The Harker Quarterly, Summer 2012

Let the Mortarboards Fly! Graduation 2012

Inaugural Party Celebrates Middle School Grads’ Move to Upper School

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New Campus and Preschool Update Record Number of Grantees as Endowment Grows More Pairs Equal More Fun in the Eagle Buddies Program

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CoverPhoto Grade 8 advisories had one last bash before parting ways, and the advisory on the cover was kickin’ it at the gathering!

Harker QUARTERLY

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“The grade 8 farewell luncheon was held for students and advisors to celebrate three marvelous years together as family, both as individual advisories and a combined grade 8 family,” said Lana Morrison, middle school dean of students.

The May 22 event evoked Hawaii as students dressed up in grass skirts, leis and straw hats. “The lunch is new for us, but we’ll hold it each year as a time to reflect on the growth and experiences of the students during their three years in middle school,” said Cindy Ellis, middle school head.

Each student received a specially designed T-shirt signed by all and a disk with recorded messages from advisors. Photos were taken of each advisory which are available in our online galleries. Of those photos, our cover shot really stood out; school photographer Kyle Cavallaro said,

Pam Dickinson Director William Cracraft Editor Catherine Snider Sally Wing Copy Editors Kyle Cavallaro Photo Editor

Debbie Cohen Igor Hiller Zach Jones Devin Nguyen, grade 12 Catherine Snider Brianna Tran ‘11 Contributors Liat Noten ‘05 Distribution Blue Heron Design Group Rebecca McCartney Triple J Design Design Diamond Quality Printing Printing

“Okay, goofy shot time!” and this group gave Kyle just the moment to catch!

AboutHarker From its early beginnings in 1893 — when Stanford University leaders assisted in its establishment — to its reputation today as a leading preparatory school with students attending prestigious universities worldwide, 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.

Highest Accreditation Earned This Spring Chris Nikoloff, head of school, announced in May that The Harker School has received a six-year term of accreditation from the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This is the highest accreditation term and “a vote of confidence that we as an institution can monitor our own growth and chart our own path into the future,” said Nikoloff. Receiving the highest term of accreditation is the result of our community’s hard work and dedication to deliver excellence to students in all areas. Nikoloff noted the accreditation is “an expression of trust from our member associations that we will continue to seek improvement, growth and sustainability around the mission of wholly and healthily educating our children.”

Thanks and congratulations to our whole community!

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/.

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

K-Grade 5: 4300 Bucknall Rd., San Jose, CA 95130 Grades 6-8: 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117 Grades 9-12: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 Published four times a year, Harker Quarterly showcases some of the top news, leading programs, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community.

Correction In the spring 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly, in the story titled “Harker Wins Bid on New Campus Property,” the property address was mistakenly given as being located near Highway

Produced by the Harker Office of Communication 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 communications@harker.org · 408.345.9273

280, when it should have read Highway 85. The Office of Communication regrets the error.

Next Edition: October 2012 2

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inside

52 SUMMER 2012

features

Let the Mortarboards Fly! Graduation 2012

New Campus and Preschool Update

Debaters Shine at Spring Tournaments

Paws and Claws Adorn the 2012 Harker Family & Alumni Picnic

New Arrangements Accommodate Record Crowd at Research Symposium

Record Number of Grantees as Endowment Grows

More Pairs Equal More Fun in the Eagle Buddies Program eBooks and Chromebooks Add to Classroom Technology

Art Exhibits Showcase K-12 Talents Harker Concert Series Closes Season with Brilliant Quartet

6 12 13

20 6

14 18 20 38 42 46 52

24 28

departments

46

4

Eagle Report 24

Performing Arts 28

Global Education 35 Milestones 40 Advancement 44

Greater Good 50

Alumni News 53

Looking Ahead 62 Headlines

38

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Headlines

By Christopher Nikoloff Head of School

2012 G raduation Addre ss

Look at the World With a Baby’s Eyes, Suggests School Head

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ood morning. I would like to welcome members of the board of trustees, the administration, faculty and staff, family, friends, alumni, and the true guests of honor, the graduating Class of 2012. As head of school, I currently hold the privilege of making a few remarks of farewell at graduation. The seniors who paid attention in British Literature will recognize this talk as a “valediction.” In an attempt to “forbid mourning,” I

will continue the tradition of confining my remarks to one page of single-spaced, size-12 font.

This is the first graduation address I have ever written on an iPad. That is completely irrelevant to my talk, except that I have pictures of the newest addition to our family, Andreas, on my iPad and also my iPhone. I would show you pictures of Andreas on my iPhone but I cannot get it out of my robe.

The main advantage to writing on an iPad, besides the manipulations it offers to stay within my word count, is that while writing I can take breaks and look at pictures

“

One of the reasons

of Andreas, although I almost never do. In fact, I am not confident that my wife and

Einstein made such great

doesn’t eat a golf ball or something like that. But do we see him in the same way he

discoveries was his

offer the advice to sleep like a baby, which is only two letters away from seeing like

ability to see freshly,

very well at all. Actually, you should aim to sleep like a toddler, not a baby. Toddlers

to see phenomena around

concert. But to really see what is around you I advise you to see like a baby.

him as if for the first

nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” If Einstein said

time.

was his ability to see freshly, to see phenomena around him as if for the first time. I

--Chris Nikoloff

Walt Whitman even a blade of grass was a miracle. He wrote, “I lean and loafe at my

”

I look at him very much in real life either. Oh, we watch him plenty to make sure he sees us? Which brings me to my advice for you today – “to see like a baby.” I would a baby, but my wife and I have been reminded recently that babies do not sleep crash within minutes of hitting the bed and can sleep through a Led Zeppelin

Albert Einstein wrote, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though this, then it must be true. One of the reasons Einstein made such great discoveries think it is very easy to slip into looking at life as if it were not a miracle. To the poet ease observing a spear of summer grass.” He famously misspelled loaf, without the help of the iPad’s spell check, by adding an extra e, but he saw the spear of grass as if it were a miracle. Perhaps it is.

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Headlines

“

Babies see everything as a miracle. I know that we might say hey, they are new to the world, so yes, everything is amazing to them, including their own fists. But what if they are seeing things the way they are supposed to be seen? What if we, with our overwhelming conviction that most things are ordinary, are the ones who are not truly seeing?

Have you ever noticed how babies look at something? Once their eyes are operational, which takes a while, they truly see. That is why they lose themselves looking at a light fixture, or a fold in a curtain, or a brightly colored, plastic ring.

That is why they love faces and peek-a-boo. I have seen Andreas watch his brothers with complete abandon. Of course they almost always were doing something naughty. But when is the last time you looked at a loved one as if he or she were a wonder?

Now this might seem like romantic and impractical advice. But I would argue that truly seeing things as they are is supremely practical. It is critical in research, for example, and for problem solving of any kind. Truly seeing will help you with your relationships at work and with your loved ones. Plus when you see everything as a miracle, like a baby, it is difficult to become bored. A jelly bean can become the center of the universe. Maybe it is.

The big problem, of course, is that babies do not know that they are seeing everything as a miracle – they just see – and most adults do not know that they have lost this ability, or if they do, they do not know how to get it back. The trick is to see like a baby but not try to do it. That is what Yoda meant when he said, “Do or do not. There is no try.” Or the great Zen saying, “In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” That is why most of the great saints and spiritual leaders of the world admired children. Children at their best are devoid of self-consciousness, like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. But you cannot try not to try either, because that is still trying. “Above all, don’t wobble.”

Mr. Butch Keller, Harker’s upper school head, puts inspirational quotes on the bottom of his emails. He recently had another quote from Einstein in which the great scientist asks, “When was the last time you did anything for the first time?” I don’t believe Einstein just means bungee jumping or feats of that nature. I think he means seeing things as the miracles they are, like a baby. If you see like a baby,

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

you just might see yourself as the miracle you are. Thank you.

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G r a d u a ti o n

“It’s time all of us ... escape our expectations to observe the possibilities that await us ....

It’s time we exchange others’ expectations for our own personal aspirations, passions and dreams.”

-Ramya Rangan, valedictorian Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

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G R A D U A T I O N

uring a recent ceremony held at the scenic Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Harker’s Class of 2012 sat poised, attentively listening to graduation speeches, ready and eager to take on life after high school, when they were then challenged to turn back the clock and view the world through the eyes of a baby.

“If you see like a baby, you just might see yourself as the miracle you are,” advised Chris Nikoloff, head of school. He delivered his yearly farewell speech to the students after welcoming members of the board of trustees, the administration, faculty and staff, family, friends, alumni and the “true guests of honor” — the graduating Class of 2012. (See this issue’s “Headlines” on page 4 for the full text of Nikoloff’s speech.)

Class of 2012 Receives Warm Send-Off at Memorable

Graduation Ceremony

By Debbie Cohen

Speaking of the inspiration for his address — the newest addition to his own family, baby Andreas — and here noting that this was the first graduation speech he’d written on an iPad, Nikoloff turned serious as he advised students to continually walk through life with a sense of wonder. He quoted Albert Einstein who wrote, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Prior to Nikoloff’s address, the graduation ceremony had gotten underway on a beautiful spring morning to the melodious sounds of the Harker Chamber Orchestra, led by Chris Florio. As the graduating class proceeded into the amphitheater, taking their front row seats, the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the air. Once the graduates were seated, Susan Nace led the 2012 Graduation Chorus in singing “The StarSpangled Banner.”

Butch Keller, upper school head, warmly addressed the seniors and their proud families, congratulating students on reaching this important milestone in their educational careers, then introduced this year’s valedictorian, Ramya Rangan.

In her speech, Rangan encouraged her fellow grads to, above all else, pursue their passions and find what makes them happy. Following the speech, the chorus, directed by Catherine Snider and accompanied by Rangan, sang “Leave No Song Unsung.”

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Vandi V. Tompkins, research technologist, mobility and robotic systems, for NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory. Tompkins provided a wonderful role model of someone actively pursuing her dreams. In her captivating address, she passionately discussed her past work in flight operations for the Mars exploration rovers and the development of NASA’s science laboratory flight mission.

After the keynote speech, graduate and outgoing National Honor Society president Nicole Dalal passed the Lamp of Knowledge to rising senior and new NHS president Emily Wang.

When it came time to receive their diplomas, one by one seniors were greeted by Keller, Nikoloff and this year’s class dean, Matthew Harley, upper school biology teacher.

Finally, with diplomas in hand, the students turned their attention to Nikoloff and Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, for their closing remarks. All watched as doves were released and the ceremony came to a close.

Graduates then moved their tassels as a symbol of their graduation. Soon after, they flung their caps in the air, watching, with a newborn’s sense of wonder, as the hats went high into the sky.

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

Baccalaureate a Sentimental – and Humorous – Tradition

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

By Zach Jones

“We are one school and one family, forever incorporated into each other’s collages, living within each others’ hearts and supporting each other no matter how far we are geographically apart.”

H

arker bid a heartfelt farewell to the Class of 2012 at the baccalaureate ceremony on May 24. Juniors, graduating seniors and their parents, faculty and staff gathered at the quad on the upper school campus to hear some inspirational words, enjoy performances and welcome the juniors into their new role as leaders in the coming 2012-13 school year.

Following a performance by the upper school string ensemble, directed by Chris Florio, Susan Nace led upper school vocal groups Cantilena and Camerata in a performance of Gweneth Walker’s “To Sing is to Fly.” Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, then welcomed the Class of 2012 to the ceremony and congratulated them on taking this important step in their young lives – they would graduate the following day.

The upper school string ensemble, again directed by Florio, then performed Jean Sibelius’ “Andante Festivo,” which provided the perfect segue for Upper School Head Butch Keller’s introduction of this year’s faculty speaker, Jason Berry, an English teacher elected by the seniors to address them on this day.

At the start of their freshman year, he said, the students found themselves “spinning this way and that, tossed to the side one minute and chastised the next,” but always with the support of friends who were also navigating the sometimes tumultuous life of a high school student.

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— 2012 salutatorian Michelle Deng’s message to the Class of 2013 Upon entering college, he told the soon-tobe graduates, “when you drive onto your campus in August or September, make us proud; make your parents proud, but most of all make yourselves proud. Take a class that’s far removed from your comfort zone just because you can. You may learn something that becomes a passion for you.”

College, he said, is an opportunity to learn in many ways, be it through classes, social interaction or one’s own personal time. “Be who you want to be, and if that doesn’t agree with you, then find, once again, your center, your inner voice; don’t settle for an imitation of yourself. Bend the rules, but try not to break them.”

of ourselves.” Each student’s entire story paints a much different picture. “In our hearts, we know the whole story; we know how the collages of our beings truly look,” she said.

After a round of applause for Berry’s speech, Keller introduced salutatorian Michelle Deng, who gave her own farewell speech to her fellow graduates. She started with an observation about the senior photo collages that resided in the main hall on the upper school campus. “Looking at the photos, one might have felt that the members of the Class of 2012 seemed so perfect. The babies were adorable, the teenagers polished and glowing. Lives were filled with friends, joy, youth and love,” she said.

Speaking to the juniors, she cautioned the students to make the most of their remaining time at Harker. “Even though at first your year may seem to drag by as slowly and painfully as nails on a chalkboard, remember that starting early spring, it’ll suddenly begin shooting by you faster than you can ever imagine, and before you know it, you’ll be sitting in our seats,” Deng said.

These collages, however, are idealized depictions made from “the best versions

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Reminiscing about her childhood, Deng said that thanks to her teachers and friends, she had become much more than the shy, short-statured 7-year-old she was upon first entering Harker. “I’ve grown into a dedicated scholar, blessed with the honor to speak here today and eager to continue my education,” she said, also crediting her experience in the journalism department with helping her to become a better communicator and leader.

She then wished the Class of 2013 well on their journey ahead and said to her fellow graduating seniors, “Let’s go shake the world.”

T radition s

Class of 2012 Become Alumni at Induction Lunch

J

ust before graduation, the Class of 2012 attended a special alumni induction lunch at Nichols Hall, where they officially became members of the Harker Alumni Association and also enjoyed a delicious lunch while reflecting on their years as Harker students and looking ahead to their post-high school futures.

Graduates’ Names Become Part of History at Brick Ceremony

By Zach Jones

G

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

raduating seniors and their parents gathered at Graduates’ Grove on the upper school campus on May 23 for the 2012 brick ceremony, in which students laid bricks engraved with their names and graduation years into the brick walkway. Students who placed bricks this year were Saira Ahuja, Bradley Araki, Simrun Bhagat, Rishi Bhandia, Rohan Bopardikar, Matt Carpenter, Crystal Chen, Lucy Cheng, Aura Dave, Zachary Ellenberg, Stephanie Hao, Stephen Hughes, Shreya Indukuri, Tariq Khalil Jahshan, Daanish Jamal, Jacqueline Jin, Margaret Krackeler, Richard Lee, Vivian Li, Jessica Lin, Chaitanya Malladi, Cole Manaster, Alisha Mayor, Daryl Neubieser, Devin Nguyen, Gerilyn Olsen, Christophe Pellissier, Mackenzie Porter, Ramya Rangan, Priyanka Sharma, Jessica Shen, Kathryn Siegel, Angela Singh, Ananth Subramaniam, Karen Wang, Paul West, Albert Wu, Lucy Xu and Johnny Yet.

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Harker Lifers Celebrated at Dinner Hosted by Head of School

By Zach Jones Just after the baccalaureate ceremony on May 24, this year’s Harker “lifers,” students who have attended Harker from kindergarten all the way through the upper school, attended a special dinner in their honor at the residence of Chris Nikoloff, head of school.

This year’s lifers are Bradley Araki, Andrée Beals, Aaron Bisla, David Brunfeld, Sonya Chalaka, Aura Dave, Gerard Glasauer, Kaitlin Halloran, Sarah Howells, Stephen

Hughes, Aakash Jagadeesh, Kevin Khojasteh, Ashley Kling, Andrew Lee, Charles Levine, Rahul Madduluri, Cole Manaster, Alisha Mayor, Priyanka Mody, Daryl Neubieser, Christophe Pellissier, Lauren Pinzás, Akhil Prakash, Indraneel Salukhe, Divya Sarathy, Aditya Sastry, Jessica Shen, Kathryn Siegel, Nathan Sowards, Ananth Subramaniam, Akshay Tangutur and Noel Witcosky. Of these graduates, Bisla, Chalaka, Pellissier and Sastry have attended Harker since junior kindergarten.

Class of 2012 Matriculates e eg s l l Co tion r e a tin ark ds s De for H Gra

College................# Attending Amherst College...................................... 1

Bentley University .............................................. 1 Boston College................................................................. 1 Boston University ....................................................................... 1 Brown University ................................................................................... 1 California Institute of Technology ......................................................... 3 Carnegie Mellon University .................................................................... 6 Case Western Reserve University........................................................... 3 Chapman University ................................................................................ 1 Columbia University ................................................................................ 4 Cornell University .................................................................................... 3 Dartmouth College ................................................................................... 1 Duke University......................................................................................... 7 Emerson College....................................................................................... 1 Emory University ...................................................................................... 1 Fordham University ................................................................................. 1 Georgetown University ........................................................................... 3 Grinnell College ....................................................................................... 1 Harvard University ................................................................................... 4 Loyola Marymount University ................................................................ 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology ................................................. 3 Mills College ............................................................................................. 1 New York University ................................................................................ 6 Northwestern University.......................................................................... 2 Oberlin College.......................................................................................... 1 Occidental College ................................................................................... 2 Ohio Northern University ........................................................................ 1 Princeton University ................................................................................ 3 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ............................................................ 2

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Rice University.......................................................................................... 2 Saint Louis University ............................................................................. 1 Santa Clara University ............................................................................. 9 Scripps College.......................................................................................... 3 Southern Methodist University .............................................................. 2 Stanford University .................................................................................. 9 The George Washington University....................................................... 2 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.................................... 1 Tufts University......................................................................................... 2 University of California at Berkeley...................................................... 18 University of California at Davis............................................................. 2 University of California at Los Angeles.................................................. 3 University of California at Merced.......................................................... 1 University of California at Riverside....................................................... 1 University of California at San Diego..................................................... 7 University of Chicago............................................................................... 2 University of Colorado at Boulder........................................................... 1 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.......................................... 6 University of Miami................................................................................... 1 University of Michigan............................................................................. 2 University of Pennsylvania...................................................................... 2 University of Rochester............................................................................ 1 University of San Francisco..................................................................... 1 University of Southern California......................................................... 15 University of the Pacific........................................................................... 1 University of Washington........................................................................ 3 Washington University in St. Louis........................................................ 6 Williams College....................................................................................... 1 Total.................................................................................. 171

P R O M O T I O N S

Middle School Bids Fond Farewell to Eighth Graders at Promotion Ceremony

By Debbie Cohen

W

Following a brief processional, the ceremony got underway as Chris Nikoloff, head of school, welcomed and congratulated the students on reaching this important milestone. Then, Alexander Mo, grade 7 and incoming middle school student body president, led the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. After that a slide show, created by Natasha Mayor, was shown commemorating her and her fellow eighth graders’ time at Harker.

