march 2007 (vol. 13, no. 6) est. 1893 • K-12 college prep
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Harker Alumni Class Year Notes
Supplied by Federico Garza
Karen Shriver reconnected with Harker by stopping by a Harker Upper School football game played at Foothill College. Shriver lives near Foothill and noticed the Harker bus while out walking her dog. She brought her dog home and returned to the game wearing her red Harker Academy P.E. shirt! Shriver was recognized by former teacher Pat Walsh and the two spent some time visiting.
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Derek Millman recently contacted the alumni office and gave us his current e-mail address. Becky Davis Flanagan reconnected with Alumni Director Terry Walsh to update her mailing address after seeing the November edition of the alumni notes at her parents’ home. Davis Flanagan graduated from UC Berkeley and received her teaching credential from San
Sat., June 2, 2007 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saratoga Campus Gym and Quad n Photos, memorabilia, yearbooks and more will be on display in the gym. n Campus is open for touring. n Many current and former faculty and staf f will be on hand to visit with alumni. n Presentation of HAA awards.
All Harker Alu mni D ay & A Harker Upp Sat., June 3, 2006 er School 11am-3pm war Campus 500 Sarato ds ga Ave., San Jose
2,500
Second Annual All Harker Alumni Day & Awards
O of C 4/17 -
Save the Date!
Jose State. She taught first grade for a few years in Manhattan, and relocated to Piedmont nine years ago, when her first son was born. Davis Flanagan said, “I’m very busy with the normal life of a mother of three - very involved with the kids’ schools, etc.” Her children are Ben (nine), Kate (seven), and William (five). Davis Flanagan would like to reconnect with former classmates Beth Anderson ’83 and Sara Lundgaard ’83. She reported that her brother, Stephen Davis ’85, lives in Lafayette and is married with two kids. Karel Baloun received his B.A., with honors, in psychology and Japan studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and his M.S. in social psychology from UC Santa Cruz. Baloun recently completed a book about the experience of working at FaceBook, titled “Inside FaceBook – Life, Work and Visions of Greatness” (www. fbbook. com). Baloun reconnected with Harker by attending the inaugural All Alumni Day & Awards with his daughters last June. He is currently the chief technology officer of mEgo.com.
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Terry Walsh
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Christina Birk Bartholomeu found the Harker alumni Web site and requested her user name and password to access the site. She and her sister Pennie were both boarding students in the ’80s. She is currently living in Brentwood, Calif., and is still in touch with Diana DeBenedetti ’82, Celia DeBenedetti ’80 and Patty Sparkman ’82. “I remember such great times of my life there,” said Birk Bartholomeu.
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Shriver earned her B.A. in theatre arts from Humboldt State University in 1994. She is currently the program director at KFJC where she has a radio show on Sunday evenings from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. She is also in contact with classmates Jennifer Lockwood ’83 and Dana Stone ’83.
Ave, San Jose, California www.harker.org
Federico Garza attended PAMA and Harker Academy, and also worked as a summer camp counselor for several years in the early ’80s. This past summer, while vacationing in California with his wife and three children, he arranged a visit to the Saratoga campus. He managed to reconnect with former Harker secretary and current board member Phyllis Carley and current teacher Pat Walsh. Walsh enjoyed telling Garza’s teenage children some fun stories about their dad’s days as a camp counselor and Carley enjoyed
reminiscing about the good old days with him.
500 Saratoga
Jan Travis Prewitt recently reconnected with the alumni office and updated his address so he can start receiving alumni news.
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Tiffany Kitamura graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in economics. She continued on to dental school at the University of the Pacific, doing her residency at UC San Francisco. She is married to a dentist and they recently started their own practice in Willow Glen and are parents of a one-year-old daughter. Kitamura reconnected with Harker this fall when she donated an ad space for the fashion show program. Continued on pg. 2
update
The Harker tradition began in 1893 and as alumni from any of the schools in our history, we all share common Harker roots. Whether you were involved in Harker early in your educational career or one of the long-time trekkers, it continues to be a place of inspiration, creativity, and community warmth. The same spirit and pride in education is driven in the recent addition of the Harker Upper School and continues in the K – Gr. 8 standards. For several of us who are volunteering on the recently established HAA Leadership Council, it has been an opportunity to celebrate that spirit and involve and engage today’s students and alums through alumni services, fundraising, awards, and participation in mentorship programs that celebrate our friendship. Our 1st annual All Harker Alumni Day & Awards celebrated the accomplishments of a few of our outstanding alums, as we honored Steve Bitker ’65, Sehba Zhumkhawala ’90, and our beloved, long-time Harker employee Mrs. Carley. As much as the faculty and staff appreciate seeing old familiar faces, so do the alumni team who look forward to connecting with you even if you’re just passing through. Harker means so much to so many in its long history, and it will be wonderful to see many of you at our 2nd annual All Harker Alumni Day & Awards on June 2, 2007, as an award recipient, a proud Harker alum, a cheering fan, or a smiling face! Thanks for making Harker such a special place.
