2004 October Harker News by The Harker School

OCTOBER 2004 (VOL. 11, NO. 1)

M O N T H L Y

N E W S L E T T E R

A special tour for faculty and staff was arranged with the current tenants recently so teachers in grades 6 to 8 could view their classrooms and become familiar with what will be the new middle school campus in the fall of 2005.

S P E C I A L Alumni Edition

Alumni Update - pg. 18

H A R K E R

S C H O O L

short term and allows additional time for the construction of the new buildings needed on the Saratoga Campus.

Harker’s long term lease of this campus provides Harker students and programs with muchneeded space in the

The California State Architect’s Of fice recently approved Harker’s preliminar y plans for the Blackford facility upgrades, and architect and board member David Takamoto is working on final plans. Watch the newsletter each month for more updates on this exciting move!

One Big Weekend Two Big Events! 4th ANNUAL Homecoming Fri., Oct. 15, 2004 J.V. Football Game 4 p.m.

Asst. Head of School - academics, Jennifer Gargano, helps lead the recent Blackford tour while teachers stroll the campus, review maps and make notes of their classroom needs.

Picnic Memories of Howard Launch Year of Tribute

Pre-game Festivities 7 p.m.

Editor’s Note: The Harker community has chosen to devote our monthly “From the Archives” feature this year to sharing stories, letters, photos and anecdotes that honor Howard and Diana Nichols as they prepare to retire at the end of this school year. Join us as we honor their tremendous accomplishments, celebrate their achievements and recall some wonderful memories of their years at Harker! Log on to the

Varsity Football Game 7:30 p.m. Foothill College, Los Altos See back page for details

PLUS… 54th ANNUAL Family & Alumni Picnic

Harker Archives

Sun., Oct. 17

See pgs. 4 & 5 for details

T H E

MS Teachers Tour New Campus

october

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saratoga Campus

F R O M

Chris Daren- all photos

est. 1893 • K-12 college prep

Tribute to the Nichols link on the Web site, or e-mail me at pamd@harker.org if you have memories or kudos about Howard and Diana that you’d like to share! Dear Howard, I remember the phone call in July 1985: “Hi, Lynette, this is Howard Nichols - I hear you throw a good party. How would you like to come in and talk about the Family Picnic?” (An offer I couldn’t refuse). Of course, I wondered what I was getting myself into. My children were going into the fifth and first grades, and I had led a rather peaceful Harker existence, volunteering to help with school events, class parties and the like. Then,

suddenly, I found myself on the way to the local Ford dealership with Harker’s headmaster and dean of students to purchase the first prize for the picnic raffle, my first official duty as chair of the Family Picnic. You and Dan Gelineau were so enthusiastic. I knew then and there that this was the start of a great friendship. I quickly learned that you were not only kind and generous, but decisive and bold, and very, very wise. I also learned that a certain young staffer, Miss Kelly Espinosa, could always make you laugh. It has always been very special getting to know your fun-loving side firsthand, and I know that Kelly and many others feel the same way. Most of all, we admire and appreciate your genuine love of children. And I think we have all come to find out over the years that continued on pg. 5

important We received some great suggestions and comments from our families last year in our June Communications Survey - many thanks for taking the time. It helped us know what to keep doing, and what might need some work (check out our new improved Parent Home Page on our Web site!). We're working on many more ideas as time allows, so stay tuned! See you Homecoming Weekend! —Pam Dickinson, Director Office of Communications pamd@harker.org

sports “Teenage boys and grown men aren’t known to hug all that often, but a world record for hugs and high fives may well have been set!” —Jack Bither See exciting sports recap on pg. 13!

volunteer BKN Music Class Volunteer Needed The Bucknall Intermediate Strings class is in need of a parent volunteer to help on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. to generally supervise the class and get them started with tune-ups, etc. while orchestra music teacher, Richard Frazier, travels from his last STG class to the BKN campus. Frazier will train volunteers, but those with previous musical experience as music teachers or musicians would be ideal. E-mail Richard Frazier at richardf@harker.org.

■ Wed., Oct. 13 - Harker Freshmen Service Day

Free Admission for Harker Families to Common Ground Speaker Series

■ Fri., Oct. 15 - Homecoming Pre-game Festivities, 7 p.m., Foothill College (see back page for details)

“Combating Today’s Media Culture” —Diane E. Levin, PhD

■ Sun., Oct. 17 - 54th Annual Family and Alumni Picnic, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. (see pgs. 4 & 5 for details)

Several dates and locations (see below)

■ Sun., Oct. 24 - Model Tryouts (see Web site for times & details), STG Campus

Harker parents, faculty and staff of all grade levels are invited free of charge to attend any of the presentations sponsored by Common Ground, an organization Harker recently joined. According to their Web site, this organization offers “programs and opportunities for parents from member schools to come together to communicate, share, support, and learn from experts in the field of education and parenting.”

important october dates ■ Mon., Oct. 11 - Columbus Day – No Classes

■ Fri., Oct. 29 - BKN Halloween Parade, 2:45 p.m.

Model Tryouts - Sun., Oct. 24, 2004 Saratoga Campus All Harker parents and students in grades 6-12 are eligible to audition to rock the runway as a model in this year’s show!* Models for the show will be selected by an independent panel of judges not affiliated with the Harker School. Visit the Harker web site for more detailed information about the audition process and to download registration forms. *Downbeat, BKN Dance Ensemble and US Dance Troop members will be performing in the shows and are not eligible to audition. Grades K-5 students may audition only if they have a parent who was officially a member of an established fashion show committee as of Sept. 15, 2004.

Volunteers Off to Great Start The start of school for the students also meant the start of a great volunteer year for our parents at recent volunteer signup events, organized by Nancy Reiley, Harker’s community relations director. At the MS volunteer signup reception, held around the swimming pool following

orientation, Reiley said the Picnic and Fashion Show committees were “revved, and enthusiasm ran high.” Reiley added that over 200 parents, many of them new, attended the BKN volunteer signup and enjoyed sitting over breakfast and chatting, and that the US parents enjoyed a breakfast gathering. Jessica Liu ’04 - both photos

editor’s note

notes

The next presentation, “Combating Today’s Media Culture,” by Diane E. Levin, PhD will be held at The Nueva School, Hillsborough – Oct. 13, 7 p.m.; St. Andrew’s School, Saratoga – Oct. 14, 7 p.m., and at the Foley Center at St. Joseph’s of Sacred Heart, Atherton – Oct. 15, 9 a.m. Guests from non-member schools are welcome, but must pay a $20 fee at the door.

Account Statements Now Available Through E-mail or Fax! In Harker’s continuing efforts to reduce and consolidate the mail sent to our families whenever possible, the Finance Office will now offer the option of statement delivery through e-mail or fax. Beginning with the October 2004 statements, Harker families will receive both e-mail and paper mail copies of account statements, and then will continue to receive both forms until parents register their preference of mail, e-mail or fax delivery with Finance. Or go online to the Parent Home Page and click on the Information Update Link. Contact Accounting Supervisor Adnan Alibegovic at adoa@harker.org with your preference, or if you have questions about this new service. Harker News — October 04

HARKER

welcome

We warmly welcome the following new students and their families, as well as our new faculty and staff, to Harker. We wish you all a fabulous year!

students

faculty

Payal Agarwal • Joanna Ahn • Ankur Ahuja • Sana Aladin • Chelsie Alexander • Joelle Anderson • Kian Ansari • Kengo Aoshima • Leeza Arbatman • Aditi Ashok • Michael Auld • Isaac Ball • Nila Banerjee • Priya Banerjee • Simran Bansal • Shoshana Baston • Nicolas Bean • Jacob Beine • Esther Belogolovsky • Ashwin Bhardwaj • Sneha Bhetanabhotla • Claire Bourquin • Elena Bronder-Chang • Hien Bui • Vi Bui • Viet Bui • An Bui • Amy Burke • Kilian Burke • Connor Buss • Patrick Campbell • Ethan Carlson • Benjamin Carpenter • Tracey Chan • Janise Chan • Allison Chang • Jacob Chappell • Sabrina Chen • Kevin Chen • Catherine Chiu • Eileen Cho • Lauren Choi • Emily Chow • Paul Christiano • Benjamin Chu • Brittany Chu • Maile Chung • Da-Yoon Chung • Caitlin Contag • Justin Culpepper • William Cumpston • Natasha Dandia • Shival Dasu • Nik Datuashvili • Quentin Delepine • Lydia Demissachew • Alec Kai Deng • Mallika Dhaliwal • Aditya Dhar • Evan Dorrian • Jazmine Eubanks • Charlie Fang • Sarah Fingerhood • Elan Friedland • Helena Gali • Madeline Gali • Maya Gattupalli • Alexis Gauba • Patrick Gendotti • Mia Giammona • Akum Gill • Shivani Gohil • Austen Goldman • Richa Goyal • Shubha Guha • Christopher Guimarin • Anika Gupta • Arben Gutierrez-Bujari • Zachary Heerwagen • Alison Henden • Rachael Henry • Jacob Hoffman • Samantha Hoffman • Laura Holford • Catherine Hu • Catherine Huang • Derek Huang • Shazdeh Hussain • Valerie Hwa • Matthew Im • Noriko Ishisoko • Todd Jackson • Naitri Jadeja • Aashish Jain • Neelansh Jain • Nidhi Jain • Raghav Jain • Siddhant Jain • Sneha Jain • Aamir Javaid • Rowland Jiao • Mark Johnson • Aditi Joshi • Anjali Joy • Chetana Kalidindi • Anuj Kamdar • Filitsa Kamenis • Preethi Kandappan • Sandhana Kannan • Katrina Kao • Philip Kendall • Sohini Khan • Stephanie Kim • Alexandra Kipnis • Kyle Kitasoe • Kristen Ko • Vedang Kothari • Joseph Krackeler • Vinay Kumar • Sejin Kwag • Jenny Kwon • Alexander Lam • Khan Lam • Erika Lee • Paul Lee • Eunice Lee • Christina Li • Roslyn Li • Grace Liang • Catherine Liaw • Scott Lin • Stacy Lin • Kristina Little • Edith Liu • Connie Lu • Tsung-Ju Lu • Brian Ma • Conor Martin • Dorsa Massipour • Robert Maxton • Alexandra May • Rohan Mehra • Kunal Mehta • Adrienne Mendel • Jason Mendel • Montana Miller • Alexander Miller • Amrita Misha • Kyle Mui • Moneesha Mukherjee • Kavitha Narra • Nicholas Navarro • Chandler Nelson • Devin Nguyen • LeAnn Nguyen • Eric Nguyen • Sean Nierat • Madhuri Nori • Edward Oh • Anika Padwekar • Tara Parimi • Andy Park • Sarah Payne • Mark-Phillip Pebworth • Alex Pei • Lenka Pelakova • Adam Perelman • Andrew Perez • Svetlana Petrova • Gregory Plauck • Christopher Polson • Veronica Pugin • Dawn Queen • Amanda Quon • Deepa Ramakrishnan • Glenn Reddy • Vikram Reddy • Daniel Reidenbach • Ava Rezvani • Tara Rezvani • Alayna Richmond • Priyesha Sachdev • Aneesh Samineni • Krish Sanghi • Venkat Sankar • Syliva Schmidt • Jonathan Schwartz • Jacob Schwartz • Isabella Scott • Srikrishna Seeni • Savita Senthil • Kavya Seth • Saloni Shah • Priyanka Sharma • Sumeet Sharma • James Shaver • Jonathan Shih • Michael Shwe • Denzil Sikka • Noor Singh • Jaskaran Sohi • Kayvon Solaimanpour • Surya Solanki • Jessica Son • Meilan Steimle • Brandon Stoll • Sharon Su • Hari Subramani • Jerry Sun • Steven Sun • Sushant Sundaresh • Indica Sur • Sravan Surapaneni • Marti Sutton • Megan Swanson • Dan Swezey • Stephanie Syu • Koshu Takatsuji • Jeffrey Tan • Ruth Tepper • Ishani Thakur • Jordan Thompson • Brendan Tobin • Cassandra Tran • Chia-Yow Tsai • Michael Tseitlin • Shreya Tumu • Ankita Uppugunduri • Nihal Uppugunduri • Mark VanAken • Ryan Vaughan • Jithin Vellian • Namitha Vellian • Abhishek Venkataramana • Gwyneth Vernon • Avni Wadhwa • Allison Wang • Lucas Wang • Frank Wang • Jonathan Wang • Christopher Watkins • Ashley Watt • Nikolas Weisbloom • Alan Wells • Alexander Whitman • Kristin Wong • Ellen Wu • Michael Wu • Eric Wu • Lucy Xu • Raymond Xu • Henry Yan • Kathleen Yang • Patrick Yang • Gloria Ye • Ava Lauren Yee • Christina Yee • Preston Yeung • Hann-Shuin Yew • Tiffany Yu • David Zhu • Brandon Zwier

LS - Karen Glovka, Spanish; Roxann Hagemeyer, Music; Mary Holaday, Gr. 1; Katherine Sommer, Gr. 2, Rebecca Williams & Christine Decaporale, Language Arts; Gerry-Louise Robinson, Primary PT.

