The Harker Quarterly, Summer 2011

Graduation Carries Forward a Decade of Traditions Harker Concert Series Begins with Three Class Acts Symposium Sets Records Reading for its Own Sake Advances at all Campuses

Eagle Buddies Wrap Up First Year with Smiles S U M M E R 2 011

Lower and Middle School Science Programs Set the Pace V o l ume 2 路 N um b er 4

ON THE COVER: The Eagles Buddies program was begun this year as the latest in a series of programs to help younger students connect with older students. The Eagle Buddies, sophomores and third graders, got together several times at the lower school campus and had homecoming and spirit week activities, too.

Here, (L-R) Daniel Cardosi rides David Lindars, sophomore class vice president, while Simar Mangat, sophomore class president, totes Michael Tang during the upper school’s spirit rally in April. See the Winter 2010 edition for our introductory article on the program and read a summary of this year’s Eagle Buddies activities on page 38 of this issue.

Harker QUARTERLY

S U M M E R 2 011/ V o l ume 2 · N um b er 4 Pam Dickinson Director William Cracraft Editor Catherine Snider Sally Wing Copy Editors Ashley Batz Photo Editor

AboutHarker F

rom 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, 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.

Steven M. Boyle ’06 Emily Chow ’08 Edward Hejtmanek ’06 Igor Hiller Beth Hobbs Zach Jones Theresa “Smitty” Smith Catherine Snider Lauri J. Vaughan Terry Walsh Winged Post / Talon Contributors Desiree Mitchell Distribution Blue Heron Design Group Triple J Design Rebecca McCartney Design Diamond Quality Printing Printing

Printed on 100% recycled paper

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

Harker News Online Milestone

K-Grade 5: 4300 Bucknall Rd., San Jose, CA 95130

Harker News Online (HNO), launched in April 2009, posted its 1,000th story on April 29, 2011. The landmark – and fitting – post about Harker’s inclusion in a White House blog joined the more than 300 photos and 100 slide shows posted this year alone.

Grade 6-8: 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117

This is an amazing community to cover, and my congratulations and kudos to all of the Harker students, faculty, staff, donors, volunteers and alumni who, in their actions, give us so much to proudly report.

There are some professionals in my office who deserve high praise for their outstanding work on HNO. Bravo to the Web team of Nick Gassmann and Joe Banks for their work building and maintaining the site, and to Bill Cracraft for managing all of the content. O of C team members Zach Jones, Catherine Snider and a handful of freelancers, many of them alumni – along with photographer Ashley Batz – do a tireless job of gathering, editing and presenting news in a professional and timely manner.

As media coverage continues to become more and more fragmented, the decision to launch our own online news source in 2009 was especially timely. Harker is the largest K-12 independent school in the state of California, and our far-reaching programs and achievements are noteworthy, both to our own vital community and to the world beyond. Even the White House took note!

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: October 2011

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to subscribe to the HNO RSS feed or daily email digest alert to stay abreast of your local Harker news. To subscribe, visit news.harker.org and click either the “RSS” or “email” subscription choices in the upper right.

Pam Dickinson, Director Office of Communication

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/.

Correction

Find, Friend & Follow Us!

In the Spring 2011 edition of the Harker Quarterly, in the story titled “Harker Continues Hot Streak in Intel and Siemens Competitions,” student Josephine Chen’s first name was mistakenly omitted from a quote in the fourth paragraph on page 16. An oversight led to the pull quote on page 17 being misattributed to Benjamin Chen, grade 12. The Office of Communication apologizes for the errors. Said Josephine Chen after the magazine’s publication: “I’m really grateful to have been given the opportunity to do research, and I would like to thank all the people who urged and encouraged me to pursue research and to enter these competitions.”

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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 Graduation Carries Forward a Decade of Traditions Hats Off to Harker’s Family & Alumni Picnic!

Symposium Sets Record for Participants and Attendance Harker’s Tennis Program has Something for Everyone Harker Concert Series Begins with Three Class Acts Reading for its Own Sake Advances at all Campuses Eagle Buddies Wrap Up First Year with Smiles Lower and Middle School Science Programs Set the Pace Grant Winners Lauded, New Winners Named Fine Art Displays Student Creativity

8 12 16 30 32 34 38 40 44 46

40

36

54

32 departments Headlines.......................................................4 Performing Arts ......................................... 20

12

Eagle Sports Report................................... 26 Global Education........................................ 36 Advancement............................................ 43 Greater Good.............................................. 50

38

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Milestones................................................... 52 Green Report.............................................. 54 Alumni......................................................... 55 Looking Ahead........................................... 62

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Headlines

By Christopher Nikoloff Head of School

Commencement Address 2011:

Dare to Lose Your Mind!

G

ood morning to all our guests: members of the Board of Trustees, administration, faculty and staff, alumni, families,

friends, and to our true guests of honor, the graduating class of 2011. I currently hold the privilege of making a few remarks of farewell at graduation. This address is the last requirement standing between you and your diploma. Knowing this, and aware of the fact that you outnumber me, I will continue the tradition of confining my remarks to one page of single-spaced, size twelve font. I will continue to refrain, however, from making any promises about

“

the size of the margins.*

If you dare to lose your mind, you might find something grander, more beautiful and mysterious ...

In this address I typically try to give one final piece of advice, such as “Dare to

”

singletask” or “Be like Curious George.”

By now, you have spent the last 13 years or more of your life cultivating your mind.

You have been seeking the right answers to questions, memorizing facts, deepening understanding, mastering processes.

Now that you have reached the milestone of high school graduation largely by cultivating your mind, it may be tempting to think that the mind is central to your success and happiness in the future. And, of course, the mind is very important.

Equally important, however, is the ability to

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Photo by Ashley Batz

4

go beyond your mind, to “lose your mind,” so to speak. So my advice to you today is, “Dare to lose your mind.”

Headlines Of course, I need to immediately qualify

languages. As many of you know, words

about, then why do we take ourselves

this statement. By “lose your mind” I do

in Mandarin can be spoken in one of four

so seriously? Why would we want to

not mean “go crazy,” though going crazy

tones, each tone signifying something

get lost in our minds? All we have to

is called for sometimes, like at football

different. So perhaps I mean to say “Dare

do is put our right foot in and take our

games or family reunions. I also do not

to lose your mind,” with the emphasis on

right foot out, put it back in and shake

mean to sound anti-academic. I am

“your,” versus “Dare to lose your mind,”

it all about. That’s life – the cycle of

speaking more as a recovering academic.

with the emphasis on “mind.” By losing

engagement and disengagement. A time

The mind is a terrible thing to waste,

your mind, you may more clearly see

to reap and a time to sow.

but as a schoolmate of mine used to say,

someone else’s; you may more clearly

the mind can also be a terrible thing. Of

see the world.

course he used to say that to get out of doing homework. But John Milton, 17th century British poet, agreed. In Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” Satan says, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” Paradise was lost, remember, when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge.

In closing, the Harker Conservatory put on a fabulous performance of the musical

One of my favorite sermons in any

“Pippin” which they will perform at the

religion comes from the Buddha, during

Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland,

which he simply holds up a flower in

this summer. In the musical, Pippin,

silence. That was the entire sermon.

played by John Ammatuna, also lives too

Apparently only one of his disciples

much in his head. He constantly roams

“got it.” The Buddha could tell that

the stage looking for the meaning of

this disciple “got it” by the look in his

existence. He finds happiness only when

eye. The world exists independent of

he stops looking for meaning in “LIFE,”

You too have partaken of the Tree of

concepts. A tree doesn’t know that it is

all caps, and instead finds meaning in

Knowledge, and you probably have had

a tree – that is our name for it, and it is

“life,” all lower case, meaning everyday

some late nights of homework when you

only a sound coming from our mouths.

living. His grandmother, played by Allika

felt paradise was lost. Knowledge has

A tree just is. Krishnamurti – again, not

Walvekar, gives him the advice, “Oh, it’s

a way of concealing from us what we

Gautam – often challenged us to look at

time to start livin’. Time to take a little

do not know. Who really knows what

anything without any image or word,

from this world we’re given.” (You don’t

the smallest particle is? Whether or not

to truly see without the mediation of

want me singing that, by the way.) So

Pluto is a planet? The great Irish writer

thought. What is it like to see anything

that is my advice to you today – it is

Samuel Beckett asked, “Who knows

without words or concepts in our head?

time to start living, and not always from

what the ostrich sees in the sand?” Jiddu

That is why we all love music, I believe,

your head. If you dare to lose your mind,

Krishnamurti, an Indian educator who is

because it bypasses the head and goes

you might find something grander, more

no relation, as far as I know, to our own

straight to the heart.

beautiful and mysterious, and that might

Gautam, said that “Truth is a pathless land.” He meant that truth is a living thing. Any mental projection onto reality is not truth. The map will never become the terrain.

Ms. Kelly Espinosa, Harker’s director of summer programs, perhaps known to

just be what has been around you all the time. Thank you.

you as “Ms. Kelly” when you were on the the lower school campus, has a profound question sprawled across a wall in her

Perhaps there is another way to say

office. The question reads, “What if

this. It is too bad that accents and

the hokey pokey really is what it’s all

*Editor’s Note: Mr. Nikoloff’s speech WAS

emphases do not play as significant

about?” This is an astonishing question.

short; however, we needed more than a

a role in English as they do in other

If the hokey pokey is really what it is all

single page to share it with our readers.

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P R O M O T I O N S

Middle Schoolers Move On at Grade 8

By Zach Jones Promotion Ceremony

Photos by Ashley

Batz

G

rade 8 celebrated their final day as middle school students at their promotion ceremony on May 26.

Chris Nikoloff, head of school, welcomed the students and congratulated them on arriving at this crucial next step in their academic careers. Julie Pinzás, middle school Spanish teacher and advisory dean of the class of 2015, bid farewell to the students and wished them well as they made the transition to high school.

Middle school vocal groups Harmonics and Vivace performed the Beatles’ “Blackbird” before Revanth Kosaraju, grade 11 and upper school ASB president, delivered a welcome address to the middle school graduates to congratulate them on completing middle school and to help prepare them for their future lives as upper school students.

Nikoloff and Cindy Ellis, middle school head, then awarded the students their pro-

motion certificates to cement their status as middle school graduates. Each eighth grader also received a sweet treat from his/her advisor to commemorate the class of 2015. Ellis gave a speech to convey her pride in the students’ achievements and wished them well as they transition into their new roles.

To end the ceremony on a fittingly sentimental note, the grade 8 class offered a farewell of their own with their rendition of the Harker school song.

Grade 5 Concludes Lower School Journey

H

arker’s grade 5 students officially concluded their life as lower school students on June 1 during the fifth grade promotion and awards ceremony.

After being led in the Pledge of Allegiance

by Elizabeth Schick, grade 5 and Bucknall student council president, the students were congratulated on their milestone in a special welcome speech by Kristin Giammona, elementary division head.

The grade 4-6 dance group Dance Fusion performed one of their entertaining numbers

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to break the ice. Students were then called up to receive their awards for citizenship, effort, academic honors, fitness, individual subjects and other special annual awards.

After the awards were all handed out, a special slide show was shown to recap the year, after which the students received their promotion certificates one by one.

With all the certificates handed out, the newly-minted lower school graduates were directed by Jennifer Cowgill in singing “The Future Begins With Us” by Teresa Jennings,

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By Zach Jones

and the Harker school song.

Ashi Gautam, grade 7, incoming president of the middle school’s associated student body, made a special appearance at the ceremony to welcome the students to the middle school and give them some insight as to what lies ahead in their next three years at Harker.

Giammona then delivered a heartfelt farewell speech to the soon-to-be sixth graders and wished them good luck in the years ahead.

B A C C A L A U R E A T E

Baccalaureate Ceremony - a Special Community Tradition

Photos by Ashley Batz

of John Near, the beloved history teacher who passed away in 2009 following a long battle with cancer.

“Since Mr. Near was a 2011 advisor and in fact handed over his advisory to me two years ago, I think it is appropriate that his presence tonight is recognized,” he said.

T

he upper school Baccalaureate ceremony on May 19 kicked off the year’s graduation festivities as the class of 2011 gathered at the Saratoga quad to reflect on their journey as Harker students, share memories and to congratulate the class of 2012 as they forged ahead to become next year’s senior class.

The afternoon ceremony included special performances by the Harker String Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio, and Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace.

Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, then welcomed the students, faculty and staff in attendance and shared some warm words with the crowd before Butch Keller, upper school head, introduced this year’s Baccalaureate speaker, Evan Barth, upper school dean of studies, who was chosen by this year’s senior class.

In his speech Barth made a special mention

Barth, a triathlete, likened the students’ journey to completing a triathlon. “This has been the warm-up,” he said, which is “tricky” because it can be difficult to know the right amount of energy to use at the start. Seniors, he said, should spend some time thinking cautiously about how much or how little they want to do once they start college.

Finding oneself through meditation or experiencing the outdoors can also be tremendously helpful. “I know I am swimming well when the sound of the bubbles is just right,” he said. “But to be able to hear the bubbles and self-correct your posture or your roll, you need to be in touch with your body, and in fact, your soul.”

piece of advice: “After any big event, I encourage you to stretch. Thank you.”

Susan Tu, this year’s salutatorian, then spoke to her fellow graduates and to the juniors. One of her biggest realizations was discovering something more important than homework, and she said students should find something they are passionate about, “something that you both enjoy and that you think is important, and pursue it.”

She cautioned, however, about becoming too goal-oriented. “Being passionate is one

After congratulating and thanking the seniors for their nod, he left them one last thing; being so stubborn that we’re blind to new opportunities is another,” she said.

With the goal of getting into college now complete, Tu said, “I suspect that we’ll have to think beyond our own formal education, to consider carefully and with an open mind the options we have, and to answer the question of what we want to do other than getting prestigious degrees.”

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G ra d uation

A Warm Farewell to Students at the Mountain Winery

By Zach Jones n May 21 the beautiful, bucolic scenery of the Mountain Winery in Saratoga was again the setting for the upper school’s graduation ceremony, where the class of 2011 spent their last hours as Harker students and celebrated the long and memorable journey that led them to the final step in their high school careers.

Chris Florio directed the Harker Chamber Orchestra as the ceremony began around 9 a.m. As the graduating seniors processed into the amphitheater and began to take their seats, the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” rang through the air. Once they had all entered, Susan Nace led the 2011 Graduation Chorus in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Samuel “Butch” Keller welcomed the seniors and their proud parents to the ceremony, congratulating the soon-to-be graduates on their achievement. He then brought this year’s valedictorian, Josephine Chen, to the podium to speak to the crowd.

In her speech Chen reflected on the changes she and her fellow graduates are about to face, as well as their role in a world that is itself rapidly changing.

“The world is redefining itself as we speak, and we can participate in that process,” she said. “We are the future lawyers, doctors, actors, engineers, writers, teachers, investment bankers, or even fashion designers; we have the hope and potential to become the future leaders and visionaries who will shape the world.”

Following the speech, the chorus, directed by Catherine Snider and accompanied by Wendy Shwe, grade Ph oto sb 10, sang “Roots and Wings” before this year’s keynote speaker, Cisco System chief futurist Dave Evans, spoke yA shl ey to the audience. In his well-received speech, Evans urged the students to remain flexible and adaptable because the Ba tz future will bring so many opportunities that do not even exist today.

Christopher Nikoloff, head of school, then took the podium to deliver his yearly farewell speech to the students. (See this issue’s “Headlines” on page 4 for the full text of Nikoloff’s speech.)

In a break with tradition, there was one final vocal performance, a rendition of John David’s “You Are a New Day,” sung by a volunteer group of middle and upper school teachers; Nace coordinated the group, who wanted to give a special surprise gift to this group of seniors, the upper school’s 10th graduating class.

After that lovely tribute, the seniors received their diplomas. One by one, they were greeted by Keller, Nikoloff and this year’s class dean, Diana Moss, Spanish teacher, as they walked onto the stage to be awarded their diplomas and make their status as graduates official.

Nikoloff and Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, left the graduates, with all their diplomas now in hand, with some parting remarks and released doves to symbolize the wish that, though Eagles, Harker’s graduates will go forth into the world in a peaceful way. Graduation caps went airborne as the chamber orchestra played the recessional for the trustees, administration, faculty and new alumni.

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Class of 2011

Ceremony

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T ra d itions

Senior Moms Reminisce at Annual Luncheon

W

ith the class of 2011 away at Laguna Beach for the senior trip, their mothers gathered at the Saratoga gym on May 16 for this year’s Senior Moms’ Luncheon, where they met to celebrate their children’s achievements and share stories about the wonderful years they spent at Harker.

