2003 December Harker News by The Harker School

DECEMBER 2003 (VOL. 10, NO. 3)

M O N T H L Y

N E W S L E T T E R

inside

Harker students participated in their first televised Quiz Bowl on Sat., Nov. 15 soundly defeating the

Fall sports season full of successes ............... 12 & 13 MS trips full of natural beauty and fun ................... 14 & 15 US rocks the airwaves with PULSE ............................ 17

F R O M

T H E

H A R K E R

S C H O O L

Quiz Bowl Team Wins Big on First Televised Show

Quiz bowl photos by Pam Dickinson

team from De La Salle High School of Concord with a score of 300 to 150. The half-hour show was taped before a live studio audience

comprised of Harker and De La Salle fans who all cheered both teams on with Harker pom poms (both schools’ colors happen to be green and white!). The Harker team, led by captain Yi Sun, Gr. 10, along with juniors Mason Liang and Lev Pisarsky, were cool, calm and collected, per forming like pros under the pressure. Senior Vivek Bansal, team organizer and alternate, cheered along with the audience, which included proud parents and

Harker staff. “Thank you to all who came to this exciting match!” said team advisor and US math teacher, Bradley Stoll. This match of Quiz Bowl will air on Sat., Jan. 17 at noon on KRON TV Channel 4. Harker qualified to participate in the next televised round of Quiz Bowl in Jan. 2004. Watch the newsletter for details!

Tamagawa Buddies Bring Fun and Friendship to Harker This year marked the 9th year of exchange visits between Harker and the Tamagawa Gauken School in Tokyo, Japan, and the 10th year of our sister school partnership. And this year’s group of 32 students and four chaperones made it the largest exchange group yet! Arriving Oct. 21, they joined Harker’s Gr. 6 students in Yosemite for two days and then returned to San Jose for six days of activities with their Harker buddies.

dance troupe and an American folk song group. Tamagawa students participated by introducing themselves in English to the crowd, which also included Harker staff members and volunteer translators. The Tamagawa students then spent the rest of the weekend with their host families exploring the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay areas.

Their official visit with their buddies and host families began with the annual Welcome Luncheon on Sat., Oct. 25 in the BKN gym, which was decorated with the red, white and blue theme of Traveling Across America, complete with the Statue of Liber ty and a San Francisco cable car. Our guests and their host families were treated to the debut per formance of the Harker faculty/staff choir, NoteWor thy, as well as performances by US Downbeat, a Native American

• Tamagawa students shadowing their Harker buddies and attending a regular day of classes.

Fri., Feb. 6, 2004 Full update including announcement of models on pages 6 & 7!

This year’s visit also included:

• Student Welcome Assembly featuring a number of musical and dance groups from grades 3 through 12. • Harvest Festival of

bobbing for apples, painting pumpkins, making witch pins and breaking Halloween piñatas. • Art workshop to create glass fusion jewelry and dance workshop. • Evening at the Grand National Rodeo at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. • Gr. 6 field trip to the Tech Museum with Tamagawa guests. • Q & A session with guests to give Harker students an opportunity to ask the students about life in Japan and their school. continued on pg. 8

Students Honored for Service

Diane Resse

Mark Tantrum

est. 1893 • K-12 college prep

Congratulations to Harker’s Digital Clubhouse Network (DCN) members who were awarded the President’s Service Award at the Nov. 11 Veteran’s Day Tribute to Service Ceremony held at San Jose’s Parkside Auditorium. See story on page 19.

IMPORTANT

reminders

■ Morning Traffic Update

editor’s note This issue especially reflects the vital role parents play in the Harker community. The Picnic, Little Black Dress party and new Fashion Show event would not happen if it weren't for the vision and energy of our parents. Because of parents Harker has its first-ever cookbook and was able to translate Japanese to English for our 9th annual visit by our sister school from Japan. As Nancy Reiley aptly stated in her Volunteer of the Month feature, "Domo Arigato" to all our parents. We are deeply grateful for all you do. Pam Dickinson, Director Office of Communications pamd@harker.org

Recently Harker initiated options to help alleviate traffic at Harker by decreasing the number of cars coming to campus. At the Saratoga campus the satellite drop-off location was provided for five weeks but discontinued due to minimal ridership. However, we have received very positive response from those families using the rear gate option in the morning. Also, a meeting was recently held with several parents to discuss ways to increase family carpools on both campuses. If you have suggestions on how to improve carpools, particularly in the morning, please contact me. After Thanksgiving we will begin a satellite drop-off for the Bucknall campus concentrating on students in grades 4-6. The location will be in the parking lot of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church at the corner of Cox and Saratoga. The

important dates ■ ALL SCHOOL DATES Mon., Dec. 22-Fri., Jan. 2 – Winter Break. No classes K-12. Mon., Jan. 5 – Classes resume K-12. ■ PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS Thur., Dec. 4, 7 p.m. BKN Gym - Orchestra Recital Fri., Dec. 5, US Downbeat Tour. Public performances: 3-3:30 p.m., Filoli Gardens, Woodside. Admission fee applies. 5:30-6:15 p.m., Fairmont Hotel, San Jose Thur., Dec. 18, US Downbeat Tour. Public performances: 6-6:40 p.m., Christmas in the Park (pending at press time). 7-7:40 p.m., Santana Row Show Park (in middle island near Border’s). ■ US PARENT EVENT Sun., Dec. 7, 2-3:30 p.m., FDR, STG Campus – usMOMS Cookie Swap

bus will be there at 7:15 a.m. and will leave promptly at 7:30 a.m. so that students are at school for the first bell at 7:45 a.m. A map of both satellite drop-off options is accessible on the Parent Home Page on the Web site. The only way we will be able to improve morning congestion is through the cooperation of everyone, so thanks to all for your help. —Joe Gill, Non-Academics Head of School, joeg@harker.org

■ New Senior Tradition Perfect Holiday Project! At the November Gr. 12 Q & A senior parents unanimously agreed to adopt a new Harker tradition for seniors. Parents and students will work together this year to create a collage of their student’s life that will hang in the gym at the annual end-of-year awards ceremony. The winter vacation might be a perfect time to start pulling photos from the albums (or boxes!) in your closets. Frames for this project will be sold at a nominal cost at the Harker Bookstore, or parents can purchase any 20" x 30" frame of their choice. Frames must all be this size to ensure there is room on the gym wall for all. It’s important for the success of the project to have a collage for each student so no child feels left out. If you think you may have difficulty completing this project, please contact Chris Daren, US yearbook/newspaper advisor and activities coordinator. Finished collages are due April 19, 2004, to ensure that these collages are completed in ample time for all

students, and to avoid undue stress on parents and students as the end-of-the-year and graduation approaches.

■ Volunteer Needs We have learned that the visit of a group from the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School scheduled for Dec. 2 is likely to be postponed due to visa problems. Many of our Chinese-speaking parents generously volunteered to assist with translation during the visit, and we thank you so much for your willingness to help. We’ll be calling volunteers to confirm the dates and times when translators will be needed and will probably only need a few of the many who signed up.

■ Gr. 6 Parents The state of California requires all students entering 7th grade to submit proof of having received: • 3 Hepatitis B shots • 2 Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) shots If your child has not had the required immunizations, now is a good time to get started. The Hepatitis B series takes six months to complete. The second and third shots are given one and six months after the first one. Feel free to call us at 408.8714609 if you have any questions, or would like us to check on what immunizations we have on file for your child. —Debra Nott, RN, debran@harker.org; Nishi Vellian, RN, nishiv@harker.org

“C is for cookie ... that’s good enough for usMOMS!” US moms are invited to a holiday cookie swap. RSVP on the Parent Home Page and bring a minimum of two dozen home-baked cookies along with a copy of your recipe. Coffee and tea will be served. You may take home as many cookies as you brought in to share and can pick and choose as the holiday spirit moves you. For more information, contact nancyr@harker.org. ■ US STUDENT EVENT Fri., Dec. 5 - Sign-up deadline for US Ski Trip in Januar y. Contact chrisda@harker.org for details and form. Bus leaves early Jan. 17 and returns early afternoon Jan. 19. Cost is $250 per student (two in room) or $300 per student (four in room).

CORRECTION: The following students helped with BKN Back to School Night and were inadvertently left out of the previous newsletter. Our apologies and many thanks for their help that night: Christine Chien and Nalini Jain.

GIFT

ideas

Harker Cookbooks Are Here! Hot off the press and ready for holiday gift giving! Thanks to the Speech & Debate Parents who compiled and created this new cookbook, the Harker community (and beyond!) can enjoy the favorite recipes of Harker teachers, staff, parents, students and alumni. Visit the Parent Home Page (PHP) today and order your copies while supplies last. Due to the high participation of faculty in this cookbook, five Harker faculty/staff names were drawn and they will win a free copy of Harker’s first-ever cookbook: Diane Bick, Danny Dunn, Amalia Keyashian, Sarah Leonard and Rhonda Mann. Also remember that the debate parents are offering custom Harker luggage tags, as well as holiday gift baskets. Visit the PHP for details and order forms on all these fantastic gift ideas, and many thanks to our creative and resourceful debate parents for these fabulous new gift ideas! Harker News — December 03

LBD

event

$10,000 Raised at Little Black Dress Party The Little Black Dress Party, donated in last spring’s picnic silent auction event and recently hosted by Harker parents John and Christine Davis (Cole, Gr. 6), was a huge success. The first 100 women to sign up at $100 each were the lucky attendees at this fun “night out” event at the beautiful Davis home that featured celebrity look-alikes, fabulous hors d’oeuvres and a cadre of well-trained volunteer dads who ser ved appetizers, tended bar and provided some hilarious amateur entertainment for the appreciative female audience. Great idea, great hosts and great night! Cheers and thanks to Christine and John for creating and hosting this great event, and to all those who at-

Harker News — December 03

All photos by Chris Daren

tended!