Harker News — October 04

MS - Timothy Culbertson, Comp. Sci.; Scott Graham, Margaret Wright, Camila Valdes & Patricia Brower, Math; Doug Knight & Patricia Lai, English; Michael Smith, Exp. Writing. US - Anne Douglas, John Hanlon & Pauline Paskali, English; David Feinberg, & Richard Page, Comp. Sci.; Rachel Freed, William Leibowitz & Sandra Song, Science; Timothy Mahoney, Debate; Spencer Shaw, Math; Ramsay Westgate & Carol Zink, History.

staff Ali Abdollahi, PT Writer, Communications; Crystal Boyd, Publications Coordinator, Communications; Nicole Brink, LS Counselor; Kristin Carlson, Asst. to Head of School; Sally Cruz, PT Cook; Alistair Grant, US College Counselor; Jennifer Helmonds, Director of Harker Fund; Lesa Malone, Cook; Emily Manigo, Security Officer; Renea Renella, Asst. to US Dean; Ashley Sukovez, PT Asst., Communications; Patricia Watt, PT Payroll clerk. BKN Rec Staff: Jesus Banuelos, Maureen Connolly, Anthony Elias, Kathy Ewers, Florence Lee, Mychal Lynch, David Payne, Jared Ramsey, Tobias Wade and Amy Wu. STG Rec Staff: Angelica Nieves.

Cool Welcome at MS Pool Party

Chris Daren - all photos

New Gr. 7 & 8 students were welcomed to Harker with a tour of the campus, a pool party and refreshments in late August before school started. Each new student had a returning student volunteer, known as a “buddy,” who welcomed the student and supported them during the first few weeks of school. “There were 70 students attending the pool party, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all,” said Deanna Barnett, MS head of academic counseling.

PICNIC

preview

54th Annual Family & Alumni Picnic

here! e b l l ’ u o y e p o H Paradise at ssports to Buy your Pa order onool Night or Back to Sch er.org and .picnic@hark line at www mailed, can either be your tickets ild or picked with your ch e m ho nt se . Admission al Tuesdays up on Tropic at the nce or $10 is $7 in adva der 4 are er 75 or un gate. Kids ov s end Oct. e ticket sale nc va Ad ! ee fr day! your order to 8, so place

milies All Harker Fa ace 54 Picnic Pl CA 101704 Farenwide,

Tropical Tuesdays are Coming! Each Tuesday from Sept. 21 to Oct. 12, there will be special activities and fun events for grades K-8 to boost their island spirit! “Picnic in Paradise” t-shirts may be worn in place of the usual white polo (uniform pants or skirts are still required).

Sun., Oct. 17, 2004 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saratoga Campus

T-shirts will be available at Back to School Nights, Room Parent Meetings and on the BKN campus on Monday afternoons. Proceeds from t-shirt sales will benefit the Picnic’s contribution to the Harker Fund!

Picnic Committee Kids – It’s All in the Family!

Jessica Liu ’04

make us all so very proud! Most recently they gathered together on both campuses to promote our new “Picnic in Paradise” t-shirts for sales throughout the school, just

another way to show school spirit and be the best helpers a Picnic Committee could ever have. Way to go guys! Seasoned veteran, Tom Polzin ’04 having just begun his studies at Georgetown University (we miss you Tommy!) has joined the ranks of other faithful Picnic alums. including Kate MS ’89 and Tom MS ’93 Wilson, Bennet Meyers MS ’01, Missie Smith MS ’92, Erin Schwartz ’04, and those Stapleton kids, Sam MS ’89 and Emily MS ’93, to name a few — some of whom still help out today. Our current student volunteers, along with some new arrivals, include: Lauren and John Ammatuna, Megan and Matthew Azebo, Cooper and Cayden Berkmoyer, Casey Blair, Emily Carr, Guillaume and Tiphanie Delepine, Matt and Christine Emery, Michael and Rachel

Hammersley, Regan Heslop, Aakash and Suraj Jagadeesh, Izabella and Alexandra Kipnis,

Chris Daren

Ever wonder about the volunteers of tomorrow? Well, we have those volunteers TODAY...and they’re none other than our Picnic Committee Kids! These loyal helpers manage to move boxes, carry prizes, paint signs, decorate booths, work alongside mom or dad (or both!), eat tons of pizza, giggle (a lot!), spend some time running around the field and trying out the games (with supervision, of course!) - and most importantly,

Alisha and Natasha Mayor, Sho Okubo, Jordan Peetz, Christophe and Stephan Pellissier, Amanda and Shanna Polzin, Michael and Hannah Prutton, Mackenzie Schwartz, Patrick Smith, and Alex and Scott Underwood. All in all, the students love to par ticipate in the Family Picnic and are great suppor ters of their parents, as well. It takes patience, but it can be lots of fun, too! Stephan Pellissier, Gr. 3, says, “I like that my mom works

so much on the Picnic because it means we get to do what we want that day, because she is so busy!” While his brother, Christophe, Gr. 5, likes the Picnic, “Because it is for ever yone: families and friends.” Emily Carr, Gr. 8 sums it up: “In my eyes, all of the kids that do the odd jobs are willing and eager to help. We all want to be a part of the wonderful group who helps put the Harker Family Picnic together year after year. The experience is magical, and it feels great to see our hard work pay off in such a big way for the school.” Thanks, Emily! And thanks to all of our student volunteers who make this so much fun!! —Lynette Stapleton, Harker Picnic Chair since ’85 Harker News — October 04

Get ready to make your way through the fiery lava of the Volcano Village or enjoy some time in Pirates’ Cove, matey! And don’t forget to relax and enjoy some “tiny bubbles” in the Tiki Tap Room of the great Tiki Palace.

And Mahalo!

A very big thank you to the

roomparents, homeroom picnic coordinators and grade level coordinators for all of their help recruiting volunteers and gathering prizes. Thanks are also extended to all of our generous sponsors and donors. We wouldn’t be enjoying a picnic in paradise without them – watch for names in the next newsletter!

Tribute cont. from pg. 1 along with being a great administrator, you are a natural born teacher. I often marveled at the way you addressed the children in the Picnic rallies. Whether it was the Kindergarten or the eighth grade, you always knew just what to say

and how to say it. Of course, sometimes you were dressed rather, well, colorfully – and I guess that was usually my fault – but I always appreciated your willingness to take center stage in order to generate community spirit for the event and for the school. One year you were a colonial patriot, another a Hollywood producer, and most recently, The Wizard, himself! But, of course, nothing could compare to the day you rode the length of Dobbins Field on a horse to promote the western theme for Harker Hoedown ‘96! The ride was more than memorable, and the students were delighted! I especially loved the fact that on that day, and after each rally, you would typically say, “How did I do?” and the answer was always the same – “Great!” – because you were! Harker News — October 04

We always know that it’s picnic time at Harker when you arrive on the field, with binder firmly tucked under your arm, wearing shorts and your trademark straw hat, with your trusty tape measure in hand. The games are always set up with precision because of one person – you! (Oh, and maybe J.R. Del Alto and Mike Bassoni, too!). Most people probably don’t know that every year you and Kelly and now, Joe Gill, meet the teachers on the field on the Friday before the Picnic to review the play of the games. Then on Saturday you personally test each and every game,

sometimes to make sure we’ve got it right, and sometimes just for fun. You’ve come a long way since the days of the Palo Alto Academy bicycle drills and the Harker Day School maypole. Those were before my time at Harker, and Kelly’s, too. But according to Phyllis Carley, long time supporter and board member, you were always there for everything Harker.....every step of

Harker Archives - all photos

Greetings from Harker Island

the way, and that includes the Family Picnic. In fact, you know more about the Family Picnic than anyone. You were there when Bob Sparkman, (father of Patty ’82) suggested the addition of carnival games to the picnic in the late ‘70s, and you were also there when the booths used to arrive the night before the event. Do you remember how many times you went into the Picnic dunk tank, or became a target for the sponge throw? (These may be times you choose to forget!) Well, I remember that you were always the best of sports for anything and everything we might ever ask you to do.

solution. There are two phrases that come to mind – one that we often say among ourselves, and one that we love to say to you. The first is “Howard will know what to do!,” and the other is, “Thank you Mr. Nichols…this is why you’re the President!” So as you approach your final Picnic as president of The Harker School, we hope you have a grand

But it’s not just your funloving side that we love and admire. You are still the man of vision, the decisionmaker, and the one we always turn to whenever we have a problem like, perhaps, the imminent threat of rain. You always lean back in your chair, think for a moment, and unfailingly come up with a definitive answer, or at least a reasonable

time enjoying the community that you and Diana have so carefully built. And please remember: we love you Mr. Nichols, but we don’t plan to miss you because we know that you’re going to be a part of the Family Picnic for many years to come! The best to you always…you’re truly one of a kind! Your friend, Lynette Stapleton

FASHION

show 2005

Mini Summer Fashion Show

Save the Date…

Over the summer the Fashion Show committee was rockin’, holding meetings, procuring sponsors, selling ads, etc. At the July meeting, a mini-fashion show featuring Harker children modeling clothing from Lollipop got everyone in the mood. Many thanks to our mini-models Nathan Boone, Justin Culpepper, Aura Dave, Regan Heslop, Annika Jackson, Todd Jackson, Aparna Mamidanna, Araby Martin, Conor Martin, Mary Najibi, Ankita Neeti, Isabella Nicoletti, Maneesha Panja, Raveena Panja, Sindhu Ravuri, Kayvon Solaimanpour, Madison Tomihiro, Chloe Vandendries, and Nikka Vandendries.

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 Fairmont Hotel, San Jose 11 a.m. 5:30 p.m.

Luncheon and Fashion Show Dinner Gala with Fashion Show, Live Auction & Dancing

Sponsored by

Mark your calendars for a rocking good time at Harker’s second annual fashion show fundraising event! Dine on fabulous Fairmont cuisine, enjoy the amazing talents of the Harker performing arts groups, and be dazzled by our own Harker students, parents, staff and alumni as they rock the runway modeling fabulous fashions from the prestigious Santana Row! Please join us for this special event. Together, we will rock the town!

Inaugural FS Gets Star Plaque At the August meeting Howard and Diana Nichols unveiled a memorial Hollywood startype plaque, inset in the walkway in front of Dobbins Hall, honoring the inaugural co-chairs who launched this new annual event: Christine Davis, Ellen Harris and Marcia Riedel. These inaugural co-chairs also presented a plaque memorializing the inaugural committee that now hangs on the wall outside the doors of the Saratoga Library.

Tickets on Sale October 18! Proceeds benefit the Harker Scholarship Fund, the Teachers Fund and the new Math, Science and Technology Center.

Visit the Web site for Information on: Nick Gassmann

■ ■ ■ ■

Model Tryouts (also see pg. 2) Committee Info and Contacts Sponsorships Program Advertising

■ Event Ticket Sales ■ Showcase Donation Drawing ■ Grand Prize Tickets

Or e-mail us at fashionshow@harker.org! 6

THANKS

—Event Co-chairs: Shyamoli Banerjee, Reshma Dave, and Greta Jackson

“Thank you!” to the major sponsors who have already committed to supporting Rock the Runway: Swanson Foundation, Santana Row, Linear Technology, San Jose Magazine, Wells Fargo, Communicart Graphics & Printing, Davis Family Foundation, Diamond Quality Printing, Newpath Ventures, Sathaye Family Foundation, TMFC Inc, Blue Heron Design Group, Denise Brodersen of UBS Financial Services, Frank, Rimerman & Co. LLP, the Harris Family, the Riedel Family, and XL Construction.

Harker News — October 04

ANNUAL

giving Welcome to Harker’s 112th academic year! We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing summer with your family. We are pleased to share with you news about The Harker Fund and our 2004-05 Annual Giving campaign, Encore! For the Margin of Excellence. The Annual Giving Campaign is our primary avenue for fundraising and is conducted every year (fiscal year is June 1, 2004 through May 31, 2005) to support our immediate needs as requested by teachers, department heads and the administration. All funds raised directly support the “margin of excellence” extras that enrich overall student experiences and over the last several years, contributions have provided support for several program areas including: Technology hardware/ software for Labs, Student-run clubs, Library resources, Recreational equipment, Educational Contests, Athletics, Performing Arts equipment, Visual Arts program, Classroom supplies, Scholarships and MUCH MORE! Your donation to the Annual Giving Campaign helps our school offer the very best instructional material, equipment, programs and extracurricular activities that enhance student experiences here at Harker. Thanks to our generous and supportive community of alumni, parents, grandparents, parents of alumni, trustees, faculty, staff, corporations and friends, the Annual Giving Campaign continues to strengthen the success of our school.

You are an important part of The Harker School’s

An Encore Goal for the Margin of Excellence Last year, our community united to raise $1 million for our students and this year our students would be grateful for an encore per formance for the margin of excellence! This year, Harker’s Development Council parent volunteers set goals to once again meet the needs of our students and teachers. We invite you to show your spirit again and help to: ■ increase parent participation across all grade levels. ■ increase overall Harker community participation from alumni, grandparents and friends. ■ raise $1 million for the margin of excellence – our student programs and services.

community and Your 2004-05 Development Council Parent Volunteers at Work!

continuing

Our dedicated and enthusiastic group of 80 parent volunteers will be hard at work this fall raising funds for this year’s “margin of excellence” list of student program enhancements and resources. We are determined to increase parent and community participation this year and we hope you will share our passion for outstanding programs by contributing today. Also, welcome to these new Harker Development Council members: Alice Chi - Gr. 5; Taruna Punj - Gr. 9; John Hawley - Gr. 12; Carol Zink - Gr. 12.

Your annual participation is vital to sustain the breadth and

Nick Gassmann

success.

2003-04 Annual Report

depth of our

Annual Report publications were mailed to the Harker community in September. We would like to thank our many donors who have made contributions of time, spirit and support in 2003-04. Your generosity is truly appreciated and our entire student body applauds you!

student programs.

