2004 November Harker News

november 2004 (VOL. 11, NO. 2)

est. 1893 • K-12 college prep

needs 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

High Spirited Homecoming 2004

inside MS activity focuses on citizenship, mock election .. 15

US JSA hosts “Pizza and Politics” ........................... 17 Debate feature .......... 20 - 21

Photos and recap ........... 6 - 8

US Conservatory Presents

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Thurs. - Sat., Nov. 18 - 20 Victorian Faire 7:30 - 8:15 p.m.

Show 8:15 - 10 p.m.

Saratoga Gym Tickets $15/adult & $10/child (K-Gr. 6) Buy tickets at STG Bookstore or e-mail tickets@harker.org For more details see page 2.

online Go to the Parent Home Page (PHP) for links to: ■ Picnic photo gallery ■ Homecoming photo gallery ■ Fashion Show tickets and information

onto the field, and then joined every MS and US vocal ensemble to sing the Star Spangled Banner and the Harker Anthem. Then the gridiron battle was under way!

Homecoming 2004 was an amazing week of fun in every corner of both campuses! The LS got into the spirit by having events which tied in to the Picnic in Paradise theme. The MS enjoyed a spirit assembly with a Kon-Tiki Fruit Relay, and a special $6 Homecoming package was offered which allowed premium seating in the special MS Maniac section of the stands, admission for a Maniac’s entire family, and a yellow Maniac shirt. In the US, activity director Chris Daren said each class had a city or place – Honolulu (’08), New York (’07), the North Pole (’06) and Hollywood (’05) – which gave a theme to each spirit event during the week preceding the game (see US section for more details). The classes also spent hours working on the main item: transforming trucks into beautiful floats honoring their class’s city, which they drove to Foothill and displayed during the game.

Finally it was game day! Foothill College was filled with over 3,000 excited Harker fans that came out to cheer our Varsity team as they played Berean Christian. The MS Maniacs, junior cheerleaders and Eaglets formed the tunnel the football players ran through to come

The Jazz Band, directed by Richard Frazier, sat in the stands and added musical exclamation points to the action on the field, and the always popular Gr. 2 Eaglets, under the direction of LS dance instructor Gail Palmer, won over the crowd with their routines and adorable eagle outfits. US teacher Joanne Mason put together an enthusiastic group of teacher cheerleaders – Bina Barnabas, Jeffrey Draper,

Rachel Freed, John Heyes, Dan Hudkins, Simon Keilty, Brian Larsen, Abel Olivas, Julie Pinzas, choreographer Monica MacKinnon and Carol Zink – who added much merriment.

In the true spirit of Homecoming, many recent US grads were spotted in the stands, and Harker’s 0-19 loss did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm sparked by this terrific weekend-opening event. The fun continued with a dance on Saturday, and the Harker Family and Alumni Picnic on Sunday.

Special thanks to Ray Beschoff and Steve McCarthy for the Mercedes that showed off the Homecoming Court so beautifully.

And thanks to all the families who participated in the weekend fun, making Homecoming 2004 an event to remember!

See pgs. 5 and 23 for more homecoming photos!

Tribute to the Nichols: Diana

Harker Archives

events

S C H O O L

Half-time saw the Seniors win the tug-of-war competition, and then the presentation of the 2004-05 Homecoming Court: Freshmen Tanya Schmidt and Cayden Berkmoyer; Sophomores Chanelle Kasik and Jay Japra; Juniors Sylvia Schmidt and Arjun Kohli; Seniors Estelle Charlu, Yagmur Ilgen, Sam Singh, Eric Gavarre, Salman Kothari, and Arjun Naskar.

Homecoming 2003 King and Queen Neil Bhalerao ’04 and Vicky Duong ’04 returned to crown Gavarre and Ilgen this year’s King and Queen.

Freshmen devote day to community service ............ 19

Mark Tantrum

A

This month’s From the Archives shares some insight into Diana Nichols’ early Harker career as a science teacher and catalyst for new programs. Here she supervises a treecoring activity in 1978 with some of her students.

See back page for story.

important editor’s note Harker’s mission to promote leadership and service in our students is particularly evident in this month’s issue. The LS S-Club projects (pg. 12), the MS election activity (pg. 15), our robust JSA (pg. 17) and the Freshmen Service Day (pg. 19) are all great examples of leadership and service in action. We salute our students for their efforts, and our faculty for their inspiration!

—Pam Dickinson, Director Office of Communications pamd@harker.org

notes

november dates ■

Mon., Nov. 22 & Tues., Nov. 23 - K-12 Parent Conferences – No Classes

■

Wed., Nov. 24 to Fri., Nov. 26 - Thanksgiving Holiday - No Classes

A CHRISTMAS CAROL Victorian London Recreated

service “I learned that …silence shouldn’t be synonymous with a lack of understanding. I perceive people with disabilities a bit differently now and realize that they have the same feelings and intentions as the rest of us.