Thanks! The coolest Merlin in the land, Harker President Howard Nichols said in a recent e-mail to the entire parent community: “I want to personally thank the entire Harker family for a fabulous event. As you know, we couldn’t have done it without the participation of our entire community. Families donated items, sold raffle tickets, danced on the curb, decorated doors, moved tables, manned booths and much, much more. Of course, we owe special thanks to our wonderful Picnic committee. They had very little time to get this event up and going when we changed the date to October, and their tireless effort was most evident. I want to take this opportunity to thank Kelly Espinosa and Lynette Stapleton for their tireless leadership and enthusiasm and to extend our special thanks to: Sherry Ammatuna, Cherry Blair, Candy and Fred Carr, Stephanie Casner, Linda Emery, Dave Heslop, Sandhya Jagadeesh, Fumiko Kimura, Lana Kipnis, Melody Moyer, Dede Ogami, Chidori Okubo, Kim Pellissier, Kathy Polzin, Nancy Reiley, Lori Saxon, Alice Schwartz, Janet Smith, Judy Stapleton, Joey Tyndal, Carol Underwood and Jane Villadsen. Again, thanks to all for your continued support of the Harker School! All picnic photos by Mark Tantrum unless otherwise noted

—Howard Nichols, President

recap Once Upon a Picnic a Storybook Success! On Sun., Oct. 19, this year’s Once Upon a Picnic re-established Harker’s tradition of holding this event on a dazzling fall day (rather than in the spring) and provided a grand finale to our firstever Big Homecoming Weekend! This 53rd annual event, attended by over 3,000 Harker alumni, family and friends, was a fairytale adventure throughout the campus. From Shah Field, where little elves scaled Rapunzel’s Tower, slid down the Giant’s Slide and made magic wands to guide them to a wonderland of game booths; to the everpopular Wheels of Fortune in the Enchanted Forest gymnasium; to the Magical Auction, Mega Spins and new Homecoming Sports Pub and grown-up games in Manzanita Castle; to the sparkling purple Gem Scoop Cart and rides on The Royal Railroad, generations of families, from grandparents to toddlers, could be seen everywhere enjoying the day. “The Fairy Tale Follies” student performance had the capacity audience laughing, cheering, applauding – and videotaping! Members of Harmonics narrated a revue of Disney musical classics, and the youngest Harker performers, the 4th grade class, opened the show by inviting the audience to stay “Young at Heart.” Other featured acts were the 7th grade MS Dance Troupe performing “Whistle While You Work” with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs swinging to big band music; 8th grade MS Dance Troupe springing into salsa with “Hot! Hot! Hot” from The Little Mermaid; Harmonics

serving up a rousing rendition of “Be Our Guest”; the US Dance Troupe grooving to “Hey Now!” from The Lizzie McGuire Movie soundtrack; Bel Canto, accessorized in all manner of animal ears and noses, singing “Bare Necessities”; the 4th grade class per forming “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” from the Lion King and “A Whole New World” from Aladdin; and the Bucknall Dance Troupe keeping our toes tapping to the lively “Disney Mambo #5” by Lou Bega. Student performances, as always, were fabulous and heartwarming, and we thank our outstanding performing arts department teachers for their creativity and hard work preparing our students for this year’s show: Andrian Bermudez, Gail Palmer,

Michael Pease, Laura Rae, Cathy Snider and Amberlin Wu. Another highlight of the picnic was the Beat the Best Basketball Contest between Theresa “Smitty” Smith and sophomore Amit Mukherjee. “It was one of the best picnics I’ve been to - until I lost the

Michael Leonard, student

PICNIC

contest to Amit,” Smith laughed. While she took consolation in the fact that she scored over 100 points, which some said would be a challenge to do, on his third try Mukherjee finally scored 145

Hats off to our students who collectively sold over 28,000 raffle tickets this year. Isabelle Connell, Gr. 3, was the top seller with 890 tickets sold! Other winners: 2nd - Jordan Peetz, Gr. 1 (632 tickets); 3rd - Tie between Christophe and Stephan Pellissier (410 tickets each); 4th - Taylor Martin, Gr. 7 (409 tickets); 5th - Gianna Drake, Gr. 8 (400 tickets). The class competition for the most tickets sold ended with Gr. 7 in 1st place for the MS with 2,420 tickets sold and US with 1,091 tickets sold. Harker staff member Vanessa Bullman, assistant to the Bucknall recreation director, sold 170 tickets and earned a reserved employee parking spot for the year.

L to R: Taylor Martin, Stephan Pellissier, Isabelle Connell, Christophe Pellissier, Gianna Drake. Not pictured, Jordan Peetz.

Harker News — December 03

Another huge success was the silent auction bidding for Harker’s first-ever Pajama Party, where 117 children (through their parents!) signed up at $100 per child for this April event. The slumber party was the largest single fundraising item in the auction raising $11,700. Sleep will be scarce, but fun will rule at this great event that will be organized and supervised by an enthusiastic group of teachers, rec staff and administrators, including Kelly Espinosa, Lisa

Student Setup Volunteers John Ammatuna•Lauren Ammatuna•Matthew Azebu•Megan Azebu•Cami Bedell•Casey Blair•Emily Carr•Amanda Polzin•Shanna Polzin•Tommy Polzin•Amy Rorabaugh•Alexander Underwood•Scott Underwood

Photo provided by mystery parent

points, beating Smith’s 136 points. “He was a keen observer of his opponent, was able to adopt my technique and beat me at my own game,” Smith chuckled.

Picnic Prep Volunteers

$10,000 cash prize - Arley Portollo (sold by Taylor Martin, Gr. 7); Las Vegas vacation - Robert Knudsen (sold by Sean Knudsen, Gr. 2); Mobile DVD - Sarah Newton (sold by Sarah Newton, Gr. 6); Skateboard Package - Mary Malysz (sold by Emma Malysz, Gr. 1); Harry Potter Castle - Vera Huber (sold by Morgan Huber, Gr. 7). Congratulations to one and all!

Kim Alonzo•Louis Ammatuna•Pradeep Awsani •Ken Azebu•Beulah Babu•Sophia Balaji•Tanuja Bali•Audrey Bareiss•Jackie Boberg•Violet Boyle•Vanessa Bullman•Stephanie Casner•Monica Chang•Heekyung Cho•Karen Coates•Kim Coulter•Becky Cox•Jeannie Cu•J.R. Del Alto• Chris Douglas•Doug Emery•Magdalena Enea•Kristin Giammona•Rosa Gill•Kim Hall•Jeannine Hammersley•Julian Hammersley•Angela Heslop•Madhu Jain•Sandy Johnson•Sandy Johnson•Hrishikesh Kamat•Takako Khojasteh•Bharti Killer•Jane Kwant•Susan Lee•Kitty Leung •Susan Mandell•Shamitha Mathur•Michelle Maxey•Roopal Mayor •Ruth Mohanram•Lana Morrison•Rekha Nandakumar•Jim Newton•Ann Nguyen•Tan Nguyen•Leslie Nielsen •Hemanji Parihk•Marguerite Pasema•Mark Peetz •Robyn Peetz•Steve Polzin•Sue Prutton •Pavani Reddy •Brian Richardson• Partha Sarathy•Sam Stapleton•Joyce Sum•Shankari Sundar•Heather Wardenberg•Judy West•Meg Withgott •Roni Wolfe•Stephanie Woolsey• Chris Yamashita

Harker Picnic Sponsors

Hirata, Joe Chung, Mel Robinson and many more!

Once Upon a Picnic could never have happened without the support of our generous sponsors and donors and hundreds of parent, student and staff volunteers. Together we raised over $60,000 to benefit the educational oppor tunities of our Harker students – and we had so much fun doing it!

The final Grand Prize Drawing delighted the crowd as names were read, and the lucky winners were:

The Harker Family/Alumni Picnic was truly a storybook success with a “Harkerly ever after” ending!

