Some lower school students had a stellar weekend of competition at the 2017 Tech Challenge, with teams of Harker students taking the top two spots in their grade bracket and a third team with three of four members from Harker winning an award for design process. Fifth graders Reza Jalil, Vardaan Ghai, Veyd Patil and Kyle Leung – known collectively as Team Trespassers – took the first place spot, while Team Arctic Infusion – made up of fifth graders Om Tandon, Jordan Labio, Zachary Blue and Neel Handa – finished second.

Team Huskies – comprising fifth graders Nathan Liu, Adrian Liu and Natasha Rajaram and a fourth member from another school – won an award for Outstanding Engineering Design Process. They were also finalists in the video contest, in which teams created videos outlining the creation of their robots.

The Tech Challenge, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this weekend, had contestants design, build and test a robot over a period of several months with the goal of creating a machine that could traverse the course designed for the contest. More than 2,500 students from grades 4-12 took part in the contest. Congratulations to these outstanding roboticists!

Check out this article in the Mercury News. The winning teams are listed at the bottom of the article.

In late April, the Harker Conservatory presented the stage version of the hit Disney film “High School Musical,” directed by Laura Lang-Ree, in which the students of Albuquerque, N.M.’s East High School vie for parts in an upcoming production of “Romeo and Juliet.” Star athlete Troy (Kayvon Solaimanpour) and shy new girl Gabriella (Chetana Kalidindi) unexpectedly become the top candidates for the coveted lead roles, which threatens to undo the social order of East High.

Complex and energetic musical numbers, courtesy of musical director Catherine Snider and choreographer Katie Champlin, dazzled the audience, and set designer Paul Vallerga’s understated rendering of East High School allowed for a variety of settings, providing the cast with ample play room. The student crew, headed up by stage manager and Harker alum Michael Prutton ’11, kept things flowing behind the scenes to ensure a smooth production.

Harker alumnus Ashvin Swaminathan ’13 was recently awarded with the David Mumford Undergraduate Mathematics Prize, which according to the Harvard University website is given to the “most promising” outstanding seniors who have chosen mathematics as a concentration. Swaminathan will graduate from Harvard this month with degrees in mathematics and physics. Last month he was awarded a Soros Fellowship for New Americans, earning additional funding for his graduate studies in mathematics, which he plans to begin in the fall at Princeton.

The Harker Girls Summer Lacrosse Camp, a new offering in this year’s summer program, promises to be a great opportunity for girls to learn and fine-tune their skills in this increasingly popular sport.

This camp is designed for a wide range of experience levels, from beginner to advanced. It will focus on helping players build confidence, improve their lacrosse knowledge, develop key skills and instill solid field strategy. Skills that will be stressed include footwork, stickwork, shooting, dodging, teamwork and defensive concepts. Small-sided games will be played to demonstrate and practice these skills and for just plain fun!

Harker girls lacrosse head coach Alyssa Dunlap will act as instructor along with other coaches and players with division I collegiate backgrounds. Dunlap’s credentials reach as far back as her time in high school, where she was instrumental in helping her team win three consecutive Pennsylvania State Championships and was twice named first time High School All-American. While at Vanderbilt University, she was selected for the All-West Region team by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and named to the All-American Lacrosse Conference first team. Prior to joining Harker, Dunlap coached at Stanford University and the Treelax Lacrosse Club.

The Harker Girls Summer Lacrosse Camp is being offered in two sessions, each for different grade levels. The first session, for grades 6-12, will run July 17-20, and the second session, for grades 3-5, will run July 31-Aug. 3. This camp will be held at The Harker School’s upper school campus.

For more info and register for this camp and other summer offerings, please visit the Harker Summer website. 

Last week, middle school tinkerers enjoyed a variety of creative activities at a special Mini-Maker Faire organized by middle school learning, innovation and design director Scott Kley-Contini. Harker students designed the activities, which emphasized creativity and ingenuity. The “Airplane Miniature Golf” station, designed by sixth graders Dominick Piscione and Sam Jonker, challenged students to make their own paper airplanes and fly them through six holes, while keeping score on their efforts.

Students also worked on an activity – developed by Andrew Fox, grade 6, with help from Aydin Tiritoglu, grade 8 – involving the creation of simple LED circuits using switches and resistors.

