASA’s Ames; and Dr. Eric Nelson, upper school computer science department chair and astronomy teacher, discussed critical questions in computer science and space. “[The panel] hosted a very interesting discussion about the broad field of space and computer science,” Programming Club co-president Alexa Lowe (12) said.

“They talked about the future of it and how computer science will help space exploration and how also space exploration will drive computer science.”

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Have you ever wondered how wearable technology will affect our future? Or how to remedy the issue of water scarcity in developing countries? The students of the Future Problem Solvers (FPS) Club have the answers to these questions and dozens more regarding current events spanning nearly every subject, from political security to mental health.

With over 20 teams and 15 individual competitors, FPS welcomes students from fourth to 12th grade. Members of FPS gain unique perspectives on the topics at hand by meeting on one Saturday per month from October to April to create skits and scenarios set about 30 years in the future.

At these meetings, they familiarize themselves with the multi-step FPS “process.”

First, FPS members identify challenges they foresee as major issues in the future. After selecting an underlying problem, they devise potential solutions. They then select and apply certain criteria in order to develop a concrete action plan.

“Nearly every type of groundbreaking technology started with an out-of-thebox, futuristic idea” PROVIDED BY ROHAN THAKUR

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ROHAN THAKUR (12) FPS CO-PRESIDENT

“The skits are really beneficial in preparing for the competitions,” FPS Skit and Scenario Writing Coordinator Ritu Belani (10) said. “They really challenge us to look beyond our current scope of mind.”

During these meetings, members also solve practice problems in preparation for the FPS California State Bowl, where students are presented with a futuristic scenario that involves various problems for which the problem-solvers must identify challenges and devise solutions.

Participants come up with five “criteria” questions that rank their solutions before writing essays defending their top choices by discussing social, economic and political ramifications.

“It’s very intellectually interesting to be able to explore what the potential things we should work towards are, especially since the main competition is about future scenarios,” FPS co-president Rohan Thakur (12) said. “It’s interesting to imagine what could be possible. Nearly every type of groundbreaking technology that has been developed in history has started with an out-of-the-box, futuristic idea.”

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student@harker:~/hpi$ cat README Tango is a cartographer that is triangulating the altitude of a mountain in intervals of 1 km. She defines a mountain as the interval on the landscape where the altitude levels form a strictly increasing sequence immediately followed by a strictly decreasing sequence. Help Tango find the largest mountainous interval. student@harker:~/hpi$ ./start.sh

PROVIDED BY SAANVI BHARGAVA

student@harker:~/hpi$ ls SAMPLE PROBLEM FROM HPI CONTEST README start.sh

CONTRIBUTIONS Co-community officer Aeliya Grover (10) observes the students as they are drawing. FPS visited the lower school on Feb. 22.

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Water droplets on a native California cactus, dark gray moisture meters sticking out of wet soil, and glistening solar panels on the roof of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center (RPAC). These are all symbols of an aspect of our school that you may be unfamiliar with: a long-standing dedication to conserving resources and lessening our carbon footprint.

California has been in a state of drought almost nonstop for the past de-

PROVIDED BY STEVEN PACHECO

“[To the community], I would say to be more aware of their footprints, where they're walking and the trail that they leave behind” STEVEN PACHECO DIRECTOR OF GROUNDS

The upper school campus has solar panels installed on the RPAC, Athletic Center and Nichols Hall, which provide energy to the buildings. Solar energy is much more sustainable than conventional fossil-fuel sources. Besides using solar panels, our buildings have advanced electricity and circulation systems that also lessen our footprint.

“Most of our buildings have building management systems, where the heating and air is controlled for holidays and weekends," Hale said. "It shuts off when school's out, and it shuts off for holiday breaks from school."

Although the campus’ conservation efforts greatly reduce our effect on climate change, community members can pursue actions to control their own impact. “[To the community], I would say to be more aware of their footprints, where they're walking and the trail that they leave behind,” Pacheco said. “If one person steps on a plant, then the next 20 people are also going to. We'd like our students and staff to be aware of their footprint and where they're walking on the grounds.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

SAB

rachel ning Harker’s App Development Club hosted Evan You, founder of software startup company Vue.js on Feb. 8.