RUBIES Alex Alonzo Accountancy Corporation The Ammatuna Family Baysport Inc. The Carr Family The Casner Family The Classic Rock The Christine & John Davis Family Miss Kelly Espinosa The Moyer Family Kisstopher & Chad Musick Preston Pipelines The Sabeh Family

EMERALDS Communicart Graphics & Printing Dede Ogami & Ken Azebu Community Insurance The Pellissier Family The Stapleton Family

SAPPHIRES Marie Callender’s Dancing Yogi

Escobar Security Plus A Friend of Miss Proctor’s Homeroom GO SKATE & Sports The Kawahara Family Guojin Liang & Orapin Kanchanachoosak Judy & Ken Low Willie Nelson & Family Round Table Pizza The Zanotto Family Susan Zhang & Charlie Huang PEARLS Ray & Audrey Bareiss The Bean Family The Chapman Family Patrick & Le Chau Steven & Maria Connell A Friend of Harker Mark & Serena Hartoog The Martin Family Nguyen-Ma Family Raju & Devyani Patel The Ramoji Family Chester Rivera Signs Dr & Mrs Peter Sun

Pam Dickinson

Shilpi Minocha, parent

Sumit Minocha, Gr. 3, along with his little sister, Shivali, set up a lemonade stand in their neighborhood in October and earned $28 which they donated to the picnic. Earlier in Oct., Sumit also collected $26 selling raffle tickets door to door. "This is Sumit's first year at Harker, and he already has the Harker spirit fully into him," laughed his mother, Shilpi. "Congratulations to all teachers, staff and parents for making the picnic such a great success," she added.

DIAMOND Palermo Pizza Restaurant

Harker News — December 03

FASHION

show 2004 Lights, Camera…PASSION!! Celebrating our Passion for Education Reserve Now for Best Seating! Reserve your seats now – the sooner you make your reservation, the closer you’ll be to the fun of the runway action. Invitations were mailed mid-Nov., and reservations are streaming in (at press time hundreds of tickets for each event were already purchased!). So get your reply card in today! And if you’re trying to find a gift for that hard-to-shop-for relative, friend or coworker, consider tickets to Lights, Camera…PASSION! The Luncheon Show and Dinner Gala will both be filled with fabulous fashions and fun, and opportunities to win one of the six fabulous Passion Showcases!

Proceeds benefit the Harker Scholarship Fund, Teachers Fund and new Math, Science and Technology Center.

Fri., Feb. 6, 2004 Fairmont Hotel, San Jose

11:00 a.m. Luncheon Fashion Show $75 per person

5:30 p.m. Dinner Gala Fashion Show Live Auction Dancing to the Fundamentals $150 per person

A Grand Harker Event at the Fairmont Hotel Featuring … Passionate Prizes Stellar Students

Fabulous Food Lively Auction Dancing Special Getaway

Countless door prizes, Six Passion Showcases—each valued at $5,000 or more—and one Grand Prize of a year’s tuition at Harker! In addition to the student models in the show, there will be upper school students serving as hosts and hostesses, as well as performances by Harker’s premier performing arts groups, including Downbeat, Dance Ensemble and String Quartet. Featuring the famous cuisine of the Fairmont Hotel! The Dinner Gala will also feature a short live auction of exquisite, one-of-a-kind items! Music to get you on your feet by one of the Bay Area’s hottest dance bands, The Fundamentals! Stay until morning! Take advantage of the fabulous room rate of only $99, a Fairmont exclusive for Harker Fashion Show guests.

Don’t miss this opportunity to support your children’s school and treat your sweetie to a night out, complete with cocktails, martini bar, entertainment, dinner and dancing. If you did not receive an invitation, need more information about the event, or wish to make reservations, contact the Fashion Show Hot Line at 408.345.0115 or e-mail FashionShow@harker.org. 6

Harker News — December 03

A Passion for Modeling! Vikram Chari, Aura Dave, Delepine Guillaume, Katia Elisman, Regan Heslop, Rishabh Jain, Cecilia LangRee, Emma Malysz, Alisha Mayor, Mary Najibi, Maneesha Panja, Lauren Speckman, Amy Wardenburg, Ian Wolfe, Nikka Vandendries. Student Models, Grades 6-8: Emily Carr, Tiffany Chang, Jose Costa, Elizabeth Cutler, Darrell Drummer, Marissa Gale, Julian Gill, Grace Hudkins, Yash Khandwala, Madeline Lucas, Karlene McCallaCreary, Caitlin O’Brien, Sabrina Paseman, Shilpa Rajgopal, Heidi Wang.

of seven independent judges was impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm of the model hopefuls, and as judge Craig Stanley noted, “Everybody at the tryouts did such a great job. We had to make some incredibly difficult choices, especially for grades and groups that had a large number of people trying out.”

Student Models, Grades 9–12: Rand Ahlgren, Katie Ball, Arjun Banerjee, Pranab Barman, Casey Blair, Rupan Bose, Steve Boyle, Karla Bracken, Albert Chen, Kristie Cu, Nandini Datta, Alexander Dodd, Vickie Duong, Mariama Eghan, Anjali Gill,

Our thanks to all who participated in model tryouts and congratulations to this year’s models. Student Models, Grades K-5: Niva Bigler, Shivani Bigler, Lauren Cali,

Fashion Show photos by Chris Daren

The Bucknall gym was buzzing with excitement as 165 students, parents and faculty attended Lights, Camera…PASSION! model tryouts on Sun., Nov. 2. The panel

Shreena Grewal, Jason Han, Nickisa Hodgson, Emily Hsi, James Hsi, Christine Kang, Michael Leonard, David Ly, Nayan Mehta, Jacinda Mein, Neha Parikh, Sasha Stepanenko, Irene Tyutereva, Kimberley Wong, Ashley Yang. Parent and Alumni Models: Jennifer Cu, Greg Hansen, David Heslop, Milana Mayboroda, Neeti Sharma, Cindy Wong. Harker Faculty and Staff Models: Pete Anderson, Jeannette Bhatia, Robb Cutler, Jennifer Gargano, Marcie Gilbert, John Hawley, Robbie Korin, Sarah Leonard,

Chris Nikoloff, Joe Rosenthal, Elise Schwartz, Zak Shaffer, Christy Vail. …and of course, Diana and Howard Nichols. Many thanks to judges and model trainers Sheila Barrett and Linda Lance, who helped our models prepare for tryouts and will also be staging the Fashion Show training sessions, and to the five other professional judges: Sandy Baker, aerobics champion and artistic judge for the National Sport Aerobics Championship; Helen Owen, experienced fashion show producer and award-winning community philanthropist; Gilbert Sangari, publisher and CEO of San Jose Magazine, our media partner; Kim Selby, formerly of Glamour Magazine; and Craig Stanley, owner of James Craig Salon.

A Passionate Thanks to Sponsors and Advertisers - Join Them! Harker wishes to thank our Fashion Show Advertisers and Sponsors – the list grows daily. Contact us if you’d like to be added! Sincere thanks to our newest sponsors: Communicart Graphics and Printing, the Connell Family, the Davis Family Foundation, Diamond Quality Printing, Heritage Bank, Linear Technology, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, LLP, Newpath Ventures, Orrick Compensation and Benefits Group, Alain Pinel Realtors, the Perez-Triant Family and Stevens Creek Audi. Many thanks also to our newest advertisers: Acuace Healthcare, Bains Development, Bay Area Parent Magazine, Robert Bothman Construction, Campbell Music Center, Dr. Diane Casey, Citation Press, Classic Kids Photo, Comerica, Dr. David Constant, Dr. Mark W Dalporto, Dancing Yogi, Dr. Aaron Ditlow, Joe Escobar Diamonds, Fast Frame, Fuji Florists, German Motor Specialists, Golden Dragon West, the Good Guys, Image Beauty Salon, Intero Real Estate Services, KnowledgeQuest Learning Center, Loera’s Upholstery and Design, Brenda Miller - Intero Realty, Mona’s Place, Dr. Brian Quo, Valley U.S. Inc., Ventura Barnett Properties and Silverleaf Antiques. Harker News — December 03

And let’s not forget our original set of advertisers and cash sponsors: Audasis Systems, the Banerjee/Chopra Family, CH Jewelers, Chelsea Court Design, Commando Group, Conrado Company, Courtesy Chevrolet, GMS Global Inc., the Harris Family, Lexus of Stevens Creek, David Mendoza - Merrill Lynch, PW Markets, the Riedel Family, San Jose Magazine, Santana Row, the Santora Family, the Sathaye Family Foundation, TMFC and US Bank. ■ To become an advertiser, contact Sangeeta Gupte (sgupte@r2tech.com) or Vidya Lakshmi (vidya-lakshmi@comcast.net). ■ For sponsorship information, contact Shyamoli Banajeree. (shyamolib@hotmail.com) or Archana Sathaye (archana@sathaye.com).

Hurry – advertising and sponsorship deadlines are December 19! See the separate Fashion Show insert included with this newsletter, and visit the Web site for more information and passionate updates!

ANNUAL

giving

Annual Giving Campaign Update ■ 48% of our current families have made gifts or pledges so far. ■ 70% of $1 million in funds needed to support student programs this year have been received to date.

Reminder: Contributions to Harker are tax-deductible! You can make a

THANKS

pledge to the campaign now and for your tax purposes, you can decide which year is best for you to make your gift. To ensure your gift is received and processed for 2003, make a gift online or send a check to the Development Office before Dec. 31, 2003. If you wish to take the tax deduction in 2004, you can make your gift before May 31, 2004, so you can participate in this year’s campaign.

