2002 December Harker News

decemBER 2002 (VOL. 9, NO. 3)

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M O N T H L Y

est. 1893 • K-12 college prep

N E W S L E T T E R

HARKER

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H A R K E R

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headlines

Holiday Concert Orchestra & MS Chorus Thurs., Dec. 19, 5:30 p.m.

Bucknall Gym See page 6 for schedule of other holiday performances!

top stories Bucknall Gr. 6 visits Yosemite and “Oh My Gosh!” Rock ......................... 5

Saratoga - MS Gr. 8 returns from inaugural Hawaii trip .......................... 10

Saratoga - US Bookstore opens on Saratoga campus .............................. 14

important dates Wed.-Fri., Dec. 4-6 Gr. 5 Marin Headlands Trip Fri., Dec. 6 MS Holiday Dance, STG gym 7:30 - 10:30 p.m.

Sat., Dec. 14 US Winter Ball, STG gym 8:30-11:30 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 20, 5:30 p.m.

Campuses Close and K-12 Winter Holiday Begins Mon., Jan. 6 K-12 Classes Resume

Mark Tantrum

Mark Tantrum

Tamagawa Visit Features Popular Western Theme

The Harker School once again welcomed 28 sixth grade students from the Tamagawa School in Tokyo, Japan, to our school at the end of October. After arriving in San Francisco and being greeted by the Harker Eagle, the Tamagawa students enjoyed a visit to the Gold Country before meeting up with our entire sixth grade class at Yosemite. The Tamagawa students were guests of honor on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Howdy Luncheon held in the Bucknall gym, which was renamed the Harker Corral for the day. The students enjoyed a Wild West Extravaganza featuring the Middle School Harmonics and a variety of entertainment from the American West. Students were even able to try their hand at the lasso after the luncheon. The Tamagawa

students spent the rest of the weekend with their host families exploring the San Francisco Bay Area. On Monday, the Tamagawa

students shadowed their Harker buddies and attended a regular day of classes. In physical education classes they were taught country line and square dance routines.

Students created special Day of the Dead picture frames in their Spanish classes. The school day ended with over 360 students from the third and fifth grade choirs, MS/US Orchestra, MS and US Dance Troupes, and 20 members of the former cast of “Oklahoma!” presenting a special assembly to welcome the Tamagawa guests.

Toru Nagashima, musical director of the Tamagawa School, was amazed at the incredible talent displayed.

continued on pg. 2

US Film Club Wins Top Honors US teacher and club advisor Beverley Manning and asst. advisor J Gaston repor ted that the Harker Film Club won top honors at a recent awards ceremony in the regional high school division of this year’s Backyard National Children’s Fim Festival. Manning said that 10 of the 15 club members attended the event, which honored their winning entry,”Mirage,” a 20-minute film produced by Marc Leglise, directed by Adrik McIlroy and based on a short story by Andrew

Shvartz. Other members of the 2001-02 Film Club club were Max Gokhman, Mallika Bhandarkar, Emma Hawley, Brendan Bolan, Rachel Meltzer, Kenny Wat, Mike Vu, Georgia Manry, Raj Mishra, Nich Krishnan and Calvin Yu. Congratulations to all!

Manning added that this year's club is currently running a competition to find a script from within the Harker community for their next major project. Good luck to all!

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Harker football team recently received recognition in The Guide, a local news section of the Mercury News for the team’s recent win over San Jose High and the program’s overall progress since its inception. Congratulations to our coaches and players, past and current, who have contributed to the development of our team.

Go Eagles!

—Pam Dickinson, Director, Office of Communications (pamd@harker.org) Remember to check the Parent Home Page for detailed calendars and additional updates between editions of the Harker News!

Nancy Curran

■ A bookworm is growing in the kindergarten classroom! Parent volunteers have read over 60 books to the children in Nancy Curran’s class so far this year. A Book Worm in the classroom displays the various books read each week! By

June this will be a ver y long Book Worm! Thank you, parent volunteers!!

■ K-6 students joined in the fun of the library’s annual Halloween Reading Contest! Students were encouraged to read a book or books during the month of Oct. with the hope of winning a $5 gift certificate to the Book Fair in Nov. Upon completion of each book,

Tamagawa continued from pg. 1 “My heart is so full of joy after seeing this wonderful show.”

The incredible Kelly Espinosa hosted the entire Tamagawa/ Harker exchange buddies at a special Harvest Festival after school on Monday.

Past and current Harker chaperones from the Tamagawa/Harker exchange gathered at Campo di Bocce in Los Gatos for an evening of Italian lawn bowling and Italian food on Monday night.

On Tuesday Tamagawa students and their Harker buddies attended an art workshop hosted by Eric Hoffman to create Native American dream catchers. They then joined the entire Gr. 6 class for a field trip to the Tech Museum where they toured the exhibits and watched the IMAX movie, “Space Station.” The students returned to Harker for an e-mail session to let their parents know about their exciting activities.

Later, the Tamagawa students joined their buddies in after-school activities of football, volleyball, art, computers, library and just hanging out on the playground.

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bucknall students put their name on an entry slip for the drawing, and Bucknall librarian Kathy Clark repor ted there were 1,340 entries.

“They read everything in sight: picture books, short and long fiction books, nonfiction books—it was wonderful!” she said.

On Halloween, the following lucky students had their names drawn for Book Fair gift certificates: Alyssa Amick, Andrew Zhang, Nick Powell, Silpa Karipineni, Sondra Costa, Sean Pagnon, Margaret Krackeler, Aakash Jagadeesh, Anisha Agarwal, Tim Healy, Tiffany Lin and Thomas Wang. Thanks to all the parents who encouraged their children to read!

■ The Gr. 5 students in S-Club (Spirit) have been busy demonstrating how to play the games and refereeing all spirit events. The latest event, won by Kate Shanahan’s homeroom, was the

Tuesday ended with a group of 165 members of the Harker community and our Tamagawa guests attending the evening session of the Grand National Rodeo at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The Tamagawa students were amazed by the cowboys’ riding and roping skills.

So many Harker faculty, parents, and volunteers

Cheer, Football, Soccer and Pitch event. The students of Jason Oncay’s homeroom earned the most points in the cheering segment, with the students in the homerooms of Conception Grande, Oncay and Kristen Giommona earning 100 points due to some great blocking. Soccer proved to be a tough score, but Shanahan, Giammona and Mary Jo Townzen’s homerooms were able to avoid the defense and earn 50 points each.

“Shanahan and Townzen had luck on their side when their teacher pitch bounced its way into the bucket,” laughed Oncay.

Their final day at Harker on Wednesday began with the Tamagawa students joining Gail Palmer in the dance room for a dance workshop. The students continued their activities with a special computer class hosted by Laura Miller and Jeffrey Niederauer.

The students created picture collages to represent their favorite moments of the trip.

The Tamagawa students and their Harker buddies joined the K-3 classes for a special new activity in the exchange program. All K-3

■ Students in Linda Alexander’s Gr. 1 voted on Election Day! A voting booth and ballot box were provided, and each child got to step inside the booth and cast a “secret” ballot. They voted for their favorite school lunch drink. Fruit punch won by a landslide!

The S-Club also gathered for an oncampus sign painting party before spirit week and hung banners around the campus. Some of the Sclub members, Alex Creasman, Ketul Patel, Arthi Padmanabhan and Carina Fernandes, performed a skit in a homemade movie for a recent environmental assembly.

The S-Club will be having a fundraiser in Dec. for spirit decorations and prizes and selling Snowman Grams, telegram messages delivered with a little

classes had at least one Tamagawa student come to their homeroom to read an old Japanese fable, “The Inch High Samurai.” The Harker students read the translated version of the stor y to the students after their buddy had read the original Japanese version to the class. The Tamagawa students also shared their love staff, for origami with a fun project for the primary division students to do.

After lunch the P.E. department welcomed the entire sixth grade to ever! the first Harker Hoedown. Students and teachers performed a variety of country line and square dances they had learned in class on Monday.

contributed to make this year’s Tamagawa visit the best

bag of candy for $1 each. Parents, teachers and students are encouraged to support the S-Club in this fun way!

This year’s exchange program ended with the Happy Trails Farewell Reception in the Bucknall gym. The reception featured per formances from the US Bel Canto choir and the US/MS String Ensemble. Diana Nichols, Toru Nagashima, the Tamagawa music director, and Bill Bost gave farewell speeches, and the Tamagawa students performed two choral

Linda Alexander

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numbers that touched every heart.

Harker students gave farewell talks and presented their buddies with the going away gifts of a t-shirt, a Harker yoyo, a cowboy eagle and a picture from the Howdy Luncheon made with their buddy. To end the program, a special video presentation of the week’s activities was shown. Finally, led by the multitalented Rick Hayashi, the Tamagawa guests were bid farewell by a rendition of “Happy Trails” until we meet again in May when we visit them in Tokyo. With tears of sadness, the Tamagawa students boarded their bus and waved goodbye to their new friends.