Jeff Gurich reminisced on his Harker days and decided to visit the school Web site, where he was amazed by the changes that have taken place over the years. He has been in touch with the alumni office and would like to explore the site more. He has a son and a daughter.
Supplied by Gustavo Martinez
Gustavo Martinez corresponded with former Harker boarding program director and current Executive Director of Advancement
paired up again when they both volunteered to help track down members of the Class of ’93. They will be working together to try and get a complete roster for all former classmates, so plan on hearing from them and be ready to pass on any contact information you may have on other alumni.
Vina Patel has been married for over two years and is living in Roswell, Ga., where she is a kindergarten teacher and business owner. Patel runs a tutoring center called the Tutoring Club.
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Joe Rosenthal. He reported that Martinez lives in Mexico, has been married for five years and is the proud father of two boys.
Ashley Anderson recently moved to Los Angeles and has stayed connected with the alumni office. She hopes to reconnect with Tim Anderson ’91 by going to see his band, Ima Robot, (http://www.imarobot.com) play at a venue in Los Angeles. Anderson has also stayed in contact with Sarah Covey ’91 and would love to reconnect with Jennifer Luker ’91. Anderson reported that her brother, Alex Anderson ’95, lives in Redwood City and works at Chevron Corporate. She sent a photo from her brother’s recent birthday celebration.
Gary King requested access to the Harker alumni Web site. He wrote, “I would love to see what my fellow classmates have been up to for the past 20 years - wow!” King founded an independent film and media production company based in Astoria, N.Y., (www.kitchentablefilms.com). Kitchen Table Films has produced two short films – “Favors” and “Hubris.” Both have received critical acclaim and have been accepted to film festivals across the country. Kitchen Table Films has also produced music videos in addition to corporate projects. King has promised the alumni director that he will send a complete update after he finishes shooting footage in New York and Las Vegas.
Tala Banatao and Christina Yan connected last October in San Francisco when they “ran” into each other, while both were training with Team in Training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon! “At the time, I had no idea that Christina was also doing TNT, until one of our training runs. Actually, it was on the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge when she noticed me running and called out my name. Too bad we didn’t take a picture at the event!” said Banatao. The two were recently
Warm Regards, Shyam Panchal ’89 President, Harker Alumni Association
Continued from pg. 1
Supplied by Rex Chung
Dear Harker Alumni,
Rex Chung (pictured at right) reconnected via e-mail with Joe Rosenthal, who reported that Chung was a computer systems administrator in Rochester, N.Y. for eight years, recently received his M.B.A. and is now job-hunting. He would like to hear updates from Mrs. Skapinsky and Joey Barkoff ’88.
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Howard Huang recently contacted the alumni office for access to the alumni Web site.
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Erika Lundberg Oley Krol only attended Harker for one year, but she recently reconnected with the alumni office to get access to the online community, so she could get updates on some of her former classmates. Katie Chou, a graduate of Northwestern University, married Brian Hollier on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Harker teacher Carol Zink (also Katie’s mom) was happy to report that it was a beautiful ceremony on a beach in Hawaii. Chou and her husband are both first lieutenants in the U.S. Marine Corp. Chou’s sister, Kristine Chou ’98, is also stationed in Hawaii and was there for the wedding.
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Supplied by Carol Zink
Note from HAA Council President
Supplied by Ashley Anderson
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Ben Dooley replied to a request for updated contact information from the alumni office. He has recently relocated to Sebastopol, Calif., and is eager to hear about the changes at Harker.
Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement
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Daniela Obregon checked in with the alumni office. She is living in Monterrey,
Mexico. Yasemin Denari is currently working in international business development in Istanbul, Turkey. Nick Shiplov recently checked in with the alumni office for access to the alumni online community. Oliver Dooley was reconnected with Harker recently when Alumni Director Terry Walsh noticed his e-mail address in an e-mail from his brother Matt Dooley ’91. Walsh used the opportunity to try and reconnect with all four Dooley boys and received replies from three out of four of the brothers! Oliver attended university at Bournemouth in the U.K., completing both an undergraduate degree in interactive media and a master’s in interactive marketing. He relocated to Beijing, China, for six months to teach interactive marketing at China Agricultural University. Dooley is now back in the U.K. setting up a company called Eggplant Studios (http://www.eggplantstudios.net). He is engaged to Ayako Takahashi, with plans to marry at the end of 2007 in Japan.
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Continued on pg. 8
Contact Us! The alumni office truly enjoys hearing about all alumni connections and memories. Contact us when you have things to share! terryw@harker.org 408.345.9205
HARKER HISTORICAL LEGEND 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
update ’02 Alumna Returns to the Classroom - at Harker! Many Harker faculty and staff had quite a surprise this year when they spotted one of our US alumnae back on campus to teach a class! Leena Bhalerao ’02 graduated from UC Berkeley this past June with a B.A. in integrative biology and a minor in Spanish language and literature. In July she began working at Planned Parenthood Federation of America in San Jose (PPF), providing reproductive health and sexuality education to junior high and high school students, and spearheading community outreach targeting working-class and migrant populations. Academic counselor
Lori Kohan called PPF to schedule heath educators for this school year as part of the Gr. 11 sex education sessions, and when Bhalerao saw The Harker School she requested that PPF try to fit it into her schedule. She teaches classes on STDs, Birth Control, Decision Making & Communication, HIV/AIDs and Healthy Relationships, and taught the STDs class at Harker in November and January. Alumni Director Terry Walsh sat in for some of the January session to see our alumna in action and was impressed with Bhalerao’s confidence, knowledge, the relaxed manner in which she presented the material and how adept she was at keeping the students’ attention. Bhalerao also mentioned to the class how fortunate they are to have US alumni (something that, as a member
Mark Tantrum - both photos
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of our first US class, she did not have) and that the students should start to think about all the great connections and networking opportunities they have with our US graduates. “Many of them are in jobs in the area – attending master’s programs, doing internships – and are great resources; take advantage of the ’02 alumni!” said Bhalerao. She plans to continue her work in reproductive health education this fall at the renowned SEARCH Institute in rural Maharashtra, India, while applying to a master’s of public health program in maternal and child health.
Staying Connected With Our Most Recent Graduates! Members of the class of ’06 were asked to send their college addresses to the alumni office so we could stay connected with them. The graduates who responded are receiving the monthly Harker Newsletter in their mail slots at college. The replies came with some fun updates from our college freshmen. If you are not receiving the monthly HN, send your college mailing address to Alumni Director Terry Walsh at terryw@harker.org “I’d definitely like to receive the Harker Newsletter to stay in touch with events happening around campus. I’ve been on Penn’s campus for just under three weeks so not much has transpired, but I’ve been having a blast at college already. I’ll be sure to fill you in on any events that happen. Thanks for helping us alumni stay in touch!” —Harish Venkatesan ’06 University of Pennsylvania “I am loving it here at UC Berkeley. Sure, I have inordinate amounts of homework, but the college life is
Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement
definitely amazing! Please do keep me updated on what’s going on at Harker...I’ve been there since second grade and certainly don’t want to lose touch already!” —Meghana Dhar ’06 - UC Berkeley “It’s awesome to hear from my alma mater - although I can’t quite digest the fact that I’m an alum and not a student! College is going great. I don’t have too much to report on just yet - the last couple of weeks have been a blur, and the only way to really describe it so far is ‘amazing.’ I’m sure I’ll have more news as the year goes on. Thanks so much - hope everything’s going well on 500 Saratoga Ave!” —Amira Valliani ’06 - Yale University “I’d love to get the newsletter. I used to love reading that even when I was in school. Thanks!” —Avanti Deshpande ’06 - Carnegie Mellon University “I’d love to get the Harker News. So far school is really fun, but classes haven’t started yet so there isn’t