Your gift to the 2003-04 Annual Giving Campaign directly and immediately benefits Harker students and faculty by providing the “margin of excellence” in so many of our programs in this issue, such as:

Grade 6 Yosemite field trip - page 10 US Performing Arts: Bonsoir Concert - page 17 Athletic Programs - pages 18 & 19

FEATURE continued from pg. 1 • Tamagawa students joining their buddies in after-school recreational activities and special computer activities. • Tamagawa students reading a story in Japanese and English to primary grade classes and presenting an origami lesson • Gr. 6 Tamagawa hoedown where students per formed square dances and line dances learned during the week. After the Farewell Reception attended by the Harker host families, Gr. 6 students and teachers, and the Harker administration, all involved bid a sad goodbye to our wonder ful Japanese visitors as they boarded their bus to spend the night in San Francisco before an early morning departure on Thursday. Harker would like to thank Bill Bost, International Programs director, for organizing another fabulous visit full of wonderful memories for all those involved. Many Harker faculty, staff, parents and volunteers contributed to make

Double Your Gift! A few very generous families have established a $35,000 matching challenge gift fund that will match dollar for dollar: 1. gifts from families who were enrolled in the school last year, but did not participate in the Annual Giving Campaign; or 2. any increase in a family’s gift given to last year’s campaign. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

HP 3:1 Equipment Matching Is Back! Development Council member Ernaz Irani announced that HewlettPackard’s Equipment Matching Gift Program is back, which means HP will match all Annual Giving gifts from current employees dollar-for-dollar in cash or 3-to-1 with equipment. For example, your gift of $1,000 will be matched $3,000 by HP and will generate a total of $4,000 in computer equipment for Harker students! Our heartfelt thanks goes out to all families who have generously participated in this program and provided for our students. A very special thanks also goes to Harker parents Ernaz Irani (HP program coordinator) and Philip May for their time and dedication to the success of this program. For a second year they have achieved noteworthy HP parent participation levels — over 90%! —Bran-Dee Torres, Donor Relations Manager, brandeet@harker.org

tamagawa this year’s Tamagawa visit another outstanding success, and without their help, this program would not be possible. Special thanks to our Japanese translators: Fumiko Kimura, Jacob Hazard, Takako Khojasteh, Naoko Toyoshima, Uina Kubota, Max Kubota, Lisa Kimura, Matthew Jones, Anthony Fu, Zakaman Wu, Henry Cunningham, Chris Yamashita, Tomoko Regan, Mayumi Hashimoto, David Ly, Andrea Yamazaki, Ira Patnaik, Rob Regan, Chidori Okubo, Masako Onakado, Yuki Konishi, Keiko Irino, Marc Micek, Mythori Papolu, Padma Papolu and Kumi Matsui; Laura Miller and her computer science elective photographers; our fabulous performing arts department; Eric Hoffman and Gail Palmer for their workshops; Kelly Espinosa for organizing the Harvest Festival; Mark Tantrum for his fabulous photography; our host families for making this visit so special for our Japanese guests. “And a huge thank you to the entire sixth grade class for making the Tamagawa students feel welcome wherever they went,” said an appreciative Bost.

Volunteers of the Month “Domo arigato,” Chidori Okubo and Fumiko Kimura. These two wonderful moms (of Sho ’07 and Lisa ’08) have worked together as a comfortable duo for a number of years, and we are always pleased to hear them chattering animatedly in their native Japanese as they count endless piles of raffle tickets and cash in the weeks preceding picnic time each year. They never seem to skip a beat in their counting, as much as we may try to distract them, and without their tireless efforts, we couldn’t possibly keep track of our biggest raffle-ticket sellers and prizewinners. But each year, come late October, they don different hats as we greet our visitors from our Japanese sister school, Tamagawa Gakuen. Both Chidori and Fumiko have served as warm and friendly Harker diplomats and helpful translators who are on hand to make the language exchange just a little smoother. Their gracious smiles make us ALL feel welcomed here at Harker! Please join us in recognizing all that they do for our school through their dedicated service as parent volunteers! —Nancy Reiley, Director of Community Relations

Harker News — December 03

FEATURE tamagawatamagawa

The 2003-04 Tamagawa / Harker exchange students and chaperones:

Tamagawa Students: Akika Sato, Akinori Jozaka, Ami Kaneko, Ayano Ushiku, Coco Kawabata, Hiroki Tanaka, Hitomi Ogawa, Kanon Takasaki, Kaoru Okubo, Kazuomi Konari, Keisuke Yoshida, Kiriko Kotani, Kosuke Ubukata, Mao Goto, Mikiko Higuchi, Mirei Murauchi, Naoko Tokura, Narumi Kezuka, Rika Suzuki, Risa Hayami, Risa Tsurukawa, Ryo Hamanaka, Sho Tokihisa, Shungo Ishii, Soma Numata, Sumire Hoashi, Taisei Tanaka, Tamako Suzuki, Tatsuya Yonezaki, Yoshiyasu Nishimatsu, Yukiyasu Takahashi and Yuriko Nitta. Tamagawa Chaperones: Ryuko Saiki, Toshihiro Nakajima, Keiko Ogawa and Keiko Satoh. Harker Students: Adrienne Wong, Danny Clark, Brea Borlas, Nalini Jain, Christine Trinh, Arjun Mody, Tamara Kawadri, Kendra Moss, Jennifer Pennell, Rohan Shah, Michael Clifford, Alison Axelrad, Arjun Bhargava, Alex Ringold, Tara Hansen, Claire Bredenoord, Shizuka Tiernan, Melinda Wang, Kristen Santora, Namrata Anand, Priya Sathaye, Ryan Fan, Cole Davis, Chauncey Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien, Nikhil Bhargava, Shanna Polzin, Joey Malysz, Katherine Harris, Matthew Azebu, Vikram Nilakantan, Rohan Chopra and Valerie Motro.

All photos by Mark Tantrum

Harker Chaperones: Chris Nikoloff, Joe Rosenthal, Christy Vail, Diana Moss, Tara McFarland and Bill Bost.

Harker News â&#x20AC;&#x201D; December 03

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Annual Yosemite Valley Trip Filled with Adventure, Friends and Fun Gr. 6 students enjoyed their 27th annual weeklong trip to the Yosemite Institute (Y.I.) from Oct. 20-24 with 145 students and 16 Harker staff exploring, hiking and learning in the beautiful Yosemite Valley. “We spent one afternoon in the Sequoia’s while the students wrote haikus about the Sequoia tree. It was beautiful and the level of writing of our Harker students amazed our Y.I. instructor,” commented Tammy Coia, LS teacher, who said she had a wonderful time getting to know her students outside of the classroom. Once again the annual Tamagawa exchange students joined Harker at Yosemite for two days, and teacher Kristen Janiak enjoyed watching her group meet up with their Tamagawa buddies and play the game Hawks and Squirrels.

Keith Hirota, Milton Mui and Mark Tantrum

Harker hiking groups also started something new this year when the groups of Pete Anderson and Sandy Murillo came back with close to 1,400 cigarette butts between them that they had collected on their hikes. “The Y.I. instructors were so proud of the students, since cigarette butts are a poisonous element for Yosemite. They took the butts and are going to keep them as a record in order to challenge future groups from other schools,” said Melody, the YI site coordinator.

Yosemite Institute - 2003 10

Elementary Division Head Christy Vail reported that Harker students maintained their reputation of being a well-behaved, responsible group. “It was another fabulous educational trip to this magnificent area, and we’re very proud of our students,” she said. Harker News — December 03

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6th Annual Halloween Parade a Scary Success

■ Ready, Set, Research! This popular program is returning for a second year to Harkswort, where Gr. 3-6 students, a la Harry Potter’s books, are divided into houses for a research competition. Students answer twelve research questions and earn certificates for each round. At the end of three rounds, pins, medals and plaques are awarded. Each grade competes separately for the individual prizes, but there is a fabulous twist: the Knowledge Cup, Harker News — December 03

Halloween photos by Mark Tantrum

Keith Hirota, LS teacher, also held the 2nd annual Pumpkin Carving Contest on Halloween morning where students brought in pumpkins they had carved at home for judging. There were over 20 entries this year, and the Great Pumpkin Award went to Daniela Lapidous, Gr. 4 for the best allaround pumpkin. These other winners were also chosen: Most Creative - Tara Kola, Gr. K, Shireen Moshkelani, Gr. 5 and Stephen Hughes, Gr. 4; Most Scary - Viet Trinh, Gr. 6, Charles Levine, Gr. 4, and Aditya Sastry, Gr. 4; Cutest Nikita Agrawal, Gr. 6, Sophia Ragget, Gr. 4, and Shizuka Tiernan, Gr. 6.

a huge trophy that will be earned by the grade answering the most questions at the end of three rounds, is up for grabs! This year’s houses are Schwartz House, Gr. 3; Giammona House, Gr. 4; Shanahan House, Gr. 5; and Finn House, Gr. 6. Check out the library Web site under the Ready, Set, Research! tab for some great photos of these Harkswort professors as wizards and witches! ■ Rec Director for the Day The family of Michelle Douglas, Gr.3, was the high bidder for the picnic auction item of Recreation Director for the Day, so Douglas spent a busy day as Rec Director on Halloween getting ready for the annual Halloween Parade, sending out e-mails to teachers explaining the possible change of plans because of weather and putting together special treats for the

Mark Tantrum

Sumo wrestlers, Scooby Doo, superheroes, fairies, Harry Potter characters and many more were led by the “Cat in the Hat” rec staff in the 6th annual Halloween Parade at the Bucknall campus. Over 750 staff, students and many of their families joined in the Halloween fun. Kelly Espinosa, dean of BKN non-academic affairs, carried the new Character Development Program into Halloween by dressing as the Good Manners Fairy. Gr. 6 students enjoyed connecting with the school community in their new role of buddies to kindergarten and Gr. 1 students. “Our big buddies demonstrated their spookiest school spirit while making connections with the littlest of our ghosts and goblins,” said Christy Vail, elementar y division head.

recreation staff. “My favorite part of the day was buying a soda from the staff coke machine,” said Douglas.

