Harker Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 by The Harker School

A PUBLICATION OF THE HARKER SCHOOL l SPRING/SUMMER 2022

M A G A Z I N E

A COMMUNITY OF

An in-depth look at the athletic program

H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S

REPURPOSING

BEST & BASE

M A G A Z I N E

SPRING/SUMMER 2022, VOLUME 13 NUMBER 2

Pam Dickinson Office of Communication Director Catherine Snider Managing Editor Jane Snyder Photographer Jennifer Maragoni Copy Editor Zach Jones Rebecca McCartney Staff Contributors Blue Heron Design Group Design Diamond Quality Printing Printer Have an idea? Contact us: news@harker.org 408.345.9273 Or write: Harker Magazine 500 Saratoga Ave. San Jose, CA 95129 Harker is a Bay Area Green Certified Business of Santa Clara County. As part of our many sustainability efforts, Harker Magazine is printed on partially recycled paper.

On the cover: Anjali Yella, grade 10, league MVP and Cal-Hi Sports CCS scholarathlete of the year for winter, enjoys the varsity basketball CCS finals at Menlo. The team lost but was brought through to NorCals, where Harker made it to the quarterfinals. Photo by Pierre Whitsey. On this page: The upper school dance production, “Blast from the Past.” Photo by Jane Snyder. On the back: Raj Patel, grade 12, overlooks the venue at his graduation. Photo by Jane Snyder.

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CONT E NTS The Balancing Act Building a community of health, empathy and awareness.

A Community of Champions The development of Harker’s athletic program.

BEST & BASE Helping lower and middle school students find and nurture their passions.

Repurposing Harker’s pursuit of sustainability.

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Head of School Brian Yager’s graduation address.

top stories

Top Stories Recent stories reprinted from Harker News online.

Harker News publishes stories online about our students and faculty, highlighting accomplishments and celebrating successes. Top Stories highlights a few of the most significant stories posted on Harker News since the last issue of Harker Magazine (fall/winter 2021) went to press. Visit news.harker.org to see full stories and hundreds more articles noting the truly remarkable efforts of our Harker students and faculty.

Ten seniors among first three rounds of 2022 Nat’l Merit winners June 2, 2022 Seniors Cady Chen, Irene Yuan and Emily Zhou were among the first round of 2022 National Merit Scholars announced in late April, each winning a corporatesponsored scholarship from Nvidia. On May 11, seniors Alice Feng, Arnav Gupta, Victoria Han, Rishab Parthasarathy, Sasvath Ramachandran and William Zhao were named winners of $2,500 scholarships, followed by Catherine He on June 1, who won a college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship from the University of Southern California. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bjc

............................................................... Harker Conservatory invited to perform at Festival Fringe in 2023 April 29, 2022 The American High School Theatre Festival has invited the Harker Conservatory’s musical theater program to perform its production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at 4

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the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest international arts festival. More than 450 schools applied to be one of the 25 selected, making this one of the most competitive seasons in AHSTF’s history. Harker has performed at Fringe every four years since first being invited in 2007. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bjk

............................................................... Student recognized for athleticism and scholarship April 26, 2022 In April, senior Ishaan Mantripragada was named the Central Coast Section Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The four-year soccer player was named WBAL All-League and WBAL Forward of the Year and was a valued member of the 2020 CCS championship team. He was also recognized for volunteering for Kicks Against Cancer, participating

in the Synopsys Science & Technology Championship and receiving a 2020 President’s Gold Volunteer Service Award, all while maintaining strong academic performance. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bj9

............................................................... Student wins NDCA Championship April 15, 2022 Senior Anshul Reddy won the prestigious National Debate Coaches Association Championship, one of the big three speech and debate championships attended by teams from across the United States. Reddy had a perfect record in preliminary rounds and lost just one ballot in elimination rounds. Senior Deven Shah, junior Muzzi Khan and sophomore Kabir Buch also qualified for Lincoln-

Middle and upper school students win 166 art and writing awards

Douglas elimination rounds. Junior Carol Wininger and sophomores Max Xing, Sasha Masson and Adrian Liu represented Harker in public forum debate elimination rounds, debating the desirability of organic agriculture. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-biR

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Feb. 22, 2022 In January, 166 Harker students were named regional winners in the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, with 75 art awards and 91 writing awards. Among them were 28 Gold Key winners, 49 Silver Key winners and 89 Honorable Mentions. All Gold Key winners are eligible to win national awards, which will be announced in March, and national medalists will be invited to a national ceremony in New York City, scheduled for June. See the story on Harker News for the full list of winners in this year’s contest. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bgI

Journalism receives First Amendment Press Freedom Award Feb. 24, 2022 In February, the Journalism Education Association (JEA) named Harker as one of 17 recipients of the 2022 First Amendment Press Freedom Award. Public and private high schools selected for this recognition – determined by representatives from the JEA, National Scholastic Press Association and Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society – are judged to have actively upheld their students’ and teachers’ First Amendment rights, particularly as they concern student-run media. This marks Harker’s first time receiving the award. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bgT

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Rishab Parthasarathy named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalist Jan. 20, 2022 On Jan. 20, the Society for Science announced that senior Rishab Parthasarathy was among the top 40 finalists in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the country’s most prestigious high school science competitions. His research project was among the more than 1,800 submitted for this year’s contest, and earned him a $25,000 prize as well as a trip to New York City for the final stage of the competition. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bf8

............................................................... Six seniors named top 300 Regeneron scholars, most for any California school

Published research by Jacob Bongers ‘07 receives extensive coverage Feb. 7, 2022 The latest article by Jacob Bongers ’07, “Assembling the Dead,” was recently published in the archaeological journal “Antiquity.” The subject of the article is the 192 human spines recently uncovered in Peru’s Chincha Valley, which represent a method of treating the deceased previously unknown to the area. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bfF

Jan. 6, 2022 Six Harker seniors have been named top 300 scholars in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search, the most for any California school. Alice Feng, Alex Hu, Rishab Parthasarathy, Sasvath Ramachandran, Aimee Wang and Emily Zhou were among 300 high school seniors selected from 1,804 entries received in this year’s competition. Each submitted original research projects that were the result of months of work. https://wp.me/pOeLQ-bet H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

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Words byWORDS Sasha Nyary BY ZACH JONES Photographs by Jane Snyder PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK KOCINA, BEN GREEN

THE

Balancing Act Building a community of health, empathy and awareness

Ask teachers and students at The Harker School how they define health and wellness and, while there’s no single answer, certain themes emerge: Physical health. Mental health. Social and emotional learning. Self-awareness. Empathy. Balance. Wellness is the big question in education today, said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. Schools everywhere are trying to find ways to help students balance the academic rigors of a school like Harker with their personal goals and all the demands and distractions of a connected world. “From social and emotional skills to health and P.E., from diversity to sustainability – all of this contributes to our students’ overall wellness,” Gargano said. “At Harker we give them the academic skills, the math, the computer science, the English. But in order for them to be healthy adults who can materialize their dreams of wanting to better the world, well, they can only do that if they have some level of wellness – and wellness at Harker is utterly multifaceted.” Multifaceted – and ubiquitous throughout the entire school. At Harker, there’s no one single program on health and wellness for everyone. Rather, every aspect of the school is geared toward these themes. “We’re all in 6

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charge of wellness in some ways,” Gargano said. The Harker approach to health and wellness originates in the school’s founding values – kindness, personal accountability, respect and integrity – and has been informed by its partnership with Challenge Success, a program of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. The goal is to present skills to students that they can hone through their lifetimes, so the subject is presented in a variety of ways. Wellness comes through Harker-generated programming, such as the upper school’s teacherdeveloped LIFE program – Living with Intent, Focus and Enthusiasm. Curricula focused on social and emotional learning is provided by external organizations such as CharacterStrong. Health topics are presented in P.E. classes, including age-appropriate discussions of hygiene, sex, and drugs and alcohol. Each of the three campuses, lower, middle and upper, has licensed counseling staff who work with students around academic and character issues on a level appropriate to their ages.

“When we’re all spirited and happy and working together, I think it makes all of us better people.” – Kai Burich, grade 12

The entire school participates in community service, such as the third grade’s annual pajama and book drive for a local homeless shelter. “The data show that volunteer work enhances all aspects of well-being,” said Gargano. “Helping your community makes you feel purposeful, develop stronger networks and relationships, and become mentally and physically active, all improving overall well-being.” Student-created competitive or collaborative activities serve to build school spirit. Harker provides parent education about wellness that includes coffees, lectures and webinars on campus and through the Common Ground Speaker Series. And wellness is taught in individual classrooms, where teachers of every subject help students understand authenticity, character, honesty and empathy. “You learn about social and emotional learning and everything related to it in all the different classes in all the different ways,” said Lana Truong ’10, a counselor in the lower school. “Whether it’s language arts, or even math, the teachers are great about weaving in that everyone learns in different ways and everyone might feel differently about something – and that’s OK. And how do we work to help you feel good about what you’re learning and about what you’re

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THE BALANCING ACT

“They can only be healthy adults if they have some level of wellness – and wellness is utterly multifaceted.” – Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs

doing? That’s something I really appreciate about being here.”

Constructing the foundation The youngest children at Harker use the Toolbox Project curriculum, which is designed to teach social and emotional learning through a dozen concrete practices. Each of the key principles is represented by an icon, such as a planer (patience), a watch (taking time) or a level (empathy). “These skills are really relevant for the kindergarten and the first and second grades because they establish concepts such as identifying personal space and using your words,” said Heather Russell, the lower school’s English department chair and teacher of fourth grade character and study skills. “All these tools are foundational for social and emotional learning.” Health and wellness is an integral part of Harker’s physical education curriculum. Friday is health day, said Walid Fahmy, the chair of the lower school’s P.E. department, and the curriculum is quite broad. “We touch base on everything, from social and emotional learning, to mental health, to everything that you could think of that’s related to health in any facet whatsoever,” he said. Topics include hydration, sleep, nutrition, hygiene and bullying, including cyber bullying. Education about drugs is also covered, as is very basic sex education, which for fifth graders includes discussions about puberty and maturation, babies and death. Reproduction is also covered in middle school biology classes. “It’s a very broad spectrum,” Fahmy said.

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P.E. classes follow the same model of introducing a wide range of topics – movement, teamwork, body management, fitness – in athletics ranging from soccer to badminton to trampoline. “The number one thing they get out of it is the exercise and the social skills,” Fahmy said. “They have to work cooperatively with either a partner or a team. Group and social skills are huge issues, especially after the pandemic. And they’re getting introduced to things that they probably would not have done outside of Harker.” Harker also partners with Kidpower International. Every year the personal safety organization presents its curriculum about boundaries, including appropriate and inappropriate touch, to lower and middle school students. Kidpower reinforces the messages the students have been learning all year in their P.E. classes, and the repetition is intentional, said Gargano. “It’s important to have an external organization telling our students about the ways in which you need to be safe and protect yourself,” she said. “That kind of external validation is powerful.”