The farewell address was warmly delivered

by Patricia Burrows, middle school English teacher and advisory dean for the Class of 2016. She wished them well as they begin

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

ith bittersweet feelings, grade 8 students closed one academic door and opened another during their recent promotion ceremony. Held at the Blackford campus, the event celebrated the conclusion of their middle school years, while simultaneously heralding a meaningful next step towards transitioning on to their high school careers.

the next phase of their educational lives.

As Burrows exited the podium, the middle school vocal groups Harmonics and Vivace performed “Simple Gifts.” Next up was Raghav Sehtia, incoming upper school student body president and rising senior, who took center stage, welcoming the graduates to high school.

Finally, Nikoloff and Cindy Ellis, middle school head, awarded the students their much anticipated promotion certificates, cementing their status as middle school graduates. The ceremony officially came to

a close as the grade 8 class sang a heartfelt rendition of the Harker school song.

“The promotion ceremony is a celebration of the class as they move on to high school,” said Ellis, reflecting back upon the event. “It is filled with nostalgic views of the eighth graders during their three years in middle school while projecting the potential and promise of future accomplishments. This year’s event was all that in spades!” she recalled, noting that Harker wishes the middle school graduates the best and hopes they visit often.

Grade 5 Students Say Goodbye to the Lower School

By Igor Hiller given by Chris Nikoloff, head of school. After Nikoloff’s greeting, the grade 4-6 dance group Dance Fusion performed “Let’s Get Loud!” choreographed by Gail Palmer.

closing remarks from Kristin Giammona, elementary school head. Congratulations to Harker’s former grade 5 students!

Once the crowd was sufficiently pumped up, annual awards for citizenship, effort, fitness, and special academic and subject awards were given out one by one.

The day began with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Andrea Simonian, grade 5, followed by a special welcome address

After the presentation of the certificates, the fifth graders performed “Like an Eagle”

by Carl Strommen, followed by the Harker school song. Now officially middle schoolers, the grinning students were welcomed by the incoming middle school student body president. Finally, the day ended with H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

W

ith family members flashing cameras like paparazzi, a group of excited fifth graders experienced their very first promotion ceremony, held June 5 at the Bucknall gymnasium.

After the awards, everyone at the ceremony was treated to a slide show filled with memories from the past six years. Then, the promotion certificates themselves were presented to the students.

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Harker Announces Plan to Open

Preschool on Union Campus Property

T

wo long-term plans clasped hands this spring when Harker became top bidder on a desirable property near Union Avenue and Highway 85 in San Jose and decided to open a preschool there, initially. The purchase process, though not completed, is in full swing and the full transition will take several years.

“While we prepare to transition from Blackford,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school, “Harker will open a preschool on Union. Not only will this accomplish some strategic objectives for the school, it will make productive use of the Union campus,” he said, noting that a preschool summer program is slated to open in June 2013, with the annual program to follow in September. The preschool will serve ages 3 through (young) 5-year-olds and aims to open to 48 students, with the capacity to grow up to 120 students.

Photo by Alex Kent, Symphonic Investments

By Debbie Cohen

Harker administration continually hears from kindergarten families about the limited availability of quality preschool programs. A preschool would effectively allow Harker to provide another important enrollment window in the primary grades, For the next several months, Harker is extend its mission to an additional age group, and respond to a growing need for “A preschool would effectively allow a quality preschool Harker to extend its mission to an in Silicon Valley, additional age group and respond to a especially with the state of California growing need for a quality preschool rolling back the in Silicon Valley.” eligibility age for kindergarten. The doing its due diligence on the Union preschool plan took on new impetus as the campus reviewing needed permits, traffic Union acquisition plan matured. issues, environmental questions and the title. If all goes well, the administration Union Avenue – The Third could close on the property around the end Campus of 2012 or beginning of 2013.

Ever since opening the upper school

The Preschool Harker had been studying the preschool market for about two years — long before the Union property arrived on the scene — most recently during its recent accreditation process. Previously, the school ran a very successful junior kindergarten, but closed that program (as well as the school’s boarding program) to make space for the upper school.

According to Nikoloff, many independent K-12 schools have a preschool, and the 12

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in 1998, Harker has planned to own three campuses. Currently Harker owns the upper Saratoga and lower Bucknall campuses, but holds a lease on the middle school Blackford campus until 2025.

However, the Blackford lease has long been viewed as a stop-gap measure.

“Our long-term plan is to locate the middle school on the Bucknall campus and move the lower school to the Union campus. Bucknall’s facilities – such as the fields, pool and gym – meet middle

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school and high school specifications, while the Union campus facilities are much more appropriate for K-5 students,” said Nikoloff, adding that there are four key needs to address before transitioning from the Blackford campus lease into its final Harker-owned campuses plan.

The four key needs prior to completing the middle- and lower school transitions are building a gym and theater complex on the Saratoga campus to replace the gym and theater on the Blackford campus; creating a permanent solution for field use; making improvements on the Union campus in preparation for its K-5 use; and relocating some operations at Blackford.

And, while the preschool would initially operate on the Union property, it would later be transitioned to leased or purchased land when the time comes to move the K-5 programs to Union.

Kelly Espinosa, Harker’s summer school director, has been charged with administering the preschool. A veteran Harker employee, Espinosa holds a bachelor’s degree in child development from San Jose State, and has many years’ experience directing Harker’s summer school, after-school recreation programs, and the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic.

Look for updates about the new preschool in future editions of Harker Quarterly.

Middle and Upper School Debate Teams Photos provided by Karina Momary

Score in Spring Tournaments

By Debbie Cohen and Zach Jones

Meanwhile, middle school students brought home a slew of firsts and seconds from the 2012 Glendale Middle School Warm-Up Speech and Debate Competition tournament hosted by Glendale Community College in late April.

This is the first year the event has been held, and there were more than 100 entries, with Harker appearing in the final round of every debate event. Harker students usually participate in high school-level tournaments and were very excited to attend one of the few middle school tournaments of the year.

A group of 20 Harker middle school students attended the local Spring Forensics Tournament at Santa Clara University, held in early April. Many of them were competing for their very first time in the event, which predominantly consisted of high school students. The Harker contestants held their own, winning first place in humorous interpretation and finishing in the final and top 16 in several events.

Photos provided by Jonathan Peele

H

arker debaters finished up the spring on a high note, with strong performances at the Tournament of Champions, held in Kentucky in late April. Several students finished in the top 16 or better in multiple contests at the tournament. Harker also broke the record for most public forum teams from one school, with a total of 10 teams qualifying for the event.

In mid-April, upper school debaters earned several first place and topeight finishes at the National Debate Coaches Championship Tournament, in addition to receiving several awards for their speaking abilities.

The previous month, at the California Coast National Forensics League (NFL) Qualifier, Harker upper school students took third place in overall sweepstakes and second place in debate sweepstakes. Several students qualified for the NFL national tournament in Indiana in June.

Harker’s freshman duo interpretation team very nearly qualified for nationals.

Photos provided by Karina Momary

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TAKE THE BAIT &

SAVE DATE THE

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Family & Alumni Picnic Sun., Oct. 14, 2012 Blackford Campus * 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

By Kelly Espinosa

Every Dog has his Day!

Photo by Jo na

On Sun., Oct. 14, 2012, creatures big and small will be gathering on the Blackford campus for Harker‘s 62nd annual Family & Alumni Picnic! Our “Paws, Jaws & Claws” theme promises to be a festive (and furry) backdrop for the school’s biggest community event of the year. Whether you trot, crawl, swim, jump, climb or slither to the picnic, you definitely won’t want to miss it!

than Brusco

Each year Harker students, parents, faculty and staff enjoy carnival games, themed activities, delicious food, fabulous entertainment and plenty of special surprises on this “more than a picnic” family picnic day. You’re not “barking up the wrong tree” by expecting this year’s event to be full of feathers, fur and fun for the whole family, that’s for “doggone” sure. Every activity area, from the silent auction to the petting zoo, will be made over with our animal friends in mind … it’s going to be grrrrreat!

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by Jon Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

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Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

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The “lions share” of picnic planning is done by our dedicated team of parent committee heads who have been working hard to create this year’s animal-inspired extravaganza. “We can’t thank them enough,” says picnic coordinator Lynette Stapleton.

“Birds of a feather definitely flock together in this group, as they are all wonderfully generous and talented!”

Though the family picnic is the first big opportunity for all-school fundraising, the day is really about bringing the whole school together in work and in play to help build a strong community. Through this time-honored event, we can all meet new people, make new friends, share our time and talents, and give from our hearts; and in the end it all adds up to a spectacular, memorable day of Harker family fun.

Please mark your calendar for Sun., Oct. 14 and plan to be “bright eyed and bushy tailed” with us on picnic day!

HARKER FAMILY & ALUMNI PICNIC

We

 our Critter Committee!

Yes, they’re a little “wild” but they’re also incredibly talented, extremely hard-working, fiercely loyal and just plain fun! Big thanks to each and every one of them!

Event Coordinators Kelly Espinosa and Lynette Stapleton Parent Volunteer Committee Chairs Ken Azebu Cindi Gonsalves Kim Pellissier Debbie Buss Denise Hayashi Janet Savage Fred Carr Sandhya Jagadeesh Alice Schwartz Heekyung Cho Shalini Jain Ingrid Semenza Becky Cox Lalitha Kumar Patricia Soraire Kelly Delepine Greg Martin Shankari Sundar Grace Edvalson Mark Peetz Mei-Chen Yu Kristin Giammona Robyn Peetz

Be Ahead of the Pack!

Look for information on picnic admission (online ticket sales begin Aug. 30), our big picnic drawing, curbside donations, silent auction items, fabulous food and exciting entertainment in our future picnic publications. Or just make a “beeline” to our website, www.harker.org/picnic, coming soon!

What happens at the auction . . .

Don’t miss our spectacular ClawsVegas silent auction filled with glitz and glamor (animal style) for the whole family!

There will be awesome animal items, tantalizing trips, perfect packages and more for all. You won’t want to miss our super sign-ups (including our g-r-r-r-eat golf tourney), group outings, wine tasting and much, much more. Topnotch teacher packages, sports memorabilia, gourmet goodies and amazing art items will round off the display.

As always, your generous donations help make our auction extra special. So get ready to go “on the prowl.”

It’s going to be such fun!

ARE YOU A Top Dog?

We’re gathering picnic sponsorships to help make this year’s event so-o-o-o-o much fun! 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 every year. And this year, the sponsor opportunities are better than ever!

Put your PAWS Together for our Volunteers!

More information on picnic volunteer opportunities coming this fall!

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Photos by Jonathan Brusco

Each and every year more than 600 volunteers pitch in to make the Family & Alumni Picnic a wonderful day for our community.

It truly takes a herd, band, flock, pack of parents to put it all together. “The best thing about picnic volunteering,” says committee member and longtime volunteer Kim Pellissier, “is that there really is something for everyone, no matter what your talents or time limitations!” Volunteer positions range from one hour in a classroom booth on picnic day to year-round committee work and include opportunities for artists, accountants, builders, buyers, stay-at-home or full-time folks … truly something for everyone. This year volunteering will be even easier with the addition of our online “ivolunteer” program. The program will not only allow parents to sign up for classroom booth time slots, raffle ticket counting, T-shirt sales, etc., it will also provide more information about the volunteer opportunities that are available.

Confirmations and reminders will be sent automatically so everyone’s time can be utilized effectively! The picnic committee is also looking forward to new ways to encourage helpers to come on the weekend and day before the picnic for booth and game setup. Grade level groups will be formed and childcare provided so moms and dads can help out and kids can play with their friends and some of their favorite BEST staff. Our committee truly appreciates all the support from parents (and faculty and staff) who go above and beyond during picnic time, and we look forward to meeting and getting to know new volunteers as you prepare for the “Paws, Jaws & Claws” picnic!

HARKER FAMILY & ALUMNI PICNIC

We Need Your Creature Connections!

Our auction committee is looking for exotic and exciting animal-themed items for this year’s ClawsVegas-themed picnic auction. Do you have a “creature connection” that could help us? We need someone who knows someone at places like the zoo or the wild animal park, Animal Planet or Sea World. Maybe your neighbor’s sister trains dolphins or your cousin’s son drives a whale watching boat? Is your college roommate a bear expert or related to Crocodile Dundee or Jane Goodall? Any and all Las Vegas connections would work great here too! We can follow up on any lead big or small and maybe turn it into a fabulous package for our auction. Please contact Teré Aceves at terea@harker.org with your creative ideas. Thanks so much!

By Zach Jones

Students Enjoy Spring Pool Party An excited group of 13 middle school students enjoyed a pool party in mid-April at the Bucknall campus pool. The party was an auction prize won at the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic in October and also celebrated the birthday of Shannon O’Shea, grade 8; thus the students also enjoyed cake and other refreshments in addition to swimming under the warm spring sun. Teachers Keith Hirota, Julie Pinzás, Rebecca Williams and Patricia Lai Burrows donated the package and put together this fun day for the kids.

All photos by Jon

athan Brusco

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HARKER FAMILY & ALUMNI PICNIC

Contact INFO:

Website harker.org/picnic

By Igor Hiller

Lower School Family Picnic Raffle Winners Enjoy Fun Field Trip Fifty happy K-2 students took a field trip in mid-March to Pump it Up, a warehouse filled with jump houses, obstacle courses and slides. The event was the reward for the students who sold at least 100 raffle tickets for the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic. Kim Coulter, director of the Bucknall Enrichment and Supervision Team (BEST), said, “The children had a great afternoon playing. They enjoyed going through the obstacle courses and racing some of their favorite BEST staff.” Top ticket sellers this year were grade 2 students Emma Gurleroglu with 2,780, Callie Mayer with 1,640 and Aaditya Gulati with 1,520.

Students Enjoy Picnic OUTING in San Francisco

Picnic Coordinators Lynette Stapleton lynettes@harker.org; Kelly Espinosa kellye@harker.org Volunteering 9-12: Sue Prutton suep@@harker.org; K-8: Teré Aceves terea@harker.org

fun and silly teacher packages are auctioned off every year.

Photo by Jo nathan Brus

Photos provided by Kate Shanahan

co

nathan Brus

Photo by Jo

On Dec. 10, four lucky Harker students enjoyed a whirlwind day in San Francisco with two of their favorite teachers. The grade 5 students, Arushee Bhoja, Devanshi Mehta, Nikhil Dharmaraj and Ayush Pancholy, won the trip at the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic auction on Oct. 9, where

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Accompanied by teachers Pat Walsh and Kate Shanahan, the excited students rode a cable car, visited AT&T park, North Beach and Chinatown, where the fortune cookie factory was deemed “awesome.” Said Shanahan, “The kids got a special kick out of where we stopped for dessert on the way home – a famous drive-through convenience store in South San Francisco!”

Walsh was a busy chaperone - he also accompanied about 30 kids to an Oakland A’s baseball game in late April.

Photo by Kathy Clark

le Cavallaro

Photo by Ky

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Annual Research Symposium M

By Zach Jones

ore than 400 attendees experienced the 2012 Harker Research Symposium on April 28, which featured some of the most fascinating speakers and presentations in the symposium’s sixyear history.

Legendary entrepreneur Vinod Khosla was this year’s morning keynote speaker.

“We were very fortunate that someone of Mr. Khosla’s stature would take time from a busy schedule and from a beautiful Saturday to come and share his thoughts with our students,” said Anita Chetty, science department chair and symposium 18

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coordinator. “I think that what he had to say certainly got us all thinking about the present as well as the future.”

Giving a joint presentation were John West and Atul Butte. West, a Harker parent and CEO of genome analysis company Personalis, was joined by Butte via video conference from Boston. Butte is chief of the division of systems medicine and associate professor of pediatrics, medicine and by courtesy, computer science at Stanford University. The two scientists discussed the collaborative project between a team of Stanford scientists led by Butte and West’s former company, Illumina, to sequence the West family’s DNA. This in turn led to an effort to develop software that would make genome sequencing accessible to more people.

This year’s alumni presentation was given by Jacob Bongers ’07, son of Jaap Bongers, art department chair, and a 2011 graduate from the University of Southern California.

Bongers discussed his passion for archaeology and his related fieldwork and research, which led him to being published in the Journal of Archaeological Science while still an undergraduate. “Archaeology has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and since I have a tremendous amount of experience performing fieldwork and conducting

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research within the scope of archaeology, I felt like I had a lot to offer to anyone interested in learning about this fascinating field of study,” Bongers said.

“I also wanted to talk about a field of study that, at Harker, may not get as much press as engineering, biology or medical research.”

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Attendance remained high for the duration of the event, and the top caliber of this year’s student presentations kept visitors interested.

“Every classroom was standing room only,” Chetty said.

physics isn’t really the most accessible topic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly nearly everyone understood what I was discussing,” Najibi said.

Because of the expected high attendance, the symposium this year was arranged to create better foot traffic, and a tent was set up between Nichols Hall and Dobbins Hall to display the many impressive poster presentations by upper school students.

The Dobbins Hall gallery was set aside for middle school student poster presentations.

Exhibitors occupied the atrium in Nichols Hall, demonstrating many scientific and technological advancements and offering a peek into the kinds of careers that are open to students interested in scientific research.

One presenter at this year’s symposium, Alex Najibi, grade 12, said attending last year’s symposium provided the spark for his own interest in research.

“I’ve always been interested in science and research, but when I went to the symposium last year, not as a presenter, I was really amazed by how many projects the other students were doing,” he said.