■ BKN Spirit Club Update S-club members on the Teacher Morale Committee sent Halloween cards to all Bucknall teachers. This committee continues to plan more opportunities to show teachers how much they are appreciated. Also, S-Club advisor Jason Oncay repor ted that the coveted spirit stick was earned by teacher Tami Loval’s homeroom after the Nov. spirit competition. He also reminds all that Snowman Grams are available for $1 and will be on sale until Dec. 12th. Contact an S-club member or Oncay to order the Snowman Grams, which will be delivered between Dec. 5 and 18. This is a great chance to send a student or staff member a note and a treat to let them know how much you care. All proceeds go to the S-Club for future S-Club supplies and events.

Gr. 4 - 8 The fall sports season has come to a close for both the LS and MS, and what a spectacular season it’s been! Our A football team finished with a 10-4-1 record and second place in league. The highlight of the season was the outstanding effort and competitive spirit the players showed during the St. Victors Tournament. The team went through pool play 4-0, outscoring their opponents 88-9 during those games. They made it to the final game but lost 17-16. Trevor Sambyal, Joey Shapiro, Brian McEuen and Spencer Liang did a fantastic job during the tournament. The coaching staff is ver y proud of the players and their achievements on the field this season.

Mark Tantrum

The B football team finished their season with an 8-4 overall record, ending with a dramatic come from behind win beating Valley Christian 28-21. Outstanding defense was played by all, especially George Gonzalez, John McKenna, Omar Hagu and Taylor Martin. Arman Gupta and Jasper Liao put up big numbers on the offensive side. The coaches were impressed with the amount of “heart” shown by their kids at the end of the season. The C football team went 10-3 this season and were led by their defense that had at least one interception in each game. Everyone contributed and played as a team, and the offense came a long way and became a force to be reckoned with. The team had a great year! Our D football team finished a super season with a 34-6 victory over Hillbrook’s 6th grade team. They also missed the playoffs of the St. Victors Tournament by one play, a major feat for a 5th grade team in that tournament! The team has goals from Tim Lin, Gautam

briefs Krishnamurthi, Brennan Kee, Nirjhar Mundkur, Travis Larson, Trevor Dutrow and Kenny Wong. Partha Mahanjani also had an incredible 3 interceptions during the course of the season, with two of them being dramatic plays on the goal line. The LS swim team had a tremendous season! The team held its annual intramural swim meet where the swimmers swam fast and had a great time cheering on their teammates. Events included all of the competitive strokes, plus a crazy relay at the conclusion of the meet. Instead of the usual 4-team member relay, the teams consisted of 8 swimmers each, so everyone swam in this first time event! The year proved to be exciting, and the coaches were very proud of the dedication and enthusiasm the swimmers displayed throughout the season. The A1 volleyball team was awesome this year, going undefeated in league! Overall, they won 19 matches and lost one close match to St. Christopher’s. Parents and faculty were present for an exciting finish to the team’s season when they won 6 consecutive matches and a 1st place in the Notre Dame Tournament. The coaches felt it was a great team effort. Special recognition goes to Tanya Schmidt, this year’s MVP, and Ashley Malone, this year’s Eagle Award winner. The A2 volleyball team got its first win of the year against Apostles Lutheran! They lost a tough 3game match in their final match of the season against Hillbrook. Great improvement was displayed over the course of the season. Our B1 volleyball team ended their undefeated season on a high note with a 1st place finish in the league tournament held at Valley Christian. Though the Eagles were tested many times, the combined strength of all 12 players put together proved too much for their oppo-

nents to overcome. The team captains, Nicole Woods and Shirley Galbiati, provided strong leadership and the team’s spirit was fueled by the enthusiasm of players like Andrea Thomas, Christy Emery and Taylor Rapson. In the end, this team’s dedication to each other and determination to win provided an unbeatable formula. The B2 volleyball team finished up their season with an outstanding game against Hillbrook. Although they lost the match, they played them tough and forced the match to a 3rd game. The team was solid with their serves and played aggressively the whole game. The coach felt her players had a good season overall and was very proud of how much the girls improved from the beginning of the season.

Our 4th grade volleyball and football teams just concluded their intramural season as well. The players improved dramatically and

Mark Tantrum

SPORTS

The C1 volleyball team finished their season with a 22 league record. The team finished 2-1 in pool play at the St. Victors Tournament and narrowly missed the playoffs by one game. By the end of the season, the team was consistently “bump, set, hitting” —a rarity in Gr. 6 volleyball. Our C2 volleyball team finished their season at 3-5, recently playing in the league tournament at Apostles Lutheran and beating one of the top teams! Taryn Spiller, Jane Thomas, Danielle Buis and Sarah Estrada served many points for their team. They finished their season with a tough 3 set loss to Hillbrook. All in all, the season was about the girls learning to play better volleyball. They came together as a team and had fun playing. The D volleyball team finished their season by earning 1st place in the St. Victors Tournament. They also played an exciting game at BKN against the Harker 4th graders, where both teams played awesome! The team was led by the strong ser ving of Shireen Moshkelani, Laura Holmes and Henna Mishra and the consistent passing by Tiffany Chang, Jacque Salinas and Christine Chien. The team finished their regular season with a 2-3 record, but every contest was decided in 3 games. The team played with enthusiasm and determination.

are ready for competition at the 5th grade level next year. The coaches are thrilled with their progress and how hard the kids have worked to get better. The coaches and I would like to thank all the parents for your support over the fall sport season. Your vocal support, the snacks and drinks you provided, the times you helped us get kids to games— everything is appreciated. At press time Gr. 4, 7 & 8 were starting basketball and Gr. 5 & 6 were starting soccer. Come join us again as we look forward to a successful winter sports season. GO EAGLES! —Theresa “Smitty” Smith, Gr. 4-8 Athletic Director

Upper School The fall season has just about wound down, with only a few contests to be played, and what a season it has been! First of all, congratulations to Sonia Rastogi and Whitney Graves for winning their second consecutive West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) doubles tennis title! They will participate in the CCS tournament at the end of Nov., so watch the next edition for results. Harker News — December 03

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joined as a CCS qualifier by teammate Sean Dyal, who led the Eagle boys once again. Both Jenn and Sean ran in the section final, but by press time results weren’t yet available. We’re sure they will both do great. Congratulations go to all the team members this year as almost 30 runners made up our largest team ever. Coach Philippe Gonzalez has done a great job getting the team to continually improve their times throughout the season. Volleyball won its final home match in a thrilling five-set match vs. Harker News — December 03

■ The US and MS Spanish departments exhibited an altar for the celebration of El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead on Nov. 2. “This holiday, observed throughout Mexico and Central American, is not a sad or solemn occasion, but rather a celebration in memory of deceased loved ones whose spirits are thought to return for a visit,” said Diana Moss, US Spanish teacher. All students and staff were encouraged to remember a loved one during this time by placing something on the altar, and the altar was replete with beautiful displays of food, incense, works of art, candles, flowers and photos of the beloved deceased for the enjoyment of their visiting spirits.

artists of the month This new column will feature the artwork of a few of our many talented students each month – enjoy! Neha Deshmukh, Gr. 8, is currently enrolled in the elective art class. Neha creates very personal and expressive art, takes her work very seriously and has a critical eye when looking at her own art. In this class she has painted some wonder ful por traits. This portrait of her grandfather in par ticular displays technical skill and is full of emotion. She captured not only his image, but his spirit.

The football team ended their season with a 5-4 record, finishing with a winning record for the first time in school history. It was only a short three years ago that the Eagles went 0-9 in their first varsity season. With the team already having elected captains for the 2004 season, the team is ready to hit the weight room over the winter and see if they can be as big and strong as their opponents. Regularly outweighed on the line by 30 pounds or more, the Eagles were in every game all season, and were a few lucky bounces away from winning seven or eight games. Although usually outnumbered and outsized, the team made every game go down to the final minutes. So now it’s time for some hoops, some girls’ soccer and wrestling. Look for updates on these teams as well as fall all-league selections in the next newsletter. Don’t forget that all team schedules are posted on the Web site and come on out and see a game!

Mark Tantrum

The Eagles’ soccer team finished with their first winning season ever following an 11-6 record, finishing fourth in the Private School Athletic League (PSAL). The team finished strong by winning seven out of their last nine games, almost earning a CCS playoff bid. They earned the respect of the entire league and actually beat two of the three teams that finished ahead of them, as they really jelled near the end of the season, a tribute to their coaches and players. The team had several all-league selections, but this intrepid reporter can’t say who, until after their team banquet on Dec 8th. Look for those honored in next month’s edition.