Strong character, CharacterStrong The CharacterStrong program is another tool that reinforces the messages students hear throughout the school year. Offered to third through eighth graders, the curriculum, which is presented with age-appropriate themes, spends three months focused on one of the school’s four values and incorporates 10 different secondary traits. The lesson typically begins with an interactive video, and sometimes an accompanying book. That is followed by questions, usually related to the video, that are designed to get the class talking and thinking more deeply. “You saw Johnny holding the door open for Sarah,” the teacher might say. “What did that show? Did anybody notice anything on their faces? What does that tell you?” The third part of the lesson is an interactive activity, whether it’s a game, skits, role playing or doing some sort of interactive worksheet game. “I always say that these lessons and values need to be felt by the kids and they need to be practiced,” said Andi Bo, a language arts teacher in the lower school who, with Russell and others, has been integral to the success of CharacterStrong. “You can’t just talk about them. Students need to understand what it feels like to show someone kindness, what it feels like when you give someone a card and they get a smile on their face.” CharacterStrong isn’t just a program or a curriculum, Russell noted. More than just adding it as another class, Harker is creating a school culture of character.

“Culture is how group members actually behave, repeatedly and habitually,” she said. “Climate is the product of attention to those behaviors, the school’s effects on the people. It is something you can actually feel. That is really what resonated with us. We wanted students and all the staff to understand that it’s a collective effort. So it was really a paradigm shift for us as a school.” To that end, the founder of CharacterStrong spoke at a recent faculty retreat. “It was one of the best professional developments, in terms of being at the right time, during COVID,” said Bo. “Social and emotional learning is not just something for kids. As adults, especially in these unprecedented times, we need to remember to check in on ourselves and our emotional well-being. It was one of the best things that Harker’s ever done and I’ve just been so excited to be a part of it.” CharacterStrong is also used in the middle school, where students encounter it at their twice-a-week advisory meetings. Advisory is also a place where Harker’s emphasis on diversity and sustainability – two areas that are interwoven with health and wellness – start to come together, noted Rebecca Williams, grade 7 English teacher and Class of 2026 dean. If wellness is about community, advisory is about building community at your home base. And it’s all about social justice. “Social and emotional learning is the foundation you need in order to do diversity work,” she said. “To be able to acknowledge differences and have respectful conversations, you have to have the ability to empathize, to see outside of yourself. In order to be able to care about the planet, you’ve got to have social and emotional skills in place. I look at those as building blocks for everything else. You have to be strong in your ability to selfregulate around emotions and communicate feelings.” The effect has been inspiring. When three girls in the Youth Activist Club wanted to focus on promoting mental health in the community, they created a wellness board with weekly messaging about self-regulation and other tips. “It’s visible in our main hallway, a visual reminder that mental health and wellness is a topic that we need to be talking about,” said Williams, the club’s advisor. “It has really been pretty cool because it was all student-driven.” H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

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THE BALANCING ACT

School spirit builds community The final major aspect of LIFE programming is school spirit, which is overseen by activities director Kerry Enzensperger, who is also director of community service. She works closely with the students of the Harker Spirit Leadership Team. “One point of my job is to bring happiness,” said Enzensperger, who might bring in a petting zoo of baby animals during exams, or offer crayons and coloring books. “Hopefully happiness relieves stress and keeps them from thinking so much about a test, to enjoy time with friends, or just bringing some joy into their day, some silliness.”

The multifaceted LIFE program Health and wellness come together in the LIFE program, which is divided into several components and designed for different populations: students, teachers or parents. The idea came from its director, upper school math teacher Jane Keller, and her husband, Butch Keller, the upper school head, when they saw a need for enhanced health and wellness classes. The anchor offering is the LIFE sessions, required monthly gatherings where upper school students hear presentations from professionals and knowledgeable adults about specific topics and have a chance to ask questions and engage. The themes vary by grade – and from year to year, so that the most up-todate information is given – and include sexuality, mindfulness, substance abuse, decision making, and planning for a positive high school experience. LIFE workshops are shorter and voluntary. Topics include adulting 101, female or male wellness (with a teacher who identifies as such), time management, college preparation with alumni and affinity groups. The community care aspect of the LIFE program begins with the Eagle Buddies program, which connects 10th graders with third graders and was also founded by the Kellers. “We felt that connecting the upper school to the lower school would help our community stay more connected,” Jane Keller said. “Since we’re on separate campuses we can very easily forget that we each exist. And it would help our upper school students with their skills of getting out of their comfort zone.” The Eagle Buddies stay together for three years, getting together three times a year to have lunch or play games, and they also write to each other. Other opportunities include parent education in the form of webinars, coffees, presentations and resources. All students are required to do community service as part of the LIFE program. Faculty and students are offered weekly meditation groups and yoga classes as part of mindfulness offerings.

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Much of the energy comes from the students, who create programming for the upper school, including Homecoming week and school spirit week. The spirit team is made up of three committees: the athletic affairs committee, the competitive committee (the class that wins the most spirit points gets a trophy), and the community committee (dress-up day and other fun activities to get people involved). Some activities are just for fun and others are specifically geared toward easing stress, said senior Irene Yuan, who serves on the executive team as secretary. “We look at what’s happening in the school year and try to provide an outlet,” she said. “In December, when finals week is coming up, lots of kids get stressed. So we decided to do a hot chocolate station. One week we put out bracelet-making materials, where students could come on their free periods or before school or during lunch and do some arts and crafts on their own. We see the needs of the community and try to address them.” Happiness is definitely key, Yuan agreed. “Our high school is very academic based and competitions are a fun way to just focus on being together as a class. It’s fun to take your mind off academics and do some friendly competition with the other grades and the classmates you’ve grown up with.” Senior Kai Burich has been on the competitive committee since he was a sophomore. He likes coming up with different events that will bring everyone together, like the annual regatta or the dragon dance. His favorite: a pie-eating contest without using your hands that was held just before Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie, of course. His idea. “It gives everyone a strong sense of community,” Burich said. “It brings you together while you’re making the dragon head or trying to beat the ninth graders in a relay. And when we’re all spirited and happy and working together, I think it makes all of us better people.” Sasha Nyary is a writer and editor living in Maine whose work can be found at sashanyary.com. Editor’s note: Jane Keller retired in June. Kelly Horan is taking over leadership of the LIFE program.

face time

hysics teacher Lisa Radice has been at the upper school since its second year, 1999. A native of Rhode Island, Radice grew up in the East Bay, and she and her partner make their current home in San Jose, along with their three boys. Her chat with Harker Magazine revealed an active mind that thrives on learning opportunities and discovery. She feels most alive when she’s fully engaged: “That could be interacting with students, building Legos with my kids, going for a bike ride on a beautiful day, or seeing an amazing exhibit at a museum.” Trying new things, learning how they work, is fun for Radice, and even a failure can be a chance to learn something helpful and interesting.

What are two things you like to do when you finally have a block of free time?

What is the best compliment someone can give you?

For parents, there is not a lot of actual “free time.” When we do have time to ourselves, we often spend it sitting on the couch eating good food and watching TV.

I took a sculpture class in college and one of my projects was an installation that highlighted the natural shapes in a stone wall. My professor’s comment was that I “took a simple idea and explored it fully.” I may not have been the best sculptor, but I made the most of the abilities I had. I couldn’t ask for a better compliment.

What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? Do what you love. It can be hard to distinguish between what other people want you to do and what will truly make you happy, but if you spend your time and energy on what you love to do, those experiences will be meaningful as well as enjoyable.

In what way are you above average? I have good spatial reasoning. I once did an activity where I was shown a piece of paper and how it was folded. Then a hole was punched in the folded paper and I predicted where the holes would be when the paper was unfolded. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought it was fun!

Where in the world are you the happiest? Most of my favorite places involve water. I don’t particularly like being in the water, but I love to hear the waves crash on a beach or see the reflection of the surrounding mountains on a placid lake or watch the rush of a waterfall.

What makes you feel like a kid again? My mom makes these amazing oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies. Every time she makes some for me, it takes me back to my childhood .

Lisa Radice

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Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

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sports

Photo by Pierre Whitsey

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Photo by Pierre Whitsey

he winter and spring seasons were full of celebratory moments and historic firsts for Harker athletics. For the first time in school history, all four winter sport teams (boys and girls soccer and boys and girls basketball) qualified for the CCS playoffs. The girls varsity basketball season was highlighted by Harker’s first-ever basketball league title, a CCS finals appearance and a NorCal first-round win. Senior Ishaan Mantripragada was named CCS’ Male Athlete of the Year for his performance on the soccer field. For spring sports, varsity boys volleyball reached the CCS playoffs, track and field set school records and swimmers Ashley Hong, grade 10, and Kyra Cui, grade 9, swam in the state championships. In April, nine student athletes pledged to participate in college sports at the college athlete signing ceremony. At the middle school, the VA and JVA girls volleyball teams had undefeated seasons, leading them to the West Bay Athletic League Championships. To read more about our athletics program, see page 16. Go Eagles!

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WORDS BY VIKKI BOWES-MOK PHOTOGRAPHS PROVIDED BY TARA CHANDRA ’06 UNLESS NOTED

Alumna impacts the world through her creativity

T “One of the bestkept secrets of motherhood is how hard breastfeeding can be. I don’t like to suffer in silence and wonder why we aren’t talking about this.” – Tara Chandra ’06

ara Chandra ’06 is in her London home with her 4-month-old baby son sleeping in the next room. She’s a working mom, entrepreneur and fierce feminist.

“One of the best-kept secrets of motherhood is how hard breastfeeding can be,” said Chandra, the co-founder Here We Flo, which makes products that inspire people to feel crazy confident and empowered about their messiest bodily moments. “I don’t like to suffer in silence and wonder why we aren’t talking about this.” Chandra’s sense of humor is evident on the company’s website, which puts a light-hearted and quirky spin on a topic she wants to make easy to discuss. This philosophy is just one ingredient that fuels the mission of Here We Flo, which makes menstrual, bladder and sex products that are “as natural as possible and not horrible for the planet.” It started when Chandra and her best friend, Susan Allen Augustin, met at The London School of Economics and Political Science. They were daydreaming about starting a business together when Chandra noticed she couldn’t find organic tampons anywhere. So they started researching, which turned into a master’s dissertation and finally the creation of Here We Flo. The business, which began with a Kickstarter campaign and lots of startup hustle, has grown to nearly 10 full-time employees, $3 million in sales and is working toward raising its first round of venture capital. “Tara is persistent, brilliant and generous; those really are the core to who she is, how much she has achieved, and why she

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is such an amazing friend and incredible business partner,” said co-founder Allen Augustin. Chandra’s achievements stretch back to her days at Harker, which she entered as a ninth grader. She was a dedicated student who enjoyed all her classes but especially English and music – a passion she pursued professionally after college. “In her upper school years, Tara was already an extremely savvy musician. She was curious about all styles of music, and had a great instinct for how each should be interpreted and sung,” said Catherine Snider, who was her music teacher and is now communications manager at Harker. “Given how smart she is and how passionate she always was about her interests, I was not surprised that Tara launched a successful music career; nor am I surprised that she has pivoted and is having such a positive impact and success with her business, as well.” After Chandra graduated from Harker, she was drawn to Columbia University for the strong academics but also the legacy of arts and writing. She graduated with a degree in economics in two years but listened to many teachers who encouraged her to pursue a career in music. She moved to Los Angeles and got busy in the indie music scene. Her style was a combination of vintage soul, poetic lyrics and a dash of pop. After writing songs, making videos and performing in clubs, she signed record deals in Japan and Germany using the stage name Tara Priya.