Surrounded by photo collages of their sons and daughters, the mothers enjoyed food that was provided by the mothers of grades 9 and 10. Following some welcoming words from Joe Rosenthal, director of advancement, and Sue Prutton, upper school volunteer director, the moms were invited to the podium to share their memories of Harker.

Photos by Ashley Batz

31 Seniors Honored by Parents at Brick Ceremony

S

eniors and their parents met beside Manzanita Hall on May 19 to honor the 31 members of the class of 2011 who chose to have bricks bearing their names and graduation years placed into the walkway at Graduates’ Grove. This year’s honorees were the following: Samuel Babu, Roshni Bhatnagar, Niva Bigler, Tiffany Chang, Jacob Chappell, Rex Chen, Richard Chiou, Jennifer Dai, Karthik Dhore, Anthony Fandrianto, Nidhi Gandhi, Miranda Gorman, Douglas Hutchings, Gautam Krishnamurthi, Warren Kwong, Victoria Liang, Rohan Mahajan, Ayesha Malik, Araby Martin, Christopher McCallaCreary, Malika Mehrotra, Shreya Nathan, Michael Prutton, Ruchika Podury, Dawn Queen, Catherine Stiles, Kevin Sweeney, Vamsi Vemireddy, Anne West, Jason Young and Olivia Zhu.

Photos by Ashley Batz

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T ra d itions

Harker Lifers Honored at Dinner at Head’s House Chris Nikoloff, head of school, held a special party at his home for the “lifer” members of the class of 2011, graduates who’ve spent their entire academic careers, from kindergarten through grade 12, at Harker.

The lifers in attendance enjoyed a special dinner and dessert and also received framed photos of themselves as seniors and kindergartners as a gift.

This year’s lifers are the following: Anisha Agarwal, John Ammatuna, Ambrish Amaranthan, Niva Bigler, Timothy Chou, Jennifer Dai, Katharine Forsberg, Nidhi Gandhi, Miranda Gorman, Ziad Jawadi, Jessica Khojasteh, Gautam Krishnamurthi, Alice Loofbourrow, Isaac Madan, Ayesha Malik, Araby Martin, Malika Mehrotra, Henna Mishra, Daisy Mohrman, Shireen Moshkelani, Nirjhar Mundkur, Shreya Nathan, Priya Sadhev, James Seifert, Jeremiah Shteynberg, Supraja Swamy, Kevin Sweeney, Michelle Vu, Allika Walvekar, Karen Wong, Kenneth Wong and Gabriel Yanovsky.

Photo by Ashley Batz

College................# Attending Bentley University................................... 1 Boston College................................................... 2 Boston University........................................................ 4 Brown University.................................................................. 1 California Institute of Technology................................................ 3 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.................... 1 Case Western Reserve University........................................................... 1 Chapman University................................................................................. 1 Columbia University.................................................................................. 3 Cornell University..................................................................................... 3 Drew University......................................................................................... 1 Drexel University....................................................................................... 1 Duke University......................................................................................... 3 Emory University....................................................................................... 1 Georgetown University............................................................................ 3 Hamilton College ..................................................................................... 1 Harvard University.................................................................................... 2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.................................................. 1 New York University................................................................................. 4 Northwestern University.......................................................................... 3 Occidental College.................................................................................... 1 Oxford College of Emory University........................................................ 2 Pacific Union College................................................................................ 1 Pomona College........................................................................................ 1 Princeton University................................................................................. 6 Purdue University...................................................................................... 1 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute............................................................. 1 Rochester Institute of Technology.......................................................... 1 San Jose State University......................................................................... 2 Santa Clara University.............................................................................. 5 Scripps College.......................................................................................... 1 St. Bonaventure University...................................................................... 1 St. John’s College...................................................................................... 1 Stanford University................................................................................... 8 Swarthmore College................................................................................. 2 Syracuse University.................................................................................. 1

Trinity University...................................................................................... 1 Tufts University......................................................................................... 1 Union College............................................................................................ 1 University of California at Berkeley...................................................... 16 University of California at Davis............................................................. 3 University of California at Los Angeles.................................................. 8 University of California at Merced.......................................................... 1 University of California at San Diego..................................................... 1 University of California at Santa Barbara.............................................. 2 University of California at Santa Cruz.................................................... 3 University of Chicago............................................................................... 1 University of Colorado at Boulder........................................................... 1 University of Georgia................................................................................ 1 University of Hong Kong.......................................................................... 1 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.......................................... 4 University of Michigan............................................................................. 1 University of Oregon................................................................................. 1 University of Pennsylvania...................................................................... 2 University of Puget Sound....................................................................... 1 University of Redlands............................................................................. 2 University of San Diego............................................................................ 1 University of San Francisco..................................................................... 1 University of South Carolina.................................................................... 1 University of Southern California......................................................... 14 University of Washington........................................................................ 2 Vanderbilt University................................................................................ 4 Wagner College......................................................................................... 1 Washington University in St. Louis........................................................ 4 Wellesley College...................................................................................... 2 Wesleyan University................................................................................. 1 Wheaton College ..................................................................................... 1 Whitman College...................................................................................... 1 Willamette University............................................................................... 1 Williams College....................................................................................... 1 Yale University........................................................................................... 2 ............................................................................... Total: 164

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Family & Alumni

PICNIC Sun., Oct. 9 , 2011 The Top Hatters Event Coordinators Kelly Espinosa and Lynette Stapleton

Provide

hrer

net Ro

d by Ja

Ken Azebu Debbie Buss Fred Carr Heekyung Cho Becky Cox Kelly Delepine

Parent Volunteer Committee Chairs Kristin Giammona Sarah Leonard Cindi Gonsalves Greg Martin Denise Hayashi Melody Moyer Sandhya Jagadeesh Mark Peetz Shalini Jain Robyn Peetz Lalitha Kumar Kim Pellissier

Janet Rohrer Alice Schwartz Ingrid Semenza Shankari Sundar Jane Villadsen Mei-Chen Yu

Go “Mad” and Start Your Bidding!

hley Batz

Photo by As

Our magical Mad Hattery Silent Auction will be filled to the brim with tantalizing trips, packages and more for the whole family! There will be “top-portunities” for super signups, special group outings and wine tasting, too. Top-notch teacher packages, sports memorabilia, gourmet goodies and amazing art items will round off the display. As always, your generous donations help make our silent auction extra special. So get ready to “toss your hat into the ring”! It‘s going to be great fun!

No Need to Keep a Lid on the Excitement!

Photo trum

rk Tan

by Ma

Look for information on picnic admission (online ticket sales begin Aug. 25), our big picnic drawing, curbside donations, up and coming Mad Hattery Silent Auction items, fabulous food and exciting entertainment in our future picnic publications. Or just “check your hat” at our website, www.harker.org/picnic, coming soon!

Be Heads Above the Rest!

Our faithful parent committee chairs “wear many hats” while they create this fabulous family event each year. And come next fall, they‘ll need lots of help with decorations, ticket counting, gift collection, T-shirt sales, setup and more!

If you would like to join in the fun, please contact team manager Janet Rohrer at janetr@harker.org and sign up today. “We‘ve got you covered!”

Join the “Rack” Pack!

Photo by Ashley Batz

1122 HHAARRK KE ERR QQUUAARRT TE ERRLYLY

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We‘re “racking up” picnic sponsorships to help put this year‘s event “over the top”! Thanks to the generosity of our loyal Harker families, alumni, friends and local businesses, we are able to bring you good old-fashioned family festivities and games year after year. It truly is a “crowning” accomplishment!

If you would like to find out more about becoming a picnic sponsor, please contact Becky Cox at becsiobhan@yahoo.com.

She‘ll be ready to answer “at the drop of a hat!”

HARKER FAMILY & ALUMNI PICNIC

By Kelly Espinosa

S

o Many Hats … So Little Time!

Find your fedora, dust off your derby, pack up your panama or break out your beanie for Harker‘s 61st annual Family & Alumni Picnic! We‘re planning tons of lid-flipping, cap-tipping picnic fun for the whole family on

Sun., Oct. 9!

Once again the middle school campus will be transformed into our biggest, longest-running, most fun, all-school event, and we can‘t wait! Our dedicated “Top Hatters” (the picnic committee) have been hard at work, and you can “hang your hat” on the fact that everything will be in “tip-top” shape and ready to go on picnic day!

This year our “Hats Off Harker!” theme will provide a wacky, whimsical way to celebrate our wonderful students, parents, faculty and staff with all sorts of “hat-tastic” games, activities, food, entertainment and special surprises! Though the family picnic is our first all-school fundraiser of the year, the day is really about bringing us all together in work and in play to help build a strong Harker community. Through this traditional event we meet new people, make new friends, show off our skills, give from our hearts, and in the end it all adds up to a spectacular day full of great memories for our children! What could be better?

“This year our ‘Hats Off Harker!’ theme will provide a wacky, whimsical way to celebrate our wonderful students, parents, faculty and staff with all sorts of ‘hat-tastic’ games, activities, food, entertainment and special surprises!”

-Kelly Espinosa, picnic coordinator

You can rest assured there‘ll be nothing “old hat” about the picnic this committee has planned. Even our longtime favorites will have “cap-tacular” new twists to make them extra special.

Photo by Ashley Batz

As you enter the picnic and walk down Chapeau Row, you‘ll stroll by whimsical hats and silly sayings designed to have you “brimming” with anticipation for the day ahead. A stop at the newly designed Hat Trick Tavern (Beer! Football! Fun!) will offer grown-up beverages and games designed for all our sports enthusiasts. The Mad Hattery is the place for eager bidders to browse through the crazy collection of hat-inspired silent auction items complete with trips, trinkets and, of course, teacher packages. Flip Your LidsVille is the destination you‘ll desire for our favorite child, adult and teen wheels; plus, there will be an all-new game added to the town lineup this year!

Outside at the Tip Your Cap Carnival, kids will be tossing balls, beanbags, darts and rubber chickens as they collect those all-important “win” tickets to redeem for fabulous prizes. Maybe try your luck at “Hard Hat Hockey,” “Roller Bowler” or “Top of the Pops!” You can make a splash at the “Derby Dunk Tank,” slip down the “Stovepipe Slide” or ride a pony at the “Sunbonnet Stables.” By the end of the day you‘ll be saying, “Wow! So many hats, so little time!”

So mark your calendars for Sun., Oct. 9, and plan to join us on picnic day! We‘re so sure that you‘re going to have a great time, we‘ll eat our hats if it‘s not the best picnic ever!

PJs the Dress Code for Lucky Picnic Package Winners More than 100 lower school students cashed in on their auction package from last year‘s picnic and enjoyed a fun pajama party at the lower school campus in March. Students jumped around to their heart‘s content in a bounce house and played capture the flag and glow tag. They also munched on snacks, worked on crafts and watched movies during the course of the evening.

Photos by Kelly Espinosa

Thanks to the following teachers, summer staff and BEST staff who donated their Friday night so that the lower school kids could have a wonderful time: Joe Chung, Diann Chung, Tristan Perks, Tobias Wade, Eric Kallbrier, Annie Kallbrier, Kelle Sloan, Monika Dukaczewska, Jessica Luo, Kristian Tiopo, Amanda Crook, Arwen Lange, Tim Callahan, Eric Leonard, Darrell Drummer, Eric Spratt and Amira DeSourdis. Additional thanks to student helpers Naomi Molin, grade 7, Maile Chung, grade 6 and Mia Giammona, grade 6.

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HARKER FAMILY & ALUMNI PICNIC

Our Teachers

Are

Tops!

In addition to all the wonderful things they create in the classroom, so many Harker teachers go above and beyond to donate their time and talents each fall to the Family & Alumni Picnic silent auction in the form of teacher packages.

These packages are special outings or experiences created by individuals or groups of faculty, that offer unique opportunities for students to spend the day with their favorite teachers. Parents bid on the packages during the picnic, and the energy and excitement around these items are always extra-special. “We are amazed by the creativity and generosity of our faculty each year and their eagerness to spend time with our students outside the classroom,” says Kelly Espinosa, picnic coordinator. “We learn so much about their hobbies, interests and big hearts through their donations. They really are terrific!”

And it‘s not just the students who have fun!

“I love being around the kids outside of the classroom,” says lower school teacher Jared Ramsey. “I get to know them in a different setting, and they get to see me separated (to some extent) from my role as a teacher.” Our faculty donate for a variety of reasons, but most will tell you they welcome the opportunity to spend time with students while supporting the school.

Grade 1 teacher Cindy Proctor, who donates every year, says, “By donating a teacher package, I have the joy of spending time with children outside of the classroom, I get to spend one-on-one time with my students and I have a wonderful opportunity to show my support for Harker. It is a positive experience in every way!”

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Without a doubt, Harker teachers are TOPS in every way! Their efforts truly represent a loving spirit and a dedication to our school community that help make us who we are. We just can‘t thank them enough!

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Middle school teacher Keith Hirota‘s focus is on the students and families. “After all the hard work and effort our students put into their classes each day, it‘s great to

relax, get silly and have fun with them outside the classroom. As a teacher, I feel honored that the parents are so generous to bid on our auction items!” Patricia Lai Burrows, middle school English teacher, says, “I feel so lucky to be a part of this community, so providing a teacher package gives me a chance to express how grateful I am.”

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Past packages have included formal outings for tea, special restaurant lunches, pedicure parties and fancy meals served on campus by administrators. Students and teachers have visited baseball stadiums, museums, beaches and art galleries. Groups have

headed out for fruit picking, mastered cake decorating, staged karaoke and laser tag challenges and played old-school outdoor games all night. Teachers have taken kids fishing, rock climbing, hiking and even sailing! Crafts are a favorite, too: knitting lessons, scrapbooking, visits to Petroglyph, holiday ornament making and cookie decorating have all been big hits.

Our teachers are already dreaming up new package ideas for next fall’s “Hats Off Harker!”

Family & Alumni Picnic. Be sure to check out our picnic mailings and website in the coming months and plan to stop by the “Mad Hattery” Silent Auction on Sun., Oct. 9, to bid on those one-of-akind activities and adventures!

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Photo by Ashle

HARKER FAMILY & ALUMNI PICNIC

By Catherine Snider

Teachers Have as Much Fun as Kids with Nostalgic Picnic Package Photo by Ashley Batz

If you had ventured on to the lower school campus between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, you would have seen 30 grade 4-6 students and 13 teachers having a rollicking good time running around in the dark. The picnic package I Don‘t Wanna Grow Up, brainchild of Eileen Schick and Jared Ramsey, was a smash success, and Schick has already lined up the teachers to do it all again next year. At 8:30 p.m. a second shift of students arrived – upper schoolers who saw the package and begged Schick to expand it so they could play too! Schick and her friends complied, so from 8:30-11:30 p.m. the teachers continued the fun and games with 10 sophomores.

They played capture the flag, dodgeball and sardines, a sort of reverse hide-and-seek. Schick said one of her favorite moments was watching Ramsay and Eric Leonard, in all black clothing including ski masks, successfully evade all searchers; Ramsay even remained undetected only a foot away from Stephanie Woolsey, who never saw him. The upper school students trounced the teachers in dodgeball, and Schick laughed that, “We realized we weren‘t kids anymore!”

Rediscovering their youth alongside Schick, Ramsey, Woolsey and Leonard were Cathy Le, Katie Molin, Diane Plauck, Shelby Guarino, Shital Ashar, Andy Keller, Jonathan Brusco and Tobias Wade.

Photo

by Pat

Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Mr. Walsh!

Walsh

It‘s no secret around Harker that lower school math teacher Pat Walsh is a huge San Francisco Giants fan. So when he asked some buddies to help him chaperone 40 lower school students for a Family & Alumni Picnic package that would benefit Harker‘s general scholarship fund, they all agreed immediately.

Photo by Ka

The big day came April 23 with famed pitcher Tim Lincecum taking on the Atlanta Braves. Although the Giants lost 5-2, the day was a huge win for Harker‘s excited fans.

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“This group of kids was unbelievably good,” said Walsh, noting their incredible “positive energy.” When the Giants‘ World Series theme, “Don‘t Stop Believing,” came on the loud speaker, Walsh said, all 40 kids got up and danced like crazy, even earning them a moment on camera. Two fans sitting near the group complimented Walsh after the game on the kids‘ wonderful spirit and good behavior, saying it was almost as much fun watching the Harker kids as the game.

Two coincidences added to the magic of the day. When the national anthem was announced, the Harker group was stunned to see their own Jennifer Cowgill, lower school music teacher, walk out onto the field to conduct Peninsula chorus Ragazzi. And as they were leaving the game, who should drive by but retired teacher Howard Salzman with his son and their friends Jerome Keene ‘96 and Keene‘s dad.