Tanay Sharma, grade 6, and George Wehner, grade 8, developed a special Minecraft coding station where students could use their laptops to tackle coding challenges in the popular computer game.

At the Augmented Reality Gallery, created by Kley-Contini and Harper Brada, grade 6, students used cell phones and tablets to interact with student-made augmented reality content, created using an app called Aurasma.

Members of Harker’s Junior Classical League chapter competed at the California JCL State Convention late last month, taking top spots in several categories. The 20-person team included two middle school students – Arohee Bhoja and George Wehner, both grade 8 – who are enrolled in Latin at the upper school.

Harker placed second in two certamen (quiz bowl) competitions and had many stellar individual performances.

The breakdown of top three finishes by Harker students is as follows:

Venkat Sankar, grade 12 – First place: 6; second place: 1

Arohee Bhoja, grade 8 – First place: 4; second place: 2; third place: 3

Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 10 – First place: 2; second place: 2

Kyle Li, grade 9 – First place: 1; second place: 1; third place: 1

Bryan Wang, grade 9 – First place: 1

Edgar Lin, grade 11 – First place: 1; second place: 2

Andrew Semenza, grade 11 – First place: 1; second place: 3; third place: 1

Jai Bahri, grade 9 – Second place: 1

Jeffrey Fung, grade 9 – Second place: 3; third place: 1

Jack Hansen, grade 9 – Second place: 1

Montek Kalsi, grade 9 – Second place: 1

George Wehner, grade 8 – Second place: 2

Robert Bloomquist, grade 10 – Second place: 2

Sara Min, grade 10 – Second place: 1

Arnav Tandon, grade 12 – Second place: 1;  third place: 1

Jin Tuan, grade 9 – Third place: 1

Nikhil Manglik, grade 12 – Second place: 1

In addition to stellar showings at the California Junior Classical League State Convention, Harker Latin students also have been posting excellent results on recent national exams. In the advanced level of the National Roman Civilization Exam, Venkat Sankar, grade 12, and Edgar Lin, grade 11, both received gold medals and Andrew Semenza, grade 11, won silver. At the intermediate level, freshmen Jeffrey Fung and Jack Hansen, and sophomore Alexander Young, won gold medals, and freshman Kalyan Narayanan won silver.

In the Medusa Mythology Exam, Hansen won a bronze medal, Fung was awarded with a corona laurea, and Narayanan and Young each received a corona olivae.

Lin, Sankar and Semenza also had success in the advanced level of the National Classical Etymology Exam, with each student earning a gold medal. Notably, Sankar was one of just 24 students (out of 1,768 who took the exam) to score a 46 on the exam. Senior Arnav Tandon also did very well, winning a silver medal. Fung and Hansen each won gold medals at the intermediate level, where sophomore Ayush Pancholy also earned gold. Narayanan received a silver medal.

Students also performed splendidly on the National Latin Vocabulary Exam. In Latin Level 3, Fung received a gold medal, while Hansen and Narayanan both received silver. Pancholy and Kaushik Shivakumar, grade 10, each won silver in Latin Level 4, where Timmy Chang, also grade 10, won bronze. In Latin Level 5, Sankar and Semenza were both gold medal winners and Tandon took home silver.

Dozens of middle school students won medals in this year’s National Mythology Exam, the results of which were published last week.

Bronze medals (awarded for answering 90-94 percent of the exam questions correctly) were given to Atri Banerjee, Anthony Tong, Linette Hoffman, Nicholas Wei and Isaac Yang, all grade 6; Ishaan Parate, Aaron Tran, Prakrit Jain, Thresia Vazhaeparambil, Ysabel Chen and Akhilesh Chegu, all grade 7; and Sidra Xu, Jason Lin, Anna Vazhaeparambil, Shalini Rohra and Maria Vazhaeparambil, all grade 8.

Silver medal winners (answered 95-99 percent of exam questions correctly) were Hita Thota, Jeremy Ko, Alan Jiang, Jasmine Li, Andrew Fu, Andrew Pluzhnikov, all grade 6; Nicole Tian, Anoushka Khatri, Arnav Jain, Brandon Park, Jacqueline Hu, Angela Jia, Aaron Lo, Alez Zhang, all grade 7; and Betsy Tian, Angela Cai, Akshay Manglik, all grade 8.

