“Pippin” Cast Performs at Scotland’s World-Renowned Festival Fringe
Hats, Hats and More Hats at the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic Summer at Harker Full of Fun and Learning Young Composers
Program Begins Year Two
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CoverPhoto
Our cover photo, the cast of “Pippin” in full swing in Scotland, was
Harker QUARTERLY
taken by Laura Lang-Ree. As the show’s director, she already had her hands full managing the caravan, camp and performance of
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the cast and crew, yet she managed to take some great photos. Read the full story on page 32 by Catherine Snider, musical director on the sojourn (and our copy editor). “I took this picture from the audience’s point of view on the Royal Mile, the hub of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where literally hundreds of performers are vying for the public’s attention, hoping to entice them into seeing their shows,” said Lang-Ree. “Our kids pulled together their publicity show on the Royal Mile with such power and energy that an enormous crowd encircled all of us within seconds – despite the rain. I had never seen our cast with more enthusiasm and joy than during that crazy publicity moment on a stage the size of a postage stamp, in the rain, at the magical Festival Fringe.”
AboutHarker From its early beginnings in 1893 — when Stanford University leaders assisted in its establishment — to its reputation today as a leading preparatory school with students attending prestigious universities worldwide,
Pam Dickinson Director William Cracraft Editor Catherine Snider Sara Kendall Copy Editors Kyle Cavallaro Photo Editor
Sanjana Baldwa, grade 12 Ashley Batz Robert Boucher, parent Edward Hejtmanek ’06 Zach Jones Sara Kendall Liat Noten ‘05 Devin Nguyen, grade 12 Theresa “Smitty” Smith Catherine Snider Jennie Xu, grade 12 Laura Yau, grade 12 Contributors Liat Noten Distribution Blue Heron Design Group Rebecca McCartney Design Diamond Quality Printing Printing
Harker’s mission has remained constant: to create an environment that promotes academic excellence, inspires intellectual curiosity, expects personal accountability and forever instills a genuine passion for learning. Whether striving for academic achievement, raising funds for global concerns, performing on stage or scoring a goal, Harker students encourage and support one another and celebrate each other’s efforts and successes, at Harker and beyond. Harker is a dynamic, supportive, fun and nurturing community where kids and their families make friends for life.
Printed on 100% recycled paper
The Harker School is a K-12 independent, coed, college-prep school. K-Grade 5: 4300 Bucknall Rd., San Jose, CA 95130 Grade 6-8: 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117 Grade 9-12: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 Published four times a year, the Harker Quarterly showcases some of the top news, leading programs, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community. Produced by the Harker Office of Communication 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 communications@harker.org · 408.345.9273
Next Edition: December 2011
Harker News Online (HNO) was launched in April 2009 and reports timely news on the activities, programs and accomplishments of The Harker School and its students, faculty and alumni. You can subscribe to HNO via RSS feeds or a daily digest email alert. Visit http://news.harker.org/.
Find, Friend & Follow Us!
NextIssue As Harker enters is 118th academic year, preparations are underway for the launch of the new Harker history website. Many interesting facts and photos, from all the schools in our history, have been gathered by Sue Smith, library director, and Terry Walsh, archivist, for a history timeline that will be included on the site. To help celebrate the launch of the new Harker history website, the winter edition of Harker Quarterly will feature a version of the timeline on a unique three-page foldout suitable for framing (or hanging on the fridge).
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Join us for tweets, videos, announcements, photosharing and more! http://www.facebook.com/harkerschool http://www.youtube.com/harkerschool http://twitter.com/harkerschool http://www.flickr.com/groups/harkerschool
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inside Hats, Hats and More Hats at the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic
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Summer at Harker Full of Fun and Learning
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Young Composers Program Begins Year Two
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departments
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Global Education ....................................... 22 Milestones................................................... 25 Eagle Sports Report................................... 28 Performing Arts...........................................31 Greater Good ............................................. 34 Alumni......................................................... 35 Looking Ahead........................................... 42
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Headlines
By Christopher Nikoloff Head of School
Matriculation Ceremony
“
I believe that we live up to our mission in unique ways. I also believe that the life of our mission is in the often small, unheralded actions that together create the delicate and unmistakable ecosystem we call Harker.
G
ood morning. I’d like to welcome the Board
a pool of professionals who can share resources and
of Trustees, administration, faculty and
promote standards and growth.
staff, and the classes of 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 to the Matriculation Ceremony. For those of you who are new to the
school, and some of you who are not new, my name is Christopher Nikoloff, head of school at Harker. I oversee operations on all three campuses, but my office is located on this campus, where I really enjoy getting to know you. Please say hello when we see each other in the hallways, and feel free to stop by my office for cookies anytime. It is better for me if you eat them - otherwise, I will!
Our full six-year term of accreditation expires this year, which is the reason for the re-accreditation. The entire school community participated in a self-study last year, the results of which are shared with the visiting accreditation committee. Some of your fellow students participated in that self-study. My committee, which focused on the school’s mission and philosophy, enjoyed invaluable contributions from two students, for instance. As you know, our mission and philosophy statements emphasize love of learning, kindness, well-roundedness
I am honored to have the opportunity to open the new
and community. The Matriculation Ceremony today is
academic year with this Matriculation address. Also, I
about committing ourselves to these values.
am sure you will be relieved to hear that I am continuing the tradition of brevity, confining my talk to one page of single-spaced, size-twelve font. So far I have received no complaints about this tradition.
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”
The accreditation team will take a good look at our mission statement. Some of you may have noticed that this statement is inside every classroom. Please nudge your teacher if his or her classroom is missing one. Tell them that I sent you.
As many of you know, this year The Harker School will
One of the critical areas the visiting committee assesses is
be up for re-accreditation by its member organizations,
whether or not we do what we say we do in our mission
the California Association of Independent Schools and the
and philosophy statements. If they grant a full six-year term
Western Association of Schools and Colleges. For those of
they are essentially saying three things: we have a sound
you who love acronyms, these organizations are known
mission, we do what we say we do in the mission, and we
as CAIS and WASC. Joining these organizations creates
can monitor our own growth as a community.
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Headlines
Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Our mission and philosophy statements look very much
the Lion and Dorothy all look for the Wizard of Oz to find
like other independent schools, so we do not anticipate
for themselves, respectively, a brain, a heart, courage and
many surprises there. The essence of any school is how
a way home. Well, we learn throughout the movie that
it lives up to its mission. Schools are like thumb prints:
the Scarecrow has smarts, the Tin Man has heart, the
each different, each special. I believe that we live up to
Lion courage and Dorothy a way home all along. None of
our mission in unique ways. I also believe that the life of
them need the Wizard for any of these things. Sure, he
our mission is in the often small, unheralded actions that
can give them a piece of paper, but that paper could not
together create the delicate and unmistakable ecosystem
bestow on them what they already have. Similarly, if our
we call Harker.
mission is alive and well, accreditation cannot give us
When a student picks up a piece of trash that is not his or
what we already have.
holds a door for a stranger, then we are living up to our
Visitors to the Harker campus usually say that the students
mission. When students are inspired to help those who
are the most impressive, engaging part of their visit. The
are less fortunate, we are living up to our mission. When
faculty and staff say that the students are the best part
students choose not to bully or tease, or stand up against
of their day. I believe that is because of the little things
bullying or teasing, then our mission is alive and well.
you do every day for their own sake, not for some result,
When students choose academic integrity, hard work and
that reflect the spirit of our mission statement. The values
good cheer, then we are living up to our mission. When
of love of learning, kindness, well-roundedness and
students push themselves to learn and grow, then we are
community are alive and well because of the work you, the
reflecting our mission. When students choose cooperation
faculty and staff do each day.
over competition, then we are living our mission. When students tell me that their favorite class is also their most difficult, then I see a sign of our mission.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the administration, I wish you a great year living up to the spirit of our mission. Thank you.
Accreditation is a lot like the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz.� If you remember the movie, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man,
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Advancement
O
ver the course of the past two years, many members across the spectrum of the Harker community have participated in various head of school gatherings, focus groups and online surveys concerning campus planning and, in early September, Head of School Chris Nikoloff held a series of informational campus luncheons to update families on Harker’s strategic planning.
The down payment on the third campus, plus both new buildings on the Saratoga campus, gym and theater, will need to be funded by capital giving.
Additionally, in preparation for this year’s accreditation cycle by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a comprehensive selfstudy has been undertaken, resulting in Harker’s Strategic Planning Philosophy Statement. The statement serves as a guide for the school’s overall financial planning process.
Based upon the input of the school community and the work that was done in the self-study, four major strategic financial priorities have been identified: 1) ongoing program excellence; 2) purchasing a third campus to replace the leased Blackford campus; 3) continuing improvements on the Saratoga campus according to the master site plan; and 4) increasing endowment/reserves. Ongoing program excellence, the first and most important priority, is funded by tuition, annual giving and the annual interest earned from our endowments. The down payment on the third campus, plus both new buildings on the Saratoga campus, gym and theater, will need to be funded by capital giving. Phase 4 of the Cornerstones of Success
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By William Cracraft
Campaign will raise funds specifically for these financial priorities. Completion date of the new facilities will depend on the progress of the campaign. The hope is that enough funds will be raised so the school will be able to construct both gym and theater at the same time, saving money and limiting the disruption to the campus during construction. For more information or to make a contribution, please contact Joe Rosenthal, the executive director of advancement, at joer@harker.org.