Be sure to look inside the Annual Report for information on this year’s campaign and for all the ways you can help provide the margin of excellence for our students!

October Phonathon Reminder Parent volunteers on Harker’s Development Council will be contacting families during our annual October Phonathons the week of Oct. 4 - 8. Please be generous!

PLEDGE BY OCT. 17! Harker News — October 04

WIN A CHANCE FOR A WONDERFUL NAPA WEEKEND GETAWAY Harker wants to make giving a gift to our school as easy, enjoyable and rewarding as possible, so those who pledge to the Annual Giving Campaign by Oct. 17 will be eligible for an incentive Napa weekend drawing at the end of the day at the 54th Annual Family & Alumni Picnic.

Make your pledge today! 7

FACULTY Editor’s Note: During the summer, many teachers spend time honing their craft and advancing their knowledge to make the classroom even more exciting for their students. Here are just a few examples of how Harker teachers spent their summer. Watch next month’s edition for a recap of teachers who participated in Harker’s Summer Tech Grants! ■ Elementary math teacher Kristen Janiak was awarded Outward Bound’s Gates Leadership Scholarship granted to students and educators who demonstrate leadership potential and incorporate experiential learning techniques in their classrooms, and was invited to participate in a seven-day Educator’s Course in canoeing during the summer sponsored by Outward Bound. ■ US Spanish teacher Diana Moss, MS Spanish teacher Isabel Garcia and fellow Spanish teacher Margarita Vincent organized a week of Spanish Immersion for advanced students near Tahoe this past summer, and were assisted by US Spanish teacher Paul Pickering and MS Spanish teacher Julie Pinzas. Participants spoke only Spanish for the entire week while enjoying various outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, rafting, cooking, music, dance, skits and games. ■ US Latin teacher John Hawley chaperoned an organized tour of six Harker students through Italy to acquaint them with Renaissance Italy, making stops in Venice, Florence, Siena, Rome and Pompeii. He also accompanied 11 Harker students to the University of Richmond in VA for the 51st National Junior Classical League Convention (NJCLC), where he served as the Modern Myth Contest Chair. (See Staff Update on back page for more on Hawley). ■ Director of performing arts Laura Lang-Ree spent her summer finetuning her skills by returning to several classrooms - as a student. “I’ve found that one of the best ways to sharpen my creative thinking as a performing arts teacher is by going back into the classroom and just listening to how great teachers teach, and following their direction,” she said. Looking for that ever-cool new fashion show move for Downbeat, Lang-Ree said she took several classes in jazz

summers and tap dance, as well as voice and yoga. ■ MS science teacher Raji Swaminathan toured numerous educational sights this summer and plans to share her experiences with her students this school year. The highlights include Isaac Newton’s original Principia Mathematica at Cambridge University in England, and two schools she visited in India where she saw children eager to learn in cramped, over-crowded classrooms and older students being forced into stereotypical gender-specific roles. “I would like to share all these experiences with my classes and let them know how fortunate they are here in this country,” she said. ■ US debate teacher Tim Mahoney spent four weeks at the Spartan Debate Institute at Michigan State University, a program designed to help students prepare and research the debate topic for the upcoming year: United States support for United Nations peacekeeping operations. “This will help me give students a jump-start on their research and preparation for the upcoming debate season,” he said. ■ US English teacher Brigid Flanagan will share photographs and the experiences of her summer visit and tour of the new Globe Theatre in London with her British Literature students. ■ MS English department chair James Eagen taught a class to Gr. 5-8 students called Base Camp at the Turtle Rock Institute in Corte Madera, which combined the teaching of rock climbing with instruction in writing. He also participated in the School Leadership Institute in San Francisco as part of an Edward E. Ford Fellowship awarded by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The fellowship for qualified individuals who aspire to become heads of independent schools and have been recognized by the current heads as having potential for headship. As part of the fellowship, Eagen participated in a School Leadership Institute during the summer and will create a leadership project to be implemented at Harker this year. ■ Gr. 7 expository writing teacher Stacie Newman took a course using Adobe InDesign to better advise and assist her students in the MS Literary Club, enlight’ning.

■ US history teacher Carol Zink attended a two-week course on the Cold War, held at Yale University under the auspices of Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER) of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS). Presenting were guest lecturers from various universities, speakers from the State Department and other agencies and authors of recent books on the Cold War. ■ US chemistry teacher Sandra Song attended a technology workshop in Portland, OR for science teachers. While there, she learned how to use radiation monitor probes for high school level experiments in nuclear chemistr y, something she said she is ver y excited about sharing with her students. ■ US biology teacher Tim Woods co-wrote a scientific article, “CrossModal Interactions Evidenced By the Ventriloquism Effect In Humans and Monkeys,” that was published this summer in a book entitled: “The Handbook of Multisensory Processes,” edited by Calvert, Spence and Stein, MIT Press 2004. The article is based on work per formed at a laborator y at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience where Woods worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow prior to coming to Harker. ■ MS math teacher Vandana Kadam met with Harker sister school Neerja Modi School in Jaipur, India regarding possible partnership related to the math contest organized annually at Harker. ■ US science teacher Bill Leibowitz took a six-week upper level course on Physics by Inquiry at the University of Washington in Seattle. ■ Robb Cutler, former US computer science teacher and new assistant head of school in operations this year, served as the Master Teacher at a computer science workshop at Brown University. The week long “teach-the-teachers” course titled “Tech-Scheme” is designed to train instructors in teaching the Scheme language to all levels of high school computer science students. The Scheme language is used in US computer science courses at Harker. Cutler also attended two Independent School Management workshops on “Accounting and Financial Reporting” and “Strategic Financial Planning.” In addition,

Cutler served on the inaugural board of the Computer Science Teachers’ Association at the CSTA meeting in New Orleans. ■ Gr. 3 science teacher Jason Pergament worked for Intel Innovations in Education as an intern through the Industry Initiatives in Science and Math in Education. During the eight-week internship, he helped Intel modify and improve their teacher’s resource Website. He also improved his own computer literacy, which he plans to incorporate in his classroom. ■ MS Spanish teacher Deborah Martinez toured China and will introduce Chinese-themed vocabulary to her students via PowerPoint presentations of photographs of her trip. In addition, she will use her newly acquired knowledge of Mandarin’s grammatical structure to explain the nuances of the Spanish language, which she feels might particularly benefit the Chinese speakers in her Spanish classes. ■ US music teacher Catherine Snider served as the musical director for “Ragtime,” the summer play at Foothill Music Theatre in Los Altos. A Tony-award winning musical about the integration of African-Americans, white and Eastern European immigrants in American at the turn of the 20th century, Snider reported, “It was a beautiful show, receiving raves in all major papers, and many people said it was the best production to be seen on the Peninsula this summer.” ■ US history teacher Mai Lien Nguyen attended an AP US History workshop this summer run jointly by the College Board and the Smithsonian Institute titled, “Issues of Identity: the Native American Experience.” Participating teachers learned how to better integrate the Native American experience in their own curriculum. Nguyen also participated as a consultant to the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, providing feedback on lesson plan design and a new Web site for history teachers. ■ US biology teacher Maria Diaz enjoyed a scholarship to the Molecular Biology Summer Workshops at Smith College in Northampton, MA. The workshop was organized by New England Harker News — October 04

SUMMER

■ US director of instructional technology Dan Hudkins, LS director of institutional technology Laura Miller and Co-network manager Jeffrey Niederauer attended the National Educational Computing Conference in New Orleans in June. They met with potential vendors, evaluated software options and attended workshops on topics from Webquests to network management. In addition, Hudkins served as a panelist on the Laptop Program Overview Panel that kicked-off the Lausanne Laptop Institute in Memphis, Tennessee. And Niederauer, an expert in CompTIA Server+ Subject Matter, worked on developing the next version of the Server+ exam for the Computer Technology Industry Association. Niederauer’s Server+ certification credential validates advanced-level technical competency of server issues and technology. ■ US physics teacher Phillip Becker attended the 129th annual American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) national meeting in Sacramento in Aug. In addition to attending various lectures, presentations and posterboard sessions on various topics in physics and technology, he participated in workshops in lecture demonstrations, tutorials in introductory interactive physics and “WebTOP,” a three-dimensional computerized simulation that models wave and Optical phenomena. ■ Elementary science teacher Catherine Le took a Microbiology class offered through NTEN (National Teacher’s Enhancement Network) and Montana State University, Bozeman. The class was a nine-week online course designed for teachers of Microbiology (high school and collegiate) and those interested in the topic. Students in the class included Ph. D candidates, laboratory scientists, college professors and high school teachers. Le was the only elementary school teacher. Harker News — October 04

■ New ELI Program a Success

Another unique feature of Harker’s ELI program was the gated community housing of furnished luxury apartments offered to students and their families at Oakwood Corporate Housing, within walking distance of the Saratoga

Over the past 25 years, the Harker Boarding Program and academic ESL department became internationally recognized for successfully preparing international students for admission into boarding schools in America. Drawing from these years of experience, Harker launched a new program for international students this past summer: the English Language Institute (ELI). The 46 participants in this new program, who were from China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, Japan and the U.S., were provided daily opportunities to interact with American students, as this program ran concurrently with Harker’s other summer offerings. “Our program allowed our ESL students to eat lunch with native English speakers, as well as play during recess and be partnered with native speakers during the afternoon recreation program,” said LS Social Studies teacher and ELI Principal, Robert Regan. “This provided a great opportunity for them to practice their newly learned skills as well as learn more about American culture.” Beyond the challenging academic program, much of the ELI program

involved learning through fun activities. One of the favorites was the Great California Caravan, a unique expedition that combined a week of touring California’s top boarding schools with sightseeing at such popular California destinations as Disneyland, Yosemite and Santa Barbara. “Lots of parents were very happy about the way things were run and the way they were taken care of, as well as the fact that their children came back from the caravan trip saying they had a great time!” laughed Program Manager Lee Trotter.

Lee Trotter - both photos

BioLabs and included experiments and lectures on genomic cloning, cDNA cloning, DNA sequencing, genome analysis, gene expression analysis, restriction enzymes, DNA fingerprinting, PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), Reverse Transcriptase PCR, Northern and Southern blots, gel electrophoresis, DNA and RNA.

recap

campus. “The parents are still sending me e-mails saying how much they enjoyed the program, and that they would love to come back again next year.” According to Regan, over 80% of the ELI students have committed to return next year.

■ K-8 Summer Program Harker’s Summer Programs for K-8 students have been going strong since 1958, with continual updates to meet the needs of our campers. New to the camp this year were two-week program sessions (in addition to the three and five-week sessions), and the opportunity for campers choose one academic class for their entire session, such as art, computers, math, science and social studies. All sessions continued to provide campers with the unique blend of academic enrichment and recreational activities that makes Harker’s summer programs so popular. And this year’s camp sported a timely Olympics theme with festivities that included Toga Dress-up Day, Olympic Color Clash, Ancient Greece Day and a Torch Treasure Hunt. Camp director Kelly Espinosa credits the fantastic staff for the continued success of the program. “Our staff is what makes the camp what it is,” said Espinosa. “They work so hard to provide new and exciting activities for the campers both in and out of the classroom. It’s a positive environment that allows campers to be their best!”

■ US Summer Institute Started in 1999, the Harker Summer Institute has provided an opportunity for US students to continue their academic and intellectual development during the summer months. This year’s programming included courses in high-level math, science, computing, technology, writing, economics and languages. New this summer was the Harker Summer Debate Institute for Lincoln-Douglas and Policy debate students, and it was a resounding success. Harker’s director of forensics, Matthew Brandstetter, designed the institute with US debate teacher Timothy Mahoney, and sessions included instruction in topic analysis, hands-on techniques, and a round robin tournament. Each lab instructor selected an individual who displayed exceptional talent, enthusiastic response, and team-oriented focus for a Coach’s Choice Award. Individuals recognized were: Alisha Tolani, Gr. 11 and Paula Lauris, Gr. 9 for Lincoln-Douglas sessions; and Tatsu Hashimoto and Matthew Holmes, Gr. 10, and Tonia Sun and Aneesh Goel, Gr. 9, for Policy sessions. Seniors and Harker debaters Arjun Naskar, Nilay Gandhi and Alex Hsu volunteered to assist lab leaders during the institute. Additionally, Linda Yen, Gr. 12, and Shilpa Vadodaria, Gr. 11, assisted by ser ving as judges during the tournament. Several Harker senior debaters also volunteered to assist lab leaders during the institute. In the popular Team Robotics! course, students had the option of gaining practical engineering skills in robotics or learning about technological management and sales. In this course, students split into teams to design, build and demonstrate a group of interacting robots, or manage budgets, write proposals to raise capital and develop marketing collateral for their creations. The methodology (of the course) involves shaping the course contents to the specific interests and needs of the par ticipating students in an interactive manner. Thus each student gained individual benefits,” said Team Robotics! instructor Ernest Meyer.

NEWS

bucknall

Character Development Program

K students will collect stuffed animals to donate to the Morgan Hill Police Department. Officers keep the animals in their cars and give them to children who are involved in accidents, domestic situations, etc.

