MARCH 2003 (VOL. 9, NO. 6)
M O N T H L Y
N E W S L E T T E R
F R O M
T H E
H A R K E R
S C H O O L
HARKER headlines Take Your Bucknall’s Annual Jump for Heart Draws Media Attention
Time Annual Saratoga Dance Production Fri. & Sat., March 7 & 8 7:30 p.m., Saratoga Gym TICKETS: $5 students & seniors $10 adults Contact bobb@harker.org or call 408.345.9226
top stories
Mark Tantrum
5’s veteran reporter Bill Schechner interviewed students and staff and, along with news photographer Cecil Houston, even joined in on the jumping for awhile! In addition to KPIX, reports were aired on KRON, KDTV and CNN Headline News.
20th Anniversary
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est. 1893 • K-12 college prep
The great work of our Bucknall students and staff in our annual Jump for Heart fundraising event for the American Heart Association (AHA) was televised on four local television stations Feb. 11. All day the Bucknall gym was bursting with energy, music and goodwill as our 600 students jumped throughout
the day to raise needed funds for this worthwhile organization. In the four years that JR4H has been held on the Bucknall campus, they have reached their yearly goal, and for the past two years the AHA reported that Harker has been the leading fundraising school in the Santa Clara District. KPIX Channel
Mary McLane, executive director of the Santa Clara County division of AHA, also attended the event. “We’re thrilled by the tremendous participation and support of the students and staff at the Harker School for the Jump Rope for Heart Program,” she said. “The dollars raised through this important event will support life saving research and education programs here in Santa Clara County.” Many thanks to our students for their dedication to this event. Now, we hope Harker can report back to all that we reached this year’s goal! See story, pg. 9
Bucknall After-school art students create stunning dragon .................... 8
Saratoga Tamagawa teacher visits Harker ................................. 5
Middle School MS reports on leadership projects ............................. 11
important dates Mon., Mar. 10 K-12 CAIS workshop for all teachers - no classes K-12
Mon. - Sat, Mar. 24 - 29 Gr. 7 Grand Canyon trip (students return Sat.)
Mon., Mar. 31 - Fri., Apr. 4 Spring Break. No classes.
Mon., Apr. 7 All classes resume
Schoolwide Multicultural Week Focuses on Global Awareness Both campuses were alive with the sights, sounds and tastes of world cultures recently during Harker’s annual Multicultural Week. Bucknall kicked off the week with a “Melting Pot” assembly which included Indian folk dancing, the reading of cultural essays by students, a song performance by 2nd and 3rd graders, multicultural trivia and a fashion show. During the week, students dressed up like their ancestors, wrote multicultural essays, played “Identify the Flag” and “Word of the Day” games and earned a free dress pass by teaching someone words from another language. “Good Morning,” How are you?” and “I want to be your friend” were heard in languages such as Bengali, German, Murati, Hindi, Hebrew and Portuguese throughout the week as students shared their native
languages over the loudspeaker, at assemblies, etc. Links were set up on the Harker home page where students were encouraged to talk about multiculturalism and received raffle tickets for completing quizzes or doing activities on the site. A scrapbook of poems and pictures contributed by students is currently on display in
the Bucknall front office. In the MS an assembly included a fusion music band playing melodies mostly based on classical Indian ragas, Prospect High School’s Mexican Ballet Folklórico group and international display tables hosted by MS teachers with Continued on Pg. 4
EDITOR’S NOTE: While our annual Multicultural Week gives us a special opportunity to focus on our diversity, Harker is a place where we celebrate our richly diverse community each and every day. In this issue we report on Japanese and Native American visitors, celebrations for Chinese New Year and Black History Month, as well as an upcoming Indian Garba. All this is in addition to the wonderful activities of our Multicultural Committee. Enjoy! —Pam Dickinson, Director, Office of Communications (pamd@harker.org) Remember to check the Parent Home Page for detailed calendars and additional updates between editions of the Harker News!