The club’s leaders invited You to speak to club members because many students could relate to his experience of balancing a job while starting a company.

“He had an inspiring journey because he was still in his job, and that’s something a lot of students can relate to, like trying to balance school and creating apps,” vice president Sasha Masson (10) said.

Vue.js strives towards creating a framework for a frontend on any website to make it more lightweight. You spoke about why he decided to quit his previous job in order to pursue his passion.

Datar believes You could inspire anyone who wants to develop apps.

“It’s very easy for my students to get frustrated when things take longer, and once in a while it’s important to be like ‘Stop, I’m just going to change tracks into something that is going to give me happiness and gratification,’ which builds more patience,” Datar said.

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Mock diagnostic event helps Medical Club members learn anatomy RI

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DEVELOPING DOCTORS On a worksheet, attendee Nupur Gupta (11) writes down a diagnostic decision. Club members worked together in teams to identify diseases.

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TURNS OFF ELECTRICITY DURING BREAKS AND WHEN THERE ARE NO PEOPLE AROUND

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WATER INDIVIDUAL PLANTS TO AVOID WASTE AND PREVENT OVER-WATERING

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SUCH AS CACTUS AND GRASSES, ARE MORE DROUGHT RESISTANT AND CAN HELP THE CAMPUS CONSERVE WATER

SOFTWARE SESSION Students attend Evan You's speaker event. You founded Vue.js, which strives to make website designing and building more accesible.

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“Every new plant that we put in now has that system in place to eliminate just spreading out the water,” Director of Grounds Steven Pacheco said. “It helps us to conserve water and to eliminate a lot of the weeds.”

In addition to bubble sprinklers, the upper school has an artificial turf, Davis Field, that does not require irrigation.

Even the living plants around campus consume little water. Moisture meters are used to monitor conditions like soil temperatures and fog levels in the air and help the grounds staff avoid over-watering plants. Finally, the school takes advantage of advanced technology systems in their conservation efforts. “[Our irrigation systems] are now going to be Wi-Fi enabled so [Pacheco] can control the irrigation right from his phone,” Director of Facilities Shane Hale said. “From home or from another school site, if it's raining, for example, he can turn the irrigation off [and conserve water].”

Last year, the grounds staff planted dozens of drought-tolerant, native Californian plants, including cactuses and grasses, in the areas surrounding the RPAC, Athletic Center, and art building.

These shrubs require much less water, as they are better adapted to California’s warm and dry climate and also promote natural wildlife diversity on campus.

Beyond water consumption, recent climate change has recently devastated local habitats and populations. Wildfires raze through California forests, decimating native redwood trees, and warming Pacific waters cause coastal wildlife to suffer from ocean acidification and plastic pollution. In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, the school has searched for sustainable energy sources and aims to minimize electricity use.

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cade, and the state’s population of 37.3 million feel its effects every day. 87% of California land is classified under “Severe Drought,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), meaning that there is inadequate grazing land and that wild plants feel stress. The remaining 13% is in “Extreme Drought,” where the land is especially prone to wildfires and hydropower use is restricted.

Located in the heart of Santa Clara County, a "Severe Drought" county that is currently in its driest year of the past century, the upper school campus has a variety of systems in place to discourage unnecessary water waste. For example, the grounds staff have recently been switching from using traditional sprinkler heads that spray water in vast areas moisture to individual bubblers.

water consumption to minimize carbon footprint

SABRINA ZHU

sabrina zhu

Conscious conservation Upper school campus uses solar energy, reduces

Vue.js software startup founder speaks to App Development Club

JESSICA TANG

Global Reset covers climate change and global warming news relevant to our community

Medical Club hosted a mock diagnostic event in upper school biology teacher Dr. Matthew Harley’s room on Feb. 10.

Attendees were split into four groups of four to five people, each with two officers who role-played as patients and answered questions from attendees who emulated the role of a doctor.

