2009 April Harker News by The Harker School

APRIL 2009 (VOL. 15, NO. 7)

M O N T H L Y

inside

N E W S L E T T E R

F R O M

T H E

week of dance show rehearsals and athletic schedules, so special day care stations had to be established – just like for real parents. While most students successfully cared for their flour sack babies, several soccer players were unable to prevent subjecting their charges to drenching rain.

New Board Members Named..3 Beijing Reception Draws Great Crowd.....................................4

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Skype Used to Connect with China....................................19 Dance Jamz Show on Fire......22 GEO Members Speak at Rally..24

Inserts in this issue: n H&S Connection (K–Gr. 8 only) n Pastries & Pals Admission Event n Summer Parenting Class

As their last year in middle school enters its final months, Gr. 8 students got an extra dose of responsibility in caring for a flour sack baby in early March. The surrogates were looked after for an entire week and “it is important for the students to be responsible parents for the entire week,” said K-Gr. 8 P.E. department chair Chrissy Chang.

Music Man

It was difficult to carry an extra five pounds around campus on top of all my books, let alone having one pile of school things in one hand and a ﬂour sack in the other. It made me much more aware of what I was doing...

events “ Save the Date! US Musical

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the

S C H O O L

“Babies” Nurtured, Rained on in Parenting Exercise

Alum’s Science Experiment a New Wine...............................6

Debate Pair Undefeated........27

H A R K E R

Students lost points if they abandoned their baby or it was harmed. Although the program permitted use of babysitters, they could look after no more than three babies at one time. The exercise took place during a

For almost three days I was frantically trying to make sure that not a single drop of water hit my ﬂour sack.

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est. 1893 • K-12 college prep

“The objective of the project is to have responsibility for a child; therefore, they cannot just put it in the locker and leave it. They must care for it and make sure it is safe,” said Chang. Teachers and BEST staff participated by reporting neglect and other violations.

“I really got into the project, dressing the flour sack in clothes and giving it a name,” said Samantha Hoffman. “For a while, the sack felt almost like an actual baby, if only because it required so much constant attention. “The most challenging aspect was keeping the ‘baby’ in pristine condition until the teachers could grade it,” Hoffman added. “Rain filled the entire week of the project, and daily activities such as lunch and recess posed possible threats to the flour sacks.” continued on pg. 22

Thur., April 1 – Sat., April 18, 2009

Students Take Action on Honor Code Violations

7 p.m.; additional Sat. matinee at 2 p.m.

At the US assembly on Feb. 23, members of the Honor Council spoke to their fellow students about how they plan to help the Harker community combat academic dishonesty.

Blackford Theater

Arjun Mody, Gr. 11, shared what he and other Council students learned during a trip to New Orleans, where they attended a conference on school honor councils and codes. Mody said Harker was one of “about 20” schools in attendance.

To purchase tickets e-mail tickets@harker.org See pg. 2 for more details.

Kevin Williamson

$25 reserved, $15 general and $10 student/senior

“We soon realized that many schools are dealing with the same problems that we face here,” he said. “It was interesting to see the different perspectives that the faculty and students have on this issue and how these differences can be reconciled.” continued on pg. 26

editor’s note

important dates

annual giving

The weather warming up and Ray making rounds remind us to dust off summer “To Do” lists. Whether relaxing, learning something new or spending more time with family and friends are on the list, check out the amazing variety at Harker. Even parents can take swim or parenting classes – so cool!

n Mon., March 30-Fri., April 3 – Spring Break, no classes K-Gr. 12

Heartfelt Thanks!

–Pam Dickinson, Director Office of Communications pamd@harker.org

n Mon., April – Classes resume K-Gr. 12

UPCOMING SCHOOLWIDE EVENTS n Fri., April 10, 7 p.m. – Orchestra Concert, Bucknall Gym

The annual giving logo appearing at the end of some of our stories indicates those activities or programs funded by Annual Giving.

April 15-18 – US Musical, “The Music Man,” Blackford Theater Wed., April 15, p.m. with dinner Thurs.-Fri., April 17- 18, at 7 p.m.

Participation is at 60%

Sat., April 18, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Help us reach

Enrollment heating up for this summer! Visit the Web site and check out all the great offerings for: n K-Gr. 8 Summer Programs n English Language Institute n Harker Tennis Program n Harker Swim School n Summer Institute and more!

n Thurs., April 30 7-8:30 p.m. – Cantilena/Camerata/Guys’ Gig Concert, Nichols Hall Auditorium

Common Ground Speaker Series n Wed., April 29, 7 p.m. – How to Build Strong Families: Insights from Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Woodside High School Performing Arts Center, 199 Churchill Ave., Woodside n Thurs., April 30, 9 a.m. (Morning Session) – Yavneh Day School APJCC Auditorium, 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos; 408.984.6700 n Wed., March , 7 p.m. Castilleja School, 1310 Bryant St., Palo Alto; 650.328.3160. n Thurs., March 5, 7 p.m. Saint Andrew’s School, 13601 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga; 408.867.3785.

100%

summer

n Wed., April 22, 11: 5 a.m. – US Annual Art Exhibit & Reception, Nichols Hall Atrium

t Pa r t icipat

visitors Swiss Students Visit in April Watch for a group of 15 students from Switzerland who will be visiting the Harker US from April 3-10. The students will be visiting classes, participating in the multicultural assembly and visiting other campuses. Be sure to make them welcome!

Harker Speaker Rick Smolan, photojournalist and clean water advocate, spoke in midMarch. Read about it on page 12, or go to the Harker Web site, www.harker.org, for the full story.

Special discounted summer tuition rates for current Harker students this summer – visit the HPP for details or contact campinfo@harker.org!

global ed Required Info Sessions This Month! All current Gr. 5 and Gr. 7 students and parents interested in participating in the Tamagawa or Shanghai exchanges must attend Info sessions this month. See pg.14.

SECOND ANNUAL DO-THE-ROW FASHION WEEK

Save the Dates!

Benefiting The Harker School

April 30 May 10

Free valet parking passes and additional discounts available to Harker families at many of your favorite Santana Row merchants during the entire 11-day event.

also

April 30, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon: exclusive kick-off event at the Donald Pliner store! Donald Pliner will personally be attending and autographing shoes purchased that day. Mark your calendars now and plan to come and enjoy one or several days during this wonderful Fashion Week shopping opportunity which benefits Harker. Watch for more details in the next Harker News!

Harker News — April 09

HEAD

lines

Jumping in Puddles – When Did We Stop?

I was reminded of my older son for whom we had to break down and purchase big rubber boots so that he could freely splash into the Nikoloff speaking at the Adbigger puddles around the house. Otherwise, vancement Focus Group meethis feet were mysteriously attracted to the ing for the Master Site Plan bottom of the puddle – the muddier the better – mindless of the damage he inflicted on his footwear. I ran into Shelley Orr, who was supervising on the playground, and we mused about how the students’ feet are attracted to the pools of water while at the same time the adults’ feet are repelled by the water. Why is that so? When does a person switch from looking at a puddle as an opportunity to an annoyance? ee cummings was a serious poet, but perhaps is most famous for a children’s poem, or more aptly a poem that captures how children look at the world. It is titled “in just-“ and opens as follows:

in justspring when the world is mudluscious the little lame balloonman whistles far and wee and eddieandbill come running from marbles and piracies and it’s spring

wonder with which children view the world, how the world is “puddlewonderful” and “mudluscious” and how marbles and imagined piracies have the power to fascinate.

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Perhaps we learn our way into cynicism ...however, we have children to remind us that the rain, puddles and snails all deserve a second look...

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The puddles on the Bucknall playground were not particularly large. In fact, most of them had been squeegeed off the surface so that only small pockets of water, not even respectable enough to be called puddles, remained. The students, however, found them, and promptly placed their feet in them, watching the water react to their feet with wonder and joy.

All these puddles came from the recent rain, of course, and as we all know rain brings snails. After my visit to the Bucknall playground, I turned the corner to walk through the kindergarten and found students circled around a snail. Heidi Rosa and Lisa Hackwood, who were supervising the children, said that the students collected snails every year. One student, Tristan Goodwin, was clearing the snails from the bike path so that they would survive the imminent onslaught of bicycle tires. Of course, Heidi, Lisa and I thought that the snails were gross. The students, however, found them “puddle-wonderful.” “Why do they come out in the rain?” “Where are they going?” “Do they bite?” At what point in a person’s development do snails cease to be an object of wonder and become, well, disgusting? Most religions and mythologies have creation stories that begin with some golden age or utopia that disappears, typically with the gain of knowledge and the loss of innocence. Perhaps we learn our way into cynicism. Remember the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden? At some point we bite the apple and the world becomes old hat. In the meantime, however, we have children to remind us that the rain, puddles and snails all deserve a second look, perhaps because children, just as we did when we were kids, view the things of this world with a first look. I don’t believe that adults can fully regain this vision – we are far too jaded for that. But once in a while, especially by children, it is nice to be reminded that the snail is a little miracle and that puddles are more fun than we’ve imagined in a very long time.

when the world is puddle-wonderful The poem traffics in the run-on sentences children use when they excitedly tell a story. More importantly, the poem captures in language the sheer

Welcome New Board Members Harker has two new members on its board of trustees. A hearty welcome to Huali Chai Stanek and Ajay Chopra! Stanek, an attorney in private practice, and her husband, Stan, have been Harker parents continuously for 20 years, as all three of their children (Steve ’97; Alexandra ’03 and Andrew, Gr. 12) attended from kindergarten through graduation. She notes, “Over the years I have seen my own children and their classmates discover themselves here, finding interests and developing abilities which they might not otherwise have realized and which we parents might not have known to encourage. This has happened not only because the offerings are broad and the teachers are exceptional, but because the peer atmosphere is healthy. I think the mutual respect Harker students show for each other’s views, backgrounds and accomplishments in turn gives them fortitude to be unique and confident individuals. “I am looking forward to serving on the Harker Board of Trustees because I am eager to be part of Harker’s future as well as its past. Harker is a special place, and I think that its recent expansions and successes, which have been so generously fostered by the entire Harker community, Harker News — April 09

–Christopher Nikoloff, Head of School

increase even further our shared responsibility to nurture Harker’s future carefully, so the school continues to strengthen and evolve with the times while retaining the fine characteristics which have always distinguished Harker and its students.” Chopra, a general partner at Trinity Ventures, and his wife, Shyamoli, have been involved with Harker since 1996 when both their sons enrolled. Their older son, Sameer ’0 , is now a computer science junior at Carnegie Mellon, and Rohan, a Harker “Lifer,” will graduate in 2010. “I look forward to working with Chris Nikoloff, Diana Nichols and the rest of the Board to help achieve Harker’s vision of becoming the best K-12 school in the country. A trustee role will also let me to stay connected with the Harker community. “Harker is about achieving excellence in whatever we set out to do. Only the Harker community could have pulled together to build a top-notch high school in less than six years! Harker is also about nurturing young minds and helping them realize their full potential in academics, sports, arts or whatever their passion may be. But most of all, Harker is a unique community of students, parents and educators who passionately believe that the best gift we can give the next generation is the gift of excellent education.”

programs

Laena Keyashian - all photos

SUMMER

Harker’s summer mascot, Ray, joined the folks in the Harker Summer Programs office recently at the annual Bay Area Parent Summer Camp Fair held at Westgate Mall.

Harker’s International Receptions Are a Major Success Harker parents Lucy Li and Allan Zhang (Bryan Zhang, K) hosted a very successful reception for the Harker English Language Institute (ELI) in Beijing in early March. Li flew to Beijing to assist Joe Rosenthal, the director of advancement who directed Harker’s elementary boarding program for

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Harker has an outstanding reputation worldwide for this unique program. It is wonderful that so many of our former boarding students and their families are able to recommend their relatives, friends and business associates to our ELI summer program.