much to tell. I hope the 06-07 year at Harker is going great as well!” —Mariah Bush ’06 - Harvard University “Thanks for the e-mail! I would love to receive Harker’s monthly newsletter. Classes haven’t started yet for me, but I’ll be sure to keep in touch to tell about my experiences! Thanks and take care!” —Carissa Chu ’06 - UC San Diego “I am so sorry for not replying to this e-mail sooner. I had read about it and flagged it to reply later but then it slipped my mind. I only remembered yesterday when Tara (Chandra) showed me her copy of Harker News and I was like, ‘Oh, dear, I want one and I forgot to send my address.’ Columbia is going really well for me. I love everything that the university has to offer and all of the opportunities that the city presents. I miss Harker so much though! It is still my home!” —Shilpa Vadodaria ’06 - Columbia University
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update PAMA Grad Strolls Down Memory Lane
’83 Jeff Smith contacted the alumni office to try and reconnect with some former classmates to set up a gathering while he was back in San Jose for the Thanksgiving weekend. He received replies from Valerie Tierney ’83 and Karen Shriver ’83 and the three of them met for dinner at Garden City Restaurant, near the Saratoga campus. They had not seen each other since 1983 and enjoyed visiting with each other and taking a walk down memory lane. “It was nice to catch up with old friends from Harker,” said Tierney.
Walter F. Dick ’45, attended middle school at the Palo Alto Military Academy, where he graduated from eighth grade in 1945. He was surfing the Internet recently when he stumbled upon the Harker Web site. “I didn’t know anything was left of good ol’ PAMA until I was browsing my computer map of Palo Alto and saw a notation about the old academy site being ‘historical’,” he explained. “My inquiries on the ‘net led me to the Harker Web site.” Dick, who now lives in Southern California, shared some of his memories via e-mail.
Supplied by Valerie Tierney
Class of 1983 Mini Reunion
Class Of 1992 Pre-reunion Party! Members from the Class of 1992 met for a pre-reunion party in early December at Tres Gringos in downtown San Jose. Classmates Amanda Mathias, Julie Amerian Johnson, Liz Williams and Meredith Harrington Hiltgen organized the event to gear up for the official 15-year reunion on Sat., June 2, 2007. About 20 alumni, Harker staff and significant others gathered to drink some beers, eat some appetizers and catch up on good times. Along with the organizers, other alumni who attended the event were Tania
Supplied by Amanda Mathias - all photos
Bassoni, Elizabeth Spiering, Natica Rudavsky, Rebecca Sampson, Melissa Bauman, Ravi Kapur and Alfred Viola and Harker staff Mel Robinson, Kim Charleton Coulter and Kelle Sloan ’93. Mark your calendars now and save June 2, 2007 for the 15-year reunion for the Harker Academy Class of 1992!
Front row (left to right): Liz Williams, Amanda Mathias, Julie Amerian Johnson, Tania Bassoni, Meredith Harrington Hiltgen, Elizabeth Spiering, Natica Rudavsky, Rebecca Sampson, Melissa Bauman Back row (left to right): Ravi Kapur, Alfred Viola
How did you come to attend PAMA? I had been evacuated from Honolulu in 1942. I spent the early war years living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Canada. I was moved from Canada to PAMA to start the sixth grade. My mother probably picked the school because it was close to my stepfather’s parents in Menlo Park. What is your fondest memory of your time at PAMA? The dance at (Miss Harker’s School for Girls) was memorable. I don’t think any of us had ever been to a dance. We rehearsed diligently for about a week to Harry James records. As I remember, it was kind of a disaster, so I guess it doesn’t qualify as a “fond” memory. I never did learn how to dance properly. What else do you recall about PAMA? Just keeping up demanded full attention. We had a silent drill team, which, together with the band, took up a lot of extra time. (Silent drill is a military exhibition drill routine, which is started on command and consists of complex close order drill with fancy manual-of-arms routines done to a silent count.) You mentioned that you played in the band. What instrument did you play? The trumpet. I continued to play in marching bands and dance bands through 1956. I (also) doodled around on the trombone but never mastered the bass clef. There apparently had not been a band at the academy for a couple of years prior to my time. We were starting from scratch; no one had been in a band before. We never took to the field because several of the band members were also cadet officers and higher non-coms. We couldn’t run the parade and play the music. I understand you attended summer camp at Alpine Lake. What do you recall about that experience? The summer session at Lake Alpine was a big adventure for us kids. For most of us, it was a first outdoor experience. My most memorable excursion was to