“Tara is persistent, brilliant and generous; those really are the core to who she is, how much she has achieved, and why she is such an amazing friend and incredible business partner.” – Susan Allen Augustin, co-founder of Here We Flo

“I was really lucky to tour internationally and put out albums, but it was always a hustle,” remembered Chandra. “I would go from people wanting my autograph abroad to landing in LA and hurrying to my tutoring job to help make ends meet. It kept me humble and hungry.” She grew tired of LA and wanted to try living in London where the music scene was humming. Although she enjoyed the creative space in London, she realized she wanted to pursue her master’s degree. After writing an essay illustrating how the short-term mentality of modern music compared to day trading on Wall Street impacts quality, she was accepted into The London School of Economics and Political Science. While there, she found a perfect balance for her creative and academic talents. Here We Flo allows Chandra to make an impact on the world while being her funny, fierce and feminist self. Vikki Bowes-Mok is the interim executive director of Mosaic Journalism Program.

Idea was born. Officially launched with a Kickstarter campaign. Netflix collabrorates with Here We Flo for its Sex Education series with a co-branded product line. Here We Flo is named the Sky Zero Footprint Fun’s Grand Prix for its comedic “No more period dramas” TV commercial, winning $1.5 million in media spend. Here We Flo’s product lines – FLO Period Care, glo Sensitive Bladder Care and XO! Sexual Wellness – launch in Target stores nationwide. H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

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WORDS BY DAVID KIEFER

A COMMUNITY OF

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE SNYDER AND HARKER ARCHIVES UNLESS NOTED

CHAMPIONS

Athletic Highlights APRIL 11, 1917

NOV. 11, 2000

DEC. 1, 2007

NOV. 13, 2009

MAY 22, 2010

Manzanita Hall 1909 graduate Johnny Couch makes his major league baseball debut, pitching six innings in relief and allowing only one earned run for the Detroit Tigers against Cleveland.

Harker advances to the Central Coast Section playoffs for the first time in any sport, with the girls volleyball team reaching the Division V first round.

Despite a loss, Tanya Schmidt ‘07 is named MVP of the state Division IV girls volleyball final as Harker concludes a magical Northern California title season.

The homecoming football game comes to campus for the first time, as the Eagles play Berean Christian in front of a huge crowd.

Swimmer Jessica Khojasteh ’11 wins the 200-yard individual medley to give Harker its first CCS individual championship in any sport.

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oing into his senior year at The Harker School this year, Aaditya Gulati – student council treasurer, debate team captain, Eagle Scout and soccer player – decided he wanted to play football. His parents, who were born in India and did not grow up with the sport, were against it. But Gulati insisted and on the morning of the team’s first practice, his mother, Anjali, a doctor, relented on two conditions: He only would kick, and at every game he must reassure her that he was OK.

Harker owns 10 Central Coast Section team championships among eight sports – two each in girls tennis and boys volleyball, and others in baseball, boys golf, girls golf, boys soccer, girls volleyball and boys water polo – all in the past three years. Harker has won 17 CCS individual titles, three Northern California team championships and dozens of league crowns. Steve Sampson, coach of the U.S. men’s soccer national team at the 1998 World Cup, summed up Harker’s

The Eagles, however, needed Gulati to be more than a kicker, and soon he added receiver and defensive back to his duties. In his first game, with Anjali watching, Gulati intercepted a pass and returned it for the tying touchdown. Soon after, he kicked the winning field goal in overtime. At halftime of that game and each afterward, Gulati stepped into the stands, his cleats clattering on the metal bleachers, and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. Only then would he rejoin his teammates. Stories that weave together the Eagles’ sports history seem to have an “only-at-Harker” theme. The school is so unique in its diversity, academic focus and achievement, that the upper school’s sporting rise from humble origins to widespread success is unique as well.

“The Harker School taught me discipline, an ethical code I use today, and the love for academics and sports, while providing me a sense of belonging.” – Steve Sampson, former Harker coach

Photo by Ben Green

JAN. 1, 2013

APRIL 30, 2013

NOV. 30, 2013

MAY 25, 2017

NOV. 11, 2017

Harker middle school graduate Usua Amanam MS ‘05 is named Defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, helping Stanford beat Wisconsin with a gamesaving interception.

Maverick McNealy ’13 shoots a 1-under-par 71 at Half Moon Bay’s Old Course to win the West Bay Athletic League boys golf tournament and earn his second consecutive league title.

Freshman Niki Iyer places seventh at the state Division IV girls cross country championship race in Fresno.

In a battle with San Jose’s traditional sports powers Bellarmine College Prep and Archbishop Mitty, Harker wins the Northern California boys golf championship.

Harker earns its first football playoff victory, routing Sonoma Valley, 56-0, on the way to the North Coast Section Division IV semifinals in an 11-1 season.

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A COMMUNITY OF CHAMPIONS

1998, there was an undersized and muddy soccer field, a small gym and a pool unfit for competition. Football players dressed in a cargo container and wrestlers lugged mats into abandoned buildings. “Our wrestling team used to rent old restaurants that were vacated,” former wrestling coach Karriem Stinson said. Theresa Smith, the lower and middle school athletic director in her 32nd year at Harker, never will forget her first practice as coach of Harker’s girls volleyball team, a group of ninth graders. influence. He spent summers studying and playing sports at Harker’s predecessor, the Palo Alto Military Academy, and began his career at Harker, as a middle school boys soccer coach and residential dorm supervisor in the late 1970s.

Harker athletics today is senior Ishaan Mantripragada and his 31 goals for the boys soccer team, sophomore Natasha Rajaram dominating opponents in girls tennis, sophomore Anjali Yella sinking three-pointers in girls basketball, junior Andrew Fu soaring over the sand as the reigning CCS boys long jump champion, and senior Mark Hu striking out 18 batters while pitching a perfect game.

Photo by Ben Green

“The Harker School taught me discipline, an ethical code I use today, and the love for academics and sports, while providing me a sense of belonging,” said Sampson, now men’s coach at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “Harker taught me how to become a leader, the importance of respecting others and appreciating other backgrounds and races. Harker was truly my home away from home. It truly shaped who I am today.”

“I walked out into the quad and sat at a table, and I cried,” she said. “I thought to myself, I don’t know if we’re ever going to be able to pull this in the right direction.” “We had some work to do,” said Dan Molin, upper school athletics director since 2005. “But I knew the backing was there. I always got the sense that the goal was, ‘Let’s get the most out of our kids. Academics is going to be first, but we’re still playing to win.’” Smith and Stinson, now middle school colleagues for 25 years who also coached upper school teams, joined Molin to help coordinate a comprehensive athletic program from fourth grade through 12th that has helped identify and retain athletes who might otherwise leave Harker for other

high schools. But progress was slow. “We had to take baby steps,” Stinson, now lower and middle school assistant athletic director, said. Harker’s first CCS playoff team was girls volleyball in 2000 – a fine showing in its first varsity season. But Smith, 360-226 in 21 varsity seasons, felt the turning point came four years later when standout Sylvia Schmidt ’06 transferred in as a junior, ensuring that freshman sister Tanya, also a volleyball player, would stay at Harker for high school. “When Tanya stayed, that got a lot of people’s attention,” Smith said. “She was a pied piper for what has come since.” Tanya Schmidt was a senior on a 2007 team fueled by a tough playoff loss the previous year, dedicated to a summer conditioning program – the Eagle Iron Club – and one that bonded during a preseason trip to Maui. Harker fell to Menlo School in the CCS final, but still advanced to the NorCal Division IV tournament. In a fierce semifinal against St. Mary’s of Berkeley, Candace Silva-Martin ’09 blocked the ball with her face and fell to the ground. With blood pouring from her nose, she refused to leave the court. Harker pulled out a 15-13 fifth-set victory. The team returned to campus to find the midnight handiwork of teachers Jane Keller and Chris Daren, who placed

When Harker launched the upper school in

MAY 12, 2018

MAY 11, 2019

NOV. 16, 2019

FEB. 29, 2020

MARCH 11, 2021

Vivian Wang ’18 wins the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke at the CCS girls swimming championships and graduates with all but one school individual record.

Ethan Hu ’20 breaks the state boys swimming championship meet records in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, and wins the 200 medley relay, as Harker places fourth as a team.

Harker wins its first CCS team championship, sweeping Carmel to capture the Division III boys volleyball title.

Anna Weirich ’21 dominates the CCS Division IV girls cross country championship field, winning by 47 seconds on the demanding 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course in Belmont.

Justin Fung, now grade 12, scores late in overtime and goalkeeper Laszlo Bollyky comes up big in penalty kicks to give Harker the CCS Division III boys soccer title over St. Francis.

The No. 3 doubles team of Fonda Hu ’21 and Sachi Bajaj ’21 win a third-set tiebreaker to clinch Harker’s 4-3 girls tennis victory and end Menlo School’s 24year league winning streak.

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Photo by Pierre Whitsey

hundreds of disposable cups into a chain link fence near the entrance to spell out: “VOLLEYBALL – NORCAL FINALS.” This was new territory for a school that had never rallied around a team. At a rally, students were taught how to cheer, and history teacher John Near gave a moving speech.

“Mr. Near was someone everyone respected, and whenever he spoke everyone listened,” Schmidt said. “He wasn’t necessarily the person you would expect to speak at a pep rally. He tasked us with embracing the moment. In his seriousness, he inspired us all.” Buses of students traveled to Sacramento for the NorCal final against Christian Brothers. A poster illustrated the lengths Harker was willing to go for its team: “Jump on the Rally Bus and get free food, paid admission AND NO HOMEWORK.” Harker won in four. More than 1,500 Harker fans then flooded the San Jose State Event Center for the state final against Santa Fe Christian. Though

“We’re building a whole person. Athletics is about being a teammate, making sacrifices for the good of others.” – Butch Keller, upper school head and basketball coach

Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

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JUNE 15, 2021

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Mark Hu ’22 strikes out 18 in a perfect game against Woodside Priory, and is among 15 in state baseball history to strike out as many while pitching a nohitter or perfect game.

Natalie Vo ’21 and Claire Chen, grade 11, finish 1-2 for the girls as Harker becomes the first in golf to win CCS girls and boys team titles in the same academic year.

A two-run double by Andrew Chavez ‘21 completes Harker’s twoout seventh-inning rally from a nine-run deficit to beat Stevenson, 16-15, and win the CCS Division VI baseball championship.

Same-day titles by the boys water polo and the girls tennis teams give Harker 10 CCS team championships in 19 months.

Harker dominates its three opponents in the NorCal girls tennis tournament, winning 19 of 21 singles and doubles matches to win and finish with a No. 3 national ranking.