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many years, in promoting this unique program that specializes in preparing international students for success at the nation’s premier boarding schools or English-speaking schools worldwide. “Harker has an outstanding reputation worldwide for this unique program,” said Rosenthal. “It is wonderful that so many of our former boarding students and their families are able to recommend their relatives, friends and business associates to our ELI summer program.” The reception in Beijing was an enormous success thanks to the efforts of Li and Zhang, who were proud to recommend Harker to the big crowd in attendance. In addition to recruiting students for the ELI program, Rosenthal visited

with many boarding alumni during his trip. In Korea, a group of alumni gathered at the Outback Steak House on Friday night before the ELI reception on Saturday, where Alex Lee ’97 agreed to head up the Korean alumni group. It was very impressive to have so many alumni attend the recruiting reception as well. The prospective families were impressed when Danny Yoo MS’00, who was class president at Phillips Exeter, spoke about how Harker prepared him for his high school and his studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious school of business. “We had alumni who also attended Harker’s upper school, Choate Rosemary Hall, Woodside Priory, Stoney Brook and Mercersburg on hand to validate how well Harker prepares students for success at high school and beyond,” noted Rosenthal. Special thanks to Young Lee ’93 who once again served as the translator for our program and to the family of Chris ’03 and Harry Kim MS’08 for hosting Harker’s visit in Korea. At press time Rosenthal was heading for Shanghai to meet with the head of the Clinton Foundation’s Shanghai office, and then on to Hong Kong where boarding alumni Toku Chen ’92 and his wife, Candy, will assist him with the reception there. The ELI receptions will continue in Taipei, Taiwan, where alumni parents Ting and Angela Herh (Stephanie ’08) will host the event, before completing the trip in Tokyo, where Harker grandparent Zenichi Ogawa (Kei MS’03) will kindly host the final reception. “It brings me great joy to visit with so many of our international alumni,” Rosenthal said. “It seems like only yesterday when these wonderful Harker students were 12- and 13-yearsold, living in our dorm. I am so proud to see them all grown up and leading successful and happy lives.” Harker News — April 09

SUMMER MUSIC I NST I T UTE 2009 Harker’s intensive summer music program will focus on orchestral studies and technique to provide qualified students with practical experience in orchestral performance, while gaining important knowledge in music theory and history. Students will experience an enriching and enthusiastic musical environment filled with students and instructors who value a strong musical education. The institute is open to students who play violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba and percussion. Advanced and intermediate levels offered for

Gr. 9-12 and Gr. 5-8. The program will be directed by Harker’s own instrumental faculty Louis Hoffman and Chris Florio. As an instrumentalist, Hoffman has studied with jazz greats Ted Greene, Ernie Watts, Bob Shepard and Tom Peterson, has composed, orchestrated and sequenced for Disney’s Saturday morning lineup, and worked with a variety of artists in recordings and live sessions. As a composer and performer, Florio has worked with talents such as Herbie Hancock, Billy Higgins, Lalo Schiffrin, Alf Clauson, Bill Conti, Sarah Chang, Mehli Mehta and many others.

INSTITUTE INCLUDES:

n sectionals with professional coaches n courses on music theory (A) or music history (B) n ensemble rehearsal n recording technique workshops n culminating performance in the new Nichols

Hall auditorium

D AT E S & R AT E S :

n 8:30 -11:30 a.m. daily n (A) June 22-July 2: $540 n (B) July 6-July 17: $600 n (A+B) June 22-July 17: $1,140

Visit the Web site or contact SI@harker.org for info.

summer.harker.org Harker News — April 09

alumni

HARKER

Middle School Science Project Wine Ready to Pour

Priya Thumma

accounting and led tours for a summer; so I made my rounds through the winery, but this is my only personal attempt at winemaking since Harker.”

One Harker alumnus has leveraged his middle school science experiment to create a delicious wine. Will Jarvis MS’97, while boarding at Harker, received special dispensation to conduct a winemaking experiment for his science class. This spring, Jarvis Winery (a family business), will release a wine based on the experiment. Jarvis, now attending Stanford business school, wasn’t able to sample the wine until he came of age nearly 10 years later. After ageing, the experimental wine was bottled and stored at the winery. When he and his family did open the bottles, they were excited enough about the flavor to call in their resident wine expert, who pronounced the wine exceptional.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” said Jarvis when he stopped by to help celebrate the opening of the Ringold Research Laboratory in Nichols Hall in February. “It was mostly conceived as a science experiment, so it wasn’t until later, when we actually tasted the wine, that we actually started to get excited about the quality.” That led to Jarvis’ second attempt to make wine. “Because it was inspired by the science project we decided to name it the Will Jarvis Science Project,” he said. Since college, Jarvis has been involved in winemaking. “I have cycled through different positions at the winery,” he noted. “I did a summer working in the fields, a summer in shipping, I’ve done

Alumna Inducted to Harvard Society Julia Havard ’07 was inducted into the prestigious Signet Society of Har vard University. Founded in 1870, the society had as its first president Charles Joseph Bonapar te. Members are chosen for their merit and accomplishments. Among the notable members of the Signet Society are President Franklin D. Roosevelt, author Samuel Eliot Morison, actor Tommy Lee Jones, poet T.S. Eliot and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Jessica Flores

Havard, a sophomore, was recognized for her leadership as president of Harvard’s Cultural Agents Undergraduate Initiative, her work and performances in theater and dance, and her contributions to various organizations involved with health issues.

Jarvis recalled the fuss around his original batch, which was in a seven- or eight-gallon cask, compared to the usual 60galllon barrel. “There was a lot of excitement surrounding the experiment, given it was a fairly unusual project in that I was a 13- or 14-year-old middle school student making wine in my dorm room. Things were pretty compact so there wasn’t anywhere for me to put the barrel except the foot of my bed. That’s what I remember the most: having to live around the barrel, sort of negotiating my living space. Surprisingly enough, as far as I know, no one dipped into the keg – there weren’t any unauthorized wine tastings.” Now, the new half-barrel (30gallon) vintage, approved by the winer y’s expert, is ready for sale. “We happened upon the quality of the smaller barrel serendipitously, through the science experiment,” said Jar vis, “but it makes a lot of sense because during winemaking there is a well known trade-off during ageing between absorbing a lot of the desirable oaky flavors form the barrel, and losing some of the natural fruity flavor of the

wine, which is also desirable. That (trade-off) just seems to be a function of time. “The idea with the smaller-sized barrel, which has a higher surface to volume ratio, is that you absorb the oak at an accelerated rate so you don’t need to age the wine as long in order to absorb the same amount of oak flavor. The end result is that you are ageing the wine for a shorter amount of time in the barrel before you bottle it (and) when you bottle it you are essentially capturing (the flavor at that moment). People have used smaller barrels for experimental purposes before, but we are almost certainly the first winery to try that on a production scale.” Read more about Will Jarvis and his Science Experiment in the June Alumni News!

Prestigious Choral Group Invitation Vassar chemistry major Gail Nakano ’06 has been invited to join the Carrington Chamber Singers. Simon Carrington is director of the Yale Schola Cantorum and professor of choral conducting at Yale University and before that directed the Kings Singers at Cambridge, England. Nakano’s new group plans a Midwest tour in May and annual international tours. Despite being a chem major, Nakano says she feels “like I spend the majority of my time singing! I’m still in two choirs, Vassar College Choir and Madrigal Singers. This past semester in my voice lessons I worked on a bunch of the Charlotte arias from Massenet’s ‘Werther.’ SO much fun!” she added.

Alum Sizzles on SJSU Diamond Jason Martin ’07, son of Steve Martin, Harker’s executive chef, is tearing up the diamond at San Jose State. In mid-march, Martin started the first of two games against Chicago State with a first-inning three-run homer, his third of the season. He now leads the team in HRs. In game two, he was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a pop out to center. Fast! Last season the walk-on phenom hit .307 (51-for-166) for the season and scored 34 runs. Harker News — April 09

advancement

Dean for the Day Supervises at Assembly, Walks Halls

Parents and Students Give Input on Future of Campus

Ah, that memorable day where you get to be the boss. Everyone looks to you for direction, no one says no. Sarah Savage, Gr. 3, was Dean for the Day in early March, the lucky winner of a Harker Family & Alumni Picnic auction prize, courtesy of her mom.

Head of School Chris Nikoloff has begun hosting focus groups with parents and students to gather feedback for planning the future of the Saratoga campus. Input is being sought in three areas: the performing and visual arts center, gymnasium and master site plan, which is a general layout of the campus.

Teachers’ Picnic Packages Cashed In Picnic prizes are popping! As the school year wends on, teachers will be fulfilling picnic package pledges; for her donation, Diane Plauck, LS math teacher, has had two baking days with students. The first was with Connor and Spencer Powers, both Gr. 5, who invited classmate Jacob Diaz to join them. “The boys arrived at my house

Diane Plauck

at about 11 a.m. and we made and decorated gingerbread men, women and babies as well as baked some delicious Everything Cookies, recipe compliments of my mother-in-law,” said Plauck. “The Christmas songs were playing, the candy decorations were being gobbled and the boys and I were enjoying a couple of hours in a sweet, warm cozy kitchen celebrating the holiday season,” she added. “The next day, fourth grader Stephanie Scaglia and two of her friends, Anahita Far and Hazal Gurcan, joined me for another afternoon of baking. We literally (and figuratively) wrapped up the afternoon with plates of goodies for all the children to bring home to share with their families,” Plauck said.

Ringold Lab Opens with Fanfare Students, teachers and parents gathered in late February to celebrate the official opening of the Ringold Research Lab in Nichols Hall. Harker is one of only a few upper schools in the country with its own dedicated, long-term research lab used for original student research. Among the attendees were honorees Gordon and Tanya Ringold, whose visionary gift helped make the lab possible, and members of Harker’s administration. Other capital campaign donors also attended, as well as parents of the students doing the research projects. Students’ research projects include the influence of phylogeny and demographics on the sharing of pathogens between species (Avanika Krishnaswamy, Gr. 12), the effects of environmental estrogens on sea urchin development (Emily Carr, Gr. 12), and the antimicrobial effects of chrysanthemums (Peter Gao, Gr. 10), among many others. Harker News — April 09

The next phase of our Cornerstones for Success Campaign (Phase 4) will be a performing and visual arts center, but initial planning must be done for all areas of the campus to ensure the best use of space. Harker architect and alumni parent David Takamoto has been attending these focus groups and meeting with key members of Harker’s

community, and he will use the information gathered to inform his design process. Initial focus groups regarding the gymnasium and the master site plan have already been held, and online surveys have been sent out. The first gymnasium focus group featured an inspirational talk by guest speaker Richard Rosenthal, athletic director emeritus of the University of Notre Dame and father of our own Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement. Last month, a parent group toured the new gymnasium at Castilleja School to see the latest innovations in a high school gym. Next up, there are meetings planned this spring to report the findings of the gymnasium and master site planning focus groups and online surveys. Working committees for the performing and visual arts center have already begun their planning process and will seek input from a wider cross-section of the school community in April. We plan to involve not only our current students and parents in these crucial planning processes, but also to seek feedback from our alumni and alumni parents. It’s important to us to involve the full community in this effort which will positively affect all of us. If you are interested in finding out more about proposed plans for the future of the Saratoga campus, please contact Joe Rosenthal at joer@harker.org.

‘Mamma Mia’ for the Moms MS moms gathered in the Nichols Hall auditorium at the end of February for a potluck and a screening of the musical movie “Mamma Mia!” The food, the company and the entertainment were enjoyed by all.

Melinda Gonzales

She didn’t get to miss any tests, but did get to send out announcement e-mails and preside at the wildlife assembly held that day. Savage was filling in for Joe Connelly, dean of students, K-Gr. 5, so got to sit at his desk, use his phone and e-mail (not entirely without supervision, however), and stride through the halls as the anointed one for the day.

Provided by Joe Rosenthal

HARKER

FASHION

show 2009

Proceeds from Freeze Frame benefit the Harker Scholarship Fund, faculty professional development, and the Capital Improvement Fund for the construction of the new library at the US campus.

By the Numbers 1,166 total guests (lunch - 652 + dinner - 514)

87 models

25 hosts and greeters

112 performers

78 showcase and auction donors

107 parent volunteer committee members

20+ additional volunteers

$83,250

Thank You to Our Amazing Freeze Frame Team Harker’s amazing history was on full display during the Freeze Frame Fashion Show, but nothing could adequately describe the extraordinary history of volunteering we have at the school. It took over 100 committee members and many more volunteers to put on this phenomenal gala event. Those parent and student volunteers gave tirelessly of their time, talents and treasures. Without their countless volunteer hours, support and commitment, this event would simply not be possible. It has been a great pleasure to work with the fashion show co-chairs, Betsy Lindars, Jennifer McClenon and Tamra Amick, as they took their vision of Freeze Frame and made it a reality. Jennifer made everyone sound good with her pitch-perfect writing skills; Betsy pulled together a spectacular set of Live Auction packages, and while Tamra did a great job guiding the models through the process, she has probably seen enough of giant, slobbery dogs to Jessica Liu

raised at live auction

$11,730 raised from showcases

Co-chairs Jennifer McClenon, Tamra Amick and Betsy Lindars

$3,695 raised from silent auction

Freeze Frame Photos Online Now! Hundreds of exciting photos are online for viewing and ordering. Many thanks to our press crew of students for their fabulous work!