20 attendees looked through a fact sheet with information on a list of diseases for reference and through examining the patient’s condition and background, decided on a disease they believed the patient suffered from. At the end, officers revealed relevant tests, such as blood samples, to determine whether the attendees’ guesses were correct.

Medical Club member Nupur Gupta (11), who aspires to become a doctor, appreciated the opportunity to experience a glimpse of the profession.

“It was like solving a puzzle or solving a mystery,” Nupur said. “It made me want to learn more about the actual field and try to help people and be able to do this in an actual medical setting.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY SABRINA ZHU

23 • ISSUE 5 STEM VOLUME MARCH 22, 2022

16 WINGED POST

WILDLIFE WATCH

Native spring flowers

New generation of cyberattack warfare

Hacking groups exacerbate Russia and Ukraine conflict

nicholas wei California wildflowers enter full bloom as spring rolls around. Parks like Edgewood County Park, Rancho San Antonio and San Bruno Mountain harbor abundant biodiversity! Below are four common grassland or chaparral-native plants now adorning our hillsides.

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Common starlilies belong to a genus commonly known as deathcamas because they contain intensely toxic alkaloids. Indeed, the tribe of plants it falls under, Melanthieae, contains numerous species historically responsible for the poisonings of humans and grazing animals alike.

Because of their potent lethality, the attractive, creamy flowers are pollinated only by specialist bees.

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arjun barrett In a room lit only by the glow of her laptop, a young woman stares intently at a dark terminal window full of tiny white text.

Esoteric phrases like “ncat” and “ssh” alongside various scripts and IP addresses clutter the screen. With a single keystroke, the hacker runs her final command, immediately replacing the contents of the Ukrainian government’s official website with Russian nationalist propaganda.

The Russo-Ukrainian war, as one of the few overt international conflicts in the modern era, is perhaps the best example of hybrid warfare in history. Although hybrid wars utilize these older tactics, they also employ new, unconventional strategies made possible by the digital age. Social media networks have allowed state-sponsored disinformation to spread more widely than ever before, and cyberattacks have the potential to completely disrupt both military operations and civilian life faster than direct battle.

Cyberwarfare between Russia and Ukraine began long before armed conflict between the nations started. On Jan. 14, var-

Anand Natarajan (‘09) shares his love for quantum computing as college professor olivia xu & brandon zau

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A wide-ranging species, blue dicks thrive in a variety of habitats in the western United States. It perennially resprouts from a corm, which is an underground storage organ much like a bulb, and its flowers are arranged in an umbel—the pedicels, or flower stalks, radiate from a common central point. This species depends on periodic disturbances to maintain growth.

HOLAS WE I

This showy species, which thrives in grassland and chaparral, belongs to the Orobanchaceae, a family that parasitizes other plants. Castilleja are hemiparasites, meaning they derive part of their nutrition from regular photosynthesis while simultaneously penetrating the vascular system of host plants to rob them of nutrients.

The vivid pink portions of this species’ inflorescence are in fact modified leaves called bracts.

ious Ukrainian government and bank websites were hacked and replaced with a warning written in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish that the worst was yet to come. Ukrainian officials claimed Russia was responsible for the attack, though Russian officials denied these allegations. Russia has also been the target of various cyberattacks by activist organizations and volunteers. The hacker coalition Anonymous leaked 200 gigabytes of documents from the Russian government.

The invasion has become particularly tense due to prospects of nuclear warfare.

By invading Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin violated terms of the Budapest Memorandum when Ukraine agreed to the Nonproliferation Treaty to give up nuclear arms.

“The invasion of Ukraine has undermined decades of nonproliferation and disarmament progress,” computer science department chair and Critical Issues Forum director Dr. Eric Nelson said. “Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in part because of the promise by Russia that it wouldn’t invade them. Now if you have a nuclear arsenal, are you going to give it up under promises that [Russia] just breaks unilaterally?”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

Cyberattacks have the potential to completely disrupt military operations and civilian life faster than direct battle

Imagine that you and I are on the opposite sides of the galaxy, and you perform an operation on yourself. Now, imagine that we reunite on Earth, and it turns out that the same operation affected me, despite being billions of light years apart.