Gr. 1 will focus on caring for animals by collecting old blankets, rags and pet-related items to donate to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Gr. 5 lessons will examine the problem of world hunger, so they will be involved in several projects to feed those in need. They will participate more fully in Pat Walsh’s annual Thanksgiving food drive, and in the spring they will join the Great American Bake Sale, a

Gr. 2 will learn about caring for the elderly, and will do projects with and for - the Retirement Inn in Campbell near the BKN campus that may include art projects to share with the seniors, and a visit to the Inn in the spring. Gr. 3 will head up the annual Toys for Tots program. Bucknall has been involved in this program for years, but the third graders will become actively involved in advertising, collecting sorting and presenting the toys this year.

nationwide event that raises money to feed the hungry. Gr. 6 students will focus on the homeless, and organize a winter coat drive in January to help children living at a local shelter. In addition, they will continue to make cranes for the Tamagawa project, and work with the younger children at BKN through their grade level newspaper and story projects. —Kelly Espinosa, Dean NonAcademics (K-6)

Jessica Liu ’04 - both photos

Harker’s Character Development Program on the Bucknall campus this year will focus on developing a caring attitude toward our community through class service projects. Students will learn that there are many things they can do to make a difference in the world, and the class service projects will give students a real world application for the many skills they will learn in the program this year. These class service projects will be held at different times during the school year and students will bring home more information when it is time for their project:

create good will in the neighborhood, such as May Day flowers or October pumpkins left on their porches, and homeroom walking trips around the block to pick up trash.

This year’s Character Development program on the Bucknall campus began with a special schoolwide gathering to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Sept. 11. Over 700 students, faculty and staff joined hands in a circle on the field, holding flags they had colored themselves.

Gr. 4 will reach out to our neighbors around the Bucknall campus. Projects are being planned to help

PERFORMING ARTS

Each year Harker’s Ambassador Program volunteers provide introductions and advice to new students and their families. This past summer parent ambassadors Lana Kipnis, (Izabella, Gr. 2 and Sasha, K), Cindy Beine (Madison, Gr. 2 and Jake, K) and Trish Tobin (Sheridan, Gr. 2 and Brendan, K)

■ Bucknall Instrumental

hosted a pool party to which all new kindergarten families were invited. Four current families and nine new families attended. “Those who came were very happy it was a pool party since it was 100 degrees the day of the party,” laughed Tobin. “It was very fun to combine the efforts of three ambassador families because we could share the workload and the fun.”

In July parent, Roopal Mayor (Alisha, Gr. 5 and Natasha, Gr. 1), co-chair of the Harker Ambassador Program, coordinated socials for all kindergarten and first grade families at Vasona Park. Roopal reported that over 25 Gr. 1 families and over 30 kindergarten families were in attendance at the events. “These events gave parents a chance to talk to their ambassadors and other parents, and the children will now have some familiar faces on their first day of school,” said Mayor, who added that the events would not have been possible without the help from “our amazing ambassadors.” We agree, and many thanks to you all! Roopal Mayor, parent

Program Expands

About 40 new and returning Gr. 5 families enjoyed a Family Beach Day at Seacliff State Beach at the end of August, organized by grade level coordinator parents, Pam Araki (Bradley, Gr. 5) and Sarah

Pennell (Amanda, Gr. 5). Araki said, “The kids had fun making sand sculptures and playing in the waves, and Robert Bigler (Shivani, Gr. 5), helped the kids create a sand dragon - everyone had a great time!”

In addition to the award-winning Bucknall String Orchestra (BSO), the following new after-school classes will be offered this year: Beginning Winds (Wed. & Fri.), Beginning Strings (Tues. & Thurs.), and Intermediate Strings (Wed. & Fri.). BSO will continue to rehearse Tues. and Thurs. Richard Frazier, director of instrumental music, and Kim Coulter, Bucknall recreation director, have appointed Toni Woodruff and Owen Hakes to assist Frazier in these instrumental instruction classes. For more information contact Frazier at richardf@harker.org or Coulter at kimc@harker.org. ■ Correction – Movie Mad-

ness Mix-up

Pam Araki, parent

Trish Tobin, parent

Harker Ambassadors Organize Welcome Parties

The technical director of the Bucknall Dance Concer t dance production, Paul Vallerga, was omitted from the Movie Madness re-cap ar ticle in the June edition – our sincere apologies, and many thanks to Vallerga for his outstanding work on the show! Harker News — October 04

NEWS

bucknall

■ Tamagawa 10th Anniversary This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Harker/Tamagawa Exchange Program. Our Japanese guests will join students in Gr. 6 at the end of Oct. and the entire Bucknall campus will participate in many of the fun activities planned. To mark the occasion, Tamagawa president Yoshiaki Obara will also be coming over for the first time as part of the exchange. Watch for a re-cap of this special visit in the Dec. Harker News.

Jessica Liu ’04 - all photos

Harker students are first intro-

duced to our Tamagawa friends through videoconferences when they are in kindergarten. “What better way to introduce our students to Japanese culture than by actually communicating with Japanese students of the same age?” said Lisa Hirata, who is organizing a new project this year to reconnect students in Gr. 2 with Tamagawa. To kick off the project Hirata said each homeroom will send a Power Point Presentation to Tamagawa which includes photos and information about each

student. Gr. 2 social studies curriculum has a unit on Japan, and lessons will also be incorporated into other classes. For example, in PE classes Harker students will learn about Japan’s annual Sport’s Day and play field games, art classes will learn about Japan’s Culture Day and create origami art to send to Tamagawa, and as a creative writing assignment students will make New Year’s greeting cards (called nengajo) to send to Tamagawa students. In addition, social studies

students will learn about the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. The Gr. 2 project will include an online newsletter that will highlight all of the Japanese-related activities and Harker school events, and a Q & A section. ■ Gr. 6 Yosemite Require-

ment! Gr. 6 students are required to wear their hiking boots to school from Mon., Oct. 4 to Fri., Oct. 8 to ensure their boots are broken in before they set off on actual hikes in Yosemite.

new beginnings Harker News — October 04

middle school

Nick Gassmann - all photos

NEWS

first week fun

Nikita Agrawal, Ananya Anand, Namrata Anand, DJ Blickenstaff, Brea Borlas, Ian Davis, Christy Emery, Joe Hospodor, Nathaniel Kwok, Madeline Lucas, Elena Madan, Vivek Maheshwari, Kunal Modi, Scott Mohanram, Sophie Newman, Sarah Newton, Matt

Park, Vivek Reddy, Neha Sabharwal, Kristen Santora, Amaresh Shukla, Christine Trinh, Chetan Vakkalagadda and Kartik Venkatraman. The Harmonics will perform this year at Homecoming, during the Tamagawa visit, the Family Picnic, a Winter Tour in January, awards ceremonies and the Spring Musical in May. ■ Developing Character Character development will be the topic of five MS assemblies during this school year. Students will learn about global character issues presented in a variety of ways, such as skits and speakers, and each assembly will be followed by a discussion in homeroom groups

with teams of teachers. Harker provides time at each grade level to help keep students aware of the importance of developing a caring attitude toward our community. ■ MS Club Sign-ups The MS introduced this year’s club and activity options at an assembly during the second week of school. Since regular attendance is expected in all clubs, faculty advisors presented details about their clubs, as well as meeting days and times, so students could choose clubs or activities that would fit into their schedule. This year’s MS clubs are: ACE, Art,

Backgammon, Chess, Creative Writing, Future Problem Solvers, Junior Classic League, Multicultural, Science Fair, Service, Spanish, Spirit, World Affairs and Yearbook. These club options can also be viewed on the MS student Web page.

Jessica Liu ’04

■ Harmonics Update The new school year began early for our talented Harmonics students, with a day of singing, movement and games at their retreat on Aug. 24 at the Saratoga campus. Harmonics is a by-audition MS performance ensemble, directed by Monica MacKinnon and Susan Nace. Congratulations to this year’s members:

Harker News — October 04

Lower & Middle School

Jessica Liu ‘04

MS Girls’ Volleyball and Boys’ Flag Football have already started their seasons at the STG campus. This year’s Gr. 8 volleyball team looks to be one of the best MS Girls’ volleyball teams ever! Starting this month the team will compete in several tournaments, matching their talents against other quality opponents from around the Bay Area. We are also looking forward to seeing our outstanding flag football teams take on the likes of league rivals Valley Christian, Carden, Hillbrook and other schools. Come on out and cheer on the teams on Shah Field and the STG Gym this fall.

LS Boys’ Flag Football, Girls’ Volleyball and Swimming are revving up at the BKN campus. Gr. 4-6 students are filling up rosters to participate in both intramural and competitive teams. Swimming has quickly become a very popular sport in the LS and now boasts over 60 participants! All skill levels have been welcomed and everyone taking part is looking for ward to a great fall season in the water. The BKN field has found a home for this year’s flag football teams. Gr. 5 & 6 teams are preparing for competition against the league teams with daily practices. Their season will end with the annual tournament at St. Victor’s. The Gr. 4 flag football team is taking part in skill and fundamental development while preparing for their own intramural games starting later this season. Girls’ volleyball is also getting ready for another exciting year on the court. The Gr. 5 & 6 girls are getting ready to pit their annual dominance over league teams Valley Christian, Hillbrook, Apostles Lutheran, Castilleja and Carden. Gr. 4 girls are also taking part in intramural games and learning the fundamentals and basic skills of what it will take to compete next year. Harker News — October 04

briefs All fall season sports will end the first week of November. Don’t miss your chance to cheer on the teams. Whether it is intense volleyball, hard hitting football or aerodynamic swimming, the BKN campus is sure to have some entertaining competition for everyone to enjoy! —Theresa “Smitty” Smith, Gr. 4-8 Athletic Director

Upper School Welcome Sports Fans! As you read this the fall athletic season will be well underway, and thus far, what a ride it has been! It’s a season full of promise for over 125 student athletes competing in six sports: football, volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer and tennis. Although the season is young, it has already been marked as one of the most exciting in our short history. One need only to stand out in front of Dobbins Hall on a Friday to see the spirit and camaraderie that athletics provides the high school environment. Clad in their respective uniforms, volleyball players mingle with soccer players, football players chat with tennis players, all excited about their upcoming matches and games. It’s a feeling of anticipation; a buzz is in the air, it’s game day! Volleyball is off to an impressive 70 start, and promises to have an exciting and successful season. So far the team has not been seriously challenged – in fact t hey have yet to lose a single game in any of their matches. In order to win a match, a team must win three games. The junior varsity team is also doing very well, currently sporting a 6-1 record. The squads will begin West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) play in late September. Both teams are expected to challenge for league championships. The varsity team is led by Sylvia Schmidt, Gr. 11 along with her sister Tania Schmidt, Gr. 9. The entire starting team does not include a senior, so the future for this team looks bright! The tennis team is aiming high, hoping to capture their first league title. Christina Yee, Gr. 10, who is nationally ranked, leads the way with Sonia Rastogi, Gr. 12, bringing four years of varsity experience to

the table. This is also a young team, with four freshmen and four sophomores among the 12 players. Soccer looks to build on last year’s success, although the Private School Athletic League (PSAL) is as strong as it has been in many years, with many quality teams among the nine league members. It seems to be a season where any team can defeat any other on any given day. 1st team all league goalie, Naushad Godrej, Gr. 11, returns to lead the squad with seniors Alex Dodd, Sahil Patel and Kevin Busch poised for a competitive season. Womens’ golf is hoping to defend their league title from a year ago. With seniors Audrey Leung, Colleen Lee and sophomore Elyse Kim returning from last year’s squad, the team opened league play after press time. New coach Chris Colletti is looking forward to a great season.

them their entire lives. “Never quit,” “It’s not over till it’s over,” – however you want to say it – these phrases now have meaning that will last a lifetime. As the Eagles’ opponent lined up to punt the ball away, in all likelihood securing their victory, the ball suddenly popped over the punter’s head. As several Eagle defenders converged upon the hapless punter, it became Harker’s football, with only 13 seconds remaining. With time for one play, sophomore Jason Martin hurled a perfect spiral 35 yards on a halfback option pass to sprinting receiver senior, Adhir Ravipati, touchdown Eagles! Yet the team was still behind by one point 13-12. With determination and courage Najm Haque, Gr. 12 barreled over the goal line with only inches to spare to secure the dramatic 14-13 victory for Harker! Teenage boys and grown men aren’t known to hug all that often, but a world record for

Matt Wong, Talon staff

SPORTS

A young cross country team is determined to return to the section and state finals, after nearly missing last year. Many members of the team have been working out during the summer, with the hopes that the extra work will provide dividends. Seniors Alex Hsu, Anmol Aulakh and Liz Burstein, Gr. 11, lead the way for the Eagles. On the fields and courts, friendships and memories will be forged that will last a lifetime. Hopefully, many as exciting as the dramatic finish of the first football game of this season. Behind 13-6 with only 18.8 seconds remaining in the game, the team was about to learn a lesson they will carry on with

hugs and high fives may well have been set! Athletics does matter. It creates experiences and emotions unique to spor ts, a feeling ever yone should experience at some point in their lives. We hope to see you all at many of the games and matches. The student athletes need and appreciate your suppor t. Athletics is a huge par t of the high school experience. We commend and congratulate all of our student athletes who put in a great deal of time and ef for t in order to be successful. Enjoy the view, as the Eagles fly! —Jack Bither, US Athletic Director

NEWS

upper school

Exciting New Conservatory Season Announced! show is the quintessential American musical and will be the department’s most ambitious undertaking yet,” she said. Musical

create the version that the Conservatory will be producing in November. “There are at least a dozen film versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ and there are many more stage versions performed across the country each year,” said Draper. “The writing team used many scripts, screenplays and DVD versions as research material. Other influences for the production include books about the history of Victorian England, as well as Dickens’ other 13 novels, particularly ‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ ‘Oliver Twist,’ ‘David Copperfield,’ ‘Little Dorrit,’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and Cantilena (pictured) and The Harker String Orchestra are busy ‘Great preparing for their February tour of Vienna, Budapest and ExpectaPrague. Visit Web site (and see this page) for details. tions.’”