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A COMMUNITY OF CHAMPIONS

in its creation. “I couldn’t really model it after another high school athletic training room, because there are none that I’ve been to.” In the spring of 2019, the boys volleyball team captured the school’s first CCS team title, in Division III, and swept Bellarmine College Prep in the NorCal Division I semifinals – a feat once thought impossible for any Harker team against the area powerhouse – and finished with a No. 4 national ranking. In 2021, Harker became the first to win CCS team titles in boys and girls golf in the same year. The boys already owned a NorCal championship from 2017 when they were fifth in the state and in the midst of six consecutive West Bay Athletic League titles. PGA Tour pro Maverick McNealy ’13 is Harker’s most famous athletic alum, though major league pitcher Johnny Couch, Class of 1909 at Harker predecessor Manzanita Hall, was the school’s first athletic star.

the Eagles lost, enthusiasm hardly was dampened. “That team put Harker athletics on the map,” Smith said. “The whole thing was just magical.”

baseball’s career record-holder for hits, runs and games. Today, Anna Weirich ’21 runs for UCLA, Daulet Tuleubayev ’18 golfs for Stanford, Jarrett Anderson ’19 plays volleyball for Springfield … and so on.

Harker was so proud, it created a specialevent schedule so that the whole school could watch Schmidt sign a letter of intent to play at Santa Clara University, where she had a stellar career before playing two pro seasons in Europe. Now, Schmidt is pursuing a Ph.D. in English, specializing in renaissance literature, at NYU.

The improvement of facilities were the next big steps. Davis Field was constructed in 2006, the same year as the 13-lane Singh Aquatic Center. The athletic center, a 33,000-square-foot gym facility, opened in 2017 with a vast athletic training room housing a HydroWorx 300 therapy pool and underwater treadmill.

Schmidt is among the many Harker alums who have flourished collegiately. Jason Martin ’07, for example, is San Jose State

“A hydrotherapy space in a high school athletic training room is pretty impressive,” said athletic trainer Jaron Olson, who was given a voice

Photo by Mark Kocina

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With McNealy, greatness seemed inevitable. Coach Ie-Chen Cheng said McNealy “did for Harker golf what Tiger Woods did for the golf world. So many people looked up to him and wanted to be the next Maverick.” Cheng recalled McNealy, the world’s topranked amateur while at Stanford, was so dedicated to Harker golf that even when a shoulder injury prevented him from playing, he still attended practice and walked the course with his teammates. Natalie Vo ’21 and Claire Chen, now grade 11, placed 1-2 at the 2021 CCS girls tournament, but the team was characterized as much by Olivia Guo ’21. On the 17th hole, she drove to within two feet of the hole and

putted for a birdie. It was an emotional moment for Cheng, who had coached Guo since sixth grade. “She never missed a practice,” Cheng said. “Never gave an excuse. When she hit that putt, I remember thinking, ‘This is why I do what I do.’” In tennis, success was built from middle school up. John Fruttero was a private coach who worked with kids on up to professionals. Six of his clients were Harker middle school students who were not on the school team. Their interest in having him coach at Harker was a consideration when he and his brother J.P. applied to Harker, where they have co-coached ever since, building the middle and upper school programs. The day the Harker girls truly hit the bigtime was March 11, 2021, when the Eagles ended Menlo School’s 24-year league dual-match win streak at 266 consecutive victories. “We knew we had the talent,” John Fruttero said. “But there were a lot of nerves. We just

weren’t sure we could do it.” Tied 3-3, the match came down to No. 3 doubles. Then-seniors Fonda Hu and Sachi Bajaj were unable to convert match point in the second set, but won the third-set tiebreaker, sparking an on-court celebration. “We had nothing to lose,” J.P. Fruttero said. “Now, it’s totally different. We’re no longer the surprise team. We are the team.” Last fall, the girls won CCS and NorCal championships, beat national No. 1 Westlake, and finished No. 3 in the country. Harker’s athletic success still can feel stunning, like in beating St. Francis for a CCS boys soccer title or Archbishop Mitty to win a CCS boys water polo championship. Or swimmer Ethan Hu ’20 breaking two state records to lead a team of four boys to fourth in the state meet. These are not expected or given, but appreciated. They expand the possibilities of what Harker as a school can achieve.

“Harker is a different place, it’s a different culture,” said Butch Keller, retiring upper school head and boys basketball coach. “We’re building a whole person. Athletics is about being a teammate, making sacrifices for the good of others. Of going through some hard times together so that stronger bonds can be created. That’s the value of what we do, and that’s the value of athletics.” Ashley Barth, grade 12, a Harker Lifer and daughter of a Harker administrator and teacher, understands through her perspective as a midfielder on the girls soccer team, which went 17-1-1 in 2022 for its best season. “What I take from high school is it’s a community, it’s a family,” Barth said. “You see each other on campus and as soon as the season starts, every time you see each other it’s like a reunion, a celebration.” Never was that more apparent than at the Kicks Against Cancer soccer charity doubleheader on Feb. 11. Barth, a cancer survivor and event organizer, looked across the packed Davis Field stands and marveled at a school coming together. “I was looking at these people thinking, ‘These are some of my closest friends,’” she said. And that’s essentially what Harker athletics is all about, a community that strives to win, but never at the expense of the truly important things – like a kiss on mom’s cheek. David Kiefer is a longtime Bay Area sportswriter who covered the high school sports beat for the San Jose Mercury News and now is the executive editorial producer for Stanford University Athletics.

Photo by Mark Kocina

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gallery

visual arts Kian Sze

Jemma Jin

Kindergarten “Chilly Penguin”

TK “Hand Flower”

Aiden Bhambani Grade 3 “MLK Jr. Portrait”

Selena Ghane Grade 5 “Luna Moth”

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Shea Bryden

Grade 11 “The Public Eye”

he spring semester was an exciting time for visual arts students, as Berlin-based artist Britta Clausnitzer visited Harker as the first artist-in-residence of the Dickinson Visual Arts Endowment. Clausnitzer worked closely with students at the middle and upper schools to create a collaborative performance project, titled “Tiger on the Loose” (see photo below/left), and a showcase of her work was displayed in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center. Meanwhile, visitors greatly enjoyed viewing student art in person again at the AP Studio Art reception, the lower school art show and the middle school art exhibit. Have a look at some of the many incredible works students produced this semester!

Kira Bardin, Marisa Masoni, & Laura Bastos Grade 8 “Tiger Elvis”

Tara Ozdemir Grade 12 “Deterioration Series”

Rishi Veeravalli

Grade 6 “2 Point Perspective Spiderman”

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passion

In 1996, Will Jarvis MS ’97 had an intriguing idea for his grade 8 science fair project: make wine. He was a resident at Harker’s boarding school, which meant he would need to use his dorm room. He went to Joe Rosenthal, then boarding program director and now executive director of advancement for strategic initiatives, to ask special permission for this one-of-akind project. “It is not at all usual for us to allow teenagers to make alcohol in the dorm rooms,” joked Rosenthal. “But when Will asked me if he could make wine for his science fair project, I knew he was very serious. I understood his family’s extreme passion for the art and science of making some of the world’s finest wines and I figured we could find a way to allow him to undertake this project properly.”

From

Napa to

When Jarvis received permission, he was thrilled to be able to put the scientific method to use for something he cared so passionately about. Jarvis grew up as an only child on the Jarvis Estate in Napa. His parents, William and Leticia, purchased 1,300 acres in the Vaca Mountains outside Napa and intentionally planted just 37 acres to focus on producing high-quality wine.

Silicon Valley

and back again

The science fair project that became a world-class wine WORDS BY VIKKI BOWES-MOK PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE SNYDER AND HARKER ARCHIVES

Jarvis couldn’t wait to get started on his science project. He got to work on creating wine using a stainless steel milk can and a couple of five-gallon barrels. He found the best place to age the wine was on his bed, the bottom bunk, where he kept the two barrels for months but also tucked in each evening to sleep. “I would have received an A, but I turned it in an hour late and was marked down a full letter grade. I should have told them the wine needed additional aging,” laughed Jarvis from his underground office in the 45,000-square-foot Jarvis winemaking cave. At the end of his project, he had produced nearly a dozen bottles that the family tucked away. “We happened upon it a few years later and it was surprisingly good, and this led to the creation of the Will Jarvis’ Science Project wine that we sell to this day,” remembered Jarvis. The current release of Will Jarvis’ Science Project from the 2018 vintage was given 95 points by the Beverage Testing Institute and is sold out, so clearly Rosenthal made a good decision by letting the project move forward. After Jarvis graduated from Harker’s middle school, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy before attending Santa Clara University to study molecular biology. His passion for winemaking had been sealed with his first batch of science project wine. After completing his undergraduate degree, Jarvis did research and

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development at a biotech company before returning to school to get his MBA from Stanford University.

While the estate was rebuilding, COVID struck and created new challenges for the business.

Jarvis always wanted to attend business school and get experience working outside the family business, but his longterm plan was to run Jarvis Estate. So after graduating with his MBA, he worked in life sciences investment banking and business development for a few years before the time was right to return to Napa.

“When the pandemic hit, it created unique challenges for businesses that host guests in-person, including our winery,” said Jarvis. “The [life] skills and self-sufficiency that I learned at Harker’s boarding school helped me manage those challenges.”

He has been overseeing the winery for seven years with some definite challenges along the way. “In 2017, the Atlas wildfire that swept through Napa destroyed 11 structures on our property, including the historic grange building that was covered with beautiful wisteria vines and flowers,” remembers Jarvis. “Our cave and vineyards were spared, but we lost a year of production because of the smoke effects.” When the smoke soaked the berries that year, Jarvis decided to experiment and try making brandy. It was a fun project that is still in the barrel, so time will tell the outcome, but the primary focus of the estate will continue to be on creating world-class wines.

During this time Jarvis has maintained his connection to finance and leveraged his business background to incubate a family office for investing. “We have made about a dozen private placements in each of the past two years and so far it is going well,” said Jarvis. “Fingers crossed, but we are on track for two early exits in 2022.” Jarvis is grateful for his time at Harker and continues to be involved. In fact, he’s working closely with Rosenthal on the Harker Venture Investment Fund, a new effort to build and engage Harker’s community to make venture investments in alumni-founded companies. From a dorm room science project to an investment fund to back startups, Jarvis and Harker continue their partnership. “We are very appreciative that Will continues to help Harker in these important ways,” Rosenthal concluded. Vikki Bowes-Mok is the interim executive director of Mosaic Journalism Program.