This suggests that we share two halves of an entangled quantum system, something which has fascinated Anand Natarajan (‘09) for years.

Anand’s passion for STEM blossomed even before middle school. He would spend his free time reading popular science books, including “A Brief History of Time,” and binging physics lectures. He credits these early opportunities for “making [him] feel excited about the material.”

“I was attracted [to] the fact that [physics is] all combined: elegant math with being empirically testable,” Natarajan said. “In physics, it can be very simple things that you can fully understand with math, and the math applies to the world.

That combination seemed really nice.”

After joining Harker as a freshman, Natarajan continued to foster his interests in STEM, taking AP Physics C and advanced computer science classes, as well as competing in the National Science Bowl competition. Upper school mathematics teacher Dr. Victor Adler taught Natarajan and notes his innate curiosity.

“He was a kid who really enjoyed science and wanted to understand,” Dr. Adler said. “He just likes to learn.”

What Natarajan appreciates the most about Harker was the community of like-minded and curious peers who provided a comfortable place to grow.

“The general community had more of an effect than the particular classes [I took],” Natarajan said. “The fact that there were a lot of other people who are inter-

“The fact that there were a lot of other people at Harker who are interested in physics and computer science was inspiring” PROVIDED BY ANAND NATARAJAN

HOLAS WE I

This species belongs to a distinctive section of the primrose genus, Primula, called Dodecatheon.

Species in Dodecatheon have pendent flowers with dramatically reflexed petals, earning them the common name “shooting stars.” In a process called buzz-pollination, bees grab hold of the petals and vibrate their wings in order to shake the flower, which releases pollen.

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ested in these things was inspiring. It encourages you to want to learn more.”

After graduating from Harker, Natarajan majored in physics at Stanford.

Natarajan obtained his Ph.D. in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2018 and was, as a result of his successes in the field, invited to join the MIT faculty. Now, as an assistant professor, Natarajan continues to explore the world of quantum computing research.

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

Blooming from the STEM covers Harker alumni thriving in STEM

Q&A with Anand Q: Why were you attracted to physics and math?

A: In physics, it can be very simple things that you can fully understand with math. That combination seemed nice Q: What STEM activities were you involved in at Harker?

A: I competed in Science Bowl and Quiz Bowl, and I hung out in Robotics Club and Linguistics Club a lot Q: What advice do you have for high school students?

A: Sometimes, people overemphasize the competitive aspect of STEM. But now is a time to explore interests Q: What do you do now as a professor?

A: On a daily basis, it depends a lot on the day. I teach lectures, and there’s a lot of collaborative reasearch DESIGN BY SABRINA ZHU

SPORTS

VOLUME 23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022

WINTER SPORTS WRAPUP

WINGED POST 17

katelyn zhao & vishnu kannan

Varsity girls soccer finishes first in league

Varsity girls basketball advances to CCS finals

Varsity girls soccer team brought home the third league title in program history. The girls dominated Eastside College Prep 8-0 in their Kicks Against Cancer match, but ultimately fell 2-4 to Lincoln in the opening round of CCS.

Girls basketball advanced to the CCS finals, losing to Menlo 49-54. After an opening round victory against Colfax in their Norcal bracket, the girls fell to Argonaut in the quarterfinals, putting an end to their historic 25-3 season.

“The key to our success has been teamwork and just trusting each other.

On defense, everyone knows where they’re supposed to be, and on offense, we can all score and create shots”

“It was definitely historic.

We had the best group of players that I’ve played with. We had a lot of success going undefeated through the season and making the first CCS appearance in program history”

ISABELLA LO (9) MEMBER OF VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

LEXI WONG (11) MEMBER OF VARSITY GIRLS SOCCER TEAM

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Varsity boys soccer finishes with 14-4-1 record

Varsity boys basketball competes in CCS

Varsity boys soccer finished third place in league with a record of 9-3. Ishaan Mantripragada (12) was named the Mercury News Athlete of the Week. The team fought hard against Leigh in the D3 CCS quarterfinals but lost 0-1.