Musical Theater) may become Certificate Candidates and join an elite group of students who complete various requirements in all the disciplines during their high school careers. The Conservatory welcomes students to join the Certificate program during their freshmen or sophomore years, and of course to join the Conservatory any time! ■ “A Christmas Carol” Nov. 18, 19 and 20 Drama teacher Jeffrey Draper gave more details about his fall play by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! “If you think it’s odd to read those words in August, imagine how the writing team felt in May as three US students worked with me to adapt Dickens’ Victorian Christmas story throughout the spring and summer!” said Draper. Senior Acting Candidates Genna Erlikhman and Boris Federov, with Acting/Technical Theater senior Kamilla Khaydarov, were the student-writers for this fall’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” Draper said they spent dozens of hours watching film versions of the story, reading the novel and researching the time period, all to

“This chorus-girl-becomes-a-star show is the quintessential American musical…” director Catherine Snider will hold the annual How To Audition workshop with plenty of time to prepare for the January auditions. Watch for more details in the coming months.

■ Downbeat’s Gigs Downbeat, the US’s by-audition jazz choir directed by Laura Lang-Ree and Catherine Snider, had their last and first gigs this summer. The 2003-04 Downbeat singers traveled to Disneyland in June to participate in Disney’s Magic Music Days program for high school students. Kathryn Lee ’04 spearheaded the trip, organizing the application process, fundraising and travel plans. Downbeat co-director Laura Lang-Ree was accompanied on the trip by Downbeat parent Kathy Polzin. Lang-Ree said the trip was filled with lots of memorable moments, and Downbeat’s energy and great sound soon drew a huge crowd for their successful performance in the park. It was a wonder ful way for this close-knit group to bid farewell to the nine members of the group who graduated this past year.

Harker’s own set designer Paul Vallerga will transform the STG Gym into Dickensian London, with the wide variety of sounds, sights, smells and people that inhabit it, and Draper added that the show will definitely be appropriate for LS

A Christmas Carol

The 2004-05 members of Downbeat performed together for the first time at Villa Montalvo for Matriculation on Aug. 30. A 16th century madrigal

and MS students to see. “We hope the entire Harker community will come kick off the holiday season with this classic tale of family, redemption, generosity and love!” Watch for ticket info on the Web site and in the next newsletter. ■ “42nd Street” Get your dancin’ shoes on! Director of Performing Arts and department chair Laura Lang-Ree announced that the Harker spring musical she’ll be directing will be the Broadway classic, “42nd Street.” “This chorus-girl-becomes-a-star

Harker Archives

Chris Daren

The Conservatory had its annual Kick-Off and Ice Cream Social on Sept. 9 to welcome back Conservatory members and introduce new students to the program. Students who participate in any of the Performing Arts at Harker are considered members of the Conservatory. Those wishing to focus on a particular discipline (Dance, Vocal or Instrumental Music, Technical Theater, Acting or

set the tone, followed later in the program by a Bach Partita, performed on the violin by sophomore Audrey Kwong. Congratulations to the newest members of Downbeat for surviving

their very first gig: Debanshi Bheda, Tara Chandra, Ankur Gupta, Lauren Gutstein, Michael Hammersley, Andrew Nasser, Julia PriceMadison, Aseem Shukla, Siobhan Stevenson, Vyvy Trinh, Vijay Umapathy and Kimberley Wong. The returning members of Downbeat are: Kevin Busch, Estelle Charlu, Anshu Das, Jason Gutstein, Rachel Newman and Sahil Patel. For more information about US performing arts, contact laural@harker.org.

■ Instrumental Music Update This year brings an especially exciting event for US musicians. The Harker String Orchestra, under the direction of Richard Frazier, and Cantilena, Harker’s women’s chamber ensemble, under the direction of Susan Nace, will tour Vienna, Budapest and Prague in Februar y during the Presidents’ Break. Audrey Kwong, concert mistress for The Harker Strings says, “I’m really excited about the opportunity to play in the places where Western music was born.” If you are in the Harker String Orchestra and haven’t signed up yet, you can still do so by contacting Richard Frazier at richardf@harker.org.

Downbeat singers performed at Disneyland’s Magic Music Days program for high school students this past June.

Harker News — October 04

NEWS

upper school

Harker’s Annual Matriculation Marks Start of 112th Year

■ Student Wins Gold at Int’l

On Aug. 30 in Villa Montalvo’s outdoor amphitheatre, all US students attended Harker’s annual

Yi Sun, Gr. 11 brought home a Gold Medal this summer from the 35th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) held in Pohang, Korea, in July. Sun was the only student from California to represent the U.S. in the IPhO, which originated in Warsaw, Poland in 1967 with seven participating nations. Now, in 2004, 72 nations sent participants to this competition designed specifically for secondary school students who demonstrate exceptional proficiency in physics. “The team is about more than just academics,” said Dr. Bernard Khoury, executive officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers, which co-sponsors the U.S. Olympiad Team with the American Institute of Physics. “These students are great role models, learning what it means to be the leaders driving the technological advances of tomorrow,” Khoury said.

Matriculation, a formal ceremony that marks the start of each school year. Students sat together by class, and the Board of Trustees, administration and faculty processed in cap and gown and took their places on stage. Howard and Diana Nichols each shared inspirational words with the

Matriculate: “To enroll, or admit to membership and privileges by enrollng.” —Random House Dictionary

Harker News — October 04

The participants are judged based on carefully devised theoretical and experimental examinations. According to the IPhO Web site, examination topics are within the high school physics curricula of the participating countries, but also challenging enough to set apart the best from the very nearly best. Physics teacher Eric Nelson had this to say about Sun: “Yi demonstrates a high level of dedication and sense of responsibility, which are amazing traits in a student of his age.” Sun noted the role of his Harker teachers in helping him achieve this accomplishment. “I would like to thank Ms. Radice and Dr. Nelson for teaching physics the last two years, which really helped me at this competition,” he said. Sun thoroughly enjoyed his international experience. “Korea is a very beautiful country with many ancient cities and temples, especially in the Gyeongju province, where the competition was held,” said Sun. “The competition was very difficult,” Sun said of the Physics Olympiad, “but it was enjoyable, just like the rest of the trip.”

Nick Gassmann - all photos

students, and Richard Hartzell, US head, gave the students the following advice from his “Five Forms of Evil” talk: “Stress out about learning, not about grades; stress out about being too old, not about being too young; stress out about failing to risk, not about risking failure; stress out about what is honorable, not about what is cool.” The students took the Matriculation Oath and signed the official Harker Book, while they were entertained by Freshmen 101, a series of hilarious cautionary tales performed by members of the student council.

Olympiad

REMINDER! FRESHMEN SERVICE DAY Wed., Oct. 13, 2004 Students will receive information about this fun-filled day of community outreach through their adviser groups!

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Annual US Club Fair Enjoys Large Turnout! Sept. 8 was the annual US Club Fair. US students packed the gym on the STG campus for the chance to visit information

■ JCL Students at Summer

Convention At this year’s National Junior Classical League Convention held in July at the University of Richmond, eleven Harker students from grades 6 to 12 distinguished themselves by earning a total of 86 top ten awards. John Hawley, JCL advisor and Latin teacher, explained that while there is an emphasis on academics, the more than 1,500 students are given opportunities to compete in athletics, graphic and creative arts, as well as academic testing and the quiz contest called Certamen. In addition, students may attend seminars and workshops on Classical subjects presented by university professors and Latin teachers from throughout the country.

Jessica Liu ’04 - all photos

booths set up by each US club. Representatives from each club took turns promoting the activities and benefits of their clubs on a microphone in the gym. Some the US clubs on display included Amnesty International, the Future Business Leaders of America, the Key Club and Robotics. Both the presentation and attendance of the event were impressive to many of those present. “The Club Fair offers students a great opportunity to showcase as well as preview various clubs,” said Community Ser vice Director and Key Club advisor Jaja Hsuan. “We have an excellent group of organizations for students to select from that promote different talents and interests,” Hsuan said.

Earning top five awards were the following:

LEVEL 3: Michael Kim, Gr. 11 - 3rd in 100-yard Medley Sr. Boys and 50-yard Butter fly Sr. Boys; Richard Kwant, Gr. 10 - 5th place in Latin Oratory.

our division at the convention,” said Hawley, citing the enthusiasm of the Harker students, along with fellow Latin teacher, Lisa Masoni.

LEVEL 5: Sridhar Chadalavada, ’04 - 2nd Place in Hellenic History, Roman History, Advanced Sight Latin Reading (Boys), 3rd Place in Advanced Grammar, Latin Literature, Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry (Boys), 4th Place in Heptathlon (7 academic subjects in one exam), Mottoes and Quotations, Mythology, Competitive Certamen (Upper); Allison Kwong, ’04 - 1st Place in Mythology, 3rd Place in Advanced Grammar, Heptathlon, Roman History, 4th Place in Mottoes and Quotations, Competitive Certamen, 5th Place in Ancient Geography, Greek Derivatives, Latin Derivatives, Latin Literature, Roman Life, 6th Place in Academic Decathlon (Editor’s Note: This event is very prestigious and only the top students at the convention get to compete); Ivan Osokine, ’04 - 1st Place in Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry (Boys), 2nd Place in Latin Oratory, 5th Place in Mottoes and Quotations.

■ New Swiss Exchange Program US French students in French 3 Honors or higher have been offered an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this year through Harker’s new Switzerland Exchange Program. The program involves both hosting a Swiss student in the spring of 2005, and staying with a host family in Switzerland shortly after the end of the Harker academic year.

Hawley said this year was the first time a California Certamen team placed either 4th or 3rd. Chadalavada, Kwong, and Osokine were three of the five team members in the Advanced Certamen that placed 4th, the highest ever achieved by a California Certamen team at that level, and Srivastava was one of the four Californians on the Lower team that came in 3rd. “California’s delegation was one of the top three spirited delegations in

Harker students participating in the program will attend the College de Gambach in the town of Fribourg, Switzerland. The College de Gambach – considered by most Swiss educators to be one of the top schools in the country – is geared toward education in the field of business, law or medicine. Both through the exchange program and an Internet project exchange throughout the 2004-05 year – which will be on the topic of gastronomy this year - students will greatly improve their language skills by ser ving as language coaches for the sister school. Harker students will work in French, while College de Gambach students will work in English. Harker’s Head of Upper School Richard Hartzell visited College de Gambach in June of 2004, and was impressed by the enthusiasm and attitude of the students there. Of the Swiss students he met, Hartzell said, “The students reminded me of Harker students.” Continued on pg. 17

LEVEL 1/2: Elizabeth Cutler, Gr. 8 5th in Roman Life. LEVEL 1: Awards included Kritika Kailash, Gr. 9 - 2nd in Sight Latin Reading (Girls), Arts, Miscellaneous (6-8), 4th Place in Dramatic Interpretations (Girls), Maps (6-8), 5th Place in Decorative Stitching (68); Shibani Mehta, MS ’04 - 2nd Place in Charts (6-8); Aarathi Minisandram, Gr. 9 - 2nd Place in Latin Oratory, 3rd Place in Mixed Media (Art 6-8), Watercolor (6-8), 4th Place in Decorative Stitching (68), 5th Place in Sight Latin Reading; Ruchi Srivastava, Gr. 9 - 3rd Place in Competitive Certamen (Lower), 4th Place in Cartoons (6-8), 5th Place in Black Ink (6-8), Colored Pencil (6-8).

Nick Gassmann

NEWS

Professor Denise Pope of Stanford’s School of Education, who is the author of “Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students,” sparked thought-provoking discussion as the first presenter in this year’s Distinguished Speakers Series. Harker News — October 04

NEWS

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Families whose students are selected for the program will host a Swiss student in their home during their visit to Harker from March 11 to March 22, 2005. While in America, the Swiss students will attend classes at Harker, participate in language workshop retreats with Harker students, and enjoy cultural activities. Harker students will leave for Switzerland on June 11, 2005, and return June 22. While in Switzerland, Harker students will stay with a host family in Fribourg. Hartzell praised the level of hospitality of the College de Gambach community. “The hospitality afforded me was absolutely wonderful - this school really specializes in exchange programs, and so they are wonderful hosts,” he said. In addition to their classroom activities, Harker students will also be treated to historical and cultural activities, traveling to Geneva to visit the United Nations Building, and to Gruyeres to see the Roman Ruins at Avenches and the Castle at Murten.

taking the 2003 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/MNSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, is made up of the highest scoring entrants in each state. Commended students will be announced next month, and finalists will be announced in February.

Of the benefits of such an experience, Hartzell said, “There is a lot to be gained, beyond just language, to seeing what a topflight educational experience is like in a top-flight foreign country.” The French faculty members and the administration are evaluating student applications to participate, and selections will be announced on October 1.

■ Two Semi-Finalists in Ayn

■ National Merit Semifinalists

Announced Results were recently released in the 50th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and Harker is proud to announce that 35 seniors (28% of the graduating class) were named as Semifinalists in this prestigious National Merit Scholarship program. More than 1.3 million juniors in nearly 21,000 high schools entered the 2005 National Merit Program by

Congratulations to our students and our outstanding faculty for another year of exemplary achievement! ■ New P.E. Offerings The US P.E. department is now offering tennis, swimming, weightlifting, dance, Aikido (Japanese martial art), Capoeira (Brazilian martial art), yoga and fencing. While first quarter classes have already started, students can keep these new classes in mind for the next quarter. Please note that all classes are not offered every day and some classes are offered during 8th period.