Exhibitors occupied the atrium in Nichols Hall, demonstrating many scientific and technological advancements and offering a peek into the kinds of careers that are open to students interested in scientific research. This year’s exhibitors were Microsoft, HewlettPackard, The Triple Helix, East Bay Cardiovascular and Thoracic Associates, Lumoback, Symmetricom, Twin Creeks Technologies, Nvidia, Autodesk, Ericsson, Hunter Laboratories and Rector Porsche Audi.

connection between research and career, research and the economy of our valley,” Chetty said. “The exhibitors were so excited about their companies and their products and their research and development. That enthusiasm was really infectious.”

In addition to the student clubs such as WiSTEM (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the Chemistry Club, who were instrumental in organizing this year’s event, Chetty was also thankful for the various departments that came together to make sure the Harker Research Symposium had another successful year.

“The symposium recognizes what our teachers and our students do throughout the year, and it’s a celebration of that work,” she said. “But the actual event also brings together the other departments that make our school run: facilities, technology, Office of Communication, the kitchen, security, all of those departments come together to run this huge event.”

Next year’s symposium, scheduled for April 13, is already in the planning stages, and will feature Nobel Prize-winning biologist Dr. David Baltimore as a keynote speaker.

“The industry piece is very important because it allows our students to see the

Although he was not sure at first that many people would find his presentation on particle physics engaging or accessible enough, he quickly discovered that his audience found the topic quite compelling. “Particle

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

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Humanities Endowments Produce Four Scholars Papers Cover Charter Schools, Special Forces, Nuclear Policy and Churchill’s Public Relations

By William Cracraft

T

he Mitra Family Endowment, established last year, has borne its first fruit. Sarah Howells, grade 12 and the first Mitra scholar, added her effort to the handcrafted social and historical analyses produced by this year’s three John Near Endowment scholars.

Howells chose a classic and controversial character for her subject and found an angle not fully explored for her paper, “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain From 1940-1941,”

a look at his public relations efforts as they affected Britain’s morale in early World War II. In 2011, Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 11) established the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which matches gifts to 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 skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra at last year’s reception. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”

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Photo provided by Bing Isenberg

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

“I knew I wanted to apply for the Mitra grant because I had enjoyed world history so much in my sophomore

Dwight Payne could not attend as he was visiting colleges but he pre-recorded his thanks and other comments.

year,” said Howells. “I thought about Britain; my family was affected on two sides by World War II, both in Poland and

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

in Britain.”

Too broad at first, her topic choices “quickly narrowed to Churchill’s

beleaguered England. Her writing, worth

remarkable unification of the government

the read in itself, conveys the passion that

and retaining the trust of the people

Churchill used to inspire fellow politicians

during the war,” said Howells, who will

and those in the street. Her division of

attend Princeton in the fall.

material shows the way for further research on how Churchill handled groups differently.

“I don’t think I could have done this if you hadn’t suggested to me that I was capable of completing such a long senior thesis.”

opportunity,” said Howells, “and I’m glad I could get a taste of what real humanities research is like before I head off to college.”

–Sarah Howells, grade 12

At the reception, Howells gave emphatic thanks to her teachers and mentor, saying,

Howells noted, “The most interesting part

Like all good researchers, Howells pointed

“I don’t think I could have done this if you

of writing the paper was transitioning from

out the weakness in her own paper, the

hadn’t suggested to me that I was capable

the researching to the writing. That was

inability to examine the records of Mass

of completing such a long senior thesis.”

the most difficult task for me, since I had a

Observation and Home Intelligence, a

myriad of great resources but no idea how

government bureau that monitored the

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Sundari Mitra, noting

to put them all together.”

public pulse, due to their volume and

the scholars’ efforts to “inspire us parents.

her limited access. Howells noted that

We are really honored and proud that with

Howells took on a subject usually taken

lacking the confirming information in

whatever little we could do, the school has

for granted – Churchill’s ability to relate to

those records, it was hard to be sure of

utilized it in such a tremendous manner, so

widespread public approval of Churchill.

thank you Mr. Nikoloff, the faculty, everyone.

the “everyman” and to

I’m really touched and inspired.”

the highest in the land (he often personally

“It’s been such a pleasure to work with

briefed King George VI

Sarah,” said history teacher Ruth Meyer,

The $300,000 John Near Excellence in

on the war’s progress)

Howells’ mentor through the process. “She

History Education Endowment Fund, in

– and examined its

is so balanced in her approach to research,

memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s

worth in keeping the

she’s so steady in everything that she

teaching staff who passed away in 2009,

spirit of resistance

does, so well organized.”

was made by his parents James and Patricia

alive in

Near to, in John Near’s words, “help develop “Overall, the process of writing the

the history department, both through the

paper was an exciting and challenging

acquisition of resources and by providing

Photo by Ashley Batz

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H umanitie s G rant s growth opportunities for both faculty and

Westgate, Susan Smith, library director,

Payne was comfortable, however, generally

students.” Each year, three students receive

and Donna Gilbert, history department

endorsing charter schools as an option

grants from the endowment’s proceeds to

chair, for their help. “I don’t think there

for helping those desirous of helping

be used for research.

are very many schools of any sort that

themselves, feeling that time will only

offer such a rare opportunity to do history

improve the system as learning processes

research specifically and then give the

are refined and expanded.

Near scholar Max Isenberg, grade 12, chose a subject Churchill, as a former First Lord of the Admiralty, would have been very interested in: the use of on-station naval

leeway to explore the topic in such a thorough manner,” he said.

When it came time to write the paper, “sifting through the breadth of literature

power as a worldwide deterrent, something

Dwight Payne, grade 12, chose a current

was a difficult task,” said Payne, who will

at which the British were old hands.

social topic and, as he was out of town

attend the University of North Carolina

during the reception, delivered his

at Chapel Hill, majoring in business

address via video. His work, “Can Charter

administration with a possible second

Schools Close the Achievement Gap?” was

major in either economics or psychology.

Isenberg’s paper, “Arleigh Burke’s Submarine-Based Finite Deterrent: Alternative to the Nuclear Triad,” an examination of Admiral Arleigh Burke’s answer to ballooning costs involved

mentored by teacher Kelly Horan.

Another hurdle was maintaining

Payne’s closely researched paper delves

objectivity. “It was difficult to swallow

into the arcane world of evaluating charter

my own biases going into the process

school results. He located a number of

and accept that most of the literature I

studies which threw light on a portion

read presented inconclusive or conflicting

of the process of evaluation and allowed

data,” Payne said. “From that knowledge,

limited conclusions to be drawn on the

however, it was rewarding to conduct

Isenberg, who will attend the University

efficacy of the charter schools studied.

interviews that examined specific

of Pennsylvania for the Jerome Fisher

Payne identified some commonalities

examples of successes or challenges that

Management and Technology program

within the studies and used them for his

were illuminating despite the difficulty of

in the fall in a dual-degree program

next step, interviewing charter school

reaching an overall conclusion regarding

for business and engineering, noted,

administrators and examining the records

the effectiveness of charter schools in

“My favorite part of the entire project

of their schools.

closing the achievement gap. I particularly

with maintaining a three-point nuclear deterrent (aircraft, missiles and submarines all carrying nuclear devices), was carefully researched and covered the salient points of the argument.

was looking at the competing theories of nuclear strategy, and how they had consequences not immediately obvious until later in the Cold War.

enjoyed meeting with school leaders, and I The schools examined in this portion of the

was very inspired by their dedication. The

project had a spectrum of student results

administrators whom I interviewed were

and, although Payne found and used

incredibly helpful and eager to share their

common criteria for eliminating or at least

work; I am immensely grateful to them.”

“The most difficult part of the project

accounting for bias, the differences between

was finding solid first-person sources,

schools, including stability, age of students

especially considering the tight

(one was high school, the others lower and

classification of many details from the

middle schools), location, teaching methods

Cold War,” he added. “That difficulty

and teacher evaluation and training methods

partly contributed to my eventual focus

made drawing firm conclusions problematic.

Senior Cole Manaster, like Howells and Isenberg, chose a military topic with political ramifications. His effort, “The Changing Dynamic of Unconventional Warfare: The U.S. Special Forces in

on nuclear strategy as many of the major players in the development of the Triad and finite deterrence had published works, while a lot of the nitty-gritty details of submarines remain inaccessible.”

Isenberg is appreciative of the grant, thanking teacher and mentor Ramsey

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“... it is exciting to see our papers truly come to fruition and to have this at the close of our senior year, as well.”

—Cole Manaster, Near scholar

H umanitie s G rant s Photo by Joe Rosenthal

“and then there are other books that say the United States should never have gone into Vietnam in the first place and they (the Green Berets) were the dirty dogs in the deal. It is very difficult to try to walk the middle line, and I know that was a struggle for Cole, but I know he persevered.”

Pam Dickinson, John Near’s widow and director of Harker’s Office of Communication, again represented the Near family. “Like last year, I felt very much as though John was channeled with the presentations,” Dickinson said, noting

2011: Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra established the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities.

facets of each paper that interested the

Vietnam and Their Impact on Modern

Manaster, who will be going to the

Near family. “John would be incredibly

War,” traced the development of special

University of Southern California next year

proud. I’m honored to be here on behalf

operations forces first as trainers of

as a business administration major, said

of his parents, and it is a wonderful thing

villagers in war zones to strengthen them

he “wanted to be able to use the things I

that the Mitras have done. Congratulations.

against enemy efforts, then in their roles as

have learned in my history classes and all

You all have done a wonderful job.”

covert, uniformed operators behind enemy

my classes,” but noted, “the toughest part

lines. Manaster documented the status

of writing such an extensive paper was

of special operations forces as, following

keeping myself on track timewise.”

WWII, they grew from a compound of

Manaster echoed the thanks of the other scholars, adding, “All of us have put in a lot of work and it is exciting to see our papers truly come to fruition and to have

step a challenge. “If I could do it all again,

this at the close of our senior year, as

I would probably have spent more time

well. I’m very honored to have been a

solidifying my outline before writing the

part of this program, and it is something

paper itself. What I had in my outline

I’m going to

Today, we are all familiar with the effort

made the writing process itself immensely

remember for

to capture the “hearts and minds” of non-

easier, but I think I probably could have

a long time.”

combatants in military zones, and Manaster

done even more, looking back on it now.”

CIA – to the ultimate acceptance of these forces and their integration in the overall military effort.

illustrated how that effort grew from early efforts to keep South Vietnamese and other indigenous groups in Vietnam from falling, or being coerced, under the influence of North Vietnamese communists, while noting that a special operations forces mandate also puts them in the most dangerous situations a soldier is likely to face, i.e., behind enemy lines.

“I was fascinated by this facet of the war – how special forces were used,” he said, “so I looked at how they were used in the Vietnam War and somewhat how they have been used since.”

“I was really happy to be Cole’s mentor,” said Carol Zink, history teacher. “I’ve seen his intellectual growth and development

Photo by Mark Tantrum

His topic firm, Manaster found the next

various forces – Army, Navy, Marine and

over the years and it’s always tremendously rewarding for a teacher to get to see that.”

Zink noted one of the challenges Manaster had in pursuing his research is that it is difficult to find unbiased sources on this topic. “There are a lot of books that are ‘Yay-rah, Green Berets!’” she said,

John Near taught at Harker for 31 years, passing away in 2009. The endowment made in his name has funded a campus research center and six student grants (three each year) to date.

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EagleReport

“Overall, it was another exciting season for Harker athletes. Go Eagles!”

Upper School This spring was a season of ups and downs for Harker sports, as teams pitted themselves against worthy opponents from across the state.

School records were broken in the pool and on the field, as students shattered previous shot put and 500yard freestyle numbers. Lower and middle school athletes continued to impress with their enthusiasm and dedication, as well as their stellar results, with many teams coming away undefeated or nearly so. Overall, it was another exciting season for Harker athletes. Go Eagles!

Baseball

King’s Academy. To cement the bond between campuses, the upper and middle school teams took a group trip to an A’s-Angels game in May, where they enjoyed the fun from a luxury suite.

Lacrosse Harker cradlers had a historic season this spring, posting their first winning season since the program began.

Coach Andrew Irvine had his first year as head coach, building off the foundation of Dawn Clark’s four years as head coach, with Jason Berry, also a varsity girls soccer coach, assisting.

“We beat out league rival Mercy Burlingame for the first time in several

Harker sluggers finished a difficult year with a 9-17 record, 2-8 in league.

“Three tough extra-inning losses hurt the Eagles’ chances in league play,” said head coach C.J. Cali. Highlights of the season included a monster 18-0 thumping against North Valley Baptist, as well as an exciting extra-innings 5-4 win in the season opener against Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

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EagleReport years,” said Irvine. “We are looking forward to the development of the lacrosse program in the coming years as it is the fastest growing sport in America.”

“We are losing two seniors this year, but are getting most players back. The girls know how close we were to getting [into the playoffs], so next year they will try even harder.”

Volleyball Congratulations to the boys volleyball team on their tough-fought season.

“Harker arguably competes in the strongest league in the state,” said head coach Dan Molin. “[Their league] features three other teams ranked in the state’s top 25.” The boys were 1418 overall and 4-8 in league.

-Raul Rios, head softball coach

Harker linksmen finished 7-3 this spring, with a strong third place in their league. “I think we had a great season and competed very well against Menlo (who won the league) and split with Sacred Heart (who finished second and won the league championship tournament),” said cohead coach Phil Hall.

Track and Field

Swimming Harker’s aquatic athletes posted admirable results in the CCS championships this spring, which included more than 100 schools stretching from San Francisco to King City. Nevertheless, Harker had many top 10 finishes, including second and third places, respectively, in girls 100-meter backstroke and boys 100-meter freestyle. Overall, the girls tied for 16th place, and the boys came in tied for ninth. Great work!

Raul Rios, “but are getting most players back. The girls know how close we were to getting [into the playoffs], so next year they will try even harder. I think we are going to be better and stronger next year.”

Tennis The Harker racquet men showed not only a winning season this spring, but made it to the CCS championships for the ninth straight year! Though

“A small band of talented, hardworking athletes is a powerful force,” said coach Brian Dougall, and indeed he was right, as Harker track and field athletes posted impressive results at the WBAL varsity finals on May 12 in Daly City, even though they had one of the smaller squads in the league.

Harker posted first-place results in the men’s 100, 200 and 3,200 meters, as well as the women’s 200 meters.

Other top five finishes included men’s shot put and discus, and the women’s 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. Said Dougall, “We had a young team this year and they will be back next year. So, watch out.”

US Sports

the boys got off to a slow start losing three of their first six matches, they then took off and won nine of their next 11, including one stretch with seven straight wins! They finished the season with an overall record of 11-7 and finished third in the WBAL.

Golf

Softball Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Harker’s lady sluggers finished the season 11-10-2 and 7-5 in league, placing fourth. Two players made first team All League. In a heartbreaking last game, the team missed the CCS playoffs by one home run, abdicating to Castilleja 1-0. “We are losing two seniors this year,” says head coach

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EagleReport Lower and Middle School

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

The VB2 girls team had a strong season, going 5-2 and placing third in their league.

Girls Volleyball Big congratulations to the VA girls volleyball squad, who went undefeated all season, ending 8-0. “It was an amazing season with effort from every kid,” said coach Alisa Vinkour. “This is a very talented group of kids.”

The VB girls team posted impressive results this season, ending their league with a three-way tie for first place, with a win-loss record of 6-1. Coach Diana Melendez said the team had a positive attitude and a strong team spirit. “They

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were a fun group to work with and an eager-to-learn bunch, which made their learning process much more fun.

They were dedicated and committed; considering the many activities Harker kids have, I was very pleased when almost all girls would attend practices and games.”

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The girls on the JVB1 team had a wonderful season, going 5-1 and finishing the season co-champions!

“The girls played their hearts out, and I was very proud of all of them,” said coach Michelle Hopkins.

The grade 4 intramural team had an amazing time and built a strong foundation of skills to use in future years. “I am very proud of the progress the girls made from the first day of practice until the final practice,” said coach Patrick Hightower. “This team began the season as young girls who had never seen or touched a volleyball. They have progressed by making controlled passes and sets.

By the end of the season, they were able to serve and receive a serve.”

Good work, girls – we look forward to seeing you shine in future seasons!

Boys Volleyball What a season it was for the boys varsity A team, who finished the season 10-1 and placed first in the ADAL (Art David Athletic League). “This is a tremendous accomplishment and a tribute to the volleyball talent here at Harker,” said coach Pete Anderson.

“The team meshed and worked hard throughout the year.” This was the varsity A team’s first season in a boys volleyball league after many years playing as an independent.

EagleReport LS & MS Sports

Baseball The JVA boys had a difficult season, going 0-5-1, with a tie in their last game against Menlo. “We continued to get better and better as the season went on,” said coach Matt Arensberg.

Photos by Maria Gong, parent

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With only 11 players on the roster, the grade 5 JVB sluggers fought hard and ended the season 0-3 in league play. Coach Walid Fahmy said, “I am really looking forward to seeing the boys improve and get better next year as they move on to Blackford.

Coach [Joe]

Mentillo and I are very proud of each and every boy who came out for baseball and made this a memorable season.”

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The grade 4 intramural team was superlative in their enthusiasm this year. “The boys’ passion for the game and their love of practicing and playing while challenging each other to improve was remarkable to witness on a daily basis,” said coach Jim McGovern.

“Their dedication to working on fielding, hitting and base running was evident early on to Coach Wade and me, and

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

the entire team improved their skills throughout the season.”

Tennis A hearty congratulations to the varsity A girls tennis squad, who competed for the first time ever and pulled off a winning record of 4-1. “The girls performed to their best every match,” said coach Silvana Dukic. “Such enthusiasm, spirit and love for the game … I’m so proud of them! It was a pleasure to coach them.”

Water Polo Kudos go to the middle school water polo squad, who finished fourth in their league.

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PerformingArts

Compiled from Harker News Online by Debbie Cohen, Igor Hiller, Zach Jones and Catherine Snider

‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ Garners 11 Nominations in Top Honor Awards

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro and Harker’s middle school yearbook staff

Dance Jamz Electrifies Crowd Always the crowd pleaser, Dance Jamz, the middle school’s annual early spring dance show, again left audiences wanting more.

Filling the Blackford Theater for a four-show run, the March show featured 169 dancers (20 more than last year) from all middle school grade levels.

Dance Jamz 2012 encompassed a series of elaborate routines, covered varied dance styles and included more male performers than ever before.