Director Laura Lang-Ree and producer Beverly Zeiss

last a lifetime! This executive team always led with professionalism, expertise, dedication and compassion. It has been a year filled with work, fun and laughter.

Keefer, logistics; Chris Daren, hosts and hostesses; Laura Lang-Ree, our very talented director; and Paul Vallerga and Brian Larsen, Laura’s technical support team.

Special thanks also go to many in administration and the Harker liaisons who supported our team of parent volunteers: Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs; Pam Dickinson, Office of Communications director; Julie Troop, finance; Mike Bassoni, facilities manager; Chef Steve Martin, catering; Bob

Harker is truly an amazing place made up of extraordinary, dedicated and talented volunteers. Thank you to one and all for contributing your time and talent to the huge success of Freeze Frame – That was Then, This is Now! –Sue Prutton, Fashion Show Liaison & Director of US Volunteer Programs Harker News — April 09

Luxury Showcases Go to Lucky Winners Thank you to the showcase committee, the donors and the designers who made our showcases so sumptuous and tempting! Here are the lucky winners, and another warm thank you to our wonderful showcase donors!

Designed by Kren Rasmussen, Bloomster’s Razor electric scooter, Disney vacation, iPod Nano, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rock Band Bundle and more Xbox games, Sony PSP, kids’ Mercedes SL convertible, pink bicycle, Radio Flyer airplane, Tween/Teen mini makeover, AMC Family Night.

Winner: The Panja Family Donor: The Swanson-Jackson Family

Designed by Priya Vij Gift certificates/treats at Anne Fontaine, Pizza Antica, Beau Bijou, Best Buy, Brooks Bros., Burke-Williams, Donald J. Pliner, Eli Thomas, Footcandy, Furla, Hotel Valencia, Penelope, Pink Stripes, Product, Puripan Tea Garden, Smith Alder, St. Croix, Tourneau, Vera Bradley, Vintage Wine Merchants, W Salon.

Winner: Fred Carr Donor: Santana Row

Designed by Dennis Baldwin, Dennis Baldwin Interiors AZADEH gift certificate, Aston Martin for the weekend, admission to McCall Motorworks Revival and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, stays at Monterey Plaza Hotel and The Lodge at Pebble Beach, golf & lunch at Pasadera Country Club, fine wine and spa packages.

Winner: Steve Sund Donors: AZADEH Couture • Dennis Baldwin • Ralph Borelli • John & Christine Davis •

Photos by Michelle Lo, Jessica Liu, Devin Nguyen, Simi Mazloom

Doug & Linda Emery • Garage Solutions • Hall & Rambo Insurance • Greta Jackson • Monterey Plaza Hotel • Adom Moutafian • Howard & Diana Nichols • Pasadera Country Club Golf Resort • Pebble Beach Resorts • Marcia Riedel • Guy & Susan Simpson • Silicon Valley Auto Group • Y.A. Tittle Insurance Broker

Harker News — April 09

FASHION

show 2009 Silent and Live Auctions Raise a Total of $8 ,9 5! Dynamic auctioneer Damon Casatico led enthusiastic bidders through a rollicking live auction at the dinner gala. Congratulations to the winners, and our sincere thanks to the donors!

Live Auction Winners

Silent Auction Winners

Chef Steve’s Dinners: Susan Eckhardt; Gordon Ringold

Eli Thomas: Limin He; C. Isola; Brad Buss; Ludo Janssen

Bugatti Adventure: The Sathaye Family

Classic Kids Portrait Sitting: Linda Garcia

Triple Strand Pearl Necklace: Simon Prutton

PaperSource Card Making Class: Donna Palmer

One week at Cabo premier resort: Michel Susai

Aston Martin Cuff Links: Guy Simpson

Kindergarten Quilt: Nina Smith

A Day for Her: Lori Villareal

Shih Tzu puppy: Raj Das

Derma Sweep: V. Shukla

The Emmy trip: Jagruti Bhikha

A Treat for Your Home: Amanda Lundie

A Day with Coach TJ: John & Christine Davis

Y.A. Tittle Autographed Football and Photo: Sherian Plaskett

4 Nights at Villa Rio Del Mar: Dean Shoemaker

Bocce and Dinner: Susan Eckhardt

Flag Football Game with Jeff Garcia: Sean Doherty

Omar Vizquel Baseball: Susan Eckhardt

Exclusive Resorts Vacation: Gary Gauba

Willie Mays Baseball: Robert Swanson

Four Season’s Aviara: Marcia & Chris Reidel

Willie McCovey Baseball: Steve Ellenberg

Oakland A’s 1st Pitch: The Swanson Family

Timothy Lincecum Baseball: Susan Eckhardt

VIP Graduation package: Ashok Krishnamurthi

Ballet San Jose Tickets for Eight: Jean Aida Kung

Police Helicopter Ride: John Davis

Elizabeth Saltos Sculpture: Mary Allan

Absolutely Nothing: Rob Amick (outright donation)

Check out many more photos on the Harker Web site at www.harker.org. Follow the link to Freeze Frame!

fashions by

Photos by Michelle Lo, Devin Nguyen, Stephanie Guo

FASHIONS BY

569&%0 8&"3)064& 8FTUHBUF .BMM

SAN JOSE MAGAZINE* GENTRY MAGAZINE DAVIS FAMILY* TUSHAR & RESHMA DAVÉ LON & MARY ALLAN CLUB AUTO SPORT MARCIA & CHRIS RIEDEL – HUNTER LABS* SUTARDJA FAMILY KRISH & NINA PANU DIAMOND QUALITY PRINTING* Air Systems, Inc.* • Capers • Citti’s Florist, Inc. C. Denise Brodersen, CFP® – UBS Financial Services, Inc. Heritage Bank of Commerce* • Joseph George Wines Rector Porsche – Audi • Sathaye Family Foundation* Jaja Hsuan Jones – Triple J Design Wells Fargo Private Bank HAIR DESIGN & MAKEUP: James Craig Hair Color & Design PHOTOGRAPHY: Genesis Photography

Harker News — April 09

*Six-year sponsors, to whom we are most grateful!

Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors!

SCHOOL

wide

Of Magic Lamps and Library Lamps Last Sunday, my husband and I drove to Livermore to look at a lamp. It wasn’t a lamp to be found in a lighting store in downtown Livermore; rather, it was a unique reading lamp housed in the new Livermore Public Library. This lamp had electrical outlets for plugging in laptops built into its base. Wires were not visible and the tables were left clutter free.

“

Wearin’ o’ the Green

Our new library will have a classroom for teaching information literacy skills, while maintaining space for independent students. Our new library will have comfortable reading chairs that are equipped with a shelf that holds a laptop or book.

“

The genie in the lamp had granted the fisherman’s wife a wish for a new dress. In her story, “The Fisherman’s Wife,” she is left in rags due to her unending greed. In our play, she received the new dress because she read ten books last summer.

The Wearin’ o’ the Green is an annual rite that crosses cultural boundaries. Celebrations were held on all three campuses, and here are a few photos from Blackford and Bucknall campuses.

So I approached the lamp in the Livermore Public Library with the same excitement as the fisherman’s wife approached Aladdin’s lamp. I was greedy for a new, wonderful library space for our students and faculty.

then and now

Technology will play its important role as well. With a new proxy server on order, our collection of over 82 subscription databases will be accessible (without passwords) both on and off campus.

“

They still sit at desks – most of the time – but the uniforms have disappeared, replaced, in this instance, with lab coats. We’ll run a pair of “Then and Now” photos occasionally as we continue to build our Harker archive. Enjoy!

Harker Archives

This lamp was fabulous! It shed task lighting; it was handsome; it was functional. It was the perfect ending to planning and researching all the new spaces and furnishings that are to go into the new library. (That loud sound you hear is me knocking on wood.)

“

Elise Schwartz - LS photos

Last Thursday, I rehearsed the second graders for their March production of The Ogre Awards. One of the award presenters was Aladdin himself, who came on the stage with a magic lamp puppet, complete with a genie that popped out to say hello.

Technology will play its important role as well. With a new proxy server on order, our collection of over 82 subscription databases will be accessible (without passwords) both on and off campus. We hope to break ground in June 2009 and open our doors in January 2010. That is the wish I would ask from Aladdin’s lamp. My husband can spring for the new dress. –Enid Davis, Library Director Harker News — April 09

SCHOOL

wide

The Harker Speaker Series (HSS) is an exciting program launched in 2007-08 to bring in leaders and visionaries from a wide variety of fields to share their expertise or unique experiences with the Harker community.

staff updates n Scott Graham, MS mathematics teacher, is the recipient of the

Water Advocate Inspires Listeners On March 12, the Harker Speakers Series brought revered photojournalist Rick Smolan to Nichols Hall to discuss the increasing scarcity of clean drinking water around the world. His work as a photojournalist has appeared in publications such as Time and National Geographic, and he created the “A Day in the Life” series of photobooks. Smolan was “completely stunned at how interesting and troubling and in some ways inspiring the water problem is.” The difficulty, Smolan found, was worldwide. “It isn’t a problem; it’s a whole series of inter-related problems, and depending on where you are in the world, it’s a different problem.” Smolan then began working with Blue Planet Run, a water advocacy group, to create a photo book of the same name. The photojournalist, and now writer, seeks to change the perception that the clean water crisis was only affecting the populations of poorer countries. Humans are now consuming water four times more quickly than nature is able to replenish it, and “Blue Planet Run” features photos ranging from Africa, where villagers must travel long distances to obtain gallons of filthy water, to West Virginia, where one family must deal with tap water so contaminated it runs blood red. For the full story on this wonderful speaker’s visit to Harker, see the Harker Web site, www.harker.org.

2008 AMC 8 Edyth May Sliffe Award for distinguished junior high/ middle school mathematics teaching. Nationally, there are only 56 awardees, five in our region. The award is administered by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and recognizes teachers who made a substantial contribution to the success of students who did very well on the American Mathematics Contest 8. Graham was nominated by Harker and was “selected because of the outstanding performance of the top three students (in Harker’s middle school) in each of the past three years. Their consistent excellent effort has placed your school among the top in your region,” noted the award. The Sliffe Award is made possible by a generous bequest of Edyth May Sliffe, a former mathematics teacher in Emeryville, Calif. It has been presented to high school teachers since 1989 and to middle school teachers since 1995. Past winners of this award at Harker are former math teacher and current MS division head Cindy Ellis in 2000, as well as Vandana Kadam in 2001 and Leah Moll in 2003. US math teacher Misael Fisico won the Sliffe award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching in 2007.

n Welcome to Allison Vaughan, who has joined the Advancement Office as director of donor relations and stewardship. At the same time, we extend our best wishes and appreciation to Emilie Robb, who has resigned from Harker to pursue an advancement position at the university level.

Faculty Attend and Present Workshops at Annual Conference Harker faculty members headed for Oakland in early March for the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) Northern California Conference. Teachers attended workshops to gather data they can bring right back to the classroom or incorporate in future lessons. Harker teachers made a number of presentations, including “Using Computer Technologies to Overcome Time and Distance in Global Education” by Angela Neff, assistant director of instructional technology at the MS, and “Fun with Newton’s Laws” by MS science teachers Ilona Davies and Raji Swaminathan. “The faculty who presented at the CAIS regional meeting represented Harker quite well,” noted Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. “As always, they came prepared with comprehensive and thoughtful presentations that demonstrated and showcased their unique knowledge and passions in a variety of areas. “Their presentations will undoubtedly benefit fellow California independent school teachers and ultimately their students,” Gargano noted. “I received several commendations about teachers’ presentations from Harker faculty as well as faculty from other attending schools. Many of our teachers particularly enjoyed the presentations by the keynote speaker, Rob Evans. He spoke about collegiality in schools as well as how to productively work together with today’s students and parents.”

Harker News — April 09

LS and MS Math Strong in February

Students Add Up Awards

February proved to be a strong month for Harker LS and MS mathematics, with students performing well in regional competitions, and yet another faculty member receiving honors.

Harker mathematicians have taken top honors in the Primary Mathematics World Contest tryouts. Out of 121 contestants, Cindy Liu, Gr. 6, David Zhu, Gr. 4 and Shaya Zarkesh, Gr. 3, all took firsts in their grades. Aneesh Samineni, Gr. 4 and Menghua Rachel Wu, Gr. 6, took third and fourth places, respectively, giving Harker five top finishers and a first place ranking. The contest is sponsored by MathEdge, a math training organization.