Varsity boys basketball ended their season with a 49-65 loss to Menlo in the D3 CCS quarterfinals, bringing an end to Butch Keller’s 11-year historic career as coach of the team.

Keller’s teams qualified for CCS in all 11 years.

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tiffany chang At 6 feet, 6 inches, Abhi Namala (11) is impossible to miss in a crowd. While his height might be what grabs your attention, a brief conversation reveals so much more about him: he’s driven yet easygoing, mindful yet outgoing.

Because of the advantage offered by his tall stature, Abhi gravitated towards basketball at a young age. However, his physique only partially contributed to his success. Since joining a travel team in sixth grade, he improved rapidly by committing to 5:30 a.m workouts and arriving at practices 30 minutes early to get into the right headspace. In addition to dedicating time on the court, Abhi takes basketball into consideration when making decisions — whether that be maintaining a nutritious diet or scheduling his schoolwork around practices.

Head of Upper School Butch Keller, who serves as the varsity boys basketball coach, commends his diligence. While he recognizes that Abhi has not yet reached his full potential as a player, he places faith in Abhi’s work ethic to take him there.

“I get 100% [effort from him] every time he does anything, on or off the court,” Keller said. “That’s one of his greatest attributes: he doesn’t do anything halfway.

He does it to the best of his ability. As good of a player as he is right now, very few people realize how good he’s going to be.”

Accolades aside, basketball provides Abhi with valuable insight into what makes a successful teammate and leader.

He contributes to the team not only with his technical skills, but also with his

team-first attitude. Even when injured, Abhi attended practices and cheered his teammates on from the sidelines, a level of dedication which his co-junior captain KJ Williams (11) found admirable.

“Abhi is one of the nicest people out there,” KJ said. “Because of that, he’s a

“I get 100% effort from him every time he does anything, on or off the court. That’s one of his greatest attributes” ESHA GOHIL

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The APEX repeater profiles Harker athletes who compete at the highest level in their respective sports. This installment features Abhi Namala’s (11) experience as a member of Harker’s basketball team for the past four years.

STRIKE A POSE Abhi Namala (11) prepares to shoot a free throw at a home game against Pinewood on Feb. 15. The varsity boys basketball put up a strong fight against Menlo in the first round of CCS, but ultimately lost 65-49, ending their season with a 10-15 record.

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STRIKE A POSE Michael Chang (10) grips the ball while a defensive Pinewood High School player blocks him from behind on Feb. 15.

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EYES TRAINED Joshua Tseitlin (12) defends against a Sacred Heart High School forward on Feb. 11 at the Kicks Against Cancer match.

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“Our strength this season was our effort.

If you watched our practices, you would see everyone pushing themselves, and I think that hard work translated to the success we had on the court”

“[My favorite moment] from this season was scoring a hat trick against Eastside College Prep. I think we should have won the [CCS] quarterfinals. We had a lot of chances that we didn’t finish, but we can go again next year”

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SPRINT TO SCORE Freshman Isabella Lo dribbles the ball while running at the CCS finals against Menlo High School on Feb. 26.

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DEFENSE Claire Anderson (9) blocks her opponent from reaching the ball on Jan. 21. The girls defeated Eastside College Prep 8-0.

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good captain—he’s there to support you.

Even when he broke his nose, he still came to practices, games, and scrimmages to show support for the team. The energy he brings definitely makes everyone else on the team want to do better.”

With basketball being a team sport, Abhi realized early on that winning games would require individual sacrifice.

Subsequently, he learned to balance his own pursuit of excellence with his team’s goals in order to ensure overall success.

“I think it’s important that I thrive as an individual, but when the team works as a cohesive whole, that’s when we’re truly successful,” Abhi said. “No matter how many points how well you play, there’s no point if you don’t win the game.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

DESIGN BY KATELYN ZHAO

18 WINGED POST

23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 SPORTS VOLUME

“Track is a good way to stay in shape after the basketball season and at the same time take a break after school by hanging out with friends and working out” KEVIN ZHANG (10) MEMBER OF VARSITY TRACK TEAM

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FLINGING FASTBALLS Mark Hu (12) pitches a fastball during the varsity baseball team’s match against Rancho San Juan at Blackford last Tuesday.