Rand Contest Juniors Michael Hammersley and Yi Sun were both named semifinalists in the Ayn Rand Institute’s annual essay contest, an annual writing contest that garners hundreds of entrants across the U.S. each year. Essays are judged on style, content and demonstrated understanding of Rand’s themes, and this year’s contest focused on Rand’s book “Anthem.” Sun said, “This book introduced me to Ayn Rand’s unique philosophy, which was very interesting.” Hammersley agreed, and added: “I most enjoyed thinking about the real-world implications and philosophical viewpoints “Anthem” holds. I’m sure that the ideas Rand presents in her writings will influence my thoughts and decisions for the rest of my life.”

Nick Gassmann

Harker’s College Counseling Dept. hosted their first meeting of the year with senior parents this past month.

Harker Laptop Initiative By the time you receive this, the great US laptop checking process will have been completed. Harker’s unique laptop program permits students to choose their own computers and operating system and gives a few extra challenges at the beginning of the year. The program is partially based on the belief that having students take greater responsibility for their laptops is a part of taking greater responsibility for their learning. It provides students the opportunity to customize their laptops and add the tools that will most help their learning. This year, Harker broadened its scope and welcomed the first two Linux users to our pool of Windows and Macintosh users. The process of laptop checking was made more exciting this year by having both Apple and Microsoft release major system updates in the weeks before the school year began. Apple released the fifth patch to OS X Panther (10.3.5) and Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. Harker’s policy is that all critical updates and service packs must be in place. This assures that we avoid the kind of network problems that we have had in the past when a student has accidentally brought a Trojan horse on campus and it has proliferated quickly. For this same reason we require that all students have an up-to-date and paid-up virus scanner. Since both companies’ upgrades were in the pipeline, we chose to require students to install them at the beginning of the year rather than wait for them to come out in automatic updates to a few students at a time. We appreciate everyone’s patience with the process. This year the virus-scanning process was simplified so that students could install a virus-scanning program distributed under our US campus site license. We also now have a short-term laptop program available through the bookstore to provide an ongoing resource for students whose computers are being repaired. This program charges $5 per school day for the first two weeks and $10 per school day for the third week. It is not to be used as a long-term solution for a student who does not have a laptop, nor is it available for students who forgot their laptops that day (any more than we could lend them a history text for the one they might have forgotten). We want to make sure those students whose laptops need to be repaired do not lose learning time. Lastly, a word on a new topic – spyware. Spyware is defined in the Wikipedia as “a piece of software that collects and sends information (such as browsing patterns in the more benign case or credit card numbers in more serious ones) on users. They usually work and spread like Trojan horses. The category of spyware is sometimes taken to include adware of the less-forthcoming sort.” Many if not most students using Windows machines have collected some spyware just through their customary web browsing. The presence of spyware and malware (malicious software like viruses and Trojan horses) caused most of the problems we experienced with students applying service pack 2. Links to where free spyware removal programs can be downloaded are in Student Tech Help, which can be reached from either the Parent Home Page, or http:// students.harker.org. We recommend using at least one spyware removal tool and keeping it up to date on all student laptops running Windows. It should also be considered for home computers as well. —Daniel F. Hudkins, US Director of Instructional Technology danielh@harker.org or 408.345.9631

Harker News — October 04

ALUMNI

update HARKER HISTORICAL LEGEND

Another Great Alumni Year Ahead! This is the largest alumni edition to date, with news of about 75 Harker alumni in this issue, including a few who participated in this year’s summer Olympics in Athens! Many thanks for sharing all your news with the Harker community! Alumni might want to note that this school year marks the last year for Howard and Diana Nichols who will be retiring in June ’05. Their dedication and commitment to the school will be honored at many events. Join us for one or all of the events listed below and watch your mail later in the school year, for news of a special event on June 3, 2005. There is now a link on the Harker Home Page where you can send in your memories of the Nichols, which will be published throughout the year and posted on our Web site. This special retirement year, we hope to have a record number of alumni join us for our Homecoming Weekend. Come watch the Harker football team at the Homecoming Game on Fri., Oct. 15 and spend Sun., Oct. 17 playing some games, enjoying great food, touring the campus and seeing former teachers and staff at the 54th Annual Family and Alumni Picnic. The other big event this year for alumni is the 2nd annual Harker Fashion Show – it’s not too early to start thinking about Christmas or holiday gifts! Consider taking your mom, a former classmate or a friend to this year’s show, organize a class or college table or try out to be an alumni model! See pages 6 & 7 for model information! Go to the Harker Web site and click on Fashion Show 2005 for more information about this exciting event! We look forward to seeing you at Harker events this year!

Terry Walsh, Alumni Programs Director 408.345.9205, terryw@harker.org, www.harkeralumni.org

PA Bingham Kirk decided to check out the Harker campus after reading the Harker Newsletter. He is now our oldest alumni contact and has a wealth of knowledge on PAMA. Kirk

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the winner, I was given a silver bugle and was appointed the leader of the Bugle Corps,” he said. Kirk, who is retired and lives with his wife at The Villages in San Jose, is involved with the chess club at the Villages and is interested in having some matches with the current Harker chess teams! The Harker History Committee plans to meet with Kirk this fall to record more of his memories.

PA Ronald Ogborn stopped Bingham Kirk, ‘36 leading the PAMA Bugle Corps in a by for a visit this 1935 Palo Alto Fourth of July Parade. summer while in the area on compiled his memoirs in a booklet vacation, and just missed connecttitled “My Itinerant Youth” that ing with former classmate Howard contains many references to PAMA, Nichols, ’56 who was also on and includes photos that have vacation. Ogborn has fond and vivid enabled the alumni office to memories of PAMA and remembers identify exact years of some photos many names. Upon his return to his in the Harker archives. While at home in El Paso, Texas, Ogborn sent many old photos, certificates PAMA Kirk learned to play the bugle and other memorabilia for the and became a member of the PAMA archive department to scan. The marching band. In his last year at memorabilia included several great PAMA he won the annual competigroup photos from a party held at tion to select the best bugler. “As

his grandmother’s estate in San Carlos. Ogborn mentioned that he would like to connect with David DeMartini and Bill Hilman. PA Dirk Roggeveen, currently an attorney with the Town of Nantucket, MA, attended both Harker Day and PAMA. He said his memories of HD are vague. “I do recall singing ‘A’ for Apple Big and Red,’ making Santa Claus

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MN Manzanita Hall 1893-1919 MH Miss Harker School 1904-1959 PA

Palo Alto Military Academy 1919-1972

HD Harker Day School 1959-1972 HA Harker Academy 1973-1992 HS The Harker School 1993-Present

out of an oatmeal container, and learning to tie shoe laces with a big shoe we made out of a shoebox,” he noted. “Most of all I recall it being kitty-corner to PAMA, which I attended from 1969 to 9th grade graduation in 1971. Jim Plato and I were ‘hired’ by Major Nichols to hunt for his rabbits that had escaped from his yard and, who, for the most part hid under the deck surrounding the swimming pool.” PA Matt Brooks received his BA from University of Santa Clara and his JD from University of California, Hasting College of the Law. He is currently an executive in real

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Ronald Ogborn ’55 in full dress uniform at age 7.

estate with Ardenbrook, Inc. He said PAMA gave him an excellent education and established habits and values. On May 17, 2004, Brooks, along with two other pilots, claimed the World Speed Record for an around the world flight, completing the trip in a Cessna 501 Citation I/SP, the lightest aircraft ever to accomplish such a feat. For more information and pictures on the aircraft, route or flight crew, visit the World Flight Web site at: www.ardenflight.com Harker News — October 04

ALUMNI

update ‘military’ practice, the dances, and volleyball and softball games as her favorites. “I believe it taught me to be respectful to my elders and patient with my kids. Harker was a wonder ful experience for me, and I enjoyed working the summer camps as well.“ HA William Waggoner received his BS in business from University of the Pacific and is currently a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. “Coach Gelineau had a major influence on my athletic career which spanned into college, and Mrs. Olsen (now Mrs. Nichols) was a very good science teacher,” he said. “I remember her class being very challenging but I learned a lot. I’m still friends with Randy Gabrielson, Paul Tracy and Jim Barlow. I also really enjoyed playing sports at Harker. We always had good teams with excellent athletes, and my soccer coach, Steve Sampson, went on to coach our national soccer team. Not a bad coach for a 7th and 8th grader! Harker taught me to be disciplined in what I do and to work hard. Harker really instilled in me that hard work is a daily routine, not something you do occasionally.”

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In Memoriam Former teacher Francine Anderson, who taught at Harker from 1973 to 1982, passed away in March due to complications from pneumonia. She and her husband celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last Dec., and she sent a note to the alumni office last year: “I have good memories of my days at Harker. It was a great place to teach. I enjoyed the children in all of my classes and in the many lower school shows in which I participated.”

HD William Yee, currently retired, received his BS from University of Santa Clara. Yee said he remembers playing soccer in the field next to the pool against the Academy, Christmas in the living room, awards ceremonies, eating lunch under the oak trees, walking to the Palo Alto Children’s Library, laughing with classmates Jim Cavendar, Bobby Knoop, Mark Daly, Bill Boyrer, Bruce Gunn, Kathy Kern, Beth Harris, Denise Dowsett, Amy Shumway, Barbara Demere and Crystal Jones and enjoying teachers Mrs. Gregory, Mrs. Moss and Mrs. Larsen. Yee said, “The Harker experience gave me a lifetime of happy memories and an appreciation for education and friends.”

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PA & HA Ron Burley received his BA in English from San Francisco State University, and is now a writer living in Oregon. Of his memories Burley writes, “My most inspiring teacher while I was at Harker Academy/ PAMA was Colonel Tuttle, my math teacher. I was a pretty good student, and when I got ahead of the class, he assigned me some extra work...in logic and probability. That launched my interest in applied mathematics, which, many

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Harker News — October 04

years later, eventually led me to launch my own software company, Broadcast Software International. I learned several valuable lessons at Harker, however two are most important: first, no matter how talented you are, many things can only be achieved through study and practice. Many things came easily to me in school and I now know that the teachers/mentors at Harker recognized this and created new challenges for me that forced me to learn the importance of skillbuilding. Second is team building, and the military structure that put many of us into random platoons or teams. We had to find the strength of the team, regardless of who the individual members were.” For more information on Burley, check his Web site at: www.ronburley.com. He would like to hear from any of his classmates, and fellow alumni from adjacent years, especially his best friend at that time, John Elmore. HA Cindy Cottrell DeAngelo is a travel consultant with United Travel Service. She remembers teachers and staff, Col. Tuttle, Mrs Carley, Cpt. Torcellini, Mr. Callahan and Mr. Morgan. Of her memories, Cottrell noted the dorm life, Saturday field trips, watching the

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HA Albert Zecher received his BA from Santa Clara University and his JD from San Francisco School of Law. He is currently a partner/attorney.

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HA Laura Barron Zukin received her BA in English from UCLA. Zukin wrote, “I am currently raising the kids!” HA Brett Alan Cottrell writes of his memories of PAMA and Harker Academy. “Victor Cabrera and I were at Palo Alto Military together. My class was the last 9th grade to graduate from Harker Academy in San Jose in 1978. I would be interested in being in touch with Marty Scarpace, Ginger Good, Robin Ricker and others.”

HA Jason Dods received his BA in quantitative economics from UC San Diego and his MBA in marketing from Cal State Northridge. He is currently a purchasing manager with Insync Media. “Memories are too many to list, but I remember staying in contact with Paul Krueger and getting together a few times after we left Harker, HASL, and basketball with Coach Near,” he said. “Having my mother (Betsy Dods Walsh) teach there was a memory as well, along with meeting friends at UCSD who went to high school with some of my Harker friends. The uniqueness of Harker has been a benefit.”

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HA Michael Cini attended Harker through the 6th grade and would have graduated with the class of ’81. He received his criminal justice degree from West Valley Junior College, his degree in political science from Chico, and is currently a probation officer for the Maricopa County Superior Court. He remembers teachers, Ms. Killarney (now Mrs. Lynch) Mrs. Pechi, Mr. Walsh and Headmaster Howard Nichols, along with classmates Kinmun Lee, Heather Remmers and James Monack. “Harker gave me a strong sense of value and education. I am married and the father of one daughter, and am an 8-year veteran of the juvenile probation department. Harker Academy helped pave the way for my career,” said Cini. HA Todd Shaw Carrey received his degree in broadcast journalism from San Diego State University, and is currently in regional/national sales with Comcast. “I attended Harker for 1st through 8th grade and the memories are too numerous to recount…the discipline and study habits instilled at Harker carried over into my secondary education and still benefit me today.”

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HA Ken Hunt received his BA, MBA and JD from Wake Forest University. He is currently CEO at Anawah in Seattle. He is in contact with Louis Lai and Kevin Cracraft.

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HA Tina Johnson Murray keeps connected with the alumni office, and she played an integral part in planning the Class of ’82 reunion in 2002. Murray and her husband Kirk, along with their daughter Hannah, are proud to announce the birth of Max Steven Murray in June.

HA Endrice Angry Wright stopped by Harker for a visit with her husband and two children, and was able to see some familiar faces.

HA Sheri Nakamitsu Frank received her BA from UC San Diego and her JD from Santa Clara University, and is currently an attorney with Atmel Corporation.

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ALUMNI

update

Harker Alumna Captures a Bronze Medal!

The entire Zanotto family, which included parents Dan and

HA Jennifer Colegrove checks in from Texas. Her favorite memory is being cast as Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz!” HA Elise Tremba Schwartz received her BA in English from UC Santa Barbara and is currently a teacher at The Harker School. She is also a Harker parent!