So many Harker faculty, staff, parents, and volunteers contributed to make this year’s Tamagawa visit the best ever! Without their help, this program would not have happened. We thank them all for their hard work.

—Bill Bost Director of International Programs Editor’s Note: And Harker thanks Bill Bost for the energy, creativity and great memories he brought to this year’s exchange—hats off to you, Bill!

tamagawa

The 2002-03 Tamagawa/Harker Exchange Students and Chaperones Harker Students

Tamagawa Students

Jasleen Kahlon, Andrea Kim, Barrett Glasauer, Pratusha Erraballi, Arman Gupta, Joe Hospodor, Abhinav Mathur, Sammy Levine, Harrison Schwartz, Neha Sabharwal, Kunal Modi, Sophie Newman, Taylor Rapson, Alison Palmintere, John McKenna, Ashwin Mathur, Sabina Sood, Nicholas Hyman, Amaresh Shukla, Kartik Venkatraman, Becky Yanovsky, Patricia Yen, Angeli Agrawal, Ananya Anand, Elizabeth Cutler, Courtney Dellar, Katie Comee, Emily Carr

Maki Kawanishi, Mai Mochizuki, Kiyohisa Kojima, Saki Nakagiri, Genki Ichinohe, R yotaro Kawashima, Hideharu Kubota, Ayato Saito, Masashige Takahashi, Akiko Jimbo, Kou Shimizu, Erina Nozawa, Erika Nishiyama, Aya Oonuma, Masahira Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Ibata, Teiko Kawai, Hiroto Oosawa, Tsunenori Yamada, Kei Takizawa, Hiromi Komuro, Kanami Nojima, Kasumi Nakamura, Hasuna Hayasaka, Shiori Ogawa, Arisa Morimura, Eriko Kawasaki, Saya Sonoda

Harker Chaperones

Joe Rosenthal, Kristin Giammona, Melanie McKenna, Vandana Kadam, Ben Morgensen, Colin Goodwin

Tamagawa Chaperones

Keiko Sato, Keiichi Watase, Keiko Ogawa, Toru Nagashima

Mark Tantrum-all Tamagawa photos

GLOBAL Friendships!

FEATURE

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bucknall

Halloween Parade A Ghoulish Delight!

The ooky, kooky and sometimes spooky 5th Annual Halloween Parade at the Bucknall campus was a great success! With over 700 students, faculty and our ver y own Hang Loose Hawaiian Style Recreation Staff, a variety of costumes ranging from Pop Stars to Austin Powers and Superman were present. Making two laps around the entire campus, the students put on a ghoulish display for parents, grandparents and siblings. All students had a great time. —Reported by Lana Morrison

Pumpkin Carving Contest Winners

Bucknall Halloween photos by Mark Tantrum & Trish Tobin, parent

Twenty-five students in Gr. 4 entered the pumpkin carving contest arranged by teacher Keith Hirota and judged by 15 Bucknall teachers and staff. The categories were Most Creative, Most Scar y and Cutest, and all students received a small bag of candy for entering. Here are the lucky winners!

Most Scary: Jeremiah Shteynberg, Nicholas Kehriotis and Michael Hooton. Most Creative: Naomi So, Jenny Lee, Allika Walvekar and Sonali Mehta. Cutest: Daisy Mohrman, Anisha Agarwal and Amritha Minisandram. Thomas Tiernan’s carving shown here was voted as The Great Pumpkin, the best overall creation, and he received a bag of assorted prizes. Congratulations to all our carvers and many thanks to Hirota, as well as Marcie Gilbert, Jeff Gatlin, Colin Goodwin and Rick Ferrera who helped with the event.

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Mark Tantrum-monk photo

■ Students in one of Eric Hoffman’s Gr. 4 art classes recently had the chance to hear Tibetan monks chant, as well as talk about their childhood and demonstrate sand painting.

Jampa and Lobsang, touring monks from the Gyudmed Monastery in India and Laura Desmarais, founder of Tibetan Living Communities, made time for a brief visit to Harker as Hoffman’s guests. The monks began the session by chanting, and after a momentary bout of giggles, the students seemed to be fascinated with the experience. Then Lobsang gave a short talk about his life in India, describing his home, school and

bucknall playtime and of leaving home at age 11 to live in a monastery to study philosophy and spiritual arts for 15 yrs.

Leo Funaki, Gr. 4, said, “I learned that the children didn’t have good toys and often just played with stones. That was kind of sad.”

The demonstration of the art of sand painting was a big hit with the students. The monks sat on the floor, with pillows on their laps. They each held a cloth bag with sand, white marble that has been ground and then dyed, a metal funnel known as a chang-bu and metal rod known as a dhardi. The dhardi is rubbed back and forth on the chang-bu creating a vibration that causes the sands

to flow like liquid. This had the students in complete awe! Jampa started by writing MARGAUX in very tiny but precise letters. Margaux Nielsen thought if felt “pretty cool to see her name written.” With a steady hand, he proceeded to draw a tiny locust flower, butterfly, swan and several other things all with the tiniest details. Lopsang drew a rabbit, horse and several names.

The students leaned over and watched in total fascination. April Luo, Gr. 4, said she liked “learning about their art and that one monk shared his story of his life and that of the Tibetan children.” It was truly a unique experience for these students. Many thanks to our visitors for taking the time to share their stories and their art with us!

—Repor ted by Terry Walsh

Heidi Qua

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P.E. teacher Heidi Qua reported that the Gr. 2 students have been discussing their bodies in family life class. Here a student wears her insides on the outside so the class can get a better view!

for being bright, enthusiastic and motivated learners,” Vail noted.

“This year’s group certainly lived up to this tradition!”

Gr. 6 Spends Exciting Week in Yosemite

On the last day at Yosemite, a Y.I. naturalist asked one of the groups to write a poem summarizing their week.

Mark Tantrum-all Yosemite photos

Here is Sophie Newman’s poem: I Am Time I am the river, swiftly flowing through the valley, laughing in the stillness.

Students in Gr. 6 enjoyed the annual trip to the Yosemite Institute for a week of educational exploring and hiking. One hundred thirty-five Harker students and 16 staff, joined on Wed. by 28 Tamagawa students, attended this year’s trip.

Teacher Kate Shanahan shared some memories from the trip: “The highlight of the week for me was when our hiking group climbed Yosemite Falls and paid a special visit to ‘Oh My Gosh’ Rock. We had no idea why it was called this

until we actually climbed down the steep slope (in groups of three, because no more would fit) to see this magical sight. When we arrived at the rock, we had an incredible view of Yosemite Valley, so magnificent and high above the ground that all we could say was ‘OH MY GOSH!!!!!!’”

Institute instructors marveled at the students’ attention span, depth of knowledge and thirst for more,” said Christy Vail, elementary division head. She added that the best compliment of all came when the leaders of the Y.I. program told her that being assigned to the Harker group is the most coveted assignment among the naturalists.

“Harker students have a reputation

I am the tree, the tall protector of life around me, witnessing the changes.

I am the mountains, smoothed by time, a reminder of what the world has been.

I am the meadows, the haven for the deer, endlessly growing, endlessly moving.

I am a child, a mere stranger to the world, so young in the lifetime of Yosemite.

So young in the lifetime of the world.

Chaperones reported that every day Harker received compliments from the staff at Curry Village, the Yosemite Institute instructors and members of the general public on how beautifully our students behaved.

“The Yosemite

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■ Bucknall music teachers Michael Pease and Sarah Lougheed report that their 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders are happily rehearsing songs for their upcoming Dec. concerts. Gr. 2 and 3 will be performing a combined concert featuring songs from around the world and will be undertaking the challenge of performing “partner” songs, where two songs are sung simultaneously to create harmony.

The Harker Harmonics will entertain audiences in Dec. with a seasonal medley directed by performing arts teachers Susan

arts

per form for Grandparent’s Day. “This years Dance Ensemble is a very enthusiastic, talented and hard working group,” she added.

We look forward to seeing more dynamic dancing by this group at the awards assemblies, parent events and at the picnic. Congratulations to this year’s Dance Ensemble: Gr. 4 - Anisha Agarwal, Malika Mehrotra and Kenny Wong; Gr. 5 - Danielle Buis, Shanna Polzin, Colby Rapson and Adrienne Wong; Gr. 6 - Kristina Bither, Deniz Ilgen, Elena Madan, Taylor Rapson, Leslie Sherman, Andrea

Holiday Performances at a Glance Families are invited to attend any and all!

Dec. 13, TBA (check Web site)

Dec. 13, 2:30 p.m. BKN gym - Harmonics and Dance Troupe, BKN assembly Dec. 14, 4 p.m.

Dec. 17, 3:30 p.m. BKN gym - Gr. 1 Holiday Show Dec. 17, 6:30 p.m. BKN gym - Gr. 2/3 Holiday Show Dec. 19, 7 p.m.

■ The 2002-03 Dance Ensemble was selected in Sept. from the Bucknall 4th–6th grade afterschool dancers. Formed last year, the Dance Ensemble is a performance group that works together at a fast pace to learn dance routines and enhance their stage skills.