—Stephanie Lio See community service news, pg. 19

this month Quiz Bowl Team First Match Sat., Nov. 6, 2 p.m.

The US Conservatory’s fall play, “A Christmas Carol,” will give audiences a special glimpse into Victorian London. Tickets will be redeemed at the door for a small packet of pounds, shillings and pence, which audience members then use to purchase programs, food and drink. The gym will be transformed into a Victorian Faire with the entire cast portraying the aristocrats and paupers of Dickens’ time. High tea will be served in the lobby, and more pedestrian fare, such as fish and chips, meat pies and ale, will be available inside the gym, all served by members of the cast in elaborate costumes and complete characterizations. Visitors will be tempted by booths, and also by roving street sellers peddling their wares, as well as strolling carolers.

Patrons are encouraged to use their English money to tip the buskers, buy the goods, and enjoy the stroll!

At intermission, the audience is again invited to become a part of the scenery, as Dickens characters Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig invite all present to be guests at their party. Mingle with Fezziwig’s guests, partake of some refreshment – perhaps you’ll even be tempted to join in the dancing!

Director Jeff Draper emphasizes that this show is perfect for all ages, and will offer an extremely unique theatrical experience!

— See front pg. for ticket information —

Volunteer Opportunities Are you looking for opportunities to volunteer? Here are some of the current needs. Contact Nancy Reiley at nancyr@harker.org unless otherwise noted.

■ Lower School Oct. 29 – Halloween holiday parties, K-8. BKN costume parade begins at 2:45. Volunteers, parents and younger siblings welcome!

Oct. 30-Nov. 3 – Help with the Tamagawa Welcome Luncheon in the BKN Gym on Oct. 30. Also, Japanese translators are needed for the welcoming luncheon, and assisting Gr. 2 teachers with a newsletter project in collaboration with Tamagawa students. These volunteers will translate stories written by students for publication in a monthly newsletter. Contact Gr. 2 teacher Lisa Hirata at lisah@harker.org.

Nov. 9 – LS make-up photos

■ Middle School Nov. 4 – MS make-up photos, morning only

■ Upper School Nov. 18-20 – Pre-performance Dickens’ Faire before US production of “A Christmas Carol.”

Volunteers are needed to help with decorations, and provide refreshments, craft items and Victorian era wares which will be “for sale” by the characters who will populate this fun version of a holiday London street scene.

Peninsula TV: 610 Elm St., Suite 211, San Carlos Come out and cheer on Harker’s team at the first match of the year - pom poms provided! This year’s team (so far) is comprised of the following members: Gr. 12: Lev Pisarsky, Mason Liang; Gr. 11: Yi Sun, Samantha Fang, HannShuin Yew, Hailey Lam; Gr. 10: Arkajit Dey, Jessie Li. Sun, Pisarsky and Yew will represent Harker in this first match. Good luck, all!

2

Harker Art Teacher Honored with Solo Exhibit Opening Night: Nov. 5, 5:30 p.m., San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (SJICA) US art teacher and department chair Jaap Bongers will have his work exhibited in a solo retrospective show from Nov. 5 to Dec. 23 at the SJICA. The exhibit, entitled, “Jaap Bongers: Reflections,” constitutes Bongers’ most significant career exhibition, covering 25 years of his work in a wide variety of media, and the Harker community is invited to attend the opening night event on Nov. 5. The evening will feature an Artist Walkthrough at 5:30 p.m. where Bongers will discuss his exhibit with the audience and a special 7 p.m. viewing of the 40-minute documentary of his work created by filmmakers Christine Scheerder and Matt Luotto. This event is free and open to the public. The SJICA is located at 451 South First Street in San Jose. For more information, contact the SJICA at 408.283.8155 or info@sjica.org.

We’re delighted to have such an accomplished artist on our teaching faculty, and we congratulate him on this special solo show. Note: Harker parents Jay and Susan Mandell (Jeffrey and Sean, Gr. 8) were the lucky highest bidders for the 4-hr. private art session with six adults that Bonger’s donated to the picnic’s silent auction!

Harker News — November 04

important

notes

Additional Insurance Recommended

We do want to remind all our families, however, that these types of activities aren’t covered by school insurance companies (including ours), and we recommend that families consider contacting their own insurance companies for additional coverage.

In fact, while families have schoolage children and may be driving many of their student’s friends around on weekends (to the

movies, parties, etc.), it’s also prudent to increase your insurance coverage.

Marie Clifford, Harker business manager, explained that many insurance companies will provide umbrella coverage for a nominal fee, and she recommends the following: Limits no less than $250,000 per occurrence $500,000 aggregate-bodily injury $100,000 property damage $2,000 medical For additional information, call your individual insurance company or contact Clifford at mariec@harker.org or 408.447.8521

Receiving Harker E-mails Occasionally messages from @harker.org will be identified as spam (unsolicited commercial emails) by your e-mail provider, and you could be missing important communications from us. There are several reasons why our e-mails might be mistakenly identified as spam, and here is what you can do about it: • You might have a spam filter that automatically rejects e-mails from anyone whom you haven’t specifically given permission to accept, so you need to give permission to @harker.org. This process would be different for each user, so please contact your e-mail provider.