Middle & Upper School

Amy Huang, Gr. 10, has been taking Harker art classes since MS and is currently taking the Study of Visual Arts course. Her work has developed from an animé style to a more realistic and expressionistic style, and she’s worked on creating more realistic drawings and correct proportions in her art. Amy has worked with colored pencil, clay and acrylic paint, but when asked what her favorite medium is now, she said, “I enjoy computer art because there is an ‘undo’ button’.” It appears the good oldfashioned eraser has gone hi-tech!

Margaret McGovern

Way to go, Jenn Shangkuan, who finished fourth in the WBAL crosscountry championships at Coyote Hills, thereby earning first team WBAL honors! The course is a tough and demanding course, three miles up and down hills. Jenn is

Notre Dame SJ. After losing the first two games and being behind 14-11 in the fifth game that goes to 15, they scored 5 straight points for the win! It was an incredibly exciting match, as the Eagles just wouldn’t quit. Thanks to all of the fans who showed up to cheer on the girls. The team enters its fourth straight year of CCS competition against a tough Carmel HS team at Carmel. Hopefully the Eagles can pull off the upset, much like they did last year, in earning their way to the quarterfinals. Coach Smitty’s team has won four in a row entering the playoffs and hopes to keep the season rolling.

Margaret McGovern

Congratulations also go to Jenn Jenq for earning 1st Team WBAL and for leading Harker in the CCS golf tourney. The team went to CCS after winning their first-ever league golf title. In fact, this is Harker’s first league championship in the two-year-old West Bay Athletic League, and their first overall since the volleyball team won the CPSAL. All of the girls deserve commendation for a job well done. The team played in the CCS championship at Rancho Cañada Golf Course and finished 7th in the entire section, while enjoying the entire experience that goes along with being part of a successful team. Team members include Audrey Leung, Colleen Lee, Elyse Kim, Xin Wang, Tiffany Lau and Tiffany Chang. Coach Bob Dowling has done a tremendous job with the team this season!

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—Margaret McGovern, MS/ US Art Teacher

—Jack Bither, US Athletic Director

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Middle School

Second Annual Gr. 8 Grand Canyon Trip Made Learning Fun

■ MS Halloween Festivities

Students in Gr. 7 attended the 2nd annual academic expedition to the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. The class was divided into three travel groups and after enjoying breakfast together daily at the hotel, each group set out for a different destination. Groups explored red rock formations at Snow Canyon State Park; saw the extraordinary natural beauty at Bryce Canyon; viewed the North Rim of the Grand Canyon; visited pottery and going to Bryce Canyon. Elizabeth Cutler added, “The boating trip on Lake Powell was especially fun and so was seeing the dinosaur tracks.”

with black and orange balloons were set up inside and outside of Shah Hall where students could enjoy drinks, cupcakes, cookies and candy. After the party students gathered on the field in front of Shah Hall for a Pumpkin Carving Relay, organized by Mark Gelineau, MS English teacher and spirit advisor. Seventh and eighth grade homerooms joined together to make teams that competed to

Many thanks to our students for another great trip and to our

the homes of Brigham Young and Jacob Hamblin; traveled along the Vermilion Cliffs and went on a wilderness river adventure. Student Melody Lee thought Bryce Canyon “was really cool,” and Jonathan Liu said, “The Grand Canyon was much greener that I thought, with lots of plants.” Evening highlights included making Native American pottery, a Navajo experience, Petroglyph Party and the last night favorite activity of karaoke disco. John Zetterquist, MS social studies teacher, said the students particularly enjoyed making Native American

Halloween photos by Mark Tantrum

carve the best pumpkin in 10 minutes. “There were amazing results,” said Gelineau, who reported that the following teams all received spirit points: Team of McGovern - Gr. 7 and Chang - Gr. 8; team of Merrill - Gr. 8 and Davies - Gr. 7; team of Martinez Gr. 7 and Kadam - Gr. 8.

Dominique Dabija summed it up: “I liked all the activities they had to make learning more fun!”

chaperones for taking such good care of our students: Deanna Barnett, Henry Cunningham, Annette Fisher, Isabel Garcia, Mark Gelineau, Joe Gill, Deborah Martinez, Margaret McGovern, Leah Minnery, Stacie Newman, Michael Schmidt, Mark Tantrum and John Zetterquist.

Grand Canyon photos by Mark Tantrum & Margaret McGovern

A spirited group of MS parents treated the students to Halloween parties. Festive tables decorated

Harker News — December 03

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saratoga Students in Gr. 8 embarked on a new academic field trip the week of Nov. 10 to the island of Santa Catalina off the coast of Southern California to introduce them to island ecology, marine biology and natural and human history. Chaperones reported that the weather was gorgeous and students were able to participate in many activities as the groups rotated through exploring tide pools, snorkeling, kayaking, ocean canoeing, a plankton lab and lots of hiking. Student David Murdter said snorkeling was good, and he “especially liked seeing the leopard sharks.” “I was surprised by our kids’ strength, spirit, and energy to do all the water activities with so much enthusiasm,” said Raji Swaminathan, MS science teacher. “Kayaking was awesome!” reported student Aneesh Goel. Chris Nikoloff, asst. academic head, said he was extremely impressed with the caliber of the naturalists. “All of our naturalists were experienced and very informative,” he said. “They also really enjoyed our kids and were impressed with their behavior,” he added. Evenings included slide shows, night walks, night snorkeling and games. Night snorkeling was a popular activity where students used a night flashlight and observed lobsters, starfish and other sea creatures. “The last night campfire was fun…all of the skits were really funny,” said student Heidi Wang. “The finale for my group was a solo inspirational hike when each of us could be alone with nature and enjoy the beauty that was all around us at Camp Emerald Bay,” added Swaminathan.

Santa Catalina photos by Raji Swaminathan & Julie Pinzás

This first-ever Catalina Island trip was clearly a wonder ful success and a great experience for our 8th graders. Congratulations to our students for their enthusiastic participation in this trip and for impressing the naturalists with your knowledge and behavior. And many thanks to chaperones John Buckley, Chrissy Chang, Lorna Claerbout, Jacob Hazard, Steven Hewitt, Vandana Kadam, Simon Keilty, Kumi Matsui, Cyrus Merrill, Chris Nikoloff, Julie Pinzás, Raji Swaminathan, and Chris Yamashita for helping make this trip so special for the children! Harker News — December 03

AROUND Upper School ■ In October members of the US Biology Club, led by teacher Gary Blickenstaff, attended the 10th anniversar y celebration of the San Francisquito Creek Watershed Council. The group went on a bird watching hike, learning about and observing several different types of birds. They also visited several informational displays regarding various issues concerning the creek, including habitat destruction, the impact of introduced species such as the Chinese mitten crab, and restoration work being done to help native steelhead trout.

Mark Tantrum

■ Charmingly whimsical castles graced the main academic hallway during October as Marc Hufnagl’s period 3 and 8 Honors English II classes displayed castles they had created in Hufnagl’s annual castle project. Student teams first wrote an original chivalric romance of

which the castle was an integral part. Then the teams built the castles, wrote the romance scripts, rehearsed their parts, and then presented the castles and romances to their classes. “Congratulations to the teams for their excellent work,” said Hufnagl.

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Merit Scholarship Commendations In the last edition, the 35 Harker seniors achieving Semifinalist recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program were named. These students will go on to be considered in the naming of finalists in Februar y. In this edition we wish to recognize those who received Letters of Commendation. These students are now eligible candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses that support the National Merit Program: Pranab Barman, Shethal Bearelly, Aruna Bharathi, Ananda Bose, Andrew Chen, Jonathan Chung, Farhad Darbandi, Sameer Deen, Meghan Desale, Benjamin Douglas, Sean Dyal, Anita Gupta, Derek Hwang, Adi Jain, Munazzah Javid, Opal Kamdar, Daphne Karpel, Ethan Karpel, Laena Keyashian, Michelle Lauris, Vivian Leung, Simon Linder, Sergey Lossev, David Ly, Surbhi Mahendru, Ana Maheshwari, Deepa Mathew, Saahil Mehra, Rachel Meltzer, Elise Nguyen, Edward Peng, Payam Pirahesh, Thomas Polzin, Alex Reid, Rashmi Sanbhadti, Alexandra SelboBruns, Manu Srivastava, Sandeep Subhedar, Takeo Toyoshima, Rachael Warecki and Sean Weinstock. Congratulations to all these students for this wonder ful recognition. For more information about the National Merit Program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

Eric Nelson

The Robotics club was presented with the Driver Obstacle Course Award by Ken Kreiger of the Western Region Robotics Forum for Harker's recent success in Cal Games - go Robotics!