Annual Giving Deadline is Oct. 9 for Napa Getaway Drawing Harker’s “Quick Guide to Philanthropy” was mailed to homes in August to help explain how donations help students, including why we need to raise charitable funds, where the money goes and options for giving. Annual Giving benefits all students at Harker, both inside and outside the classroom. Gifts may be made using the pledge envelope inside the Quick Guide, or online at www.harker.org/onlinegiving. If you make your gift or pledge before the Family & Alumni Picnic on Oct. 9, you will be entered in the drawing for a Napa weekend getaway!
Advancement
Parents Make Friends and Choose Volunteer Roles at Welcome Breakfasts
P
arents from every division celebrated the opening of school at welcome breakfasts, and in the process came together to see how they could help the diverse programs at The Harker School. The 500 attendees were welcomed by a great group of parent peers and school representatives and the positive response happily overwhelmed volunteer directors Teré Aceves (lower and middle schools) and Sue Prutton (upper school). Guests shared a delicious breakfast with friends and new acquaintances, met their grade level leaders and heard about the many volunteer opportunities available at the school. The events were themed Celebrate and Hats Off to Harker to correspond to the themes of the annual fashion show and Family & Alumni Picnic (see page 8); tables
were decorated with flowered hats and delicious mini cupcakes. “The events radiated energy and enthusiasm across the school divisions,” said Aceves. “We created this event as a treat out of gratitude for their efforts, but instead Sue and I received the pleasant surprise of seeing many happy and eager-to-help parents – we got the treat!”
about next year’s volunteer lead positions are coming in. In every division, the number of attendees was up significantly over last year – as much as double in some cases, which just goes to show the energy and enthusiasm of our parents and a growing interest in involvement and sense of community!”
Indeed, the meetings resulted in many new volunteers signing up. “From room parent teams, to traffic volunteers to robotics and library, many programs of the school were represented,” said Prutton. “And, surprisingly, inquiries
Photos by Kyle Cavallaro
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Lid-Flipping, Cap-Tipping Family Picnic Fun! rd on Oct. 9, 2011 o f k c a l B t a from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Join us
Get ready for the fun and festivities on Sun., Oct. 9 at Harker’s annual Family & Alumni Picnic. Our “Top Hatters” (parent committee chairs) have a super HAT-TASTIC event planned that’s guaranteed to knock your socks (and hat) off. Put something crazy on your head and join in the fun!
Throw Your Hat in the Ring! Everyone needs an admission pass to enter the picnic on Sun., Oct. 9, so make sure you’ve got yours. Visit the online registration page before Sept. 30 to grab your pass for the advance purchase price of $8. Admission is also available at the door for $12. All hat lovers 5 to 75 need a pass!
We're Passing the Hat ... … and selling tickets for our Grand Prize Drawing! Students K-12, faculty and staff are selling “lids” full of picnic drawing tickets to help us raise money for our school. Sellers are earning incentive prizes as they go and on picnic day we’ll pull out the names of five lucky grand prize winners. This year’s prizes include: a giant SIMPLE 3-speed Beach Cruiser, an Xbox with Kinect 250GB, an iPad2 wifi 16GB, a Las Vegas getaway for two and our fabulous first prize of $10,000! Tickets are available on all three campuses and can be turned in until 3:30 on picnic day to be eligible for the grand picnic drawing at 4 p.m. Happy selling … and maybe even winning!
Go Mad Hattery!
Photos by As
hley Batz
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Our Silent Auction promises to have you “bidding like mad” on super silly teacher packages, fabulous trips and wacky, wonderful one-of-a-kind items. How about an evening in San Francisco at “Beach Blanket Babylon”? Or a tour on an America’s Cup yacht? Maybe great seats and a personal field visit during an Oakland A’s game or a beautiful diamond necklace? You can eat, play, tour, trek and create with some of your favorite teachers by bidding on a Teacher Package, or sign up for an evening of fun and games, or a laser tag challenge, or a day at the ballpark, or even a good old fashioned sleepover! Make sure to stop by the “Go Mad Hattery” on picnic day to bid, bid, bid on your favorites.
FAMILY PICNIC FUN!
There’s still time to donate to our Silent Auction. We can always use restaurant certificates, tickets to sporting events, one-of-a-kind art or jewelry items, sports memorabilia and more. Visit us online for more details.
HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT ... IT'S GOING TO BE FUN! Put on your panamas, dust off your derby, break out your beanies and get ready for a wacky, whimsical, wonderful day on the Blackford campus. We’ve added some new surprises to the picnic lineup this year; of course, we haven’t forgotten your old favorites either (with a hat-tastic twist). You can be sure it all adds up to one fabulous family day!
and super sports munchies and this could be your new favorite area at the picnic. “Flip Your Lidsville” is this year’s whimsical picnic town, located in the Blackford gym. The town’s people are excited to show off their “main street” and all the “businesses” are sprucing up for our arrival. Stroll by Mr. Hood’s Hardware or the Night Cap Café, take a peek into Hattery Barn, Brimco or the CAPital ONE Bank.
For mo re info vis it us at www.H arker.o rg/picn ic
Our most popular area, “The Cap-Tipping Carnival,” will be chock full of carnival games, blow-up attractions and hat-themed activities, all designed for maximum fun and prize-winning! So be sure to mark your calendar, purchase your admission passes and plan to come early and stay late so you won’t miss one second of the lid-flipping, cap-tipping picnic fun we have planned!
Hats Off to YOU!
The “Sunbonnet Bowl” will be open as you arrive at the picnic and you’ll be delighted to see the lovely flowers and decorations galore in this family gathering area. The spectacular student show is the big attraction at 11 a.m., but the Sunbonnet Stage will be filled with student performances and special guests throughout the day. Drop your raffle tickets, buy your carnival tickets and you’re set for a HAT-RIFFIC day!
Our generous picnic sponsors, donors and volunteers really make this event possible … and we want to make sure to give a big “thank you!” to all who have stepped up and done their part as we prepare for a “tip-top” event on Oct. 9! This is truly a Harker family day and our entire family has gone above and beyond this year in every way possible! For more Family & Alumni Picnic information visit www.harker.org/picnic. Photos by
Ashley Ba
tz
At the “Hat Trick Tavern” we’ll be celebrating sports and all the hats that go with them. We’ve added an outdoor patio, and moved the popular wine booth into the MPR for adults only! Add in the specialty beer and wine, the football game H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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FAMILY PICNIC FUN!
Photos by Kyle Cavallaro
r, ri Sunda , Shanka Yu (raffle) issions); m en d h (a -C ei sh city) ee ht: M bu (publi ya Jagad Left to rig Ken Aze o, Sandh ), h rs C so g n n o u Heeky y Cox (sp red: Beck Not pictu
Left to rig ht: Mark Peetz (dec Robyn Pe orations) etz (gam , Debbie es/setup), Kelly Del Buss, Fred Carr epine (pla ; Not pictu nt booth/d red: ecoration s)
2011 “Top Hatters”
: Pellissier; Back row Kumar (T-shirts), Kim Greg Martin za, en Front row: Lalitha Sem rid Ing els), Robyn Peetz, (wheels) Patti Soraire (whe n, Denise Hayashi tured: Shalani Jai pic t No r); ba PR (M
We TIP OUR HATS to our Parent Volunteer Committee chairs. They are generous, talented, dedicated, fun and just a little bit crazy … and that’s why we love them!
October 9, 2011 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Don't Eat Your Hat ... Visit a Food Truck!
“We are excited about the whole food truck idea, and we hope our culinary experiment at this year’s picnic will be a delicious success!”
- Kelly Espinosa, picnic coordinator
Photo by
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atz
Ashley B
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Have you joined the food truck revolution? Are you tweeting your friends to find the location of the gourmet ice cream truck or those spectacular garlic noodles? If you’ve been hearing about this craze and wondering what the fuss is all about, the Family & Alumni Picnic has you covered. Harker will be featuring five of the Bay Area’s premiere food trucks at this year’s event on Oct. 9, no tweeting required! In addition to our traditional offerings of Round Table Pizza, authentic Indian cuisine, great grilled burgers, sausage and chicken sandwiches, the food trucks will provide a twist to our food choices this year and give hungry picnic-goers an opportunity to participate in this craze that is sweeping the nation. The trucks will be serving up super-sized Vietnamese sandwiches, tasty Hawaiian fried chicken, killer Cajun cuisine and gourmet ice cream desserts like you’ve never seen before. “We are excited about the whole food truck idea,” says picnic coordinator Kelly Espinosa, “and we hope our culinary experiment at this year’s picnic will be a delicious success!”
Brimming with Pride! When you see an upper school student on picnic day (and you’ll see many of them) you can bet they are having fun and helping with the event in some special way. Most grade 9-12 students come to the picnic to volunteer first and then they hang around and have some fun themselves. As the upper school has grown over the years the students have found new and exciting ways to “serve” at this family-focused event. Upper school students play in the jazz band, perform in the student show, cover the event as reporters and photographers, run game and activity booths with their favorite clubs, help with setup and cleanup and more … it’s awesome! For the past three years the varsity football team has been in charge of the popular football toss game. “It’s a great way for the team to show their Harker pride, give back to the school, and get some exposure in the larger Harker community,” says coach Karriem Stinson. “My guys work hard and it’s nice to see them interacting with younger students and putting into action the values we teach on the field everyday. Plus, they really have a good time!”
look at the event and help our school at the same time. Posse members will be making posters, helping on the curb donation days, creating bulletin boards, making picnic announcements and more as we count down the days to our Hats Off Harker event!