• Some e-mail programs use a Junk Box or folder in which it automatically files any suspected spam email. To solve this, configure your email to accept all @harker.org communications and check this folder periodically for stray e-mails.

To do this please refer to you e-mail program’s documentation.

• Another possible reason for missing e-mails is if a high volume

of e-mail from a single source – i.e. @harker.org – is detected, the server might reject the connection.

For example, if 300 parents have AOL accounts and we send out an e-mail to all parents, AOL only sees that 300 e-mails are coming from @harker.org and AOL will reject

Even if you have made

Since the last “In the News” report in the May 2004 edition of The Harker News, Harker programs, students and teachers have been noted 14 times in 12 different publications. Here are some highlights. Go Harker!

■ San Jose Mercury News The success of Harker’s Destination Imagination team making it to the finals appeared on May 13.

Shikha Mittal, Gr. 12, and her fashion sense found their way to the Merc’s “Street Style” section (May 23). Alan Malek, Gr. 12, and Anita Gupta ’04 were featured in “Cool Kids” on August 26 and Sept 9, respectively.

■ Silicon Valley Community Newspapers Seniors Ben Shapiro, Kevin Park and Eric Gavarre were named three players to watch in local high school football, and Shapiro was noted for his third year as starting quarterback (Sept. 8). Rohini Venkatraman, Gr. 11, was noted for her work recording oral histories of WWII veterans (Sept. 9). The Los Gatos Weekly Times reported that Ariana Vergara, Gr. 12, and Matt Vucurevich ’04 were named to the 2003-04 National Honor Roll.

■ South Bay Accent Harker was featured in the August/ September edition in the article,

“Learning to Excel,” about local private schools.

■ San Jose Business Journal Harker was named the second largest K-12 Private School in Silicon Valley in their annual list of largest private schools.

OTHER MEDIA NOTES ■ American Musical Theatre (AMT) of San Jose published Emma Hawley’s win as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Damn Yankees on the AMT Web site.

■ Harker’s new summer English Language Institute (ELI) was featured in Commonwealth Magazine, a monthly Taiwanese magazine.

■ Gentry Magazine included Harker in a section about local private high schools.

■ Librarian Enid Davis wrote an article about Harker’s growing library that was featured in MultiMedia & Internet@Schools.

sure your @harker.org e-mails are being accepted into your inbox, a single e-mail might run afoul of the Internet gremlins. those e-mails as spam. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about this type of blocking.

Two years ago when some of these spam issues star ted to sur face, we began posting all broadcast e-mails that we send to parents on the Parent Home Page. We continue to do this daily, so please check here regularly for important information. Even if you have made sure your @harker.org e-mails are being accepted into your in-box, a single e-mail might run afoul of the Internet gremlins. Questions?

Contact jeffreyn@harker.org —Harker Technology Department

Harker News — November 04

the news

IN

the bookstore Adorable Harker tees for girls in pale green and pink ($12) and ringer tees for guys in blue and red ($15) are now available in the bookstore.

Layer one under a new zip-up Harker hoodie (black and gray available for $36) as winter approaches!

Want to get some holiday shopping done early for the special man in your life? Be sure to check out the stunning new Harker polo shirts: bronze ($33), navy ($31) or pewter ($31).

And if school is stressing you out, the bookstore also has “Yoga Essentials: Tools for Yoga” — a set including your own mat, blocks, and an instructional video for only $40.

As always, the Harker Bookstore has got you covered for school supplies: new backpacks with wheels for $75 and great new pens and pencils ranging from $.50 to $3.00.

Mark Tantrum - both photos

It’s quite common for parents and students to use their personal vehicles for school-related activities, and Harker families are no exception. We appreciate the valuable assistance and generosity of our families who help us in this way.

IN

The bookstore is also your one stop shop for all Per forming Ar ts tickets.

Drop by, or e-mail tickets@harker.org.

Tickets for the fall play go on sale Nov. 3.

3

EVENT

recap

Chris Daren-all photos

Approximately 200 Harker parents, staff and administrators gathered at the home of parents Leslie and Sean Doherty on Sat., Oct. 2, 2004, for a very special “Enchanted Fall Evening” benefit that included an elegant Tuscan-style dinner and dancing under the stars. Proceeds from the evening will help underwrite expenses for Harker’s annual gala fashion show fundraising event this year, “Rock the Runway,” to be held Feb. 4, 2005 at the Fairmont Hotel.