They meet every Fri., in addition to their regular after-school dance class and any other specialty dance classes they take. Gail Palmer, dance instructor for the group, explained that the 14 boys and girls in the Ensemble were chosen for their dedication, work ethic, dance technique and stage presence.

They have already performed at the Tamagawa assembly and will

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Dec. 20, 1:15 p.m. STG gym - Harmonics, MS assembly Dec. 20, 10:45 a.m. BKN gym - Bel Canto and Orchestra Dec. 20, 9 p.m.

■ Gr. 6 drama students are currently writing and performing their own monologues for class.

Teacher Michael Pease said, “I’m expecting the same kind of excellent and creative effor ts the students did in their previous major project of pantomimed scenes that they scripted and performed last quarter.”

“The ideas explored were very creative,” said O’Sullivan. “There

Fairmont Hotel, San Jose - Show Choir

were modern ‘rap’ style pieces as well as more traditional ‘classic’ approaches.” He noted that Fiona Lundie’s modern retelling of the Narcissus fable was particularly clever. In her play “Ekalinda,” Nars falls in love with a digitally altered picture of himself and discusses his love with the chorus via Internet chat rooms. “A more traditional approach gave us Rachel Newman’s “Anaxarene,” a macabre tale complete with a love triangle, suicide and murder,” he said.

Thomas and Kartik Venkatraman.

■ US teacher Brian O’Sullivan repor ted that his Study of Theatre Arts students recently presented their “Greek Style” tragedies, the third year of this project. They studied the plays “Medea” and “Antigone” and created a synopsis of their own tragedy, writing one scene between the chorus and protagonist. They had to follow the structure of Greek tragedy, but were not limited to ancient Greek settings and themes. Two scenes were selected from each class for presentation, were edited, rehearsed in class and then presented in the amphitheatre for an invited audience, and all the students experimented with writing verse and speaking in stylized, heightened language.

Fountain Court, lower level, Vallco - Bel Canto

Dec. 19, 5:30 p.m. BKN gym - MS Choir and Orchestra Show

■ On Nov. 7 the Harker family and friends witnessed the debut of Cantilena, Harker’s new a cappella women’s ensemble and Guys’ Gig, an all guys’ contemporary a cappella group which made their first appearance last spring.

At the “A Capella - Rockapella” concert, held in the faculty dining room, Guys’ Gig received an

Mark Tantrum

Mark Tantrum

Bel Canto, Show Choir, Orchestra and Dance Troupe are also working on special holiday shows that will be performed on campus and at various community outreach locations such as hospitals, retirement communities and shopping centers.

Westgate Mall - MS Harmonics

Dec. 16, 2:30 p.m. STG gym - Show Choir and Dance Troupe, US assembly

Elizabeth Case of the Gr. 6 Technical Theatre elective ran the followspot for the Tamagawa welcome performance. Students in Danny Dunn's elective are part of the technical crew for many shows and assemblies on the Bucknall campus throughout the year.

Nace and Monica MacKinnon. The program combines traditional holiday music, such as “Deck the Halls” and “Let it Snow,” with a more comical approach to wintertime in “Cold and Fugue Season” and “Boogie-Woogie Holiday.”

STG gym - MS Choir, Orchestra and Show Choir, MS assembly

enthusiastic reception singing a classic rock medley and Boyz 2 Men’s “In the Still of the Night.”

Soloists for Guys Gig were Michael Vu and Kevin Busch.

Mark Tantrum

PERFORMING

Cantilena received a well-deserved standing ovation for their in-tune harmonizations and spirited presentation. Soloists during the Cantilena portion of the informal concert included Jessica Travis, Alexander "Mickey" Selbo-Bruns, Daphne Karpel, Kathy Peng, Kimberley Wong and Lisa Schwebke.

Cantilena and Guys Gig are under the direction of Susan Nace.

PERFORMING

arts

SERVICE

update ■ The K-6 students held a Thanksgiving food drive for Community Ministry, an organization that serves the needs of thousands in the surrounding community. Students were asked to bring in one can of food between Nov. 11 and Nov. 22, and parent volunteers assisted in packing up the food for a Nov. 25 delivery.

“Dracula” Director Jeffrey Draper and the cast and crew had the audience spellbound at this year’s US fall play performance of “Dracula.” Performed for over 900 students, parents and fans during its four-show run over Nov. 20-23, this dramatic interpretation of Bram Stoker’s tale, played by female Dracula Emma Hawley, was mesmerizing. As Draper has been heard saying for the past six months in preparation for this show, “Mwahahahahahaah!”

An outstanding job was done by the 63 students and faculty involved in the creation of this macabre production—

■ Thanks to all MS and US Walk for Aids participants! Harker students and faculty raised over $7,000 for Walk for Aids this year, surpassing last year’s total by $2,000!

■ Diana Moss and a group of Spanish 3 Honors students recently spent an afternoon at Sunday Friends, a homeless shelter for Hispanic families. Students helped translate letters, designed and created languagelearning games and conversed with Spanishspeaking children and adults. Students participating in this outing were Wendy Tsai, Shilpam Singh, Shivani Bhargara, Casey Blair, Casey Near, Aditi Uttarwar and Kendra Moss (Gr. 5).

After the outing the students had dinner at El Rinconcito Colombiano, an authentic Columbian food restaurant managed by the wife of Harker chef, Marco Sandemente.

He and his wife joined the students and discussed the origin and variety of the dishes.

Chris Daren - all Dracula photos

Casey Near

congratulations to all!

■ The K-6 students are once again participating in the Toys for Tots program, and all students are encouraged to bring toys for children of a variety of ages. The new unwrapped toy donations can be placed in the decorated bins in the gym lobby Dec. 4 - 20.

■ Close to 40 US Key Club members recently helped San Jose’s Christmas in the Park by decorating and setting up for this annual holiday exhibit of lights, trees and scenery. Harker has sponsored the historic schoolhouse at this event for years, so watch for it if you visit the event.

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Lower/Middle School It’s hard to believe that the fall sports season is officially over.

Harker once again did an outstanding job!

Our A1 football team ended the season with an overall record of 131, a league record of 5-1 and a win in the St. Victor’s Tournament with an impressive 6-0 record. Congratulations to Coach Cali and Coach Walid and their kids for such a great season!

The A-1 Girls Volleyball team had a great year and finished the season with an overall record of 13 wins and 4 losses. They took 2nd place at the Valley Christian Tournament.

Overall, ever yone contributed to the success of the team led by strong serving and consistent performances by Sharon Huang, Diane Strutner and Faustine Liao.

Congratulations to Coach Vonda Reid and her team.

Heidi Qua

The B1 girl’s volleyball team also finished with an 8-1 record and finished 1st in the league championships held at Valley Christian.

They played Harker’s B2 team in the championship match. The B2 team beat Apostles (last year’s

league champs) and Hillbrook to advance to the finals and B1 beat Carden and Valley Christian in their pool to advance. It was a great day for Harker! Congratulations to B1 coach Mary Kay Olks and B2 coach Lisa Cancilla!

“The C2 Volleyball team should have the nickname, ‘Almost’ or ‘So Close’ team,” laughed coach Heidi Qua. She said the girls have come a long way since the beginning of the season, and it showed in their games. Although they never won a match, they did take several to three games, and a lot of those were very close. At the Hillbrook tournament they placed sixth but Qua noted, “if we could have gotten a trophy for effort, we would have

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briefs won first place!” Congratulations to our C-2 team and coach Heidi Qua for their hard work!

The D football team went 1 and 6 and 1. They were very happy to beat Valley Christian the second time around after their previous loss to them of 42-12.

All teams celebrated the season with individual team parties and awards.

Gr. 7 and 8 boys and girls will play basketball next, and Gr. 4-6 will play soccer.

Upper School The fall sports season is winding to a close, and what a season it has been! Ten teams in six different sports, involving over 150 student athletes, took to the fields and cour ts this fall.

Leading the way, at press time, the varsity volleyball team earned a CCS Division 4 quarterfinal berth against rival Castilleja. The Eagles, led by 1st team all-league hitter Rebecca Chang, traveled to Watsonville to meet Monte Vista Christian HS last week in the first round of the playoffs. A boisterous home crowd lifted the emotionally charged home team to a 1511 first game victory.

Showing great poise, the teams’ three year starters regrouped and took the second game 15-11. The third game ended with the identical 1511 score, and the Eagles then put away the exhausted and shell shocked home team with a decisive 15-6 victory, winning the match three games to one. The team will be looking for an upset over the number one seeded Castilleja team, but don’t count the 26-6 Eagles out. After starting on the varsity team for three years, Kari Saltzman, Jen Poon and Rebecca Chang will not want to end their sterling careers quite yet!

Coach Smitty was also quite impressed with the play of juniors Lisa Nakano and Samana Rao as well in the Monte Vista victory.