MS math students posted a slew of high scores in the California Math League contest on February 17. The contest consists of 40 problems, with a top score of 40. The league classifies a score of 15 as “commendable” and a score of 30 as “exceptional.” The Gr. 6 team scored 184 points, with top scorers Angela Gu and Andrew Zhang each earning 39 points. Other high scorers were Cindy Lu and Apoorva Rangan with 36; and Nikhil Kishore, Vivek Sriram and Helen Wu all with 34 points. Gr. 7 math students shone with a total team score of 194. Top scorers were Vikram Sundar and Albert Zhao, both with a per fect score of 40; Travis Chen and Kristine Lin, both with 39; Albert Chu, Alex Pei, Rahul Sridhar and Nathan Wong, all with 38; Stephanie Chen, Tiffany Chu, Kevin Gao, Ben Huchley and Koshu Takatsuji, all with 37 points. Oishi Banerjee and Nihal Uppugunduri both scored 36 points. Ashwin Chalaka, Nikhil Dilip, Megan Prakash, Claudia Tischler and Andrew Wang each scored 35 points. The Gr. 8’s team score was 187, with top scorer Ashvin Swaminathan pulling in a per fect score of 40. Tyler Yeats had 38, while Richard Fan had 37. Michael Cheng, Sierra Lincoln and Wilbur Yang each scored 36 points. Connie Cheng, Kyle Roter, Pranav Sharma and Michael Yu had 35 points. Harker students also had a strong showing at the MathCounts Santa Clara Chapter Competition on Feb. 14. Team competitors were Travis Chen, Sierra Lincoln, Vikram Sundar and Nathan Wong. Competing individually were Rahul Desirazu, Simar Mangat, Pranav Sharma and Wilbur Yang. Harker was one of 35 schools in the event, which featured a total of 235 highly talented students. As is usual in the Santa Clara chapter, competition was very stiff. Harker placed seventh overall in the event, despite being just 4.5 points behind the first-place school. At the February tryouts for the Primary Mathematics World Contest, Harker had the highest number of top placers, with five students in Gr. 3-6 earning a top five rank in their respective grades. In the Gr. 6 category, students Cindy Liu and Menghua Rachel Wu took first and fourth place, respectively, while David Zhu took first in the Gr. 4 category, in which classmate Aneesh Samineni took third. Shaya Zarkesh earned first place in the Gr. 3 category. Also in February, MS math teacher Scott Graham was awarded the Edyth May Sliffe award for 2008 for Distinguished Junior High School Mathematics Teaching. See Staff Updates on pg. 12 for the full story.

Conference Hosted on Campus Offers Professional Development Harker co-hosted the Silicon Valley Computer-Using Educators regional conference in late February and about 200 educators attended. The conference, which qualified as professional development for teachers, presented a number of workshops to assist teachers with better use of computers in the classroom. Speakers from Google, Moodle and other organizations shared their expertise with conference-goers, there were over 40 exhibitors and vendors of classroom equipment and software, and a variety of workshops. Sessions included “Best Practices for Visual Presenters” and “Digital Media, Free Tools, Cool Projects and Engaged Learners.” Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology K-Gr. 12, gave the keynote address, “Leading from the Trenches.” The event was coordinated by Fred Triefenbach, Harker’s computer science department chair and assistant director of instructional technology, who noted he received many compliments on Harker’s facilities. Harker News — April 09

The Perfect Egg Ah, baby birds are chirping away and there are new leaves and flowers everywhere. Yes, it’s spring. Spring is also a time of celebrating traditions and eating foods associated with religious holidays such as Passover and Easter. During Passover a hard-boiled egg is placed on a special plate in the middle of the Seder table to represent the cycle of life. Of course, Easter is associated with eggs as well. Long before Christianity, painted eggs were given as gifts during springtime festivals. The tradition of decorating eggs, representing growth and renewal, took place in ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome and China. The most well-known eggs are Fabergé eggs made of jewels, silver and gold. The son of a jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. His eggs were given as gifts to the Russian royalty in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many chocolate lovers may be wondering how chocolate eggs became popular. The history of chocolate eggs dates back to the 1800s in France and Germany. John Cadbury made his first “French Eating Chocolate” in 1842 but it was not until 1875 that the first Cadbury eggs were made. Apparently, molding the chocolate was a very difficult task requiring a special press to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa bean. Originally, only dark chocolate was used but by 1905 it was replaced by the more popular milk chocolate.1 If you are planning on decorating eggs this April or you just want to know the secret to that perfect boiled egg – without any grey on the yolk which creates an off flavor – here is the best way to make one. The secret? Don’t really boil them. “The History of Easter Eggs, “January 16, 2007. The Chocolate Trading Company at: www.chocolatetradingco.com/magazine.asp?id=211 1

–Anne Kolker, MS, RD

Boiling to Perfection (From homecooking.about.com/cs/ atozfoodindex/ht/How_Cook_Eggs_S.htm)

1. Place eggs in single layer in saucepan and cover with at least one inch of cold water over tops of shells (never drop eggs into boiling water). 2. Cover pot with lid and bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. As soon as the water comes to a full boil, remove from heat and let stand. 4. Large soft-cooked eggs: Let stand in hot water 1 to 4 minutes, depending on your taste.

5. Large hard-cooked eggs: Let stand in hot water 15 minutes (set a timer to remind you). 6. When cooked to desired level, drain off hot water.

7. Immediately cover with cold water and add a few ice cubes.

8. Soft-cooked eggs: Let stand in cold water until cool enough to handle. 9. Hard-cooked eggs: Let stand in cold water until completely cooled. Place in refrigerator and use as needed.

10. To keep eggs from cracking while cooking (before placing in water), pierce large end with a needle, which will also make them easier to peel.

GLOBAL

education

Required Tamagawa and Shanghai Exchange Information Sessions Set All current Gr 5 and Gr. 7 students and parents interested in participating in these exchanges must attend the appropriate session!

n Tamagawa, Japan, Exchange 2009-2010

The informational session for the Tamagawa exchange will take place on Mon., April 20 at 5:30 in the Bucknall Gym. This is for Gr. 5 families interested in hosting a Tamagawa student in October 2009 and visiting Japan in May 2010. The informational session is the only time families will be able to receive an application to participate in the Tamagawa exchange. Attendance of the student and one parent is mandatory.

The informational session for the Shanghai exchange will take place on Thurs., April 23 at 5:30 in the MPR on the Blackford campus. This is for Gr. 7 students and parents interested in hosting a Chinese student in January 2010 and going to China in March/April 2010. The informational session is the only time families will be able to receive an application to participate in the Shanghai exchange. Attendance of the student and one parent is mandatory. Contact Jennifer Abraham, director of global education, at jennifera@harker.org with any questions.

Provided by Keith Hirota and Jennifer Abraham

n Shanghai, China, Exchange 2009-2010

Enthusiastic Teacher Returns from Tamagawa, Japan

“

Students who were motivated and excited by the potential of what can be created from this application worked through break time. It is rewarding for a teacher to observe students who are willing to learn and make the best effort possible.

“

“My lesson was to teach an application called Stagecast Creator. It is a student-friendly application that helps students to learn pre-programming skills along with the ability to problem-solve. It also reinforces the students to do their best illustrating their characters,” explained Chung. “Speaking of characters, I first had the students open MS Word to write a story. Students had a choice to be creative and develop any type of story they wanted. To help them start, I gave an example of ‘Once upon a time….’ The story helps the students get a sense of ownership, which can foster the enjoyment of learning since it is their own and not given to them by a teacher. Once the story is developed, students begin to program it in

Stagecast and see it in action. “The majority of the students I taught were attentive and interested in doing their best on this project. Students who were motivated and excited by the potential of what can be created from this application worked through break time. It is rewarding for a teacher to observe students who are willing to learn and make the best effort possible. A few students were able to go beyond what I explained in class, and I was able to share more ideas, possibilities and changes that could be made to their work. Since the Stagecast used was the demo version, it had limitations, so students were restricted with design and rules. But once again, the motivated students found ways to manipulate the limitations to go beyond my instructions. Overall, I had a rewarding experience sharing with students what I teach back home.” Read more of Chung’s visit on pg. 19. Harker News — April 09

Provided by Joe Chung

The two weeks LS computer science teacher Joe Chung was at Tamagawa School flew by. “In that short amount of time, I had the opportunity to teach one of my courses from Harker as well as time to observe some of the Tamagawa teachers teach their classes,” he said.

HARKER

sports

Boys Varsity Soccer Wows All; Girls Basketball Shows Huge Promise Late winter spor ts were just ﬁnishing up in early March.

LS Boys Soccer The Gr. 4 boys intramural team began the season par ticipating in the customar y soccer drills involving dribbling, passing, trapping and shooting. They have progressed to learning more about the for ward, midﬁeld and defensive positions as well as some game rules and strategies. Coach Jim McGovern repor ts, “The season is winding down, but the energy level is still up as the boys are compet-

ing with one another in a series of intrasquad scrimmages. They have also managed to play a few games where they and some ﬁfth grade soccer team members have been united to play in a fun yet challenging environment.” JV A ended their season 1-5, JV B was 1-1-3 with one game left, and varsity B soccer had a 3-3 record,

LS Girls Basketball The Gr. 4 girls basketball team was off to a quick 5-1 record with two games remaining on the schedule at press time. Coach Tomas Thompson reported, “They have been practicing hard this season and have improved all of their skills while showing positive attitudes and great sportsmanship.” The team has used a trapping defense, up-tempo

MS Boys Soccer

Richard Hanke

Harker News — April 09

MS Girls Basketball The varsity B girls basketball team was still undefeated at press time, with a 7-0 record and one game left to play. Assistant coach Loreen Talagtag was impressed with the hard work of the girls. She reported Mercedes Chien, Gr. 7, as the most improved player. “I’m very proud of the girls and am hoping we ﬁnish ﬁrst in league.” Although the varsity A Gr. 8 girls basketball team ended the regular season with a 3-5 record, coach Tang Kitporka was proud of the team’s efforts. She recently stated, “The team has done a tremendous job continuing to communicate and keeping focus as a team with great enthusiasm.” She described a highlight in a late February game against Pinewood: “Priscilla Auyeung made a long pass to J.J. (Jacqueline Jordan) for a buzzer beater to seal the win 30-24.”

with three games left at press time.

If you didn’t see the varsity A boys soccer team play, coach Manny Martinez said, “You missed out!” This year’s squad brought together a skilled mix of offensive-minded players and athletic defenders. Martinez continued, “The offense ﬂowed through the feet of our talented (and U.S. National Team pool player) captain Andy Perez’ feet. The offense dances and scores as Michael Amick, Deniz Celik, Ram Menon, Randall Riedel and Justin Weisbloom get involved. A ﬁne addition to this team and Harker’s future team is sixth grader Jeremiah Anderson.” The defense was anchored by valuable goalie Sumit Minocha, star defender David Lindars and the tough and skilled Baris Demirlioglu, all Gr. 8. The team was 5-0-1 and had four games left in the season as we went to press.

always had a smile on her face and brought up the morale of the team. “I am very fortunate to have had this particular set of girls on the team this season, as they not only put a smile on my face, but they enjoyed the sport and had fun!”

offense and strong rebounding to get early leads in their games. Outstanding performances have been made by Joelle Anderson, Sarah Baz and Jordan Thompson. Congratulations on a great season, girls!

Look for spring sports results next month!

Although the JV B2 girls (Gr. 5) had a losing season, they impressed coach Casey Henderson with their drastic improvement in skills and excellent sportsmanship towards other teams as well as to each other. Henderson stated, “I am very proud of Lindsey Trinh for her dedication and athletic support to her teammates.” She commends Elisabeth Siegel and her new-found assertiveness on the court, and complimented Mary Najibi as a wonderful asset, who

HARKER

sports

Girls Soccer Best in Recent Memory; Baseball Squad Packed with Experience March marks the end of winter sports and the beginning of spring sports – and our athletes have been busy!

be obtained during the 2009-2010 school year!”

US Wrestling

Coach Chrissy Chang reports, “The win-loss column is not always the measure of a team. Even though ever y team wants to win, this year the varsity girls basketball team measured success in small victories.” There were several victories, including a semiﬁnal win over two-time Pescadero Hoops Dream Champs Point Arena. This win propelled the Eagles to the championship game vs. The Bay School. In the ﬁrst round the Eagles defeated Orinda 56-9. In the victor y over Point Arena, Tara Panu, Gr. 12, scored 15 points while grabbing 17 rebounds for one of her many doubledoubles of the season, including 14 points and 11 rebounds in the 32-41 loss in the championship game. Kacie Kaneyuki, Gr. 11, was named to the All-Tournament Team as well as winning the threepoint shooting contest.