Middle school dance teacher Gail Palmer, who directed the show, said she was excited about watching Harker’s middle school program grow. With more students taking classes and becoming technically skilled dancers, she hopes her students continue to follow their passion for dance well into high school and beyond.

She noted that Dance Jamz would not be possible without the tireless effort of countless volunteers who ensure it runs smoothly, as well as those who give to Harker’s annual campaign, which funds the program.

From the first energetic piece, “This Place About to Blow,” to the final number, “Fame,” Dance Jamz entertained and delighted audience members with its stunning variety of dance styles, music and costumes.

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The 2012 Stage Top Honor Awards recognizes outstanding work by Bay Area high school musical theater programs, and the cast and staff of the Conservatory’s spring musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” received 11 nominations this year, resulting in one win for the coveted best chorus award.

Four judges, each one a theater professional, attended performances at the 15 participating schools and completed lengthy and detailed evaluations, offering feedback on everything from the ushers to each cast member and every technical element of the show. The critiques were then mailed to the directors to share with their casts.

Harker’s upper school musicals have received a total of 24 nominations in the contest’s three years of existence, with five wins to date.

While excited by the nominations, Lang-Ree is firm that, “We produce musicals so that we can learn from and enjoy the process – we are not in it to win a prize. That’s our philosophical stand, as we are always going to do our best, grow, stretch, fail, succeed and try again, regardless of whether we choose to be a part of an adjudication or competition.”

Check out the HNO story for full details of the process and the nominees!

PerformingArts Evening of Jazz a Hit In March the lower, middle and upper school jazz bands united to present an Evening of Jazz. Held at the Blackford Theater, the event was led by Louis Hoffman, Dave Hart and Chris Florio, the directors of the jazz bands for each campus.

Those numbers were followed by the Lower School Jazz Ensemble’s rendition of John Coltrane’s “Equinox” and Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man.” Then, the Middle School Jazz Band performed the more traditional numbers “Motherless Child” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Following a brief intermission and further performances by all three ensembles came the combined finale, “Work Song” by Nat Adderley. Running the gamut from rousing, upbeat swing numbers to slow, soulful ballads, Evening of Jazz showcased the breadth of Harker student talent and entertained and delighted its audience.

United Voices Brings Singers Together

The lower school was represented by the Bucknall Choir, made up of students in grades 4-5, who sang the Scottish folk song “Ally Bally” and the American folk song “Red River Dances.” Donna Boucher,

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Jennifer Cowgill led the upper school choir Bel Canto through two songs which included impressive soloists, and then Downbeat, directed

by Catherine Snider and Laura Lang-Ree, took the stage with a set which included a rousing rendition of The Doobie Brothers’ “Listen to the Music.” To conclude, all of the evening’s singers assembled on the stage to perform “Tshotsholoza,” a South African folk song with African-style drumming provided

by Vivace’s rhythm section. The performers received a muchdeserved standing ovation not just for the stunning finale, but also for the musicianship they displayed throughout the evening.

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Dynamics, Hagemeyer’s grade 6 show choir, was the third middle school group to perform during the evening, singing the standard “Bye Bye Blackbird” and “The Frim Fram Sauce,” made famous by the Nat King Cole Trio.

Susan Nace directed the first two upper school groups to perform, Camerata and Cantilena. The groups sang a diverse group of songs, concluding with Nace’s own arrangement of the Roger Nixon piece “Carol.” The late Nixon’s granddaughter, Bridget, grade 12, sings in Cantilena.

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Middle school choirs Harmonics and Vivace kicked off the show by teaming up on a medley of the traditional Shaker song “Simple Gifts” and the famous “Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel, directed by Dave Hart. The two groups also performed individually later that evening, Vivace under Hart’s direction and Harmonics directed by Monica Colletti and Roxann Hagemeyer.

grade 5, provided accompaniment on flute.

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Student singers from every campus gathered at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Theater in late March for this year’s United Voices concert, which brought all of Harker’s talented vocal groups to one stage.

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Photos by Devin Nguyen, grade 12

Kicking off the evening, The Harker School Jazz Band performed “Two Seconds to Midnight” by composer Alan Baylock and “Harker Swing” by former Harker music teacher David Len Allen, arranged by Harker music aide Paul Woodruff.

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PerformingArts Spring Sing Highlights Middle School Vocal Talent

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Kindergarten Show Pays Rockin’ Tribute to the 1950s Kindergarten performers took a packed house back to the 1950s with this year’s annual show, titled “At the Hop” and directed by lower school performing arts teacher Kellie Binney. Each member of the production assumed the identity of a ’50s archetype or celebrity for the show, and the students performed various hits from the ’50s on the Bucknall stage.

The teachers of each kindergarten class were also part of the show, introducing their respective classes with entertaining skits and even joining in on several numbers. Naturally, performers were decked out in a potpourri of period-appropriate attire, including leather jackets, jeans and poodle skirts, and the audience delighted in the students’ fun and inspired renditions of classic tunes, all done to energetic choreography by dance teacher Gail Palmer.

The show included a well-designed set that mimicked an authentic ’50s diner, courtesy of scenic artist Whitney Pintello, with props by the students of Danny Dunn’s middle school technical theater class. Grade 5 students Nikhil Dharmaraj and Ayush Pancholy constructed a jukebox that was a major feature of the scenery. Dunn, who also acted as technical director and designer, again brought along the students of her grade 5 technical theater class to act as the stage crew.

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Harker grade 6 singers dazzled the large crowd at the Blackford Theater on May 25 during the seventh annual Spring Sing concert.

This year’s show had a story to go along with the singing and dancing.

The priceless Harker Chalice had been stolen by the infamous Punk Panther, and the performers were on a globe-hopping adventure to capture the thief and return the chalice to Harker. In all, 190 students were involved in the show.

Patriotic numbers such as “Over There” by George Cohan and “This is the Army, Mr. Jones” by Irving Berlin were performed along with presentday hits (“Someone Like You” by Adele) and Broadway show tunes.

One of the highlights of the show was their version of “Africa” by Toto.

As an additional treat, the grade 7-8 show choir Harmonics emerged from the audience to sing “The Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” In another number the grade 6 singers were joined by the grade 8 Harmonics boys for the early 1950s hit “Hey Mambo.”

The entire show was written, directed, choreographed and costumed by middle school performing arts teacher Roxann Hagemeyer, whose husband, Rolando Queyquep, designed the show’s props.

PerformingArts Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Upper School Vocal Groups are Wonderful “Music Makers” in Final Concert

The end of the school year brings a flurry of activity, and one of the final vocal concerts of the year delighted family and friends in the Nichols Hall auditorium on May 1. “We Are the Music Makers” brought together the groups directed by Susan Nace in a lovely evening of song, laughter and a few tears.

Camerata, the upper school’s mixed chamber choir, started off the night. While their first two pieces were beautiful classical works, their final selection brought laughter as biology teacher Dan Ajerman joined the group on upright bass for a scat version of a Bach suite, also accompanied by a student on snare drum.

The second part of the evening showed off the talents of several Conservatory soloists, who performed Broadway tunes, classical piano solos and arias. The lighthearted aspect of that portion of the show segued nicely to Guys’ Gig, the a cappella boys’ singing

club which includes comedic skits into its sets.

Cantilena, Nace’s women’s classical ensemble, showed versatility in their set, which closed the evening. The girls sang modern, folk and classical pieces in English, Chinese, Slovenian, Hebrew and Turkish, representing the ethnic backgrounds of the group’s members.

As is traditional, Cantilena bid a fond and sad farewell to its departing seniors and welcomed to the stage the group’s new singers. Nace wrote in her program notes that all these wonderful singers “cherish their music-making … for being in a moment of beauty and camaraderie.” The audience was certainly the beneficiary of their dedication and talent.

Spring Orchestra Concert Wows Harker’s musical talent shined in the April Spring Concert, presented by the school’s music departments. Lower, middle and upper school orchestras united on stage to the delight of friends, parents and faculty members in attendance.

Held at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose, the show featured a unique preconcert lobby music performance by the middle school chamber ensembles. Kicking off the concert, the Lower School String Ensemble opened with “Burst,” by Brian Balmages, and “Battle of the Ancient Dragons,” by Rob Grice.

Photos by Megan Prakash, grade 10

The Lower School Orchestra then performed two numbers before being joined by the Grade 6 Winds, Strings and Orchestra. Then the Grade 7-8 Orchestra took the stage, performing Johannes Brahms’ “Variations on a Theme” and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”

A special treat was the K-12 combined orchestra, which played a beautiful rendition of “Hornpipe” from Handel’s “Water Music.” A brief intermission followed after which the The Harker School Orchestra showed their range of skill by performing such high-level pieces as Felix Mendelssohn’s “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The Spring Concert was a joy to attend and skillfully directed by its respective upper, middle and lower school conductors: Chris Florio, David Hart, Louis Hoffman and Toni Woodruff.

“We had a very challenging program, and the students truly stepped up their game for a wonderful performance. I was especially happy to honor such an amazing group of musicians. This class has been a huge part of the growth of the orchestra program, and it was fitting that they ended with such a wonderful concert,” said Florio.

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PerformingArts Downbeat and Bel Canto Sing Into Summer

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Upper School Musical Entertains Audiences The Conservatory’s spring musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a self-styled “Musical Within a Comedy,” fused modern and vaudevillian musical theater styles to create a uniquely entertaining experience. The show gave the students the chance to explore both new and more familiar theatrical genres. Director Laura Lang-Ree, musical director Catherine Snider and choreographer Katie O’Bryon guided the 43 students in the cast in learning the various performance styles.

The show follows the Man in Chair (Tristan Killeen, grade 12), a shut-in and Broadway enthusiast who unearths and listens to a recording of a fictional 1928 musical known as “The Drowsy Chaperone.” After getting approval from the audience to guide them through the show, he puts the record on his player and the musical comes to life in his living room.

One of the last upper school vocal performances of the year took place in early May, with Downbeat and Bel Canto coming together for the Songs Into Summer concert at the Nichols Hall auditorium. Bel Canto, directed by Jennifer Cowgill, started things off with a rendition of “Gloria in D Major” by Antonio Vivaldi. Downbeat, musical directed by Catherine Snider and choreographed by Laura Lang-Ree, followed with “I’ve Got the Music in Me.” Bel Canto entertained with some time-honored classics and traditionals, such as “Guide My Wayfaring Feet,” “Old Dan Tucker” and Harry Warren and Al Dubin’s “Lullaby of Broadway.”

Downbeat tackled some of the more popular and challenging songs, including “September”

by Earth, Wind and Fire and the U2 megahit “Beautiful Day.” For the show’s finale, the group performed their version of the Queen classic “Somebody to Love” and finished with their traditional closer, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

So begins a screwball comedy with rousing musical numbers and periodic bittersweet insights into the life of the Man in Chair which give the show the substance that made it so popular with Broadway audiences when it debuted in 2006.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” participated in a high school theater competition; see box on page 28 for details.

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Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Stalwart set designer Paul Vallerga brought his trademark creativity to production, creating a versatile set that was easily changed to suit a variety of locales and which included a large airplane and a Murphy bed. Clever props made their way into the show as well, courtesy of prop designer Joan Sommerfield. Natti Pierce-Thomson again handled the lighting design, splendidly capturing the musical’s many moods.

PerformingArts Senior Showcase Honors Conservatory Graduates The 11th annual Senior Showcase, held in April at the Blackford Theater, was an entertaining and heartfelt tribute bidding a fond farewell to the graduating seniors who devoted much passion and time to completing the Harker Conservatory’s Certificate Program.

The show followed a special dinner for senior parents and all Conservatory students. A highlight of each year’s dinner is the Hammie Awards, the Conservatory’s version of the Oscars, when awards marking the year’s most memorable moments, whether silly or meaningful, are handed out by the performing arts faculty.

The largest certificate class to date, 38 students each showed off one piece from the portfolios they’ve been honing and crafting in their chosen majors – theater, musical theater, vocal music, instrumental music or dance; the two technical theater majors ran the sound and light cues for the show. At the end of the performances the performers’ certificate advisors, the upper school performing arts staff, proudly presented the students with their engraved plaques signifying completion of the program.

Photos by Devin Nguyen, grade 12

Family, friends, mentors and private music teachers came out to support these talented artists in their final high school performance. It was an emotional yet fun-filled evening rich in laughter, tears, music, theater and dance.

Middle School’s Production of “The Boy Friend” Delights Audiences Harker’s middle school performing arts department recently presented Sandy Wilson’s endearingly popular musical “The Boy Friend.” The show, which in 1954 signalled Julie Andrews’ American stage debut, was performed twice over a weekend in May in the Blackford Theater, to the delight of both adult and student audiences.

Roxann Hagemeyer, and further made possible by an impressive production crew, student technicians and support staff.

Set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the roaring ’20s, the musical is a light, romantic comedy spoofing that era. The students succesfully presented the plot, which revolved around an English heiress attending an upscale finishing school who falls in love with a delivery boy. Worried that he is a fortune seeker, she poses as a working girl, unaware that he is, in fact, the missing son of a wealthy family. The period dance numbers and costumes enhanced the audience experience of this fun and crazy era.

Harker’s rendition of “The Boy Friend” was directed by middle school performing arts teacher Monica Colletti, along with musical director

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

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PerformingArts

Stepping Out Into the Spotlight: Harker’s Lower School Dancers Take the Stage!

More than 250 lower school student dancers and more than 30 faculty members rehearsed for months in preparation for the big dance show held during the first weekend in June.

Music Concert Showcases Lower School Talent On May 8 the lower school instrumental and choral programs held their 2012 Bucknall Spring Concert, directed by Louis Hoffman and Jennifer Cowgill. The performance featured dozens of young students and showcased Bucknall’s instrumental program, open to all students K-5.

The instrumental program includes a comprehensive course of study in orchestra, string, wind and jazz ensembles and beginning group lessons, as well as the opportunity to study privately with specialty teachers. The program focuses on musicianship, ensemble playing, articulation, dynamics, intonation and understanding of different styles through exposure to various repertoires.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Under the direction of Gail Palmer, K-5 performing arts lead teacher, the lower school’s dance concert was a huge success.

Called “Changing the World, One Step at a Time!,” the show featured dance numbers inspired by an invention or an event suggested by teachers. Numbers paid tribute to the Beatles, the space program, the cell phone, World Series wins, 9/11 and many more.

In her director’s note, Palmer gave a special thanks to all the student dancers, for “all the steps they take in the dance room, on stage and in life!”

All these skills were on radiant display during the spring concert, from both singers and instrumentalists, giving the crowd a great night of entertainment.

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For full stories on each event, go to Harker News Online at news.harker.org and search on the event name.

GlobalEducation Students Explore Japan on Annual Grade 6 Trip

By Zach Jones During their first full school day at Tamagawa, the Harker kids accompanied their host buddies to a number of classes, including math, Japanese, science and P.E. Later, they met with Yoshiaki Obara, president of Tamagawa, to share with him their experiences so far during the trip.

“He told the kids that this trip was good for them as it made them realize that not everyone spoke English,” Walrod wrote.

The students later gave presentations on American culture during an English class, covering topics such as the Fourth of July, music and food.

Afterward, they rode a gondola to the top of a nearby mountain, where they took photos of the breathtaking scenery.

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Saturday was special for the Harker students, as they reunited with their buddies

May 15 started with the Harker students being introduced to all of Tamagawa’s middle school students. From there, the students received a tour of some of the Tamagawa facilities, including the planetarium and the Future Sci Tech Lab, where they saw a presentation by a representative from their Plant Factory Research Center and Space Farming Lab, during which they learned of Tamagawa’s involvement with the research of crop production in space.

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rade 6 students boarded a Tokyo-bound plane on May 10 for the annual trip to Japan. The 18 students, along with chaperones Jennifer Walrod, global education director, and Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology, arrived in Tokyo after an 11-hour flight and were greeted by a tour guide and an English teacher from Harker’s longtime sister school Tamagawa Gakuen. At a rest stop on their way to their hotel for their first night’s stay, the students sampled Japanese snacks, ice cream and fried chicken.

Their first stop on the weeklong trek was Hakone National Park, where they visited the Hakone sekisho (“checkpoint”), an important inspection area for travelers during Japan’s Edo period, and walked along Lake Ashi. A boat ferried the group to the other side of the lake, where a beautiful wooded area awaited them. “We stopped at a small Shinto shrine where the kids wished for good luck before heading back,” Walrod said in one of several emails to the parents she sent during the trip.

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from Tamagawa.

En route to the school’s campus, the students practiced their Japanese speeches and asked questions about their homestays. “As we drove across the Tamagawa campus we could see all our buddies, families and teachers outside the middle school awaiting our arrival. The kids were so excited!” Walrod said.

At their welcome ceremony, the Harker students were treated to a performance

by Tamagawa’s handbell ensemble, accompanied by two singers. “Our students did a great job with their Japanese speeches!” exclaimed Walrod. Two Harker students, Sameep Mangat and Ania Kranz, sang a duet to their Tamagawa friends.

During the rest of their time at Tamagawa the students enjoyed a scavenger hunt and a variety of Japanese treats. Afterward, the Harker students went to enjoy the rest of the day with their homestay families.

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Later, the students enjoyed lunch with their Tamagawa friends and spent the afternoon in a calligraphy class.

The following day was the Harker students’ last day at Tamagawa. In the morning, they were introduced to Tamagawa’s lower school students and visited several classes, where they played games, folded origami, enjoyed activities with hula hoops and more.

After a potluck lunch, the students enjoyed a farewell party. “Tamagawa kids sang, played the piano, danced and gave speeches, all performed and organized by the ‘Harker Welcome Committee,’ a student-run group who had organized much of our visit to the school,” Walrod said. Mangat and Kranz again sang to their Tamagawa friends, and Rajiv Movva gave a moving speech. The Harker visitors each then received a gift bag from their Tamagawa buddies.

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GlobalEducation “As the bus drove away, we passed tons of kids and families lining the sidewalk waving goodbye,” Walrod remembered.

“Between the sounds of the kids laughing and sharing their homestay stories with one another, we could hear several kids still sniffling and crying, sad to see such a wonderful experience come to an end.”