“When the pandemic hit, it created unique challenges for businesses that host guests in-person, including our winery. The skills and self-sufficiency that I learned at Harker’s boarding school helped me manage those challenges.” – Will Jarvis MS ‘97

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HELPING LOWER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS FIND AND NURTURE THEIR PASSIONS

WORDS BY ZACH JONES PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE SNYDER

UNLESS NOTED

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“I LOVE THAT BASE LETS US EXPRESS OURSELVES THROUGH PAINTING AND ART. OH, AND AIR HOCKEY.” – Taylor Summers, grade 8

Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

Photo Orrell Photo by by Jacqueline Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

or nearly 15 years, Harker lower and middle school students have found new interests and formed lifelong relationships through each division’s BEST (Bucknall Enrichment and Supervision Team and Blackford Enrichment and Supervision Team) programs. With the middle school’s move to the Union campus, its BEST program has undergone a rebrand and is now known as BASE (Before- and After-School Enrichment). Although each program’s offerings are unique, they share the important mission of helping students find and foster their interests. The beginnings of both programs can be traced back more than 30 years, when then-president Howard Nichols established a small after-school program for students whose parents could not pick them up once the final bell rang. Kim Cali, who joined Harker in 1987 and would eventually found the BEST program, was one of four members of what was then called the recreation department. It first offered a small number of activities, but its popularity grew rapidly, and Cali saw the need for a more formally structured and branded department. Under Cali’s direction, the newly established BEST department expanded to include a wide range of interests for students to explore. With dozens of activities and classes on offer, students had the option to try art, creative writing, computer science, sports and much more, with the intent of helping students discover new interests and passions. H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUMM ER 2022

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“The goal is … to introduce new things to the students,” said Amira Townzen, the recently appointed BEST director who took over after Cali’s retirement at the end of the 2021-22 school year. BEST’S quarter-based system also allows students to try many of the program’s offerings, making the process of finding classes and activities they enjoy much easier. “So they might try one thing for a couple months, but then they can switch,” said Townzen. “We have four different times during the year where they can try something new.”

BEST & BASE

Bo’s experience in BEST was crucial to her understanding of how to interact with young students. “The moment they step outside, you have so much that you have to be paying attention to and to be monitoring and supervising,” she said. “So I think that really laid my foundation on how to be an authoritative figure as well as … someone they respect and that they listen to who they’re not afraid of.”

Third grader Marni Kuo, who takes dance, rhythmic gymnastics and cheerleading, said she found her classes “fun and entertaining.” Loha Jun, also in grade 3 and enrolled in dance and rhythmic gymnastics, agreed and added, “I like how there’s different choices we can do, like at gymnastics there’s different apparatuses and I really like that we have a dance show at the end of the school year for after-school dance.” As its growth continued, BEST also became integrated more into the daily lives of Harker students, offering assistance and supervision to students in the morning and during recess periods as well as planning activities for students who stay after school but are not registered in any classes. “We’re the first people that the children see and the last ones that say goodbye at the end of the day,” said Townzen. BEST staff’s presence throughout the day also enhances the students’ sense of community belonging. “[The staff ] know them so well and that really builds that feeling of community and safety,” she said. They therefore play an important role in lower school students’ social-emotional growth. “They’re sort of like social teachers,” Townzen said. “They’re there to guide the students and help with conflicts. They intervene when they need to and know when to let things unfold.” Because of these day-to-day interactions with students, several Harker teachers have found that working as a BEST staff member was a natural path to their current careers. “It wasn’t until I started working at Harker that I was interested in teaching,” said lower school English teacher Ali Bo, who joined the lower school BEST staff in 2013. She later became a teacher’s aide. “I realized that I really enjoyed being in the classroom and learning from the amazing teachers that I was aiding for.” 28 HAR HARKEKRE RMAGA MAGAZ IZNI NE RI N G/S M E R 2022 E l lFAS LPL/W I N T UM E R 2021

The middle school ran its own version of the BEST program for several years. Upon moving to its new location at Union Avenue, it rebranded as BASE and continued to offer its services as a space for students to take part in several organized activities – karate, coding and fabric workshops, to name a few – as well as relax and socialize over games, movies and crafts. For St. Patrick’s Day, for example, students made shamrock shakes and played Pin the Hat on the Leprechaun. “We found that the needs of the middle school student is different from that of the lower school student,” said BASE director Lorena Martinez. The BASE program continued its Fun Fridays, a weekly carnivallike attraction with games, music and outdoor activities. Because the middle school curriculum already contains so many extracurricular activities, BASE is designed to offer activities that students may not find elsewhere. “It was more about trying to build relationships with the students,” Martinez said. “Our after-school program is for kids who aren’t in [programs such as] speech and debate or athletics.” Much of what BASE offers is a direct result of what its staff members hear from students. When students began returning Photo by Mark Kocina

to school in 2021, one student was overheard discussing their love of flying drones. “We thought, you know, that’s an amazing idea,” said Martinez. “So we bought a bunch of drones and had a droneflying class, which was really cool. The staff are really good at saying, ‘Hey, I’m hearing the kids talk about this a lot, maybe we should do something around that.’” BASE’s flexibility in offering activities that students enjoy is often reflected in what students say they enjoy about the program. “I love that BASE lets us express ourselves through painting and art,” said Taylor Summers, grade 8. “Oh, and air hockey.” Other students, such as Kaan Koyuncuoglu, grade 6, have found they appreciate the approachability of BASE staff members. “I like talking to Mr. [Kevin] Reduta [assistant BASE director] about shoes,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot from him.” Martinez said she wants students to remember BASE for the rest of their lives as a program that allowed them to destress while offering unique experiences tailored to their often-specific interests. “We want kids to be kids,” she said. “[These kids] work so hard. We want to bring them to an environment where they can have fun.” H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

impact

WORDS BY VIKKI BOWES-MOK PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARISA SILVA UNLESS NOTED

No more headaches Alumna making an impact with virtual neurological clinic When Elizabeth “Liz” Burstein ’06 came to Harker in grade 7, she was hungry for knowledge and ready to get involved. During middle and high school, she was interested in the sciences and English but also joined cross country and the debate team. One of her favorite classes was AP Biology with Anita Chetty, which inspired her interest in health, a field in which she would go on to make an impact.

“I knew I wanted a career in digital health but after watching my grandmother suffer and having to navigate the health care system for my chronic pain, I realized I needed to take matters into my own hands. I believe in putting patients first and when I hear directly from Neura patients about finding relief, it reminds me that we really are making an impact.” – Elizabeth Burstein ‘06

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“Liz was always very balanced, deliberate and had a sense of maturity beyond her years, which is why she was one of the young women who met to discuss gender disparities in the workplace and to seek out mentors and inspirational role models,” said Chetty, chair of the upper school science department. “I approached Liz to be a part of this group because she had a strong sense of who she was and what she wanted to accomplish in addition to being an excellent role model, respected by her peers; I knew that through association, others would join this small think tank that over the years became WiSTEM (Women in STEM).” After graduating from Harker, Burstein’s intellectual curiosity took her just up the road to Stanford University where she double majored in philosophy and computer science. “Harker has so many amazing teachers that I had a hard time choosing majors,” remembered a grateful Burstein. “I wanted to keep my right and left brain active so these majors made perfect sense for me.”

Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and chronic migraines, according to the American Academy of Neurology. She also created a detailed Google spreadsheet to track her symptoms and yet relief was still elusive. It was this experience, coupled with watching her beloved grandmother suffer with Alzheimer’s, that led her to find a solution. She and Sameer Madan, a Stanford classmate and longtime friend, connected and, after extensive research, decided to launch Neura Health, a virtual neurology clinic connecting patients with top doctors in neurology and headache medicine. She wanted to make an impact on the broken health care system and realized this was the way to do that.

When she graduated, she wrote patents for entrepreneurs before joining the team at LinkedIn where she worked for four years. She had excellent mentors who taught her the nuts and bolts of product management but also the power of your network.

“This gave me a macro view of how investors think and what’s needed to build a company,” said Burstein. “Although I enjoyed it, I missed building products and was ready to try someplace new and leave the same one-hour radius I had lived my entire life.”

She learned that there is a shortage of neurologists nationwide and 160 million Americans suffer from a neurological condition such as

Photo provided by Elizabeth Burstein ‘06

She moved to New York and worked at a variety of startups, including Blue Apron, Maven Clinic and Zocdoc. During this time Burstein was experiencing chronic pain, believed to be caused by nerve entrapment. She was seeking a diagnosis yet having challenges finding help, including waiting more than six months to see a specialized neurologist.

“When we began talking about starting a company, I was looking for complementary skills to mine because I believe that’s how the best businesses are built,” said Madan, an engineer and entrepreneur, who had almost a decade of experience working at Facebook. “Liz is a strong leader and a consistent pattern I have seen is her ability to learn a new skill and excel at it almost right away. For example, none of us had extensive operations experience, much less knowing how to even hire for that role. Liz went the extra mile to design a proper interview process and some candidates told us how impressed they were by the questions we asked.” It’s this get-it-done attitude that has helped Burstein and Madan build Neura Health and secure $2.2 million in funding to take it to the next level, which will allow them to grow the headache clinic nationwide and hire more neurologists, care coaches and operations managers. “I knew I wanted a career in digital health but after watching my grandmother suffer and having to navigate the health care system for my chronic pain, I realized I needed to take matters into my own hands,” said Burstein. “I believe in putting patients first and when I hear directly from Neura patients about finding relief, it reminds me that we really are making an impact.” Vikki Bowes-Mok is the interim executive director of Mosaic Journalism Program.

Photo from Harker Archives

After LinkedIn, she worked for Mohr Davidow Ventures, a venture capital firm, where she identified startups to invest in.

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Neil Mehta ’02 and his wife, Jasheen, have announced the establishment of The Mehta Endowment in Support of Scholarships and Entrepreneurship. This new endowment will primarily provide need-based scholarships to qualified students who would otherwise not be able to attend Harker, and supports the school’s commitment to diversity. In addition to funding scholarships, the endowment will enhance Harker’s business and entrepreneurship department by creating the Mehta Scholar Program, which will help to build and engage the Harker community of student, alumni and parent entrepreneurs and venture investment professionals in meaningful ways.

The Mehtas will match every dollar that the Harker community contributes to Harker’s capital fund as a part of the community members’ 125th Anniversary Gift, up to $5 million. If the community donates $5 million to the capital fund during the 125th Anniversary Gift Initiative, then the Mehtas’ gift to Harker will be $10 million. Mehta is a member of Harker’s inaugural upper school graduating class and is the founder and managing director of Green Oaks Capital.

“Harker changed my life in remarkable ways, and ever since I graduated, I’ve been looking for opportunities to pay it forward. It’s no exaggeration to say that whatever personal or professional accomplishments I’ve enjoyed in my life wouldn’t have been possible without the opportunities that I was afforded at Harker.” 32 HAR HARK MAGAZ ZI NI NE N G/S E R 2022 KE RE RMAGA E l l FAS PRI L L/W I N TUM ER M 2021

– Neil Mehta ‘02

face time

ric Leonard ’94 is no stranger to Harker. After graduating from the school, he began working in the summer and afternoon programs the following year. He returned after college and now teaches California history to grade 3 students. (Oh, and his mother is Sarah Leonard, primary division head.) Leonard and his wife are raising their son and daughter in Santa Clara, where a terrier/chihuahua mix named Elbie completes the family. He let Harker Magazine know that Carmel is his happy place and that he loves to play in the backyard with his kids. Read on for more of his favorite things.

What are two things you like to do when you finally have a block of free time? Catch up on the news or find something to fix in my house.

What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand? Income inequality.

What is your most treasured object, and why? My old-generation Nintendo systems. I’ll never play them again, but I can’t get rid of them.

What is the best compliment someone can give you? That they appreciate my work.

What does your inner child want? To be able to stay up late again and have movie marathons.

What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows? For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to purchase a $777 hamburger in Las Vegas.

Brag about something. I will beat you at wallball.