Coach Karriem Stinson was pleased with the wrestling season this year, and for good reason. This season we had a JV league champion, Ajit Punj, Gr. 10. We also had four varsity CCS alternates: Ian Hoffman, Gr. 12 and sophomores Jason Mendel, Santosh Swaminathan and Christopher McCallaCreary. McCallaCrear y had a record 26 wins and just ﬁve losses, and had the record for most tournament championships, with six wins. Stinson is looking for ward to next season when Harker will host the SCVAL League tournament here.

US Girls Soccer The girls soccer team finished a landmark season with a 2-1 victor y over Pinewood to solidify second place in the newly formed Skyline Division of the WBAL with a 6-2-2 record. This finish, the highest by a Harker girls’ soccer team in recent memor y, was critical in determining all-league awards, as Harker garnered ten spots out of the 28 available – more than any other team in the league. Senior Kristina Bither, with her 21 league goals (fourth best in CCS after the regular season, according to maxpreps.com), was named league MVP. Esther Belogolovsky, Gr. 11, Veronica Bither, Gr. 9 and Amy Rorabaugh, Gr. 11, all received first-team spots. Noriko Ishisoko, Gr. 11, Monisha Appalaraju, Gr. 10, Michelle Holt, Gr. 10 and Anjali Menon, Gr. 11, received second-team honors. Seniors Michelle Lin and Candace Silva-Martin received honorable mention status. Coach Troy Thiele was excited about the strength of the team this year. “It is hoped,” he stated, “that this banner year will motivate team members during the off-season to improve individually so that Harker’s first league title can

US Girls Basketball

Leading scorers for the season were Kaneyuki, Panu and Michelle Markiewicz, Gr. 10, who were within eight total points of each other. The team was led in rebounds by Panu and Tanya Rai, Gr. 10, in assists by Kaneyuki and Anita Satish, Gr. 11, and in steals by Markiewicz. There was tremendous growth as a team in many areas. This young Eagles team is already excited about next year.

US Boys Basketball The Eagles were early front runners for a league title in the

newly conﬁgured West Bay Athletic League. Ranked by the San Jose Mercur y News for the ﬁrst time in the program’s histor y, the Eagles were ranked as high as 12th in the Central Coast Section during

Aaron Lin, both Gr. 12, and juniors James Feng, Jeremy Whang and Yash Khandwala. Coach John Zetterquist believes the team has a shot at the league championship.

US Baseball

the season. Harker got off to a quick start this season going 15-2, including key wins against two teams from New York in tournament play in Phoenix, Ariz., (the Cactus Jams tournament) and WBAL front-runner Menlo School. The 2009 Harker Eagles were led by senior Alex Abarca and juniors Ryan Cali, Lung-Ying Yu and Greg Plauck, and played a mixture of man-to-man and zone defense. Each player took ownership of the team's development and success and ever yone has contributed in games during the season. The boys made it to the quarterﬁnals of CCS playoffs, but lost a close game to Menlo, 31-38.

The varsity baseball team is lucky to be returning all of its players from last year’s second-in-theleague team, and the team’s ﬁrst-ever trip to CCS. The team will be lead by captains Taylor Martin, Sean Mandell, Barrett Glasauer and Evan Maynard, all seniors. The strength of the team will be its pitching in Greg Plauck, Gr. 11 and Glasauer, and the defense up the middle by shortstop Stefan Eckhart, Gr. 11, along with second baseman Martin, centerﬁelder Jeff Mandell, Gr. 12 and catcher Sean Mandell. Coach C. J. Cali expects that Kevin Laymoun, Gr. 12, Pat Smith, Gr. 11, Alex Ringold, Gr. 11 and David Kastelman, Gr. 12, will play key roles on this year’s team. Varsity had already begun play with a start of 1-2, including a 9-4 win against Sequoia High School. Harker's JV team will be led by returning sophomores Greg Cox, Amir Mortazavi, Kevin Sweeney, Ben Tien, Anshul Jain and Pierre Gerard.

US Lacrosse The girls lacrosse team enters the 2009 season competing in a new,

Most spring sports had not yet begun, but coaches went on record with goals and hopes for the upcoming seasons.

US Golf The boys golf team is eagerly looking for ward to participating in a new and ver y competitive league this spring. The team is led by returning lettermen Kyle Hall and Harker News — April 09

more competitive league and are working hard to be competitive in ever y game. The team will follow

the lead of seniors Alyssa Boyle, JJ Chia, Clara Lyashevsky, Prachi Sharma, Pratusha Erraballi and Michelle Lin.

US Softball Our softball team is entering the season with six returning seniors, led by stand-out pitcher Shelby Drabman and power hitter Sarah Christiano. We have added three more teams to our league, making it more competitive now with nine teams in the West Bay League. Coach Raul Rios reported, “We are getting ready for what we hope will be a great season and are striving to be the ﬁrst Harker softball team to make the CCS playoffs.” The girls opened their season with a 13-8 win against Yerba Buena.

US Swimming The boys swim team, coming off an eighth-place ﬁnish at CCS last year, hopes to win the WBAL league championship and place in the top ﬁve at CCS. The team will be led by senior Andrew Chin, junior Cole Davis and freshmen Kevin Khojasteh and Daryl Neubieser. Chin is a three-time All-American, and Davis is a one-time All-American. Both Chin and Davis have hopes of winning individual events at this year's CCS championships. Harker News — April 09

The girls swimming team, coming off a 12th place finish at CCS last year, hopes to win their first WBAL league championship this year, and place in the top five at CCS. The team will be led by juniors Vivian Wong and Christina Ma, sophomore Jessica Khojasteh and freshman Katie Siegel. Khojasteh is a twotime All-American and hopes to win individual events at this year's CCS championships. In addition, the girls' medley relay has a chance to be one of the best in CCS histor y. In their first meet of the season, the girls defeated Mercy Burlingame 120-49 in a dominating per formance. The girls won all 11 events. Two team records were broken, including the 200 medley relay of Siegel, Ma, Wong and Khojasteh going 1:54.27 and qualifying for CCS (the former record was 1:54.45). Siegel smashed the 100 backstroke record of 1:05.35 with her time of 1:03.94. Khojasteh also qualified for CCS in the 50 free and 500 free, and Siegel qualified in the 100 backstroke. Wong and Ma had CCS qualifying times in the 100 breaststroke.

US Boys Tennis The boys will compete in an expanded and highly fortiﬁed league this year. Since graduating eight seniors from last year's CCS quarterﬁnalist team, this year's young team will be challenged but is looking for ward to giving ever ything they've got! Leadership will come from captain

US Volleyball

Aadithya Prakash, Gr. 11 and Karthik Dhore, Gr. 10. At press time, the team was 2-1, with wins against Aragon and Archbishop Mitty.

The boys volleyball team enters the season competing in a new, more competitive league and hopes to be competitive in ever y match. The team will follow the lead of seniors Daniel Tien and Matt Gehm, both of whom have been in the program for four years.

Go Eagles!

Senior Boys Basketball Athletes Honored Boys basketball wrapped up the season with a Senior Night celebrating Alex Abarca and Victor Auyeung, who have played their last home games for the Harker basketball team. The boys were feted on court in late February prior to the last home game.

LOWER

school

IBM Engineers Visit, Explain the Internet and Promote Their Field

ese, a program manager and mother of alumni Greg Perkins ’05 and Philip Perkins ’07; and a former student of LS math teacher Pat Walsh, Eric Butler ’81, now a software engineer at IBM. The visitors spoke to all of

Walsh’s math classes in early March to help celebrate National Engineers Week. Walsh wants to promote engineering as a career option and to get students thinking about taking math and science classes. The visitors gave an overview of engineering as a discipline and discussed career options. They “did a demo on what the Internet actually is and how information travels through the Web to end up on their computer screens,” said Walsh. “They had the kids pretend they were doing a search on Google to retrieve information and used that activity to illustrate what is happening ‘behind the scenes’ in an online

search.” The engineers also talked about the One Laptop Per Child program, an international program whose name says it all, and let the kids handle one of the computers being distributed around the world in that program. They also did a com-

munication demo, said Walsh. They used a remote-control truck with a camera attached to it as a mock “Mars Rover” to demonstrate the challenges of navigating at very long distances. The visitors had students tr y to navigate the “rover” to a speciﬁc location in the classroom while dealing with computer-simulated time delays in signal processing. Student Emma Doherty noted, “It was a lot of fun tr ying to control the Mars rover without getting immediate feedback. I thought Mr. Butler and Ms. Reese were entertaining and smart!”

Students See California Wildlife

Fun, Music, Laughs at Lip Syncing

Two representatives from the Half Moon Bay-based organization Wildlife Associates appeared at a pair of special assemblies (one for K-Gr. 3, the other for Gr. 4-5) at the Bucknall campus on March 10, and brought along a few of their furry and feathered friends.

Members of the Gr. 5 class treated an audience of Gr. 4 and 5 students to some afternoon entertainment with a lip syncing exhibition on Feb. 6. The event was emceed by students Nathaniel Stearns and Lisa Liu. Kicking things off were Kurt Schwartz and Gurutam Thockchom, who hammed it up to Pete Townsend’s “Let My Love Open the Door.” Elina Sendonaris and Allison Wang per formed “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. In another highlight, students Suraj Jagadeesh and Akshay Battu replaced their air guitars with the guitar-shaped controllers from the popular “Guitar Hero” video game, and jammed to the Bon Jovi hit “You Give Love a Bad Name.”

Students got to marvel at a variety of creatures that inhabit the wilds of California, such as the opossum, the great-horned owl, the red-tailed hawk, the red fox and the porcupine. Each of the animals shown at the assembly had sustained some kind of injury or other setback that prevented them from surviving in the wild, and as such were taken into the care of Wildlife Associates, where they will spend the remainder of their lives as ambassadors for wildlife survival.

Not to be outdone, Kate Shanahan, Gr. 4-5 study skills and Gr. 5 English teacher, and Pat Walsh, Gr. 5 math teacher, performed a routine to the Sonny and Cher classic “I Got You Babe” to end the afternoon on a highly amusing note.

Harker News — April 09

Laena Keyashian - both photos

Pat Walsh - both photos

Gr. 5 math classes played host to two engineers from IBM, Dianne Re-

Fifth Graders Skype China

Poignant Environmental Poster Wins

Advanced technology has brought Harker students farther down the global education road. Tobias Wade’s Gr. 5 World Geography class enjoyed a video conference with teacher Joe Chung while Chung was on a teacher exchange in Shanghai, using Skype, a free video phone technology. Chung talked to the students about his experiences in Shanghai and answered student questions. Lisa Diffenderfer, assistant director of instructional technology K-Gr. 5, provided tech support for the conference which required no special equipment other than a computer.

Doreene Kang, Gr. 5, was named the winner in the elementary school category of the 2008 International Poster Contest for Youth, an international event started 25 years ago and organized by the U.N., the Wyland Foundation and other prestigious organizations.

Joe Chung

Chung noted that one of the oftasked questions was about weird foods, “so I thought it was fitting to challenge Tobias that if I tried one of the weird foods that I happened to have with me – duck neck, foot, heart, tongue – that he would have to tr y it next week as well.” Wade accepted the challenge and had his students vote on what food Chung should tr y – duck tongue was the preferred choice. Once the conference started, Chung took out the tongue and bit into it. “It was slimy and chewy, but not a whole lot of flavor. Luckily it was not gamey!” he said. Alex Chien wanted to know what types of computers students in Shanghai use (PCs) and several questions revolved around the Great Wall of China. Cameron Palte asked, “How does the Great Wall of China look up close?” Given the grandeur of the structure, said Chung, “It is difficult to put into words the awe of it all, when you’re standing in the middle of the Great Wall. The amount of construction for many years to put this wall together is unimaginable. It is a sight to be seen!” Grace Guan said the Skype conference “was cool because he answered all our questions. Also because we got to see him eat duck tongue.” Classmate Aashika Balaji agreed. “It was cool to see Mr. Chung eat the duck tongue. It looked gross but then he brought it back to see and smell it.” All in all, the conference was a sensor y experience for the eyes, ears and, finally, the nose!

Denise Hayashi

First Graders Enjoy Space Buddies About 60 people turned out for a Gr. 1 movie night in early March. “The kids had a great time running around the gym and then watching ‘Space Buddies,’” said Paulina Bettink (Christina), the grade level coordinator (GLC) who arranged the event with co-GLC Ana Duraiswamy (Ashley). The group had more than enough pizza to ﬁll active bellies, and plenty of other activities to keep them occupied. “The adults had plenty of time to socialize and have a relaxing evening,” Bettink added. Harker News — April 09

Wei Kang

“What a cool piece of technology!” said Wade. “Seeing him while he answered the students’ questions really brought China into the classroom, giving the students a window into another culture, literally!”