Regardless of the outcome of the playoffs, this is a team that has won over 60 matches in the last three years and has built the volleyball program into a respected and

experienced a rewarding and admired team. Kudos go to Coach memorable season this year. They Smitty and her assistants, Jo too should be thanked for putting Mueller and former player turned Harker sports on the map! coach Alexa Bush. They have represented the school so very well these last three years and should be extremely proud of their many accomplishments.

League champions two years ago, the team moved up to the much tougher WBAL and finished second, earning their third consecutive trip to the CCS playoffs!

Girls’ varsity soccer opens season against St. Lawrence.

In addition to the seniors listed above, Amy Patel and Shabnam Aggarwal will be sorely missed next year, and we want to say a hearty and sincere thank you for all the fun, excitement and success they have provided for us fans!

Congratulations also go out to our girls’ varsity tennis team! They were defeated in the first round of the CCS playoffs by a talented Leland HS squad, 5-2, yet they should be proud of their season’s accomplishments. Making the CCS tournament for the second year in a row, the team compiled a 13-5 record, with every loss to CCS contenders still alive. The team has also earned respect and admiration in the tennis community for building such a competitive program in such a short time. Great job by Coach Kim Bush and the team! Did you know that Coach Kim and her daughter Alexa have become the first mother/daughter coaching tandem to lead teams to the playoffs, another Harker sports first!

In fact, three players still have the individual CCS tournament ahead.

Qualifying by winning the WBAL league individual singles and doubles championships, Ranju Kumar (singles) Sonia Rastogi and Whitney Graves will compete with the area’s finest individual players.

These players, along with Jessica Travis, Emily Hsi, Charitha Reddy, Jackie Laine, Maya Ragavan, Anita Mazloom and Joyceyn Tsai,

Both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams will compete for the CCS Division 5 Championships in Monterey. Depending on their success, they may well qualify for the state championships later this month. Led by Deepa Mathew and Sean Dyal with 9th and 11th place league finishes overall, the teams look to put together their best race of the season. If they qualify for the state championships, it would be the third consecutive year that Harker has done so. Led by Coach Josh Small, an elite distance runner in his own right, the team has improved times to personal best levels throughout the season.

Maggie Chen, Nicole Hendricks and Christine Hsueh have run well throughout the season.

Football ended their season with an incredible storybook come from behind victory over Sacred Heart Prep last Saturday. Following the JV’s dismantling of rival Prep, 26-0, the varsity roared back from an early 14-0 deficit to defeat Prep for the first time ever, 28-20. Led by Matt Vucurevich, A.J. Reid, Kevin Hartsoch, Ben Shapiro and Adhir Ravipati, the Eagles sealed the emotional victory when Peter Noonan intercepted a Prep pass with only one minute to play. Senior quarterback Kevin Hartsoch not only threw a touchdown pass, but nearly caught one as well, tackled at the three yard line after a 45 yard scamper. Coach Dave’s squad

Chris Daren

SPORTS

SPORTS finished the season on an exhilarating four game winning streak, ending the year at 5-5. Next year the team will be looking to win the official PSAL league championship but will take the unofficial championship this year, having defeated Sacred Heart Prep, St. Lawrence Academy and new league member Kings Academy during the course of the year. And you haven’t seen anything until you watch the team perform their postgame crowd serenade led by senior lineman Brendan Boland with “Harker will roll tonight! “ The JV football team finished their season with a 7-1 record, recording six shutouts, (no points allowed in a game), easily a Harker first!

briefs Coach Karriem’s team allowed only 42 points all season, an average of less than six points a game. Brian Thurgate, Kevin Park, Brian Lin and Amit Mukerjee promise a bright future for Eagle football. The seven victories mark the highest win total for any Harker football team since our inception five years ago.

On the soccer front, at the recent league meetings several Eagle players were rewarded with 2nd team All League or Honorable Mention selections. Following the team’s dramatic improvement this season, Rishi Mandal, Alex Dodd, Sahil Mehra and Kevin Bush all garnered awards. All but Rishi will return for the Eagles next year, as will freshman sensation goalie

Naushad Godrej. Coach Carter and his assistants Coach Gill and Coach Gaono have done a masterful job of teaching technical soccer, often overcoming larger and more physical teams, with great ball movement and finding teammates moving into open space on the field. It is a pleasure to watch, and the team holds high hopes for next season. After having defeated Fremont Christian 3-0, the Eagles know they are right in the thick of things as Fremont was defeated in double overtime in the CCS championship game, so they are eagerly anticipating next season.

Rounding out the sports scene this fall was girls’ golf. Jennifer Jenq was recognized as 1st Team All

League at the WBAL coaches’ meeting. She looks to qualify for the individual tournament for the third straight year next season. The team hopes to add two or three talented golfers, as that would allow them to easily compete for the league championship. All of the team’s members this year showed great improvement throughout the season, according to Coach Dowling, and he is very excited about the prospect of next year’s squad.

For schedules of winter sports, check out the Harker Web site, as teams will be competing in wrestling, girls’ soccer, and girls’ and boys’ basketball! See you at the games!

—Jack Bither, US Athletic Director

Harker Song/Dance Team to Perform at Hawaii Super Bowl show of the NFL Pro Bowl game in Hawaii, and all senior cheerleaders were invited to the French Riviera to participate in the New Years’ Day parade.

Mark Tantrum

Vivian Nguyen made the USA All Star Elite cheerleading team, and Mariama Eghan made the USA All Star Elite dance team, and both were invited to Paris to per form. Due to other commitments these talented young women will not be able to attend; however, this recognition is highly noteworthy.

Squad program. Both teams attended the USA Summer Camp and received invitations to per form at national and international events.

Both our Cheer Squad and dancers obtained a “superior” rating on learned material at the competition, the highest rating possible. The Song/ Dance Team was invited to perform during the halftime

Cheer Squad and Harker Song/Dance Team coach Brandy Griffin created the elite new group of dancers through auditions held last May, where students had a week to learn a routine and then perform it in front of a judging panel of professional dancers.

“Most of these girls have dance backgrounds, each with her own style,” said Griffin. “It’s my goal to bring all their different talents together to form one excellent competition team.”

The main focus of this team is to compete at USA Dance regional competitions. “In their first competition they placed three

points away from Nationals. This was a huge step in the right direction for the girls,” Griffin said.

“Having never performed together, they made their presence known, ranking alongside teams that have been around for years,” she added.

Commenting on the already wellestablished Cheer Squad, Griffin said, “These athletes practice hard, three days a week and weekends and sometimes more!” They’ve also been working closely with the Harker band and incorporating drums, trumpets and some guitar into the cheers, and Vanessa English, assistant coach, has been using her extensive background in stunts to help the girls feel more comfortable with this demanding sport. “At this year’s Homecoming rally we featured football players Chris Davis and Peter Noonan, who provided a little more muscle for the stunts and were a welcome change from the usual all-girl team,” said Griffin. The Cheer Squad hopes they have sparked new interest in what has traditionally been considered a female sport. They would like to incorpo-

rate more guys into the squad for the basketball season.

We congratulate our Cheer Squad and our new Song/ Dance Team on their achievements and thank them all for

Chris Daren

Harker has added a new Song/ Dance Team this year to the already outstanding Cheer

the dynamic school spirit they have brought to our athletic program! Harker Song/Dance Team: Katie Ball, Mariama Eghan, Erika Gudmundson, Estelle Charlu, Maheen Kaleem; Captain, Claudia Ruegg, and Co-captains, Diana Shtil and Heather Baratz.

Harker Cheer Squad: Vivian Nguyen, Sable Yeh, Andrea Brisker, Mina Lee, Diana Shtil, Claudia Ruegg; Captain, Kakshi Singh, and Co-captain, Jacinda Mein.

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saratoga

Gr. 8 Students Enjoy Inaugural Hawaii Trip

every day and back to the hotel just in time for bed, the group managed to see over 20 different attractions during their trip, ranging from historic Pearl Harbor to the incredible Diamond Head Crater, where “they felt they were on top of the world,” said Joe Gill, nonacademic asst. head. “The Polynesian Cultural Center was a blast!” added Simon Keilty, science teacher, where students experienced Hawaiian cultures by singing, dancing, drumming, strumming, eating and hulaing their way through each of the villages. Keilty added that the evening concluded with a big show that included some incredible fire acts.

On the Big Island of Hawaii the group visited Volcano National Park and hiked along the rim of the

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crater, down into the Kilauea Crater and through lava tubes. At Kualoa Ranch students were able to experience casting, throwing nets and actually catching some shrimp.

The group had many modes of transportation during the trip, including planes, buses, horses, the Pineapple Express railroad, boats and lots of walking and hiking. Activities included horseback riding, snorkeling, fishing with nets, swimming and, of course, a little shopping…!

“There was an amazing amount of learning going on with our students keeping the tour guides on task by asking so many questions,” said Jennifer Gargano, MS division head. All in all, this was a very successful trip, and we welcome our happy and tanned 8th graders back to the Mainland!