Eric Leonard ’94 H AR H ARKEKER RMAG MAGA ZAINE Z INE l lSPR SPRING/SUM ING/SUMMMERER2022 2022233

Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

gallery

performing arts

Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

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Photo by Deborah Lord

Photo by Stan Olszewski

he spring semester saw many performing arts events produced for live audiences for the first time since 2020. In theater, upper school students presented the Student Directed Showcase and the spring musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” while the middle school produced its own musical, “Seussical!” and each of kindergarten classes (and their teachers) put on this year’s kindergarten show, “Swamped!” Student musicians gave their all at the semester’s many concerts, including the upper school’s winter instrumental and chamber music concerts, and middle and upper school students were featured at An Evening of Jazz and the spring orchestra concert. Vocalists took their respective stages at the middle school’s Musicale and There Will Be Singing and the upper school’s annual winter and spring choral concerts. Lower school singers and instrumentalists performed at their annual spring music concert. Lower, middle and upper school dance productions showcased the energy and talent of dancers at all three campuses, who all share the stage at this year’s Just Dance. At the annual Senior Showcase, 17 seniors graduated from the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program. Photos from all of these events are available to download through the Harker Parent Portal.

Photo by Deborah Lord

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feature

WORDS BY ZACH JONES PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE SNYDER UNLESS NOTED

: g n i s o p r u rep

y t i l i b a n i a t s u s f o t i u s r Harker’s pu Last fall, the annual grade 9 service day tasked students

with a much different project than usual. In previous years, students have spent the day volunteering at parks and open spaces, but when the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted these activities, library director Lauri Vaughan, a member of the faculty-comprised Green Committee, saw an opportunity. The short timeframe afforded to the middle school faculty in moving to their new campus had resulted in large numbers of furniture, books, supplies and other materials being left at the Blackford Avenue site that had served as the middle school campus since 2005. “I was like, well, we’ve got 200 kids looking for something to do and we’ve got this project,” said Vaughan.

Photo provided by Diana Moss

Students and faculty collected and sorted the massive number of leftover items (some of which had been left by teachers who left Harker years earlier) and coordinated a large donation effort that included sending books to the African Library Project and an entire cargo container of supplies, desks and furniture to schools in Haiti (see page 41). Goods also were supplied to local schools and daycare centers, and teachers from Harker and other schools were invited to take materials they might find useful. Because grade 9 service day historically included educational components, students were given morning seminars on thrifting and making toys for animal shelters. The project was a success, clearing out the Blackford site while ensuring the vast majority of the supplies and materials were repurposed rather than recycled or simply discarded in landfills, and one of several recent initiatives carried out with the goal of reuse rather than disposal.

36 HAR KE R MAGA Z I N E l S P RI N G/S UM M E R 2022

Furniture also was repurposed with the help of businesses such as Furniture Reuse Solutions, which redistributes used furniture to help local communities and organizations, while also diverting tons of unneeded items from disposal in landfills. “We could have resold a lot of stuff, but Harker’s main focus was to extend the life of the materials and put them in the hands of people who needed them and who could use them,” said Janet Rohrer, assistant facilities director. “Harker’s main goal was to start there, not to start by reselling.” During the construction of the middle school campus at the former site of the preschool, Harker worked with several companies that broke down and recycled building materials such as wood, metal and concrete that were left after the demolition of preschool buildings. “I think recycling in the construction industry’s gotten way better,” said facilities director Shayne Hale. “Most of the time, all that stuff just went into a truck and went to a landfill, but landfill prices are pretty high, so contractors are incentivized to pull out all the lumber and pull out all the metal so they can save money.” Likewise, Harker’s food service department recently began working with an organization called Replate to help redistribute excess food to local nonprofits. Replate’s web application enables quick and efficient pickup of items, and customers can see the environmental and social impact of their donations. “Replate is super simple to use,” said Sarah Wollbrinck, assistant to Stephen Martin, Harker’s executive chef. “We send in a request and they arrive within two hours to pick up whatever

food we have available to them; there’s no minimum amount. We put the food in containers that make transportation easy and they take care of the rest.” In the past, Harker has worked with organizations such as Stand Up for Kids. However, food service found that Replate was a good fit due to its more convenient process and the safety they afforded during the pandemic. Their services are also useful for occasions when waste cannot otherwise be prevented. “We already repurpose any leftovers that we have and batch cook to prevent waste, but sometimes we have weekend catering or large events before student breaks that we struggle to reuse in a timely manner or will go bad before we can use it,” Wollbrinck said. Since the return to in-person teaching, the Harker Green Committee has begun a plastic film recycling program, placing boxes on each campus to encourage the community to recycle objects such as plastic grocery bags, cleaning bags and wraps. “Plastic film is one of the things that never gets recycled,” H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022 37

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PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABILITY

“We need to really think differen tly about the way we use resources on the planet and what we can do to redu ce our impact.” – Diana Moss, upper school Spanish teacher and Green Committee member

said Diana Moss, upper school Spanish teacher and Green Committee member, noting that only 9 percent of plastic used is actually recycled. In January, an effort to recycle writing utensils, such as pens and dry-erase markers, was kicked off with the help of TerraCycle, a company that works with businesses and government to minimize waste sent to landfills or incinerated. In addition to writing instruments, the program (which TerraCycle offers to schools for free) also includes recycling of glue sticks, watercolor dispensers and paint sets, as well as their packaging. One of the largest of Harker’s recent efforts has been its partnership with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and its Green Education Foundation (GEF). In the months leading up to Earth Week in April, the Harker Green Team – a long-running student organization dedicated to instilling schoolwide sustainability practices – staged a clothing drive to collect unused clothing and textiles by soliciting donations from the Harker community. This drive was 38

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held to counteract the harmful effects of the fashion industry, which accounts for one-tenth of all industrial water usage (one alarming statistic from the World Wildlife Fund states that it takes nearly 3,000 liters of water to create a single cotton shirt) and also contributes to ocean contamination due to the chemicals used in dyeing textiles. Items collected from this drive were handed over to the GEF, which has set up small neighborhood recycling centers to bring down waste from unused clothing. These structures were created by cleverly modifying storage containers with off-grid solar panels that power LED lights and cameras, allowing for 24-hour donations of all clothing items, including those that cannot be resold by organizations such as Goodwill. These Neighborhood Donation Recycling Stations, as they are called by GEF, have been rented out to locations throughout California and 11 other states, including Texas and New York. Photo by Zach Jones

Donations are collected and sold to a facility in Guatemala, where they are shredded to create padding material that is then used in cushions, chairs and other household items. Funds raised from the sale of the recyclable materials are then used to fund educational workshops.

In the spirit of upcycling, items that were donated in good enough condition were set aside for a special clothing swap held just after Earth Week, where students and faculty took the opportunity to walk away with some fashionable, gently worn clothes. “I’ve actually gotten a lot of really cute clothes from previous clothing swaps,” Moss said. Items left over from the clothing swap were donated to GEF. As of press time, the Green Committee had been on the lookout for a spot in San Jose’s West Valley area to place a GEF recycling center, as there was no space available on any of Harker’s campuses. In addition to Harker’s own practices to create sustainable campuses, students have been encouraged to advocate for environmental causes by appealing to elected officials and hosting talks by experts in environmental legislation. “We’ve been working a lot on empowering the kids to find their voices,” Moss said. “For example, when the California Public Utilities Commission talked about taking away incentives for solar power, we did a big postcard blitz to Governor Newsom and to the CPUC.” The postcard campaign was a key part of the Green Team and Green Committee’s mission to push for alternative sources of H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022 39

feature

PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABILITY

energy. “I believe that currently, with the rising gas prices, it is especially important to work on moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” said senior Camilla Lindh, a member of the upper school’s Green Team, “meaning, divesting from fossil fuels and transitioning into a renewable energy-based economy.” The lower, middle and upper schools all held special activities during Earth Week to help promote more sustainable lifestyles in their respective communities. At the lower school, students planted carrots and engaged in a special scavenger hunt to find naturally occurring resources that were used by indigenous people, while the middle school hosted gardening activities each day of the week during lunch time. At the upper school, students adopted reusable water bottles to reduce the use of plastics, wrote to elected officials and took part in the EcoChallenge, in which they pledged to perform sustainable actions.

Photo provided by Diana Moss

Lindh said these and other actions are important to help the school meet better sustainability standards, particularly since single-use plastics have seen more use since students and staff returned to campus full-time. “Even now, for example, I have seen single-use forks laying next to metal forks in the auxiliary gym, so I believe that using less single-use packaging and utensils would still be an area of improvement,” she said, adding that she wishes to see climate education become mandatory in order to “spread awareness on this pressing issue and encourage more students to get actively engaged with and educated on the climate movement.” Climate education, Moss concurred, is crucial to creating a community that is more aware of how resources are used and discarded. “We need to really think differently about the way we use resources on the planet and what we can do to reduce our impact,” she said. “The more we learn about not taking more than we need and reusing what we have and not throwing things away, the better we will all fare.”

2040 HAR HARK KE REMAGA R MAGA Z I NE Z I NEl FA l SL PRI L/WNI G/S N T EUM R 2021 M E R 2022

Harker photos by Lynda Sutton; Haiti photos by Kristie Mompremier

Donations to Haiti During last summer’s move to the new middle school campus, Harker found itself with an immense surplus of textbooks, classroom furniture and other items (such as laptops, filing cabinets and projectors). Two school buses that were no longer serviceable were also left over. In an effort to repurpose these items and divert them from landfills, the annual ninth grade service day was dedicated to organizing and distributing these items to people who needed or could find new uses for them. As part of the mission to repurpose these goods, bus driver Lynda Sutton helped coordinate a massive donation to Haitian schools through a connection she had with her sister, Kristie Mompremier, who worked as a missionary to the country and has lived there since 1996. The items (and the buses!) arrived in Haiti just before Christmas, where they are now being put to use

by hundreds of students, ranging from preschoolers to university medical students. Moreover, the transportation afforded by the school buses has saved the students from walking up to four hours each day to get to and from school. A portion of the equipment will also be used at a teaching hospital that is under construction. Many thanks to the staff and students who made this incredible feat possible!

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end of year

Photo by Deborah Lord

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s the school year drew to a close, each division held celebrations for their students’ milestones. At the brick ceremony, 113 members of the Class of 2022 placed bricks containing their names and graduation years in Graduates’ Grove. That same day, at Baccalaureate, the graduates-to-be gathered on Davis Field to bid Harker a final farewell and welcome the rising seniors of the Class of 2023 into their roles as next year’s leaders. That evening, graduates who had been students since kindergarten gathered for the annual Lifers dinner. That week, ‘22 parents enjoyed some festivities of their own at the Moms and Dads of Grads celebration. At the grade 5 promotion ceremony in late May, fifth graders were congratulated on completing their lower school education and received kind words from faculty and students as they prepared to enter the middle school. Eighth graders also took an important step at the grade 8 promotion ceremony in June, where they reflected on their time as middle school students and heard advice from teachers and students on how to prepare for high school.