For more information visit us at www. harker.org/picnic.
Photo
by Eri
We’re so very proud of all the upper school students who have found a way to give back on picnic day. Their contributions add so much to the “family” part of this fun-filled day!
on
See you on Sun., Oct. 9! c Nels
New this year, the Eagle Buddies program will be teaming up grade 4 students with their grade 11 buddies at the picnic. This gives the buddy pairs an opportunity to hang out, play games and get to know each other in the safe environment of our most favorite family festival. What could be more fun? We hope those grade 11 kids have their Ping-Pong-tossing, ball-bouncing, train-riding, frog-flipping muscles warmed up, because fourth graders never get tired!
Photos by Ashley Bat z
FAMILY PICNIC FUN!
Picnic Posse Heads Out! In the middle school, students have formed our first ever Picnic Posse! The group is made up of picnic-loving students who want to help promote picnic spirit and enthusiasm throughout the Blackford campus. “Our students have a special relationship to the picnic,” says campus dean Lana Morrison, “because it all happens right here!” The new Picnic Posse gives interested students a chance to be more involved, get a behind-the-scenes
For info more vi www .Har sit us a t ker. org/ pic
nic
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Summer Learning: Academics, Athletics and Water Play!
Summer Campers
Delight in Academia and Fun
Photo by Laura Yau, grade 12
By William Cracraft
T
Photos by Ashley Batz
he Harker Summer Camp, open to students from any school in grades 1-6, was both academically stimulating and tons of fun! In the mornings, students were grouped by age to study language arts, math and an elective of their choice.
Classes did not have assigned homework and the second half of the day was pure fun. Students participated in group
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activities including arts and crafts, circus arts, slip and slide and relay races. In addition, students had the chance to spend time in the swimming pool both during group time and during Special Interest time, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., if desired. Students also played with friends outside their groups and participated in crafts, games and more. Christopher Smith, who started grade 6 at Harker this fall, had the usual morning regimen including math and language arts. For an elective, he chose Go Green, an exploration of the
science of living green.
For him, the best thing about coming to Harker was, “just the environment and the teachers, all the nice people you meet. My favorite part of the day is when we get together with the other classes and play games – it’s a rivalry – and swimming is fun because they teach you how to play water polo.” Ilana Josephson, age 10 and in grade 5, does not attend Harker during the school year, but said she liked Harker camps
HARKER SUMMER LEARNING
because, “It is kind of fun meeting new people and not being bored at home,” and loved the swimming component because “it’s really hot!” Brooklyn Cicero, now in grade 2 at Harker, also liked the swimming. “I like friendship recess,” where kids of different age groups mixed to play games, she added.
This year was Casellas’ fifth at Harker Summer Camp. “I like hanging out with all my friends that I meet every day, I like going to the game room, I like swimming, I like playing on the playground,” he said. And he clearly enjoyed the overall experience! “The counselors are the nicest people on earth – they are really nice to me, they are really inviting and all the kids here are super-nice and they just speak to me really well – they are really nice to me,” he concluded.
Photos by Laura Yau, grade 12
Field trips provided nice diversions for campers and included a variety of outings. Harker’s own transportation director organized the buses, while group leaders, counselors and camp directors led and supervised. One outing saw the kids visiting Laser Quest. “That was so much fun,” Smith said. Camper Sebastian Casellas, grade 6 at St. Francis Cabrini, also enjoyed the laser tag trip and the other outings during his session, which included an overnight party and a trip to an ice rink.
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HARKER SUMMER LEARNING
Summer Institute Offers Learning and Development By Zach Jones
T
his summer middle and high school students seized the opportunity to gain school credit and enhance their overall educational experience by attending classes at Harker’s Summer Institute. Classes were offered in three categories: for-credit, upper school enrichment and middle school enrichment. With the exception of AP Biology and AP Chemistry, all courses were open to both Harker and nonHarker students. For-credit courses provided students with an opportunity to earn academic credit through a variety of rigorous courses in math, the arts and technology. The small class sizes ensured that students received the right amount of individual attention. Students
enrolled in middle and upper school enrichment classes to take advantage of programs that foster their interests. Classes in these programs included everything from precalculus to robotics to musical improvisation, all taught by dedicated, skillful and experienced instructors. J Gaston, who taught graphic arts and photography, thinks students benefit both from the small class sizes and the longer class sessions. “The four-hour Photos by Ashley Batz
Photo by Liat Noten ‘05
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classes give the opportunity to get indepth with projects and take the time that the process of art and design really requires,” he said. “We do end up getting more done, simply because the students can complete the projects without having to start and stop.” Joshua Beavin, a Harker student in grade 12, enrolled in Gaston’s photography class and enjoyed the time he was allowed to focus on the subject matter. “I think the summer’s a really good time to take these classes, especially because most of them require several hours to really focus on your work,” he said.
Photo by Liat Noten ‘05
Another Harker student, Anisha Padwekar, grade 10, took graphic arts and AP Chemistry. She enjoyed the small class sizes and experimenting with other academic areas that she may be interested in exploring further later in high school. “I was planning on taking AP Studio Art in my senior year,” she
Photo by Ashley Batz
Photo by Liat Noten ‘05
HARKER SUMMER LEARNING
said, “but I wasn’t sure what type of art I wanted to do.” In addition to the academic courses, this year the Summer
Teachers By Zach Jones
O
n June 15, Harker held its sixth annual Harker Teacher Institute to give educators around the Bay Area the chance to learn about how new instructional techniques and technologies can assist them in the classroom. Various sessions were held at the upper school campus by Harker faculty and staff, who demonstrated the many different new technology tools available to teachers. In one session, Michael Schmidt, middle school computer science teacher, demonstrated Scratch, a new open-source programming language that is designed to make programming a fun and engaging activity for children and teenagers. Paul Vallerga, a teacher and designer in Harker’s performing arts department, showed how teachers could use Google SketchUp, a free 3-D modeling tool, for student art projects, demonstrations and more. Other classes showed how already popular tools could be leveraged in new and very useful ways. Mark Gelineau and Rebecca Williams, middle school
Institute also offered an afternoon activity program with a wide variety of activities, including studying, swimming, crafts, games and more.
Come to Harker to Learn English teachers, held a session to show how teachers could greatly reduce the stress of grading papers by using macros in Microsoft Word. Wolfram|Alpha, as upper school math teacher Bradley Stoll demonstrated, could be used as a statistical research resource as well as a mathematics tool. Other classes focused on effective teaching techniques, such as upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss’
conversation as a means to rejuvenate their passion for teaching. This year’s Teacher Institute was once again sponsored by Silicon Valley Computer Using Educators (SVCUE), the local chapter of Computer Using Educators, a nonprofit corporation that aims to use technology to improve student achievement. It was hosted by Harker and Dan Hudkins, instructional technology director, Fred Triefenbach,
In one session, Michael Schmidt, middle school computer science teacher, demonstrated Scratch, a new open-source programming language that is designed to make programming a fun and engaging activity for children and teenagers. session on how poetry can be integrated into all levels of Spanish classes. Susan Nace, upper school music teacher, held a session to help teachers relax and reconnect “what you do with who you are,” using the arts and spirited
upper school assistant technology director, Lisa Diffenderfer, lower school assistant technology director and Angela Neff, former middle school assistant technology director.
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HARKER SUMMER LEARNING
ELI Equips International Students
English Skills
By Zach Jones
Photo by Laura Yau, grade 12
Photo by Sanjana Baldwa, grade 12
with
H
arker’s English Language Institute (ELI), known internationally for its top-level English instruction, ran from late June to August, bringing together students from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Turkey, and providing them with English skills they will be using at American boarding schools and Englishspeaking international schools. As in previous years, ELI offered the customized scheduling that has become
a hallmark of the program, placing students in specialized environments that helped them strengthen specific areas of their English proficiency. Students also had the option of enrolling in a special prep program for students looking to apply to boarding schools. Areas of study offered by ELI included vocabulary building, study skills, reading comprehension, grammar, writing and composition, and oral presentation. Students also enjoyed after-class
activities such as games, sports and swimming. Anthony Wood, the director of ELI and a lower school assistant athletic director during the school year, said that Harker’s worldwide reputation as a top-tier school also helps to set ELI apart. “Personally, I think the prestige of the school ensures that most students come with the highest degree of selfefficacy and passion to learn,” he said. “We also value ourselves on our long
Photo by Sanjana Baldwa, grade 12
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Photo by Jennie Xu, grade 12
“I think the prestige of the school ensures that most students come with the highest degree of self-efficacy and passion to learn.” —Anthony Wood, ELI director
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to further bolster its roster of instructors. The new staff members supported the students both inside and outside the classroom. The ELI curriculum was also redesigned to make sure it matched proficiency levels and maximized its effectiveness.
history of success in teaching English as a second language. Remember, Harker had a boarding school for over 20 years, and this lineage has helped shape the program’s philosophy and curriculum in foreign language learning.” The program added new teachers this year to “provide added professionalism and expertise to our faculty,” said Wood. ELI also hired college students interested in the teaching profession
Connie Yang, a student from Shanghai who was born in San Francisco, is planning to attend high school in the U.S., and enjoyed the ELI program because its teachers made the classes “fun and interesting.”