Harker bid a heartfelt farewell to the Class of 2017 at today’s graduation ceremony, held at the beautiful Mountain Winery in Saratoga. As attendees filed into their seats, they were treated to music performed by the Harker Chamber Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio. As the ceremony began and the graduating seniors took their seats at the front of the stage, the orchestra launched into “Pomp and Circumstance.” Following the Carl Oser-led 2017 Graduation Chorus’ stirring rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” upper school division head Butch Keller welcomed the late-afternoon audience to the ceremony.

He welcomed this year’s valedictorian, Kai Ang, mentioning not just his academic achievements but also his character, including his work teaching piano to children with special needs. In his speech, Ang compared the journey he and his classmates had made to that of Odysseus, with the caveat that their journey had not lasted as long. Although the seniors’ achievements are remarkable, however, he reminded his classmates that much of their success was due to the support of their parents, teachers and “the tender roasting of our friends.”

“We are indebted to all who have stood behind us,” he said, “seen and unseen.”

After the applause from Ang’s speech subsided, the Graduation Chorus, directed by Susan Nace, sang “New Beginnings.” This year’s graduation keynote speaker was Nvidia co-founder Chris Malachowsky, who reminisced about visiting Harker earlier in the month, remarking about the dedication of the faculty, as well as the curiosity and accomplishments of its students.

Malachowsky offered graduated three points of advice, the first of which was investment. “Not the typical monetary kind of investment,” he cautioned, but investment in themselves. At college, he said, the graduates “should make it a priority to use your time to expand your horizons, both culturally and intellectually,” and take advantage of all the resources available, including special events, clubs and employment opportunities.

The second point was confidence, which would enable them to take chances and achieve more, adding that students should create an environment for themselves in which confidence can grow. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, life is a team sport. So surround yourself with people who will challenge and help you grow,” he said.

The final of Malachowsky’s three points was responsibility. “It’s your life to live, and you should be looking to fully take the reins of it as you move through these next phases of your lives,” he said. He stressed that the graduates had to take it upon themselves to improve the world around them. “If something is wrong, broken, inefficient, take some measure of responsibility and fix and improve it for everyone,” he said.

After Malachowsky congratulated the graduates and wished them success in their future endeavors, Christopher Nikoloff took the podium to address Harker’s senior class for the last time as head of school. Nikoloff, who will assume duties as headmaster of The American School in Switzerland later this year, once again promised to keep his remarks to one page of single-spaced size 12 font while also making no promises about the size of the margins.

In Nikoloff’s signature manner, he opened with some light humor, remarking that he and the Class of 2017 “are in fact graduating together, but I am sure that you are graduating with a higher GPA.”

Nikoloff shared with the audience his favorite quote from the philosopher Voltaire, starting with the first sentence: “Life is a shipwreck.”

“I know, very inspiring,” Nikoloff quipped. But despite the apparent darkness of Voltaire’s opening line, Nikoloff said he didn’t believe Voltaire was being a total pessimist. “In both life and shipwrecks, you both end up in places you had not anticipated,” he said. “For instance, how many of you knew you would be born?”

He then stated Voltaire’s thought in its entirety: “Life is a shipwreck. But we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

Voltaire, Nikoloff said, was reminding us to “find joy no matter where you are, to pay attention to those in the lifeboat next to you, to see that your circumstances do not necessarily dictate your attitude about those circumstances.”

As Nikoloff finished his remarks, former head of school and board of trustees chair Diana Nichols stepped up to the podium to thank Nikoloff and surprise him with an honorary diploma expressing Harker’s eternal gratitude for his years of service to the school.

The members of the Class of 2017 then walked to the stage one at a time to receive their diplomas from Nikoloff, as their friends and families cheered from the stands. After the final diploma had been handed out, assistant head of school Jennifer Gargano and Nikoloff said one more goodbye to the senior class as doves were released into the air.

Upper school Japanese language students received a special visit from musician Baisho Matsumoto on May 17. Wearing a black kimono, Matsumoto played a series of musical pieces on the shamisen, a traditional Japanese instrument resembling a guitar, and the shakuhachi, a traditional flute instrument. Styles he played on these instruments included traditional Japanese folk, pop and jazz.