■ US HELM Wins Recognition Harker’s US literary magazine, HELM (Harker’s Eclectic Literary Magazine), was recently awarded a bronze medal certificate for its 2003 edition from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). Rachel Meltzer, this year’s editor of the annual student-run publication, said HELM received high praise from the reviewer for the content of the magazine, which includes student poetry, prose and artwork. The reviewer also commended the creativity and

staff

originality of many of the pieces, noting HELM’s strong and gritty character. “I think it says that our priority is getting student work into circulation, and we certainly have strong pieces to publish,” commented Meltzer. This year Meltzer would like to improve the structure of the magazine and earn a gold medal certificate. We congratulate last year’s HELM members and contributors, many of whom graduated last year, as well as this year’s talented students for their creative dedication to this literary publication.

update

■ Brian Larsen, US/MS Performing Arts, has received an Award of Excellence bestowed on him by the Outstanding Teacher Recognition Program of UC San Diego. The award states, “In recognition of your exceptional ability to inspire young people to achieve academic and personal excellence.” Former student David Meier Yendler, ’03, recommended Larsen for the award. ■ In November US math teacher and dept. chair Joanne Mason and math teacher Bradley Stoll conducted a hands-on Mathematica workshop for high school and college teachers entitled, “Using Mathematica Projects to Enhance Mathematical Reasoning” at the California Math Council conference in Palm Springs. Over 4,500 people from throughout Southern California, from kindergarten to college level, attend this annual conference. The Harker workshop was sponsored by Wolfram Research, Inc. and Apple Computer. Mason also presented at the 16th Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics (ICTCM) in Chicago in November. The topic, “A Comprehensive Technology-Intensive Curriculum in Advanced Secondary Mathematics,” was the first comprehensive presentation to the wider educational community of Harker’s mathematics program. Mason’s course covered the issues involved

with developing and implementing our technology-oriented curriculums, described the specific content of the curriculum and demonstrated projects done by students. Stoll also presented a workshop, “Teaching Calculus with Mathematica,” that focused on why he uses Mathematica in AP Calculus and the benefits it provides to the students. He showed off some student artwork that was done in Mathematica from his BC Calculus class last year, and he added that, “Everyone was thoroughly impressed!” ICTCM is one of the leading annual conferences for 4-yr and 2-yr college math educators using computer technology. A number of high schools, such as Harker, also attend. In January, Mason will be presenting at the American Mathematical Society/Mathematical Association of America Joint Mathematics Meetings in Phoenix in January. Watch the Feb. edition for a report. ■ MS English teacher Mark Gelineau was recently notified that his paper, “Evolution of a Big Bad: Marginalization of Spike as Prelude to Transformation,” has been accepted for presentation at the annual Slayage Conference on the hit TV series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Gelineau explained that the show itself is a staple in many university literature classes. He will present his work at the conference in Nashville, Tennessee, next May. Harker News — December 03

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Bonjour ~ Beausoir Concert Magnifique!

club of the month

This November evening of French and American music presented by the US Guys’ Gig, Cantilena and the MS Guys and Dolls in their premiere performance was trés magnifique!

Pam Dickinson

Harker’s newest student-run club, PULSE, is on the air!

Located at 102.3 FM on your radio dial, PULSE (Producing Underground Live Sound Entertainment) is run by 30 students and four faculty members and can be heard within a two-mile radius of Harker’s Saratoga Campus. Current on-air time is each school day during school hours. It offers a variety of music genres. all of which are played by either student or faculty DJs, including Paul Pickering’s Classic R& B and Hem Navangul’s Music of India. PULSE hopes to increase its on-air programs to include a comedy hour and a talk show.

2003-04 Harker US Mentoring Program

Terry Walsh

Halloween

Michael Leonard, student

All concert photos by Mark Tantrum

Held Nov. 6 in the FDR on the Saratoga campus, the per formance included Renaissance Parisian Chansons, traditional French art and folk songs, traditional American and Canadian folk and hymn tunes, traditional jazz and contemporary a cappella charts. Directed by Susan Nace (Guys’ Gig and Cantilena) and Sarah Lougheed (Guys and Dolls), the evening also featured guest ensemble performances by NoteWorthy, Harker’s new faculty and staff ensemble, and Much Ado, an US madrigal ensemble. “Merci!” and “Trés Bon!” to our wonderful performers!

The US held its 5th annual Pumpkin Carving spirit contest on Halloween. After the fun – and the mess! – the Class of ’06 ruled!

Harker News — December 03

Senior Sergey Lossev, one of the founding members of PULSE, is excited that Harker now has its own radio station. “It took a lot of work to set up the station. Liaising between students and faculty, meeting with the Head of School, obtaining funding and creating guidelines and a mission statement for the club were just a few of the things that we needed to do,” he said. To get funding they presented a proposal to Howard Nichols, president, “giving him an entrepreneurial opportunity he couldn’t pass up – an investment in student creativity and learning,” laughed Lossev. He added that there are still many obstacles PULSE is facing, but he’s confident they will achieve their goals, which include broadening their listening area by obtaining a license from the FCC and increasing their on-air time.

A luncheon orientation was held Mon., Oct. 27 for the 26 mentors who will be working with our juniors in this year’s Mentoring Program where students and adult mentors are matched to assist students in making informed career and college decisions. Career choice offerings in this program are diverse and include architecture, sports medicine, journalism and biotechnology. Mentors share information about their career paths in two off-site mentoring sessions, usually held at the site of each mentor’s business. Last year’s juniors overwhelmingly gave feedback that the mentoring experience greatly enhanced their knowledge of career choices and that the guidance and support of their mentors were both enjoyable and helpful to them. Mentors will gather again in March for a review of the sessions and a thank-you luncheon to acknowledge the valuable time they have given to our students. Watch the April issue for a wrap-up and photos of this great program!

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Harker’s JCL chapter performed very well at the annual fall Ludi Octobres (October Games), a Northern California Junior Classical League convention, held at St. Ignatius Prep in San Francisco. “Participating for only the sixth time, Harker was impressive in the academic tests and the Certamen,” said JCL advisor, John Hawley. The Ludi, held on Sat., Oct. 25, was attended by over 23 schools and included academic tests, workshops, sports, carnival and the Certamen, a quiz bowl event. In the five levels of Open Certamen (mixed schools on each team), four levels had Harker students on the top three teams. Two of these levels had Harker students on the teams that placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and Harker swept the HS1 Vocabulary

with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Special distinction goes to Allison Kwong, who placed first in three events. All combined, Harker MS and US students earned sixteen 1st place ribbons, eight 2nd place and seven 3rd place, with 22 Harker students receiving some sort of recognition. Congratulations to the Harker JCL on their “laurus” (victory)! MIDDLE SCHOOL MS 1- Vlad Furman, 1st Place, Latin Derivatives; 3rd Place, Certamen; 3rd Place, Long Jump. Nirupama Gadagottu, 1st Place, Certamen. Sonya Gilman, 1st Place, Reading Comprehension. Vivek Reddy, 2nd Place, Roman Histor y. Prachi Sharma, 1st Place, Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations. MS2: Shibani Mehta, 3rd Place,

COMMUNITY

Latin Vocabulary. Aarathi Minisandram, 2nd Place, Certamen. Ankur Sharma, 3rd Place, Certamen. Ruchi Srivastava, 1st Place, Certamen; 1st Place, Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations. UPPER SCHOOL HS1 - Yuanyuan Pao, 3rd Place Latin Vocabulary. Preeta Reddy, 1st Place, Latin Vocabulary. Sarah Swernofsky, 1st Place, Roman Histor y. Ariane Vartanian, 2nd Place, Latin Vocabulary; 1st Place, Reading Comprehension. HS2 - Colleen Lee, 1st Place Mythology. Alex Vuko, 1st Place, Certamen; 2nd Place, Mottoes Quotes and Abbreviations. HSAdv - Vivek Bansal, 1st Place,

Photos by John Hawley

Harker JCL Performance Impressive at Ludi

Roman Daily Life. Sridhar Chadalavada, 1st Place, Latin Grammar; 2nd Place, Certamen. Michael Kim, 2nd Place, Mythology. Richard Kwant, 2nd Place, Latin Vocabulary; 3rd Place, Latin Grammar. Allison Kwong, 1st Place, Mythology; 1st Place, Latin Decathlon; 1st Place, Certamen. Ivan Osokine, 3rd Place, Certamen; 3rd Place, Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations; 2nd Place, Latin Grammar. Sheena Tomar, winner of the Amici Raffle for meeting students from every school!

service

Freshman Service Day Benefits Many All 167 freshmen participated in Harker’s 5th annual Service Day where students worked with their advisee groups in a variety of service projects, including quality time with seniors and children, habitat restoration, food sorting and providing holiday cheer to families in transitional housing.

The quote, “Caring has the gift of making the ordinary special,” by Dr. George R. Bach is the theme chosen for this year’s US community service.

Service photos by various faculty members

The organizations visited this year were Arastradero Preserve, Beginning Steps to Independence, Emergency Housing Consortium - Sobrato Family Living Center, Lytton Gardens Senior Center, Palo Alto Veterans Hospital, Sacred Heart Community Center, St. Vincent DePaul Society and Terreno Gardens Hospice. Harker News — December 03

COMMUNITY

service

San Jose Beautiful

Harker Students Recognized for Work with Veterans

A variety of US students helped members of H.E.A.R.T. (Harker Environmental and Animal Rights Team) complete a San Jose Beautiful project in October by planting 200 daffodil bulbs near the front gate parking lot and in front of

JaJa Hsuan

An impressive assemblage of city, county and congressional figures attended the Veteran's Day Tribute to Service ceremony held in downtown San Jose Nov. 11, to honor veterans and award the President's Service Award to students involved in the Digital Clubhouse Network's (DCN) Stories of Service project. “What these kids have done…is going to make a lasting impression on our nation,” commented Lofgren during her presentation. Harker students made up 20% of the awards being presented countywide: Gold award (200+ hours) – Cristina Figueroa, Pia Pal, Greg Perkins, Alex Segal; Silver award (100 hours) – Philip Perkins, Shilpam Singh. Director of DCN, Warren Hegg, also recognized Harker separately, stating, “A special letter of commendation to The Harker School for exhibiting its strong leadership in fielding the top team of students for this program.” Special kudos to Perkins who was asked during the ceremony to share some spontaneous comments regarding his involvement with DCN.

the library. Come springtime we’ll all see the fruits of their labor, and Harker faculty members Phil Becker and Jaja Hsuan who supervised the activity said they enjoyed digging and chatting alongside the dedicated planting crew.