Photo by Sanjana Baldwa, grade 12
Photos by Jennie Xu, grade 12
In addition to their English instruction, students also sampled several quintessential Bay Area experiences, including visits to the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, the Exploratorium, the San Jose Tech Museum and an Oakland A’s baseball game.
the flexibility offered by the program, recalling how easily she was able to request a transfer from the intermediate to advanced class, which she enjoyed more due to the challenge it offered. “I still need to improve my English, even though I’m in a regular high school now, so I think this program will help me,” she said.
Another student from China, Christine Guo of Shenzhen, attends Santa Clara’s Sierra School and enjoyed the Harker campus environment. “There’s a swimming pool, a big field and it’s clean,” she said. She also appreciated
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Forensics
Keeps Busy During Summer Months By Zach Jones
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In addition to these achievements, Harker won the National Debate School of Excellence award, given to the country’s top five debate schools, for the second straight year. Also in Dallas, James Seifert ’11reached the finals of the dramatic interpretation competition at the National Forensic League’s National Championship Tournament, capping off a string of tournament successes that began in
September 2010. Seifert ended up placing fourth in a highly competitive event that included 236 participants.
Back in San Jose, Harker hosted its own two-week Forensics Institute in August at the upper school campus, which was open to upper and middle school students, as well as students from outside Harker. The institute, directed by upper school debate teachers Greg Achten and Jonathan Peele and middle school debate teacher Karina Momary, offered instruction on policy debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, public forum, congressional debate and individual events. Instructors hired for the event were Alex Smith, who debated at University
Photo provided by Carol Green
hough it may have been a time of relaxation for many, summer was a busy time for Harker’s forensics department, with students competing in tournaments out of state and the department running its own Forensics Institute. In June, 23 middle school debaters attended the National Junior Forensics League Tournament in Dallas, where Pranav Reddy, now in grade 9, won the national championship in Lincoln-Douglas debate and finished fifth in student congress. Aditya Dhar, grade 7, took third place in student congress.
of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law, Harker graduate Roshni Bhatnagar ‘11 and Shelly Kingaby, a coach from North Carolina who assists upper school debaters during the school year and helped Seifert reach the dramatic interpretation finals in Dallas. During the institute, students participated in practice debates and received personalized attention from their teachers, made possible by the one-to-seven teacher-student ratio.
Harker Students Make Multiple Top 10s at National JCL Convention By Zach Jones
H
arker’s Latin program is going strong, and students have an annual event at which to showcase their knowledge in the National Junior Classical League Convention. In July, Harker students, along with John Hawley and Lisa Masoni, upper and middle school Latin teachers, traveled to Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Ky., for this year’s convention. The convention is attended by more than 1,000 students every year who compete in multiple academic and creative arts contests, and several Harker students had
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top 10 placements in multiple categories. Nik Datuashvili, grade 11, took second place in four categories: ancient geography IV, Greek derivatives, Latin derivatives and reading comprehension. He also earned fourth place in academic heptathlon and eighth place in Latin grammar advanced, Latin vocabulary IV and Certamen advanced level. Meawhile, junior Richard Fan took eighth in Hellenic history IV, ninth in Greek derivatives IV and Roman history IV and eighth in Certamen advanced.
Sean Fernandes, grade 11, reached ninth place in ancient geography and 10th in reading comprehension prose level IV. Finishing fifth in girls dramatic interpretation and Latin oratory III was Zina Jawadi, grade 10, who also took sixth place in girls Latin prose. Grade 12 student Jessica Lin took first place in Roman life V+ and 10th in the grade 11 girls essay category. Finally, junior Sean Nierat earned fourth place in grade 10 traditional photography.
HARKER SUMMER LEARNING
Journalism Students Ply Their Craft in
H
arker journalism students started their summer off with an exciting trek to Europe, accompanied by journalism teacher Chris Daren and English teacher Pauline Paskali, to learn and write about the continent’s rich culture and history.
Harry Hamburg, who shared his vast knowledge and many amusing anecdotes with the group. Venice provided the next fodder for the journalists. The area around Piazza San Marco was canvassed for stories, and the remainder of the time was spent sightseeing and working on their assignments, as well as enjoying a special dinner at a
By Zach Jones
700-year-old restaurant. Paris was next, after lunch during a brief stop in Milan. During their stay in the City of Lights, the students visited the Louvre Museum and toured the river Seine and Notre Dame Cathedral. They also stopped by the Eiffel Tower, where they enjoyed authentic French crêpes. Back to England! In London they interviewed Member of Parliament Yasmin Qureshi of the Labor Party, who
Photos by Devin Nguyen, grade 12
The first stop on their trip was the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, where they searched out stories and interviewed the artistic director of the new Harpa concert hall, as well as Katrin Juliusdottir, Iceland’s minister of tourism, energy and industry. A day of sightseeing followed, traveling along the Golden Circle, a popular tourist route in the south of Iceland. Among the many breathtaking sights were Skógafoss Falls, the Sólheimajökull glacier and a still-sunny sky at 11:48 p.m.
Europe
The group then traveled to England, where they stayed at the Old Rectory in Tattingstone, Suffolk, to complete their assignments from Iceland and begin work for fall journalism activities. While there, the students were visited by veteran Associated Press photographer gave the students a tour of Parliament and answered questions about her job. The group was permitted to see the House of Commons and House of Lords in session, a fine treat for these inquisitive students. Articles and photos chronicling the journalists’ exciting journey through Europe are posted at www.talonwp.com.
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Tech Grants
Photo by Jeffrey Draper
Teachers Use Hone Their Skills
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ver the summer, several teachers received grants from the Harker Tech Grant program to discover new ways in which technology could help them in the classroom. Started roughly 10 years ago, the program has since helped dozens of teachers become more well-rounded and effective educators by expanding their teaching skill sets as well as their ability to receive, track and organize information. Upper school theater teacher Jeffrey Draper explored how video editing techniques could be used to create online videos that combined images, PowerPoint presentations, lecture notes and interviews. “I want students to see my prepared materials as homework in place of classroom lectures,” Draper said. “Then we can work with the information in the classroom through quizzes and discussions rather than having me deliver the lecture material in class and not have the time to address the information with the students in person.” Draper wants to finish 10 videos by the end of 2011 and improve them as needed through editing. “I will be working more with video editing over the course of the year to improve the quality of the videos,” he said, “and 20
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By Zach Jones I look forward to sharing any techniques I learn that may be useful to other teachers.”
Jonathan Brusco and Andrea Milius, middle school history teachers, decided to make their curriculum more diverse and robust by providing online resources for their students. “We rewrote our curriculum and we identified all the standards, and we created our benchmarks that matched with the standards,” Milius said. To meet these
to
Assessa that allows her to collect data sent to her by students, evaluate it and send it back to them. Horan’s students lead class discussions throughout the year, during which they collect data based on a rubric that is posted online. The iPhone app allows her to keep all of the necessary information sent to her by students in one place. “I was just having a hard time keeping all of the paperwork together,” she said. Cyrus Merrill, middle school history teacher, created videos of all of his content lectures and uploaded them to YouTube. He also adapted his classroom for multimedia use. “I converted my room into a black box theater with curtains on all the walls so I can make my room into a theater and focus student attention on specific parts of the wall or only certain screens,” he said. He created a setup that allows
“I hope it will inspire my students to see class as a dynamic experience with rich visuals and context to put the content into.” —Cyrus Merrill, middle school history teacher benchmarks, a large number of online resources are provided that include both required and supplemental information. “It supplements, but it can also be extra information that we want students to read, and so we’re not just dictated by our textbook,” said Milius. Lower school librarian Kathy Clark and middle school librarian Bernie Morrissey were “instrumental” in helping the two teachers find resources, Milius said. AP Psychology teacher Kelly Horan opted to leverage the rapidly growing field of mobile technologies for her tech grant project, which used an iPhone app called
him to hang screens on each wall and display images and video clips on them. “I also researched what I call FAME (fashion, art, music and entertainment) throughout the eight units I teach to incorporate specific social history activities that are hands-on for the most part,” he said. The purpose of Merrill’s project was to make his classroom more interactive and participatory, and to allow his students to have access to basic points of lectures at home. “I hope it will inspire my students to see class as a dynamic experience with rich visuals and context
HARKER SUMMER LEARNING
Upper School Science Students Visit
Costa Rica S ummer offers a great many options for enriching educational activities. Several upper school science students seized upon this opportunity and spent two weeks in Costa Rica in July and August, accompanied by upper school biology teacher Gary Blickenstaff and upper school physics teacher Miriam Allersma, for a trip that was as fun as it was enlightening and character-building. Students spent much of their time working on research projects at Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, known in English as the National Biodiversity Institute, or INBio for short. Students spent significant time in the field collecting data for lab experiments. They later presented these projects to professors at the institute.
By Zach Jones
The students also worked with people from Costa Rica’s national park system to help protect the local sea turtle population. Not ones to let a trip to a country as beautiful as Costa Rica go to waste, the group also took the opportunity for fun activities such as river rafting, cruising the canals in Tortuguera, viewing various underwater life while snorkeling and bird watching in the Cloud Forest area of Monteverde.