Thursday began with a two-hour shinkansen (“bullet train”) ride to Kyoto, where they met with Ms. Sawa, who would act as their guide for the rest of the group’s stay in Japan. They first visited Kiyomizu Temple, a Buddhist temple constructed without the use of any nails. The temple’s veranda offered a wonderful view for taking photos, and the students also paid to receive their fortunes, “and for those of us who got not-so-good fortunes, we were sure to tie the paper fortunes onto a railing provided so we could keep the adverse fortune at the temple,” Walrod said.

At the Jishu shrine, the group found two stones placed approximately 20 feet away from one another. Local legend told that those who could find their way from one stone to the next with their eyes closed would find true love. Those who needed assistance would need a “go between” to help them in finding their mates.

On their last full day in Japan, the group boarded the shinkansen to Hiroshima. There, they stopped briefly at Hiroshima castle for a quick photo op, then continued on to Miyajima Island. The group enjoyed lunch at a restaurant that specialized in okonomiyaki, a pancake made with egg, pork, soba noodles and other ingredients.

“The kids seemed to really enjoy this meal as there were lots of empty plates at the end of lunch,” Walrod said.

With lunch finished, everyone headed to Itsukushima Shrine and its famous torii (“gate”). The gate was covered with scaffolding due to a storm that blew off the top of the structure, but students nevertheless took several photos of the historic site.

The next stop on this very busy day was Peace Memorial Park, where they visited the Atomic Bomb Dome, which marks the spot where the first atomic bomb landed in Japan. The ruins at the site are dedicated to those who died there. Later, students delivered 1,000 paper cranes they had folded earlier this year to the Children’s Memorial, referencing the famous true story told in the book “Sadako and the 1,000 Paper Cranes.” The cranes were hung in an enclosure along with thousands of other similar cranes delivered by kids from all over the world.

After exploring more of the temple, the next stop was the famed Kinkakuji, also known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The brilliant golden building, situated in a pond, is surrounded by gorgeous trees, with the scenery reflecting off the surface of the water. The students were instructed not to talk. “We walked around the pond and through the trees, stopping to take photos of the natural beauty,” said Walrod.

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Continuing through the park, the group stopped briefly at the Flame of Peace, which has burned since first being lit in 1964.

“This flame continues to burn as a symbol of the Japanese anti-nuclear resolve to burn the flame until all nuclear weapons are gone from this earth,” said Walrod.

Finally, at the Peace Memorial Museum, the students learned about the events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and the aftereffects. The museum contained artifacts owned by survivors of the bombing and some of the paper cranes folded by Sadako Sasaki, the titular figure of “Sadako and the 1,000 Paper Cranes.”

The trip back to the hotel gave the students time for reflection on the meaning of peace and the fun-filled, memorable journey they had embarked on over the last week.

On May 19, the last day of sightseeing, the group went to scenic Arashiyama, a popular tourist spot located just outside of Kyoto.

While hiking up Arashiyama Mountain, the students noticed some of the area’s wildlife. “The kids were excited to spot the first monkeys running up the side of the mountain and in the trees,” Walrod said. “At the top of the mountain, there were dozens of monkeys wandering around.” The kids also got to feed the monkeys in a special “people cage.”

The final stop of the day was at Kyoto’s Nijo Castle, home of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The visitors removed their shoes before entering the castle, which had special floors installed during the Tokugawa period that made noise when walked upon so that assassins could not walk about the castle undetected.

“Only highly trained ninjas can walk on these floors silently,” said Walrod. After taking photos and viewing scenes and paintings of life as a shogun, everyone headed back to the airport for the long flight home. lr o Wa

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GlobalEducation Middle School Japanese Students Exchange Notes with Tamagawa Pen Pals

The Winged Post, the upper school student newspaper, continued its Global Journalism Project, an ongoing collaboration with international high school newspapers that began during the 2010-11 school year. Two recent editions of the paper, which hit stands in March and April, featured stories from students at Saint Stephen’s College in Australia and the Taipei American School in Taiwan. Topics discussed included the ways in which different countries approach teenage independence laws and recent efforts by schools to tackle environmental issues.

-Zach Jones

Australian Exchange Teacher Visits Harker For two weeks in April, Sam Cleary, a teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Australia, visited Harker to teach and observe classes as part of Harker’s teacher exchange with the school.

Cleary observed classes in English, history and forensics, and taught a number of English and forensics classes himself. -Zach Jones

Grade 4 Students Exchange Posters with Tamagawa Buddies This semester, grade 4 English teacher Colin Goodwin’s students made posters to exchange with their buddies at Tamagawa Gakuen. Each student was asked to name his or her favorite season and a favorite seasonal tradition and make an artistic rendering of it.

Seasonal traditions featured on the posters include Christmas, the Fourth of July and Halloween.

“I started the poster exchange about three years ago so that students at Harker and Tamagawa could learn about each other’s seasonal traditions,” Goodwin said. “It began as an exchange about spring traditions to tie into ‘The Secret Garden,’ a novel that has spring as one of the dominant themes.” In the last two years, the activity has expanded to include some of Harker’s other sister schools. -Zach Jones

Photos provided by Vandana Kadam

Kumi Matsui’s Japanese students spent part of this semester exchanging notes with their pen pals from Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo. The purpose of the activity was to help Matsui’s students strengthen their skill with the language and learn more about Japanese culture, as well as to further develop their relationships with their Tamagawa friends. Students were required to write to their pen pals in Japanese, and although the activity officially concluded in March, when Tamagawa’s school year ended, the students are free to continue writing to their overseas friends. -Zach Jones

Upper School Global Journalism Project Continues

Middle School Math Teacher Visits China on Exchange Visit In April, Vandana Kadam, middle school mathematics chair, went on an exchange trip to Shanghai to visit and instruct at the World Foreign Language Middle School.

Kadam both observed and taught, including four sections of grade 6 classes. She also taught to students in grades 7-10. “The students have been extremely receptive and that curiosity I see in them makes it fun for me to teach,” said Kadam in an email from China. Her classes included a mix of Chinese students fairly proficient in English and those newer to English.

She also had a Chinese co-teacher to translate her lessons if needed.

The language barrier, however, was mostly a nonissue. “[The Chinese students] were comfortable interacting with me as I used some manipulatives and played games with them,” said Kadam. -Igor Hiller

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Eagle Buddies Program Finishes Successful Second Year, Plans Big for Next Year

By Zach Jones Afterward, they chatted over lunch.

Photos by Ky

le Cavallaro

In April the grade 4 buddies headed to the upper school to participate in a day of fun with a group of professional clowns hired

by Jeff Draper, upper school performing arts teacher. In addition to watching the clowns perform entertaining and hilarious antics such as walking on stilts, spinning plates and balancing precariously on stacks of chairs, the students donned clown makeup, and learned scarf juggling and how to balance feathers on their fingertips and noses.

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ow in its second year, the Harker Eagle Buddies program continues to be a success, fostering friendships between upper and lower school students that Eagle Buddies coordinators hope will last beyond the Class of 2013’s graduation. Last year’s Eagle Buddies, now in grades 4 and 11, bonded during a number of fun activities during the fall and spring semesters.

“The kids had a really good time with it,” said upper school history teacher and Eagle Buddies coordinator Carol Zink. “Both the big kids and the little kids look forward to these things.”

Simar Mangat, grade 11, said his experience with Eagle Buddies so far has been “fantastic. Our lower school friends are always energetic and excited to play. Visiting

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allows us to reminisce about the good old days in lower school and escape the often stressful life.”

In November, grade 4 kids met up with their friends in the Class of 2013 at the lower school to put together boxes of utensils and candy that were donated to children in need at Scott Lane Elementary.

When the juniors visited again in mid-March, they dropped in on an assembly and played a game with their buddies in which groups of eight had to pose as various shapes or structures, such as a circle or a bridge.

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“It was fun because even though we were on the upper school campus, we all became 10-year-olds for a couple of hours,” said Tiphaine Delepine, grade 11. “It was fun to go to my college counseling meeting with a butterfly painted on my face and to see classmates walking all over campus with other crazy face-paint designs.”

The success of last year’s inaugural Eagle Buddies activities meant that students new to the program enjoyed the same fun. There was an initial meet-up and field day at the lower school in October, a special visit by grade 10 buddies to the Pajama Day assembly at the lower school, with students from both grades wearing pajamas for the occasion and a special visit to the upper school by the grade 3

Sofia Fernandez, grade 3 student and the daughter of upper school math teacher Jeanette Fernandez, said the rally was her favorite Eagle Buddies event this year. “I enjoyed yelling and cheering for the 10th graders and running on the field chasing the advisors – my mom – during the skit.”

Bryan Zhang, also grade 3, agreed, “because you have the chance to watch the performance with your buddies and play with them at the upper school campus.”

For next year, the Eagle Buddies coordinators plan an added element, offering coaching to

any grade 10 students who may not have a lot of experience with young children, hopefully thus increasing their enjoyment of the program even more. “So many of our students are the only child in their families or are the younger child themselves and don’t have a lot of experience with 8-yearolds,” Zink said. A special graduation ceremony for next year’s seniors and fifth graders (who will respectively be spending their final years at the upper and lower schools) is also planned.

laro Kyle Caval Photos by

buddies, who participated in the spring spirit rally’s scream-off, where they were recorded screaming at 101.3 decibels.

“Eagle Buddies is a way to make Harker smaller and closer as a group while simultaneously giving the young students people to look up to,” said Delepine. “I wish there had been a program like Eagle Buddies when I was at the lower school!”

“Our lower school friends are always energetic and excited to play. Visiting allows us to reminisce about the good old days in lower school ...”

Simar Mangat, grade 11

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Milestones Photo provided by Jonathan Brusco

Library Director Contributes Chapter to Book Susan Smith, Harker’s library director, has contributed a chapter to a new book being published in the spring. The book, called “Growing Schools – Librarians as Professional Developers,” presents examples of school librarians leading professional learning in numerous contexts and for diverse learning goals with remarkable success.

“This is the story of Harker’s information literacy program which originated under [former library director] Enid Davis in 2006,” says Smith. “The chapter is a chronicle of how we built administrative and faculty support for “Harker’s K-12 teaching a scope and approach is sequence of skills essential exceptional for 21st-century learning.” and our success Originally a single team of teachers, librarians and remarkable.” administrators, the Information –Susan Smith Literacy Committee has since grown to three campusbased committees, and the program has been integrated into upper school departmental initiatives.

The program allows Harker’s library director and site-based librarians to gain administrative support as they create a whole-school initiative that positions information literacy as essential learning for students of all ages. A faculty team then designs and implements a process to incorporate these information literacy skills into disciplinary content classroom by classroom.

“The librarians’ understanding of curricula, instructional design expertise and information systems knowledge uniquely positions them as faculty professional developers,” says Smith.

“Harker’s K-12 approach is exceptional and our success remarkable.” -Igor Hiller

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Harker Teacher Appointed to Gavilan College Board of Trustees The Gavilan College School Board has appointed Harker teacher Jonathan Brusco to its board of trustees. After the tragic death of one of its members left an open seat, the board solicited applications from the community. When Brusco heard of the opening, he realized his areas of expertise were perfectly suited for the position.

Brusco, who teaches grade 7 social studies, is credentialed to teach both elementary and high school students. Before Harker, Brusco taught in the philosophy department at San Jose State University. “I have an understanding of what students are capable of at a younger age and also a general idea of how prepared students are when they start at a four-year university,” said Brusco. “I think my educational background really played a part in the board selecting me, but I think they also appreciate the fact that I came from Harker.”

Brusco believes bringing the perspective of a private educational institution,

unencumbered by the same regulations, laws and budgets of the state, may have been attractive to the board.

“In addition, Harker is a multicampus school, as is Gavilan College, and both schools are expanding to new campuses in the future,” says Brusco.

Teaching at both San Jose State and Harker showed Brusco the acute disparity in college preparedness among students. “Working at Harker has really opened my eyes to the true potential of younger students,” said Brusco. “I know that all our students enter four-year universities well-prepared for what lies ahead, but having taught at San Jose State, I can’t say that this is the case for every new college student.” As a board member, Brusco says he wants to focus on making sure community college students have access to coursework that will best prepare and equip them for moving on to a four-year university.

Brusco’s term lasts until November of this year, whereupon he will run for reelection. -Igor Hiller

Milestones Teacher Appreciation Events Afford Students and Parents Welcome Opportunities to Express Gratitude

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

much we owe you for teaching us, mentoring us and inspiring us to learn and push ourselves,” Revanth Kosaraju, grade 12 and outgoing associated student body president, said, noting that the breakfast was just a token of student appreciation.

All year, Harker teachers go above and beyond their duty to help create a community not only of learners, but kind, well-rounded individuals as well.

Their hard work was recognized and rewarded this spring, honored by both students and parents during a series of schoolwide annual teacher appreciation events held in May. Each campus hosted its own appreciation events, with the teachers treated to delicious meals expertly prepared and served by both parents and students. The lower and middle school breakfasts and luncheons were organized by grade level coordinators, while the upper school event, a breakfast, was entirely arranged by the students themselves.

At the upper school, outgoing student council officers whipped up and served a hot, hearty breakfast for the Saratoga campus teachers, who enjoyed their meal in the Edge before school officially started for the day.

“As the year winds to a close, all of the students are reminded of how

Meanwhile, middle school teachers began their day with an equally delicious breakfast served in the multipurpose room, followed by a moving presentation to thank them for their dedication.

In the afternoon, middle school parents continued the festivities by hosting an elegant luncheon for teachers.

Lower school teachers had their special breakfast served by parents in the faculty lounge. Later, they joined parents for an outdoor lunch held on the school’s front field. Parents thanked teachers for “another year of unconditional dedication to students.” Attendees enjoyed the glorious weather, wide variety of entrees and desserts, and easy conversation.

According to Teré Aceves, one of Harker’s directors of volunteer programming, “The appreciation breakfasts and lunches are a welcome opportunity for parents to express their gratitude for the yearlong efforts of teachers who provide a stimulating and nurturing environment for their children.” -Debbie Cohen

Lower School Welcomes New Dean Kendricks (Ken) Allen will be the dean of Harker’s lower school beginning next year.

Allen joins Harker after 12 years teaching and coaching at the Fort Worth Country Day School (FWCDS). Allen earned a B.S. in exercise and sport science from Colorado State University and holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Texas Christian University.

Photo provided by Ken Allen

At FWCDS, Allen actively pursued a passion for developing lifetime fitness skills in young children. In addition to teaching K-5 physical education, Allen spent seven years as the head track and field coach for the 60- to 80-member upper school team and oversaw the development of the middle school program for both boys and girls. He also spent 12 years as an assistant varsity football coach at the upper school and was head coach for middle school football. He has been an assistant coach in girls basketball, a middle school academic advisor and has served on the school’s Diversity Committee and Tech Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Texas High School Coaches Association, the Texas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, and certified as a United States Track and Field Association Level I coach.

Allen arrives on campus July 30, following his wedding to his fiancée, Jenna. “The Harker School is regarded as the finest independent school in the Bay Area; I’m humbled and honored to be part of the faculty and staff,” said Allen. “I’m looking forward to working on the Bucknall campus and building on the successful foundation that they have established. My fiancée and I look forward to being a part of the Harker community.” -Igor Hiller H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

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Online Bookstore Launches Also, iPads and Chromebooks Integrated at Lower School By Zach Jones

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Photo provided by Cindy Proctor

cross Harker, new technology is being put to use in several capacities, ranging from how students receive and read classroom texts to how teachers run classes.

The Eagle Store, the new online marketplace for Harker books and logo merchandise, went live in early May, giving students and parents a new way to purchase and rent new and used textbooks. It also allows students to input their student ID numbers and see all of the required texts for the classes in which they’re enrolled, saving valuable time for students, parents and teachers alike. The online bookstore and book list for the fall 2012 semester went live on June 25.

Coming soon is a bookstore for members of the Harker community who wish to purchase eBooks for personal interest, and the school will receive a portion of the sales made at this store, which is powered

by Barnes and Noble.

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sure we cover the broadest spectrum of possible editions that are available,” said Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology, explaining the reason for making the fall 2012 bookstore and book lists available at a later date. As a special deal, any orders of more than $99 made within two weeks of the June 25 opening will be shipped free of charge.

Students are now also able to take advantage of MBS Direct’s buyback feature to sell their books back once they are no longer needed.

Users simply fill out an online form and receive a quote for their used books, which they then mail back. Once the books are received and processed, the user receives a voucher in the amount that the books were decided to be worth.

At the middle school, e-texts will be allowed on approved reader applications, which have yet to be announced. “We’re going to restrict to things that have an app that will run on Mac and Windows,” Hudkins said. “If it also runs on an iPad or an Android tablet, and they want to download it on that as well, great, but it’s got to be something that they bring to school, and at the moment what they bring to school is either a Mac or Windows computer.”

While e-texts are not currently permitted at the lower school, students and teachers are still finding innovative ways to use cutting-edge technology. This year, a small selection of kindergarten and grade 1 teachers began using Apple iPads as teaching tools in their classrooms. The devices proved to be highly versatile and were used to make movies, perform drills and lead activities. Cindy Proctor, grade 1 homeroom teacher, used her classroom iPad to make movies of her students

For added convenience and to save costs on shipping, two on-campus buyback dates were held in May and June for students in grades 6-12.

A change in policy now also allows students to use electronic textbooks, as long as their contents match with their hard-copy counterparts. This was done to “offer more choices to teachers, and get weight out of the backpacks,” said Hudkins. Upper school students will be allowed to use any laptop or tablet device to view e-text versions of textbooks, as long as they are legitimately acquired and match the physical copies.

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Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

performing magic tricks. She then posted the movies on Open Classroom, an online forum where the students could watch the videos and leave comments about them.

teachers started using them so extensively that we ordered five more for the math and language arts teachers,” Diffenderfer said.

Beginning next year, the devices will be used by every kindergarten and grade 1 math and language arts teacher and will also be introduced to grade 2 classes.

This year, a small selection of kindergarten and grade 1 teachers began using Apple iPads as teaching tools in their classrooms.

The devices proved to be Another class highly versatile and used the were used to make movies, iPads to make miniature virtual perform drills and aquariums while lead activities. learning about the Great Barrier Reef.

“We were ready to replace the classroom computers with newer technology,” said Lisa Diffenderfer, assistant director of instructional technology for K-5. “We decided to go with the iPads because they were so much easier for the younger students to use.”

She added that many students took to the iPads quickly: “They already know how to use them because they might have some sort of Apple touchscreen device at home.”