Key Club Community Visits Key Club members concluded their ongoing visitation recently with Lytton Gardens Senior Center in Palo Alto and the Emergency Housing Consortium – Baccardo Center in San Jose. Students played bingo with the seniors twice a month and participated in arts, crafts and mentoring with children.

The DCN’s Stories of Service project is an intergenerational program in which tech-savvy teens and adult volunteers together with WWII veterans document their wartime experiences in the form of short 3-5 minute multimedia documentaries called “digital stories.” In 2001 the DCN was invited by the Library of Congress to become a national partner of the Veterans History Project, a national campaign to record the oral histories of all veterans who served in time of war in the 20th Century. Now teams of youth video producers and adult storytelling mentors record the oral histories of local veterans to document how war affected individuals’ lives and America itself.

Canned Food Drive The US participated in a canned food drive to help feed those less fortunate during November. Each class earned spirit points for donating canned food, which students placed in barrels near the Dobbins Office. The freshman class received the most spirit points and earned the “Ultimate Giving” class title.

Open House Ambassadors Many students assisted at the annual open house events this year by leading tours, answering questions and giving student presentations and demonstrations. We extend our thanks to all for representing Harker in such an outstanding way!

Local oral histories and digital stories are being produced at five local community centers through May 1 and then will be submitted to the Smithsonian as part of the Stories of Service Project. They are also part of a six-month campaign to build public awareness about the new National WWII Memorial that will be dedicated in Washington D.C. on Memorial Day 2004. Congratulations to our students for their commitment to this project of preser ving the personal stories and legacy of our nation’s war veterans.

Pam Dickinson

BUCKNALL Guides - Neal Bhasin, Victoria Chan, Rex Chen, Christine Chien, Nikunj Donde, Anthony Fandrianto, Brennan Kee, Gautam Krishnamurthi, Katie Liang, Molly Mandell, Henna Mishra, Brianna Tran, Arjun Bhargava, Samir Datta, Carina Fernandes, Jackie Ho, Vivian Huang, Mahum Jamal, Yash Khandwala, Miriam Lee, Ketul Patel, Shanthi Rajagopalan, Colby Rapson, Priya Sathaye, Taryn Spiller, Natasha Thapliyal, Trent Titus, Amiti Uttarwar. Vivian Wong and Lung-Ying Yu.

Heart Club Campus Recycling

MIDDLE SCHOOL Presenters - Rachel Lo and Stephanie Benedict. Guides - Kevin Chen, Tiffany Liou, Tiffany Chang, Taylor Rapson, Angeli Agrawal, Becky Yanovsky, Mayur Kashi, Karlene McCallaCreary, Elizabeth Cutler, Jenny Fung, Tonia Sun, Sachin Rangarajan, DJ Blickenstaff, Tiffany Dell’Aquila, Carolyn Wang, Chanelle Kasik, Wendy Tsai and Vivek Maheshwari.

Guides - Alex Chen, Alex Dodd, Alfred See, Aline Zorian, Andrea Brisker, Andrew Hospodor, Anita Gupta, Anjali Vaidya, Anusha Reddy, Arkajit Dey, Avanti Deshpande, Bernie Lee, Christine Yeh, Christopher Xiao, Elise Nguyen, Emily Isaacs, Eric Gavarre, Eric Tzeng, Jacob Bongers, Jamie Wei, Joel Wright, Kathryn Lee, Karen Chiu, Lisa Schwebke, Matt Jones, Mina Lee, Payom Pirahesh, Rubina Chuang, Shilpa Vadodaria, Emily Hsi and Thomas McMahon. Harker News — December 03

Mark Tantrum

UPPER SCHOOL Presenters - Matt Jones, Anjali Vaidya, Anita Gupta, Joel Wright, Alfred See, Lisa Schwebke, Payom Pirahesh, Mina Lee, Eric Gavarre and Kathryn Lee.

The 25 student members of the US H.E.A.R.T Club take a great deal of interest in helping the Harker community recycle. Each Thurs. about 10 members make the rounds of the entire campus, carting around big recycle bins and collecting and emptying staff recycle boxes that teachers and staff leave outside their doors for them. A few others members do some special pickups at other times during the week. “I enjoy the task of recycling because it sort of makes me forget about all my other work and it is almost relaxing,” said Vani Pyda, Gr. 9 “I feel like I am really contributing to the Harker community.” Many thanks to the dedicated members of H.E.A.R.T. who contribute in such a valuable way to the Harker community with their recycling efforts!

FROM

the archives

The Ghosts of Halloween Past The photos of the annual Halloween Parade at Bucknall this month brought fond memories of Halloweens past to the History Committee. Here are some gems! We invite you to try answering the trivia questions connected with the bottom two.

PAMA Halloween - circa 1920

Incredibly simple yet very spooky costumes on the boys at PAMA. circa 1920.

summer

update

Upper School ■ An informational meeting was recently held for US parents to learn more about the 2004 Harker summer trip to the Galapagos Islands. “This fascinating trip offers an educational experience that can’t be duplicated in any classroom - it is truly an experience of a lifetime,” said Diana Nichols, head of school. Dates for this year’s trip are June 11-23, 2004. For more information, contact US Biology and Human Anatomy teacher Anita Chetty at anitac@harker.org and watch for more information in the coming months. ■ US Summer Institute offerings will be posted and materials available at the end of January. We’ll also keep you posted on additional opportunities for trips abroad as they develop.

K-8 Campers ■ Watch for next year’s exciting summer information in the mail and on the Web in mid-January. New this year (after listening to your suggestions!), we’re launching a pilot program during the first session of shorter twoweek camps, so stay tuned for details!

Harker to Host National Teacher Institute

Beauty Queens - 1988 ARCHIVE TRIVIA #1: Only at Harker could you find the After School Sports Queen, the Swimming Pool Queen and the P.E. Dept. Queen! Look closely at those faces —five of those queens are still working at Harker. Who are they?

Registration has begun for a Summer Institute course Harker is offering in June for science, mathematics and computer science teachers nationwide from high schools, 2-year colleges and 4-year colleges. Entitled “Teaching with Mathematica and Project Learning,” it will feature beginning and intermediate courses in Mathematica, integrated with a workshop on designing, planning and carr ying out project learning activities in mathematics and science. Joanne Mason, US math teacher and dept. chair, said that registrations are already coming in from all over the country for this weeklong course that will be taught to fellow educators by Mason as well as Bradley Stoll, US math teacher; Robb Cutler, AP computer science teacher and chair of the computer science dept.; Eric Nelson, US science teacher; and Daniel Hudkins, director of instructional technology.

month

Next month we'll have recaps and photos about these exciting Harker trips, events and activities:

Bruised Brothers - 1985

■ Photos and a recap of the 2003 US Conservatory production of

“Hamlet.” ARCHIVE TRIVIA #2: In 1985 the Blues Brothers were a popular band, so these Harker teachers mimicked the band for Halloween by coming as the Bruised Brothers! Those three teachers are still here today. Who are they?

■ Holiday outreach recap - from food drives to community performances,

Harker students give back in a big way. ■ Countdown to the first annual Harker Fashion Show - last chance to get

your tickets! ■ MS math teacher Cindy Kerr will report on her experience as a visiting

teacher at the Tamagawa Gakuen, our sister school in Japan. ■ Feature about our two interna-

tional students this year, Ivo Salemink of the Netherlands and Oliver Janik from the Slovak Republic, and how they're enjoying their time at Harker and in the U.S.A.

The first Harker employee AND the first parent, student or alumni to e-mail terryw@harker.org with the right answers to both Archive Trivia questions this month will each win their choice of one of the following Harker Logo Store items: beer glass, wine glass or coffee mug. The Harker News is published nine times per year by the Harker Office of Communications. Current and archived issues are also available on the Parent Home Page on the Harker Web site at www.harker.org. Editor: Pam Dickinson Asst. Editor: Terry Walsh Photographer: Mark Tantrum Additional photos: Chris Daren & Talon Staff

Design: Blue Heron Design Printing & Mailing: Communicart Mailing Coordinator: Bran-Dee Torres Contributors: Crystal Boyd, Laura Vandendries & Elizabeth Orr

The Harker School is a K-12 independent, co-ed, college-prep school.

Grades K-6: 4600 Bucknall Rd., San Jose CA 95130 Phone 408.871.4600 • Fax 408.871.4320 Grades 7-12: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose CA 95129 Phone 408.249.2510 • Fax 408.984.2325

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 nonjob-related handicap.

Harker News — December 03