the other side of Indian Ridge to a shallow lake. We spent the night, cooked dinner and breakfast (what a mess), played in the snow under the ridge, listened to the bobcats yell all night and went back to the campgrounds the next day. We had to pack in everything for these trips. How did your time at PAMA serve you later in life? My academy experience carried over to both high school ROTC and the U.S. Army. It gave me a head start in understanding military protocol and discipline. Most young men are pretty disoriented and intimidated by their first real military experience. For me it was just business as usual. Many private schools attempt to build character and self-reliance. A military school of that time didn’t really have any other purpose. What did you go on to do after graduating from PAMA? After graduation, I returned to Honolulu. A week after returning, WWII ended. I went to high school at Punahou, a private school founded in 1841. My main activities there were band and theater arts. After graduation I went to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, majoring in mechanical engineering. When the Korean War broke out, I returned to Honolulu to report to my draft board. There was a delay in the call up of Hawaii boys, so I took a job in civil service. When the draft call did come up, I did my basic training in Hawaii and then was put back in my old civilian job at an Army radio station. After getting out of the service, I moved to Pasadena and enrolled at Pasadena City College. I switched to French horn and played in the Pasadena community concert band. From there I entered into a career in aerospace and communications. Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement
US Alumni Gather on Campus at Home for the Holidays College Reception
Mark Tantrum - all photos
Harker US alumni were invited to gather on campus for the fifth annual Home for the Holidays College Reception. This event, presented by the Harker Alumni Association (HAA) allows our college-aged alumni the chance to greet many of their former classmates, as well as current students and teachers. There were over 45 alumni who attended the December event held the last day before classes broke for the winter holidays. In January, a few alumni planned another gathering on the first day that Harker classes resumed, and another 30 or so gathered in the quad area of the Saratoga campus. The reception rivals our school rallies for the noisiest event on campus as alumni greet each other with screams of excitement. Gatherings on campus at an arranged time always work best, but alumni are welcome to visit the campus at any time. Call the alumni office and set up a time to stop by the next time you are home for a break from college.
Alumni Chooses Nonprofit Career Path in South and Central America nization that provides unparalleled leadership and community service opportunities for young people while concurrently contributing to the well-being of hundreds of communities throughout the Americas. Supported by a strong network of Pan-American chapters, high school and college students from diverse backgrounds work successfully with host communities and partner agencies to address health and education priorities. Alavi’s experience with the organization began in 2002 when he served as a volunteer in Intibucá, Honduras. He continued to stay involved with
Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement
Amigos de las Americas Web site
’96 Aamir Alavi’s update was sent to the alumni director by his proud alumni parents Munawar and Nafeesa Alaviare (also parents of Asif Alavi ’94 and Azhar Alavi ’93). Alavi graduated from UC Berkeley in 2005 with a B.A. in development studies and a minor in public policy and then chose to accept a position at the nonprofit Amigos de las Americas. Alavi joined the professional staff of Amigos in 2005 as the regional director of South America and Honduras. Founded in 1965 in Houston, Amigos is an international, nonprofit orga-
Amigos as a project supervisor in Leon, Nicaragua, in 2003 and again in 2004 as an associate project director in Intibucá. Along the way, Alavi assisted in East Bay chapter activities and on-campus recruiting at UC Berkeley. Hannah Kaye, a senior at Duke University (and Alumni Director Terry Walsh’s niece), spent two summers volunteering for Amigos in Honduras. She wrote, “Amigos works directly with governments, national health departments and huge NGOs like Save the Children and is not only highly respected in the U.S. but also very highly respected throughout Latin America. Aamir will be working with some very important people. Being
regional director essentially means that he’ll be setting up projects with these major players and also that he’ll be responsible for hundreds of young people every summer. He will travel to South America and Honduras to get reports from the different projects he is overseeing, with each project comprising about 60 volunteers, 10 staff (from the U.S.) and the approximately 25 communities each project is serving. Definitely congratulate him - the job is quite impressive!” The Harker alumni community is proud of Alavi’s honorable accomplishments.