“We learned a lot of interesting information on these instruments,” said Japanese language teacher Yumiko Aridomi. “For example, shamisen has been played for about 800 years in Japan, and tsugaru shamisen artists are expected to play their original pieces of music for their customers.”

“It was really fun watching the shamisen player play different instruments that you do not get to see in the United States,” said Scout McNealy, grade 10.

“It was an interesting aspect of Japanese culture that I never took the time to investigate before,” said junior Liana Wang. “I have heard of the shamisen before but I didn’t know it was such a complex instrument. I was quite impressed.”

Two Harker students recently won Second Awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, held last week in Los Angeles. Junior Amy Jin’s project, titled “Deep Learning-Based Automated Tool Detection and Analysis of Surgical Videos to Assess Operative Skill,” won her a Second Award in the Robotics and Intelligent Machines category. She also won a First Geno Award, which included a $1,000 cash prize, from the Samvid Education Foundation.

Recent graduate Manan Shah ‘17’s Second Award was in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Category for his project, titled “Deep Learning Assessment of Tumor Proliferation in Histopathological Images for Categorical and Molecular Breast Cancer Severity Diagnosis.” The project also earned him an Honorable Mention from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

Both students won their trips to the Intel ISEF at the Synopsys Championship in March, where they each received Grand Prizes.

The second part of this year’s exchange with the Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy kicked off in late March. Thirteen middle school students – accompanied by global education director Jennifer Walrod, lower school English teacher Kate Shanahan and technical theater teacher Paul Vallerga – traveled to China to visit with their SWFLA buddies and experience some of the country’s rich history, culture and geographic landmarks.

Upon arriving on March 28, the Harker students met up with their SWFLA buddies and families who would be their homestays for the following few days. The students received a very warm welcome on their first day at SWFLA, where they were treated to a flag raising ceremony and introduced themselves to the school in Mandarin. “Apparently … on our drive back from the airport, the SWFLA buddies were busy teaching our kids how to introduce themselves in Mandarin,” said Walrod. Later, the Harker students attended a class on Shanghai history and participated in an art class. The students spent the afternoon learning how to make dumplings and spring rolls,” Walrod said. “Luckily, they did a good job as that is what we ate for dinner.”

Harker students embarked on a field trip the next day to the town of Zhujiajiao, often called the “Venice of China” because of its large network of canals. The visit started with a boat ride to the Fangsheng Bridge. “Once we arrived, everyone bought bags of fish and turtles to set free in order to give them a second life,” said Erica Cai, grade 7. “We then strolled down the many streets and shops of Zhujiajiao, bargaining with the merchants there. All of the vendors were kind and willing to lower prices for us.”

April 1 was the final day for Harker students to spend time on campus with their SWFLA buddies. The day started with morning exercises and a martial arts class, followed by a class on Tibetan-style dance. In music class, the students learned about movements from the Peking opera and Chinese instruments such as the pipa and guzheng. At the end of the day, the Harker guests were treated to a farewell ceremony that included performances by both Harker and SWFLA students.

Harker students spent the next few days with their homestays before departing for Beijing on April 5. Their first stop in China’s massive capital city was the Temple of Heaven, where they learned of the temple’s history as a symbol of the relationship between heaven and earth. After a brief tai chi lesson on the temple grounds, the group headed for the Hutongs, a network of narrow streets and alleyways, where they visited a traditional home known as a “siheyuan,” which consists of a group of small dwellings situated around a courtyard. They also whipped through the alleyways on rickshaws, which Saumi Mehta, grade 7, described as “less bumpy than expected, but fast!”

The next day in Beijing started with a stroll through Tiananmen Square, where they learned about the Monument to People’s Heroes and the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao. Later, they visited the Forbidden City, one of China’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which contains 9,000 rooms in 800 buildings. They later visited the Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, which features a corridor that stretches for more than 700 meters.

The students’ final day in China was a full one, starting with a trip to the Spirit Walkway of the Ming Tombs, which serves as the resting place for 13 Chinese emperors. “We wandered down the pathway, taking numerous photos of opposing pairs of animal and human statues lining the way,” said Walrod. Later, the group headed to the Great Wall of China, walking along the world-famous fortification, taking photos and marveling at the massive structure. “As we descended from the wall, we basked in the fact that we had just seen one of the wonders of the world!” recalled Emma Andrews, grade 8.