Photos by Gary Blickenstaff
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GlobalEducation By Zach Jones
Harker’s global education department is thriving, as is evident when one looks at some of the amazing places Harker students and teachers traveled
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n late May and early June, several students traveled to Switzerland with Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs and Kevin Williamson, upper school dean of students, to meet their buddies at the Collège de Gambach in Fribourg. The Harker students began their first day at Collège de Gambach by learning about Switzerland, said Gargano. The students also attended an English class to participate in discussions, helping the Swiss students with their English skills and giving the Harker students an opportunity to gain insights into Swiss culture. Harker French students also participated in a French class for German speakers. The next day they traveled to Lausanne to visit the Olympic Museum, which featured many interactive exhibits. Vevey was their next destination, which they traveled to via a boat ride across Lake Geneva. Vevey’s Food Museum provided
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a fascinating look into the history of how food is prepared and consumed.
Since Switzerland is famous for its chocolate, the students visited the Maison Cailler chocolate factory in Broc. “Many students described Maison Cailler as ‘Disneyland-like’ and some indeed said they felt like they were in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” Gargano said. Thursday of that week was set aside for classes. The Harker students were divided into French-speaking and non-French-speaking groups and assigned an appropriate set of courses to attend. After classes, the Harker students were taken out to lunch, after which they left on a train to explore the town of Murten, where they enjoyed a scavenger hunt. Another day of classes was followed by a train trip to the country’s capital city, Bern, to have lunch at a local hotel, where the Swiss buddies were thanked for being so kind and accommodating. The students’ final day in Switzerland was spent hanging out with their Swiss friends playing sports, shopping and exploring the local mountains.
Photo provided by Kevin Williamson
switzerland
Upper School Students Visit Friends in Switzerland
Photo provided by Kevin Williamson
to this summer. Enjoy the ride!
“Many students described Maison Cailler as ‘Disneyland-like’ and some indeed said they felt like they were in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.” F A L L 2 0 11
Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs
Middle School Students Visit Costa Rica for Spanish Immersion
During their visit to La Carpio, a refugee camp inhabited mostly by Nicaraguan immigrants, the Harker students went to a daycare center in a park just outside the camp and played with some local children. En route to Manuel Antonio National Park, the students saw crocodiles and macaws by the Tárcoles River and hiked through Rainmaker Park, a beautiful remnant rainforest. Once at the national park, they saw many species of plants and animals, and took a refreshing dip into the water at a pristine beach.
Photo provided by Susan Moling and Julie Pinzás
Other fun activities contributing to the goal of cultural and linguistic immersion included a painting class at the town of Sarchi, known for its painted oxcart wheels and hand-carved furniture and crafts, a Latin dance class, and a scavenger hunt in Grecia. During their final evening, the students and teachers had tremendous fun (and great food!) during a special farewell barbecue party. The Harker students were each presented with a group photo of the ACCE students they had befriended during the trip, and another successful Harker global education journey came to a close.
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iddle school Spanish students, chaperoned by Spanish teachers Julie Pinzás and Susan Moling, participated in Harker’s vibrant global education department with a trip to Costa Rica, starting in late July and extending into midAugust.
“As usual, they impressed the director and their Costa Rican teachers with their Spanish!”
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ach year a group of grade 8 students embark on a trip across the world, and this year’s participants, who departed on May 29, now have lasting memories of a funfilled and enlightening excursion.
Photo by Jennifer Walrod
Julie Pinzás, chaperone Getting down to business, the students began their classes at the Academia Centroamericana de Español (ACCE). “As usual, they impressed the director and their Costa Rican teachers with their Spanish!” Pinzás exclaimed. They also visited Centro Educativo Nuevo Milenio, a private K-12 school, where they shadowed CENM students in grades 7, 8 and 9 during their classes. Another school visited was a local public school with more than 1,400 students in grades 7-11.
Grade 8 Students Discover Beauty and Culture of China on Annual Trip
H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
china
The students arrived in the Costa Rican capital city of San José on July 31, and were taken to the town of Grecia, where they ate at a restaurant tucked away in a bamboo forest in the mountains. Everyone headed to San Luis the next day to go zip lining through the lush treetops, which Pinzás said was “a definite highlight of the trip.”
Photo provided by Susan Moling and Julie Pinzás
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GlobalEducation Over the next couple of days, the students visited Zhujiajiao, the water town known for its canals and historic buildings dating back 1,700 years, and the famed Yuyuan Gardens in downtown Shanghai. Later, the students flew to Beijing and visited the Temple of Heaven, which the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties visited annually to offer prayers for a good harvest. They next explored the hutongs, Beijing’s traditional alleyway neighborhoods, riding on rickshaws to the house of a man who kindly allowed the students to take a tour of his home and answered questions on a variety of topics.
At the Ming Tombs outside of Beijing, the students were led to the dragonheaded turtle pavilion, where they rubbed the statue’s tail for a long life, and its head for continued happiness. The next major stop was none other than the Great Wall of China. “We took a ski lift to the top of the mountain where we could enter onto the wall. It was amazing!” said Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s global education director, in one of several dispatches to parents. Upon returning to Beijing, the hardy group visited Tiananmen Square, and then headed to the Forbidden City, touring several of its 980 palatial buildings. The group later visited the Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, and rode a dragon boat to the palace’s pavilion. Photo by Jennifer Walrod
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The students arrived back home on June 6, ready to rest and reflect on a trip they won’t soon forget.
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uth Meyer, upper school history teacher, spent two weeks in Australia for this year’s teacher exchange with Saint Stephen’s College in the small Queensland town of Coomera. Meyer spent most of her time teaching freshman history and junior English to the school’s students, who she said were like Harker students in that, “they are happy, helpful and enjoy school.” Meyer, who has always been interested in dream analysis, was able to instruct juniors about the role apparitions play in “Macbeth.” She also sat in on an intriguing lecture exploring gender roles, and anticipates using her experiences to explore gender roles in history when she teaches her Harker classes on feminist literature in Western Political Thought.
“They were all tremendously helpful and made me feel like one of their team.” Ruth Meyer The staff and faculty, Meyer said, were also a treat to work with. “They were all tremendously helpful and made me feel like one of their team,” she said. “I felt very comfortable there and they gave me a great welcome.”
austrailia
At the Ming Tombs outside of Beijing, the students were led to the dragon-headed turtle pavilion, where they rubbed the statue’s tail for a long life, and its head for continued happiness.
History Teacher Visits Australia for Annual Exchange
Photo provided by Ruth Meyer
The trip hooks students up with Harker’s sister school in Shanghai, the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS). After a sightseeing stop which included the Oriental Pearl TV tower, the travelers took part in an assembly at the school, at which Harker student Neil Sadhu spoke about the long-standing student exchange between the two institutions. Harker students participated in a number of classes, including one on Chinese opera.
Meyer enjoyed some learning of her own, visiting a rainforest and a heritage museum to learn about life in the Australian countryside circa 1900. She also went to an attraction called The Outback Experience, where she learned about the role Australian horses played in World War I. She benefitted from the reversal of seasons from crossing the equator; her counterpart, who traveled from St. Stephen’s to Harker last April, missed school, while Meyer was on her summer vacation.
One of the differences between Harker and St. Stephen’s, Meyer noted, was class size. “The class sizes are a lot bigger than at Harker,” she said. “Some classes that I taught had 26 students.” Friday afternoons at St. Stephen’s are set aside for sports activities. Like Harker, however, the St. Stephen’s students were “very friendly and kind,” Meyer found, and the school also has “excellent library facilities and a very dedicated and friendly group of teachers.”
By Edward Hejtmanek ‘06
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tudents are not the only ambitious Harker people who search out internships and learning opportunities over the summer. Our faculty kept busy with a variety of summer projects.
Photo provided by Raji Swaminathan
Science Teacher Studies Nanotechnology at Stanford Raji Swaminathan, grade 7 science teacher, spent time at Stanford learning about nanotechnology at their Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers (SIMST). Nanoscience is the study of incredibly small things to the order of a billionth of a meter. Swaminathan was particularly interested in how the immunology field is using nanotech to help combat diseases. She also learned about the workings of STMs and ATMs, Scanning Tunneling Microscopes and Atomic Force Microscopes, which help scientists understand the atoms of different materials. Her students can plan on some excellent new activities when they study rates of reaction and learn about the workings of atoms.
Milestones Teacher Invited to Educational Testing Team Enni Chen, grade 2 science teacher, worked with the Educational Testing Service (ETS), known best by students and parents for their STAR tests, this summer. Chen was asked to work with the ETS team in Sacramento that administers the STAR test due to her “solid background in teaching and research,” said Mary Arcilla, the associate director of the STAR program. Chen was instrumental in recruiting members to ETS committees to share their insights on special populations in California. Chen also helped organize a field test ETS will be conducting in September, recruiting districts and individual schools to participate. Chen was recognized for her initiative and outside-ofthe-box thinking, two qualities her students look forward to seeing in her classroom this year.
Music Teacher Completes Doctorate in Music Education Dave Hart, middle school music teacher, finished his doctorate in music education at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. Hart’s focus was both in music education and performance in jazz trumpet. Hart was brought to Harker after finishing his three years of course work, which included performing, lecturing on the effects of improvisation and musical education, and teaching at undergraduate and after-school programs. The research component of his dissertation focused on the positive impact of improvisation on students’ abilities to understand and learn music. Hart currently leads the middle school orchestra and jazz band in improvisational practices, something that is often overlooked in musical education programs. Be sure
to request a spontaneous number or two at the next jazz concert or a duet featuring Hart and his wife, Leslie, a French horn player who also earned her doctorate at Eastman.