Photos by Simon Keilty, Jacob Hazard and Julie Pinzas

Gr. 8 students enjoyed an incredible week in Nov. during their first-ever academic trip to Hawaii, where they visited the islands of Oahu and Hawaii. On the go early

Middle School

questions afterward. After each presentation Kadam reviewed the material with the class to ensure students had a clear understanding of the topic. Kadam added that the students not only improved their presentation skills, but also learned to better appreciate their teachers.

“One common comment by the students was, ‘Oh!! Teaching is much harder than I thought,’” she laughed. Some of the presentations are now posted on the math depar tment Web site.

Randy Chang, David Kuo, Eugenia Sorotokin, Daphne Gorman, Audrey Kwong, Matt Wong, Adam Creasman, Victor Chen, Kevin Chen, Tonia Sun and Melissa Chen.

■ MS spirit advisors Mark Gelineau and Margaret McGovern reported that some of the members of the MS spirit group organized and ran after-school Halloween activities on the Bucknall campus for students in Gr. K-3 on Oct. 30.

MS students Scott Strutner, Jason Lee, Cassie Kerkhoff, Tiffany Lin, Matt Wong, Alex Nazari, Shilpa Rajgopal, Rachel Lo, Brian Ginn and Tiffany Lai led mini-pumpkin decorating, Halloween art, face painting, “fishing” for prizes and ball tossing activities. McGovern said, “It was a lot of fun, and the MS students really enjoyed being with the younger kids.” Bucknall rec staff members Diana AguilarSands, Heidi Rosa, Mariana Olson and Tracy O’Haley assisted the group.

■ Harker proudly hangs the United States and California flags in the inner quad area of the school.

Some MS students have chosen Flag Guard as their leadership project for student council, and some have simply volunteered for this duty. The flag guards attend two short training sessions to learn the proper way of holding, folding, raising and lowering the flag. This year the students are Mark Tantrum

Vandana Kadam

■ MS students recently created PowerPoint presentations for extra credit in Vandana Kadam’s Algebra 2/Trig Honors class. “The idea was to promote teamwork, encourage speaking in front of the

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class and help them learn to answer questions asked by their peers,” said Kadam.

Teams of two to three students presented to the class while the rest of the students took notes on the presentation and then asked

New Harker School of Visual Arts

■ Some MS students with green thumbs have been busy this quarter in the garden located by Shah Hall. Led by Kerry Enzensperger, this after-school group of gardeners has planted

In the fall of 2003 Harker will begin offering a special art track to a small group of academically qualified freshmen who demonstrate advanced ability and interest in the visual arts.

“We’re thrilled to be offering this unique new college-prep visual ar t track at Harker,” said Diana Nichols, head of school. “While we are known for our math and science programs, we have always had a strong art department and are delighted to be expanding it even further for the community and our students.”

For more information about this new program, contact Nan Nielsen, admissions director, at nann@harker.org.

Kerry Enzensperger

These students will follow a slightly different set of graduation requirements to prepare them for admission into university art programs. Though they will take many of their classes with the regular US students, they will have a more comprehensive schedule of AP art courses, studio work and portfolio time and will receive a different diploma. This new program further augments Harker’s extensive offerings in the arts, which include the highly successful Conservatory Certificate Program.

vegetables, herbs and flowers, and their crop includes bok choy, pumpkins, cilantro, basil, nasturtiums, sunflowers, sweet peas and wildflowers. The students wash and eat the veggies and also give vegetables and herbs to Matt Dutrumble, assistant chef, to use for school lunch or in his cooking class. The flowers are picked and brought home, or they are dried to harvest the seeds for later planting.

The students made a scarecrow for their garden and are now busy constructing a Middle School Garden sign. Congratulations to our budding horticulturists: Alex Hansen, Ashley Morishige, Tiffany Dai, Nina Vyedina, Jessie Li and Jonathan Chu.

Middle/Upper School ■ MS and US chess clubs sponsored a joint intramural chess tournament on Wed., Oct. 30. Nine students joined in the blitz style tournament, with each student playing five 15-minute games. MS

Raji Swaminathan

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chess club advisor Raji Swaminathan commented, “The kids had a great time! There was so much excitement in the room with players under the time pressure of their clocks.” US winners were Lev Pisarsky, 1st, and Jeff Shih, 2nd.

MS winners were Joseph Pei, 1st, and Lucas Motro, 2nd. The winners received cash prizes.“They are already asking when the next tournament will be,” laughed Mark Micek, US chess club advisor.

Micek also noted that Pisarsky placed 2nd in the “A” section at the Western State Open Chess Tournament held recently in Reno.

The competition was very tough.

Ten grandmasters played in the top section, and Lev played all 6 games with experienced adult players.

Quite an achievement!

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AROUND Upper School ■ The Spanish 3 Honors students of Abel Olivas and Diana Moss recently created digital movie projects based on the theme of Hispanic immigration. Students conducted interviews entirely in Spanish with Hispanics, both within and outside the Harker community, about their experiences coming to the U.S. and their observations about cultural differences.

Many thanks to the parents and staff who agreed to be interviewed: Dacio Pinzás (Perú), Nilda Vergara (Perú), María Martinez (Cuba), Alberto Gavarre (Mexico), Dania Fagundo (Cuba), Susana Hartzell (Colombia), Sandra Murillo (Colombia), Blanca Rosenthal (El Salvador), Juan Jimenez (Mexico) and Marco Sandemente (Colombia). Also, many thanks to Dr. Madhur Bhatnagar who arranged interviews with Hispanic health providers at her clinic.

■ The US Game Club is a popular after-school activity with 30 members. The club was started last year, and students meet to take part in board, card, Nintendo and strategy games. A large table is set up at the back of US math teacher Steven Earth’s classroom so that games can be set aside and continued the next day if not finished in one session. Some Game Club members, such as the Dungeons and Dragons group (a role playing game) and Chess Club members, also play in other locations on campus. “We focus on games that encourage creativity and analytical thought, as well as

saratoga socializing and teamwork, so there is a heavy emphasis on multiplayer games that encourage cooperation,” said Earth. Earth has been an active “gamer” all his life and took a brief break in teaching to work for the game company that makes one of his favorite games, “Magic The Gathering.”

■ US students welcomed Alexandra Joshi, a Gr. 12 student from Hamburg, Germany. Alexandra was part of a group doing a project that involves going to various schools in different countries. They students were looking at the differences in teaching methods, differences in the course work and subjects, and differences in other aspects of schooling such as sports, extracurricular activities, etc. Claudia Ruegg and Sheena Reddy were the ambassadors during her visit.

■ Robotics Club Receives $6000 grant! US teacher and club advisor Rand Harrington reported that the Harker Robotics Team continues to prepare for the Jan. kickoff of the FIRST competition and recently received a $6,000 grant from the venture firm Kleiner-Perkins, Caufield and Byers. These funds will be used for the $5,000 registration fee to enter the Silicon Valley Regional FIRST competition.

The club continues to look for corporate sponsors and hopes to raise additional funds to support the Sacramento Regional FIRST Competition, Regional BOTBALL competitions and the National FIRST Competition to be held in Orlando, Florida. Many thanks to the Kleiner-Perkins, Caufield and Byers firm for their support of our program!

The HELM Harker’s Eclectic Literary Magazine Harker’s student-run literary club is currently accepting submissions from US students for its fourth volume.

This annual magazine of US artwork, poetry and prose is published at the end of the school year and is a great experience for young writers and artists.

Encourage your US students to submit creative works by the deadline of Dec. 13, and make sure your student orders a copy for your family.

Quantities are limited. For more information, contact US student Julia Gitis at crazyjulia11@hotmail.com.

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New US Ski Trip Dates Sat., Jan. 18 - Mon., Jan. 20

Reservation Deadline—Dec. 2

The annual US Ski Trip originally scheduled in Feb. has been changed to the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in Jan. Cost is $275 per student and includes transportation, supervision, hotel rooms and lift tickets. Students are responsible for their own meals and ski/ snowboard gear. They will ski at both Squaw and Heavenly and stay in lodgings nearby.

For more information contact Chris Daren, activities coordinator, at chrisda@harker.org or 408.345.9236.

In Oct., Harker students Alan Malek, Albert Wu, Greg Perkins, Alex Segal and Matt Jones attended the Western Region Robotics Forum Workshops at San Jose State University. Topics included Project Management, Motors, Structure and Materials, and Fundraising. Several Harker students also attended workshops on using Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software sponsored by the Monte Vista Robotics Team. During the weekly Thurs. club meetings, lead mentor Vaidhi Nathan (CEO of Intellivision) has organized an impressive group of guest speakers, including CTO and founder of Advanced Cybernetics, Francis daCosta, who recently gave an inspiring and informative talk on designing software for robotic control systems.

■ Bowen “Buzz” McCoy, member of the Stanford Business School Advisory Board, was a recent guest lecturer in Harker’s AP US Government class, as well as at an US assembly.

McCoy became famous when one of his articles, “The Parable of the Sadhu,” became the initial required reading for all MBA candidates at Har vard for the discussion of corporate ethics.