At dinner that evening, the students enjoyed Peking duck while viewing a shadow puppet show, and went shopping one last time before leaving the next day.

Harker students had another stellar year at the Synopsys Science & Technology Championship, which took place in late March. Two students – junior Amy Jin and recent graduate Manan Shah ’17 – were grand prize winners, earning them trips to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The Synopsys Championship website includes the full list of middle and upper school winners, which also can be found below.

Middle School

Arohee Bhoja, grade 8: $250 to the winning student or team in middle school bioscience, Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; middle school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate, Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; honorable mention, biological science and engineering category.

Sidra Xu, grade 8: Middle school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate, Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; second award, biological science and engineering category.

Russell Yang, grade 8: Middle school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate, Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; second award, biological science and engineering category.

Alexandra Baeckler, grade 8: Nominated to compete envelope, Broadcom MASTERS – 8th Grade; first award, biological science and engineering category; certificate of achievement, NASA Earth System Science Award.

Nilisha Baid, grade 8: Honorable mention, physical science and engineering category.

Arya Maheshwari, grade 8: Second award, physical science and engineering category.

Vaishnavi Murari, grade 8: Honorable mention, physical science and engineering category.

Luisa Pan, grade 8: Certificate of achievement, NASA Earth System Science Award.

James Pflaging, grade 8: Second award, physical science and engineering category.

Betsy Tian, grade 8: Certificate of Achievement, NASA Earth System Science Award.

Annamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 8: Honorable mention, physical science and engineering category.

Aditi Vinod, grade 8: Honorable mention, physical science and engineering category.

Ankita Kundu, grade 8: Middle school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate; Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; honorable mention, biological science and engineering category. 

Akshay Manglik, grade 8: Nominated to compete envelope, Broadcom MASTERS – 8th Grade; first award, physical science and engineering category.

Elizabeth Szeto, grade 8: Middle school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate; Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; honorable mention, biological science and engineering category.

Upper School

Akhil Arun, grade 11: Second award, biological science and engineering category; ASEI Silicon Valley emerging technology certificate of achievement and membership to American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin; American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin Award.

Divija Bhimaraju, grade 11: Honorable mention, RRI biological science and engineering category.

Cynthia Chen, grade 9: Second award, physical science and engineering category; $100 first place, certificate of achievement and letter, Inez M. Lechner Award.

Jeffrey Fung, grade 9: Honorable mention, biological science and engineering category.

Aarzu Gupta, grade 9: First award, biological science and engineering category.

Richard Hu, grade 9: Certificate of achievement, NOAA medallion, and letter, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Allison Sihan Jia, grade 9: Honorable mention, biological science and engineering category.

Karena Kong, grade 11: Honorable mention student award, $50 and certificate of achievement, Association for Computing Machinery, San Francisco Bay Area Professional Chapter; first award, physical science and engineering category.

Eileen Li, grade 9: BBC Microbit development kit, TechLab Education.

Millie Lin, grade 11: Certificate and nomination to enter 2018 Sustainability Soutions Festival in Arizona, Arizona State University Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives; certificate of achievement, American Psychological Association; honorable mention, certificate of achievement and goody bag, Association for Women in Science, Palo Alto Chapter.

Emily Liu, grade 9: BBC Microbit development kit, TechLab Education.

Neelesh Krishna Ramachandran, grade 11: Honorable mention, RRI biological science and engineering category.

Maya Shukla, grade 9: First award, biological science and engineering category.

Sahana Srinivasan, grade 11: Second award, biological science and engineering category; ASEI Silicon Valley emerging technology certificate of achievement and membership to American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin; American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin Award.

Jasmine Wiese, grade 9: Honorable mention, biological science and engineering category.

Catherine Zhao, grade 9: Honorable mention, biological science and engineering category.

Krish Kapadia, grade 10, and Anjay Saklecha, grade 10: $500 to the winning student or team in high school bioscience, Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; high school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate; Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; first award, RRI biological science and engineering category.

Ruhi Sayana, grade 10: $500 to the winning student or team in high school bioscience, Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; high school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate; Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; first award, RRI biological science and engineering category.