English Teacher’s Poetry Introduces Art Display in N.Y. Alexandra Mattraw Rosenboom, an award-winning poetess and Harker English teacher, had a Harkerinspired poem included in “Black and White,” the summer 2011 exhibition of New York’s Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition. The show, which ran July 16-Aug. 21, was in a huge Civil War-era coffee warehouse, and Rosenboom’s poem, “Inside the Construction: The Brain,” was mounted and displayed at the entrance. “The poem was inspired by notes I took during our February faculty retreat,” said Rosenboom. The guest speaker at the retreat was a neuroscientist who discussed the way we develop thoughts. “Because my poem explores how humans think in black and white before our brain processes things in color, it worked quite well with the show’s theme,” she said. In addition, Rosenboom has two poems in the latest American Letters & Commentary, issue 22.
Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology and member of the Junior State of America’s board of trustees, visited Washington, D.C., over the summer for the JSA board’s annual retreat, and ran into Harker students past and present. (See p.35 for more details.)
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Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Young Composers Program Starts Second Year By Sara Kendall
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eading and writing go together in academia, and an innovative program is helping musicians learn to write as well as read music.
“Usually students learn to read music and to play it,” said Louis Hoffman, lower school music teacher, “and that’s it. But that’s only half. They should be learning to write it as they’re learning to read it, just like with language.” Until then, he argues, students are not musically literate. With the musical literacy goal in mind, Hoffman started the Young Composers program and extended an invitation to
all students at the lower school to study composition, no musical background required. Two students, Paul Kratter and Aditya Andrade, both now in grade 3, took part in the program last year. They wrote pieces for orchestra and jazz, respectively, that were performed at the lower school’s orchestra and choir concert in May. Both students also conducted their pieces, another skill learned in the Young Composers class. Conducting is one of Kratter’s favorite parts of the program. When asked about his experience at the concert last year, he said, “It felt good to conduct my own music in front of so many people.” His other favorite part of the program, he said, is the composing itself, and because of that, he’ll be continuing with it this year. Andrade said of the concert experience, “It did feel a little odd playing my own piece. But it has always been a dream of mine, to conduct and play my own piece.” He is looking forward to writing a short symphony for the program this year. The young composers learn different strategies for composing while also studying everything from musical theory to arrangement (deciding the instrumentation) to orchestration, meaning which instruments will play which parts.
Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
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them, ‘You know much more about music than you think you do.’ My job is to prove it to them.” Once a student has written a piece, Hoffman said, “I don’t change a single note. We talk instead about stylistic expectations. If a student wants to compose something in the style of, say, Duke Ellington, there are certain things people expect to hear.” Hoffman has taught composition at other schools and said teaching children composition is actually easier than teaching it to adults. “With adults, if after five minutes they aren’t Beethoven, they throw up their hands. Kids come into composing with fewer judgments and expectations, and because of that, get into it much easier,” he said.
“If you write a note for violin,” Hoffman says, “it has to be something the violin can actually play; you have to be sure that instrument goes that high or that low. Or let’s say you want to write a part for a recorder in an orchestra, an instrument not usually in the orchestra. You won’t be able to hear it; the other instruments will overpower it.”
“I think people hear about it, about younger kids composing and conducting music, and almost can’t believe it,” Hoffman said. “But we should expect musical literacy from all students studying music. It’s just like writing. Just as we expect kids to learn to write paragraphs as they learn to read them, we should expect kids to learn to write music as they learn to read and play it.”
Another important skill Hoffman wants students to learn is improvisation. He started jazz ensembles at the lower school to encourage students to master this skill. “In jazz,” he said, “you’re expected to understand what’s happening in the music, and then to change it and make it your own.” With all these new tools in hand, students learn how to prepare the score, which lays out all the parts for the conductor, so he or she can see, measure by measure, who is playing what. And when it’s ready to be played, the students take it to rehearsal and see how their music really sounds.
Hoffman called composing “the missing component” in musical education. “Being able to recognize what you’re hearing in music and then freely create it is what makes you musically literate.”
Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Hoffman knows firsthand the importance not just of seeing your notes on paper but of learning to change and revise them based on the style of music being played. His own background is in composition; he worked for 13 years in television and film, writing scores for everything from Disney cartoons to full-length films.
In terms of other challenges he’s faced with in teaching composition, Hoffman said, “There are none. Composing is a very natural thing. Whenever new students start, I tell
Louis Hoffman,
The important thing in music teacher teaching kids to compose is to not “confuse intellect with experience,” Hoffman said. “Kids can learn anything adults can. My job is to find and use a strategy that makes sense to them. You have to make it make sense within the context of their own experiences.
Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
“Doing this in the real world where you have to meet the expectations of somebody else is actually very challenging,” he said. Learning to compose in the face of those expectations is an important lesson that Hoffman wants to pass on.
“Just as we expect kids to learn to write paragraphs as they learn to read them, we should expect kids to learn to write music as they learn to read and play it.”
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EagleReport
By William Cracraft
Summer Sports Performance Academy programs were very well-received by parents and students alike, averaging 15 to 20 student-athletes per session,” Forbes added, noting that girls made up 40 percent of participants in all three programs. Photos by Ashley Batz
Summer Programs Keep Students in Shape and Nurture Younger Athletes For several summers, Harker’s upper school athletic department has offered the Eagle Iron program during the summer months as a means for our student athletes to stay or get in shape for the upcoming year. This past summer training ramped up to include younger members of the athletic community. Eagle Iron was modified to include students entering grades 7-8, and two new programs were added for athletes starting grades 4-6: Junior Eagle Iron, which is exclusively for Harker student-athletes, and Summer Sports Performance Academy, which welcomes non-Harker students as well. All of the programs are specifically designed to progressively develop the fundamental components of sports performance – movement mechanics, dynamic flexibility, core strength and stability, balance, and speed and agility. The new format of our summer programs reflects Harker’s 28
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commitment to a seamless physical development program for our student-athletes from the summer before grade 4 all the way through senior year. The introduction of the academy is a way to reach out to the community, bring young studentathletes to our campus and expose them to all that Harker has to offer. “Eagle Iron averaged about 50 student-athletes per day,” said
“By the end of the summer, they left as proud members of the Harker athletics department.” —Ron Forbes, strength and conditioning coordinator
Ron Forbes, Harker’s strength and conditioning coordinator, “which is an increase from previous years. “The new Junior Eagle Iron and
“While all three programs were successful in terms of athletics and physical development, it was the communal aspect of the new format that was most impressive,” said Forbes, who has a long career in collegiate athletic training behind him. “We witnessed shy, apprehensive seventh and eighth graders open up, bond with and create relationships with the upper school students, and vice versa. The incoming grade 9 boys and girls who participated in Eagle Iron were noticeably more confident and comfortable on the upper school campus during the first week of school,” said Forbes. As for the younger kids, “Junior Eagle Iron created an opportunity for them to spend time on the upper school campus, use the upper school facilities and meet a lot of upper school coaches,” said Forbes. “That program also gave upper school coaches a chance to meet and spend time with our future stars. By the end of the summer it was obvious the kids felt they were part of something much bigger than just fourth, fifth or sixth grade sports – they left as proud members of the Harker athletics
EagleReport Victories Pile Up as Fall Sports Seasons Open
Fall sports seasons had just begun at press time. Here are results from a few sports — be sure to follow teams via Harker News Online (http://news.harker.org) and check the winter edition of Harker Quarterly for season summaries of both upper and middle school seasons. Football In season kickoffs, both varsity and JV football teams defeated San Jose High in early September. Junior varsity won 24-0, as quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 9, threw for three touchdowns (two to Adarsh Battu, grade 10 and one to Ethan Ma, grade 9), and ran one in himself. In varsity play, San Jose scored first on an interception return, but the next play showcased Kevin Moss, grade 10, returning the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to tie the score. Quarterback Spenser Quash, grade 11, threw for a pair of touchdowns to Rahul Madduluri and one to Daanish Jamal, both grade 12, to bring it home 34-13.
Photos provided by Robert Boucher, parent
Sports
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EagleReport Girls Volleyball
Submitted by Theresa “Smitty” Smith
After a tough start to the season, the girls volleyball program got on track with a resounding victory over San Lorenzo Valley in straight sets. Varsity went 25-21, 25-15, 2523; JV scores were 25-11, 25-23.
Photo by John Ho
Shreya Dixit, grade 9, Alisha Mayor, grade 12, Aura Dave, grade 12 and Divya Kalidindi, grade 10, have led the team in the first three matches in kills. Mercedes Chien, grade 10
and Lucy Xu, grade 12, have played some stellar defense, and freshman setter Caroline Howells has been adjusting rapidly to the pace of the varsity game. Being a young squad, the girls have been handed the difficult task of trying to compete at the varsity level. The entire coaching staff is pleased with the positive attitudes of the girls and the hard work they put into their practices sessions.
Water Polo
Photos by Kyle Cavallaro
Boys varsity water polo went 1-2 at the San Benito Tournament in early September, defeating San Lorenzo Valley High School before losing to Pioneer High and Monterey High. Goal scorers against SLV were: Ryan Hume, grade 11, with three; Akshay Ramachandran, grade 12 with two; Karan DasGrande, grade 11, two; Tariq Jahshan, grade 12, Jagdeesh Kottapalli, grade 12, and Gilad Nilo, grade 11, all with one each. The JV team also went 1-2 at the Homestead Tournament earning their first win in the JV program’s history!