Several parents wrote to Walsh to show their appreciation. “It‘s a good experience that Michael will never forget,” said Sarah Chan, whose son snagged the souvenir ball. “I still can‘t stop him from talking about it all day long.”

“It was Christopher‘s first game at AT&T Park and he had a great time!” wrote Maria Gong of her grade 4 son. Gita Banga (Anika, grade 5; Anvi, grade 3) said, “It is experiences like this which the kids treasure and remember, making learning fun and enthusiastic. This spirit amazes us. Anika had a wonderful time today, and an experience which she will not forget.”

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Walsh and his fellow chaperones Joe Chung, Tobias Wade, Jared Ramsey, Ghiresh Ghooray, Mike Delfino, Heather Perrotta and Kathy Clark got the kids to AT&T Park early to watch batting practice, and Walsh promised $5 to any student who caught a ball. Michael Kwan, grade 5, managed to snag a ball and his reward!

Photos by Ashley Batz and Devin Nguyen, grade 10

Powerful

Keynotes and Alumni Speakers Make Symposium Best Yet

J

ust as Silicon Valley generates innovation through the fusion of people and ideas, Nichols Hall has become the center for a growing synergy between students, faculty, universities and cutting-edge technology. The hall opened in 2008 and has become a crucible for young minds exploring science. In 16 formal presentations and 53 poster sessions, students from grades 5-12 spoke of their innovative research on topics ranging from the development of bacteria resistance caused by household antibacterial products, to the study of a double pendulum relative to the butterfly effect and chaos theory. University internships and internet connectivity have created opportunities unheard of just a decade ago for students like Albert Wu, grade 11, who worked with the computer science department at Stanford University to study energy saving in computer networks. Anita Chetty, chair of Harker‘s upper school science department, said, “Besides the obvious opportunity to conduct undergraduate level research Scott McNealy, in cutting-edge research labs, they get co-founder of Sun to experience the innovative ways in which people share and communicate Microsystems and ideas with one another.” a Harker parent

“I consider Harker to be a national development team from a science perspective.”

–

By Beth Hobbs

Anika Gupta, grade 9, appreciated the support of the Harker Research Club which provides mentors and the new open lab concept which provides dedicated space outside of a classroom. “Now students can conduct experiments in a lab set up solely for experiments and not have to put them away every day,” she said. Research teacher Chris Spenner noted, “This was easily the best symposium I‘ve seen yet at Harker. The students I‘ve spoken with had very good experiences.”

The value of mentors was reflected in the three alumni presenters. Jesse Li ‘07 spoke about her continuing research at MIT into an online video annotation tool that has significant applications in robotic navigation and image detection in cameras. During the past year Harker was the first high school to establish a relationship with The Triple Helix (TTH), a university-level forum for student publications. CEO Jennifer Ong ‘07 was on hand with other TTH staff to encourage students to share their work with others through print and online publication. Nikhil Deshmukh ‘04 was present to discuss his study of the retina and its singular processing of complex operations.

Guest speakers Scott McNealy, co-founder and former CEO and chairman of the board of Sun Microsystems, and Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Facebook, were emblematic 16

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HARKER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

of the information and communication technology that broadens Harker research opportunities today. McNealy emphasized teamwork and likened Harker to young, talented sports teams.

“I consider Harker to be a national development team from a science perspective,” he said. McNealy also recommended students take economics classes to prepare them for their own startups and participation in the market economy.

Schroepfer encouraged students to build careers in science and engineering and then change the world. He also noted that the job he has today didn‘t exist when he was in high school, so students need to “learn how to learn” and be ready for the jobs that do not exist today. While he couldn‘t promise to ‘friend‘ everyone in the audience, he did post on his Facebook page, “Spoke about careers in engineering at the Harker school [sic] today. Seeing so many young students with an interest in science and engineering makes me very hopeful for the future. Wish there were more schools like this ....” (See the complete story on McNealy‘s and Schroepfer‘s talks on page 18.)

“Seeing so many young students with an interest in science and engineering makes me very hopeful for the future. Wish there were more schools like this ...”

–Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Facebook, on his Facebook page about speaking at Harker

Other events in the day included a WiSTEMsponsored presentation by Kari Lee, engineering manager at Facebook, on how to take advantage of new opportunities. In continuing the goal to link academic research with real-world applications, students interacted with 12 sponsors, several of whom gave presentations on their products.

The symposium theme of innovation reverberated not only in the Gold LEED-certified

Photos by Ashley Batz

hall, the sponsors and the guest speakers, but in the student research – innovative in breadth and depth and facilitated by the interplay of cutting-edge technology, information access and the development of relationships outside the walls of Nichols Hall.

Summing it up, Chetty said, “Having an entire building dedicated to science and technology is innovative in and of itself, but the great thing is that it is a springboard for innovative teaching.

The research program really took off when we moved into the new building. We suddenly had a space dedicated exclusively to research. The building enabled proximity and space sharing so that collaboration and planning became a natural process. The result is innovative and creative pedagogy.”

For more info on the Harker research program, contact Chetty at anitac@ harker.org.

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HARKER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Symposium Keynote Speakers Inspire and Urge Entrepreneurship in science or engineering, Schroepfer noted a few additional raised hands. He then challenged the group, “I have a job that didn‘t exist when I was in high school.

What can you envision and how can you make that a reality?”

“I‘d Scott McNealy told the afternoon audience he put his Harvard University B.A. and Stanford University MBA to work in like the early 1980s when he co-founded Sun Microsystems. He to be continued to lead the company as CEO and chairman of the board, guiding innovation such as cloud computing. chairman Briefly scanning the symposium list of student presentation topics, McNealy said, “I‘d like to be chairman of the board of the board of some of your companies someday, of some of your because I think you are going to start some.” companies someday, McNealy, who attributes some of his career to luck, focused on what it takes to build a because I think you are successful company. “You have no idea going to start some.” who in this school or room might become one of your co-founders,” he –Scott McNealy

Schroepfer, speaking in the morning, told an audience of Facebook fans hoping to ‘friend‘ him, “I have the best job in the world.” He then asked for students to raise their hands if they intended to make a career of engineering or science and got a substantial response. In those disciplines, he said, “You have the ability to change things in the world through the ability of one individual.” Using Facebook as an example, he led students through the process of figuring out how to provide the software, hardware and resources for the company, which has ten times the number of users it had in 2008.

Photo by Devin Nguyen, grade 10

The open source code used at Facebook is a prime example of how the work of one person opened up communication for millions. “The cool thing with scientists today,” Schroepfer said, “is sharing their ideas with the world.”

Schroepfer holds degrees in computer science from Stanford University and has filed two U.S. patents. He has experienced the link between design and product launch in his work at various startups and as vice president of engineering at Mozilla Corporation where he led the open product development behind Firefox.

Encouraging teamwork, he said, “Engineering is not a solitary act.”

He finds the most fun comes in sharing ideas with a group and then launching something that millions of people will use.

When students were again asked to indicate their interest 18

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said, as he encouraged students to develop teamwork and build good relationships with each other. “Build a team, raise money, stay healthy, work hard and provide a return,” he advised.

While not advocating that students drop out of school, McNealy told students to start a company early in their careers before there are other life commitments. The strategy should be something that differentiates the company – something nobody else wants to do.

“The hard part is that it has to be correct,” he said.

Concerned that many students do not understand the market system and the value of business, he advised students to take economics classes and protect the market economy. Stressing the less tangible aspects, McNealy reminded his audience to be ethical and exhibit personal responsibility in their actions.

Taking seriously McNealy‘s admonition to start a company, one student asked if McNealy would invest in his startup. While not an investor, he is involved in a small company and did not rule out the request. Currently, in his longstanding commitment to education, McNealy guides the nonprofit Curriki, which he initiated, to create quality online materials for education globally. McNealy‘s four sons attend Harker (Maverick, grade 10; Dakota, grade 7; Colt, grade 6; Scout, grade 4).

Photo by Devin Nguyen, grade 10

I

n a salute to information and communication technology the 2011 Harker Research Symposium featured keynote speakers Scott McNealy, co-founder and former CEO and board chairman of Sun Microsystems, and Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Facebook. At a time when Silicon Valley feels re-energized by potential IPOs and a presidential visit, Schroepfer and McNealy took the opportunity to remind students of the research, innovative thinking, risk taking, capitalism and just plain hard work that built their transformative companies and Silicon Valley.

Speaking to capacity audiences, both men stressed the individual passion and initiative necessary to transform an idea into a company.

By Beth Hobbs

HARKER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Alumni Bring Depth to Harker Research Symposium By Beth Hobbs

Photo by Devin Nguyen, grade 10

A

Photos by Ashley Batz

lumni presenters at the annual Harker Research Symposium provided an avenue for students to see continuing research opportunities and visualize how academic science translates into a career. This year three alumni presenters reflected the breadth of science in research and real-world application.

Speaking via teleconference, Jesse Li ‘07 described her work in the Machine Vision Group of MIT‘s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The group is developing a video annotation tool called Video Label Me for labeling moving and static objects within frames. Eventually a large database of annotated videos will serve as training data for machine learning models. She said, “The machines ‘see‘ using machine learning algorithms.”

Li chose the field of machine vision because she could see direct applications such as face detection in cameras, medical imaging, missile guidance and autonomous vehicles.

“Harker stood behind my idea.

This encourages students to think critically about science and society. They are developing a vision.” –Jennifer Ong ’07

Nikhil Deshmukh ‘04, a Ph.D. candidate in molecular biology/neuroscience at Princeton University, presented his work on neural activity in mice at the 2009 Harker symposium. While he remains interested in the brain, his work is currently focused on the retina, which is easier to study as it receives little or no feedback from the brain and input is controllable. Thus, any computations observed must be generated within the retina. He has found that the retina is capable of performing a variety of complex imaging operations, including the Omitted Stimulus Response which indicates that the retina is encoding periodicity. Looking ahead, Deshmukh is interested in teaching at the undergraduate level.

As a 2011 graduate of the University of California, San Diego, and incoming CEO for The Triple Helix, Inc. International (TTH), Jennifer Ong ‘07 will be heading an innovative nonprofit that publishes student articles on interdisciplinary topics. While the organization has 27 chapters in universities, Ong spent the past year collaborating with Anita Chetty, Harker‘s upper school science department chair, to establish TTH at Harker. This will allow Harker students to globally communicate their ideas and writing through print and online TTH editions.

Taking the idea to reality, Ong says, “Harker stood behind my idea. This encourages students to think critically about science and society. They are developing a vision.”

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PerformingArts

and Evocative, ‘Pippin,’ Humorous is a Colorful Tapestry

By Steven M. Boyle ’06

Photos by Ashley Batz

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n early April The Harker Conservatory premiered the American leg of its gritty, aggressive production of Stephen Schwartz’ “Pippin” for the upper school’s 2011 spring musical. Under the direction of Laura Lang-Ree, performing arts department chair K-12, the troupe will take the show to Scotland in August for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest international performing arts festival in the world.

Photo by Devin Nguyen, grade 10

“Pippin” is a coming-of-age tale in which the title character finds his choices made and time running thin. The production showcases the depth of Conservatory members with a compelling and edgy choice that Lang-Ree expects to draw in a sophisticated audience at the festival, an influential launching pad for theatrical trends. The text of “Pippin” was chosen by Lang-Ree for its appeal at the festival, where it would “resonate with our young American and European audiences who, like Pippin, are trying to find their way in these times of global economic depression and civic revolution,” she said.

Pippin’s journey is framed by a theatrical troupe of players who manifest for him the various vignettes he lives out. These sly and darkly irreverent players, directed by Lang-Ree to represent “the darkness in Pippin’s mind and the negativity that can eat away at all of us,” flesh out the environment of voices and dancers who surround the plot. Musical director Catherine Snider’s band provided edgy rock sounds to complement the show’s steam punk design.

Lang-Ree framed the production as a contemplation of the “too-hyped American Dream,” where one man is “told that he can have it all if he just works hard enough.” “When you’re extraordinary, you think of extraordinary things,” Pippin tells us early on, lamenting “here I am, to seize my day – if anybody would tell me when the hell it is.” In the end, as he finally finds freedom to choose his fate, though leaving a dark legacy, he sings, “I wanted such a little thing from life. I wanted so much.”

To read the full review, search on “Pippin” at news.harker.org.

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PerformingArts Kindergarten Shows Take Audiences Under the Sea

By Zach Jones In April the entire kindergarten class performed at this year’s kindergarten shows, which took on an undersea theme. Louis Hoffman directed each kindergarten class at every one of the four shows. Students, costumed as various forms of undersea life, sang several popular songs paying tribute to the life aquatic, including “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” by Charles Trenet and Jack Lawrence (and made famous by Bobby Darin and others), The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris.

who narrated the show while dressed as a mermaid, Larissa Weaver as a water buffalo and piano accompanist Paul Woodruff as the submarine helmsman. Each kindergarten homeroom teacher made a guest appearance in the show as the titular character from the Disney Pixar film “Finding Nemo.” Not to be outdone, Hoffman directed the entire show dressed as a deepsea diver. The show was Hoffman’s last as director, as he will be going on to teach in the after-school music program full time.

Faculty and staff members also appeared in the show, including Lisa Diffenderfer,

Danny Dunn, technical theater teacher, served as technical director as well as set and lighting designer.

She was assisted by her grade 5 technical theater class, who acted as the technical crew. The middle school’s technical theater club came up with the show’s costume Photos by Ashley Batz concepts. Gail Palmer, lower school dance teacher, choreographed the show’s dance sequences.

Bucknall Dance Celebrates Ten Years

Orchestras Represented at Combined Concert By William Cracraft

In late May, 250 grade 1-5 students and 19 faculty and staff danced in the 10th annual Bucknall dance concert, “Music That Moves Us Too!” To celebrate, the theme this year was the same as the one used for the first show.

Musicians from all three campuses gathered in early April to hold the most comprehensive concert yet. The Lower School String Ensemble opened with “Canon in D,” by Pachelbel, followed by the Lower School Photo by Ashley Batz Orchestra performing, among other works, Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5 - Finale.” The Grade 6 Orchestra then joined them for “Symphony No. 6 - ‘Pastoral,’” also by Beethoven.

The Grade 6 Orchestra went on to perform a trio of pieces including “Farandole” from “L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2,” by Georges Bizet.

By William Cracraft

This year, Gail Palmer, director, had faculty and staff suggest songs that move them. “The variety of song suggestions illustrates music’s universal appeal with lyrics that speak to us, voices that lift our spirits and rhythmic arrangements that resonate in our bodies,” said Palmer.

The opening number, “I’ve Got The Music In Me” by the Kiki Dee Band, is special because 10 years Photo by Ashley Batz ago it was the song used for the finale of the first dance concert, which led to a tradition that continues to this day, “Music at Lunch.” To decide the finale for the show students vote for the song they like the best. This year, they chose “Sing a Song ... It Will Make You Dance,” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

The faculty and staff were a highlight, bringing disco back in style, dancing to “Night Fever,” by the Bee Gees, and more. The students’ hard work, energy and enthusiasm brightened the stage and moved the audience to want to dance, too! For the full article by Gail Palmer, go to news.harker.org and search on “Bucknall dance.”

The Grade 7-8 Orchestra rounded out the first half of the show with four pieces, opening with a lush, moving rendition of “Symphony No. 5” by Tchaikovsky. “From the strings, to the winds and to the brass, this piece displayed the vast range of talents in this orchestra,” said Chris Florio, upper school instrumental teacher.

Following intermission, The Harker School Orchestra, the upper school group, took the stage, having been awarded their first Unanimous Superior at the CMEA festival that morning. The group opened with Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture.” Anthony Fandrianto, grade 12, was guest conductor for “El Capitan,” by John Philip Sousa, and the show wrapped up with “Elsa’s Procession” from Wagner’s opera “Lohengrin.” For the full story go to news.harker.org and search on “upper school orchestra.”

For full stories on the dance and orchestra concerts, go to news.harker.org and search on “upper shool orchestra” and “Bucknall dance.”

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PerformingArts Lower School Concert and Festival Earn Accolades

By William Cracraft Photos by Ashley Batz

The lower school’s Bucknall Choir and instrumentalists had a busy spring. The entire group held its annual concert on May 10, and the Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble attended the Heritage Festival at Foothill College just a few days later, with the artists garnering kudos in both places.

“Both groups wowed the adjudicators, who gave high praise to the students for their outstanding performance level and composure.”