While here, McCoy employed the Socratic method that he uses when teaching graduate students at Har vard, Stanford or UCLA’s business schools and led the students from the “Parable of the Sadhu” to explorations of multifaceted ethical questions. In addition he met with various student leaders, including the officers of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). He finished the day with an assembly lecture, prefaced by Professor Arthur

Miller’s video introduction. Many thanks to McCoy for sharing his time and insights with our community.

■ DEBATE UPDATE: Trojan Championships: Harker debaters earned the First-Place Grand Sweepstakes Award for the second year in a row recently at the 42nd annual Trojan Championships at USC. This year 64 schools from 8 states, over 225 policy teams, and 155 Lincoln-Douglas debaters gathered to compete. “Harker’s win beat out heavyweight contenders such as Glenbrook North, St. Mark’s School of Texas, New Trier and College Prep School of Oakland,” said Matt Brandstetter, debate coach. Individual awards were also impressive for Harker as the team of Catherine Kim/Alex Iftimie earned another leg to theTournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky in May. They have now earned three legs, one more than is necessary for qualification.

Sophomore Hoedown Tourney: Each year 16 sophomore teams from around the country receive a personal invitation to attend the St. Mark’s School of Texas Annual Sophomore Hoedown Tournament based on the team’s previous winloss record and record of achievement. Harker’s sophomore team of Varoon Bhagat and Jerry Hong received the honor of an invitation and reached the final round this past month against Chatahoochee High School from Georgia. “This feat allows us to boast of having one of the best sophomore debate teams in the country here at Harker,” said Brandstetter.

For further news on these and other debate activities, go to the Harker Web site, and congratulations to all our fine debaters!

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SPECIAL

event

JCL Hosts Annual Ludi at Harker On Sat., Nov. 9 the Harker chapter of the Junior Classical League (JCL) hosted the annual fall Ludi Novembres (November Games) under the able direction of CJCL Northern Representative Catherine Kim.

Mark Tantrum-all JCL photos

HS3: Sarada Pyda, 3rd Place, Latin Derivative.

Over 300 students from 16 schools participated, and John Hawley, US Latin teacher, noted that our brand new MS students and Latin 1 and 2 students did very well. This competition was not for Upper Division Latin. However, all but one of our Upper Division students assisted in the planning of this event. Here are the results for Harker: UPPER SCHOOL HS1: Jonathan Jenq, 1st Place, Mythology; 3rd Place, Reading Comprehension, level 1.

HS2: Shaun Mohan, 1st Place, Roman Daily Life, 1st Place,

Day of the Dead

Open Certamen; 5th Place, Reading Comprehension level 2. Roberta Wolfson, 2nd Place, Open Certamen; 4th Place, Latin Vocabular y. Shivani Tomar, 5th Place, Reading Comprehension, level 2.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MS1: Diane Strutner, 1st Place, Latin Derivatives; 1st Place, Open Certamen; 2nd Place, Open Basketball; 5th Place, Reading Comprehension, level MS1. Kritika Kailash, 2nd Place, Mythology. Ranjita Raghavan, 4th Place, Mythology.

Eugenia Sorotokin, 2nd Place, Open Certamen; 2nd Place, Reading Comprehension, level MS1. Aarathi Minisandram, 3rd Place, Open Certamen; 3rd Place, Latin Vocabulary.

Shibani Mehta, 1st Place, Reading Comprehension, level MS1; 1st Place, Latin Vocabulary; 2nd Place MS Tennis.

Kevin Dawkins, 1st

Place, Roman History; 2nd Place, MS Tennis. Daphne Gorman, 4th Place, Latin Vocabulary.

Hawley said a big “thank you” goes to all the Key Club and parent volunteers who helped that day, and to the Harker faculty and staff who were also instrumental in making the event a big success. The next big JCL events are the Harker Certamen on Feb 2nd and the state convention (CJCL) March 14-15.

Harker’s Spanish classes continued their annual tradition of recognizing the Mexican/Central American holiday of El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, on Nov. 2 with a two-week display of alters at each campus.

“This is not a sad or solemn day, but instead celebrates the memory of deceased loved ones whose spirits are believed to return to visit and enjoy the objects placed on the altars in their memory,” said Diana Moss, US Spanish teacher.

The altar at Saratoga, located in the librar y hallway, included written commemorations, food, candles, incense, flowers and photos placed there by students to honor loved ones. Spanish teachers Diana Moss, Julie Pinzás, Isabel Garcia, Deborah Martinez, Abel Olivas and Moss’s Spanish honors classes set up the altars.

At Bucknall, Eric Hoffman’s art classes focused on the Day of The Dead prior to the event, so the Bucknall altar, located in the gym lobby, featured decorated sugar

Since the beginning of the school year Harker has conducted mathematics competitions for interested US and MS students, and to date they have taken the first round of the California Mathematics League (CML), the Mandelbrot Math Contest and the Mathematics Qualifying Exam of the College of Creative Studies of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).

These 13 students qualified to the advanced level of the UCSB Math Contest held on Nov. 12th.

GR. 9: Daniel Hung, Hailey Lam and Yi Sun; GR. 10: Gregory Finkelstein, Mason Liang, Kevin Park, Jeffrey Shih, Albert Wang and Justin Wu; GR. 11: Ozan

Demirlioglu; GR. 12: Jessica Cu, Charles Hung and Felix Lee. The Harker School team received a per fect score of 30 points from the Round 1 of the CML, and the per fect scores of these students contributed to Harker’s per formance: GR. 10: Gregory Perkins; GR. 11: Karthik Kailash and Sarada Pyda; GR. 12: Charles Hung and Felix Lee. The following students received a score of five: GR. 10: Jerry Hong, Mason Liang, Lev Pisarsky, Alex Tearse-Doyle and Justin Wu; GR. 11: Sridhar Chadalavada and Vivek Bansal; GR. 12: Ozan Demirlioglu.

In the Mandelbrot Tests Harker students participated in Division A or in Division B. In Division A the

following students topped the exam so the sum of their scores represented Harker School’s score for round 1: Felix Lee, Yi Sun, Ozan Demirlioglu and Justin Wu. In Division B, the scores of Vivian Leung (Gr. 12), Daniel Hung, Matthew Jones (Gr. 11) and Jasper Shau (Gr. 9) were used for Harker’s score.

At press time a number of Harker students participated in the University High School Math Competition held at Santa Clara University Campus, and results of this competition will be posted when they are available. For more information about mathematics competitions, visit the Web page of US math teacher Misael Fisico.

Mark Tantrum-both photos

Math Competition Update

skulls, tin ar t, retablo paintings, shrines, flowers, food and personal mementos created by the students.

Teachers Concepcion Grande, Marcie Gilbert, Sylvia Beals and Pilar Aguero- Esparza, along with rec staffer Zac Schaffer, assisted Hoffman in the setup of the altar.

Students and staff on both campuses were encouraged to place objects on the altar in memory of a deceased friend or relative.

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volunteers

parent

Nancy Reiley

Thanks to the many room parents who worked hard last month to make Halloween festivities fun for both students and staff, and special thanks to grade level coordinators Marcia Hirtenstein - K, Shankari Sundar and Lavanya Kling - G1, Tyra LaMar - G2, Debbie Gray and Roopal Mayor - G3, Kelly Delepine - G4, Pam Araki and Sarah Pennell - G5, Harleen Singh - G6, Brenda Davis and Lynn Roberts - G7, and Alexandra Swafford and Molly Grunbaum - G8 for coordinating the planning and implementation of our Halloween parties.

Volunteers Geetha Krishnamurthy (Saratoga) and Sue Prutton (Bucknall) helped keep an orderly and steady flow in both nurse’s offices as almost 100 Harker staff members received their flu shots in Nov. Nurses Debra Nott and Clare Elchert extend warm thanks to Geetha and Sue!

New Harker Bookstore Opens Harker now has a bright new bookstore to serve MS and US students! Located on the Saratoga campus in the eastern corner of Manzanita Hall (formerly the dormitory), the Harker Bookstore maintains an inventory of the MS and US current textbooks, as well as staple items such as notepads, pens, pencils and various other items. The new bookstore also carries our full line of Harker logo wear and offers the convenience of purchasing tickets for upcoming Harker events. “The Spirit Club sweatshirts are the most popular item right now, along with the selling of ‘Dracula’ tickets,” said Bob Benge, bookstore manager. Benge has a great selection of items that would make nice holiday gifts—stop by and check out the picture frames, flashlights, card/key holders, travel clocks, stuffed eagles and more.

Invitations will be going out soon to a Volunteer Recognition Luncheon on Fri., Dec. 13 in the Faculty Volunteers paint Dracula Dinner Theatre set.

Dining Room on the Saratoga campus. Our guests will enjoy a luncheon hosted by Howard & Diana Nichols and then be invited to enjoy the MS holiday concert in the gym following the meal.

Next issue: Update on Grandparent’s Day, Book Fair and Dracula Dinner Theatre!

Upcoming Volunteer Needs Tues., Feb. 11 - John Heyes, US English teacher, will be taking his freshmen students to the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, and three US parent chaperones are needed to accompany the group – and all the better if chaperones happen to be parents of Mr. Heyes’ English students!