Kang received a letter of congratulations, a medal and a picture signed by celebrated artist Robert Wyland. This year’s theme was “My Favorite Ocean Creature.” Kang’s drawing is a moving illustration of a mother turtle caught in a net, separated from her offspring, both crying as the little turtle escapes by swimming away from its mother. Kang wanted to call attention to species endangered due to overﬁshing. Entries were received from around the world.

kid talk Second graders recently discussed the meaning of service and how it relates to them. Timothy Wang explained, “I think that service is like serving other people. Sometimes it can be fair and sometimes it can be not fair. It would be fair if it’s like sharing or something. If it’s not fair, it’s like other people are telling you what to do. A good time for you to use service is when your friend is feeling sad or mad. If my friend fell down on the blacktop, I would serve them and take them to the nurse and give them something.” Andy Skrobak said, “Sometimes we need service. Yelling at people wouldn’t be service, but taking them to the nurse would be.” Aryana Far described her idea of service. “When you help other people you are showing service. You can do this outside of school. It’s helping poor people who don’t have anything. It’s for younger kids and bigger kids.” Rini Vasan had many ideas for how to demonstrate service. “We can give stuff to people if they don’t have things, like toys. Also you can give them games so they can play and have fun. There are some people who don’t have any games ’cause they’re homeless. And also you can give them, like shirts, so you can, like, cover them up so they feel warm. It made me feel happy when I brought things for the pajama drive because I thought the people would like it.” Pumpkin Mayer explained, “You should do service all the time, everywhere, not just when we have toy and food drives. You can pick up trash around the school if it blew out of the garbage can, and you can help people do things.” Julia Amick added, “Service is something everyone should do, grownups and kids. You can help other people. It’s kind and caring.” Amazing what we can learn from the perspective of the little ones!

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Summer in February

Stranger on Slope is Harker Student

Students got a taste of summer in February when Ray, the Harker Summer Camp mascot, stopped by an assembly. Students received dog tags to wear for the day while faculty modeled their summer T-shirts. All were treated to a slide show on the terriﬁc summer camp programs!

Kindergarten teacher Michelle Anderson spent time with one of her students over the Presidents’ Week break but she didn’t know it. Kindergartner Paul Kratter and Anderson were both skiing at Northstar when they met. Soeun Park, Kratter’s mother, said, “It’s out of a movie – kind-hearted, lovely kindergarten teacher with a heart of gold, selflessly stops to help a young child who has fallen in the frigid snow. She uncrosses his skis and gives him an encouraging smile as he gets back on his feet. He knows immediately who she is because he loves her and she is wearing her signature grey cap. She notices that he keeps staring at her but does not recognize him because he is wearing a helmet and goggles. She thinks, ‘that’s sweet’ and they both ski away.” “I still can’t believe it was Paul,” said Anderson. “I saw him fall and I saw the instructor heading back up the mountain to get him back up. I stopped and uncrossed his skis, and I remember him looking up at me and he kept looking at me. He said thank you and I went on my way.” Park takes up the thread: “Paul told us when we were in Northstar that he saw his teacher and that she was wearing the same grey hat she always wears. I condescendingly said, ’Well, sometimes I see a lot of people who look like daddy and grandma skiing next to me too.’ Little did I know that it was true! How characteristic of her to stop and help a young child who has fallen, not knowing it was one of her students.” Back at school after vacation, the story continued. Anderson said, “I laughed so hard when Paul said, ‘Mrs. Anderson, we went skiing at the same place.’ I said, ‘Northstar?’ and he said, ‘Yes, You helped me up!’ I couldn’t believe it!” finished Anderson. Park agreed: “So funny!” You can take the teacher out of Harker, but you can’t take the Harker out of the teacher!

Bilingual School Teacher Visits On Feb. 17, the LS received a visit from Kristine Nelson, ED.D, dean of student life at Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, a pre-school-Gr. 8 French-English bilingual school in Berkeley. During her visit, she met with faculty to learn more about Harker’s character development program.

kudos

Joe Connolly

■ The prizes are piling up for pianist Alex Chien, Gr. 5! His latest triumph was winning the weeklong U.S. Open Music Competition, held at the Oakland Mormon Temple this year. The event is an international, annual competition, open to students in elementary through high school. There were more than 1,500 entries this year. Chien earned ﬁrst place in two categories, Solo Showcase and Complete Piano Concerto. In the Complete Piano Concerto portion, he played Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 1,” a 40-minute piece, going head to head with high school seniors. Along with his two wins, Chien was named the ﬁrst winner for the Temple Hill Symphony Orchestra’s Outstanding Young Pianist award, and will perform with the orchestra twice in May. Chien also won the Grand Prize in the 2009 Mondavi Young Artists Competition and the 2009 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition junior award in January.

Nelson spent the day visiting and speaking with teachers to learn how the program could be adapted to Ecole Bilingue. She also sat in on two classes to observe teaching methods and see how LS students spend a typical day in class. The trip, Nelson said, was well worth the lengthy commute from Berkeley to San Jose. “There is no possible way to thank you enough for what you all did for me,” she said. “I learned so much. I am very grateful for your generosity and kindness in welcoming me to your school and sharing your experience regarding character development.” Harker News — April 09

Angela Neff

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Students Deliver Valentines

Endocrinologist in Science Classroom

In early Februar y, students Kimberly Ma and Angela Ma, both Gr. 7, were accompanied by histor y teacher Cyrus Merrill and Angela Neff, assistant director of instructional technology, to the Terreno Gardens Extended Care facility in Los Gatos to deliver Valentine’s Day cards to the residents, who were more than happy to receive them. The cards were made by Merrill, Neff and Rebecca Williams, Gr. 7 expositor y writing teacher. “We saw many happy faces and heard many hear t-felt thankyous,” Neff said.

Andrew Hoffman, M.D., father of Samantha and Jacob, both Gr. 8, and an endocrinologist at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics, talked to the twins’ science class about the endocrine system. Tiphaine Delepine thought it was “especially interesting to learn about human growth hormone.” Classmate Michaela Kastelman said, “We were amazed to hear that our class is learning some of the same things as medical students at Stanford University!”

Flame Test Excites and Dazzles

Swaminathan said the students found the exercise “fun and exciting,” and were eager to try it again. “The distinct colors given out by the different metal ions when heated are a joy to watch,” she said.

Speaking Spanish in Cyberspace

Raji Swaminathan

On Feb. 18, MS science teacher Raji Swaminathan’s students participated in a ﬂame test, which helped them discover the different metals found in salts such as sodium, lithium, potassium, calcium, strontium and copper. “They have learned that when metal ions are heated in a ﬂame, some of their electrons gain energy and move to higher energy levels,” Swaminathan said. “As they return to their ground state, these electrons lose their energy in the form of light of various frequencies.” Fireworks are one of the commonly known demonstrations of this principle at work.

Gr. 8 Spanish students have been practicing their second-language skills via e-mail. Using the Web site ePals, a secure education site, advanced-level students have been e-mailing friends at the Colegio de Educación Secundaria Virgen de Gracia in Seville, Spain. Teacher Susan Moling said, “This is deﬁnitely ver y valuable for the students as it provides an authentic practice of the language which is impor tant for language development. The kids really love it!” Using class time, the students followed a guided model provided by Moling. After a few successful super vised exchanges, the students began communicating independently. Moling believes that par ticipating in this exchange will not only foster a love of the Spanish language and culture but promote both the use of technology and par ticipation in global affairs. Jennifer Abraham, director of global education, said the program is “an amazing oppor tunity for the students. It bolsters their learning through an exciting project as well as suppor ts Harker’s mission to prepare students as global citizens.” The students will continue to correspond with their new-found friends for the rest of the academic year.

Daniel Sommer

Wafﬂing the Rule in This Advisory

Harker News — April 09

kudos ■ Congratulations to Gr. 6 robotics competitors Juhi Muthal, Sriram Somasundaram and Madhu Nori, who in Januar y competed among 280 teams to advance to the California State First Lego League Championships. The team, dubbed Eco-Friends, was one of 64 to par ticipate in the state championships on Jan. 25.

Soma Bhattacharjee

Introducing the waffle advisory! Over long advisory periods, MS science teacher Daniel Sommer has his gang hard at work making chocolate chip waffles. Having polished their expertise, the group is now inviting other advisories to join them. In February Sommer’s advisory hosted the first-ever intergrade advisory brunch with students from Gr. 6, 7 and 8. “It was a lot of fun,” Sommer noted. “We had about 20 guests.”

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Dancers Burn up the Stage in Annual Show Dance Jamz, the annual MS terpsichorean extravaganza held in early March, was upbeat, fast-paced and used a variety of music. Each dance had its own unique ﬂare, and

the original costumes were stylish and added to each dance. Gail Palmer, director/choreographer, said, “The dancers were dedicated, energetic and enthusiastic per formers!” The show featured 145 students, Gr.

6-8, with 16 dance routines including jazz, modern, hip-hop and tap, and featured some all-boys dances. A new tradition, started to honor Gr. 8 dancers in their last big show, is the posting of all the previous Gr. 8 dance shows, starting in Gr. 1, so they could take a turn down memory lane. “It was touching for both the dancers and their parents,” noted Palmer. “We feel it is a privilege to work with many of the dancers from kindergarten through Gr. 8, and watch them grow as people, dancers and performers. This is one way we can say thank you for all the years of dancing with us.”

Flour Sack Babies, continued from pg. 1 Classmate Lydia Werthen agreed. “Having the ‘baby’ definitely gave me a sense of responsibility, particularly because we were judged on how well we could take care of it. It was difficult to carr y an extra five pounds around campus on top of all my books, let alone having one pile of school things in one hand and a flour sack in the other. It made me much more aware of what I was doing and how I was holding ever ything, which is basically what a parent should think about too.” Werthen noted two major difficulties in carr ying the baby around. “The first one was the weather; it was raining for the first half of the week and that was when none of us knew our

babies had to be wearing clothes! For almost three days I was frantically tr ying to make sure that not a single drop of water hit my flour sack. The second hardest part about it was when I had to use my locker. Even opening my locker and taking out a few notebooks was far more challenging than I had expected, and taking out my backpack was quite an ordeal. I noticed at the end of the week that most students had started carr ying their backpacks around campus instead of making frequent trips to their lockers as well.” Like Hoffman, Wer then did not lose points for neglect, “but there were several times when I

was close to. For example, after Harmonics I would sometimes just walk away from the classroom to go home and suddenly remember my baby was still in ‘day care’ in the Harmonics room. It wasn’t uncommon to see a stampede of eighth graders running back to the room after school to fetch their babies, just like me!” Hoffman noted, “My favorite par t of this project was the lessons I took away from it. Surprisingly, carr ying a flour sack baby around for a week was a fun and efficient way to teach adolescents the disadvantages and hassles of being a teenage parent.” Wer then found a bright side, too. “The most enjoyable par t about the flour sack baby week was plac-

ing myself in a parent’s shoes for five days and being able to share the experience with my friends. For most of the week it wore this really cute baby chicken mask and it was funny to see how ever yone else decorated their flour sacks. I also loved dressing up my baby. During lunch recess we would sit in a circle with all our babies and just take pictures and have fun with them. At the end of the week and into the weekend we were allowed to bake something using the flour, but most of my classmates chose not to and I can kind of understand why. This project just had a really great impact on our parenting skills and responsibility, even if we were working with basically five pounds of flour.“ Harker News — April 09

Harker Hosts 300 Competitors, Takes Many Top Spots Harker took many top spots at the eighth annual Harker Math Invitational in early March at the Blackford campus. In Gr. 6 individual competition, Angela Gu took first place,

and classmate Andrew Zhang took third. Seventh graders Vikram Sundar and Travis Chen took first and fourth, respectively, in their individual events. In the team events, Harker finished in the top three spots at all grade levels. The Gr. 6 team of Gu, Zhang, Zabin Bashar, Cindy Liu, Apoorva Rangan, Pranav Reddy

and Vivek Sriram ended up with first place. Also earning first place was the Gr. 7 team of Chen, Sundar, Josh Batra, Ben Huchley, Alex Pei, Nathan Wong and Albert Zhao. Eighth graders Vikas Bhetanabhotla, Michael Cheng, Sierra Lincoln, Rahul Sridhar, Sachin Vadodaria, Emily Wang and Wilbur Yang took third in their own team competition, following a tie-breaker round. A number of LS students also took par t in the invitational in a noncompetitive capacity. Of those students, Vineet Kosaraju, Gr. 5, earned the highest score. Held for Gr. 6-8, the contest brought together 15 schools from various par ts of the Bay Area, bringing the total number of contestants to about 300, nearly 100 more than last year’s competition.