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update
East Coast Alumni Enjoy Regional Gathering in Philadelphia
The timing of the Harker gathering conflicted with Phillyfest, a dance competition for South Asian dance teams, held the same evening. Most of the class of ’06 departed early to attend Phillyfest and cheer on Salman Kothari ’05, who was performing at the event as a member of Dhamaka, the University of Pennsylvania’s all-male dance troupe. In addition, Nikhil Deshmukh ’04, a member of the oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe in the U.S, The Mask & Wig Club, had to leave early for a performance by the group later that evening. n Unexpected Meetings As large a city as Philadelphia is, it had more of a small-town feel when several ’06 alumni managed to get a jump start on the gathering earlier in the day. Near and Gutstein were giving fellow alumni Polzin and Umapathy a tour of the area. The group made a stop for breakfast and Gutstein and Polzin unknowingly sat down next to Walsh at the counter of the Dutch Eating Place in the Reading Terminal. The girls overheard someone talking about
the Bay Area and when they took a peek at who was talking - all were surprised to see each other!
n Former Boarding Student Excels Danny Yoo ’00, a former boarding student, was pleased to reconnect with his former “dorm staffers,” Rosenthal and Walsh, for dinner while they were in Philadelphia. After graduating from Gr. 8 at Harker, Yoo went on to Phillips Exeter, a
boarding high school in New Hampshire, where he excelled in many areas, and graduated as senior class president in June 2004. Yoo is currently a junior at the University of Pennsylvania. He is studying economics and international relations and is involved in a variety of campus activities that include being the founder and president of PennSori, a coed Korean a cappella group; a member of Pennchants, a comedy a cappella group; and a member of Citystep, a community service
Blanca Rosenthal
with their son. Rosenthal’s wife Blanca and Harker donor relations manager Emilie Robb also attended the event and enjoyed meeting the alumni.
dance team. He also works as a research volunteer for National Student Partnerships, researching job opportunities, affordable housing and government aid availabilities for clients in West Philadelphia. Yoo has very fond memories of Harker and enjoys running into many of his former Harker classmates on the U of PA campus.
Terry Walsh - all photos
n Great Gathering for Alumni Nineteen alumni were eager to meet in Philadelphia on Jan. 27 for a pizza dinner hosted by Harker Alumni Director Terry Walsh and Executive Director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal, who were both in the city for a conference. Pizza Rustica, on the edge of the University of Pennsylvania campus, was the gathering spot, but alumni came from Boston College, Columbia University, New York University and MIT to join the fun. There was lots of reconnecting, updating and visiting going on while alumni enjoyed pizza and beverages. On display were photos from the latest alumni events, the most recent edition of the Harker News, the San Jose Mercury News article on our Intel winners and brochures on the future plans for Harker. The alumni soaked up all the information about Harker and all expressed an interest in keeping informed about the happenings back on campus. Alumni in attendance from ’04 were: Mathias Belayneh, Margaret Chen, Nikhil Deshmukh, Kathryn Lee, Nayan Mehta, Ravi Mishra and Sandeep Subhedar; ’05: Gennady Erlikhman, Boris Fedorov and Nilay Gandhi; ’06: Asavari Gupte, Lauren Gutstein, Jason Han, Sharon Her, Robert Li, Casey Near, Amanda Polzin, Xin Wang, Tara Chandra, Mina Lee and Vijay Umapathy. The group was happy that alumni parents Nitin and Meena Mehta (parents of Nayan ’06 and Neil ’02) stopped by to say hello before leaving town after a weekend visit
Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement
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update
How to Stay Connected with Harker Alumni? Marry One!