“We have been learning a lot from our losses. Specifically, we can improve our defense and serve receiving. We have a lot of new, underclassmen talent this year, so as long as we keep working hard, we should be pretty good over the next few years” OF C OM M

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“As a leader this year, the biggest thing for me is making sure the younger members of the team feel included. During the game, I try to give small coaching tips to the younger players, so they can learn new strategies” RO

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PUSHING PAST Kyra Hawk (11) cradles the ball as she races past a defender during the girls lacrosse’s teams game against Notre Dame on March 11.

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SPEED KILLS Edis Mesic (10) swings from the middle during the varsity boys volleyball team’s home season opener against Serra on Feb. 25.

“The improvement we’ve made is amazing. People have been coming to practice more, just putting more effort in on their own. I can’t wait to see what else we’re going to do because we still have the rest of the season in front of us”

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JOYFUL JOGGING Veyd Patil (10) and Kara Kister (11) jog alongside each other at track and field practice at Prospect High School last Monday.

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“One of our goals is to compete and play hard until the last pitch in every game; even if the game’s already decided, we want to do our best and leave it all on the field”

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SERVING LOOKS Anthony Tong (11) serves during the varsity boys tennis team’s 6-1 victory against Pinewood High School last Tuesday.

“I’m stronger than it before, but I have a one second decrease in my time. I‘m hoping to get at least one to two seconds faster” NOLAN CHEN (9) MEMBER OF VARSITY SWIM TEAM

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SWEET SWING Sophomore Jonathan Zhang looks on after a swing during the varsity boys golf team’s 192-227 victory against King’s Academy on March 9.

HYDRATE Members of the varsity swim team gather at the pool’s edge during a water break at practice in the Singh Aquatic Center last Monday.

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“My goal is to give our golf team the best experience ever. I hope by the end of the journey that we have bonded together and created an environment such that we treat each other not only as teammates, but like family”

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PHOTOS OF THE MONTH, CURATED BY OUR SPORTS TEAM

FIST BUMP Shahzeb Lakhani (12) fist-bumps varsity tennis coach John Fruttero during the team’s senior night on March 15. The team played back-to-back games against King’s Academy.

BAT ATTACK Nick Delfino (11) hits a ball to the opposite field. The team begins league play this week against Half Moon Bay.

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JESSICA TANG

ALYSA SULEIMAN

SETTING UP Vishnu Kannan (12) sets the ball during a varsity boys volleyball game.

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JOG IT OUT Rigo Gonzales (11), who competes in the 200 meter and 400 meter races, runs during a track practice on March 14.

PLAY IT Varsity girls lacrosse coach McKenna Knapp draws out a play on March 23 against Notre Dame San Jose. The team lost 8-7.

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STRIKE Mark Hu (12) throws a curveball during the varsity baseball game against Rancho San Juan High School on March 10.

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SPEEDING BY Katelyn Abellera (11), one of three juniors on the varsity girls lacrosse team, sprints past a Notre Dame San Jose defender during their game on March 11.

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23 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 22, 2022 SPORTS VOLUME

TAKE A BREATH Alex Zhong (9) adjusts his glasses against the wall during a swimming practice on March 14. The team hosted a swim meet on March 17 at the Singh Aquatic Center.

SWINGING AWAY Vyom Vidyarthi (9) hits a backhand against his Pinewood High School opponent. The team won the match 6-1 and held their senior night against King’s Academy on March 15.

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20 WINGED POST

23 • ISSUE 5 BACK PAGE VOLUME MARCH 22, 2022

a r t i b o e n l e o c f n I

I certainly always wanted to go into a health care profession, and the thing I like best about my job is at the end of the day, I know I made a lot of people feel better. And what more can you ask for a profession? How much more rewarding can it be?

I think women are just super strong. I’ve been trying my best to be that safety person for my kid. I will do anything for him; that’s what keeps me going. I’m happy to be a woman. We go through a lot, but we always have each others’ backs. We’re strong, and that’s the bottom line. kinnera mulam, margaret cartee, sarah mohammed & michelle wei For upper school counselor Jonah Alves, the mother of two young daughters, having the dedicated month of Women’s History Month is an inspirational time.