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graduation

HARK HA R KE RE RMAGA MAGAZ IZNE I NE l l S PRI S PRINNG/S G/SUM UMMME RE R2022 202

he members of the Class of 2022 made their final walks as Harker students at the graduation ceremony, held at the Mountain

Winery in Saratoga. Families and friends of this year’s graduates filled the seats to cheer for the seniors, who listened eagerly to this year’s speakers – valedictorian Rohan Thakur, DoorDash co-founder and CTO Andy Fang ’10 and Head of School Brian Yager – as the 2022 graduation chorus and chamber orchestra provided musical accompaniment throughout the event. After all of the graduates had taken the stage to receive their diplomas, they jubilantly tossed their caps into the air as the audience cheered and marveled at the doves that took flight to mark the end of the occasion. Congratulations to the Class of 2022!

H AR H AR KEKE R RMAG MAG A ZAINE Z INE l lSPR FALL/WIN ING/SUMTER M ER2020 2022 4535

passion

WORDS BY VIKKI BOWES-MOK PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE SNYDER AND PROVIDED BY NAUSHAD GODREJ ‘06

Star athlete takes hero journey to find his passion

HAR KE R MAGA Z I N E l S P RI N G/S UM M E R 2022

“Stepping into the unknown allowed me to find my heart’s calling. Although my interest in holistic health and well-being started from a place of pain, it helped me figure out that I want to give back by helping others find health and well-being.” – Naushad Godrej ‘06

From pain to Naushad Godrej ’06 played soccer, basketball and was on the honor roll during his days at Harker. Soccer was his first passion; he was MVP of the soccer team for three years, posted 24 shutouts and started 62 consecutive matches during his varsity career. “Naushad was a positive leader on the field and a joy to watch as a goalie for the Harker boys’ soccer team; he was apt to have a soccer jacket on at all times, game day or not,” said Evan Barth, who was his math teacher and is now the middle school division head. “Naushad also was a serious student who always had a smile on and was happy to come to class.” With Godrej’s athletic and academic success, he had many choices after graduating from Harker. His focus was sports, so he decided to attend Santa Clara University where he played Division I soccer after making the team as a walk-on. But his success on the field was coupled with many injuries, surgeries and struggles. “My senior year at SCU, I was really banged up and was prescribed heavy pain killers that I came home and threw away,” said Godrej remembering the surgeries, cortisone shots and endless doctors’ appointments. “This was when I realized there had to be another way. If you don’t learn the lessons, the pain teacher will come show you.” It was during his senior year that he started seeking new ways of healing, including acupuncture, yoga and holistic healers. After graduating from Santa Clara University with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he worked for a health care technology startup. It was during this time that he became more interested in health, rehab and fitness and took a much more active role in his own healing. Then in his late 20s, his life changed forever when he experienced the sudden loss of an important relationship. “I was absolutely devastated and in shock, denial and pain. I started to question the deeper meaning of my existence and

my purpose,” remembered Godrej. “In the year that followed, I was determined to fix my situation by keeping myself busy. I started two new jobs and joined all sorts of social activities, events and classes. It definitely helped, but then I decided to stop everything I was doing, leave the Bay Area and take part in a yoga teacher training in Guatemala.” This was another step on his journey of healing, both physically and emotionally. From learning meditation and spiritual teachings in Guatemala to spending time in an eco-village in Nicaragua, Godrej was doing the hard work to figure out what he wanted from life. He was passionate about health and well-being so he continued learning, studying and seeking new teachers when he returned to the United States. He spent time in nature, attended retreats and took trainings with CHEK Institute and Kresser Institute. After these life-changing experiences, he realized that he wanted to help people live lives filled with vitality and well-being. He had found his calling. He started Resilient Being to do just that. He offers holistic health coaching, breathwork classes, men’s workshops, personal training and much more. In addition to his work with Resilient Being, he works for Wild Health, a genomics-based, personalized medicine company. “Stepping into the unknown allowed me to find my heart’s calling,” said Godrej. “Although my interest in holistic health and well-being started from a place of pain, it helped me figure out that I want to give back by helping others find health and well-being.” Vikki Bowes-Mok is the interim executive director of Mosaic Journalism Program.

H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

staff kudos

Professional accomplishments of our faculty and staff.

In November, lower school English teacher Kate Shanahan appeared on the Dartmouth alumni podcast “Roads Taken” to discuss the trajectory of her teaching career, including how she arrived in her current role at Harker and her experience teaching during the pandemic. The full podcast can be heard at https://roadstakenshow. com/episodes/lesson-plans-kateshanahan-064.

In December, middle school science teacher Raji Swaminathan released the latest in her ongoing series of children’s books about the periodic table of elements. This entry follows Atom and her dog, Electron, as she visits Monterey Bay to meet Nitrogen and encounters Phosphorus at Germany’s Black Forest!

Upper school English teacher and Beat Generation scholar Charles Shuttleworth is releasing a book. “Desolation Peak: Collected Works” will feature the writings of Jack Kerouac during his time serving as a fire lookout for the U.S. Forest Service. Edited by Shuttleworth, the hardcover book is scheduled for release in October.

Upper school chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine will be competing this summer in the 2022 World Games as a member of the United States canoe polo team. The games, which take place July 7-17 in Birmingham, Ala., will be broadcast on CBS Sports. Tune in for a chance to see Irvine represent the USA!

HAR KE R MAGA Z I N E l S P RI N G/S UM M E R 2022

Longtime upper school art teacher Pilar AgüeroEsparza is currently an artist in residence at the Montalvo Arts Center. Her exhibit, “Claiming Space: Refiguring the Body in Landscape,” is scheduled to open this summer.

Brian Davis is joining Harker as the first person to hold the new position of director of diversity, equity and inclusion. Davis comes to Harker from St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, where he was the associate director of equity and inclusion and a teacher of ethnic studies.

Harker bade farewell in June to Butch Keller, upper school head since 2007. Keller and his wife, Jane, an upper school math teacher, retired and plan to move to South Carolina to be closer to their children. Head of School Brian Yager said, “Butch Keller has been a wonderful upper school head, bringing with him warmth, compassion and wisdom. While we are sad to see him go, we are also happy that he will be entering a new life journey.” Replacing Keller as division head is Paul Barsky, who was most recently the head of school at Pilgrim School in Los Angeles.

During the spring semester, longtime assistant BEST director Amira Townzen accepted the position of BEST director, following the retirement of Kim Cali, who built and ran the program for nearly 30 years. For more on the BEST program and its history, see the feature story on page 26.

face time

iddle school counselor Melinda Gonzales loves to help people, whether she’s volunteering with a nonprofit that is trying to break the chain of poverty in her parents’ Philippines hometown, or assisting with the DEI committee, academic council or student leadership club. Her parents taught her to “always help those who are less fortunate and in need of an act of kindness,” and that has informed her work at Harker, “because helping others comes natural to me.” Gonzales and her husband have two students at Harker – BB, grade 11 and Demitri, grade 8 – and a cockapoo named Bear.

Where is the one place in the world that you like to escape to? Big Sur. I have traveled extensively, and it amazes me that one of the most beautiful coastlines is only two hours away. And the ions in the air are life changing.

When did you first really feel like an adult? I was in New York City doing a post-doc program on 9/11 and unable to reach anyone in my family. What I experienced that day made me realize I do have strength of my own and I can do this – whatever “this” is. It shaped me forever.

What are you most proud of? The little things that don’t get big recognition: the time I made someone feel safe, the time I helped someone understand something that happened, the time that I helped someone feel seen and heard.

What are your best techniques for making someone smile? I bake butter rum cakes for the teachers at the holidays. It follows my late mother’s holiday tradition of baking literally hundreds of rum cakes for nurses and staff (she was a physician). I dare someone not to smile when they have a butter rum cake in front of them!

What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? No matter what, you are never alone. There is always someone you can reach out to.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten? You cannot make everyone happy, so don’t stress about it.

What are you obsessed with? I follow Michelin star/famous chefs like a groupie. It’s weird, I know.

Melinda Gonzales H AR KE R MAG H ARAKEZ INE R MAGl ASPR Z INE ING/SUMM l FALL/WIN ER 2022 TER 202149 35

class notes

class notes Keep up to date on the lives of your classmates. 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. All photos submitted by the subject unless noted. For a list of Harker Academy class agents for the Classes of 1972-97, please contact Kristina Alaniz at alumni@harker.org.

1990

2002 CLASS AGENTS: Akhsar Kharebov axarharebate@gmail.com; Yasmin Ali yasminfali@gmail.com; Isabella Liu isabella.a.liu@gmail.com

Michael Ku was sworn in as Battalion Chief for the San Bruno Fire Department on Nov. 17, 2021.

The Class of 2002 will be celebrating its 20-year reunion this year. Please reach out to your class agents to inquire about reunion gatherings.

1993

Alexandria Reyes and husband Brian Thompson welcomed a baby girl, Odessa Penelope Thompson, on Nov. 4, 2021. Joy Paterson got engaged just as 2021 wrapped up. “I thought we were going on a New Year’s Eve power walk, but then he dropped to one knee … and I said YES!!!” Both Joy and Frank are educators in San Francisco. They plan to tie the knot this summer in Half Moon Bay.

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Alexa Bush reported, “2022 is shaping up to be a busy year for our family! We welcomed our son, Avery Rodgers, on October 29, 2021, who, along with big sister Anna, keep us on

our toes. I recently changed jobs after six years with the city of Detroit Planning & Development Department to join the Detroit Program at the Kresge Foundation, still focusing on equitable and sustainable economic development in the city. We’re always glad to have visitors if your travels bring you to southeast Michigan. Can’t believe we’re coming up on our 20th reunion from Harker!” As the Class of 2020’s chosen alumna speaker, Alexa also graciously delivered the alumni commencement speech in a prerecorded video at this year’s Class of 2020 Celebration.

Carmen Antoun and her husband, Wael, welcomed their baby boy Leo Anthony Barakat on Feb. 24 in San Francisco. In April, Neil Mehta announced the establishment of The Mehta Endowment in Support of Scholarships and Entrepreneurship, which will offer financial aid to qualified students and support Harker’s business and entrepreneurship program. The endowment will be

2005

2006

CLASS AGENT: Erika N. Gudmundson erika.gudmundson@gmail.com

CLASS AGENTS: Casey L. Near caseylane@gmail.com; Meghana Dhar meghanadhar@gmail.com; Jeffrey Le Jeff87@gmail.com

established with a $5 million initial gift, with an additional matching gift of up to $5 million. See the full story on page 32 for more details.

2003 CLASS AGENTS: Julia N. Gitis juliag@gmail.com; Maheen Kaleem maheenkaleem@gmail.com

Arjun Naskar and Daniel Hung started a company together called Standard Code, which helps companies comply with child data privacy laws. Check out more about Standard Code at https:// www.standardcode.io/

2004 CLASS AGENT: Jessica C. Liu jess.c.liu@gmail.com

Jacinda Mein and her husband, Patrick Dorn, welcomed their daughter, Delaney Pearl Dorn, on Nov. 7. Delaney was born right after the time changed, so it took the hospital a little while to figure out what time she was born. Jacinda, Patrick, Delaney and Baci (mini Aussie) live in San Jose.