Teachers found them highly useful as well, so much so that their use will be greatly expanded next year. “Many of the

They will also be able to integrate their laptops into the curriculum using software called Doceri, which displays the laptop’s screen on the teacher’s iPad, which can then be projected onto a whiteboard, essentially turning the teacher’s laptop into a touchscreen device that can be carried around the classroom. An example of this in action would be a teacher placing an iPad on a student’s desk and having her solve a math problem from her seat, with the screen projected onto the whiteboard for the entire class to see.

In order to prevent misuse of or damage to

the iPads, they are only used under teacher supervision and cannot be taken home.

For grades 3-5, a pilot program using Google Chromebooks began this year with a small selection of students. The laptops, whose primary function is to connect to and use the Internet, have so far been so well-suited to educational purposes that all grade 5 students will be issued Chromebooks during the next school year, which they will be able to take home.

Students have used the Chromebooks to do research, write essays and receive assignments from teachers through Google apps. Diffenderfer will spend time over the summer doing research on various applications that could prove useful to teachers. Additionally, grade 5 social studies teacher Jared Ramsey and grade 5 English teacher Shelby Guarino have received grants from Harker’s technology grant program to find ways to get the most out of using Chromebooks in the classroom.

Chromebooks also have great security features, as they allow only teacherapproved websites to be accessed. “We’ve only whitelisted the websites that the teachers said they want to use for academic purposes,” Diffenderfer said. In fact, the only complaint Diffenderfer received from students about the Chromebooks was that “they couldn’t play any games on it.”

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

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Advancement Giving Back: Harker Faculty Circle Celebration and Staff Reach Record Level of Honors School Donors Participation in Annual Giving Campaign

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arly this school year, the administration challenged Harker employees to beat the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) average of 94 percent faculty/staff participation in school annual giving campaigns. Harker stepped up with 99 percent participation.

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he Head of School’s Circle Celebration on May 4 brought together hundreds of donors and members of the Parent Development Council (PDC) to honor their generosity and thank them for their part in helping the school achieve its goals.

The audience was treated to special performances by three of Harker’s top performing arts groups: the upper school show choir Downbeat, High Voltage, the middle school all-male dance group and Showstoppers, the middle school girls dance group. -Zach Jones

“I heard about this initiative,” said Jonathan Brusco, grade 7 social studies teacher.

Brusco then urged others to contribute to annual giving, and was asked to join the newly created Faculty Development Council, a group working to increase faculty participation in the annual giving process.

As a result of the record setting faculty/staff drive, many parents were also inspired to make a gift or pledge to the annual campaign.

“We are grateful to the many faculty and staff who participated in annual giving this year. Their contributions benefit and impact every student, parent and teacher here at Harker!” said Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement.

For more information about annual giving opportunities at Harker, contact Melinda Gonzales, director of development, at melindag@harker.org. -Debbie Cohen

Volunteer Workshop Informs, Rallies Parents

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resent and future Harker volunteers were treated to an informative and entertaining workshop May 10, hosted by volunteer directors Teré Aceves (K-8) and Sue Prutton (upper school). The event, meant to educate interested parents on the large variety of volunteer opportunities at Harker, also served as a conversation starter, with experienced parents relating the necessary skills, time commitment and nature of each available opportunity.

“The event went extremely well,” said Prutton. “This year we brought in Dr. CK Andrade, associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco to talk about volunteering – its benefits and how to get the most out of the experience without getting overloaded.

She was both insightful and very amusing, sharing several anecdotes from her own experiences.”

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parents, who talked about their experiences and were enthusiastic about the fun they had in their various tasks.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

The stage was set last year, when Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 11) established the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which matches gifts for the annual campaign up to a total of $100,000. (Read more about the Mitra and Near endowments on page 20.)

According to Prutton, participation in the Harker volunteer community is more important than necessarily being the most active volunteer.

“We have volunteers who work on multiple programs in leadership roles each year and those who can only give an hour, but we’re appreciative of all our volunteers no matter how much or how little time they can give.” To Prutton, it’s all about the passion: “Each year a majority of our families volunteer some time to a program they and their students are passionate about and that’s what matters most to Teré and me.” -Igor Hiller

Advancement Photos provided by Joe Rosenthal

Annual Trip Brings Overseas Harker Alumni Together 1

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1. The Korea alumni gathering was held in Seoul on March 9.

The group of 12 alumni gathered for a pizza party and spent the afternoon laughing and remembering all the good old times.

2. Alexander Wang ’02 celebrated the grand opening of his new store in Seoul, Korea, on the same weekend as the Seoul alumni gathering. Wang’s dorm roommate, Hyun Ki Na ’02, attended the gathering.

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oe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, made his annual Asia tour, meeting with Harker alumni and hosting meetings regarding our English Language Institute.

3. Toku Chen ’92 translated Joe Rosenthal’s meeting with Alan Zhang in Beijing. In addition to hosting the Beijing ELI reception, Zhang and Lucy Li, parents of Bryan Zhang ‘21, completed a very generous multiyear capital campaign gift. Chen traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, translating all four ELI receptions.

Liu’s family also generously hosted ELI and alumni receptions and the stay in Tokyo, Japan.

7. Laurence Kao ’89 and his sister Frances, who is an alumna of Harker’s summer program and an educational consultant in Taipei, hosted a lunch at the restaurant where Kao is part owner. Kao also translated the ELI reception in Taipei.

8. The Harker Taipei alumni gathering took place on March 24, at the Westin Hotel, following the ELI reception.

9. Bride Diane Wu ’95 and maid of honor Audrey Chiang ’95 were not able to attend the Taipei alumni gathering due to the wedding the same afternoon. Joe Rosenthal, who was boarding director when Wu was a student, was able to present her with a white rose just before her ceremony.

4. John Deng, father of Will Deng ’14, hosted a lunch in Beijing.

Deng joined the Eagles’ Circle with his generous gift to the annual giving campaign.

10 & 11. Harker benefactors Lister and Christina Chang and their son David ’97 hosted a luncheon as well as the Harker Hong Kong alumni gathering at Dan Ryan’s on March 21.

5. A standing room-only crowd attended Harker’s ELI reception in Shanghai. Stays in Shanghai and Shenzhen were hosted by ELI alumni parents Shian Liu and Ping Xu.

12. John Lin ’93 hosted a lunch and translated the ELI reception in Hsin Chu, Taiwan.

6. Matt Liu ’19 and his mom, Terri Wang, helped Blanca Rosenthal check in the guests and complete their applications.

13. The Tokyo alumni gathering was held at the Keio Plaza Hotel following the ELI reception on March 31.

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By Debbie Cohen

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Art Exh

ibits

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Showc ase Cr eative Harker Talent of All A ges

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arker has an excellent reputation in the local art community and beyond for providing students with exceptional visual arts offerings. In the lower and middle schools, students learn drawing, printmaking, painting, woodworking, carving, ceramics and art history. In the upper school, fine art students can choose Study of Visual Arts as their mandatory yearlong arts survey course and select from a variety of drawing vehicles, as well as stone carving, bronze casting, ceramics and architecture.

Art at Harker is widely celebrated through exhibitions spanning all three campuses; enjoy this year-end reflection of the work these talented artists produced.

classes were often inspired by book themes. Highlights included drawings of owls shown against blue backgrounds, sporting white feathers, from the beloved children’s book “Owl Babies,” written by Martin Waddell. Meanwhile, watercolor paintings of fish were motivated by

the illustrations of Marcus Pfister’s book “The Rainbow Fish.”

Sculptures made by both kindergartners and first graders included lifelike depictions of tasty treats, including yogurt parfaits, cupcakes, truffles, cakes and fruit. Sculptures by students in grades 3 and 5 adorned the lobby outside the school’s gym, while inside – and winding their way upstairs – were brightly colored pictures from students in grades 1 and 2.

Spotlight on Our Budding Young Artists The lower school’s art exhibit, featuring works from K-5 students, went on display at the Bucknall campus in May. Exhibiting youngsters demonstrated an impressive range of abilities with their artwork, which included sculptures, drawings and architectural designs.

Pieces created by kindergartners in the Tuesday and Thursday after-school art Photos by

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Kyle Caval

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Art student Andrew Lee, grade 3, was proud of his pastel oil drawing filled with beautiful butterflies. He said his picture was done in the after-school art program, which he just started this year and calls “really fun.” Standing by his side, his friend Aniket Kriplani, also grade 3, said he enjoys doing art at Harker because “you are free to do what you want, as long as you follow certain specific directions.”

Middle School Art Students Showcase Unique Styles The middle school exhibit kicked off with an opening reception held in the main office lobby of the upper school campus in April before moving over to the middle school campus, where it ran until May 15.

Artists showcased colorful paintings and ceramics, from figurines to wire sculptures and mobiles.

My drawings of people looked more like an uncoordinated mess of squares, circles and triangles. But by the end of six years’ worth of mandatory art classes, I could draw and I developed a love for art,” she recalled, noting that in grade 6, she took an elective art course and has never looked back.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Located by the top-floor classrooms was an array of impressive masks by grade 5 artists including those of cats, pigs, people, owls, rabbits, sharks and even a deer complete with twigs for antlers.

Also upstairs were architectural drawings from grade 4 students which depicted buildings familiar to students’ lives, such as Starbucks, Best Buy, the Santa Clara County Library, Target, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Intel.

had a table at the show containing glass fusion and casting, comprising sculptures illuminated by lights revealing the intricacy of the work.

Meanwhile, eye-catching drawings themed around metamorphosis included that of an apple in various stages of being eaten (from full, to half bitten, to down to the core) and another depicting a girl whose features morphed into those of a tiger.

Natalie Simonian, grade 8, had four pieces in the middle school art show, in which there were more than 75 students represented. Simonian also had artwork from the Harker exhibit selected for display in the nearby Saratoga Rotary Art Show at West Valley College.

“My first art class was the mandatory one in kindergarten,” Simonian said. “At that time, art and I were completely unrelated.

On display from sixth graders were assorted plates and bowls with tempting fake food such as pie, French fries, vegetables and fruit. One particularly cheery plate radiated with painted-on yellow smiley faces. Grade 7-8 ceramics included a section of sea animals titled “Formed by the Sea.” These grades also 48

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Upper School Show Exhibits ProfessionalLevel Work A picture may be worth a thousand words, but Harker’s top artistic talent went the extra mile by showcasing written statements alongside original artwork at this year’s AP Studio Art Exhibition in March.

Featuring unique works in various media, the exhibition was held during a long lunch in the light-filled Nichols Hall atrium.

The professionally-styled show was open to both students and faculty who strolled the hall admiring projects ranging from photography to sculptures and drawings.

AP Studio Art is a high-level class for talented artists, mostly seniors, interested in both 3-D art, taught by Jaap Bongers, and 2-D art, taught by Pilar Agüero-Esparza.

Commenting on the work of his students, Bongers, who is also chair of the art department, said he had been fortunate to follow many of the exhibitors’ evolving styles over the course of several years, having had them in various previous art courses.

Many of the students enjoying the annual show were not artists themselves.

However, after attending, they said they had a new appreciation for the artistic

Whether just beginning the elementary school years or about to head off to

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college, Harker students of all ages learn how to process visual information, interpret and express it creatively through a variety of artistic media and techniques.

Each of the student artists chose a theme that recurred throughout their works and wrote statements explaining their inspiration for the exhibition. These artist statements were prominently displayed next to their pieces.

In a statement about her cat sketches, artist Iris Xia, grade 11, wrote that her concentration involved the objectification of feelings. By illustrating cats placed into typical household tools and later luxury items, she said she sought to demonstrate how degrading people could be when they exploit innocent animals for their own benefits.

Meanwhile, senior Karen Wang’s whimsical, colorful paintings focused on the idea of freedom and escape. “What is freedom and how do I communicate my perception of it?” she questioned in her artist statement.

One thing that all of the exhibiting artists seemed to agree on was the joy they personally took in having the freedom to create their own themes, rather than following a more standard project based on a class assignment.

Explaining that process, exhibiting artist Tariq Jahshan, grade 12, stood in front of his 3-D sculpture display and allowed that most of his ideas start out as a very basic

abstract form. Then he “just kind of goes with it” until it becomes more conscious. “At that point, what’s going to come out takes over and I’ll then follow that.”

Following on the successful heels of the AP Studio Art exhibit was the upper school’s regular annual art exhibition held in May, also at the Nichols Hall atrium. That show featured juried art selections and DJ music sponsored by the Spirit Club.

This year’s exhibition juror was Teresa Cunniff, adjunct professor in the fine art department of San Jose State University, and a San Francisco-based mixed media installation artist and graphic designer.

There was an impressive array of advanced ceramics and sculptures on display at this, the upper school’s final art exhibit of the year, including a bust of Superman, a number of female torsos (including that of a pregnant woman) and a Colgate toothpaste tube. Meanwhile, at a table nearby were the completed assignments of architecture students who had been charged with the daunting task of “creating a new possibility for mankind.”

Also on hand was a thought-provoking “What Matters” series of charcoal drawings depicting such controversial topics as technology, the societal concept of beauty, and hopes and worries for our global future. There were other drawings without such powerful messages, but which could be equally appreciated for their simple

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

friends they’d come out to support.“Some of my friends do art; I’ll probably take it next year,” said Eric Swenson, grade 11, who especially enjoyed reading the artists’ personal statements and seeing what inspired them.

beauty, such as a drawing showing white sugar cubes dropping down into a mug filled with dark coffee, realistic and tempting enough to make both coffee, and art lovers, return for a second look.

The Best of Show first place awards for the upper school’s juried art show went to the following: seniors Derran Cheng for his drawing, concentration series; Tariq Jahshan for sculpture, concentration series; Rachelle Koch for her photography piece “Bibliophile”; Antonia Ipser for her solitude series; and Cherry Xie for her painting, “War.” Simon Orr, grade 11, received first place in pop object, ceramics and freshman Shannon Su’s piece “Jack and Jill” won first in graphic arts.

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GreaterGood

By William Cracraft and Zach Jones

Students Bring Flair to Service Efforts Following a brief introduction and tour of the shelter by InnVision staff, the students were divided into groups of 10. Each group spent the rest of the day rotating from one activity to another, including weeding the garden, cutting fruits and vegetables for lunch, mopping hallways or sorting toys.

Grade 10 Students Help Clients of InnVision Shelter About 60 students from grade 10 spent a day in mid-February serving the clients of InnVision, a homeless shelter in San Jose. Sign-ups for this event started as a trickle a few weeks prior, but quickly gained momentum. With the sign-ups came a generous flow of donations, in cash and kind, and several parents stepped up to volunteer their time and make the event memorable for the folks at InnVision.

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“The warm day meant hard work both indoors and outdoors, but the sophomores did it all with a smile on their lips and a sparkle in their

The unspent portion of the donations collected for food totaled $861 and was donated to InnVision.

Erika Sutton, InnVision’s volunteer coordinator, said, “Our sincere thanks to members of The Harker School’s 10th grade class who held a very productive service day at InnVision Georgia Travis Center, a daytime dropin center for homeless and at-risk women and children.”

Students were busily involved in a variety of projects including sorting through clothing donations, planting flowers, reorganizing a classroom and art room, and cleaning the center’s great room. A very special thank you goes to Nayak, who coordinated the entire effort, including engaging other parents to volunteer.

Photos by Naren Nayak, parent

The students sorted toys and clothes, cleaned hallways and bathrooms, did gardening and neighborhood cleanup, and came together to cook a sumptuous meal for about 50 of InnVision’s clients.

Victor Adler, teacher and sophomore class dean, was there to lend a helping hand with his students.

The students displayed their creativity in setting and decorating the lunch tables, then donned aprons and gloves to serve soup, garlic bread, chow mein, naan and Indian curry, a tri-tip beef entrée, followed by cake and fruit salad for dessert.

eyes, knowing that their efforts were making it a day to remember for those less fortunate than themselves,” said Naren Nayak (Avinash, grade 10), one of many parents who helped prepare the lunch and supervise the student activities.

GreaterGood In March, the middle school’s Service Club organized a project to make placemats for the Alma Senior Center, which serves meals to local seniors unable to buy or prepare meals on their own. Students made a total of about 50 placemats using crayons, markers and other supplies. The placemats will be put to use daily at the center, which serves 50-60 meals each day.

Photo by Naren Nayak, parent

“The project was a pretty simple one, and it enlisted the help not only of the middle school Service Club students, but the efforts of kids throughout the middle school,” said Steven Hewitt, English teacher and the club’s advisor.

“Many students even beyond the Service Club itself contributed to the collection drive.”

“They were able to see firsthand that due to the economy, the face of homelessness has changed forever.

Even once comfortably established families are now in need. And whether the students planted flowers, sorted donations, or prepared and served up a tantalizing lunch, they truly made a difference,” said Neveras.

More information about donating to or volunteering at InnVision can be found at www.innvision.org.

Photo by Naren Nayak, parent

Middle School Students Donate Placemats to Senior Center

Annual Toiletries Drive Exceeds Last Year’s In May, middle school history teacher Pat White announced that her grade 7 advisory’s annual toiletries drive, which collects items that students acquired while on vacation and donates them to the Gloria Travis Center for Women and Children, collected a total of 462 bags of soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other items this year, shattering last year’s number of 322.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Jaynie Neveras, community relations manager for InnVision, was very appreciative. “How wonderful that these compassionate sophomore students would make time during their break to volunteer and give back to the community!” she said.

Grade 1 Students Organize Donation Drive For Humane Society Grade 1 students organized a donation drive that provided more than 60 bags filled with food, toys and other supplies to the Humane Society of Silicon Valley in March. More than $300 in cash was also donated.

“Several children did small jobs at home to earn money that they then donated,” said Cindy Proctor, grade 1 homeroom teacher. “Children also made sock toys and braided toys and fleece blankets for the cats at the Humane Society.”

The students visited the Humane Society in Milpitas in February, where they learned about the organization and its goals, toured the facility and learned about how to better take care of animals. Later in the year, the students were visited by a representative from the Humane Society, who brought two rescue dogs and taught the students about how to safely approach dogs who aren’t familiar with them and how to understand what dogs are telling them based on their actions.

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

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Phenomenal

uartet

Wraps Up 2011 Harker Concert Series Season

By Catherine Snider he Harker Concert Series season came to a close on March 17 with a distinguished string quartet, who ran a master class with orchestra students and then performed to a full house in Nichols Hall auditorium.