Courtesy of Christina Marinescu

Associate Head of School Chris Nikoloff married longtime sweetheart Corina Marinescu (now Nikoloff) on Oct. 9 in Saratoga, New York. The small civil ceremony was attended by their immediate families (about 30 people) and was held on the grounds of Yaddo, a writer’s retreat in upstate New York. “Plus the big Italian dinner afterwards,” Nikoloff laughed.

Volunteer Recognition Breakfast The Volunteer Recognition Breakfast on Sept. 30 was a rousing success, with special acknowledgment of the 93 parents who served as Ambassadors to assist new Harker families. Nancy Reiley, director of community relations, said, “The family-style breakfast provided a great opportunity for volunteers to share their various experiences.”

Many thanks to all of our volunteers for their time and efforts!

Nick Gassmann-all photos

Nikoloff Ties Knot in Saratoga, N.Y.

A church ceremony will be taking place in Corina’s native country, Romania, this summer. A warm congratulations to Chris and Corina!

4

Harker News — November 04

Mark Tantrum; Steven Wong, parent; Nick Gassmann

HARKER

Harker News — November 04

homecoming ’04

5

picnic ’04

Mark Tantrum, Michael Leonard ’04

HARKER

6

Harker News — November 04

Paradise Found at 54th Annual Picnic!

The 54th annual Family and Alumni Picnic took place on Sun., Oct. 17, and the cloudy weather and occasional sprinkles did little to dampen the hot tropical spirit of this school-wide annual event. The Picnic committee once again did an amazing job transforming the campus, and “Picnic in Paradise” was a tropical oasis of fun with the Saratoga campus awash in grass skirts, palm trees, and thatched huts. The committee, and many of the over 3,000 attendees, displayed the Aloha spirit sporting lots of leis, hula skirts, tropical shirts – and a few coconuts.

The day got under way with the unveiling of the newest alumni bricks between Dobbins and Manzanita, and continued on the Dobbins patio with the traditional performing arts show. The LS Dance Troupe started things off with “Let’s Get Loud,” and then our own Howard and Diana Nichols joined in the fun, planning their retirement to various tropical

locales with a script written by acting and Harmonics teacher Monica MacKinnon. They considered Hawaii (US Dance

Canto per formed a medley of tropical tunes and were joined by all the performers in a rousing finale.

The rest of the day was filled with

WHALE OF A SPONSOR Communicart Graphics & Printing, Dede Ogami & Ken Azebu Palermo Pizza Restaurant The Stapleton Family

DAZZLING DOLPHINS The Classic Rock The Pellissier Family

MARVELOUS MARLINS Troupe hula), Latin America (MS Harmonics, singing “La Ora” and “La Musica”), and St. Thomas (a Caribbean dance by MS Dance Troupe). The Gr. 4 Singers sang “Enjoy It!” and “I Can See Clearly Now,” and the US Dance Troupe returned with “Two Tickets to Paradise.” To close the show, Bel

A heartfelt “Mahalo!” to the Picnic Committee for making the 54th Annual Family and Alumni Picnic a paradise to remember: Sherry Ammatuna, Cherrie Blair, Candy and Fred Carr, Nancy Claunch, Kelly Delepine, Linda and Doug Emery, Jeannine Hammersley, Angela Heslop, Dave Heslop, Sandhya Jagadeesh, Lana Kipnis, Roopal Mayor, Melody Moyer, Dede Ogami, Chidori Okubo, Robyn Peetz, Kim Pellissier, Kathy Polzin, Sue Prutton, Alice Schwartz, Janet Smith, Judy Stapleton, Carol Underwood and Jane Villadsen.

fun and games, delicious food and lots of opportunities to have fun while supporting the school. Some favorites returned, like the Gems and Jellies cart and the Island Express. The front blacktop converted into the Pink Flamingo Putt-Putt course, and visitors to Volcano Village (the Quad) could get their hair and faces painted, take a pony ride, and pet a duck, pig or goat at the petting zoo. There was even a volcano which sharpeyed guests caught steaming from time to time. And the Trinidad Steel Band and Wildlife Wendy and her Tropical Birds added some special island flair to the day. The FDR became the Tiki Tap Room, much like a sports bar with a big screen TV and blackjack tables, and the Edge held the Silent Auction, which tempted bidders with items such as outings with teachers, spa packages and sports memorabilia.

New this year was a Picnic Prize Basket Drawing in the gym, consisting of six fabulous displays packed with goodies, such as a spa package at the Hotel Del Coronado, an English Garden Party with tea set and potting bench.

Harker’s Picnic Committee stopped for a quick photo during preparations the day before the picnic.

MAHALO Watch the December issue of The Harker

News for a complete volunteer thanks and a final recap of the money raised.

Until then, keep that aloha spirit!

Harker News — November 04

A Big THANKS to All of This Year’s Picnic Sponsors!