n Keil Albert ’82 and Liz Robertson ’82 Keil Albert and Elizabeth Robertson were best friends after they met in Gr. 6 at Harker Academy. They wrote letters to each other during the summer and they were together as boyfriend and girlfriend during their last month of Gr. 8. Once they started attending different high schools they remained pen pals. They reconnected to attend a senior prom together and then started dating again in college. They married on August 21, 1997,
16, 2006. Keene (the matchmaker) was the best man at the wedding and their former Harker teacher (and current elementary division head) Kristin Giammona ’81 and Executive Director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal were also in attendance. Blomquist graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in economics and is currently running the Chu family business at the San Jose airport. Chu graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in marketing and is currently working as an account manager. Chu’s love of dance has not stopped since she was at Harker and she continues Supplied by Ann Chu
in Healdsburg with no Harker alumni in attendance since their wedding took place in a hot air balloon! Their parents and a pilot/minister were the only ones in attendance at the wedding. The Albert-Robertsons live in Mountain View, where Keil is a geologist for a small consulting firm in San Jose working on groundwater supply projects, and Elizabeth is the marketing manager for a biotech company in Sunnyvale that designs and manufactures equipment for the processing and analysis of DNA microarrays. They enjoy traveling the world, particularly cruising in the Mediterranean, and they love Italy, especially Venice. Keil is still an avid bowler and golfer, and they both enjoy hiking when they get the chance.
to dance at a studio. While a student at SCU, Blomquist worked for the newspaper as a photo editor and loves action photography. They recently bought a condo in Campbell and enjoy going to San Jose Sharks games, taking small getaway trips, hosting dinner parties and enjoying quality time with their TiVo! n Matt Baker ’83 and Karri Sakai ’84 are also married, but their update was not available at press time. The alumni office is aware of these four marriages between Harker alumni – if you know of others, contact Alumni Director Terry Walsh, terryw@harker.org.
Alumna to Represent U.S.A. at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing Supplied by Liz Robertson
Supplied by Anne Marie Locke
n Michael Cady ’83 and Ann Marie Locke ’86 There were three class years between Michael Cady and Ann Marie Locke, so the two Harker Academy alumni did not know each other as students. By the time Locke began at Harker in Gr. 6, Cady had already graduated from Gr. 8 and was attending Bellarmine. However, their connection was still made on the Saratoga campus as they first met while working at Harker Summer Camp in 1989. They started dating shortly after meeting at camp and continued to date while Cady went to the University of Arizona and Locke to UC Berkeley. They married on June 3, 1995, with many Harker alumni at their wedding, including siblings Elizabeth Locke Franco ’89 and Jennifer Cady ’90 and former classmates Curtis Brunton ’83, Michael Lodoen ’83, John Owens ’85, Tracey Vandeweghe ’86, Tiffany Vandeweghe ’83 and Melissa Lodoen ’90. The Cadys currently live in San Jose. Michael is a vice-president of Forward Planning for Duc Housing Partners in Los Gatos and Ann Marie is a full-time parent of their two sons, Shane (age seven) and Luke (age four).
n Ann Chu ’96 and Steve Blomquist ’96 These two alumni were in the same grade level at The Harker School, but Ann Chu and Steve Blomquist find it rather humorous that they don’t have any memories or knowledge of each other from back then. They reconnected in 1999 when Chu’s friend and fellow alumnus Jerome Keene ’96 suggested she ask Blomquist to her prom at Presentation High School. The prom date went well and they have been together as a couple since then! They are the most recent of the alumni bride and grooms, just married on Sept.
Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement
Congratulations to Harker graduate Andrea Nott ’96 (daughter of Director of Nursing Debra Nott) on being selected as one of the first two athletes for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team! Rules for naming athletes are complex, but synchronized swimming requires so much careful practice, the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Association is allowed to name two athletes early in order to begin forming the team. Nott and her fellow-appointee and duet partner, Christina Jones, will each swim a technical and free program at the Olympics in Beijing for both duet and team (four swims total). Between now and the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8, 2008, Nott and the U.S. team will compete in the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, in March and the Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro in the summer. Nott attended K-Gr. 8 at Harker, before there was a high school. “She began swimming for the Santa Clara Aquamaids when she was in fourth grade,” her mother noted. “Andrea took the regular swimming classes in the Saratoga campus pool, beginning in spring of her kindergarten year. While she was already a pretty good swimmer as a toddler, I’m sure her years of lessons with Miss Mel (Robinson) and others helped perfect the strokes that form the foundation of synchronized swimming,” she added. In addition, Nott pointed out, “Andrea is the third Harker graduate to go to the Olympics in synchronized swimming. Kristina Lum ’90 was on the 2000 team in Sydney, Australia, and Kendra Zanotto ’95 was on the 2004 team in Athens, Greece. Not many schools can boast three Olympians!” Good luck, Andrea!
