October 2001 (VOL. 8, NO. 1)
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M O N T H L Y
Harker Responds to Tragedy The tragedy of September 11 brought the entire Harker
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■ Howard and Diana Nichols held special assemblies at the Bucknall and Saratoga campuses with all of the students the morning of the tragedy to provide age appropriate guidance, reassurances and opportunities for discussion. Our counseling staff provided further support to Harker students.
happened and about what will happen to you. Don’t worry about it. Just stay calm and think about anything that you like.
community together to try to understand the events that occurred and respond to those in need.
■ Our front desk and support staffs on both campuses handled hundreds of parent phone calls on the day of the events and kept our parents informed and reassured of their children's safety. Our webmaster posted emergency information on the web within hours of the event, and it was updated daily during the first week to further keep parents informed. ■ Children in the after-school Club Rec program are making red, white and blue beaded bracelets with beads donated by a local artist. These bracelets will be sold at area stores, including Nordstrom and Draeger’s, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. Thanks to Brian McEwan’s (Gr. 6) mother, Lisa, Harker was invited to participate in this wonderful program. The tentative date is Nov. 2nd. Details will follow in next month’s newsletter. ■ Over 200 letters were written by Bucknall students and sent to the New York City Fire Dept., a school in New York located near “Ground Zero,” and a local Islamic school. Here are some examples: Dear Student, I know that you may feel scared or frightened about what just
S C H O O L
Keep a journal to express your feelings. You will be fine. Don’t listen to anyone who judges you by your skin color. They should judge you on who you are. They just don’t understand. All I want you to do is finish this letter off with a big smile as big as the river Nile. “Put a smile on your face and make the world a better place.” Sincerely, Sumita Sharma P.S. I hope this leter made you feel better. Dear Rescue Worker, Thank you for trying so much. It must be very hard. You are a hero. Connie Cheng, Gr. 1 Dear Students, I was told that you have been held accountable for the Sept. 11 attacks. You have been exposed to hate crimes, derogatory remarks, and graffitti. Obviously, the people who are committing these crimes are in a very wrong frame of mind. Do not, whatever you do, allow your feelings to be hurt. Know that you are not responsible and should not be held responsible for what happened on Tuesday, Sept. 11th. I would like to see the terrorists brought to justice. Do not be put
down by these people. Sincerely, Ben Englert Dear Rescue Workers, I believe that what you are doing is something a lot of people would not do. You are putting all of your time and effort into trying to save these people. After what happened, your work is the most important and without you more people would have died. You have inspired each and every one of us by your caring and helpful ways and I hope you know it. From a caring 6th grader, Ranjita Raghavan
HARKER
headlines Sixteen National Merit Semifinalists Named Harker is delighted to announce that 16 out of the 89 seniors in our first graduating class this year have been named National Merit Semifinalists, giving Harker one of the highest percentages in the countr y. These National Merit semifinalists are within the top 16,000 students in the United States based on PSAT scores achieved in the junior year: Jerry Chi, Alex A. Combs, Arjun Dave, Liang Dong, Shally Garg, Benjamin Y. Hu, Alexander S. Janofsky, Benjamin H. Janofsky, Kimberly N. Kanada, Anjali Khurana, Shalini H. Lal, Alan V. Liu, Nadia N. Raza, Stephanie C. Tsai, Matthew G. Wong and Jennifer Sun Yao. Congratulations to each and every one of them!