At the end of the day, Howard Nichols, picnic coordinator Lynette Stapleton, and LS dean of nonacademics Kelly Espinosa, along with some of the hard working Harker students who helped with picnic preparations, drew names and announced the winners of the raffle items and baskets. (See next page for winner recap!)

Congratulations to all, and thanks for making this year’s Picnic an event the entire Harker family could enjoy!

The Ammatuna Family Baysport, Inc. The Carr Family The Casner Family Community Insurance The John & Christine Davis Family Kelly Espinosa Madhu & Navin Jain The Moyer Family The Polzin Family The Sabeh Family

AWESOME AHI The Alexander Family Clos LaChance Winery The Giammona Family Andy Hoffman & Wes Brown Asad & Ambreen Jamal Guojin Liang & Orapin Kanchanachoosak The Thomas Family Paul Tumason Portraits Washington Mutual/ Suzann Bowman Charlie Huang & Susan Zhang

FABULOUS FISHIES Sarah Auvil The Brooks Family Tony & Grace Chu Ian & Grace Edvalson David & Deborah Henry Dave Heslop Kenneth Ma Preston Pipelines Chester Rivera Round Table Pizza Dr. & Mrs. Peter Sun Matthew & Anne-Louise Vernon

7

HARKER

picnic winners

2004 Picnic Winners

2004 Top Sellers

Congratulations to the following winners of the top five prizes at this year’s Picnic Grand Prize Drawing:

The following Harker students were our top raffle ticket sellers – congratulations for your outstanding sales efforts and for raising so much for the school!

■ FIRST PRIZE ($10,000)

Peggy Chow Sold by Yuanyuan Pao (Gr. 10)

LS TICKET SALES Isabelle Connell (Gr.4) – 2,125 Jordan Peetz (Gr. 2) – 1,689 Lauren Yee (K) – 888 Preston Yeung (Gr. 3) – 760 Nicholas Navarro (Gr.3) – 530

■ SECOND PRIZE (Las Vegas Getaway)

Eileen Richardson Sold by Ian Richardson (Gr. 3)

■ THIRD PRIZE (Apple iPod)

Steve Connell

L to R: Lauren, Isabelle and Jordan

■ FOURTH PRIZE (Electra Bike)

AJ Norrish Sold by Fiona Lundie (Gr. 12)

■ FIFTH PRIZE (Digital Camera)

Sophomore Yuanyuan Pao, who sold the winning ticket, accepts the grand prize on behalf of her aunt, Peggy Chow.

Komal Gaurov Sold by Shivani Mitra (Gr.4)

Picnic Prize Basket Winners Congratulations to the lucky winners in this year’s new Picnic Basket Drawing: ■ PICNIC ON THE BEACH — The Tomas Thompson Family ■ PRINCESS IN PARADISE — Alice Schwartz

Ali Abdollahi - both photos

Mark Tantrum

Sold by Isabelle Connell (Gr. 4)

MS TICKET SALES Matthew Azebu (Gr. 7) – 570 Shanna Polzin (Gr. 7) – 390 Emily Carr (Gr. 8) – 360

L to R: Emily and Matthew (not pictured-Shanna)

MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASS RACE Grade 8 – $2,861 Grade 7 – $4,194 UPPER SCHOOL CLASS RACE Grade 9 – $968 Grade 10 – $1,667

STAFF TICKET SALES Lori Villarreal – 475 Matthew Brandstetter – 290 Colleen Linsay – 210 Bina Barnabas – 200 Rebecca Williams – 120

■ HAWAIIAN CHRISTMAS — Sue Prutton

Class of ’04 Graduates’ Grove Dedication

Mark Tantrum

Mark Tantrum

Michael Leonard ’04

■ EAST MEETS WEST — Sherry Ammatuna

8

In the Pledge Early Drawing for those who had given to the Annual Campaign by Picnic day, Alex Belogolovsky won the bottle of Trefethen wine, and Becky and John Cox won the wonderful weekend in Napa Valley at the Trefethen Winery. Many thanks to all who pledged early this year, and a special thanks to Trefethen Winery for their generous gifts for this drawing!

Michael Leonard ’04

Jennifer Helmonds

Early Donor Wins Trefethen Winery Getaway!

Harker families and friends gathered in Graduates’ Grove for a special Class of 2004 brick unveiling, and several current and alumni families were on hand to celebrate, including the Brackens (Karla ’04), Bohn/Meins (Jacinda Mein ’04), Berglunds (Eric ’04, Christopher Gr.8 and Kari Gr.10), the Lius (Jessica ’04 and Kevin Gr.7) and the Polzins (Thomas ’04). In 2002 a group of grateful senior parents from the inaugural graduating class started this tradition of honoring their graduates with special inscribed bricks, and nearly 50 bricks have been placed to date. For more information, contact our Grade 12 Development Council team or Joe Rosenthal at 408.345.9266.