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HA Marta Marraccini received her BA in psychology from St. Mary’s College and her MA in counseling psychology from J.F.K. University. She currently has a private counseling practice and is just starting a jewelry company. ”I was at Harker for nine years of my life, and there are an abundance of memories,” she wrote “In the dorm I remember ping pong, air hockey, bumper pool contests, outings to Marine World, Santa’s Village, Great America, James Bond and Pink Panther marathons, Uncle Haaguard’s story time, Christmas carols, Monte Carlo night, directing dorm plays, the gym after study hall, making great friends, morning inspection, merits vs. demerits (yikes!), best decorated room, end of the year scavenger hunts, and much more. At school I remember

Kimber, siblings Chris ’98, Alex, MS ’03 and Khadija, MS ’06, grandparents and a few aunts and uncles, along with Harker alumna and friend, Danielle Lawrence, ’95, went to Athens to cheer on the team. “On the day of the finals, the families were allowed in early, during the practice, so we could see where all of our families and friends were sitting. My dad was wearing a crazy hat so I could spot him,” she laughed. The U.S. team scored a final composite 97.418 and was thrilled to win the bronze medal. “The most incredible time was right after the finals, there were about 10 minutes to put on our sweats, cry and get paraded up to the far end of the pool for the medal ceremonies. It was all pretty emotional. I know they were explaining who the people were that were giving us the medals, but I couldn’t tell you what was said,” Zanotto laughed. When alumni friend Lawrence was asked about her favorite Olympic moment,

great teachers like Mr. Saltzman and Mrs. Nichols, every sport you can imagine - volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis, softball and physical fitness patches, school plays, first kiss, who’s going with whom, school testing in the gym, science projects, rainy days, school dances, Stairway to Heaven, Journey, the Go-Go’s, and the list goes on. Harker gave me a steady foundation when the rest of my life was pretty shaky. I received much needed family-like support from teachers and staff, especially the Walsh’s. Cindy Lightner (Kerr) was amazingly balanced and generous with all of her girls in the dorm and Jeff Haugaard always made me laugh and feel as though I had a special place in his heart along with the rest of the staff, which for nine years, were my family. Academically, I received an amazing education and I didn’t even realize it. By the time I hit college, I was making honor role and the Dean’s list, which I attribute to Harker’s academic foundation that lives within me. I can’t believe it has been 20 years. Anyway, people I would love to say “hi” to, give a hug to, or just know what’s up with would be Theresa L., Kris G., Tove

she replied, “Seeing her win the medal! It was so incredible to be there.” “I had a great time,” Zanotto concluded. “We were lucky there were no hitches, training went well and the opening and closing ceremonies were amazing. I also want to say that Andrea Nott, as the alternate, was a huge part of the whole experience.” To our knowledge these fine athletes are the first Harker alumni to participate in the Olympics and we extend our congratulations to them both. Zanotto and Nott, along with the

N., Shelly L., Tina B., Keri N., Matt Mc., Andy B., Kris M., Karri S., Jason R., Danielle G., John N., John P., Christine T., Charley M., Darci H., plus all of the faces I can see so clearly in my head right now. 20 YEAR REUNION - let’s make it happen!!” HA Veronica Wilson received her BS in psychology from University of Michigan Ann Arbor and her BS in chemistry from Eastern Michigan University. She is currently an entrepreneur in sports orthopedics with SpaTemps Inc/Peachtree Orthopedics. Wilson only attended Harker for 3rd and 4th grade as a boarding student, but has a detailed memory of her time here. “I remember my dorm mother Cindy Lightner (now Cindy Kerr) and the girls that lived on my floor. We would have such a good time. My roommate was Kerri Newton and I remember Nancy Galt, Marta Marraccini and Deborah Nazarian. Erskin Morgan was the dance instructor and he was great. My two favorite teachers were Mr. Saltzman and Mrs. Hickey. The father-daughter dances and teas where great. I remember Mr. Nichols, as I attended when his

Provided by Zanotto family

Alumna Kendra Zanotto ’95, a member of the US Olympic Synchronized Swimming Team, captured a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Andrea Nott ’96 also qualified on the same team as the alternate and traveled to the Olympics with the team. “Our team arrived in Athens on the 5th and we didn’t compete until the 26th,” explained Zanotto. “Our days were spent with fivehour morning training and fivehour evening training.” Of the opening ceremonies, Zanotto said, “It was so loud that it was quiet. We were so close to each other and really excited that we felt like there was no one else there. There were a lot of American flags all around the stadium. As we walked around, ever yone would wave and we would wave back. It was so exciting.”

rest of their teammates, also appeared on the David Letterman Show filmed in NYC in July and the Today Show in August filmed from Athens! Check the alumni Web site for more photos of the event. Again, a huge congratulation to these Harker celebrities!

daughters were students. The award ceremonies were special. Harker Academy was by far the best experience of my childhood. It prepared me not only academically for college but as a boarder it helped me to easily adjust to college life. And it was through the drama program at Harker that I overcame my shyness and was able to tap into my creative expression. There was a family atmosphere there at the school. If and when I have children it will be a high consideration to send them to Harker!” Wilson said she would love to connect with Lori Okimura, Stephanie Walker, Kerri Newton, Marta Marraccini, Mark Head, Macy Lempert, Richard Martinez, Lori Long, Heather Mann, Nancy Galt and Deborah Nazarian. HA Dana Hammill received her BS from San Francisco State University and is currently in real estate with Premier Sales Group. “Most of my most precious memories have come from my days at Harker. I wish I had stayed in touch with Miyeko Yoneda and Allison Wharton, as well as Ed Wang. Ed was always brilliant, even as a child. He was

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Harker News — October 04

ALUMNI

update

Alumni Summer Connections ■ Marta Marraccini, ’84 had a mini-reunion with some of her favorite alumni boarding staff this past summer. She visited with former boarding program director Jeff Haugaard, PhD, who is currently a 12-year veteran L to R: Pat Walsh, Marta Marraccini and Jeff professor at Haugaard Cornell University, at the home of Pat and Terry Walsh, both also former dorm staff (and current Harker teacher and alumni director, respectively). (See alumni notes for more information on Marraccini).

Terry Walsh - all photos

■ Manuel Martinez, a summer camper in 1980 who returned as a dorm houseparent and soccer coach for the summers of 1986, 1987 and 1988, was in San Francisco on business this summer and checked in with Joe Rosenthal for a visit and tour of the Harker campus. The tour included a stop by the Walsh home while Haugaard was still in town, and Martinez shared his fond and vivid memories of the boarding days. “It was so much fun to see him, and he really brought us back in time,” L to R: Manuel Martinez, Jeff Haugaard, Pat Walsh and said Pat Walsh, Joe Rosenthal former dorm houseparent and current 5th grade teacher. “He had a bit of gray hair, but he still has that same great smile.” ■ Troy Buckley, ’82, assistant baseball coach at Long Beach State, received a visit this summer by former teacher, Pat Walsh who stopped by Long Beach State for a visit with Buckley while touring the college with his son Kevin Walsh, ’01 (MS) and current Bucknall rec staff Brian Spitzer. “The timing of the visit was perfect as Long Beach State had just advanced to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament by knocking off top-ranked Stanford in the first round,” said Walsh. Buckley’s primary responsibilities are pitching, catching and recruiting for the college. L to R: Pat Walsh, Kevin Walsh, Brian Spitzer, and Troy Buckley

Harker News — October 04

the first one in the class who could figure out how to beat the Rubix cube. Allison and her family treated me like a second daughter. I still remember the bunnies her father bought us for Easter gifts and how Miyeko and her family taught me how to snow ski and play tennis.” HA Allison Wharton Cadematori works as a graphic designer for the United States Air Force. “Mrs. Offerman was my favorite. I learned the most from her and also utilize her grammar techniques to this day,” she wrote. HA Lissa Yuen Ong received her BS from UC Davis, an MA in public health from UCLA and a degree as a registered dietitian from West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. She is currently a nutritionist with USDA Food and Nutrition Service. “Harker provided a well-rounded developmental experience, academically and socially, along with the variety of sports and physical education experiences,” she wrote. She’s still in contact with Stephen Chu. HA Evelyn Chan received her BA in economics from Cornell University and her MS in civil engineering from UC Berkeley, and is currently a business systems analyst with Network Appliance. HA Roberto Garcia received his BA in economics from San Francisco State and his MBA from University of San Francisco. He is a consultant with RHI. “Summer camp, dorm life, Yosemite trip, great friends,” remembers Garcia. “Harker taught me discipline and to work hard. The education at Harker really prepared me for the next phases of my academic life,” he added. HA Andrea Anastasi received her BA from Columbia University and her MBA from New York University, Stern School of Business. She is currently living in New York and is a reinsurance broker with Guy Carpenter & Co.

’86

HA Wendy Belluomini received her BS from Cal Tech, her masters at the University of Washington and her PhD at the University of Utah. She is currently a research scientist with IBM Research Lab in Austin, TX.

’87

HA Laila Danesh received her BA from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and her

masters from the University of London. She is currently VP and head of Financial Dynamics Middle East division. She said, “Harker was truly a special experience, as were the friends and memories I have from my years there. I think the competitive spirit and strong focus on developing well-rounded students has served as the foundation upon which we have all gone on to do exciting things.” She remains in touch with Alicia Hirsch, Leah McCowan and Kathy Dalton along with Jamie Danesh, Pat Reilly and Jon Philips from the class of ’84. HA Michelle Nguyen received her BS and MD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and did her specialization in internal medicine and gastro intestinal diseases at Yale University. She is currently a physician at Santa Cruz Medical Foundation. Of her Harker experience Nguyen wrote, “Harker gave me an incredible education, and more importantly, it taught me to think critically. The incredible athletics helped to build confidence and assurance. I would like to hear any news from Nicki Briefs, Pamela Vegara and Neelam Noorani.” HA Sheetal Vora received her BS from UC Riverside and her MD from UCLA. She is currently a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente. “Harker is an exceptional school; it excels in both academics and sports. My experience at Harker prepared me for the challenges of the future. I will always be grateful,” said Vora. She’s in contact with Monica Patel and Yvonne Chen and would like to know the whereabouts of Cindy Casley, Tony Wong and Cliff Chen. HA Kathy Dalton Ford attended San Jose State and is currently a VP of product management with Fortune 20 Healthcare Software Firm in Dallas, Texas. She writes, “My favorite teachers were Mrs. Kulp, Mrs. Tyrell, Mr. Z, Valerie Zaidel, actually just about all of them! Ever y year of education from Harker proved to be advanced and provided an advantage; most of my high school curriculum was a repeat of my last three years of Harker. We were taught discipline, respect and the benefit of stretching goals.” Dalton sees Laila Danesh on occasion and would like to be in contact with any and all classmates. “Ever yone was a quality person, who with no

ALUMNI doubt, has gone on to do wonderful things.” HA Stacy Schneider Dar received her BS in biology from the University of San Francisco. “I have only good memories of Harker. I ran into Ms. Melanie and Ms. Kelly a few months ago and they still remember me. I thought that was cool,” she wrote. She is still best friends with Heather McGill (Noble).

’88

HA Reena Patton e-mailed in a change of address and said she would like to know if anyone has a VHS copy of the “Annie” production in 1987. She would like to get a copy. She would also love to hear from Sharon Ho, Kaanji Irby, Shawn Johnson and Aileen Eveleth. HA Rex Chung received his degree in computer science from Biola University. He lives in New York and is currently a system administrator with REDCOM Laboratories, Inc. He would love to hear from students involved in the ESL program and the boarding staff.

’90

HA Kristin Sato is an attorney with Morozumi & Simmons, LLP.

HA Raina Kumra received her BA in film from Boston University, MA from NYU and is currently a masters student at Harvard. She is in contact with Colin Dickey. HA Jeffrey Gou attended UC Berkeley and is currently a manager at Cherry Sky Films. He is still in contact with Eric Mah.

’91

HA Young Jin received his BS from Syracuse University.

HA Billy Capogeannis received his BS in mechanical engineering from UC San Diego and is currently a Yig Filter Technician for Omniyig, Inc. His memories include Mr. Walsh, Mr. Bither and Mrs. Harp. He would like to know the whereabouts of Kevin Ormsby, DJ Sosnowski, Crystal Young and Mike Mortensen. HA Leslie Kitz received her BA from

update Boston University and Masters from Victoria University in New Zealand. She is currently a marketing manager for OSIsoft Australia. Her memories include Mr. Saltzman, Mr. Walsh, Mrs. Harp, Sra. Fossum and Mrs. Shaw. Kitz writes, “I had an out of this world coincidence in 2000 when I was living in New Zealand and ran into Kelly Espinosa on Lambdon Quay in downtown Wellington. She recognized me before I recognized her! She was recruiting for Camp America – it’s a very small world!” Kitz added, “School was great, but summer camp changed my life forever as I met my husband when I was a dorm mother in ’96. I married Scott Lindsell, who was an international staff member from Australia, last October in Sydney.” Kitz is still in contact with classmate Sandra Isla.

Thanks for the Memorabilia – Keep Sending It! Noelle Paulette, ’85 scanned her Harker scrapbook, and sent scanned photos to the alumni office that we will be posting on the alumni Web site. She also sent along a copy of the program from the 1985 Harker production of “Roamin’ Jo and Juli.” If you have Harker items, the alumni office would be happy to scan copy or photograph the items and return them to you. If you would like to donate any items, to the archives, please contact our Archivist, Susan Smith, at susans@harker.org.