In a world where her girls are growing up with standards of conformity and cultural norms, the month is a way for her to highlight inspirational women throughout history, to remind the next generation of women, “You can be who you want to be.”

Women’s History Month lasts through the month of March with International Women’s Day on March 8, and this year’s theme, “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” honors the work of women who have also inspired healing and hope.

RITU RAJ UPPER SCHOOL ATTENDANCE COORDINATOR, MOTHER

JONAH ALVES UPPER SCHOOL COUNSELOR, MOTHER

I’m still struggling to know where it started, the saying that the woman is the one taking care of the family. Whatever men can do, a woman can do that, too. Whether it’s taking care of a family or having a job, we women give everything our 110%.

As much as we are caring for the students and the faculty here, it’s continuous because we care for people here, and then we go home, and care for the people at our home, too. My children are little: they’re three and six, so caring for others is a 24-hour thing — from when we wake up until even after we clock out.

Before, my husband and I didn’t share the work. It was always coming to me, like go work, and then come back, and do the cooking also: But later, he understood that it was too much work for me, and we talked about it.

I have two daughters, and I instill in them, “You can do anything. We don’t have to stick to these gender norms.” My mother used to say, “You don’t need a man. You just do your own thing.”

That’s something I’ve always carried with myself.

You still don’t see that very often in Indian culture, but once my girls started growing up, they also advocated for me to my husband. I definitely give a lot of credit to my girls, who were like my voice.

From the perspective of being a mom and raising two little girls who have very open aspirations, I am able to say, “This is a great time for you to do what you want to do.”

Female-identifying students in clubs empower other women, providing more access to opportunities and resources.

Harker’s Women in STEM Club (WiSTEM) runs a number of initiatives to educate girls in STEM while Harker’s Women for Women International (WfWi) chapter aims to help female survivors of war by providing them with materials such as hygiene kits.

Women are instrumental to the Harker community, yet they are often underrepresented in student leadership. According to Talon yearbooks since 2000, only four of the 22 elected Associated Student Body (ASB) presidents have been female with the last holding the position in 2011, leading ASB Community Service Committee member Cynthia Wang (10) to

look forward to more gender diversity in leadership.

“The end goal should be to have women celebrated all the time” PROVIDED BY ISHANI SOOD

One of my goals in life was to be a mom. I have an almost five-year-old son, but the sad part is that my husband passed away this December. He was 44 years old; he had a heart attack. Now, I’m eight months pregnant with a baby girl: I’m due in May.

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION

DIANA O’REILLEY COLD KITCHEN STAFF MEMBER, MOTHER

I like kids, and in Mexico, I did college for teaching, but when I came here, I never pursued it. But I always liked school and kids, and then I started working in the food industry.

DEBRA NOTT DIRECTOR OF HEALTH SERVICES, MOTHER

I go back to a time when women had very little power. When I was in college, I attended some group sessions that were called “women’s consciousness raising sessions,” and the idea there was to convince us that we were the equals of men, because most of us didn’t think so.

It was surprising; I did not expect to discover that I was equal to men.

Everything we did was valued less than a man doing the same thing, and we were paid less.

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EMILY TAN

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In honor of Women’s History Month this March, we share the stories of women as mothers, teachers, staff members, students and leaders in our community.

ISHANI SOOD (10) HARKER WfWi CHAPTER PRESIDENT

“I think more female identifying people at Harker would feel more validated

if there were more girls on ASB because they offer a unique perspective to student council that other people aren’t able to share,” Cynthia said.

Although Women’s History Month represents an occasion unique for honoring women, the celebration helps the underrepresented group gain recognition for their various achievements and contributions.

“Men are celebrated 24/7, so having Women’s History Month is a gateway to being able to celebrate women all the time,” Harker WfWi chapter president Ishani Sood (10) said. “The end goal should be to have women celebrated all the time, and Women’s History Month helps with making that happen.”

Visit harkeraquila.com for full article.

ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN BY EMILY TAN