Mark Tantrum

■ PAMPER YOURSELF IN PARADISE — Helena Jerney

Harker News — November 04

ANNUAL

giving

Development Council Volunteers - Our Heroes!

100%

Each year, a group of dedicated and determined Harker parent volunteers drive the Annual Giving Campaign by serving on the Development Council. This month we would like to salute our enthusiastic group of 78 parents who have each made a personal commitment of time and resources to suppor t Harker and our student programs. On behalf of our entire Harker community, we applaud our distinguished group of K-12 parent volunteers.

Tamra Amick • Ken Azebu • Shyamoli Banerjee • Sandra Berglund • Heather Blair • Joan Brooks • Ravi Chalaka • Roy Chetty • Alice Chi • Karen Coates • Rebecca Cox • Sue Datta • Christine Davis • Grace Edvalson • Doug Emery • Linda Emery • Susanne Englert • Galina Gaknoki • Melinda Gonzales • Russell Grabeel • Elena Gruzman • Regina Gupta • Vivek Gupta • Sangeeta Gupte • Chris Gustafson • Kim Hall • John Hawley • David Heslop • Marcia Hirtenstein • Colin Hsi • Ernaz Irani • Deepa Iyengar • Helena Jerney • Vidya Kamat • Robert Kendall • Sandhya Kulkarni • Vidya Lakshmi Chari Betsy Lindars • Jacky Liu • Philip May • Sangeeta Mehrotra • Brian Moss • Nimi Nagalingam • Vidhya Narasimhan • Suchitra Narayen • Aloka Naskar • Rene Newton • Kiran Padwekar • Philip Palmintere • Hemangi Parikh • Galina Patil • Kim Pellissier • Sarah Pennell • Kathy Polzin • Taruna Punj • Sharadha Raghavan • Rodney Rapson • Jayanthi Ravikumar • Brian Richardson • Chris Riedel • Marcia Riedel • Tanya Ringold • Abhay Salukhe • Karen Saunders • Robert Schwartz • Mark Shapiro • Abha Shukla • Janet Smith • Huali Chai Stanek • Lynette Stapleton • Carol Underwood • Jane Villadsen • Nina Walvekar • Heather Wardenburg • Bella Yanovsky • Evelyn Yao • Carol Zink

You are an important part of The Harker School’s community and continuing success. Your annual participation is vital to sustain the breadth and depth of our student programs.

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

An Encore Goal for the Margin of Excellence Our students would be grateful for an encore performance for the margin of excellence! This year, Harker’s Development Council parent volunteers set goals to once again meet the needs of our students and teachers. We invite you to show your spirit again and help to: ■ Increase parent participation across all grade levels ■ Increase overall Harker community participation from alumni, grandparents and friends ■ Raise $1 million for the “margin of excellence,” our student programs and services

October Phonathons Provide Great Results for Students ■ DC parent volunteers were hard at work contacting fellow Harker parents during the annual Phonathons Oct. 4 – 7 and made hundreds of calls.

■ Members launched a $15,000 DC Challenge Match to the Harker community and will match the amount of any gift increased from last year’s campaign.

■ Thanks to their passion and the support of Harker’s parent body, we have reached 45% of our goal!

Thank you for investing in our students and teachers.

—Bran-Dee Torres, Director of Annual Giving, brandeet@harker.org —Jennifer Helmonds, Director of The Harker Fund, jenniferh@harker.org

Mark Tantrum - all photos

We invite you to visit our new Annual Giving Web site for program information.

To give a gift online at www.harker.org, click on “Advancement.”

Harker News — November 04

9

FASHION FRIDAY Feb. 4, 2005 Fairmont Hotel San Jose 11:00 a.m.

Luncheon Fashion Show $80 per person

show ’05 We’re Rockin’ the Runway! …for Excellence in Education Tickets for the Rock the Runway! Luncheon and Dinner Gala Shows are on sale NOW. Don’t miss your chance to support Harker by purchasing Fashion Show tickets and tables! Proceeds from this fundraising event will be used to benefit the Harker School Scholarship Fund, Teachers Fund and the new Math, Science and Technology Center.

5:30 p.m.

Dinner Gala Fashion Show,

Please join us for this special event. Together, we will rock the town!

Live Auction & Dancing to Wayne Foster Entertainment

—Event Co-chairs: Shyamoli Banerjee, Reshma Dave, and Greta Jackson

of Beverly Hills $150 per person

NOW on Sale: Event, Grand Prize and Showcase Tickets!

Last year’s shows were sold-out events, so don’t miss your chance to have a rockin’ good time with exciting entertainment, fabulous food and marvelous models, as Harker students, parents, alumni and staff strut down the catwalk in the new spring fashions. Early event ticket purchases will ensure you the best seating!

The Grand Prize: Free Tuition!

Here’s your chance to win the grand prize: one year’s tuition* at Harker for the 2005-06 school year! Only 500 Grand Prize tickets will be sold, so your chances of winning are amazingly high. * Prizewinner can receive cash prize in lieu of tuition.