Arthi Padmanabhan ’10 had a great season on the tennis courts, finishing in June. Her team at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., completed the season ranked ninth nationally (ITA Division III), and ranked second in the ITA Division III West region. Padmanabhan finished the season ranked 12th in the west in doubles and was named an ITA ScholarAthlete for 2011. In addition, one of the capstones of her freshman year was being named to the All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team. Pomona has a combined athletic department with Pitzer College, another of the seven colleges that make up the Claremont University Consortium. Photo provided by Courtney Hamilton
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PerformingArts
w
“Winning the Spirit Stick on the last day of camp is a great honor.”
Photo by Amalia De La Rosa
Dance Camp Hones Technique for Incoming Troupers
Amalia De La Rosa, dance teacher
By Sara Kendall
T
he Harker School’s junior varsity and varsity dance troupes participated in the first dance camp at the upper school campus, run by the United Spirit Association (USA), from Aug. 1012. USA Dance is the official member organization of the United States Olympic Committee and is the official international liaison for U.S dance teams. The intensive three-day camp was run by USA instructor Brittanee Lujan and led by new-to-the-upperschool dance teachers Karl Kuehn and Amalia De La Rosa. De La Rosa and Kuehn opted to do a “home camp” this year, meaning
Photo by Amalia De La Rosa
a USA instructor came to Harker specifically to work with Harker’s dance teams. The camp helped students develop a wide range of skills, and focused especially on learning technique and choreography, as well as team-building exercises. Each day the dancers learned material from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., including routines in hip-hop, jazz and lyrical styles, and a fun camp routine that is learned by dancers all across the nation attending USA camps. At lunchtime and on breaks, the students participated in the teambuilding activities, including a Crazy Costume Relay and T-shirt-making project. They also had a technique class each day, during which the girls learned advanced acrossthe-floor progressions including battements, pirouette combinations and tricks, and jeté combinations. On the last day of camp, the troupes wrote their own
constitutions for the year, which included their team goals and expectations. Then, for the last hour of the last day, parents joined the dancers and teachers for an open studio, which gave them a chance to see what the students had been working on and what they had accomplished. The USA Dance instructor was continually impressed with the girls’ demeanor and skills throughout camp. So much so, in fact, that she awarded them with the coveted USA Spirit Stick on the last day of camp. The Spirit Stick is a special award for teams that display outstanding work ethic, teamwork, skill and a positive attitude. “Winning the Spirit Stick on the last day of camp is a great honor, as that team gets to keep the Spirit Stick at their school,” said De La Rosa. The teams were exhausted at the end of their intense three-day experience, but their hard work was well worth it. Overall, Kuehn and De La Rosa say, it was a great way to start the year. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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PerformingArts
Photo by Paul Vallerga
Conservatory’s Spring Musical Cast TAKES THE World’s Largest Arts Festival BY STORM By Catherine Snider
The Harker Conservatory completed its second appearance at the largest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with a successful run of “Pippin” in August. In 1947, eight uninvited theatrical groups descended on the newly formed Edinburgh International Festival, performing “on the fringes.” The trend caught on, and in 1959 the Fringe became official. In 1994, the American
High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF) formed and instituted a competition to choose and facilitate the appearance of high-caliber secondary school drama departments at this mecca of arts festivals. The Harker Conservatory was first nominated for the Fringe by now-defunct American Musical Theater of San Jose back in 2006. After an in-depth application process and review of years of Harker shows, Harker was selected from more than 300 applicants as one of 38 schools to appear under the AHSTF banner, and “Urinetown: The Musical” performed to impressive crowds in 2007. Laura Lang-Ree, chair of the performing arts department K-12 and the spring musical’s director, has set a goal of attending the Fringe once every four years, and in 2010 Harker was one of 45 schools accepted. Choosing just the right show is a challenge, Lang-Ree says: “It’s about finding the right mix of sophistication and edginess. The Fringe is not the place to bring something that is the equivalent of vanilla yogurt. It’s got to zing, it’s got to grab the attention of thousands of potential audience members, and it’s got to be memorable.”
Photo by Paul Vallerga
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PerformingArts
Laura Lang-Ree, “Pippin” director One highlight was the relationship Harker developed with an American improv troupe called “Baby Wants Candy.” They create an hour-long musical based on a title suggested by an audience member, and the “Pippin” cast met them during publicity times and promised to attend each other’s shows. The BWC troupe gave a shout out from the stage to the Harker group at their performance, and were gracious enough to arrange a special workshop at the dorms for Harker and another California high school. But of course the highlight of the trip was performing “Pippin” at the beautiful Church Hill Theatre. Participating AHSTF schools support each other by attending at least four other high school shows, so the challenge for each school is to fill the theater’s seats with “regular” Festival-goers in addition to the high school students. Each school is allotted one 20-minute slot on a small stage on Edinburgh’s main street, the Royal
Photo by Catherine Snider
An online arts group reviewed the show, giving it four stars and writing, “An excellent production of ‘Pippin’ by an enthusiastic and well-drilled cast.” The final accolade came from the head of AHSTF, who asked the Harker cast to provide the only performance at their closing ceremonies. One final time, the stalwart cast donned makeup and costumes and wowed the 800 people in attendance. Lang-Ree mused, “We were selected by AHSTF as one of the best and brightest musical theater programs in America, so I think it’s very important that what we bring to the Fringe - artistically, technically, creatively - be a home run. This event is not a ‘dress rehearsal’ for theater life – the Fringe is the real deal.”
Photo by Catherine Snider
“This event is not a ‘dress rehearsal’ for theater life – the Fringe is the real deal.”
The demands of mounting a Fringe show led to the cast reaching deep within themselves for stamina, flexibility, humor and grace under pressure, and they all rose to the occasion beautifully. The final performance had 125 people in the audience (Fringe shows average seven people), and Lang-Ree was surrounded by other American directors asking, “How did you do this?” Lang-Ree recalled, “This moment was a professional highlight for me; such a huge compliment to the cast and crew and an even bigger compliment to the entire performing arts department at Harker as our kids really are a reflection of their K through Life experience.” Photo by Paul Vallerga
Once settled in their dorm rooms on the campus of the University of Edinburgh, the cast’s adventure began in earnest. A packed schedule of rehearsals, publicity, shows and shopping ensued. Fundraising efforts during the school year meant that Lang-Ree was able to arrange for several group meals together and attendance at 12 professional shows of varying genres.
Mile. “Pippin” cast members braved the rain in full costume and gathered a huge crowd with their opening number, after which they took to the Mile with a three-card Monty game whose trick card was printed with all the “Pippin” information. The cast was able to “trick” locals, foreigners, other performers and, on one notable occasion, two local police officers into choosing the info card. The hard work paid off with approximately 240 people attending one of the four performances of “Pippin,” including many of the other high schools who weren’t required to attend but who had heard the buzz.
Photo by Catherine Snider
Preparing for the Fringe takes a full year, not the least of which is trimming the show to fit into a strict 90-minute format. The set must accompany the actors as well, putting additional demands on Paul Vallerga, Harker’s innovative set designer. In addition to Lang-Ree and Vallerga, musical director Catherine Snider, production Photo by Paul Vallerga manager Brian Larsen and chaperone extraordinaire Chris Daren ironed out the details and accompanied the cast.
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GreaterGood
By William Cracraft
“Thank you so much for your generosity.” Pat White, middle school teacher create a team to help fight it. For the past four years, Douglas and Wardenburg have volunteered at the Campbell Relay for Life. This year, along with their mothers, Chris and Heather, they were joined by fellow 2013 classmates and their mothers Cristina and Helena Jerney, Cecilia and Laura Lang-Ree, Hannah and Sue Prutton, and Molly and Roni Wolfe. Lang-Ree is chair of the performing arts department at Harker and Prutton is director of upper school volunteer programs. The team walked for 24 hours and raised $4,000.
Photo by Kyle Cavallaro
Hotel Toiletries Gathered for Homeless Pat White, middle school history teacher, has again led a collection of donations of hotel toiletries for the Georgia Travis Center for homeless women and children in San Jose. White’s group last donated 210 individual plastic bags of soap, shampoo and other personal care products for individual use in June, and this fall were well on their way to reaching that level at press time.“Thank you so much for your generosity,” said White.
(L to R) Amy Wardenburg, Cristina Jerney, Molly Wolfe, Hannah Prutton, Michelle Douglas. (Photo provided by Heather Wardenburg)
Michelle Douglas and Amy Wardenburg, (L to R) Cecilia Lang-Ree, Hannah Prutton, Michelle Douglas, Amy Wardenburg. (Photo provided by both grade Heather Wardenburg) 11, created a mother/daughter team for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life held July 9-10 in Campbell. The pair’s lives have been impacted by cancer and they were inspired to 34
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Photo by Uma Challa
Mother/ Daughter Teams in Relay for Life
Photo by Uma Challa
Senior Raises Funds for Propionic Acidemia Maya Gattupalli, grade 12, organized a fundraiser in August for the Propionic Acidemia Foundation and invited the Class of 2012 to participate. The event was a 5K walk in Vasona Park in Los Gatos on Aug. 14. “Nine other Harker seniors volunteered at the event,” said Gattupalli. “We had about 83 people attend the walk and we raised $5,256 (and therefore reached our goal of raising 5K).” Propionic acidemia, a recessive genetic disorder affecting one in every 100,000 people in the U.S., is characterized by a nonfunctioning enzyme used in the digestive process, leaving those afflicted unable to break down certain proteins and fats. This leads to the build-up of toxins and acids, which can cause organ dysfunction.