Katherine Tian, grade 10: First award, biological science and engineering category.

Kevin Xu, grade 10, and Raymond Xu ’17: Certificate of achievement, American Psychological Association.

Katherine Zhang, grade 10: First award, biological science and engineering category.

Kaushik Shivakumar, grade 10: Honorable mention, biological science and engineering category; certificate and nomination to enter 2018 Sustainability Soutions Festival in Arizona, Arizona State University Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives.

Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11: Honorable mention, biological science and engineering category; certificate of achievement, United States Public Health Service.

Shaya Zarkesh, grade 11: Honorable mention student award: $50 and certificate of achievement, Association for Computing Machinery, San Francisco Bay Area Professional Chapter; honorable mention, physical science and engineering category.

Jerry Chen, grade 11: High school – one packet with letter, certificate of achievement, ONR Medallion and form for $50 gift card, United States Navy and Marine Corps.

Amy Dunphy, grade 11: IEEE Electro-Technology $50 gift card and a certificate, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Amy Jin, grade 11: Grand prize – best of championship, physical sciences, trip to Intel ISEF and plaque, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Association board of directors awards, high school; first award, RRI physical science and engineering category; $100 and a certificate of achievement, IBM award.

Cameron Jones, grade 10: Second award, biological science and engineering category.

Arnav Joshi, grade 9: High school finalist certificate and Amazon.com gift certificate; Synopsys Outreach Foundation n+1 Prize; second award, biological science and engineering category.

Rishab Gargeya ’17: $100 first prize, Morgan Lewis; second award, RRI physical science and engineering category.

Anastasiya Grebin, grade 11: First award, biological science and engineering category.

Jimmy Lin, grade 11: First award, RRI biological science and engineering category.

Rajiv Movva, grade 11: Honorable mention, RRI biological science and engineering category.

Sandip Nirmel ’17: Second award, RRI physical science and engineering category; certificate of achievement, American Meteorological Society.

Evani Radiya-Dixit ’17: Second award, RRI biological science and engineering category; ASEI Silicon Valley emerging technology certificate of achievement award and Membership to American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin; American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin Award.

Manan Shah ’17: Grand prize, best of championship, biological sciences, trip to Intel ISEF and plaque, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Association, board of directors awards, high school; first award, RRI biological science and engineering category; $100 and a certificate of achievement, IBM Award; ASEI Silicon Valley emerging technology certificate of achievement award and membership to American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin; American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin Award.

Arjun Subramaniam ’17: Grand prize alternate, biological sciences, trip to state science fair and plaque, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Association, board of directors awards, high school; second award, RRI biological science and engineering category; ASEI Silicon Valley emerging technology certificate of achievement award and membership to American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin; American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin Award.

Maddie Huynh, grade 9: First place award, $150 cash and certificate of achievement, American Society of Civil Engineers, San Jose branch.

Michelle Kwan, grade 9: First place award, $150 cash and certificate of achievement, American Society of Civil Engineers, San Jose branch.

Carolyn Lu, grade 9: First place award, $150 cash and certificate of achievement, American Society of Civil Engineers, San Jose branch.

Last month, recent graduates Manan Shah ’17 and Michael Tseitlin ’17, accompanied by computer science chair Eric Nelson, attended the Critical Issues Forum in Nagasaki, Japan, an annual event for high school students around the world interested in nuclear disarmament.

The conference, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, was co-sponsored by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Kwassui High School in Nagasaki and the Nagasaki Council for Nuclear Weapons Abolition.

During the three-day event, students from the United States, Russia and Japan gave presentations on this year’s assigned topic, “Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and its Role for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.” Shah and Tseitlin’s presentation examined ways that current nuclear weapons ban agreements could be improved. “Our research highlighted the major concerns in numerous high-risk nuclear regions of interest and proposed a unique test-ban solution focusing on broad global precedents and specific regional implementations to prevent the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons,” Shah said.

Attendees also heard from leading nonproliferation experts, including Lassina Zerbo, executive secretary at the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, who gave a talk “about the accomplishments and hurdles surrounding the implementation of the treaty,” Shah recalled. Shah also was asked to be one of two students from the United States to appear on a panel, where he discussed how he became a researcher and activist for nuclear nonproliferation.