Rockin’ Showcases!

Lee Trotter

Each Showcase is a wonderful themed collection of goodies that will provide hours or days – maybe even weeks – of fun and excitement! All it takes is the purchase of the lucky donation drawing ticket and one of these great Showcase packages can be yours: • Rock & Roll Showcase: Rock on down the Electric Avenue • Latin & Salsa Showcase: Hot Latin nights on the beach • Jazz & Blues Showcase: Escape with the blues on the bayou

Last year’s winner: the Najibi Family-Neil (not pictured), Tina, Alex (Gr. 4) and Mary (Gr. K).

• Country Showcase: Where we all have a license to chill • Classics Showcase: Let the music soothe the soul & spark the imagination • Broadway Showcase: Where there’s always magic in the air On Fashion Show day you’ll be able to see all six Showcases on display at the Fairmont Hotel. We’d like to extend a special thank you to Leona Guidace, designer and owner of the hip, modern and elegant clothing store DeCre, located at Santana Row, for donating her time to create the initial visuals of the showcases, which were displayed at the Family Picnic. Watch this space next month for more detailed information about the Showcase collections.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Live Auction Preview!

fashionshow@harker.org www.harker.org 408.345.0115

• Hawaii vacation package: six nights at the Manele Bay Hotel on Lana’i

10

Here are just a few of the items you’ll be able to bid on at Rock the Runway!

• Fender guitar signed by Sheryl Crow • Private fashion show for 25 at Neiman Marcus

Harker News — November 04

Helping Harker Rock the Town!

A Big Thanks to our Partners Hats off to our Santana Row fashion partner stores for providing clothing and accessories for our models.

Kudos as well to San Jose Magazine, our official media partner, for providing magazine pages to promote the show.

Your Name in Lights… Become a Sponsor or Advertiser!

There’s still time to become a sponsor and receive premium show seating, a program ad, drawing tickets, stage recognition, and all the benefits that sponsorship provides! You can also purchase an ad for placement in the beautiful keepsake program, to highlight your company or business, thank teachers and staff, congratulate your children, their sports team, or…the possibilities are endless!

To learn more about sponsorship levels and advertising, see the contact information box on this page. Hurry – deadlines are approaching!

Calling All Juniors and Seniors!

And Much Appreciation to our Sponsors and Advertisers!

Juniors and seniors have a special opportunity to support the Fashion Show – sign up to act as a Host or Hostess! Contact Chris Daren (chrisda@harker.org) to find out how you can be an important part of this public relations effort on show day.

Thanks to everyone who has committed to advertising in this year’s program, and a special thanks to this month’s new sponsors for their generous support: the Banerjee Chopra family; Courtesy Chevrolet; the Dave family; the Hall Walsworth Group, Smith Barney; the Jackson family; Orrick Compensation and Benefits; Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Mae; David Mendoza, Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley of San Francisco; the Panja family; Stevens Creek BMW and Stevens Creek Porsche.

Donations Showcase and Auction committee members have been contacting all kinds of people and businesses to secure donations for the live auction and our wonder ful array of showcases. Maybe you can help! Here are just a few examples of items they could use: • Home furnishings and electronics

Sneak Preview!

• Sporting equipment and vacations • Jewelry, luggage and fine wine • Play and recreational items

Padma Eswari, parent - both photos

To view our complete wish list, please visit the Rock the Runway link from the Harker home page. If you have questions, or an interesting item to donate, contact David Heslop at david.heslop@prestonpielines.com.

More Ways to Support Harker!

These fine Saratoga establishments have partnered with the Fashion Show committee and will give the Harker School 3% of your purchase when you tell them you are a member of the Harker community: James Craig salon; Sent Sovi restaurant; Preston Wynne spa; Deja Company jewelers

CONTACTS

Over 100 students, faculty, alumni and parents attended the Model Workshop held Oct. 10. Tryouts were held Oct. 24 - watch the Dec. Harker News for results!

ADVERTISING: Mary Malysz: mmalysz@mstpartners.com • Ernaz Irani: ernaz.irani@hp.com SPONSORSHIPS: Archana Sathaye: archana@sathaye.com • Barbara Drummer: barbara.drummer@intel.com DONATIONS - Live Auction & Showcases: Angela Heslop: a.heslop@att.net • David Heslop: david.heslop@prestonpipelines.com RESERVATIONS: Jeannine Hammersley: jhammersley@comcast.net • Violet Boyle: boylfam99@sbcglobal.net GENERAL: Hotline 408.345.0115; Email fashionshow@harker.org

Visit the Web (www.harker.org) for information on: Model Tryouts • Committee Info and Contacts • Sponsorships • Program Advertising • Event Ticket Sales • Showcase Donation Drawing • Grand Prize Tickets — Click on Rock the Runway link for all the most up-to-date information!

