Living with Intent, Focus and Enthusiasm (LIFE) board hosted a badminton tournament in honor of this month’s physical exercise theme during Thursday’s school meeting.
During the school meeting, the final and semifinal matches took place concurrently. Frosh Isabel Yang and junior Aman Chandra battled frosh Yimo Xie and Gary Xu for first place. Upper school assistant division head Kelly Horan, math teacher Bradley Stoll and physics teacher Lisa Radice competed against frosh Adrian Jia and Daniel Xi for third place. Aman and Isabel ultimately won first place, and the teachers lost 11-18.
LIFE board member Aanya Sharma (10) emphasized the importance of athletic events in maintaining a healthy balance of academics and overall health.
“We just want to get the Harker population to be more energetic and exercise,” Aanya said. “Lots of Harker kids mainly just focus on studies, and they don’t really focus on taking care of themselves.”
Arturo, who participated in the first round of the tournament on Oct. 16, reflected on his experience in the qualifiers.
“The playing was varied in levels,” Arturo said. “But together they made for a really fun experience, and I’m glad we did it. Initially, I wanted to have some fun with a friend of mine, so I went and signed up, and we played a few rounds, and I had a good time.”
Radice noted that although the teachers felt unprepared, she found the event to be an entertaining way to promote fitness and spirit.
“None of us had played badminton in many, many years,” Radice said. “If we had had a chance to practice a little bit, and had known the rules more than one day in advance, we would have [probably] fared a little bit better, but it didn’t matter. It was still fun, and I enjoyed it.”