Outside of the conference, students had the opportunity to explore Hiroshima and its many exhibits related to the bombing that eventually led to the end of World War II. “I was truly inspired by visiting the site of the atomic bomb explosion on Aug. 6, 1945 and obtaining a firsthand understanding of the damage that was inflicted by the bomb on Japanese citizens,” Shah reported. “I’m also incredibly grateful for the opportunity to live with a host family who helped me understand and appreciate Japanese culture.”

Earlier this month, eighth grader Jacqueline Au and junior Matthew Lee received accolades in the 2017 Growing Up Asian in America Awards, organized by the Asian Pacific Fund. Au was named Best in Class among students in grades 6-8 in the art category for her piece, titled “Together, We Lead.” Lee received an honorable mention in the essay category for grades 9-12.

More than 600 Bay Area students in grades K-12 entered this year’s contest, which offers more than $20,000 in prizes for artwork, essays and video projects. The theme of this year’s contest was “Letter to the Senator,” in which students were encouraged to send messages to U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, who made history in the 2016 general election as the first Indian-American and second African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Au’s and Lee’s works can be viewed at the Growing Up Asian in America website.

May 17 was a busy day for the 190 members of the Class of 2017, who attended the Alumni Induction Lunch at Nichols Hall, where they officially became Harker alumni and presented this year’s senior gift: a $2,000 donation to Harker’s advancement department. History teacher Damon Halback spoke at the event, wishing the departing seniors well in the coming years.

Several graduating seniors had their names inscribed on bricks that were later placed into the Senior Walk at Graduates’ Grove during this year’s Brick Ceremony, where math teacher Troy Thiele offered some kind and inspiring parting words to the soon-to-be graduates.

That afternoon, the seniors gathered with the juniors at the upper school campus quad for the baccalaureate ceremony, held each year to wish the seniors well in their future endeavors and welcome the juniors into their new roles as seniors. Economics teacher Sam Lepler was chosen by the students to be this year’s faculty baccalaureate speaker and senior Aditya Dhar also shared some parting words of wisdom with his classmates and the seniors-to-be. As a special surprise, former Harker teacher Ben Spencer-Cooke appeared to offer congratulations to the graduates.

The seniors who entered Harker as kindergartners then headed to the lower school campus to celebrate their time as Harker students at a very special Lifers Dinner, fittingly held at the campus where their Harker careers began.

The Class of 2017 arrived at the Mountain Winery on May 18 for an afternoon of celebration and bittersweet farewells. Valedictorian Kai Ang used his time at the podium to remind his classmates that “we are indebted to all who stood behind us, seen and unseen.” Keynote speaker Chris Malachowsky, co-founder of graphics technology company Nvidia, offered students advice based on three points: investment in oneself, confidence and responsibility. Finally, departing Head of School Chris Nikoloff gave his final graduation speech before exiting to serve as headmaster of The American School in Switzerland. Invoking Voltaire’s observation that “life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats,” Nikoloff advised the audience to “find joy no matter where you are, to pay attention to those in the lifeboat next to you, to see that your circumstances do not necessarily dictate your attitude about those circumstances.”

Rising senior Jacqueline He and rising junior Prameela Kottapali were both recently recognized in the third annual Young Authors Writing Competition, held by the Bay Area Book Festival. He’s short story “House of God” was deemed the winner in the combined 11th and 12th grade division, while Kottapali’s “Never Been Better” earned her third place in the 10th grade division. SFGate has the full story. Congratulations!

On May 12, the Senior Showcase featured the 2017 graduates from the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program performing in several disciplines, including dance, musical theater, and vocal and instrumental music. The 34 students who presented that evening had spent the previous four years in intensive study of one of the seven disciplines offered by the conservatory. At the conclusion of the performances, the students received their certificates to signify their completion of the program, showing their appreciation for the teachers who provided crucial guidance over the previous four years.