HS Shirley Gou received her degree in economics from UC Berkeley and is currently a financial analyst with Foxconn Enterprise Group.

’93

HS Cinnamon Davis received her BA from Stanford and her JD from Vanderbilt University School of Law. She is currently an attorney and living in Georgia. Of Harker, she writes, “I received a great education and exposure to students from diverse backgrounds. I have a bad memory for names, but a few wonder ful friends come to mind: Elizabeth Locke, Lindsay Takamoto, Colleen McCarthy, Antonio Morici, Mike Walsh, Raymond Butt, Jeffrey Dryan, Camilo Lyon, Stacy Piso, Steve Tam, Kristen Conley, Craig Johnson and Ayanna.” HS Douglas Eastman received his BS in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley and his MS in mechanical engineering from MIT. He is currently an application support engineer for The Mathworks.

’94

HS Ali Zhumkhawala received his BS from UCLA and is currently working on his MD at Northwestern University Medical School. HS Marvin Balaoro received his BS in mechanical engineering from UC San Diego. He is currently a mechanical engineer with HewlettPackard and is in contact with Andrew Sun, Doug Eastman and Tuan Pham.

HS Amy Wong received her BS from UC Berkeley and is working on her PhD at Harvard. HS Andrew Sun received his BA from UCLA and is currently at Santa Clara University working on his JD/ MBA. Sun writes, “My favorite teachers were Mr. Bither, Mr. Muller, Mrs. Harp, Senora Fossum and Senora Pinzas. They were all inspiring in their own way.” He is in contact with Doug Eastman, Marvin Balaoro and Tuan Pham. HS Tuan Pham received his BS from Stanford and is currently a graduate student at UCSF. HS Amanda Posner received her BA from Vassar College and is currently studying at the University of Chicago. Before entering grad school she worked at AmeriCorps. HS Edward Michael Brandt Minn received his BS in economics from Duke University, and is currently living in Texas. HS Michael Saltzman received his BS in journalism from San Jose State University. “My favorite memories are with my friends

playing ball during recess, lunches and after school,” he wrote. “Afterschool sports with my dad (Howard Saltzman) and Mr. Walsh, C.J. Cali, Mr. Muller and Mr. Bither were great. I had many great teachers, including Mrs. Ferrera, Mrs. Koski, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Muller, Mr. Bither and Mrs. Harp. I have always said that the foundation Harker set in my life has left a tremendous impact in my life. The success I have enjoyed started with Harker. The atmosphere, the people, and the learning environment gave me the building blocks I needed to have a successful future. I have worked in some capacity at Harker since 1998. I would like to see Wajahat Ali, Marvin Balaoro, Ravi Balu, Sandeep Birla, Dinari Brown, Jonathan Carta, Raymond Chang, Ricky Cosentino, Josh Covey, Brad Keller, Joseph Lee, Nathan Nichiguchi, Jae Pasari, Raj Patel, Shaun Redd, Jordan Suh, Anoop Swaminath, Rusty Zimmerman and everybody else!” HS Ben Lee is currently a technology office manager at The Harker News — October 04

Harker School – stop by and see him! HS Peter Liu would like to get in contact with former classmate Nicolette Anderson.

’95

HS Jason Young received his BA and masters from University of Illinois. He is currently an accountant with Deloitte and Touche. He writes, “All of my teachers were very memorable and had a positive influence on me. Some included Mr. Ippolito, Mr. Bither, Mr. Muller and Ms. Tyrrell. Although I was only at Harker for one year, it completely changed my life and my study attitude. I credit that one year for being part of the reason why I am where I am today.” HS Daniel Haney received his degree from the University of Arizona and is currently a student at Pima Community College. “I will never forget the Walsh and Saltzman teaching duo, two big dudes teaching me to spell big words,” wrote Haney. He’s still in contact with Mark Hungerford. Katie Chou received a dual degree in industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering from Northwestern University. She is currently a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and will be

Class Reunion Meeting

Terry Walsh

Several alumni joined together for a meeting to discuss reunion plans for the classes of ’84 and ’94. Allen Liao represented the class of ’84.

He is contact with Jeffrey Mar and they hope to organize something soon. The class of ’94 was represented by Leyna Cotran, Josh Covey, Ben Lee, Jasona Prowse, Jason Read, Michael Saltzman and Earl Williams. This group is also trying to get a reunion together. Call the alumni office if you would like to help plan a reunion for your class year.

Harker News — October 04

update HS Jeffrey Loh attended Phillips Exeter Academy and is currently studying at Carnegie Mellon University.

stationed at Marine Base Kaneohe in Hawaii.

’99

HS Vickie Hsi received her BS in finance from Boston University. She remembers the Harker Picnic, dorm life, weekend trips and trips to Yosemite. “Harker was a very diversified place where we, as kids, had a wonderful opportunity to polish our communication skills with people of very different cultural backgrounds,” said Hsi.

’96

HS Angela Esquivel is currently studying vocal jazz at USC. She is in contact with classmates Brandon Ting, Ryan Ting and Cheryl Chang. HS Kristen Sprano is currently studying at the University of Virginia. She writes, “I really had a well-rounded experience at Harker, but the education I received is what has really stuck with me. Harker made me smart! The lessons were lasting. It was Mrs. Harp’s honors English class in the 8th grade that taught me how to write. From the basics of poetry analysis to Spanish grammar, I was taught in such a way that the lessons stayed with me and have helped me throughout my high school career. I am still calling back information that I learned in my Harker years.”

’00

Stephanie Amerian received her BA from UC Berkeley. She is currently a research coordinator for Kaplan, Inc., in New York. Her favorite teachers include Smitty, Mr. Near and Ms. Harp. “Looking back, I appreciate the quality of the education I received at Harker. The high expectations for achievement made me strive to do my best,” she said. Amerian is still in contact with Matt Wolf, Wendy Okimura, Philip Zeyliger and Aamir Alavi.

’97

HS Kaileen Yen is currently a student at Rice University studying architecture.

HS Kristine Chou is attending Cornell University majoring in nutrition science. She is a midshipman in the Cornell NROTC Unit, and a goalie on the Cornell water polo team.

is really quite good and I was spoiled to have such good training within the academic framework of Harker. I really miss my friends in our class. I really loved the rallies when our whole class pulled together at the last minute to win Most Spirited Class. I miss the vibrancy of our class...the mixture HS Jonathan Louie, is of personalities and cultures that attending The US Air Force was so unique and memorable. I Academy in Colorado. His miss non-performing teachers as parents visited him this summer as well, especially Mr. Hawley, who he completed Jump School. taught me all four years, Ms. Mason who’s the best math teacher I’ve ever had, Mr. Williamson, who was always really supportive and nice, and Dr. Hartzell Even though he never taught me in a classroom setting, I felt like I learned a lot from him (Hartzell) just by being in his presence.” DeMers also sent word that she was recently cast in USC’s fall Lui is pictured here receiving his wings from opera “Agrippina” by his Jump Master Handel, playing the par t of Nerone. The show runs from Nov. 19-21. Alumni living in HS Gabrielle DeMers is currently a student at USC. “My best Harker Los Angeles have a chance to memories involve shows. I loved suppor t their fellow alumni by per forming at Harker and the seeing the show! teachers — especially Mrs. Lang’03 HS Suneet Shah is a student at Ree, Ms. Snider and Mr. Draper – UC Berkeley studying electrical really encouraged my growth as a engineering. per former. The whole department

’03

’98

HS Thor Aye is currently a student at UC San Diego.

Plans are under way for special “college” or “class year” tables at this year’s Fashion Show. Join a table of other alumni parents whose child attends or attended the same college as your child or gather other parents from your Alumni model child’s Jennifer Cu, '92 graduating class to fill a class year table. Contact the alumni office for more information.

HS Shalini Lal is currently a student at Pomona College. She remembers teachers Mr. Korin, Mr. Stoll, Mr. Near, Ms. Burrell and Mrs. Padgett and her memories include 2002 graduation and the senior trip.

HS Daniel Ahn stopped by for a visit and tour this summer. He just completed his undergraduate degree at Princeton (in 3 years) and will be starting his graduate work at Harvard. Daniel got a chance to visit with Mrs. Harp who happened to be on campus. He would like to hear from anyone from the classes of ’97 and ’98. HS Jacqueline Lau is currently a manager at Macy’s. She writes, “The best thing I remember about Harker is that it gave me an opportunity to get to know who I was and who I wanted to become. My favorite teacher was Mr. Bither who taught me a lot about being a good leader. Harker benefited me in allowing me to get a good base for education. The classmates I stay in touch with now are Lindsay Carattini and Rachel Carlos. I would like to be in touch with Ashley Alston and Ryan Hunt.”

Alumni Parents!

’02

HS Arthur Balaoro is a rock climbing instructor at Touchstone in San Jose.

Eugene Louie

ALUMNI

2004

homecoming

4th Annual Homecoming Fri., Oct. 15, 2004 4 p.m. J.V. Game • 7:00 p.m. Pre-game Festivities 7:30 p.m. Varsity Football Game

Foothill College Los Altos Directions on the Harker Web site: www.harker.org

HOMECOMING HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: ■ Great location! Bigger stadium, great views, plenty of parking! ■ Short lines at the concessions! Lots of windows and more help so you can get those munchies quicker! ■ Harker Eaglettes! Big-time performance from our pint-sized spirit squad! ■ Junior Cheerleaders! Small but tireless Bucknall group will keep the crowd hyped! ■ Faculty Cheerleaders! Teachers get in on the act and show their school spirit! ■ Star Spangled Banner & Harker Anthem! US singing groups will delight the Harker faithful with help from MS and LS students! ■ Alumni! It wouldn’t be homecoming without some of Harker’s living history in attendance! ■ Crowning of King & Queen! Which two will don the crowns this year?!

Harker Archives

■ US Class Floats! Wonderful floats created by each US class under the theme, Road to a City! ■ Oh, yes – A Football Game! Cheer our team on to victory!

BE THERE! GO EAGLES! 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; Photography: Nick Gassmann, Jessic Liu ’04, Chris Daren; Contributors: Ali Abdollahi, Cathy Snider, Jaja Hsuan, Crystal Boyd, Laura Vandendries; Design: Blue Heron Design; Printing: Harker Copy Shop; Mailing Coordinator: Ashley Sukovez, Jerusha Hew Len

STAFF

update

■ At the National Junior Classical Convention this summer in Richmond, VA, Latin teacher John Hawley was recognized as a Summa Cum Laude Junior Classical League Sponsor for providing more than two decades of service to the National JCL. The Master JCL Sponsor designation is based upon extraordinary service to the JCL on the local, state and national levels. Over the past five years fewer than 100 sponsors from the entire National JCL have been so honored. ■ Executive director of advancement Joe Rosenthal recently earned his Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification. Individuals granted the CFRE credential have met a series of standards set by CFRE International that include tenure in the profession, education, professional achievements and a commitment to service for non-profit organizations. ■ MS English teacher Mark Gelineau was nominated for the top academic paper for his work entitled “Evolution of a Big Bad: Marginalization and Liminality as Prelude to Transformation” at the Slayage Conference, an academic conference on the television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Harker was the only middle school represented among presenters from such institutions as Oxford, Harvard, Yale and Stanford. ■ College counselor Alistair Grant received the Emery Walker College Counselor Award for his active service to the Western Association of College Admission Counselors and his outstanding ser vice to students. Grant’s award included recognition for his work on eating disorders within the context of college admissions. He has published ar ticles in the WACAC Journal on the subject and has visited high schools throughout the countr y talking to students on the subject of eating disorders. He is currently working to publish a manuscript on the same subject.

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

■ At the beginning of each year, Harker has a tradition of honoring employees who have completed 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of service with the school. This year the following employees received their Harker pin, which, beginning at the 10-year mark, is embedded with a diamond for every five years. 5 YEARS: Triona Coyne, Asst. to the President; Isabel Garcia, MS Spanish; Jennifer Gargano, Asst. Head, Academics; John Heyes, US English/Dept. Chair; Linda Heyes, Primary Counselor; Keith Hirota, Elementary social studies; Debbie Horiuchi, Asst. to US College Counselor; Keiko Irino, US Japanese; Urdeline Justo, Groundskeeper; Simon Keilty, MS science/Dept. Chair K-8; Robbie Korin, US chemistry; James McGovern, LS PE; Leah Moll, Elementary math; Ben Morgensen, Elementary science; Omar Nassery, MS world studies; Stacie Newman, Gr. 7 expository writing; Maria Nguyen, Director of Information Services; Chris Nikoloff, Head of School; Lisa Radice, US physics/ Gr. 11 Dean; Rick Samble, Courier; Kelly Schlernitzauer, Asst. to Counseling & MS Division Head; Michael Schmidt, MS/US computer science; Elize Schwartz, Primary language arts; Janice Snyder, Primary 3; Francoise Thompson, US French/Spanish; Stephanie Woolsey, Primary Math; Chris Yamashita, MS/US Recreation Director. 10 YEARS: Christy Vail, Elementary Division Head. 15 YEARS: Linda Brearly, Asst. to Associate Head ; CJ Cali, MS PE/ Dept. Chair K-8; Marie Clifford, Business Mgr.; Debra Nott, LS nurse; Shelly Orr, Elementary aide; Lynette Stapleton, Picnic Coordinator. 20 YEARS: Tracey Clifford, LS teacher aide; Melanie Robinson, LS PE; John Zetterquist, MS world studies/Dept. Chair. 25 YEARS: Terry Walsh, Alumni Relations

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 — October 04