Roberta (Wolfson) Zahoory reports, “My daughter Cassidy Mahvash Zahoory was born on March 13, at 8:53 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs., 10 oz. and was 18.75 cm in length. Her eyes were wide open from the moment she was born, clearly showing that she was ready to take on the world! She has brought so much joy to my husband Arman and me, and we are excited to introduce her to the Harker community.”

Casey Near and her spouse, Grant Burgess, welcomed their son Forrest Near on April 11, 2022. They currently live in Portland, Maine, and are (sleeplessly) savoring the start of spring!

Meghana Dhar writes, “I’m excited to share that after four-plus incredible years leading Shopping partnerships at Instagram, I’ll be joining Snap as the Global Head of Brand Partnerships.” When asked about the new role, she added, “So far, I went to Fashion Month in NYC, Milan and Paris to build Snap’s presence with luxury brands, and I just closed a deal with Coachella and Revolve.” Read more about Meghana’s big switch from Instagram to Snap in this story featured by Adweek https://www.adweek.com/media/ snap-poaches-twitter-instagram-execs/

H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

class notes 2007 CLASS AGENTS: Cassandra Kerkhoff cass.kerkhoff@gmail.com; Audrey L. Kwong Audmusic@gmail.com

The Class of 2007 will be celebrating its 15year reunion this year. Please reach out to your class agents to inquire about reunion gatherings.

Annie Zhou writes, “We welcomed our beautiful baby boy, Olivier Chu, in Sept. 2021.”

Audrey Kwong, who currently works as artistic operations manager for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, is now producing virtual concerts. “I score call for cameras 52

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during the filming itself, and then work with a video editor to produce the videos themselves once we get into post-production,” she reports. Her latest project is a performance of Edward Elgar’s “Sea Pictures,” Jake Heggie’s “The Work at Hand” and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” featuring mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and cellist Elizabeth Chung.

Society’s 2022 Best Graduate Student Conference Paper Prize. After defending her doctoral dissertation on Renaissance English literature this summer, she will begin a postdoctoral teaching fellowship in NYU’s college core curriculum this fall.

Jonathan Charlu recently became engaged to Abigail Wheeler. After graduating from medical school in St. Louis in 2020 and starting his medical residency in Orange County, he took a break to recover from COVID-19. After recovering and working this past year in a full-spectrum bilingual medical clinic serving a low-resource population in North Memphis, Tenn., Jonathan looks forward to moving back to St. Louis with Abigail and continuing his medical residency.

Eugenia Sorotokin, husband Ryan Thomas and big sister Natalie welcomed baby Elana on Oct. 22, 2021.

2009 CLASS AGENTS: Stephanie J. Guo stephanie.j.guo@gmail.com; David Kastelman davidksworld@gmail.com

2008 CLASS AGENTS: Senan Ebrahim sebrahim@fas.harvard.edu; Stephanie J. Syu ssyu363@yahoo.com

Tanya Schmidt has been awarded NYU’s 2022 College of Arts and Science’s Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award and the International Spenser

David Belogolovsky recently got engaged to Alisa Nikoff. Alisa and David met during the start of the pandemic through an online app, when social distancing was still in vogue! “During just the first few interactions, we knew there was some magic. Both of us come from the same Russian and Jewish culture, with family traditions that are all the same. It was a refreshing feeling and we spent the rest of the year hanging out pretty much every day. On March 12, 2021 I proposed to Alisa

2011 CLASS AGENTS: Hassaan Ebrahim hassaan.e@gmail.com; Moneesha R. Mukherjee rani.mukherjee18@gmail.com

to “Club Manzanita” and Mr. Larsen was gracious enough to give the class special access to the Patil Theater stage where the party gathered for an epic group shot!

2012

at Lands End in San Francisco, the same place where we had our first ever meeting, masks and all.” The wedding will be held Aug. 22 in San Francisco. As owner and CEO of Owl Vision LLC., David has also very generously given back to the Harker community over the past couple of years by way of donating his services to multiple Harker special events such as prom, alumni holiday events and parent welcome gatherings, as well as donor recognition events. Harker gives special thanks to David and his team for their efforts in making our events magical! From lighting to lasers and snow to fog, Owl Vision sure knows how to pull out all the stops! Go to Owl Vision’s website for more information on what services they provide www.OwlVisionLLC.com

CLASS AGENTS: Will Chang thewillchang@gmail.com; David Fang david.fang75@gmail.com

Alice (Loufbourrow) Bruce and her husband, Charlie, are expecting their first child in June of this year. They can’t wait to become parents and are excited for this next chapter in their family. They bought a house last year in Columbia, SC, where Alice is finishing her intern year in psychiatry at Prisma Health - Midlands.

The Class of 2012 will be celebrating its 10year reunion this year. Please reach out to your class agents to inquire about reunion gatherings.

2013 CLASS AGENTS: Kathir Sundarraj kathir.sraj95@gmail.com; Nick Chuang njchuang@usc.edu; Nikhil Panu guruhounddawg@gmail.com

2010 CLASS AGENTS: Adrienne Wong adriee@gmail.com; Kevin J. Fu kf800@yahoo.com

A little late but well worth the wait! Members of the Class of 2010 gathered under a lovely November evening sky to commemorate their 10-year reunion at the Cielo Bar in the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row.

Ava (Rezvani) Lannin and Michael Lannin were married in October 2021 at the La Valencia hotel in La Jolla. The couple met nearly 10 years ago in the dorms as freshmen at UC Berkeley. Standing by their side on their special day was Tara Rezvani ‘13, Riya Parikh ‘11 and Michelle Holt ‘11. The Class of 2011 chose to host its 10-year celebration on Dec. 18 at the very place they spent their high school days, here at the upper school campus! Many enjoyed the extreme makeover from dining hall

Cecilia Lang-Ree got engaged in January to her partner of four years, Christian Angulo. The pair met at Stanford University and began dating after Cecilia graduated with her masters’ degree in behavioral science. Cecilia and Christian live together in San Francisco and are planning a wedding in Mexico for 2023 or 2024! H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

2014

2018

CLASS AGENTS: Adith Rengaramchandran adithram@gmail.com; Nithya Vemireddy nithya.vemireddy@gmail.com; Connie Li connieli32@gmail.com

CLASS AGENTS: Amitej Mehta djamitej@gmail.com; Melissa Kwon mwjkwan@gmail.com; Gloria Guo gloria.jx.guo@gmail.com; Dolan Dworak ddworak@umich.edu

2015 CLASS AGENTS: Katy Sanchez ktlynnsanchez@gmail.com; Nikhil Reddy reddnikhil@gmail.com; David Lin david.lin210@gmail.com; Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari jetongutierrez@gmail.com

2019 CLASS AGENTS: Matthew Hajjar matthew.hajjar@gmail.com; Olivia Esparza oesparza@poets.whittier.edu; Mahi Gurram mgurram@colgate.edu; Riya Gupta gupta2001riya@gmail.com; Kelsey Wu kelseywu@college.harvard.edu

2016 CLASS AGENTS: Stephanie Huang stephaniehuang17@gmail.com; Grace Guan guanzgrace@gmail.com; Michael Zhao michael.zhao@gmail.com; Mary Najibi mary.najibi@gmail.com; Edward Sheu edwardsheu.ca@gmail.com; Kurt Schwartz kurticus100@gmail.com

2020 CLASS AGENTS: Lauren Beede 20blauren@gmail.com; Chloe Chen chloe.chen@bc.edu; Grace Hajjar gracehajjar@g.ucla.edu; Bennett Liu bennett.c.liu@gmail.com; Anika Tiwari anika.tiwari@gmail.com

2017 CLASS AGENTS: Emre Ezer emre.ezer10@gmail.com; Alex Youn ahsyoun@gmail.com; David Zhu david.zhu@gmail.com; Maile Chung mailchung.pb@gmail.com; Haley Tran haleyktran@gmail.com

2020 alumni and parents, advisors and members of the Harker administration gathered to honor the class on the beautiful lawn of the Hayes Mansion in San Jose. The celebration featured some traditional highlights of senior year reminiscent of prom, graduation and the alumni induction dinner.

2021 CLASS AGENTS: Kristin Tong kristintong@gmail.com; Olivia Guo olivia.guo@pepperdine.edu; Helen Zhu helen.c.zhu@gmail.com

MULTI-YEAR

Home for the Holidays

The Class of 2017 will be celebrating its five-year reunion this year. This event is scheduled for Saturday, June 18. Please reach out to your class agents for more details!

HAR KE R MAGA Z I N E l S P RI N G/S UM M E R 2022

Held on Jan. 4, this year’s gathering brought back more than 75 alumni to the upper school campus. Hot chocolate and baked goodies were served while plenty of laughs and stories were shared among alumni and faculty who came out to catch up.

MULTI-YEAR Mr. Yager Pays a Special Visit! Brian and Megan Yager hosted an impromptu gathering in Boston as they traveled to the East Coast for a family vacation. Alumni from surrounding schools joined the pair for a fun social including, drinks, appetizers, and a group photo!

Alumni Regional Events – Back in 2022! Los Angeles, Feb 26, 2022 – Alumni of all ages headed over to Fixin’s for some of the area’s best soul food! Restaurant owner, former NBA All-Star and mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson, graciously joined the group for a photo.

New York, March 10 & 11, 2022 – Two gatherings were hosted in the Big Apple this year! Alumni director Kristina Alaniz and teacher Brigid Miller hosted a small, but festive, young alumni dinner at Mom’s Kitchen & Bar. Then the next night, teacher Bradley Stoll and several members of Harker’s administration team joined alumni for the 21-and-up gathering held at the beautiful Castell Rooftop Lounge. Both events were loads of fun and will continue to be an annual tradition! H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

class notes Multi-Year Boston, March 12, 2022 – While a wild winter storm tried to put a damper on this long-awaited inaugural visit, Eagles still found a way to gather with friends and faculty at Bostonia Public. The food was amazing and the lobster rolls were a tough competitor for Chef Steve’s recipe!

Bringing it back home … This year we decided to bring two beloved Harker Alumni Friends & Family events back to the Saratoga campus: Santa’s Winter Wonderland in December and the alumni Easter Egg Hunt in April. Alumni enjoyed bringing their little ones back to their old stompin’ grounds. In this newly enjoyed space, we will continue to host these events at the upper school each year!

HA R K E R MAGA Z I NE l S PRI N G/S UM M E R 2022

Get ready for the second annual ...

Save the Date! Sat., Oct. 8, 2022 Upper School Campus A day for the whole family – current and alumni – to celebrate the spirit of Harker! • • • • • • • • •

71st annual Family & Alumni Picnic Homecoming Games and activities for the little ones Student performances Sports exhibition matches Food trucks Community service fair Athletic Hall of Fame Just hanging out!

Watch for emails in August with more details. You won’t want to miss this reimagining of these treasured Harker traditions. It will be a great day to be an Eagle and celebrate our community! Want to help? Contact advancement@harker.org.

See you on Harker Day! H AR KE R MAG A Z INE l SPR ING/SUM M ER 2022

Preschool

Summer Programs

Thewww.harker.org Harker School 500 Saratoga Ave. San Jose , CA 95129

final frame

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