A Harker school bus will be the mode of transportation that day and will depart the Saratoga campus at about 7:45 a.m. and return around 1:30 p.m. Interested volunteers should contact Heyes directly at johnh@harker.org.

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Mark Tantrum-bookstore photos

Nancy Reiley

Mark Tantrum

Bringing students and their families together for some enjoyable social gatherings has been the mission of parent volunteers at different grade levels. Tyra LaMar organized a Fri. night miniature golf social for Gr. 2 families at the Blossom Hill Golfland. Thanks to Pam Araki and Sarah Pennell, the Gr. 5 students and parents spent time together on a recent Sat. at City Beach Santa Clara rock climbing, playing volleyball and basketball, and enjoying an early buffet Volunteers get ready for Grandparent’s Day. supper. About 130 Gr. 7 families had a potluck and a movie in The Edge in Nov., thanks to Brenda Davis’ and Lynn Roberts’ spearheading efforts. Gr. 6 families postponed a Sat. picnic at Shoreline Park due to the recent “monsoons,” so coordinator Harleen Singh will be aler ting parents of an alternative date. Kelly Delepine and her Gr. 4 volunteers are planning a January family night which will include a pre-Picnic screening of “The Wizard of Oz.”

feature bookstore

Bookstore hours are Mon. through Fri., 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Cash, check, Visa and MasterCard are accepted.

Special note: We will allow the use of the student account as a form of payment (the same account that tuition and activity fees are currently charged to). If you do not want your student to be able to use the student account, please contact Benge at bobb@harker.org and let him know so that he can “flag” your account and require your student to provide another form of payment for bookstore purchases.

We’re very excited to bring this convenient new service to the students— come by and take a look!

LIBRARY 100%

Parents, grandparents, alumni and parents of alumni are invited to honor their student this holiday season by purchasing a book for the school libraries.

Books can be purchased with a $25 tax-deductible donation and will include a bookplate honoring your child on the inside cover. Each book will be selected by a staff librarian and housed in your child’s campus library. For more information contact Enid Davis, library director, or go to the Parent Home Page for the donation link and information.

Annual Book Fair

—Enid Davis, Librar y Director

event

update

So the race is on! Help get your grade level to 100%

As you know, our focus for this year’s campaign is 100% parent participation, and to help us achieve this goal two very supportive families are offering additional rewards.

First, a Harker family has generously offered to match dollarfor-dollar each contribution made from families who did not participate in the previous year’s Annual Giving Campaign, up to a total of $30,000!

This also includes new families who have joined the Harker community this year!

Remember to support Harker this holiday season by shopping at participating eScrip and Schoolpop program merchants! Both programs donate a percentage of each purchase made to Harker, so sign up and get shopping! Enrollment is simple and absolutely free. For more information on programs or the campaign itself, please contact Amalia Keyashian, director of annual giving, at amaliak@harker.org or logon to www.harker.org and click on ADVANCEMENT & ALUMNI.

While keeping in mind that the best reward is our children’s education, we are truly grateful to these

— Bran-Dee Torres Donor Relations Manager

L GIVING G UA

$1

. 2 5 M illi o

Also, in true Harker spirit, John and Christine Davis are offering to host a fun-filled “Reward Party” for parents of the first class to reach the 100% participation of pledges/gifts goal in the Annual Giving Campaign.

families for their enthusiasm and kindness.

The evening will consist of a memorable social time with fine wine and gourmet wood-fired pizza to be held in their charming old historical home in downtown San Jose. Yes, you can have it your way!

And, of course, there’s something sweet to top off the evening with the finest company in town…Harker parents!

The date will be determined as we get closer to the magic number 100%.

L OA

The annual Scholastic, Inc. Book Fair extravaganza took place in the library on the Bucknall campus on Nov. 20, 21, and 22. This literary fair features lots of award-winning titles for children aged 3-12, books for teens and adults and bookrelated novelties with all profits going to The Harker School library.

Watch for a recap of the event in the next newsletter!

Thanks to the time and efforts of the Development Council, as well as the support of Harker’s parent body, the annual giving campaign’s second set of phonathons continued to increase each grade level’s participation percentages.

We are truly thankful to the Harker families, faculty and staff, alumni, grandparents and friends who have participated.

n

New Book Drive

The Race to Increase Grade Level Participation Continues!

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notes

participation

Tornado Warning

Mark your calendar for April 27, click your heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like Harker!”

—2003 Harker Family & Alumni Picnic Committee

As a Result of Your Generosity…

Harker archives

On Sun., April 27, a magnificent “twister” is predicted to sweep through the Saratoga campus, leaving in its wake “The Wonderful Picnic of Oz!” Get ready to follow the yellow brick road through a magical land of fun and games for munchkins of all ages. Delicious food booths, fabulous student entertainment and prizes galore promise to make this year’s Family and Alumni Picnic the best ever.

And Dorothy, Toto and company will know they’re not in Kansas anymore when they visit the Edge, transformed into “The Emerald City” Silent Auction.

“When we first started the electronics club three years ago, all we had were a few multimeters, assorted wires, light bulbs and a pile of resistors. We then obtained a few mini-boards that were donated to the club, and several students started to wire these boards onto some lego blocks. The following year, due to the generous donation of parents, we were able to offer a UC-approved electronics course and create a competitive robotics team. Students in the electronics course now have access to full, professional level circuit simulation software, as well as individual electronics lab kits that include solderless bread boards, power supplies, function Harker's 2002 Robotic's BotBall Team poses at last generators and top of the line oscilloscopes. The year's competition.

Robotics Club also continues to flourish with donations that have allowed us to purchase the MIT designed handy-boards for our robotic controllers as well as enter (and win!) numerous robotics competitions. This year, due to continued donations, the robotics team continues to grow and is currently preparing to compete in the prestigious and difficult FIRST robotics competition. Thanks to all the parents and individuals who have made this possible!”

—Rand Harrington, US Physics

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STAFF

update

Sara D. Harker

Joe Rosenthal Receives Lifetime Recognition

Sara D. Harker will forever be known as the younger sister of Catherine, who founded a private girls’ school in Palo Alto, California, in 1902. Catherine was, no doubt, the intellectual of the three sisters born to Sarah E. and James Harker of Portland, Oregon. She graduated from Vassar College in 1889 and taught Latin at Mills College before opening her school.

Harker was recently informed that Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement and Harker employee since 1982, was awarded a lifetime membership in the Western Boarding Schools Association for his years of service and leadership in this organization.

Sara’s other main interests were business, humanitarian works and traveling. During World War I, she was in charge of the California state office for the Commission of Relief of Belgium. Later, she traveled in Australia and studied in Boston at the Prince School, affiliated with the graduate school of education at Harvard. After further studying business, she traveled to Europe in 1931 and upon her return became principal of the lower school at Miss Harker’s.

In one newspaper account, Sara is about to embark for a European tour with four girls from the school. The item includes a charming detail of the trip: “There will be motor trips out from Nice and Rome, an excursion to Capri and Pompeii, swimming and tea at the Lido, a lake trip to the castle of Chillon, attendance at plays in Interlake, and Munich trips to the Isle of Marken and its famous cheese market, a day on the Rhine and an airplane journey from Heidelberg to Paris.” (The article is undated, but this trip took place when a “5 room modern bungalow” rented in Palo Alto for $60 a month.)

Harker archives

Sara arrived in Palo Alto in 1907, along with her mother and aunt, to help Catherine. Since she was a trained musician (she played the violin and piano), her first job was director of the music program. Sara expanded this music program and her own interests to the Palo Alto community, becoming a champion of the Fortnightly Music Club, which brought great artists to the community.

“In order to honor Joe for all he accomplished during his tenure, the member schools of WBSA unanimously voted to award him the first-ever lifetime membership to our association,” said Killian Forgus, current WBSA chair and director of admissions for the Fountain Valley School of Colorado. “I can personally attest to the progress and development that the WBSA has enjoyed under Joe’s supervision. Our organization today is strong, and Joe Rosenthal certainly deserves ample recognition for his contributions toward this effort.”

Prior to Rosenthal’s current position as Harker’s executive director of advancement, he spent his years in the boarding program, which officially closed at the end of the 2001-02 school year to accommodate the expansion of the US program.

“Joe was the heart and soul of the boarding program as it became internationally recognized and respected in the 80s and 90s,” said Howard Nichols, Harker president. “He was central in the development of one of the most highly respected junior boarding schools for international students in the world.

Joe’s dedication to the students and parents in the boarding program was unbelievable and unsurpassed.”

According to her pupils and colleagues, she succeeded in this endeavor.

During the 50th celebration of the opening of the Harker School for Girls, an associate wrote of Sara: “Her leadership is one of enthusiasm, sincerity, and high ideals. Always she is interested in the individual, with her talents and potentials … She places strong emphasis upon high academic standards, but above all, she values the building of character.”

Sara Harker might always be known as Catherine’s younger sister, but she stands just as tall in the history of our school. Upon Catherine’s death in 1938, Sara took on the responsibility of running the school until her retirement at the age of 84 in 1951.