Fashion Trivia Skills Put to Test

Media Swap Showcases Student Art

An MS spirit event on Feb. 20 had the Blackford houses pitted against one another in the fashion show edition of the Four Corners Trivia Contest. Because it was also the day of the Harker fashion show, the event became the day’s topic. MS English teacher Mark Gelineau read questions related to the fashion show to the students, followed by four answers. Each answer was represented by a corner at the Blackford amphitheater. After hearing the question and answers, students would retreat to one of the corners corresponding to the answer they thought was correct. Whichever house had the most students in the correct corner was awarded a point for the question. After the dust settled, Constantia emerged as the winning house.

MS students who want to share their songs, videos, ar twork, photos, writing or other creative pursuits with the Harker community will soon have an online haven set aside for just that.

Latin Student Cashes In

Lisa Masoni

Advanced Latin student Nik Datuashvili, Gr. 8, took top honors at Harker in the Ancient Coins for Education (ACE) project, then went on to ﬁnish as runner-up in the national judging. One of the ACE activities is a competition in which students answer questions based on coin images. As winner, Datuashvili received two coins – one displaying Philip of Macedon (Alexander the Great’s father), said Latin teacher Lisa Masoni. Harker News — April 09

The new Media Swap Web site, scheduled to launch by the end of March, will provide a place for students to publish their creations online. Students are currently being encouraged to submit their works to their advisors and teachers, who will then submit them for approval before they are uploaded to Media Swap. The site will be accessed via a password available to students, parents, faculty and staff. Media Swap was an idea originally conceived by Simon Orr, Gr. 8, who is a member of the Tech Angels, a student club that shares technology advice with the campus community. The goal will be to feature a different student on the site each month. Although it will host classroom creations, Media Swap is also a place where students will be able to showcase their extracurricular activities. “We encourage people to submit things that they do outside of the school that we might never see,” said Angela Neff, assistant director of instructional technology. Media Swap will also act as a repositor y for photographs taken by the staff of the MS newspaper.

Trafﬁc Reminder: Be Neighborly MS parents, please avoid using Rebecca Drive as a shortcut when picking up and dropping off your children. Harker has received complaints about trafﬁc on this street, so out of respect to our neighbors, please use Blackford Avenue.

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school GEO Club Shares Goals at Rally

In late February, over 50 US students participated in the annual Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) competition at Stanford University, and for the third year in a row Harker students did extremely well, winning first place honors and third place honors in the varsity and junior varsity levels. “Most impressive was the freshman team who took first place in junior varsity! “ said teacher Anthony Silk, JETS coach. “We were also given an award for Best Overall School for both varsity and junior varsity, although that was a bit superfluous.” State and national rankings will be announced later this spring.

Members of Harker’s Global Empowerment and Outreach Club (GEO) were the featured speakers at the Free the Children Rally on Jan. 30. Held at the Palo Alto Community Club, the rally was attended by over 150 teens and adults from all over the Bay Area interested in ﬁghting poverty and hunger. After an overﬂow crowd listened to keynote speaker Craig Kielburger describe how he founded Free the Children, GEO president David Kastelman, Gr. 12 and members Rashmi Sharma, Gr. 11 and Natasha Jeswani, Gr. 12, spoke about GEO’s experience raising awareness and fundraising efforts last fall in support of eradicating poverty, and their collaborative relationship with Free the Children.

Nationally over 14,000 high school students, working in groups of four to eight, spend the day solving problems. These questions deal with real-world engineering issues such as air transportation, bridge design and rehabilitation, flood analysis, solar-powered vehicles, food preservation and much more. This year’s competition was on theme parks and the engineering behind them. “The overall national winning team will even get a trip to Disney World, for purely engineering/research reasons, of course,” Silk said. The competition is broken into two 90-minute parts. The first part consists of a series of objective multiple-choice questions related to various engineering situations. Part II requires students to describe and defend their solutions to open-ended, subjective questions related to problems from Part I. Part I answers are scored on competition day and are used to determine local and state standings, as well as eligibility for national scoring. Part II responses are scored at JETS for national ranking. Success relies both on knowledge of science and mathematics as well as an ability to work in a team environment. The local competition is hosted by Stanford’s Society of Women Engineers. This year’s program included lectures on solar energy and an exhibit of an artificial intelligence robot developed by a group of Stanford graduate students.

U.S. Physics Team Trials In late breaking news, all four Harker students who earned spots in the quarterfinals for the U.S. Physics Team have advanced to the semifinal round. Out of 400 quarter finalists, seniors Anand Natarajan and Vikram Nathan, along with juniors Kevin Zhang and Andrew Zhou are now among only 200 of the original 4,000-plus applicants. The next round, which will include examination of student transcripts and letters of recommendation, will be used to select the 24 members of the U.S. Physics Team. In May, these 24 students travel to the University of Mar yland-College Park to the Physics Team Training Camp where five students and an alternate will be selected as the “Traveling Team” to represent the United States at the International Physics Olympiad. Congrats and good luck to these four budding physicists!

Japanese Learners Prove Skills The results of the December Japanese Language Proficiency Test are in and 36 students achieved levels 3 and 4 in the exam. The test is standardized to evaluate and certify Japanese language proficiency of learners of Japanese. The test has four levels, with level 1 being the highest, and is made up of three sections: writing-vocabulary, listening and reading-grammar. Nine students passed level 3 and 27 passed level 4. Passing level 4 requires knowing basic elements of grammar, about 100 kanji and 800 words, as well as simple conversation and reading and writing skills. Passing level 3 requires mastering the grammar to a limited level, learning 300 Kanji and 1,500 words. It takes about 300 hours, twice as much as level 4, to earn a level 3 rating. Congratulations to all who passed!

Provided by Priya Thumma

JETS Engineer Another Victory

“I was amazed by the amount of energy and enthusiasm at the rally,” said GEO treasurer Anu Ramachandran, Gr. 12. “Ever y person seemed to fully believe that they were capable of changing the world.” After the presentations, GEO members met with students from other schools who share similar passions and interests, many of whom asked for advice on fundraisers and expressed an interest in partnering with GEO. Carol Zink, US histor y teacher and GEO advisor, commented, “I think we could and should do more to connect and coordinate with other schools because we can learn from one another and perhaps work together to improve the world. Strength in numbers!” Following its successful focus on the eradication of poverty and hunger last semester, GEO launches its second program – raising awareness about the necessity of universal primar y education – beginning April 6. The weeklong effort will feature an assembly, a panel discussion and a multicultural student per formance.

Students Assist RAFT Organization A group of US students offered their helping hands to the Resource Area For Teachers (RAFT) nonprofit organization on Jan. 29. William Chang and Devin Nguyen, both Gr. 9, as well as Riya Parikh and Victoria Vu, both Gr. 10, visited RAFT’s San Jose location and spent a few hours organizing cardboard materials, sorting boxes and performing other tasks. Chang said that having the opportunity to work with his friends and help out a worthwhile cause was fun. “The work itself is not hard to do, and it’s an easy way to help the community,” he said. RAFT specializes in hands-on, collaborative learning processes and serves pre-K-12 students throughout Silicon Valley. The organization also has locations in Sacramento and Denver. Harker News — April 09

A sincere thank you to all who came out and spent their Sunday afternoon cheering on the Quiz Bowl team in late Januar y. A special thank you to the seven students who also joined in, making this the largest Harker crowd to date – at least half the audience were Harker fans! Despite the suppor t, Harker was unable to pull out the victor y. After blowing by Gunn High School, the team met Bellarmine in the championship game. Bellarmine was just too fast on the buzzer for the Harker players and Harker ended up second for the third time in eight years. “With two minutes to go we were only behind by two questions – 30 points,” said coach and US math teacher Bradley Stoll. “The final score ended up 370-280. Anand (Natarajan), Alex (Hu) and Vikram (Nathan) fought hard and showed great spor tsmanship, as usual. Please congratulate these seniors when you see them,” he added.

Vocalists Receive Positive Feedback Seventeen students traveled to Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton on March 7 for the Bay Area California Music Educators Association’s Solo and Ensemble Festival, garnering superior and excellent (the top two of five) ratings from the judge. Ana Henderson and Ida Gorshteyn, both Gr. 12, earned a “command per formance” with their duet “Dôme Épais” from Léo Delibe’s opera “Lakmé.” This commendation qualifies them for the state solo and ensemble festival. Those earning superiors for their solo work were Gorshteyn, Henderson, Nicole Lindars, Gr. 11 and Anita Satish, Gr. 11. The ensemble Camerata, who were required to per form without a conductor, also received a superior. Camerata comprises senior Amaresh Shukla; juniors Alex Creasman, Nicole Lindars and Sarah Newton; and sophomores Mallika Dhaliwal, Rachel Fang, Alice Loofbourrow, Sean Martin, James Seifert and Allika Walvekar. Those earning excellents for their solos or duets were Dhaliwal (solo), Shukla (solo), Elena Madan, Gr. 12 (solo and duet), Natasha Jeswani, Gr. 12 (duet), Shubha Guha, Gr. 12 (duet) and Sammi Lowe, Gr. 12 (duet). The singers were accompanied (both physically and musically) by music teachers Susan Nace and Catherine Snider.

Essayist Wins National Contest Brandon Araki, Gr. 11, has won first place in the UNA-USA 2009 National High School essay contest. His essay, addressed to President Obama, was selected from a record number of entrants – over 1,300 – and 73 semifinalists. The contest focused on the UN’s seventh Millennium Goal concerning environmental sustainability. In 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted the pursuit of eradication of extreme world pover ty by 2015 and targeted eight goals toward that end. Araki said he entered the contest because he is interested in international af fairs and, “I thought that this essay of fered me a good oppor tunity to educate myself and others about Millennium Goal 7 environmental policies. “The inspiration was the impor tance of the topic and all the interesting data I found during my research. The hardest par t of writing the essay was to make sure it was only 1,500 words,” he added. Araki’s letter will be sent to President Obama’s of fice through UNAUSA channels. Araki also received a $1,500 scholarship and will receive air fare and accommodations for himself and a parent to attend an award ceremony in New York in June. In the meantime, he received his regional award in late March. Harker News — April 09

kudos ■ Andrea Lincoln, Gr. 11, was selected as a 2009 recipient of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing. This year, only 32 women were selected nationwide to receive the award out of over 350 applications. The award recognizes young women at the high school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Award recipients demonstrate outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology/computing; solid leadership ability and good academic histor y. Lincoln received $500, a new laptop and a trip to Charlotte, N.C., in early March for the award ceremony. Lincoln also received an engraved award, and Harker was presented with a trophy for display at the school.

Patrick Lincoln

Near Miss at Quiz Bowl Semis

■ Alex Han, Gr. 11, has been named one of the top runners-up in the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards in California, and, as a Distinguished Finalist, received an engraved medallion to commemorate the award at an assembly in March. Han also qualified for the President’s Volunteer Ser vice Award recognizing Americans of all ages who have volunteered for at least 100 hours of community ser vice. Han spent two summers volunteering in Seoul, South Korea, assisting adults afflicted with Downs Syndrome and autism. He helped with cooking and cleaning and helped individuals to par ticipate in spor ts, music, language and ar t classes. There were only 234 finalists out of over 5,000 local honorees nationwide. “The recipients of these awards vividly demonstrate that young people across America are making remarkable contributions to the health and vitality of their communities,” said John R. Stranger feld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. “They truly deser ve all of the praise and encouragement we can give them.” The Presidents Award is via the President’s Council on Ser vice and Civic Par ticipation. More details on the Prudential award can be found on their Web site. ■ In late Februar y, Anand Natarajan, Gr. 12, was named one of two California winners in the 2008-09 Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement. See the Harker Web site, www.harker.org, for details. ■ In the November 2008 Harker News we repor ted that Anteneh Daniel, Gr. 12, was named a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program’s competition for outstanding Black American students, based on his score on the PSAT. We are pleased to update the news: Daniel has now been named a finalist. Approximately 800 finalists will be awarded scholarships, to be announced in early April.

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school Robotics Performs Well in San Diego

Honor Code Violations, continued from pg. 1

One such change will involve more openness with the Harker community about honor code violations, including publically disclosing the types of transgressions to the community, but not student names.

Zhu also announced an outreach to the rest of the Harker community on the issue of academic dishonesty. Honor Council members will meet with faculty during their weekly meetings to discuss their concerns and how they can be addressed. Additionally, members will discuss the topic with LS and MS students.