-Louis Hoffman, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble director

At the annual Bucknall Instrumental and Choir Concert, performances were by the Lower School Choir and all the instrumental students from Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble, Prep String Ensemble, Wind Ensemble

and seven first-year group classes.

Joe Connolly, dean of students K-5 emceed, and Tomas Thompson of the P.E. staff guest conducted the Harker school song. Tiffany Wong, grade 4, on harp, accompanied the orchestra on “O Mio Babbino Caro,” and Kathleen Ferretti took a break from her day job as the lower school’s math department grade 2-3 chair to play Taiko drums on the grand finale of "I Want Candy."

At the Heritage Festival the Orchestra took a gold award, and the Jazz Ensemble placed a close second with a silver award. “Only two schools received the gold,” said Hoffman.

“Both groups wowed the adjudicators, who gave high praise to the students for their outstanding performance level and composure.”

Kratter and Andrade each got a standing ovation and were awarded Maestro trophies at the festival. “This is a high honor and the first time ever in the over 30-year history of the festival that two young composers were honored,” said Hoffman.

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Upper school vocal groups Downbeat and Bel Canto teamed up in late April for the annual Songs Into Summer concert, one of the last performances of the year from both groups and a fitting send-off for graduating seniors who performed with them during much of their high school lives.

Bel Canto, directed by Catherine Snider, kicked off the show with their performance of “Everybody Rejoice,” from the musical “The Wiz,” employing light yet infectious choreography and clapping. Downbeat followed with a raucous version of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’,” with the performers decked out in ’60s garb and dancing through the aisles on their way to the stage. Rock and pop music were favored for much of the show

by Downbeat, who also performed versions of “Dust in the Wind” by ’70s rock group Kansas and the Natasha Bedingfield hit “Unwritten.” Snider musically directs the group while co-director Laura Lang-Ree creates the choreography.

Photos by Ashley Batz

Two pieces were performed that were composed by grade 2 students.

“Both students studied with me in learning composition, orchestration and arranging,” said Louis Hoffman, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble director. Paul Kratter wrote “Rondo in A Minor” for orchestra, and Aditya Andrade wrote “Fun with Blues” for the Jazz Ensemble. Each boy conducted the group playing his composition at the concert.

Downbeat and Bel Canto Welcome Summer in Song By Zach Jones

Downbeat’s much anticipated performance of the Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” didn’t disappoint. The group fired on all cylinders, bringing the art rock epic to life with great vocal performances and choreography, which included stomping and head banging during the song’s famous “hard rock” section, drawing cheers from the large audience. To read the full review, search on “Downbeat” in Harker News Online.

PerformingArts Middle School's Dance Jamz Wows Audience

By Steven M. Boyle ’06 The Harker School’s yearly middle school dance performance, Dance Jamz, won over an excited audience for two weekend nights in early March at the Blackford Theater. The collection of approximately 150 dancers from grades 6-8 performed an eclectic mix of dance styles in front of a thrilled crowd.

For one fast-paced hour, dancers moved through 17 musical numbers, leading off with a heart-pumping, vibrant rendition of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” eliciting cheers from the first minute of their performance as sharp, in sync moves sent ponytails flying in front of a wall of color and light.

As the production came to a close, the student performers were greeted with an echoing round of cheers, a fitting finale after 60 minutes of hooting and hollering. To read the full review, search on “Dance Jamz” in Harker News Online.

Photos by Ashley Batz

Photos by Ashley Batz

Dance Jamz is the culmination of many

months of work for the dancers, who have taken classes in either jazz, modern, lyrical, ballet, tap or hip-hop, and then built on their foundation with weeks of rehearsal. Nearly one quarter of the performers were boys, who had three numbers of their own, including a contemporary hip-hop performance to Maroon 5’s “If I Never See Your Face Again” and a heavily costumed, flashy performance of Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll.”

Classic Tale Delights Audiences Young and Old The middle school’s spring musical, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” entranced young and old with simple but evocative sets, colorful and active crowd scenes and superlative performances by leading actors. There were three showings, plus shows for students during school time, and leading parts were double cast, so special kudos go to Monica Colletti and Roxann Hagemeyer, the director and musical director, for the stellar performance of both groups!

The story was introduced by players speaking to the audience. Then the curtain opened to the vivid, active panorama of the village square, where we were introduced to Belle, the beauty, a quirky young woman and the only one in the village with the perspicacity – and

motivation – to tame the Beast/Prince.

About 50 middle schoolers were in the cast, with more working as stage hands and in other technical positions.

Characters were fun! The hunter, Gaston, was a swaggering braggart, and his sidekick Lefou was by turns insouciant and ingratiating. Other characters brought the drama alive, including Lumiere, whose inspired delivery and lively movement captivated the audience.

By William Cracraft Crowd scenes were especially energizing, with opposing rows of players singing and moving back and forth across the stage to create symmetrical movement, while the chaotic raid by the villagers delighted young audience members with its frenzied search for the Beast/Prince. To see the entire review, go to Harker News Online and search “Beauty and the Beast.”

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PerformingArts Jazz Bands from Three Campuses On Stage Together for the First Time By Steven M. Boyle ’06 For the first time in the history of The Harker School, jazz bands from all three campuses came together for “An Evening of Jazz,” a major performance at the Blackford Theater in midMarch. Dressed to the nines, students spanning K-12 played 15 standards, mixing suave and

Students spanning K-12 played 15 standards, mixing suave and bluesy numbers with funkier, buoyant beats.

By Zach Jones

Photo by Ashley Batz

bluesy numbers with funkier, buoyant beats while alternating between solo performances and ensemble work.

The Harker School Jazz Band, the upper school group directed by Chris Florio, led off with the energetic, trombone-heavy “I Got Rhythm” by George Gershwin and a dark and romantic rendition of “When Sunny Gets Blue.” The Lower School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Louis Hoffman, followed with the sweet “Tenor Madness,” the smoky “Killer Joe” and Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time,” with talented soloists who were barely taller than their instruments.

The show was then handed off to the Middle School Jazz Band, directed by Dave Hart, whose medley of Sonny Rollins compositions included the tropical and airy “St. Thomas,” the blues number “Sunny Moon for Two” and a new arrangement of “Doxy” the group had been experimenting with just prior to the show. All three groups crowded together on stage in a Photo by Ashley Batz Photo by Devin Nguyen, grade 10 final, rousing rendition of “When the Saints (Go Marching In),” bringing the evening to a close on a high note. To read the full review, search on “jazz” in Harker News Online.

Young Voices Fill Theater at Spring Sing

By William Cracraft Photos by Ashley Batz

The middle school finished up its performing arts season with Spring Sing in mid-May. The show, featuring a cast of 160 grade 6 students uniformed in jeans and T-shirts, began with the Harker school song and then moved far afield. Using a Jumanji game to lead them around the world, the group took the audience to various lands and places in time. They found a great big parking lot where orchids used to be, prompting them to sing “Big Yellow Taxi” (“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”). The group also covered Sonny and Cher, chanting monks, Owl City’s “Fireflies” and Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho, so there was a little something for everyone. “It always brings a smile to my face to see the ‘pixies’ taking their first steps towards performing,” said Roxann Hagemeyer, the show’s musical director.

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Photos by Ashley Batz

Cantilena, Camerata and Guys' Gig Entertain Afternoon Audience

“Singing is Our Birthright” was the title Susan Nace, upper school music teacher, gave to one of the final vocal concerts of the year, featuring three upper school groups at the Nichols Hall auditorium on April 28: Camerata, Cantilena and Guys’ Gig. Camerata, the mixed choral ensemble, started off with a diverse set of madrigals and jazz tunes. Following the mournful

harmonies of John Wilbye’s “Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis,” the mood lightened as students sang Billy Strayhorn’s “Something to Live For,” followed by a vocal arrangement of Scott Joplin’s famous “Maple Leaf Rag,” during which students strolled through the aisles as they sang.

Guys’ Gig, as always, were a crowd favorite thanks to their upbeat mood and energetic sense of humor. One of their songs combined themes from several famous John Williams scores (including “Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) into a hilarious tribute to “Star Wars” fandom.

Cantilena performed a series of varied and experimental songs, starting off with “O Mama Bakudala,” a traditional tune sung by the women of the South African Xhosa tribe, whose words translate to, “The mothers from way back used to pray.” They continued with classics such as Thomas Morley’s “Sing We and Chant It,” Johannes Brahms’ version of “Ave Maria” and the Robert Lowry-penned hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing?” during which they were joined by assistant director Daniel Cho, grade 12, who sang the “Amazing Grace” obbligato. To read the full review, search on “Cantilena” in Harker News Online.

PerformingArts Harker Singers More ’United‘ Than Ever at Annual Concert

By Zach Jones In the biggest collaboration yet among Harker vocal groups, ensembles from all three campuses gathered at a packed Blackford Theater on March 18 for this year’s United Voices concert.

Community was a major emphasis for this installment of the show. In order to give all classes the chance to see one another perform, a twist on the traditional technical runthrough was held before the show took place: the performers sat in the audience instead of backstage.

Roxann Hagemeyer’s Grade 6 Choir gave an energetic performance accompanied by upbeat choreography, and Hagemeyer and Monica Colletti’s group Harmonics performed a spirited, animated medley of classics from the1960s. The upper school was represented by Bel Canto, directed by Catherine Snider, Photos by Ashley Batz and Downbeat, co-directed by Snider and Laura Lang-Ree.

Vivace, directed by Dave Hart and featuring singers from grades 7 and 8, kicked off the show, and representing the lower school was the Bucknall Choir, made up of grade 4 and 5 students and directed by Jennifer Cowgill. The first of the upper school groups to perform was Camerata, while all-female Cantilena performed the Native American-inspired soundscape “Watane.” Both groups were directed by Susan Nace.

In a moving finale all of the groups assembled on the stage for the last song, a version of the folk song “The Water is Wide,” a performance that for the first time captured so many voices from all three campuses singing in harmony together. United, indeed!

To read the full review, search on “United Voices” in Harker News Online.

Dozens Featured at Biggest Senior Showcase Yet Harker’s Conservatory graduates shone on the Blackford stage on April 22 during Harker’s 10th annual Senior Showcase. Featuring 33 performers from every discipline – theater, musical theater, technical theater, vocal music, instrumental music and dance – it was the largest showcase in the Conservatory’s history.

The fast-paced two-anda-half hour show included everything from

high-energy dance numbers to stirring dramatic scenes to inspiring instrumental and vocal pieces.

Production values were high as usual, with Conservatory candidate technicians handling sound and lights as their part of the showcase.

Two performers brought their siblings on stage to duet with them, other performances featured multiple graduates and the final dance performance featured an impressive ensemble of no fewer than 14 dancers.

By Zach Jones

The night’s masters of ceremony introduced every performer and kept the crowd warm between performances with humorous banter.

At the end of the show, the featured performers were presented with their well-deserved plaques from the Conservatory advisors, signifying their graduation from the elite program. To read the full review, search on “Senior Showcase” in Harker News Online.

The fast-paced two-and-a-half hour show included everything from highenergy dance numbers to stirring dramatic scenes to inspiring instrumental and vocal pieces.

Photos by Devin Nguyen, grade 10

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MS Sports

EagleReport

By Theresa “Smitty� Smith

Middle School Volleyball Middle school volleyball teams had stellar seasons, all! The grade 5 JVB1 girls volleyball team won the WBAL title with a record of 6-0. Key players were Satchi Thockchom, Aria Coalson and Sameep Mangat. Key players for the JVB2 team were Julia Amick and Jennifer Hayashi, grade 4 and Sanjana Avula, grade 5.

The grade 6 girls JVA girls volleyball team were tri-champions of the WBAL with a record of 6-1! Key players were Lindsey Trinh, Rachel Cheng and Joelle Anderson. Key players for the JVB6 team, who finished in a three-way tie for second in the WBAL, were Priyanka Chilukuri, Priyanka Taneja and Sarah Tien.

The grade 7-8 girls were combined into three teams. The varsity A team went 9-0 to take first place in the WBAL! The team was led by Shannon Richardson, Jacqueline Chen and Doreene Kang, all grade 7. The varsity B team went 8-1 to take second place in the WBAL, ably led by Leeza Kuo, Hannah Bollar and Allison Kiang, all grade 8. The varsity B2 team went 7-2 for a two-way tie for second place in the WBAL, in part thanks to the leadership of Kelly Wang, Neha Sunil and Archana Podury, all grade 8.

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The grade 6-8 boys volleyball teams posted an astonishing combined record of 15-0. The varsity A team was led by Matt Ho, Justin Lee and Richard Gu, all grade 8. Sixth graders Austin Tuan, Alex Youn and Andrew Gu led the way on the varsity B team, and the junior varsity A team was led

by Justin Xie, Albert Xu and Shekar Ramaswamy, also all grade 6.

(Mid-Peninsula Tennis Patrons, which sponsors the Middle School Tennis League) they were 5-2 and made the quarterfinals of the final tournament.

Congratulations to them all, including team leaders Sophia Luo and Vikram Vasan, grade 7 and Srivinay Irrinki, grade 8.

Water Polo The grade 6-8 water polo team finished off the season in fine fashion with convincing victories over Terman 22-4 and Castilleja 20-0 and finished the season with a combined record of 6-3. Strong leadership came from Billy Bloomquist, Delaney Martin, Ryan Palmer and Darby Millard, all grade 8; Shivali Minocha, grade 7; and Harry Xu and Pooja Kini, grade 6.

Photos by Ashley Batz

Tennis The grade 6-8 tennis team had a combined 10-4 record this season in two separate leagues. The team went 5-2 in the WBAL and took third place in the final tournament. In the MTP

The grade 5-8 baseball program continues to develop, and there were some exciting games with Crystal Springs and Sacred Heart, as well as, of course, the close game between the Harker grade 5 and 6 teams, where the fifth graders took home the victory this year. The lower school team was led by Michael Sikand, grade 7 and Tanay Kamat and Will Holaday, both grade 5. The middle school team was led by Logan Drazovich, grade 7 and Karan Walia and Alex Lam, both grade 6.

EagleReport Khojasteh finished off the meet for the boys in the 100-yard breaststroke which turned out to be the race of the meet: four swimmers swimming very fast with less than four-tenths of a second separating the four. Khojasteh placed fourth and set a new school record of 56.94.

Upper School Harker’s upper school teams wrapped up their spring season with some new milestones including qualifying for playoffs in softball, setting a slew of new records in girls swimming and recording a number of personal achievements by our athletes. “Central Coast Section comprises over 100 schools and to compete and especially make finals puts these athletes in an elite category,” said Dan Molin, athletic director. In addition, girls swimming and boys tennis teams were named 2011 Spring Scholastic Champions, with golf, lacrosse, boys swimming, boys volleyball and boys track and field coming in second in their categories - all by less than onetenth of a grade point!

Swimming The girls swim team placed second at the WBAL championships, setting a number of school records (read the full story in Harker News Online), and went on to take seventh at CCS, having a great meet in the process. Continuing its tradition of improving its placing every season

Boys Volleyball

Swim photos by William Cracraft

at championships, the team had four top-eight individual swims and two top-eight relay swims.

Jessica Khojasteh, grade 12, was fifth in the 200 IM and sixth in the 100 breaststroke, setting a school record of 1:05.90; Katie Siegel, grade 11, was eighth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.04) and third in the 100-backstroke (57.40), both school records; the 200-yard freestyle relay of Khojasteh, Siegel, Tiffany Wong, grade 11 and Amie Chien, grade 10, was sixth, setting a school record of 1:40.17; in the 400-yard freestyle relay Khojasteh, Siegel, Rachelle Koch, grade 11 and Manon Audebert, grade 9, placed seventh and set yet another school record with their time of 3:37.78. The squad was also recognized prior to the meet for their CCS scholastic championship.

The boys volleyball season came to a close May 12 in the CCS quarterfinals at second-seeded St. Ignatius. The boys had a great season finishing 1914 overall for a fourth place league finish in what some people consider the toughest league in CCS. Senior Jacob Chappell was named team MVP and earned first team all-league honors, and senior Zach Mank was named to the second team.

Harker boys swimming placed fourth at the WBAL swimming championships and 15th at CCS, also having a great meet. Having placed fourth last year at CCS, this year the boys faced a strong rebuilding season.

At the championships, the 200-yard medley relay of Kevin Khojasteh, Jason Yu and Daryl Neubieser, all grade 11 and Hassaan Ebrahim, grade 12, started out the finals session with a 16th place finish. Khojasteh then placed fifth in the 200-yard IM with a new school record of 1:51.10.

Neubieser tied for sixth in the 50yard freestyle, following with a third place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.