By William Cracraft
AlumniNews
I
n early August, alumni gathered to enjoy wine and food at The District in San Francisco. There were a number of alumni from the early days of the upper school, as well as middle school alumni from the early ‘90s.
Chris Nikoloff, head of school, spoke and addressed the crowd with news of the school and our current students’ recent accomplishments. Butch Keller, upper school head, made a connection with Sean MacKay `90, who coaches basketball for a high school in San Leandro. Joe Rosenthal,
“I was pleasantly surprised how many high school alumni there were!” Casey Near ’06
D
an Hudkins, director of instructional technology and member of the Junior State of America’s board of trustees, visited Washington, D.C., over the summer for the JSA board’s annual retreat (see Milestones, p. 25 for details). While there, he had a chance meeting with Eric Henshall, grade 12, who was attending summer school at Georgetown.
All photos provided by Casey Near ‘06
Middle and Upper School Alumni Enjoy Gathering at S.F. Wine Bar
executive director of advancement, and Kevin Williamson, upper school dean of students, were also in attendance. “I was pleasantly surprised how many high school alumni there were!” said Casey Near ’06. “There were quite a few from the first graduating class (2002), as many of them are in San Francisco and are a very tight-knit group. It was great to chat with people I hadn’t seen for many years, and see how many have now relocated to the Bay Area; and it’s always impressive to talk to people and see what interesting and fun paths they’ve led since graduating Harker. I even gave away a few business cards since it seems a lot of us are doing similar things! Otherwise, we all snacked on delicious appetizers and enjoyed some drinks with the faculty who were there — still a surreal experience for most of us.”
He also met with two former Harker JSA members. Amira Valliani ’06, has just joined the Department of State as a special assistant to the deputy chief of staff for policy. The other, Nikita Jeswani ’08, just started her senior year at Penn and spent her summer as an intern at a health management startup.
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AlumniNews The classes of 1980-82 had an informal reunion at the home of Kristen Giammona ’81 July 23. “We had a great turnout,” said Giammona. Dan Gelineau, dean of students at the time, also joined the group for the fiesta celebration and some alumni brought their children. “Kelly Espinosa [director of summer programs] was also in attendance,” said Giammona. “Many of us worked with her in the summers when we were summer camp counselors.”
Photos provided by Kristen Giammona ‘81
Alumni Reunion 1980-82
Class of 1982 (left to right) – Tyrone Easter, Diana Juhr DeBenedetti, Tina Johnson Murray, Janean Mariani, Stacey Kofman, Liz Robertson and Keil Albert
Class of 1981 – Kristin Scarpace Giammona, Janene Argendeli, Sara Hansell Christiansen and Monette Matkovich Lindblom
Class of 1980 – Akiko Murphy, Melany Miners, Nina Aliason, Edrice Angry Wright, Paul Aliason, Celia DeBenedetti and Tony Clift
Dan Gelineau, Karri Sakai Baker ’84 (and current Harker parent), Matt Baker ’83 (and current Harker parent), Janene Argendeli, Edrice Angry Wright and Sara Hansell Christiansen
Correction Photo provided by Kevin Williamson
In the Summer 2011 issue of Harker Quarterly, Kate Stober ’95 was incorrectly placed in Ann Arbor, Mich. Stober and her husband, Rob Tuck, live in New York City and Jessica Gaffney
Williamson Advisory Has Mini-Reunion Dean of Students Kevin Williamson met with his advisees from the Class of 2010 at the Banana Leaf in San Jose in early August. The group included Ankur Ahuja, James Feng, Akum Gill, Noriko Ishisoko, Anita Satish, Haran Sivakumar and Christine Trinh. Julia Shim and Bogdan Botcharov were unable to attend. 36
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Clark (listed just below Stober) is the Ann Arbor resident. Our apologies for the error!
By Zach Jones
TeacherProfile
‘
Alumni Q & A We caught up with retired lower school teacher Howard Saltzman to find out about his years and fondest memories as a Harker teacher, as well as how he spends his post-Harker time.
Q:
Are you pursuing any longdesired goals, now that you have time? Photos provided by Harker Archives
A: On May 25, my daughter, Kari,
gave birth to our first grandchild, Kiora! So, we are excited about being able to take care of her Monday through Friday, so Kari can teach English at Palo Alto High School. Our son, Michael, is an English teacher at Irvington High School and coaches football at Saratoga High School.
Q:
What did you teach at Harker and for how long?
A: I taught at Harker for 31 years!
Q:
A: Pat Walsh and I taught together
all 31 years! What an outstanding teacher and great friend. His sense of humor made all my years at Harker so much more enjoyable.
Q:
Q: Did you coach any sports or
What is your fondest memory of teaching at Harker?
A: I coached fourth and fifth grade
I have so many fond memories of my days at The Harker School. Those memories all revolve around the terrific students and colleagues that I had over the years. I was always surrounded by truly outstanding teachers at Harker. Howard and Diana Nichols were both visionaries! I had the chance to see both of them take Harker from a one-campus, K-8 school to a three-campus, K-12 school. They constantly strived to make Harker the best that it could be. Betty Koski and Marla Vallone worked with me for the first 13 years in the fourth grade. They were terrific teachers. I could not lose.
sports after school for about 15 years. It was so much fun coaching football, basketball, soccer and softball. I stopped coaching once my son, Michael, was in sixth grade so I could watch him participate in those same sports.
Q:
What is your typical day like now that you are retired?
A: Now that my wife, Susan, and I
are retired, I enjoy working in the yard, walking with my dog and doing a little traveling. We have had a chance to go to Sydney, Australia; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Vancouver Island, Canada; and Las Vegas, Nev.
A:
I did have the privilege to work with Grace (Sabeh) Wallace ‘95 the last few years at the Bucknall campus. She was an outstanding student in my class when she was in the fourth grade. Also, I recently had a chance to connect with both Matt Baker ’83 and Karri Sakai ’84. Matt was in my first class at Harker while Karri was in my second class. Now, they’re married and have a daughter in the first grade at Harker who had Grace Wallace as a teacher last year. Can you share a memory of your days at Harker with us?
I was a fourth grade teacher for the first 13 years and taught third grade the last 18. At first, I taught all subjects! Once third grade was departmentalized, I taught just social studies. Ultimately, I really enjoyed teaching California history.
advise any clubs?
Q:
Do you keep in touch with any former students?
A:
Q:
Do you have any message for the current students or the Harker community in general?
A:
How lucky I was to have been a teacher at The Harker School. My own children had a chance to attend Harker and both were very well prepared for high school, college and life.
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LookingAhead Pledge Now! Pledge Week:
Sept. 19-23 Make your gift or pledge before the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic (Oct. 9, 2011) to be eligible for the Napa weekend drawing!
Common
GROUND ❂❂❂❂❂
Speaker Series
Resilience and Optimism Paul Stoltz, Ph.D.
Tue. Oct. 4 | 7 p.m. Upper School Campus 500 Saratoga Avenue Free to Harker community. For more information contact communications@harker.org.
presents
You Can’t Take it With You Thurs.-Sat. Oct. 27, 28, 29, 2011 7 p.m. Blackford Theater
tickets@harker.org
61st Harker Family & Alumni Picnic
Sun., Oct. 9, 2011 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Blackford Campus
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HOMECOMING Davis Field • Fri., Nov. 11, 2011
OPEN HOUSE EVENTS GRADE
9-12 K-5 9-12 6-8
DATE
LOCATION
Sun., Nov. 6 Sun., Nov. 13 Thurs., Dec. 1 Sun., Dec. 4
Upper School Lower School Upper School Middle School
January 6, 10, 19, 24 RSVP Required
Visit www.harker.org for details SAVE THE DATES!
THE HARKER SCHOOL FASHION SHOW
Concert Series 2011-12
LookingAhead Fri., Dec. 2 8 p.m.
Opera San Jose Fri., Jan. 20 8 p.m.
Gerald Clayton Trio Sat., Feb. 4 8 p.m.
pianist
Adam Golka Sat., Mar. 17 8 p.m.
The Afiara String Quartet Fri., Feb. 24, 2012 Model Workshop Nov. 5 | 1-4:15 p.m.
Model Tryouts Nov. 6 | 12-3 p.m.
Model workshop and tryouts held at MPR, Blackford campus
General Admission: $20
Pre-event reception one hour prior to each performance. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks included. Cash bar for wine and beer.
Tickets: www.harker.org/concertseries
Nichols Hall Auditorium | Upper School Campus 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose For more information contact communications@harker.org or call 408.345.9243.
Harker Quarterly (USPS 023-761) is published four times per year (September, December, March and June) by The Harker School, Office of Communication, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Jose, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Harker Quarterly, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.
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2000-01
Harker
Upper School Spirit Rally
“Guinea Pig Pride” was the mantra of Harker’s inaugural graduating class of our newly opened upper school. Building a high school, one year at a time, was the experience of a lifetime for our first class. This shot of some of the Class of ‘02 was taken at the spring spirit rally of their junior year. “Since there was no senior class yet, faculty and administrators took on that role at spirit rallies and did all the activities students had to do,” said Chris Daren, now the journalism teacher and Talon yearbook advisor. Pictured from L to R are Samara Nebenzahl, Alan Liu, Yassmin Sadeghi, Reetie Desai and Kathleen Ko.
Photo provided by the Talon
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