The Afiara String Quartet is a Canadian group with impressive résumés: the foursome have degrees from Juilliard, Peabody, New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory and Mannes College among them. Together the result is a tightly knit, focused yet relaxed ensemble that interprets music as though it were coming from just one bow.

In the hands of this quartet, Beethoven’s “String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95” was aggressive, passionate and full of extremes, just as one wants Beethoven to be. Violist David Samuel and cellist Adrian Fung had a chance to show off the rich sonorities they coaxed from their instruments, and the group bobbed and swayed in perfect physical harmony as they dug into the dramatic piece, executing flawless transitions between tempi and movements.

seemed perfectly designed to highlight each player’s musicianship and virtuosity.

The first movement was hauntingly beautiful, with a stunning dissonant ostinato provided by the two violinists, Valerie Li and Yuri Cho. The piece ended in a flurry of scalar passages, performed absolutely in sync and with clarity and precision that were truly spectacular. This piece was a wonderful mixture of modern atonality and lush melodies, and it was a treat to have such a positive glimpse of classical music’s future.

The Bohemian composer Dvorák is known for infusing his work with nationalistic folk songs, and it didn’t take much imagination to hear such themes in his string quartet, next on the program.

The third distinct genre of the evening, this piece received the same flawless interpretation as the others, showing Afiara’s comfort with various styles.

It is truly a learning experience for students and the community alike to witness such a seamless meeting of the minds amongst members of a small ensemble like the Afiara String Quartet.

Next was a commissioned work by Samuel’s Juilliard buddy Brett Abigaña, a rising star in the classical world, and the piece

Photos by John Ho

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AlumniNews Keller Tours Unite Harker Alumni

Moreover, the upper school head’s light-filled, heavily windowpaned office perfectly mirrors the way Harker approaches the high school experience – with an outward vision towards meeting student needs. In turn, the students often continue thinking of Harker even after they graduate.

In fact, Keller explained that the now annual alumni university tours actually began from the alumni themselves, who kept writing, wanting to keep in touch, asking for visits on their new college campuses, eager to show how well they were doing.

On a previous alumni tour held in October, the Kellers visited students living in Washington, D.C. That trip included a visit with alumni at Georgetown University, as well as a visit to George Washington University, which included a group breakfast, dinner and watching a volleyball game played by Candace Silva-Martin ’09.

As a memento of their visits, and on behalf of Harker’s alumni office, the Kellers gave the students giant “Keller tour” mugs further inscribed with the names of the varied universities they attend. After the most recent trip, alumni emphasized how much they enjoyed their time catching up and bonding with one another, as well as updating Harker (via the Kellers) on life after graduating.

“When Mr. Keller visited Washington, D.C., I showed him and Ms. Keller around campus and ate dinner with them and other alumni from the area,” said Rishi Bhatia ’11. “During my Easter break, I was in New York, so I went to the alumni dinner there where I saw former classmates who are now studying in New York. I

“This didn’t start out as some official program. It was simply former students asking us for visits,” affirmed Jane Keller, Butch’s wife, an upper school math teacher at Harker, who also goes on the trips to visit alumni at college campuses throughout the U.S. During a recent trip, held over spring break, the Kellers met with more than 40 Harker alumni attending various universities on the East Coast. Trip highlights included group dinners and visits to Tufts University, Princeton University and Wagner College in New York.

Photos provided by Butch Keller

There’s something about a room with a view. And from Butch Keller’s office on Harker’s upper school campus, students can easily be seen walking happily to and from class throughout the day.

Butch Keller said the first alumni trip began in spring ’09 when he and his wife headed to New York to attend a performance by Harker’s upper school orchestra at Lincoln Center. Several alumni living in the area heard they were coming and asked them to stop by.

Soon after, requests were made from other alumni, such as students from the upper school’s first class to graduate with Butch Keller as head, to “come out and see us.”

During the visits, the Kellers always seek to understand what Harker did well to prepare students for university life and what could be improved upon. This year they heard over and over again how well trained graduates were in writing research papers, especially in the area of humanities.

Both the Kellers agree on the importance of visiting alumni while they are still in college and of learning on location by “living in the moment” with the students.

enjoyed meeting other alumni and talking about our experiences since we left Harker,” said Bhatia, who had the unique opportunity to be a part of both the Washington, D.C., and New York Keller tours.

“The alumni visits are very special trips – with no strings attached – that really grew organically from the students themselves. It’s been so rewarding staying in touch and learning what everyone is up to,” Butch Keller said.

–Debbie Cohen

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AlumniNews Provided by Sonya Huang ’10

Honda her first summer home, working every semester and summer thereafter in D.C., including a stint in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office.

Sonya Huang ‘10 (second person to the right of President Obama) with the White House team.

Princeton Student Finds Academic Inspiration at White House

“I really did want to experience politics,” said Huang, “so when the opportunity presented itself to work at the White House, I took it in a heartbeat.” As an intern, Huang prepared academic, policy, numerical and econometric analysis supporting the Council of Economic Advisers and the White House. The data she provided was used in speeches and internal memos, as well as highlevel policy discussions. “My work touched many areas, the most exciting of which (to me) was inequality, intergenerational mobility, and labor economics as a whole,” said Huang.

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Alumna Takes on U.S. Treasury’s Social Networking; Next Stop Clinton Global Initiative It’s an exciting life running social networking for the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., and Erika Gudmundson ’05 thrives on it.

Unlike so many how-did-I-get-here stories, Gudmundson found her niche like an arrow headed for the bulls-eye.

Having worked on the newspaper and enjoyed political classes at Harker, she applied to a program at The George Washington University to study the intersection of politics and journalism.

She interned for Congressman Mike

Photo provided by Erika Gudmundson ’05

Taking an advanced economics class as a Princeton freshman gave Sonya Huang ’10 the opportunity of a lifetime. Though the recessionthemed course, taught by acclaimed economist Alan Krueger, was an upper-class elective, Huang performed superlatively. She made such an impression that after President Obama nominated Krueger as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Krueger asked Huang to join his team as an intern at the White House.

said the internship was valuable for sparking and solidifying her interest in labor economics. Though she will be an investment banking summer analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York this summer, Huang says her time at the White House inspired her to get a Ph.D. and pursue a career as an academic economist. “I really want to experience everything firsthand so that I can weigh which path will give me the best combination of intensity, intellectual stimulation and personal fulfillment,” says Huang. “We’ll see what happens. I am confident that everything will work out in the end.”

We can hardly disagree. –Igor Hiller

Halfway through her junior year she took a leave of absence to work on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. She secured a position as press aide in the campaign’s national headquarters, assisting campaign leadership with communications implementation. “One of the most exciting and nerve-racking things I got to do was help the staff of former President Bill Clinton on phone radio interviews on election days,” she recalled.

After the primary campaign ended, she went to Denver with Hillary Clinton’s staff for the Democratic National Convention. “Hearing thenSenator Clinton, former President Clinton and President Obama speak in front of those huge crowds on issues I care so much about was really moving,” she said, noting that she also assisted with media monitoring for Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearings for Secretary of State.

Following that, Gudmundson went back to school to finish her studies

AlumniNews “I got to witness some of the most significant pieces of legislation get implemented – from the Affordable Care Act, to Wall Street Reform, to the Small Business Jobs Act ... those were the most exciting and memorable experiences.”

–Erika Gudmundson ’05

while interning in the public affairs office at the Treasury Department.

Upon graduating, she started officially working for them as a media coordinator. Soon after she was promoted to the position of new media specialist and charged with leading the redesign of their website, Treasury.gov, which hadn’t been updated in about a decade. She established and grew the Treasury’s first social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, as well as launched, managed, edited and blogged on the Treasury’s first official blog, “Treasury Notes.”

accepted a position at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City as their senior communications associate and will move to the Big Apple this summer. –Debbie Cohen

Musicians Working With Multimillion-Selling Producer Since graduation, Grayson Hurd ’07 and Michael Keller ’07 have been busy carving out music careers with their band, Park Lane. Recently, they finished recording a new EP (“extended play” – a short album with two or three songs) with producer Ben Moody, a founding member of the Grammy-winning, multimillionselling rock band Evanescence, and engineer Josh Newell, who has previously worked with Linkin Park and Lacuna Coil.

Hurd and Keller started Park Lane while in high school and continued pursuing music through their college years. Hurd graduated from Saint Mary’s College in 2011 with a split degree in business administration and

music. Keller attended Santa Clara University. Last summer the band added vocalist Carley Coma, formerly of the seminal New York band Candiria, after sifting through nearly 2,000 applicants for the position.

With producer Michael Rosen, whose credits include Papa Roach and AFI, Park Lane recorded and released their first album, “Letters From the Fire,” on iTunes and toured extensively throughout the United States.

“Now that the recording is complete, we are going to be signing with management in the coming months and should be signed by the end of the summer, fingers crossed!” Hurd said. The band has stated on their Facebook profile that, “if all goes as planned, there will be a full-length [album] after” the release of the EP. Currently, the band is deciding on a different name due to trademark restrictions, but for now they can be found under the name Park Lane on iTunes and at www.facebook.com/ plband. –Zach Jones

Photo provided by Grayson Hurd ’07

Noting what an honor it has been to work in D.C. during this historic time, she said, “I got to witness some of the most significant pieces of legislation get implemented – from the Affordable Care Act, to Wall Street Reform, to the Small Business Jobs Act. And while sometimes it kept me at work until well past midnight or required me to get in at 4 a.m., those were the most exciting and memorable experiences.”

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AlumniNews

Photo by Pam Dickinson

“At Harker ... I was supported and encouraged by the faculty, challenged and inspired by my peers,” she had said when giving advice.

“No matter where you go to college, find a community for yourself and try to keep in touch with all your Harker friends!

They’re some of the best people you’ll ever know.”

After graduating in 2014, Liu plans to become a clinical pharmacist specializing in pediatrics or oncology.

Liu said the trip reminded her of why she was so passionate about health care. “At the end of the day, if you can make even one patient’s life a little easier, then it’s worth it.”

–Igor Hiller

“While no one had any misconception that we would ‘change the world’ in this one week, we knew that we could make a difference down there, no matter how small.”

–Debbie Cohen

Jessica Liu '04 Profiled for Healthcare Trip to Honduras

She may be known as Tara Priya to her fans, but to her fellow Harker alumni she’ll always be Tara Chandra ’06.

Already a rising star in Japan, Chandra is now poised to make a name for herself in the United States as well.

Jessica Liu ’04 was profiled by The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) for her trip with fellow University of Washington School of Pharmacy students to Honduras in the summer of 2011.

Liu, a doctor of pharmacy candidate, worked with 27 other students to organize a temporary healthcare program in the impoverished country.

They raised more than $25,000 worth of medication and supplies to bring to Honduras and were able to see more than 800 patients in less than one week. “While no one had any misconception that we would ‘change the world’ in this one week, we knew that we could make a difference down there, no matter how small,” says Liu.

Chandra graduated from Columbia University in economics, political science and music performance in 2008. After spending a brief time working in the financial sector, she returned to her true passion, music, moving from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, where she is pursuing a career as a singer and songwriter.

In a previous interview with Harker Quarterly Chandra had said that she believes individuals create their own luck, and that she doesn’t believe in being “discovered” as an overnight success. Rather, she pointed to hard work and determination as skills required to make it in today’s fiercely competitive music industry.

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One incident that stands out in Liu’s mind was when a mother brought her infant daughter in who had been burned. The mother had applied an herbal paste, and the foot had become infected and was at risk for amputation. After treating the wound, Liu and her team educated her mother. “What we were able to teach them in a week about basic hygiene, the importance of clean drinking water, etc., was so much

–Jessica Liu ’04

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Hitting the High Notes - Tara Chandra '06

She has reached second place on the Japanese McDonalds Zip Hot 100 Chart and released a new music video. Most recently, she performed locally to an appreciative audience at The Hotel Utah Saloon, a historic San Francisco institution.

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more effective than any amount of medication we could bring down.”

There has been an informal alumni football scrimmage for the past few years, but it was formalized this year as nearly a score of alumni, about half 2012 graduates, came to Davis Field at the beginning of June to meet their successors. The spirited game of two-handed tag had some spectacular plays and drew 30-40 spectators students, faculty, athletic department staff and others. There was a gettogether afterwards where the torch was passed to the new varsity players. Check Harker galleries for more photos.

AlumniNews

By Debbie Cohen

A Hopping Good Time Had by All at Annual Alumni Easter Egg Hunt!

A rainy Saturday morning didn’t deter participants from uniting in celebration and sharing memories of their good times while students at Harker, at the second annual Alumni Easter Egg Hunt.

More than 20 alumni turned out for the event, which was held on March 24 in the gym of the lower school campus.

The attendees included grandparents, current parents and alumni who are now parents of current Harker students, making it a multigenerational event.

Photos by Jennie Xu, grade 12

The atmosphere of the hunt was casual

and fun, with eggs strategically hidden in the library. Adding to the festive mood was a bounce house, ball pits, and arts and crafts tables complete with child-friendly make-it-yourself projects, including bunny ear headpieces, decorating cups and bug collecting jars.

A visit by the Easter bunny (aka Kelle Sloan ’93) rounded out the day. “The Easter Egg Hunt is fun to be at because I enjoy watching the kids run around and play,” said Sloan, who is now a kindergarten teacher at Harker.

“It’s also really nice because you get to see familiar faces and catch up with people. It’s just another fun way for alumni to stay in touch with each other, bringing their families together,” she noted.

SAVE the DATE AL U M N I R E U N I O N Plans are under way for an all-alumni Harker reunion!

If you are a Harker alumna/us, please join us for two events hosted by the alumni office on the Saratoga campus:

• Fri., Nov. 2, at 4:30 p.m. (game to begin at 7:30 p.m.), for a family-friendly alumni tailgate at Homecoming, with alumni association award recipients announced at halftime. Children are welcome to attend.

• Sat., Nov. 3, from 5-8 p.m., for a mix and mingle, adults-only reunion held in the Nichols Hall atrium, sponsored by the alumni association. Some groups, such as the Class of ’73, may even mark the occasion by playing in a reunited band!

Stay tuned for more information from your class agents!

HOG WILD FOR ALUMNI!

Remember the legendary sausage sandwiches, a picnic tradition since the 1980s? Join fellow classmates to reconnect and reminisce about your picnic days at the alumni luncheon!

The alumni relations office is providing free admission to alumni and their immediate families, and hosting a luncheon from 12-1 p.m. (immediately following the performances). The alumni barbecue at the picnic hit record numbers last year, and we’re hoping for more to celebrate Paws, Jaws & Claws!

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ClassNotes

Submitted by Class Agents

Alumni from all classes through 1997 are listed under the years they would have completed grade 8 at The Harker School, Harker Academy, Harker Day School or Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA). For all classes after the Class of 1997, alumni are listed under the class years they would have graduated from high school, regardless of whether they completed high school studies at Harker. For unlisted classes, we invite you to email alumni@harker.org if you are interested in becoming a class agent or would like to nominate a classmate.

1973

Class Agent: Alan Stevens (alanclassreunion@earthlink.net)

1976

Class Agents: Joy Aliason Younes (joycyounes@yahoo.com); Cindy Cottrell DeAngelo (cldeangelo@yahoo.com)

1977

Class Agent: Mike Pons (michael.pons@gmail.com)

1978

Class Agent: Silvia Malaccorto (smalaccorto@contoural.com)

1979

Class Agent: Chip Zecher (chipzecher@hotmail.com)

1981

Class Agent: Kristin (Scarpace) Giammona (kristing@harker.org) Heather Hale has been keeping busy writing, directing and producing film and television in Hollywood. She’s got Tim Conway attached to a sitcom, Tim McGraw just re-upped an option on one of her screenplays and she’s raising funds for her next independent feature. She fondly recalls Mr. [John] Near teaching her history class and how he challenged us to check primary sources and not believe everything we read, even if it’s in our textbooks.

1982

Class Agents: Tina (Johnson) Murray 58

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(tinammurray@earthlink.net); Pauline (de Vos) Aasen (thedutchfox@gmail.com); Keil Albert (kaalbert@geo-consultants.com)

1989

1984

Class Agent: Chris Yamashita (iamtheyamo@yahoo.com)

Class Agents: Karri Baker (karribaker@me.com); Kristin Quintin (kquintin@intevac.com) Matthew Douglas is living in leafy Surrey, just an hour south of London. He is married with three fabulous children aged 10, 7 and 7 (twins). Matthew has worked in telecoms and IT since finishing his studies. He also served as a reserve officer in the Royal Armoured Corps and deployed to Iraq in 2004 – and was fortunate enough to bring all of his soldiers home intact. He has continued to support those still serving by helping to organize sailing adventure training. Matthew completed the Fastnet race in 2011 and earlier this year took part in the Caribbean 600 in Antigua. Matthew added he was saddened to hear of John Near’s passing, and that Mr. Near was a wonderful grade 8 homeroom teacher and football coach. Matthew returns to California frequently to visit friends, ski at Tahoe and visit his wife’s family. We hope to get Matthew to one of our alumni events during his next trip!

1988

Class Agents: Eric Xanthopoulos (eric.xanthopoulos@gmail.com); Aileen Eveleth (a_eveleth@yahoo.com) S U M M E R 2 012

Class Agent: Katie Wilson (mkate_wilson@yahoo.com)

1990

1991

Class Agent: Ashley Anderson (anderbruin@gmail.com)

1992

Class Agent: Amanda Mathias Bonomi (amandambonomi@gmail.com)

1993

Class Agents: Joy Paterson (joypaterson@gmail.com); Tala Banato (tala.banato@gmail.com); Kelle Sloan (kelles@harker.org) Monika (Pataye) Watkins has had an exciting year. Her son, Oliver Tyler Pataye Watkins, was born on March 18, 2011, one day before her birthday, and in her words this was “the best present ever.” Monica and her husband, Adam, are living in Venice, Calif. Monica is enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom for a while, and Adam recently finished working as a CG supervisor for “Hugo,” the Martin Scorsese movie.

Michael O’Byrne reports that “life is good.” He married Mariko Mui; they met when she was doing a master’s degree in nutrition when he was a first-year medical student at Columbia in New York. They did residency at Children’s

Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) together (both in pediatrics), finishing in 2010. She is now a primary care pediatrician, and Michael is in his second year of fellowship in pediatric cardiology at CHOP. They were married in May of 2010. In October of 2011, they had a baby boy, Zachary Kazuo O’Byrne.