Lacrosse

US Sports

By William Cracraft

The JV team, coached by former Chinese national team player Xiaofeng Foret, won a record six matches this season. This was the largest squad in the program’s history at 16 members strong, and they were competitive in every match. Sean Youn, grade 9, was named team MVP and first team all-league, and Andre Tran, grade 10, was named to the second team.

The lacrosse team, coached by Dawn Clark and assisted by Andrew Irvine, had an aggressive schedule of 17

Lacrosse photos by Michelle Lo, grade 11

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US Sports

EagleReport

games this year and managed a few wins. “The team’s skills are building,” said Irvine. “We have a number of promising underclassmen so look forward to next year.” The team beat Woodside three times, scored 120 goals and “really learned to work together,” he said.

Track and Field

players in league. Vik Bhagat was a pleasant surprise, medaling a couple matches for us. He was named second team all-league. In addition, we carried a full squad of 11, where we were able to rotate players and had seniors play in matches. We lost narrow matches to Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo, both highly regarded teams in the area,” Cheng said.

Golf Golfers Vik Baghat, grade 9 and Maverick McNealy, grade 10, advanced to CCS qualifiers as individuals with McNealy qualifying for CCS championships. McNealy then shot an 82 at the championship placing 44th out of 64 golfers who qualified for the high-caliber field.

This marks the second year in a row McNealy has qualified. “The team had a very successful season, considering how young we are as a team,” said Ie-Chen Cheng, coach. “We placed third in a very tough WBAL league.

Sophomores Kyle Roter and Maverick were named first team all-league, meaning they were in the top seven

Golf photos by Ashley Batz

Track and field photos by Devin Nguyen, grade 10

In the WBAL track and field championships, varsity girls took fourth place overall with Isabelle Connell, grade 10, placing second in the 200m (half lap) and third in the

400m (one lap), scoring the most points for Harker.

Sonya Chalaka, grade 11 and Claudia Tischler, grade 9, also qualified. In the CCS track and field semifinals, Tischler ran a blazing fast 5:08 in the 1600m (one mile) to set a school record and at state ran 5:10:66 to finish seventh, winding up a dynamite season. On the boys side at the WBAL championships, Charles Levine, grade 11, placed third at the WBAL championships in the 400m, and Proteek Biswas, grade 11, placed third in the 3200m.

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EagleReport Softball photos by Ashley Batz

US Sports

Softball Softball’s historic season came to a close last week with a 4-0 loss to Notre Dame - Belmont in the first round of CCS. For the first time in Harker history our softball team qualified for CCS, locking in third place in league and the last automatic league berth. Alison Rugar, grade 10, was named MVP of the WBAL Softball League for her 237 strikeouts, a school record. “This is first time we beat every team in our league at least once, and we were not shut out all regular season,” said the team’s coach, Raul Rios.

Ashley Del Alto, grade 10, was named to the first team all-league, and Tracey Chan, grade 12, was picked for second team all-league. Victoria Liang, grade 12 and Nithya Vemireddy, grade 9, received honorable mentions. Congratulations to all

–Coach Raul Rios

Tennis This year, for the first time ever, varsity tennis advanced to the quarterfinals of the CCS team championships. By advancing to the quarters, Harker has now made it to the CCS team championships for its eighth straight appearance and solidified its stature as one of the top high school tennis programs in the area. Harker finished the season with a record of 14-5. At the quarters, the boys faced a familiar opponent, Bellarmine, whom they have met in three of their last four CCS appearances. This year the boys lost a close match, and senior Karthik Dhore, WBAL MVP, was the lone Eagle standout. Dhore was seeded second and finished in the top eight at the CCS individual tournament in late May.

Baseball Tennis photos by Ashley Batz

“This is the first time we beat every team in our league at least once, and we were not shut out all regular season.”

the team members for a job well done and a ton of thanks to coaches Rios, Dan Hudkins and Ray Fowler.

Baseball finished its season with three straight victories and a third place league finish at 5-5.

The team had a 27-game schedule, so was playing hard throughout the season.

GO E AG L E S !

Follow Harker sports at Harker News Online at http://news.harker.org.

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F r Harker Tennis C ach:

It’s More Than Just the Game varsity tennis squads in the upper school,

appropriate for beginner and lower-

Pasqua offers four levels of after-school

intermediate tennis players ready to play

tennis programs available to Harker and

on a full-sized court.

non-Harker students. Pasqua teaches at

H

the Oakwood Tennis Center, which is

By Igor Hiller

located just down the street from Harker‘s

arker tennis director Craig Pasqua is not your regular tennis coach. “It‘s not just about teaching good tennis,” he says. “It‘s about teaching kids

to become better, more responsible young adults and take their place in society through the game of tennis.”

Saratoga campus.

competitive, tournament play, as well as

program. HOTTS introduces players to

college tennis. “Some kids don‘t believe

competitive tennis in a team-oriented

they have the skills necessary for college

environment. It is also very convenient

play,” says Pasqua, “but I believe in them,

for Harker students. Not only is it aligned

and I know they can do it.”

around development – both physical and

to Oakwood, and a shuttle is available for

mental – and his mission is to give as

Saratoga students.

Pasqua graduated from Stanford University

aged 6 to 10. Court dimensions are shortened,

in 1986 with a degree in psychology and

and the students use shorter racquets and

decision sciences. He played tennis for De

slower balls. These changes help younger kids

Anza College after graduation and was for

to learn because they can more quickly play

several years the national champion of the

“real” tennis. There is less focus on learning

Native American Indian Tennis Association.

the strokes and rote technical repetition, and

He began coaching professionally in 2000

more emphasis on fun.

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From QuickStart, students move on to Believe and Achieve, a program

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Pasqua believes in all his students and says that out of everything he does in tennis, his favorite activity is coaching.

“I enjoy seeing the kids develop, and the Photos by Ashley Batz

The first level is the QuickStart Junior Team Tennis League, a program designed for kids

Along with coaching the girls‘ and boys‘

to the program is by approval only, and it is meant to prepare students for tough,

HOTTS coaches escort Blackford students

and has been with Harker since 2003.

Development Program (IPD). Acceptance

Training System, is Pasqua‘s central

Pasqua‘s coaching philosophy centers

to play the game.

offers the Intercollegiate Player

HOTTS, or Harker/Oakwood Tennis

with Harker‘s academic calendar, but

many children as possible the opportunity

For the most advanced players, Pasqua

lessons they learn on the tennis court transfer well into life skills. They learn how to problem solve, how to make decisions, how to prioritize. They learn how to be social and talk with other kids.

Some of the most enduring friendships I‘ve ever made have been on a tennis court, and I‘m almost positive that‘s what‘s going to happen to them as well.”

Apart from coaching at Harker and Oakwood, Pasqua keeps very busy with

Pasqua is on the board of the Santa

“It’s not just about teaching good tennis; it’s about teaching kids to become better, more responsible young adults.” —Craig Pasqua

Clara Indian Health Center, the second-

Students are already seeing results. Harker

largest community health clinic in Santa

student Shwetha Bharadwaj, grade 9,

Clara County. He also founded a 501(c)3

is a member of the IPD program and on

seeing personal growth. “Kids come

corporation in 1996 called Standing Tall

the girls‘ varsity squad. “I‘ve improved

back after college and tell me how some

Tennis, through which Pasqua has taught

tremendously,” says Bharadwaj. “[Coach

adversity they encountered on the tennis

tennis to more than 8,000 people in 21

Pasqua] does these new drills, and they

court helped them get through something

states, many on Indian reservations.

strengthen me not only physically, but

personal in their lives.” It truly is about

now I‘m smarter with my shots. I know

more than just the tennis.

volunteer efforts. “I think it‘s very important to be a good role model for the kids,” says Pasqua. For the past three years, Pasqua has volunteered at the U.S. Open Arthur Ashe Kids‘ Day. This year he gave lessons for the USTA Serves Foundation, which supports programs that serve at-risk children and people with disabilities.

In addition to coaching and his volunteer efforts, Pasqua works at keeping his coaching skills sharp. He recently spent a week at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Naples, Fla., where Pasqua worked with Emilio Sanchez, producer of some of the top tennis players in the world, and

when to hit what kind of shot.” Bharadwaj is appreciative of Pasqua‘s expertise. “He‘s extremely smart, very intelligent. The style [of tennis] he teaches us really helps because most of the girls out there don‘t know it.”

adapted his drills and systems for Pasqua‘s

While Pasqua loves seeing his students

own Harker/Oakwood programs.

improve, he says his true joy comes from

DETAI LS All four tennis programs are offered year-round, with special camps in the summer. For more information, visit Harker Tennis at www.harker.org and search on “athletics”; or contact tennis@harker.org

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C O N C E RT Harker Concert Series Kicks Off with Stirring iolin Duo

V

By Steven M. Boyle ’06

T

he first installment of the Harker Concert Series, held in early March, featured the duo MarcOlivia, composed of violinists Marc Ramirez and Olivia Hajioff, playing a blend of crushing, heartbreaking and even carnivalesque Eastern European folk songs, art music and a parody of Mozart’s work.

on a somewhat lighter note: a blend of a parody and an ode to Mozart’s music as the two performers wove through a number of his pieces, even using voice and whistling to mimic other instruments.

The concert began with a number of compositions by Béla Bartók, a 20thcentury Hungarian composer who traveled through Eastern Europe, listening to and transcribing the folk songs of village communities before they disappeared and melted into a homogeneous global culture.

Most of these numbers were short and sudden – 30 seconds of powerful, tragic, arresting, halting, despairing, jagged strikes, followed by 10-second fearsomely frenetic and jubilant conclusions. Some were songs of Romanian bagpipes transliterated for violins; others mixed bittersweet reaching and trudging marches with maddeningly twisting, spiraling slashes.

After the most powerful numbers the audience was paralyzed in frozen silence for several seconds before applauding, digesting the works. The concert finished 32

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Photos by Ashley Batz

MarcOlivia has performed around the world, appearing on radio and television in North America, Europe and Asia, winning Fulbright fellowships and enjoying a residency at the Tokyo College of Music.

On March 9 they came to the Nichols Hall auditorium, and the audience, feted with sushi and wine, was treated to tunes adapted for two violins.

F

Areon lutes Closes First Concert Series Season on a Riveting Note

By Zach Jones

The final episode of this season’s Harker Concert Series featured Areon Flutes, a Bay Area-based ensemble of elite flautists who specialize in contemporary pieces.

Known for their innovative, experimental performances, the group – comprising Jill Heinke, Kassey Plaha and Amelia Vitarelli – impressed the evening crowd at the Nichols

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Hall auditorium on May 27 with their unique twist on modern chamber music.

Areon Flutes began their set with a piece called “Tern,” which musically chronicles the migration of the arctic bird for which it is named. The trio evoked images of the long journey by blowing air through their instruments and playing an extended series

SERIES of notes that rose and fell in rapid succession.

Their next performance was a piece that was meant to depict a conversation between two parakeets, featuring a “call and response” structure with fast-paced arpeggiation, counterpointed by slower, more melodic passages in its second movement and a slightly mischievous tone in the third.

One of the more impressive performances during the evening was the final piece, during which they collaborated with area flautist Meerenai Shim and played the entire family of flutes, including the alto flute, bass flute and piccolo.

aylor Eigsti and Bandmates T Shine in Nichols Auditorium

By Zach Jones

T

he second installment of the Harker Concert Series brought the Taylor Eigsti Trio to the stage of the Nichols Hall auditorium on March 25.

Eigsti, the 26-year-old jazz piano phenom and Grammy nominee who started leading bands as early as age 12, was joined on this evening by bassist Reuben Rogers, a collaborator with Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, among others, and drummer Colin McDaniel, 19, a fellow at the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific.

Photos by John Ho

The trio began the first of their two sets with an instrumental interpretation of Sachal Vasandani’s “Please Mr. Ogilvy” and performed a diverse mix of covers and Eigsti’s own works as the show progressed.

Eigsti’s dexterity was apparent from the outset, but his technical ability was very nearly overshadowed by his expressive syncopation and note choice. Rarely was this illustrated better than in the trio’s

rendition of Mussorgsky’s “Promenade” from “Pictures at an Exhibition,” quite possibly the highlight of the first set. At first blush an odd choice of song for a jazz concert, the beloved piece sounded right at home in the trio’s capable hands, as did their cover of Coldplay’s “Daylight.”

What impressed about Eigsti more than anything, however, was the deft sense of placement. Be it a blistering chromatic run, a rapid succession of octaves or even a flurry of closed fists banging against the keyboard, every technique in Eigsti’s vast arsenal was wisely chosen and never overused.

As a special treat, Harker’s own Dave Hart, the middle school music teacher and trumpeter

who formed a childhood band with Eigsti, was welcomed onstage to perform Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way” with the band during the second set. Although visibly humbled by the gesture, Hart effused confidence during his extended, skillful improvisations.

Through it all, Eigsti made sure that the talents of his bandmates were as much a part of the show as the marquee name. Rogers’ many solos showcased his astonishing grasp of both theory and feel, and the interplay between him and Eigsti was always a joy to watch.

Likewise, the young McDaniel seems destined for great things, his work behind the kit tasteful, layered and, yes, mature.

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Harker Libraries:

Reading is

Pure Pleasure

By Lauri J. Vaughan Reading is like getting all the vitamins you need from a chocolate sundae – it feels good going down and it’s good for you, too.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, high frequency adult readers are more than twice as likely to participate in charity work, three times as likely to attend performing arts events, one-and-a-half times more likely to attend or participate in a sporting event. (NEA 2002)

Photo by Mark Tantrum

I can cast a spell with Harry Potter, solve a crime with the Hardy Boys, jump into Greek mythology with Percy Jackson, or anything else!

—Nikhil Manglik, grade 6

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recalling their roles in the Ogre Awards a decade earlier.

Once bitten, students tend to experience long-lasting effects from the book-bug. “I like to read because it gives me a chance to escape reality,” says Nikhil Manglik, grade 6. “I can cast a spell with Harry Potter, solve a crime with the Hardy Boys, jump into Greek mythology with Percy Jackson, or anything else!”

Little wonder then, that a habit that fosters such good feelings also precipitates Reading, specifically reading for pleasure – a habit that includes the freedom to choose what good grades. According to a 2004 study, to read – needs to be encouraged in childhood students “who read more than just assigned materials show increased vocabulary skills, to flourish in adulthood. Not surprisingly, it’s a focus of a myriad of programs at Harker targeted improved test performance (and) higher levels of general knowledge.” (Hatfield) at all ages, from the youngest kindergartners A decade earlier, researchers determined through senior faculty. that “leisure reading … has been positively At the lower school, such programs include related to psychological absorption and an annual book fair, the Halloween Haunted tolerance of complexity.” (Mill & Kuiken) House Reading Contest and weekly library Such evidence is strong support for middle visits for K-4 students where librarians Kathy Clark and Enid Davis introduce lifelong school librarian Bernie Morrissey’s take on reading. “Pleasure reading helps fictional friends. Library clerk Moureen young people become better students by Lennon perpetuates the enthusiasm with increasing their verbal abilities. Instead book talks and checkout time in grade 5 of spending school breaks with SAT English classes. vocabulary books, students should check “Reading is like any skill: it has to be out lots of library books to read for fun.” practiced to reach mastery. Being a To encourage leisure reading, Morrissey master reader brings a lifetime of joy and sponsors a self-directed book club for knowledge,” says lower school librarian, students in grades 6-8. Participants former library director and folklorist Davis.

Davis has made good on her promise for the collectively decide on a novel, read it and last 15 years through the annual Ogre Awards enjoy a discussion over snacks.

– a yearlong revel in folklore study for second graders that culminates in an Academy Award-like celebration of witches, tricksters and giants. Nostalgic seniors are oft heard

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Demanding schedules and homework loads foiled a similar design at the upper school.

In response, upper school librarians created the Non Required Reading Reading Club

Three Nerk members have spun their love of reading into national publication. Denzil Sikka ’09, Nikita Agrawal ’10 and Christina Li, grade 12, have had multiple reviews of young adult fiction printed in “Voice of Youth Advocates,” a leading review source for librarians serving teens. On a college acceptance letter, a handwritten note encouraged Sikka to “come write book reviews at Cal Tech!”

Summer provides a spot on the calendar to which all three Harker libraries anchor their leisure reading programs. The lower school publishes an annual summer reading list of age-appropriate authors.

Students in K-5 who read five or more titles earn a library pin to wear on their dress uniforms.

The middle school summer reading program, Reading Roundtable, features small group book discussions based on collectively chosen titles and takes place in student advisories the first week of school.