Speaking to the assembly, Olivia Zhu, Gr. 10, said the Honor Council will try to be more transparent about its activities. “Basically, we’re trying to show more about how we work and why honor should be important in the community,” she said.

Anthony Silk, US math teacher and Honor Council faculty advisor, said at the assembly that openness to share news of honor code infractions would initially be “painful,” but ultimately beneficial. “The more we know,” he said, “the better we’ll do.”

The Honor Council will also add another member from the junior class. “This means that that additional member will be more grounded when he or she is a senior,” Zhu said.

Silk later added: “We, all of us, need to take this seriously if we are serious in our desire to be our best, not just academically, but as an honor-bound community as well.”

The US robotics team traveled to San Diego from March 4-7 for a threeday regional competition. Harker made it to the quarter final round before being eliminated by the alliance that wound up winning the competition. US science teacher and robotics advisor Eric Nelson was pleased with how the team per formed, and said the competition provided some much-needed practice for the Sacramento regional competition in late March.

Eric Nelson

Based on student feedback and lessons learned from the New Orleans conference, the Honor Council members came up with a number of changes they decided to implement.

Blood Drive Brings in Record Sign-Ups Students Advance in NACLO

Students, faculty and staff showed up to give blood at the drive, which was organized by the Red Cross Club in conjunction with Blood Centers of the Pacific, a nonprofit organization that supplies blood to Northern California hospitals, doctors and patients. Craigh Hough, a representative from Blood Centers of the Pacific present at the blood drive, said the blood would be used for transfusions, dialyses and other tasks that require donated blood to be on-hand. Specific parts of the blood will also be used, “like when Eskimos take down a polar bear,” Hough said, “they use the whole thing.” Only red blood cells are extracted during donations, as white blood cells are uniquely adapted to each person’s immune system. Hough estimated that the Harker drive averages about 50 units each year, roughly twice the average amount of other community blood drives. “The blood drive has truly been a way to bring the Harker community together for a wonderful cause,” Anand said. “Bay Area hospitals are currently facing major shortages in blood, so Harker’s contributions really make a difference. Within 72 hours, all the blood donated goes to a local hospital and every donated unit can save up to three lives.”

Five Harker students advanced to the invitational round of the Nor th American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO), which took place March 11. Results from the invitational round were not available at Harker News press time. Seniors Sophia Gilman, Shubha Guha, Anand Natarajan, Vikram Nathan and Andrew Zhou qualified at the open round, which took place at San Jose

Shaun Kelley Jahshan - both photos

The annual Harker Blood Drive at the Saratoga campus on Feb. 25 drew a record number of donations, bringing in 82 people and collecting 58 units of blood. The accomplishment is credited with potentially saving up to 174 lives. “This was particularly exciting since this year, new rules and regulations have been imposed that restrict a larger number of people from donating,” said Ananya Anand, Gr. 12, the blood drive coordinator for the Harker Red Cross Club.

State University. The NACLO is a linguistics competition, geared toward high school students, in which contestants solve a series of problems, which can include translating phrases, deciphering writing systems and transcribing the spoken words of a foreign language. Although the NACLO is a linguistics event, prior linguistic knowledge is not required to enter the competition or solve the problems. The winners of the invitational round will represent the United States and Canada at the International Linguistics Olympiad later this year. Harker News will publish updates on these events as they happen. Harker News — April 09

Debate Team Continues to Steamroll Through Successful Season This weekend, Kaavya Gowda, Gr. 12 and Kelsey Hilbrich, Gr. 11, went undefeated in the California Coast National Forensics League

Lexington, Ky. This championship tournament is different than the other two national tournaments in that students earn qualifying legs at selected invitational tournaments throughout the school year.

Laena Keyashian - both photos

Representing Harker as fully qualified teams this year are:

qualifying tournament to nationals. They will represent Harker and the district at the NFL National Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., in June. This is Harker’s second year qualifying to the largest and oldest national tournament. Last year Gowda and Hilbrich fought through four days of competition and earned seventh place in the countr y. Justin Iso, Gr. 12 and Kristi Lui, Gr. 10, were eliminated on the last day of the qualifying tournament and earned a spot as third alternate to the national tournament. In April, Harker will send its first two Student Congressional debaters to the California State Tournament in Culver City. Senior David Kastelman and sophomore Michael Tsai earned spots at the Coast Forensics League state qualifying tournament held earlier this month. Making histor y again this year, Harker Forensics will send the largest contingent in its histor y to the Tournament of Champions (TOC) this May! The TOC is where the top 72 debaters in each field gather to duke it out for the title in

Policy Debate: Adam Perelman and Arjun Mody, both Gr. 11; Public Forum Debate: Gowda and Hilbrich; Raghav Aggarwal and Mohit Bansal, both Gr. 12; and James Seifert and Justine Liu, both Gr. 10. This also marks the first year where Harker has fully qualified a team of sophomores to the TOC. We await results of the at-large applicants and will update you if any of these students are accepted to finish out the top 72. Sankalp Raju, Gr. 9, made Harker histor y at the Coast Forensics League season closer at Lynbrook High School. Raju went undefeated in the JV division of Lincoln-Douglas debate. The state qualifying tournament in Lincoln-Douglas was happening at press time. The last two TOC qualifying tournaments of the year were a huge success for Harker Forensics. At UC Berkeley with over 170 teams

competing for 20 different states, Public Forum debaters Gowda and Hilbrich went undefeated in preliminaries, dropping on a much contested decision in semifinals. Gowda and Hilbrich were named the top speaking team. Liu and Seifert made it to the sweet sixteen where they earned their second qualifying leg to the TOC. Additionally, the team of Liu and Seifert earned recognition as eighth speaking team. Aggarwal and Lui earned a spot in the top 32. In policy debate, seniors Pratusha Erraballi and Kunal Modi as well as Perelman and Mody made it to the top 32 teams out of over 200 teams in attendance. Both teams narrowly missed earning a bid to the TOC, which was awarded at the octofinal level of the Berkeley tournament. Juniors Ashish Mittal and Akum Gill made it to the first elimination round of the tournament in policy debate. The Stanford National Invitational held in February featured over 80 teams from the western half of the United States. Seifert and Liu

made it to quarterfinals where they were seeded to hit Gowda and Hilbrich. As the higher seed, Gowda and Hilbrich advanced to the semifinal round where they ended their tournament streak on a 2-1 decision. Hilbrich was named the top speaker of the tournament, Liu was second speaker, Seifert was third speaker and Gowda was eighth speaker. Fredric Enea and Akshay Jagadeesh made Harker history by becoming the first allfreshman team to clear in varsity at Stanford. Unfortunately they were seeded to debate Liu and Seifert in the first elimination and were the lower seed. In policy debate, Erraballi and Modi narrowly missed earning their second bid to the TOC after being eliminated in the octofinal round of competition. The dynamic duo earned their first bid in September and will be applying for an at-large application to the TOC. Mittal and Gill were eliminated in the first elimination round of the tournament.

Faculty Discusses Prop 8 Impact On March 13, Harker’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) sponsored a talk playfully titled “Gay Marriage and a Chocolate Chip Cookie.” The GSA provided chocolate chip cookies to attendees, hence the title. Many students, faculty members and administrators attended the event held in the Saratoga gym. After local attorney and gay rights activist Ray Hixson traced the legal and political history of the gay marriage movement in California, three gay and lesbian US faculty members – science teacher Miriam Allersma, performing arts teacher Jeffrey Draper and Spanish teacher Abel Olivas – discussed the personal impact related recent events have had on their lives. Each spoke about the Supreme Court ruling in May of 2008 legalizing gay marriage, their own marriages last summer, the passage of Proposition 8 and the current gay marriage case before the California Supreme Court. The talk was very well-received by both students and adults alike. Many students echoed the sentiment that the assembly was “dynamic” and “very interesting” while adults called it “inspirational” and said the human dimension of the issue was very effectively brought to the foreground. US English teacher John Heyes communicated to the teachers who spoke, “Your words on Friday were so uplifting, especially as you all spoke lovingly about family – your birth relatives and your lifelong wives, husbands and partners. For me, your words bridged whatever mythical gap exists – and only in certain minds – between the various forms that family takes.”

Harker News (USPS 023-761) is published Monthly except July, Aug., and Sept., by the The Harker School, Ofﬁce of Communications, 500 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Jose, CA and additional mailing ofﬁces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Harker News, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.

Harker News — April 09

UPPER

school

Hispanic Culture Celebrated at Saratoga in Triplicate Over Past Month

Supplied by Talon

First, on Feb. 27, Spanish students of all levels were treated to a lively

celebration of Hispanic culture during the Spanish Culture Night in the Saratoga gym. The students of the Spanish National Honor Society organized the event, which gave students the opportunity to speak the language in a fun, nonacademic environment.

Various foods from Spanish-speaking countries were also available. Delectations included student-prepared paella, a traditional rice dish from Spain, and empanadas made by Marco San Clemente and Dorian Bustos, Saratoga kitchen employees who are both of Colombian descent. “Students unanimously had enthusiastic reviews of the event, and said they hoped it would take place every year,” Diana Moss said. On March 2, in the shadow of

Enter tainment at the event included a flamenco guitar per formance by Samir Datta, Gr. 11 and Nikhil Parasarathy, Gr. 10; Spanish singing cour tesy of Vrinda Goel, Gr. 10 and seniors Neha Sabharwal and Ananya Anand; and poetr y recitation by Denzil Sikka, Gr. 12 and Alex Mabanta, Gr. 9, who read his own work to the audience. Kendra Moss, Gr. 11 and Daniel Cho, Gr. 10, per formed a salsa dance while Shubha Guha, Gr. 12, sang a song in the Colombian “cumbia” style. Alumna Laura Sanchez Hartzell ’07, who currently attends Santa Clara University, made a special guest appearance to per form a salsa dance with fellow SCU student Hector Vega. After ward, US Spanish teachers Diana Moss, Abel Olivas and Spanish substitute teacher Margarita Vincent

cluded Nicole Dalal, Gr. 9, dressing up as popular TV character “Ugly Betty,” along with fellow Gr. 9 students Tanya Piskun masquerading as “Hannah Montana” and Sachin Jain as a burglar.

led all the student attendees in a round of salsa dancing.

Finally, Christina Ma, Gr. 10, was honored at a special banquet on March 7 as a winner in the San Jose State University Foreign Language Poetry contest. Ma’s original poem, written in Spanish on the topic of “One World, Many Voices,” was the winner in the contest’s non-native language category. For her stellar effort, Ma received a $100 prize from the SJSU foreign language depar tment. describe what the models wore. The light-hearted event had students wearing outfits based on sports archetypes, television characters and caricatures of high school stereotypes such as the jock, nerd and skater. Among the more creative outfits in-

Speaker Brings Paris Art Alive

the Harker Freeze Frame Fashion Show, students in Moss’ Spanish I class held one of their own to help them brush up on clothing-related vocabulary. Students took to the runway (also known as Moss’ classroom) to model a themed outfit as another student used Spanish to

The visual ar ts depar tment brought Kay Payne, docent, lecturer and teacher, to the Nichols Hall atrium for a presentation titled “Paris and Her Painters: a Visual Journey to Paris from 1870-1900 through the Eyes of Impressionists, Academy Painters and Photographers.” Open to all, AP Ar t Histor y and Study of Visual Ar ts students attended and a number of other teachers suggested their students would benefit from attendance. Payne, grandmother of Sarah Payne, Gr. 12, has been with the Fine Ar ts Museums of San Francisco since 1981 and is a teacher of new docents and a member of the Docent Council Board. Payne taught elementar y school for a dozen years and enjoys doing research and writing about ar t in relation to contemporar y social histor y of the time. The event was well-attended, and the audience was clearly deeply interested in the presentation.

The Harker School is a K-12 independent, co-ed, college-prep school. K-Grade 5: 4600 Bucknall Rd., San Jose CA 95130; Grades 6-8: 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose CA 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.

Supplied by Diana Moss

Late February into early March was an exciting time for lovers of Spanish language and related culture at Saratoga.

The Harker News provides timely information, news and features about the Harker community to current and alumni Harker families. Editor: Pam Dickinson; Asst. Editor: William Cracraft; Copy Editors: Catherine Snider, Lauri Vaughan; Writer: Zach Jones; Production: Blue Heron Design Group, Triple J Design; Photos: Mark Tantrum or Jessica Liu, unless noted; Contributor: Stephanie Woolsey; Printing: Carol Sosnowski; Mailing Coordinator: Desiree Mitchell. Harker News — April 09