They still live in downtown Philadelphia and “hate the weather,” but are acclimated if nothing else. Michael misses Northern California and hopes that after he finishes his fellowship they will be heading back. Kristen (Nielsen) Morgensen is excited to report that she has returned to her roots, teaching grade 8 biology at Harker. Kristen reports that Mrs. Podshadley, her own grade 8 biology teacher at Harker, inspired her love of science and her choice to be a teacher in the first place. Her husband is just several doors down from her, teaching grade 6 earth science. With her mother also working at Harker, Kristen admits that they are definitely “keeping it in the family!” She loves being a full-time faculty member and is enjoying her students immensely. She also takes pleasure in informing them that she was in Mr. [Pat] Walsh’s homeroom in grade 5 and can relate when they don’t want to tuck in their shirts.

Unfortunately for them, as she puts it, that’s the rule and she is now on the other side of the law. Gretchen (Billheimer) Vattuone is pleased to report that she got married and had a baby boy. She met her husband at church in 2009, and after a yearlong engagement, got married in December of 2010.

ClassNotes Her husband is a sergeant in the Army, and she is pleased that he is stationed in San Diego, where her family also resides. After much anticipation, her son, Leonardo Giovanni Vattuone, was born on October 12, 2011.

1994

Class Agent: Leyna Cotran (leynacotran@gmail.com) Leyna Cotran is happy to report that she and her fiancé, Andrew Zimdars, will be married this September in Cupertino. Meanwhile, Marissa Nebenzahl ‘94, and her fiancé, Kunal Sinha, were married in May in Hawaii.

Marissa’s maid of honor was sister Samara Nebenzahl ‘02. Jasona Prowse and her husband, Jason Clayton, are proud parents to little Sierra, born in 2010. Jasona and Jason are expecting twins this spring. Wajahat Ali has been co-editing an anthology, “All American: 45 Men on Being Muslim,” with Zahara Suratwala for release on June 2. The book, available on Amazon, features 45 diverse men who share their own stories in personal and thought-provoking essays.

“I’ve often talked about how the story of American Muslim has been told to us, by others,” said Ali. “The book debunks and re-orients … what it means to be American, Muslim and even a ‘man’ in the 21st century.” Editor’s note: Ali was the recipient of Harker’s 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award.

1995

Class Agent: Lisa (Bowman) Gassmann (lisagassmann@gmail.com) The Class of ’95 seems to be growing rapidly with spousal additions and new babies!

Nikki Pogue is engaged to

Provided by Nikki Pogue ’95

Dennis Bishop, and Libby Werba Rubin will serve as her matron of honor. The ceremony will be held at the Los Gatos History Club on June 22. Congratulations, Nikki!

Libby, her husband, Aaron, and two daughters (Natalie, two years and Gwen, 15 months) are back on the adoption waiting list, hoping to add another addition to their family soon. Jenny FoxManaster Wagner and her husband, David, are thrilled to announce the birth of their son, Nathan Fox Wagner.

Nathan was born on Feb. 25 weighing in at nine pounds, two ounces. Jenny is still working as an occupational therapist in San Jose, though she has taken some time off to bond with the baby. Kate Stober recently took a position as press officer for The New York Public Library. She is one of several publicists responsible for telling people about everything the library does. Right now she is working on publicity for a new exhibition opening June 22, called “Lunch Hour NYC,” about the history of lunch in New York. She hopes everyone will be hearing all about it in the coming months!

Christina (Johnston) Aquila married her husband, Marc, on Aug. 13 of last year in Portland, Maine. In attendance were fellow classmates Kate Stober and her husband, Rob, as well as Jessica (Gaffney) Clark and her husband, Charlie. They had their wedding ceremony and cocktail hour on a boat as it toured the Casco Bay

followed by a reception held on Peaks Island. This month her husband took a new job with a small marketing consulting firm, and they have now moved from Carlsbad, Calif., to Vermont where they are very excited about the abundance of outdoor activities and can’t wait to explore.

Ryan Basham wrote in for the first time with an update of life after graduating from Harker’s elementary/middle school in 1995. He went to Bellarmine College Prep and graduated in 1999, continued college at U.C. Davis for the first two years of undergrad and then transferred to Creighton University in Nebraska. He graduated from Creighton in 2004 with a B.S. in biology and stayed at Creighton for medical school.

He graduated Creighton University School of Medicine in 2008 and then went to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago for his internship year of general surgery. He is now finishing his residency in ophthalmology at Rush University, and he and his family will be moving back to the Bay Area in July in order to start private practice as an eye physician and surgeon in Los Gatos. While in the Midwest, he met his beautiful wife, Elizabeth, in medical school and they have a baby girl named Tallulah who is 18 months. They are expecting their second bundle of joy in September. Congratulations to Ryan, and it’s so good to hear from all of you!

1996

Class Agent: Ashley S. Franke (ashley.franke@gmail.com)

1997

Class Agents: Chelsea Gilliland

’

(cgilliland@gmail.com); Lindsey Hochrine (lynn.laka@fireskyresort.com)

2002

Class Agents: Akhsar Kharebov (axarharebate@gmail.com); Yasmin Ali (yasminfali@gmail.com); Isabella Liu (isabella.a.liu@gmail.com) The members of the Class of 2002 have accomplished much in the 10 years since high school graduation!

Kanishka Pothula recently got married and has moved back to the Bay Area. His wife, Renee, is a freelance journalist writing for publications like BBC Wildlife, while Kanishka works at BVF Partners LP, a biotechnologyfocused hedge fund in San Francisco. Thor Aye sent in his class update while en route to Whistler, British Columbia, where he celebrated his 28th birthday. Thor is an associate vice president at the Fisher Investments Institutional Group in European international business development and sales. Jerry Chi is currently pursuing a dual degree at the University of Pennsylvania and will be graduating this spring with an MBA from Wharton and an M.A. in international studies, with a focus on Japan, from the Lauder Institute. He will be starting work at Google, Tokyo, in June. From AprilOctober 2012 Joshua Farrell will be hiking the Appalachian trail to raise funds for charity. His exciting journey will begin in Georgia and end in Maine, a total of 2,181 miles, and he can be followed at www.5millionsteps. com. After receiving a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Shalini Mohan joined the Stanford Institute for

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ClassNotes Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neuroscience as a postdoctoral fellow. She was also recently awarded the 2012 North American NeuroOphthalmology Society pilot grant.

2003

Class Agents: Julia N. Gitis (juliag@gmail.com); Maheen Kaleem (maheenkaleem@gmail.com)

2004

Class Agents: Jacinda A. Mein (mjacinda@gmail.com); Jessica C. Liu (jess.c.liu@gmail.com)

2005

Class Agent: Erika N. Gudmundson (erika.Gudmundson@gmail.com)

2006

2007

Class Agents: Cassie Kerkhoff (ckerkhof@ucsd.edu); Audrey Kwong (audmusic@gmail.com)

2008

Provided by Stephanie Guo ‘09

Class Agents: Meghana Dhar (meghanadhar@gmail.com); Jeffrey Le (Jeff87@gmail.com); Casey Near (caseylane@gmail.com)

Class Agents: Stephanie Syu (ssyu363@yahoo.com); Senan Ebrahim (sebrahim@fas.harvard.edu)

2009

Class Agents: David Kastelman (davidksworld@gmail.com); Stephanie Guo (stephanie.j.guo@gmail.com) 60

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Stephanie Guo is racking up frequent flier miles this summer. She is traveling to Australia to visit family, spending a week at Catalina with USC intervarsity and going to Shanghai for a month for a study abroad program. Angeli Agrawal is making moves … including in the making movies industry. This semester she interned at Participant Media, which has produced movies including “Waiting for Superman” and “An Inconvenient Truth.” She worked in the department that creates social action campaigns around films. At USC, she enjoyed serving on the executive board of the Panhellenic Council and taking a class on political risk analysis. She is continuing to work with the professor who taught the course, traveling to Cuba in late May for a research trip with the professor and some other undergraduate and graduate students. Afterwards, she will be back in the Bay Area to intern for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in their Palo Alto office.

The Class of 2009 is well represented in Europe. Daniel Hsu has been studying abroad at Oxford for the past year, and Noel Duan studied at Sciences Po in Paris this past semester. The two were visited recently by fellow ’09ers Stephanie Chong and Kelly Chen, and the crew S U M M E R 2 012

of four traveled around Europe drawing comparisons to the Avengers for being both awesome and American. The four managed a visit to Oxford, where they had a chance to hang out with ’09er Jonathan Liu, who is a full-time undergrad there. Baladitya “Aditya” Yellapragada is making the most of his technical training. This summer he’s going back to intern at Intel where he will be working on “Xeon server processor validation,” which has been confirmed as a program that is very hard to say 10 times fast.

He is also the newly elected director of Pioneers in Engineering (PiE) at U.C. Berkeley.

The group trains Berkeley students to serve as mentors paired with high schools and hosts an annual robotics competition. This past April, 20 schools competed in their program. Aditya is actively trying new things as well; he went skiing for the first time in Tahoe this past January. He loved it and certainly wants to go back, but wants to try snowboarding next time.

The Class of 2009 also has some early graduators. One is JiaJun Chia, who majored in chemical and biomolecular engineering and graduated from Johns Hopkins this May. She’s starting a Ph.D. program in bioengineering at the University of Washington this fall.

Congratulations, JiaJun!

2010

Class Agents: Kevin Fu (kf800@yahoo.com); Adrienne Wong (adriee@gmail.com) Christina Ma is excited to report that she is living in New Zealand, working for a term at the Waitemata district health board. Christina’s job is in the Asian patient support

services, which basically assists Mandarin-speaking patients with clinical liaisons, info about the health care system, getting social benefits, and cultural and emotional support. Christina reports that it’s a really unique program (possibly the only one of its kind in the world!) and that it’s been pretty crucial in assuring better patient outcomes, especially considering Auckland’s increasingly diverse population. “It was really cool for me to learn about a completely different health care system as well, one that’s publicly funded ... and be immersed in a clinical setting,” she said, adding that she’s also having fun training with a triathlon club, doing ocean swims and taking surf lessons.

Roslyn Li is gearing up to go to Japan in the fall. She got into KCJS (Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies, hosted

by Columbia). She will be at Doshisha University in Kyoto and can’t wait to meet her homestay family. She’s also looking forward to roaming the streets of Kyoto in the beautiful autumn foliage and is hoping to take classes in ikebana or maybe even learn how to play a traditional Japanese instrument “just for fun.” Another “to do” on her list is to get into a class on language and food in Kyoto, for which she’ll be frequenting restaurants, eating delicious food and gaining a better understanding of Japanese linguistics.

2011

Class Agents: Rani Mukherjee (rani.mukherjee18@gmail.com); Hassaan Ebrahim (hassaan.e@gmail.com) It has been an amazing semester for our Class of 2011 Eagles! We cannot believe it

ClassNotes

By Zach Jones Class of 2012 Become Alumni at Induction Lunch, Senior Gifts Unveiled The Class of 2012 was inducted into the Harker Alumni Association at a special lunch in Nichols Hall May 24. This year’s senior class gifts was also unveiled: the base of the eagle statue residing in Nichols Hall. The Class of 2012 also raised money for two benches near the entrance to the main classroom building on the upper school campus. One of the benches was dedicated to Harker teachers, and another was dedicated to Sharron Mittelstet, the beloved upper school English teacher who passed away in February.

The new alumni had enough money left over to donate to Harker’s endowment fund and also, thoughtfully, donated $500 to the incoming Class of 2016.

Alumni Celebrations

Marissa Nebenzahl ’94, and Kunal Sinha were married in both Jewish and Indian ceremonies in Lihue, Hawaii, on May 15 and 17, with Marissa’s sister Samara Nebenzahl ’02 as maid of honor. The couple honeymooned in Bali.

CORRECTION

Provided by Leyna Cotran ’94

Congratulations to the Class of 2012 on your graduation and welcome to the Alumni Association! We look forward to hearing updates from you!

Provided by Provided by Ryan Basham ’95 Jenny Wagner ’95

Michael O’Byrne ’93 was married in May of 2010.

Provided by Christina Aquila ’95

Gretchen (Billheimer) Vattuone ’93 was married in December of 2010.

Jasona Prowse ’94 and husband, Jason Clayton, proud parents to little Sierra, born in 2010, have added twins to their family, Brennan and Savannah, born in February.

Provided by Libby Werba Rubin ’95

Provided by Monika Watkins ’93

Oliver Tyler Pataye Watkins, son of Monika (Pataye) Watkins ’93 was born on March 18, 2011.

Provided by Provided by Michael O’Byrne ’93 Gretchen Vattuone ’93

Please join us in congratulating the following:

2012

Class Agents: Will Chang (12williamc@students.harker.org); David Fang (12davidf@students.harker.org)

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

has already been a year since our graduation. Nevertheless, the Harker bonds have remained strong, as demonstrated by Christine Chien, Karthik Dhore, Benjamin Tien and Shreya Nathan, who reserve their Sunday nights at school for homework-checking parties with high school friends. Many of us have continued our passions from high school only to reach greater heights in college: Amanda King is next year’s captain for the cheer squad at Williamette University, and Christina Li is now singing as part of a house band at the Flatiron Hotel. Christina will also be in New York this summer, so if you are around you should get in touch with her or watch her perform! Adi Parige transferred from his old university to attend a film school in London that will provide him with exciting future opportunities. London may also be a huge part of Isaac Madan’s future, as he is trying to qualify to fence at the London 2012 Olympics. After founding Youth for Ron Paul at UCLA, Tyler Kotesky collected enough signatures to attract Paul’s campaign team and bring Paul to speak at UCLA. At the rally, Tyler got to introduce Ron Paul to a crowd of more than 6,600 people! Your class agents, Hassaan Ebrahim and Rani Mukherjee, both will be in the Bay Area this August, so look out for a smashing 2011 reunion coming your way. We hope you had a memorable first year, and we wish you the most exciting of summers!

’

Jenny Fox-Manaster Wagner ’95 and her husband, David, announce the birth of their son, Nathan Fox Wagner.

Ryan Basham ’95 with his wife, Elizabeth, and 18 month daughter, Tallulah.

Rob Tuck, Kate Stober ’95, Marc Aquila, Christina (Johnston) Aquila ‘95, Jessica (Gaffney) Clark ‘95 and Charlie Clark at Christina’s wedding.

Libby Werba Rubin ’95 and her husband, Aaron, have two beautiful girls, Natalie, two years, and Gwen, 15 months.

In the spring issue of Harker Quarterly we featured a picture incorrectly identified as “Lisa Hall Hagen ’96 and Ross Hagen.” It should have read “Leyna Cotran ‘94 is happy to report that she and her fiancé, Andrew Zimdars, will be married this September in Cupertino.” We regret the error.

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LookingAhead KEYDATES ORIENTATIONS

Fri., Aug. 24 (Grade 9) Student Orientation Mon., Aug. 27 (Grades 9-12) Student Matriculation & Orientation Mon., Aug. 27 (Grades 6-8) Parent/Student Orientation Tue., Aug. 28 (Grades 4-5) Parent/Student Orientation Wed., Aug. 29 (K-3) Parent/Student Orientation

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Tue., Aug. 28 120th Academic Year Begins (Grades 6-12) Thu., Aug. 30 120th Academic Year Begins (K-5)

BACK TO SCHOOL PARENT BREAKFASTS

Lower School - Bucknall Gym Fri., Aug. 31, 8 a.m.

Middle School - Blackford MPR Mon., Aug. 27, 9 a.m.

Upper School - Saratoga Quad Thu., Sept. 6, 8 a.m.

LABOR DAY HOLIDAY Mon., Sept. 3 - No Classes (K-12)

Mike Lanza

Author of Playborhood

Fri., Sept. 14, 2012 | 7 p.m.

Photo by John Dolan

Khaled Hosseini Author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

Fri., Nov. 30, 2012 | 7:30 p.m.

RSVP required

www.harker.org The Harker School | 500 Saratoga Ave. | San Jose

Venetian Ball An Evening for Parents Sat., Sept. 22, 2012 – hosted by –

Srini and Durga Madala

Visit the website for complete calendar information.

• Italian food and drink • Live music • Attire: evening gowns and exquisite masks (we can provide a mask for you) Cost $100 per person RSVP to Sue Prutton at suep@harker.org

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SUMMER 2012

LookingAhead 62nd Harker Family & Alumni Picnic

Concert Series Fri., Sept. 28 Photo by Janette Beckman

The Taylor Eigsti Trio Fri., Oct. 26

The Parker 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

Sun., Oct. 14, 2012 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Pledge Week

presents

Sept. 23-29

Make your gift or pledge before the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic (Oct. 14, 2012) to be eligible for the Napa weekend drawing!

Hamlet Thurs.-Sat. Oct. 25-27, 2012 | 7 p.m.

HOMECOMING Davis Field Fri., Nov. 2, 2012

Blackford Theater

www.harker.org 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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1923-24

Santa Cruz Mountains

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“This photo first appears in the 1924-25 PAMA catalog, and that is how I came up with the date,” said Terry Walsh, Harker archivist. “I am assuming the photo was most likely taken during the summer of 1923 to be used in the catalog. The tag line reads: ‘Swimming Pool at Camp San Lorenzo River, near Santa Cruz, California.’ This could be almost anywhere on the river between Boulder Creek and Santa Cruz,” Walsh concluded.

We’d love to hear more about this photo from anyone who knows. Send information to photos@harker.org.

w w w. h a r k e r. o r g

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S a n

J o s e ,

C a l i f o r n i a O of C: 6/12 (BHDG/JJJ/RM/DQP) 5,223

Photo courtesy of Harker Archives

When a school gets to be 119 years old things do turn up, as this photo did. Listed in the Harker Archives as Santa Cruz 1923 and again as 1924, a few years after the school became Palo Alto Military Academy, the photo shows a wonderful, idyllic moment we were drawn to. Someone – the photographer? – has asked the boys to turn their attention to the camera. And note the shadowy figure on the far right edge – a chaperone, perhaps? His attention is all on the boys even as they are focused on the photographer. This old image has faded pencil crop marks, perhaps from its original use.