Itching to talk about summer reads, upper school students get a chance to chat books the first week of school, too. Every spring teachers and

over an intriguing professional title.

This summer’s read: “The Edutainer: Connecting the Art and Science of Teaching” by Brad Johnson and Tammy Maxson.

As in past years, ReCreate Reading 2011 will host an author as well. Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author of “Acceptance,” David L. Marcus will engage a large group of students via Skype and recount the experience of seven Long Island teens’ quest for college. Previous years’ ReCreate Reading programs have featured Dave Cullen, author of “Columbine,” and Matt Richtel, author of “Hooked.”

Like readers everywhere, Harker bibliophiles tend to get a little evangelistic about reading. Consequently several programs feature Harker students providing books for children who would not otherwise enjoy them. The Pajama Project, an annual grade 3 service event, brings in donations of pajamas and bedtime books.

The drive culminates in a schoolwide pajama day in which a Harker administrator reads – wearing jammies, of course – to the student body.

Ashley B

atz

administrators sponsor a title or genre, and students select from among all offerings. This year’s list features 53 unique choices ranging from Steve Berry’s “The Last Emperor” (sponsored by history teacher Ramsay Westgate) to “Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health” by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie (sponsored by chemistry teacher Robbie Korin) to the very popular mystery genre groups.

Photos by

(NRRRC). Twice a month students gather to chat about whatever book they’ve read recently or to get a list of suggestions.

Nerk, as it’s fondly called, “celebrates reading without adding an extra obligation to already busy students,” reports upper school librarian Meredith Cranston. “We enjoy enthusiastic conversation about books, author readings and upcoming publications over lunch. It’s fabulous!”

The success of such programs depends upon allowing students freedom of choice.

“When you’re doing something you like, it always makes things so much easier,” says Mercedes Chien, grade 9, who points out, “A great book is one that makes me want to keep reading.”

Teachers – just like students – step up to summer reading every year. Facilitated

by Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, the popular faculty reading program allows Harker teachers to opt in to a discussion

Not to be left out of the frenzy, members of the class of 2011 shared their all-time favorites by creating a Senior Book Legacy.

This year’s Legacies – annotated book recommendations – are featured on a wall-size, Facebook-like display of titles in Manzanita Hall.

At the upper school, members of the Global Outreach and Empowerment (GEO) club collected funds to build two libraries in Africa through the Reach Out and Read program.

“Reading,” says Sue Smith, library director, “is a win-win. It’s fun and it makes us better.” And it goes well with ice cream.

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Harker Visited by Guests from Three Continents During Spring Semester

Photos by Ashley Batz

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By Zach Jones

H

arker received many international visitors during the spring semester.

On March 31, Carmel Stolarchuk, a history teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Australia, arrived at Harker as part of this year’s teacher exchange between the two schools. That weekend she embarked on a sweeping tour of the Bay Area, visiting San Francisco’s historic Haight Street with Ruth Meyer, history teacher, and seeing Half Moon Bay with Kevin Williamson, upper school dean of students.

During her two-week stay at Harker, Stolarchuk observed several classes. Being a history teacher herself, she spent most of her time in classes such as Carol Zink’s World History, Meyer’s Honors World History and Donna Gilbert’s AP World History. She also taught several classes at the upper school and took a trip to the lower school campus where she taught students about Australia. On the last day of her visit Stolarchuk visited the middle school campus and observed Mark Gelineau’s Native American Culture class, Early Western

Civilization classes taught by Andy Keller and Keith Hirota and Pat White’s American History class.

Harker was also joined in April by a group of 18 students from Switzerland’s Collège de Gambach who spent the week observing and participating in classes, socializing with Harker students and having fun around the Bay Area. The students had a great time learning salsa dance with Spanish teachers Abel Olivas and Diana Moss and also got to take part in a drama exercise with Jeff Draper, theater teacher.

Extracurricular activities for the students included visits to the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, viewing of the IMAX film “Forces of Nature” and taking one final tour of the Bay Area with their host families. Before departing the group enjoyed a farewell party in the Nichols Hall rotunda.

A group of Tamagawa administrators visited Harker briefly in April, seeking information on Harker’s approach to discipline.

According to Williamson, the administrators were very intrigued by the idea of Harker students taking an active role in enforcing academic integrity.

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s e i d d u B e l g a E m a r g Pro Ye t s r i F e om s e w A s ha

in October, with the sophomores being greeted enthusiastically by the third graders. After the initial meeting, Sarah Leonard, primary division head, said she was impressed with how well the third graders and sophomores hit it off. “For most, it was instantaneous,” she said.

“The buddies clicked, and new friendships were born.”

Photos by

I z

Ashley Bat

By Zach Jones

n its first year, the Harker Eagle Buddies program has thus far proven to be a runaway success.

Established as a way to build a long-lasting relationship between the students at the upper and lower school campuses, the Eagle Buddies program pairs grade 3 students with one or two buddies in grade 10, with whom they will maintain contact until the Class of 2013 graduates from the upper school and the grade 3 students graduate to the middle school.

The program was started by Butch Keller, upper school head, who was inspired by the wonderful experiences his own children had in a similar program.

The sophomores began communicating with their buddies in the fall by sending cards to the lower school campus to introduce themselves and invite their buddies to talk about things they enjoyed. The buddies from both campuses first met face-to-face

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They later met again at a special tailgate party held before the Harker Homecoming Game, where the parents of the grade 3 and grade 10 buddies had a chance to meet and chat with one another while their children watched the game. Liam Bakar got to watch his buddy, Robert Deng, play in the junior varsity game. The two hung out together after the game was finished, and Bakar said Deng was “very nice, and I like a lot of the things that he likes.”

In November the third graders were overjoyed to receive turkey handprint cards from their grade 10 buddies for Thanksgiving. “It was very wellreceived,” said Carol Zink, upper school history teacher and an Eagle Buddies coordinator. “They’re thrilled whenever they get anything from the big kids.”

Later, in January, the sophomores visited the lower school campus to participate in its annual Pajama Drive, started in 2007 by student Rishi Narain, now grade 7. During the special assembly, Keller, donning a bathrobe and leaning back in a rocking chair, read the story “We Are Going

ar

On A Bear Hunt” to the students in attendance. The buddies also enjoyed reading stories of their own to one another. Zink said the event was fun for students from both grades: the third graders got to spend quality time with upper school role models, and the sophomores had the opportunity to “lighten up and be kids for a little bit.”

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the smaller buddies sent valentines to their big friends. The following month the favor was returned when the big kids sent St. Patrick’s Day cards to their buddies at the lower school.

Months later, the buddies celebrated Earth Day with each other by planting a tree at the upper school campus. The buddies helped dig a suitable hole for a London Plains tree which was donated by the Modern Woodmen of America and planted next to Rosenthal Field.

Later that month, the lower schoolers once again visited the Saratoga campus to participate in the upper school’s spirit rally. They enjoyed watching their sophomore friends perform a hilarious skit and also took part in the annual

scream-off, where each class tried to out-yell the others. After the rally, the buddies enjoyed pizza and friendly conversation on the turf at Davis Field.

on Wednesday during the upper school’s spirit week for a special field day.

“One of the most fun things about this for me,” Zink said, “is that our high school kids get to be little kids for an hour here or there during the year.”

These activities are planned to be continued next year, when the current grade 2 and grade 9 classes move up to grade 3 and grade 10, respectively.

“One of the most fun things about this for me is that our high school kids get to be kids for an hour here or there during the year.”

– Carol Zink, upper school history teacher and Eagle Buddies co-coordinator

When this year’s buddies reach grade 4 and grade 11 at the beginning of next year, the two classes will exchange letters again to get caught up and reminisce about their summer activities. Some kind of activity for the buddies at the Family & Alumni Picnic is also planned.

Toward the end of the fall 2011 semester, the two classes will team up for the Harker Toy Drive, which is the grade 4 students’ annual service project, and they will also make special holiday candy boxes for Scott Lane Elementary. The rising juniors will also visit Bucknall for a St. Patrick’s Day party, and their grade 4 buddies will likely visit Saratoga Photos by Ashley Batz

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Lower and Middle School Science:

Laying Foundations for Future Success Photo by Ashley Batz

By Edward Hejtmanek ’06

Harker has a strong reputation for producing students who excel in math and science. This tradition of success can be traced back to foundations laid in the lower and middle school curricula, which emphasize methods and hands-on learning that open the door to later growth.

These seeds of success are planted early in the youngest Harker students, the kindergarten and grade 1 students.

At this level emphasis is placed on defining what science is and what scientists do. So, for three periods a week, kindergarten students are engaged in hands-on projects that, according to Michelle Anderson, who teaches kindergarten science, math, social studies and English, “are more real to kindergarten minds.” Anderson explores essential, introductory themes like “the five senses, the solar system and changes in life cycles.” One of the kids’ favorite sections is focused on life cycles, where the students are 40

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able to observe caterpillars as they develop from their larval stages to their chrysalises and then become butterflies. These broad topics, explored through reading, activities and experiments, lay a structure for later study.

Once students have progressed to grade 2, they begin to enter into more intensive science programs. The students are learning increasingly broader topics, such as measurement (a necessity for any burgeoning scientist), water, the human body, and electricity and magnetism. These topics are taught using the Lawrence Hall

of Science’s Foss curriculum, which emphasizes the key principle that science is learned through conducting experiments and understanding concepts in a hands-on manner. Katy Sommer, grade 2 science teacher, notes that Harker students “devote a large amount of time to science, four periods a week, which helps them build strong foundations.”

In grade 5 students have advanced to more complex life science topics. Here students learn about scientific method in detail and spend a substantial amount of time on essential topics such as taxonomy. At this level students continue to be exposed to real-life applications of what they learn in their textbooks. In order to associate theory learned in class into hands-on knowledge, this year’s entire grade 5 class explored the tide pools at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Monterey in April. Catherine Le, grade 5 science teacher, said that her students could

Photo by Mark Tantrum

Photo by Raji Swaminathan

“The learning spirals as it moves upward. Threads are repeated as students have a higher capacity to understand.”

—Lorna Claerbout, K-8

science department chair

Photo by Ashley Batz

find many of the things in tide pools they had just finished learning about in class. Learning the characteristics of the echinoderm phylum becomes more real when a student can hold a sea star and physically observe it.

As the students enter middle school, the fundamental topics and ways of thinking that have been established begin to come into contact with the more complex scientific concepts that will be emphasized in high school and college. In grade 6 experimental design and methods of data gathering are explored through the physical sciences.

At the end of the year, students are tasked with designing an experiment, conducting it and interpreting the resulting data. The students then synthesize the information into a poster board presentation.

In grade 8 students conduct three experiments in their biology classes.

These experiments utilize tools to explore human physiology, allowing

Photo by Ashley Batz

students to measure characteristics like lung capacity and heart rate and also track the student-designated variable of interest.

The general process of designing and conducting experiments becomes more complex as the students move from grade to grade. When considering their progress, Lorna Claerbout, K-8 science department chair, says “the learning spirals as it moves upward. Threads are repeated as students have a higher capacity to understand.”

These repeating threads, with their heavy emphasis on data gathering, critical thinking and pattern recognition, mean that Harker students are consistently recognized as exemplary. At the Synopsys Championship Fair, held March 6-7, Harker students were recognized at many levels for their outstanding work.

The middle school students produced more than a half dozen award-winning projects. They were recognized for

Photo by Ashley Batz

laudable work in physics, medicine, environmental sciences, biochemistry, botany and zoology subjects for both individual efforts and team submissions.

These results are but the latest in a long line of strong Harker performances in the sciences, and while the high caliber of student cannot be discounted when tracing the roots of their success, we must certainly pay tribute to where they began, in the lower and middle school science classrooms.

Photo by Mark Tantrum

Photo by Ashley Batz

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Photo by Daniela Lapidous, grade 11

Photo by Jennie Xu, grade 11

Photo by Kevin Lin, grade 10

Photo by Brianna Tran, grade 12

Faculty Portraits Highlight Connection between Students and Teachers

By Edward Hejtmanek ‘06

F

the perfect shot. They finally found it, Lo said, “having a great time as I stood amidst their plants trying to capture the right angle.”

or a favorite annual assignment, upper school journalism students took faculty portraits, some quite stylized, and the results graced the school‘s main lobby in April and May.

“I wanted to recreate a more personal piece that involved family.”

The photo project has become a staple for the students of journalism teacher Chris Daren. Participants are students from the Winged Post newspaper, Talon yearbook and new magazine Hatch. “We have done some form of this project for the past three years, but I try to change it every year to keep it fresh for returning journalism students,” he said. Past years required the students to take self-portraits or family pictures. Many of this year‘s teacher portraits departed from the norm in that they were based on historically famous photos.

-Michelle Lo, Gr. 11

The students selected a wide variety of school employees, from administrators to faculty to maintenance staff, to be in their portraits and, according to Daren, “[the subjects] were always very excited to be chosen.”

Michelle Lo, grade 11, chose to work with Evan Barth, upper school class dean, and his wife, Tia Barth, who teaches upper school English. To prepare for the project, Lo poured through a number of photography books and said, “While there were any number of dramatic and extravagant individual shots, I wanted to recreate a more personal piece that involved family.” Lo found her inspiration in a photograph of actor Jessica Lange and playwright Sam Shepard, who are a couple. After agreeing to be in the piece, the Barths and Lo hunted through the Barth‘s backyard seeking 42

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Photo by Priyanka Mody, grade 11

Photo by Victoria Chan, grade 12

In order to properly prepare for the project, the journalism students were required to learn about a number of different portrait photography styles, and they studied famous, non-famous and historic photographers. Students then picked individual photographers and pictures that inspired their faculty portraits.

Brianna Tran, grade 12, decided to try to capture the relationship between Pam Dickinson, director of the Office of Communication, and her daughter, Casey Near ‘06. To bring this relationship to life in a picture, Tran decided on using a photo of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her mother, Blythe Danner. After some logistical wrangling that included coordinating a time, a location and outfits, the trio were able to begin taking photos. Tran said, “I thought that recreating the photo would be relatively easy and wouldn‘t take much time, but it actually turned out to take an hour and a half!” The shot is a beautifully lit portrait of Near in a satin gown on Dickinson‘s lap, both women wreathed in different kinds of smiles. Tran had her shot.

There were many outstanding portraits, a tribute to the artists who provided their inspiration, the students‘ dedication in completing their projects and the instructor for assigning such a challenging and personal project. More than photos came from the project. “Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I feel I have grown in my relationship with my faculty,” said Lo. For more information, contact Chris Daren at chrisda@harker.org.

By Zach Jones

Advancement

Students and Parents Show Gratitude at Teacher Appreciation Events

The Teacher Appreciation events in late April and early May gave students and parents the chance to show their gratitude to the teachers for the stellar jobs they did during the year. Each campus had its own event, and the teachers were treated to food served by parents and students.

On April 29 upper school students had their tongs ready to serve a special breakfast to the Saratoga teachers, who enjoyed a hearty morning meal in the Edge.

Photos by Ashley Batz

Middle school teachers had a very special day in store for them on May 2, starting with a hot breakfast in the morning and a presentation held for them at the morning meeting to thank them for their dedication. Later that day parents held a luncheon for the teachers, who were served a wonderful array of entrees and desserts.

Finally, on May 3, lower school teachers were up bright and early to enjoy breakfast in the teachers’ lounge. At around noon they joined lower school parents for an outdoor lunch in the splendid spring weather, enjoying a wide variety of foods and pleasant conversation out on the lower school lawn.

The Head of School’s Circle Celebration on April 29 was held at Nichols Hall to show the community’s appreciation for its committed donors. Guests were treated to hors d’oeuvres while they browsed the stunning student creations on display for the upper school’s art show.

Following some appreciative words from Chris Nikoloff, head of school, the attendees enjoyed performances by three of Harker’s top performing arts groups: the upper school show choir Downbeat, directed by Laura Lang-Ree and Catherine Snider; the all-boys grade 7-8 dance troupe High Voltage, directed by Karl Kuehn; and Showstoppers, the all-girls grade 7-8 dance group, directed by Amalia Vasconi.

Photos by Ashley Batz

Circle Celebration Honors School’s Most Generous Donors

Following the electrifying performances, the guests enjoyed coffee, dessert and good conversation in the Nichols Hall atrium.

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Photo by Ashley Batz

Inaugural Grant Winners Complete First Cycle; New Winners and a New Grant Named

By William Cracraft

T Photo by Joe Rosenthal

he inaugural John Near Scholar Grant cycle is complete, and the first three reports were filed this spring for public access in the John Near Resource Center. Four new Near Grant winners were named in May, and a new endowment has been established by the Mitra family; the first grant winner from that endowment has also been named.

Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 10) have established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which will match gifts for the Annual Giving Campaign up to a total of $100,000.

“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical 44

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skills and knowledge that develop wellrounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra.

“Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”

“The Mitra family’s endowment offer, and every matching gift from others, will benefit our students every year, for years and years to come,” said Melinda Gonzales, director of development.

Justine Liu, Tyler Koteskey and Olivia Zhu, all 2011 graduates, were celebrated in the Near Center in Shah Hall by mentors, administrators, parents, history department members, Samir and Sundari Mitra and by Near’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of the Office of Communication. The center reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009, and his legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history.

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The John Near U.S. History Endowment, established by Near’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, was the first of its kind at Harker and funds grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects and history-related databases for the school, as Near wished.

Liu first got interested in her topic, “The China Card versus the China Trade: SinoAmerican Economic Relations, 1972-1989,” covering the relationship between China and the U.S. from President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, while reading about it in class. In a different class Liu was writing a paper on the currency devaluation in modern China and mentally began tracing the historical line between the two events, focusing on the economic aspects.

“What I was really interested in was why Nixon thought that it was in the interest of U.S. foreign policy for Kissinger to make a secret visit to China,” said Liu. “I was interested in the economic background of that decision.”

Liu, who will attend Harvard in the fall, used grant funds to go to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

“I was able to go into the archives room to read

Provided by Sarah Howells

and handle the original documents, letters summer to do the research,” Koteskey said. and memos relating and leading up to his “I was able to visit Harper’s Ferry and the 1972 trip to the PRC,” she said. “I think Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields which, without the grant I would not have apart from being really awesome for a had the incentive to go out history buff, helped me form a there and really write a better appreciation of some comprehensive paper. of the geographical “That was the first That was the first factors constraining time I got to be that Civil War generals time I got to be that close to documents in their campaign close to documents that that were that planning,” said were that important important to Koteskey, noting to history, so that is history, so that is that he probably something that I really something that I wouldn’t have valued that I couldn’t really valued that I done the research have done without couldn’t have done without the grant. the grant.” without the grant.”

“My most defining —Justine Liu, 2010 Near Grant Scholar Koteskey’s project, memory, though, was “High Water Mark: probably my interview Discussing the Impacts of with Dr. Richard J. Sommers, National Power on Confederate the senior historian at the U.S. Military Strategy through the Lens of Army Military Heritage and Education the Gettysburg Campaign,” analyzes the Center in Carlisle. He embraced his time elements of national power as they applied with me, turning our ‘interview’ into a to the Confederate States of America in Socratic discussion on Civil War strategy; 1863. it completely changed my mind, and the ultimate course of my paper, on many of the “It was the middle of the Civil War, and a preconceived notions I had about General crucial moment for the South,” Koteskey Lee’s best strategic option in the summer of said. “They could reinforce the western half 1863.” Koteskey, who will attend UCLA in the of the country,” but decided to make an fall, noted the whole package, winning the offensive move against the North instead to grant and doing the research, “was really a try to force a call for peace. Koteskey used rewarding experience.” his grant to travel to the Gettysburg region.

Zhu’s paper, “The UCMJ and “What I think was most valuable to me in Insubordination: Suitability of Military this project was going to Pennsylvania last Judicial Responses during the Vietnam

War,” was perhaps an outgrowth of her work on the school’s honor council but grew to explore the history of military justice. “I decided, ultimately, to settle on insubordination during the Vietnam War and how the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addressed insubordination among soldiers,” Zhu said.

“I really enjoyed this entire research process – it’s been so much fun,” she added. “I think the most important part of this grant was coming to realize that all my teachers helped me so much. It was just very much a community effort going into this paper.”

Zhu, who will also attend Harvard in the fall, noted, “Without the grant there is not that impetus to pursue (a topic), and there is not the support system.”

Five more students will walk the path of discovery next year. Sarah Howells, grade 11, is the first Mitra Family Scholar and will join the four Near Grant recipients, Max Isenberg, Cole Manaster, Dwight Payne and Laura Yau, also all rising seniors, in pursuing a chosen historical topic they are passionate about.

“We had 11 applicants this year, and it was not an easy decision to choose from them — we were so impressed with the quality and variety of applications,” said Donna Gilbert, chair of the history and social science department.

Photos by Ashley Batz

As the ceremony wrapped up at the Near Center reception, the students received resounding applause for their presentations.

“You three – and your work – perfectly embody what Mr. Near intended with this grant,” commented Dickinson. “He would be so incredibly proud of all of you.”

Read the full story of the Near Grant reception at news.harker.org. Search on “Near Grant.” Those interested in contributing to either endowment can contact Melinda Gonzales, director of development, at melindag@harker.org.

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Display Student Creativity on All Three Campuses

By Zach Jones

Photos by Ashley Batz

Harker art students worked very hard during the last year to create their best work yet, and much of it went on display during exhibitions at all three campuses.

The AP Studio Art Exhibit was held in the Nichols Hall atrium on March 23 and featured stunning work from artists such as Victoria Vu, grade 12, whose unique, serial-plane, clay and plaster sculptures were inspired by the rolling hills of the California coast. “In order to create these forms, I used curves and repetition,” Vu wrote in her concentration statement. Also featured were the intriguing photographic renderings of San Francisco by Warren Kwong, grade 12.

“Feeling most at home in San Francisco, I decided that it was natural for San Francisco to become my subject for my concentration,” read Kwong’s statement. “My intention is to capture the essence of San Francisco in a new light, one not tainted by the defining images of tourism.”

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Photos by Ashley Batz

“Feeling most at home in San Francisco, I decided that it was natural for San Francisco to become my subject for my concentration.

My intention is to capture the essence of San Francisco in a new light, one not tainted by the defining images of tourism.”

The 2011 Upper School Annual Art Exhibition was held mid-May in the Nichols Hall atrium, and this year’s juror was Susan O’Malley, curator of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. Senior Priya Sahdev’s photography piece, titled “Dawn 2,” was named best in show. First place for the drawing category went to Iris Xia, grade 10, while Amy Gendotti, grade 10, received honorable mention.

Cherry Xie, grade 11, won first place for painting, with an honorable mention going to Tiffany Chang, grade 12. In sculpture Michelle Markiewicz, grade 12, won first place, and Victoria Vu won honorable mention. Markiewicz also took the first place prize in ceramics, with Jasmine Gill, grade 10, winning honorable mention.

Vladimir Sepetov, grade 12, was the first place winner in the graphic arts/digital category, where honorable mention went to Warren Kwong. Sahdev took first place for photography, and Katharine Forsberg, grade 12, won honorable mention.

—Warren Kwong, grade 12

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ART SHOWS DISPLAY STUDENT CREATIVITY ON ALL THREE CAMPUSES

In May, the Golden Brush awards were given out to outstanding middle school art students.

Grade 8 winners of the Golden Brush were Jackelyn Shen, Jessica Yang and Vamsi Gadiraju. Doreene Kang, Kristen Ko and Natalie Simonian were this year’s grade 7 winners, and Riya Chandra, Anahita Far, Raveena Kapatkar and Tiffany Zhu were the winners for grade 6. This year’s Golden Mallet award for sculpture went to eighth grader Rachel Wu.

Photos by Ashley Batz

The White Plume, awarded to the top artist in grade 8, was given to Hannah Bollar.

Creative Spirit awards were given to Matthew Ho, grade 8, Ashley Zhong, grade 7 and Michael Auld, grade 6.

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Honorable mentions were awarded to grade 8 students Jacqueline An and Eric Wang, grade 7 student Esther Wang and grade 6 students Paul Clarke, Elan Friedland, Zayne Khouja, Isabel Lai, Shreya Neogi and Lucas Wang. Works by these and other middle school art students were on display during the middle school art exhibition. Several middle school art pieces were also featured at the upper school lobby in March and April.

middle school

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ART SHOWS DISPLAY STUDENT CREATIVITY ON ALL THREE CAMPUSES

Photos by Ashley Batz

lower school The lower school’s art exhibit, featuring works from students in K-5, went on display at the lower school campus in April. Works included an engraving resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics by Emma-Leigh Stoll, grade 2, and a blackand-white watercolor painting of a panda

by Megan Cardosi, grade 5. Several pieces from the exhibit were later selected by representatives from the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital to be displayed there.

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GreaterGood

By Emily Chow ‘08

Community Comes Together to Offer Support Locally and Internationally

A

On a mid-April weekend, Glenn Reddy, grade 8, and members of Peace2Peace organized a now-annual garage sale at the Reddy residence. Through the two-day garage sale, Peace2Peace raised $1,200 to give to the Shriners Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit network of 22 hospitals that gives aid to children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.

“Over the past few years, we have raised money for places in Uganda,

Advised by English teacher Steve Hewitt, the group solicited items to sell at their sale, asking for everything from toaster ovens to “velvet, glow in the dark Jimi Hendrix [artwork] that your spouse can’t stand” in their creative announcement.

Their philosophy: “One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.” People donated dining room tables, clothes, televisions and games, and Peace2Peace made $800 on the first day. Items left over from the two-day sale were donated to a local Goodwill.

Peace2Peace teaches students that initiative and effort can go a long way.

Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari, Jeremy Binkley and Alex Thomas, all grade 8, and Service Club members Sophia Shatas, Hannah Baz and Christina Andrus, also all grade 8, helped Reddy organize this year’s sale.

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Photo by Joe Connolly

Photo by Ashley Batz

“Peace2Peace has been an overall great experience for me,” Reddy said. “It has taught me how to work under time constraints, gain strong leadership skills and how to handle responsibility.”

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Photo by Joe Connolly

Costa Rica and India,” said Reddy, who has spearheaded the program since its inception. “We sat down and realized this year that people need help locally and not just in other countries. Since I have been a patient at Shriners myself, I recommended the Shriners hospital as a group to donate to.”

s the school year came to an end, the Harker community continued to give back to the surrounding Bay Area with a range of charity drives and fundraising events, as well as a few that focused on providing aid to those afflicted by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The middle school also held the fifth annual Cancer Walk in April, raising more than $7,340 for Camp Okizu, an organization dedicated to providing support for the childhood cancer community through recreational retreats and mentorship programs.

The class of 2011 continued the traditional toiletries collection for the San Jose Family Shelter, collecting extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, hair care and shaving items in bins located around the upper school campus, and Red Cross held a blood drive in March.

At the same time, first graders collected toys, pillows and general pet supplies for the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. “They [the Humane Society] were thrilled,” said Rita Stone, grade 1 teacher who delivered the donations in early April. “It was hard for them to believe all the items I kept pulling out of my car.” In addition to a car full of pet food and goods, the first graders also raised about $615. “I think Harker first graders really did make a difference, and it was easy to see how very much it was appreciated,” Stone wrote.

GreaterGood I first thought that it would be a great success if we could collect a few hundred cranes, but the results were above and beyond my expectations.

Photo by Ashley Batz

— Masako Onakado, upper school Japanese teacher

The upper school worked with Students Rebuild and Cranes for Kids, a program in which OshKosh donates an article of clothing for every crane folded. The Japanese National Honor

Photo by Kristin Giammona

After news of the Tohoku earthquake reached Harker, origami cranes began piling up on desks across the three campuses as the community sought ways to offer their support and concern for Japan and sister school Tamagawa Academy. The lower school’s Student Council led fundraising efforts that expanded into the middle school. As they folded and decorated more than 1,000 cranes with messages to friends at Tamagawa, the student council also sponsored a doughnut hole and chocolate milk sale on the lower school campus, raising more than $2,860. Across the two campuses the Harker community raised $6,695 for Save the Children. The total includes funds raised from the doughnut sale, a generous donation from the Mulpuri family (Rahul, K) and a percentage of Faux Salon services, owned by Siobhan Due (Kai, grade 1) and Isaac Sesody.

Society sponsored a Japanese disaster awareness art contest, and students made a poster of the rising sun to hang in Main Hall.

“I first thought that it would be a great success if we could collect a few hundred cranes,” Masako Onakado, Japanese teacher, said, “but the results were above and beyond my expectations.”

Students sat in hallways and in classrooms folding crane after crane.

Some, such as Alana Shamlou, grade 9,

Photo by Kristin Giammona

Efforts in honor of Japan

taught friends who have never made paper cranes.

“I thought the project was pretty cool considering that each little crane is worth two dollars that goes to a great cause,” Shamlou said.

After just two weeks, students folded a total of 3,815 cranes. The first 1,124 cranes were sent to Students Rebuild and the rest to Crane for Kids.

To learn more about Harker’s community service efforts, visit news. harker.org and search “service.”

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Milestones Four School Leaders Named to Administration

Photo by Tiffany Chien, grade 12

Photo by Shreya Nathan, grade 12

Photo by Tiffany Chien, grade 12

Photo by Shreya Nathan, grade 12

As Harker has grown, so has its commitment to excellence inside and outside of the classroom. To continue seamless interactions between student programs and operations, four operational leaders, who have become integral parts of the administrative team, have been formally named to the administration. Congratulations to Mike Bassoni (facility manager), Pam Dickinson (director of the Office of Communication), Dan Hudkins (director of instructional technology and information systems), and Clif Wilcox (business manager) on their inclusion.

Lower School Librarian Accepted as Reviewer for Librarian Resource Site Yearbook

Photo by Ashley Batz

Upper School Librarian Named VP for Librarian Association

Upper school campus librarian Lauri J. Vaughan has been named 2011-13 vice president of the Bay Area Independent School Librarians (BAISL) and will serve as BAISL’s president from 2013-15. BAISL is an association of professional school librarians dedicated to furthering professional growth and improving independent school libraries.

As vice president, Vaughan each year will organize three meetings of the organization, whose member librarians come from more than 100 independent school libraries throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

“It’s exciting to be part of a great group of information experts in a world where access to information is changing so dramatically,” said Vaughan, who holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Rutgers University, where she was winner of the Future Leader Award in 2002.

“Organizations like BAISL serve an important function for librarians, who benefit from opportunities to exchange ideas with fellow professionals in their field.”

A longtime high school English teacher in Florida, Hawaii, the Philippines and California, Vaughan worked as a journalist in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and is a certified educational media specialist.

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Lower school librarian Bernard Morrissey has been accepted as a reviewer for Library Media Connections, a favorite professional resource of all of Harker’s librarians. The organization helps school librarians keep up with rapidly changing technology with reviews of books, software, videos and online resources to help school librarians with selection of the most useful material for their students.

“I will primarily be reviewing books for middle school students,” said Morrissey, “but they may also send me DVDs or other electronic resources. I submitted a sample review to LMC, and they decided I would be a good addition to their reviewing staff.”

Morrissey applied as a natural continuation of his professional development. “This year for my professional goal, I decided to start reading more middle school fiction,” he said. “I set a goal of 20 books, which I estimated to be 40 percent of my total reading. I’m on track to meet that goal and it’s been very enjoyable. I’m always eager to read as many titles as possible so that I can recommend them to students who don’t know what to read next. Giving the right book to the right student at the right time is every school librarian’s dream!”

Milestones Nicholas Manjoine, upper school French teacher, has been appointed a member of the National Committee for the AP French Language and Culture Exam for 2011-12. In addition to virtual meetings, he will meet three times each year with other committee members, and there are outreach responsibilities as well. “The basic duties consist of course and exam development as well as outreach activities,” said Manjoine. “The duties are quite varied. For example, exam development work includes writing exam outlines and/or exam items, reviewing exam items or entire exams, developing or reviewing frameworks and standards, writing reports and reviewing journal publications. Some examples of outreach work are presenting at conferences or leading workshops or round-table discussions at the regional, national or international level.”

The exam is for a worldwide audience. However, predominantly American students take the exam, Manjoine said.

gre Awards Celebrate 15th Year

ark Tantrum

Manjoine came to Harker in 1998 with the creation of the upper school. While earning his master’s degree at the University of Iowa, he was awarded the Helen K. Fairwell Scholarship in French. He has also studied at the University of Jean-Monet in Saint-Etienne and the University of Lyons, France. A repeat recipient of National Endowment for the Humanities summer grants, Manjoine participated in month-long seminars focusing on “The Paris of Balzac, Baudelaire and Zola,” held in Paris in 2003, and “Modern French Theater” in Avignon during the Avignon theater festival in 2009.

By Edward Hejtmanek ‘06

T

his year marks the 15th year in a row that students in grade 2 have delighted audiences with the Ogre Awards, a creative interpretation of some of the world‘s most famous fairy tales.