Miss Harker died in a Mountain View rest home. Hospitalized after a series of strokes for nearly three years, she was 89 years old when she died.

Gloria Brown, a 1945 Harker high school graduate, has called Sara Harker “the most influential person in my life.” She was a dedicated educator who filled her students’ heads with the love of music, learning, and good works.

Not bad for a little sister!

Sources: “Miss Harker’s School.” Brochure. No date, but after 1938; Newspaper item, n.d.; “Palo Alto Times,” 4/24/56; “Palo Alto Times,” 1951; “San Jose Mercury News,” 12/31/76.

—Enid Davis, Library Director and Chair of the History Committee

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Harker archives

In an undated brochure published after Catherine Harker’s death in 1938 showing Sara as headmistress, the first aim of the school is thus stated: “The first objective is to inspire every pupil with high ideals, not only of scholarship, but of character, and to awaken the desire to make the greatest possible use of life and talents.”

Congratulations to Joe for this wellearned distinction, and many thanks to him for not only his years of service in the boarding program, but for his continued commitment to the Harker school, its programs and its students.

Corrections: Our list of NHS inductees in the Oct. edition contained an error and an omission. Akash Shah was also inducted, and Ana Maheshwari’s name was misspelled. Our apologies, and congratulations to these fine students.

The Harker News is published monthly by the Harker Office of Communications. Current and archived issues are also available on the Parent Home Page on the Web site at www.harker.org.

Editor: Pam Dickinson Asst. Editor: Terry Walsh Photo Editor: Chris Daren

Design: Blue Heron Design Printing & Mailing: Communicart Mailing Coordinator: Bran-Dee Torres

The Harker School does not discriminate in the administration of its educational policies, athletics or other school-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices on the basis of age, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or non-job-related handicap.

Harker archives circa 1980

the archives FROM

highest caliber faculty possible, while also placing a priority on paying them salaries that will allow them to live with dignity in a region that has one of the highest costs of living in the country.

Academic Expenses

Student Activities • Clubs Ambassadors Amnesty International Animation Art Biology Book Chess Science Dance Speech & Debate Drama Future Business Leaders Game GSA H.E.A.R.T. (environment) International JCL JETS Key Club Literary Magazine Newspaper National Honor Society Robotics Spirit Web Yearbook • Community Service • Field Trips • Assemblies • Student Council • Mentoring Program • School Dances • Aquatics • After-School Recreation • Recreation Equipment • Recreation Supplies • Awards • Multicultural Week • Athletics Tournaments Referees Facility Rental Transportation Supplies Equipment

To help you understand the budget challenges we face together as we continue to provide a quality education to our children, we’d like to share our tuition setting and budget process with you.

▼

• Classroom Supplies • Classroom Equipment • Departments English Math Science History Foreign Language Computer Science Fine Arts PE & Family Life Ed. Communications Performing Arts Music Orchestra Band Show Choir Bel Canto Harmonics • Performances Grade 1 Show Grade2/3 Show Grade 6 Show Library Show Picnic Show Grandparents’ Day Show Dance Productions Fall Drama Production Spring Musical Conservatory Show • Educational Contests • Character Counts • Gender Equity • Community Service • Teacher Resources • Audiovisual Equipment • Summer School Supplies

Harker’s fiscal year is from June 1 to May 31, and each fall faculty and staff members make their requests for funding by submitting a department budget and proposal outline to the administration.

Examples of the type of items and activities that are included in these funding requests from the teachers are in the column to the left.

The requests are reviewed and the administration determines what will be included in the general operating budget, which is based upon enrollment, tuition and charitable giving projections. The general operating budget is then presented to the trustees for approval.

What do I do if my e-mail goes down and I think I've missed some e-mails from Harker?

What’s the best way for me to communicate with the school?

Q

If you have a question or concern, e-mails are the best mode of communication with teachers so class time isn't interrupted. You can also feel free to contact the department head or division head. Teachers usually handle their e-mails during their prep periods, so they will reply to your e-mail as soon as they possibly can. If you are worried about how your child is dong, we assure you that if teachers are concerned about the progress your child is making, they will contact you.

A

It is our goal for each child to be successful at Harker. When we are working together with a family on an issue that concerns them, they invariably express relief that they communicated their concerns to us. Some say they were worried about communicating with us about a sensitive issue for fear that it would result in some negative outcome for their child. Unfortunately, some unburden themselves

on other Harker families who are not in a position to help solve the problem and may innocently offer incorrect information.

The administration believes that open and respectful lines of communication between parents, teachers and the administrators are essential in helping each child succeed, and we encourage parents to communicate with the school if they have concerns, ideas or suggestions they wish to share.

We have a “Who To Contact” list of names, responsibilities and e-mail links on our Parent Home Page (username: parents, password: 1893) to help you find the right person to contact with questions, large or small. You can also contact the front desk at either campus, and they will help you find the appropriate Harker staff member to help you.

If you have questions or suggestions about our parent communications programs, please contact Pam Dickinson, director of communications, at pamd@harker.org.

Q

post any broadcast A We e-mails sent to parents each day on our Parent Home Page under a link in the top left that says E-MAILS. We separate them by division, so you can easily check there for what you may have missed.

Sometimes I get several pieces of mail from Harker on the same day. Isn’t there a better way?

How We Invest in the Harker Student Body 11% Student Programs …to stimulate the mind and broaden horizons

5% Student & Parent Services

Q

sure there is, and A We’re we're currently working on it schoolwide. Now that we have a monthly mailing with the newsletter and calendar, we are encouraging all departments to include their mailing with this monthly mailing to conserve on envelopes and postage. We are also working on reducing the duplication that some families experience with more than one child at Harker, and we will continue to use e-mail and our extensive Web site to provide information to our families. Our primary communications goal is to ensure that our parents have the information they need, when they need it, and wherever possible, we'll consolidate to reduce duplication and expenses.

71% Salaries

…to help each child soar

…because having outstanding teachers is really the heart of the matter

13% Operations …to provide a solid foundation

DECEMBER 02

Building Our Community: A Message from the President We are off to a great start this year, and we welcome all of our new and returning families.

One of Harker’s goals this year is to provide parents with more information about school policies, procedures and events. To assist in accomplishing these objectives, we will publish answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in our newsletter and on the Parent Home Page of our Web site beginning with this issue. We sincerely hope you find this useful and informative, and we encourage you to contact us with any questions you may have.

We wish all of you a great year!

—Howard Nichols, President howardn@harker.org

What kind of tuition increase can I expect for the 2003-04 school year?

Q

providing a top quality A While education for your child is our primar y mission, our secondary one is to do so at the most reasonable tuition fee possible.

Particularly due to the current economic situation, we plan to keep our costs as low as possible without cutting programming or staff. We are currently evaluating our expenses schoolwide and hope to keep the tuition increase to around 4-5% for next year. Our aim is to cut corners on “extras” so as not to impact the quality of our programming and services for students and parents.

We know that Harker families consider quality education important, but we also understand that the pinch of a tougher economy sends us back to our budgets to make sure we’re all doing the best we can with the funds we have. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can in each and every division at Harker to keep our expenses down.

Interestingly enough, Harker is actually charging less in tuition than we should given the scope of our programming compared to other schools in our area. While this doesn’t take away the pinch of the current economic situation, it is a notable achievement, and we intend to continue to provide outstanding programming to our families at the best price possible.

Q

What factors go into determining Harker’s tuition?

Quality faculty, broad program offerings and small class sizes are hallmarks of a Harker education and proven winners in the success of our students. They are also expensive to provide. The majority of your tuition goes to paying the salaries of our teachers.

It is in the best interests of our students to recruit and retain the

A

Continued on other side

2002-03 Projected Revenue & Expenses Revenue Tuition Summer Tuition Endowment Additional Fees & Revenue

$29,380,580 $ 2,458,000 $ 0 $ 3,141,834

Student Fees, Auxiliary Programs, Optional Programs & Investment Revenue

Annual Giving

$ 1,250,000 Total Revenue

9% Additional Revenue

$36,230,414

3% Annual Giving 81% Tuition

7% Summer Tuition

Expenses Salaries & Staff-Related Expenses

$25,460,016

Salaries, Benefits, Recruitment & Professional Development

Student Programs, Supplies & Equipment

$ 4,050,040

Academic Expenses, Activity Expenses, (Examples of these items on other side) Scholarships, Depreciation of Equipment/Assets, Optional Programs Expense

Student & Parent Services

$ 1,837,389

Food Service, Security, Transportation, Infirmary, Admissions, Community Relations, Technology, Communications, College Counseling, Counseling

Operations & Mortgage

$ 4,882,969

Facilities/Grounds & Facilities Depreciation, Marketing/Communications, Development, Human Resources, Legal & Accounting, General Administrative, Tax, Insurance & Utilities, Mortgage & Lease Expense & Reserves, Auxiliary Expenses

Total Expenses $36,230,414 Includes In-Kind Gifts