ALUMNI Continued from pg. 3 Kristine Chou, a graduate of Cornell University and a naval ensign, is currently stationed in Hawaii as the fire control officer (in charge of the weapons) on the USS Reuben James, a frigate. Her sister, Katie Chou ’95, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corp, is also stationed in Hawaii.
’98
update which Iftimie (a senior) is captain, attended the 36th annual Henry Clay Debate Tournament, hosted by the University of Kentucky last October. Two USC teams qualified for elimination rounds, out of a field of 120. Iftimie and his partner made it to the final 16 after placing fifth in the preliminaries. Iftimie was also awarded the third overall speaker award. “Of the national field of over 200 students this is a tremendous honor and one of the highest places ever earned by a Trojan at this tournament,” reported Gordon Stables, the director of debate at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication. Ankur Gupta reconnected with former teacher Pat Walsh via an e-mail note. Gupta’s update included that he is studying materials science and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. The movie “Smart People” is being filmed there with Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker and Gupta’s dorm room will be used in the movie. Others studying at CMU are Jackson Davis ’06, Sameer Chopra ’06 and Avanti Deshpande ’06.
Supplied by Carol Zink
’06
Gabrielle DeMers will perform her senior recital at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, in the Newman Recital Hall, in February. In addition, in April DeMers will be singing the role of “Betty” in the premiere of Lowell Liegermann’s opera “Miss Lonelyhearts” at USC’s Bing Theater. For more information visit www.usc.edu/music/uscopera. Supplied by Gabby DeMers
’03
Alex Iftimie, a Harker debater, has continued his study of forensics at the University of Southern California. The Trojan debate squad, of
Riley Foster reconnected with former teacher Pat Walsh. Walsh reported that Foster is a plebe at West Point Military Academy. Last year she received an honorable mention award in a national mathematical modeling competition. She is in touch with Connor Sullivan MS’02 and William Waggoner ’06.
New Alumni Web Site Coming Soon! Alumni registration IDs will be mailed out when the site is ready for action. Get ready to log on and check out fun photos, links to classmates, alumni news and more!
HAA Alumni Award Nominations The HAA invites our alumni, alumni parents, faculty and staff associated with any of the schools in our history – PAMA, Harker Day School, Miss Harker School, Harker Academy and The Harker School – to submit nominations for any or all of the HAA Alumni Awards. n HAA Distinguished Alumni Award: honors an alumnus or alumna who has displayed distinctive achievement in a chosen field of endeavor and outstanding service to society or his/her community. n HAA Community Service Award: recognizes the outstanding contributions and accomplishments of alumni who have devoted their time and talent in service to their respective communities, whether local, national or international. n HAA Phyllis Carley Award: recognizes alumni or other friends who have unselfishly devoted their time and energies and made significant contributions towards advancing the programs of The Harker School. Please include the following information when submitting a name for consideration: 1. Your name and class year 2. Nominee’s name and class year 3. Award name 4. A brief description of the nominee’s accomplishments or significant professional or personal achievements and any pertinent supporting information including Web links. The Nomination Committee shall consider all nomination information confidential. Please submit nominations to Terry Walsh at terryw@ harker.org. Once the new alumni Web site is available, nomination forms will be available online.
The HAA is working hard to reconnect with lost alumni and have had some success using Google and Classmates.com to track down alumni who have no current address information in our data base. If you are interested in volunteering as a class agent or spending some time trying to find lost alumni, please contact the alumni office for more information.
The Harker News is published nine times per year by the Harker Office of Communications. Harker Alumni supplements are published three times per year. Current and archived issues are available on our Web site at www.harker.org. Contact Pam Dickinson, Director, Office of Communications: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129, pamd@harker.org, 408.345.9273 Harker Alumni Editions Reporter: Terry Walsh
The Harker School is a K-12 independent, co-ed, college-prep school.
Grades K-5: 4600 Bucknall Rd., San Jose CA 95130 Grades 6-8: 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose 95117 Grades 9-12: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose CA 95129
Harker believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity and does not discriminate against its employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), national origin, ancestry, age (over 40), marital status, political affiliations, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by state or federal laws, local law or ordinance.
Harker News — March 07, Alumni Supplement