Photos by M

Photo by William Cracraft

French Teacher Appointed to National AP French Committee

Throughout the years, the format of the Ogre Awards has changed from an evening fundraising performance to an intimate lower school affair, but the main theme of teaching through performance has remained constant. Enid Davis, lower school librarian, has been the second constant in the history of the show, writing and directing the Ogre Awards since their debut in the 1995-96 school year.

Davis said, “I had the idea for a gathering of mythical fairy tale characters in an Academy Awards setting” before coming to Harker, and that provided the framework for the entirely original Ogre Awards. Davis‘ favorite part of the show is “watching the students perform, seeing their faces glow as they meet the challenge and become their characters.”

The Ogre Awards are the climax of library studies conducted through fairy tales from August to December. Over these months the children read and discuss classic fairy tale literature and discuss recurrent characters, like evil wolves, in the stories. After reading a few stories, the children vote for “Best Wolf in a Fairy Tale” and other character categories. After voting, the results of each category are kept secret until the night of the awards show, preserving the surprise.

In January after all of the reading and voting is finished, auditions for all of the fairy tale characters involved in the play are held. This play, written entirely by Davis, is rehearsed and memorized from January to March. At the show, the results of the voting are finally revealed, and the characters collect their awards.

This year‘s show was in late March and departed from the usual awards format. Instead of voting for best characters, the best fairy tales were selected from geographical regions and Japan‘s “Snot-Nosed Boy” was voted the world‘s best fairy tale. For 15 years children have been learning from these fairy tales, and performing will hopefully remain part of the grade 2 curriculum for at least 15 more.

For more information, contact Enid Davis at enidd@harker.org.

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GreenReport

By Edward Hejtmanek ’06

Photos provided by Melinda Gonzales

been recognized on local television and delivered the keynote address at this year’s Powershift convention.

Middle School Students Take Initiative to Beautify Campus and Live Green

teacher, said, “It was super inspiring! I’d love more assemblies like this one – where the kids create the content.”

Harker has consistently taught its students the importance of positive environmental impact in the classroom, and, perhaps more meaningfully, through example. Green initiatives have been a priority on all three campuses, with the biggest example being the construction of Nichols Hall with its green roof, solar panels and gold LEED certification.

The student-run activities were the highlight of the day. Grade 8 students presented Earth Day skits and public service announcements, grade 6 students built solar cookers and baked Earth Day Cookies, and everywhere around campus Earth Day posters were on display. All of the activities were themed around environmental consciousness and healthy living.

On April 21, the Blackford campus received some cosmetic love and care from two middle school advisory groups, courtesy of that school’s student council. The council had raised funds by selling candy to the students over the course of two weeks, with the intent of beautifying the school grounds; they ultimately decided on a flower planting as the best way to contribute.

Lana Morrison, dean of students, and Melinda Gonzales, academic counselor, along with their advisory groups, dedicated their lunch periods to creating a stylized Harker logo outside of the main office. The H in the logo was created using white pansies, green ornamental grass and a river rock border. Be sure to stop by to see the new flowerbed!

The middle school had a very lively and informative assembly on Earth Day (April 22), showcasing both the students’ knowledge and their care for the environment. The assembly was conducted by the students, and Susan Moling, Spanish 54

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The Earth Day assembly was very successful, with Scott Kley Contini, grade 8 biology teacher, saying, “[The students] amazed me with their level of awareness and inspired me with their creativity. I feel so lucky to be teaching such talented individuals.”

Duo Exemplify Harker’s Commitment to the Environment Student commitment to impacting the environment in a positive way has inspired two of Harker’s upper school students, Shreya Indukuri and Daniela Lapidous, both grade 11, to go above and beyond the call of duty; the two have been coordinating green efforts across local high schools, have

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In December, the two were featured in a “49ers Total Access for Kids” segment. The show, which is both hosted by kids and targeted at younger Bay Area 49ers fans, was used to highlight the achievements of the two and illustrate that age does not affect one’s ability to have a positive environmental impact. On the show the two talked about the green initiatives they made happen after receiving an Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) grant in 2009.

These projects included an organic garden and smart meter installation to monitor energy usage at the upper school. The segment can be found by searching Harker News Online for “49ers.”

Lapidous and Indukuri were recognized for their achievements this year at the Powershift convention in Washington D.C., held by the Energy Action Coalition to publicize and coordinate youth efforts in the climate movement. In April the two Harker students gave a speech to more than 11,000 fellow green energy enthusiasts, and Indukuri says they, “emphasized the support they received from Harker and from ACE.” The two have been pursuing green goals at Harker ever since seeing a presentation by ACE their freshman year.

The duo have been working with other local high schools, primarily Los Gatos High School and Saratoga High School, to coordinate their green energy efforts. Indukuri said the biggest challenges were logistical: “The hardest part of our project was probably all of the follow-ups and meetings we had to set up with the students and administrators.

It took a lot of time and effort, but it was totally worth it to see our live data feed and energy savings,” she said.

AlumniNews Egg Hunt Brings Little Chicks and their Alumni Parents Together Alumni Picnic Alert Save the Date: Sun., Oct. 9, 2011

This year’s Family & Alumni Picnic is all about hats, so here’s your chance to wear that sombrero from your epic trip to Mexico! We will have events and perks just for alumni 18 and over. Like last year, Alumni Relations is providing free admission to alumni and their immediate families and hosting a luncheon from noon1 p.m. (immediately following the morning performance) in a dedicated area for alumni and their guests. Watch your inbox for more details to come.

By Edward Hejtmanek ‘06

H

arker alumni and lower school children kicked off the spring season with food, egg hunts and a visit from the spring bunny at the lower school campus in early April at the inaugural alumni spring egg hunt.

The day began with fresh coffee, pictures with the spring bunny, coloring and the ever-popular jump house.

Once everyone had settled in,

“It is wonderful to be able to see Harker alumni children playing together.” –Diana Nichols

alumni parents introduced themselves and their children. Children were then divided into two age groups: eggs (0-3 years old) and chicks (4 years and over), and the egg hunt was on. The older children were led to a more difficult course, while the younger children were led to an easier area to collect their prizes.

Diana Nichols, chair of Harker‘s Board of Directors, said, “It is wonderful to be able to see Harker alumni children playing together,” and she hopes that this event will become a staple for Harker parents and students.

After all of the eggs had been collected, the children and parents lingered to enjoy the spoils and continue to get to know their fellow alumni and future classmates, while socializing with current administrators and teachers.

Photos by Ashley Batz Photos by Ashley Batz

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AlumniNews

By Edward Hejtmanek ‘06

2011 All Alumni Day

Honoring Alumni After Harker

All photos by John Ho

O

n June 4, Harker welcomed back its graduates of all ages at the annual All Alumni Day. Despite considerable rain, Harker alumni arrived at Nichols Hall, built after most of the attendees had left Harker, to reminisce, catch up and honor two distinguished alumni.

For the first hour, alumni and teachers met and caught up on the developments in their lives after Harker. Many of the younger alumni found the event very helpful for discussing their current careers and networking. Dan Hudkins, the K-12 director of instructional technology, said, “It’s wonderful to see where our alumni go with the knowledge that we give them here.”

After the preliminary period of mingling and munching on the food provided by the Harker kitchen staff, the attendees moved into the auditorium to see Harriet Skapinsky and Colin Dickey ’91 receive their awards.

During the evening’s introductions, 56

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Christina Yan ’93, director of alumni relations, gave Chris Nikoloff, head of school, a check for over $18,500 on behalf of the alumni who donated to Harker this school year.

Nikoloff then introduced Skapinsky, the event’s first honoree, who received the Phyllis Carley Award.

Skapinsky dedicated her Harker career to the English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the 1980s and 1990s. Nikoloff the introduced Skapinsky, saying, “She was a second mother to her students at their home away from home.” Many of her former students were ecstatic to be able to submit short video clips thanking her for teaching them and allowing them to

AlumniNews The day’s second honoree, Colin Dickey ’91, was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award for his work exploring grave robbing; his book on the subject is “Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius.” In his short address, Dickey fondly recalled his time at Harker, saying, “Of all the institutions I’ve participated in, Harker has the biggest place in my heart.”

In the end, despite the pervasive precipitation, the event was a success, reuniting teachers and alumni alike. For more information about alumni events, email the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@harker.org.

“It’s wonderful to see where our alumni go with the knowledge that we give them here.”

–Dan Hudkins, K-12 Director of Instructional Technology

All Alumni Day

succeed; these video clips were edited together and shown to the audience. It was clear from Skapinsky’s reaction that she remembered her former students and couldn’t be more proud of their successes.

Seniors Join Alumni; Present Check for Flag Poles

By Zach Jones

F

ollowing the Senior Brick Ceremony, the class of 2011 enjoyed a special alumni induction lunch at the Nichols Hall auditorium, which was held to welcome the seniors into the alumni body.

During the event, the seniors presented Chris Nikoloff, head of school, with a check for more than $3,500, which will be used to pay for the senior gift of two flagpoles to flank the scoreboard at Davis Field. The flagpoles will be installed over the summer.

Photo by Ashley Batz

Diana Moss, the class dean, also spoke to the seniors as a group for the last time. “The friends who surround you at this moment are the very most important people in the world to you,” she said, “yet soon you will be scattered across the country, commencing an exciting new phase of your lives.”

She also shared with the class the somewhat sobering truth that “coming back to Harker will never be the same.” Although they may return to Harker someday (“around lunchtime of course!”), she said that as they get older, “the students will begin to look oh so little to you, new buildings will be built and within a short time, even the main hallway will seem a bit alien to you.”

Nevertheless, she said, the friendships they forged at Harker are truly special, and the teachers do look forward to seeing them again. “I salute you and your many achievements here and look forward to hearing about your adventures, your challenges and successes in the years to come,” she said, “but mostly in sharing the memories of this time we’ve had together.”

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By William Cracraft

FlashForward

‘

Alumni Q & A Rachel (Bendis) Shekhtman ‘94 graduated from the University of Oregon in 2000 with a B.S. in economics. After a short stint as a financial advisor in Illinois, she emigrated to Israel where she has been working as a business consultant, business writer and coach for U.S. clients. This year she has begun organizing a wilderness therapy program in Israel for troubled teens called BaMidbar. is most exciting for me because it will be filling a real need here in Israel and because I believe deeply in the approach. I find it rewarding to know I have an impact on the lives of others.

Q:

need; and 2) preserving and feeding my individual identity by continuing to learn, to build and maintain friendships, and to have fun. Professionally: launching the BaMidbar: wilderness therapy project (http:// www.bamidbar.org.il) while continuing to provide my clients quality service.

A:

Tell us something surprising about yourself.

What personal traits make you successful at what you‘re doing?

Q:

Photo provided by Rachel Shekhtman ’94

When you were at Harker, did you dream of doing what you do now?

A: My dreams in junior high school were not focused on a specific career or lifestyle.

There were three main themes in my dreams for the future: I wanted to help others, I had a deep connection with nature and I had a strong need to be loved. I am happy to know that these three drives are all fed today by my career and my personal life.

Compassion, intuition, creativity and an ability to quickly analyze a situation.

Q: What in your life so far took you the longest time to learn?

A: Unfortunately, I am still on the

Q:

way to learning personal organization.

There actually is such a thing as “natural consequences.” Most rules are simply there to protect us from having to suffer natural consequences and to try to isolate the impact of a person‘s behavior to that person. Sounds pretty simple, but it didn‘t come “naturally” to me.

A: I am passionate about both my

What‘s on the top of your personal and professional “lists” right now?

What do you find most exciting about your career or current project?

Q:

career and my current project (which is a volunteer operation for me), and I love that they both involve helping people.

Right now the wilderness therapy program

A: Personally: 1) ensuring my husband and each of my four children get the individualized attention and love they

Q:

A: I made a choice a number of years ago

to live my life according to the ancient laws and customs of my Jewish heritage, in the land of the Jewish people, Israel. I have four kids ages 2 through 8, and we‘re expecting a foster child in the near future. On an entirely different note, my first year in university I was a theater major, and I interned at a professional theater. I also was two quarter credits short of a minor in archaeology when I graduated from university.

Q:

What advice do you have for current Harker students?

A: Almost every rule has a reason. Every

person has feelings: your words and actions can hurt them terribly or give them true joy.

Your choices can and do make a big impact on your future and the future of others.

Meredith (Harrington) Hiltgen ‘92 hosted a get-together for classmates and other alumni. Amanda Mathias Bonomi ’92 was group photographer.

Clockwise from the baby at left: Brayden Itterly, Brian Itterly, Liz Williams Itterly ‘92, Eliana Bonomi, Amanda Mathias Bonomi ‘92, Jeff Bonomi, Tania Bassoni ‘92, Theo Clouse, Maren (Shough) Clouse ‘92, Audrey Clouse, Adam Clouse, Natalie Hiltgen, Meredith Harrington Hiltgen ‘95, Kyle Hiltgen, Garrett Johnson, Scott Johnson, Spencer Johnson, Julie Amerian Johnson ‘92, Shawn Butler, Daniel Hiltgen.

Photo by Amanda Mathias Bonomi ’92

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LookingAhead KEYDATES

2011 Summer Fringe Edition

Gr. 6-12 USED BOOK SALE Sat., July 9 & Sat., Aug. 6 9 a.m.-noon Saratoga Campus, in the Quad

ORIENTATIONS Fri., Aug. 19 (Grade 9) Student Orientation Mon., Aug. 22 (Grades 9-12) Student Matriculation & Orientation Mon., Aug. 22 (Grades 6-8) Parent/Student Orientation Tue., Aug. 23 (Grades 4-5) Parent/Student Orientation Wed., Aug. 24 (K-3) Parent/Student Orientation FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Tue., Aug. 23 119th Academic Year Begins (Grades 6-12) Thu., Aug. 25 119th Academic Year Begins (K-5) NORTHERN CA ALUMNI GATHERING Thu., Aug. 11 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The District, San Francisco LABOR DAY HOLIDAY Mon., Sept. 5 - No Classes (K-12) Visit the website for complete calendar information.

HOMECOMING Davis Field Fri., Nov. 11, 2011

July 29 & 30 @ 7 p.m. $10 General | $15 Reserved | tickets@harker.org Blackford Theater | 3800 Blackford Avenue | San Jose Also perfoming at Fringe Church Hill Theatre Main Stage | Venue #137 | on Morningside Aug. 8, 10, 11, 12

Presented by Start the new school year in style

Bollywood, Bangles and Bombay Dreams An Elegant Evening Under the Stars

Colorful, musical, elegant...

You will enjoy live entertainment, exquisite cocktails and delicious Indian hors d’oeuvres at this sumptuous fun-filled affair!

Sept. 24, 2011 Hosted by Kavita Tankha & Raj Bahri at their beautiful home in Los Altos $125 per person (adults only) RSVP to suep@harker.org

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SUMMER 2011

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LookingAhead 61st Harker Family Picnic

Back to School Parent Breakfasts Lower School - Bucknall Gym Fri., Aug. 26 Additional welcome coffee Thu., Aug. 25 Immediately after drop off

Middle School - Blackford MPR Mon., Aug. 22 Immediately following orientation

Sun., Oct. 9, 2011 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Upper School - Saratoga Quad Tue., Aug. 30 Immediately after drop off

presents

You Can’t Take it With You

Thurs.-Sat. Oct. 27, 28, 29, 2011 7 p.m.

Blackford Theater

tickets@harker.org

Concert Series Fri., Dec. 2, 2011

Opera San Jose Sat., Feb. 4, 2012

Adam Golka

Sat., Mar. 17, 2012

The Afiara String Quartet All shows 8 p.m. | 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

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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1982-83

Harker

Academy Student Leaders

Student leaders have been an important part of the student experience from Harker’s earliest days. In this photo, student leaders from the 1982-83 school year gather for a group shot.

Members were selected each quarter at the grade level citizenship meetings. “We looked for good grades, high citizenship, active participation in areas outside the classroom,” said Dan Gelineau, the adult at far right, then dean of students and a 1965 Palo Alto Military Academy alumnus.

It delights us to note four of these alumni now have children at Harker. Brooke Baker, K, is the daughter of Karr Sakai Baker ’84 (third from left, top row) and Matt Baker ’83 (second from left, bottom row). Jonathan and Kurt Schwartz, grades 6 and 7, respectively, are the sons of Elise Trembla Robichaud ’84 (third from right, second row from top); Emma Quintin starts kindergarten in the fall and is the daughter of Kristin Marlow Quintin ’84 (just left of Robichaud).

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C a l i f o r n i a O of C: 6/11 (BHDG/JJJ/RM/DQP) 4931