This Harker Conservatory graduates honored this year were:

Dance: Tamlyn Doll, Hazal Gurcan, Surabhi Rao, David Zhu

Instrumental Music: Cuebom Choi, Maile Chung, Jack Farnham, May Gao, Alexa Gross, Aashish Jain, Soham Khan, Lauren Liu, Edward Oh, Judy Pan, Shekar Ramaswamy, Andrew Rule, Vedaad Shakib, Melinda Wisdom, Alex Youn

Musical Theater: Shivani Awasthi, Zahra Budhwani, Priyanka Chilukuri, Anahita Far, Chetana Kalidindi, Sara Pachauri, Medha Shah, Kayvon Solaimanpour

Theater: Sana Aladin, Sravya Cherukuri, Emre Ezer, Marina Newman, Amrita Singh, Brandon Stoll

Vocal Music: Mia Giammona

The annual middle school Japan trip in mid-May took 23 grade 6 students across the Pacific to meet with their buddies at Tamagawa Academy and see many of the country’s cultural and geographic landmarks. After arriving in Tokyo on Thurs., May 11, the students spent their first couple of days exploring the city, visiting the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the Kokugikan Sumo Museum and the Anime Museum, where they learned about the process of making an animated film.

Tamagawa Academy gave Harker a warm welcome on Sat., May 13, despite less-than-savory weather conditions. “Despite the heavy rain, we were greeted with excitement, big smiles, and hugs from Tamagawa buddies, parents, and teachers,” reported Butler. Tamagawa and Harker students both gave speeches, and the Tamagawa’s middle school headmaster welcomed the Harker representatives and offered his appreciation for the 21-year relationship between the two schools. Following the ceremony, the Harker students left with their homestays for the remainder of the weekend.

The Harker students spent much of their first full day at Tamagawa attending classes with their buddies, including English, math, science and foreign languages. During a stop at Tamgawa’s agricultural department, “We learned that the university is producing lettuce, selected herbs and fruit using specific LED lights and light combinations,” said Butler. “It was an amazing sight to see!”

Tuesday that week started with a brief welcome meeting with Tamagawa head of school Yoshiaki Obara, after which the group headed to the school’s planetarium. “As Keiko of the planetarium program explained, it is rare that a planetarium is attached to a school,” Butler wrote. “Therefore, having one at Tamagawa is truly special.” Later that day, the students attended a special assembly that included performances of karate, ballet, fencing and comedy. Harker students Ashley Ruan, Arissa Huda, and Aria Jain performed as well.

The final day of Harker’s visit to Tamagawa started by participating in the Tamagawa lower school’s morning assembly, joining in on their daily exercise routine. “As Harker guests, we joined in and brought smiles to many faces,” wrote Butler. They later attended English and music classes at the lower school. “Since the students are very young and at the beginning stages of learning English, lessons involved students walking around and introducing themselves to their new Harker friends,” Butler said.

The students spent the rest of the day with their Tamagawa buddies, attending classes and enjoying lunch before emotional farewells were exchanged. “Hugs, smiles and tears were all present as our Harker Students said good-bye to their Tamagawa buddies,” Butler wrote. “Feeling like most parents saying goodbye to their children, the Tamagawa moms and dads were just as sad to see their Harker guest children leave.”

Upon arriving in Kyoto the next day, the group set out to explore the former Japanese capital with their tour guide, Akira. “As we drove around, Akira pointed out foliage, statues, and other things that were specific to the area,” wrote Butler. The students and chaperones had a great time watching a kimono fashion show at the Nishijin Textile area and seeing the Fushimi Shinto shrine. Once the large crowds had subsided, they also walked through Kiyomizu Temple.

On May 19, the group spent their final full day in Japan in Hiroshima, where they toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Local guides Mito and Michiko provided historical facts and personal stories regarding the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in August of 1945. The students presented 1,000 paper cranes that they had folded, which were left at the Children’s Peace Monument in memory of the wish of Sadako Sasaki, who fell ill following the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and folded origami cranes in the hopes that she would be granted a wish upon folding 1,000 of them, in accordance with an ancient legend.

Their final cultural stop on the trip was at Miyajima Island, where they walked with deer and viewed the Itsukushima Shrine, built more than 1,400 years ago.

The World Chess Federation recently rated Vyom Vidyarthi, grade 4, the No. 1 rated under-10 chess player in the United States and fifth-highest rated worldwide. Vidyarthi achieved the rating after his performances at the Bay Area Chess Summer Start Championship and the Best of the West Chess Class Championship, held in April and May, respectively. Congrats and best of luck to this young and talented chess enthusiast!