Harker News — November 04

11

lower

school

Congratulations to the following students selected to be members of the 2004-05 Dance Ensemble: Gr. 4 - David Cutler, Tiphaine Delepine, Amanda Kalb; Gr. 5 - Veronica Bither, Margaret Krackeler, Daniela Lapidous, Michelle Lo, Michelle Ritter; Gr. 6 - Anisha Agarwal, John Ammatuna, Monisha Appalaraju, Andrew Cutler, Malika Mehrotra, James Seifert, Naomi So and Erica Woolsey. For the audition students were taught a dance combination that they performed in front of a panel of judges who looked for technique, stage presence and energy/commitment to the movement. “It was very evident to the judges how hard the candidates worked,” said Gail Palmer, Dance Ensemble director/choreographer. “I really appreciated the effort all the students gave to the auditions and their positive attitudes,” she added.

Lisa Dorrian, parent-both photos

Lower School Dance Ensemble

■ Johnny Appleseed Party Students in Nancy Curran’s Gr. K class enjoyed a celebration of Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday on Sept. 28.

With the generous help of many parents the

Michael Leonard ’04

children enjoyed making caramel apples, fresh apple juice and crafts projects, along with some apple face painting. “It was a wonderful way to celebrate an American legend and have lots of fun in the process,” said Curran.

The Dance Ensemble had their first performance of the year at the Family Picnic. Their upbeat routine, “Let’s Get Loud,” was fast paced with a hip hop and Latin flair. Palmer said, “The dancers executed their moves with pizzazz and their high energy performance kept the audience bouncing in their seats.” Again, congratulations to all the ensemble members - we look forward to more great per formances this year!

■ S-Club Update The LS S-club (spirit club) has over 50 members from Gr. 5 and 6 who work hard to make life around the school more fun for everyone. The group meets every Wed. after school and is run by club officers Daniela Lapidous, president; Shreya Nathan, vice-president; John Ammatuna, secretary and Kristi Lui, treasurer. Club members choose a committee - teacher morale, student morale or bulletin board - and spend time at their meetings creating ideas to help the

spirit around campus. Jason Oncay, teacher and club advisor, explained some of the activities: “The bulletin board committee has updated the spirit bulletin board to inform the school about the homecoming game and the family picnic. They have also posted some candid pictures from around campus. The teacher morale committee is considering a Halloween treat for teachers, and the student morale committee has an idea for an online scavenger hunt.” Club members have green Harker spirit visors, so look for them around campus! You can also check Oncay’s Web site for descriptions of the spirit events and other upcoming fun.

■ Back-to-School Night The annual K-3 and 4-6 Back-to-School Nights involved many student guides who took time from their busy schedules to assist parents in finding their way around campus. Many thanks to the following students for their willingness to help out at this important event! K-3: Michelle Deng, Frederic Enea, Rachelle Koch, Vishesh Gupta, Alisha Mayor, Stephen Hughes, John Ammatuna, James Seifert, Michael Prutton, Andrew Cutler and Douglas Hutchings; 4-6: Niva Bigler, Shivani Bigler, Gene Wong, Daniela Lapidous, Neel Salukhe, Ashley Hejtmanek, Guillaume Delepine, Trevor Dutrow, Noah Levy, Karan Das-Grande, Carmen

Nick Gassmann-hula photos

Mark Tantrum-Crazies photos

Picnic Preparation Loads of Fun!

The popular Curbside Crazies inspired parents to bring in prizes and buy tickets for this year’s picnic.

12

LS students learned the hula and played a little beach volleyball in preparation for the Picnic in Paradise!

Harker News — November 04

school

Das-Grande and Kenneth Wong.

Gary Kipnis, parent

■ Gr. 2 Visit to Intel Museum In early October students in Gr. 2 visited The Intel Museum in Santa Clara, learning about binary code (by making key chains with beads that spelled their initials in code), and where computer chips were made (in a fab). One student from each class was chosen to model

the special bunny suit that fab technicians must wear to keep the lab clean.

■ Tech Grants Help Teachers Enhance Student Learning Each year, a number of proposals submitted by Harker teachers are selected to be a part of the Harker Tech Grant Program. These grants are awarded to teachers who have developed plans to further use technology in their classrooms to

enhance the learning experience for their students. The following are some of the teacher projects that were chosen to participate in the Harker Tech Grant Program for this year: Elementary math teacher Pat Walsh used Dreamweaver to build templates for a Gr. 5 online newspaper. Walsh and Elementary language arts teacher Kate Shanahan will have students and staff use the templates to build a quarterly newsletter that will be available to Gr. 5 students via the Intranet. Walsh also built a “personal bio” template for new Gr. 5 students at Harker to fill out early in quarter one. There will be a link to the “bio” pages on all Gr. 5 teacher home pages. After quarter one, all students will be given the opportunity to build their own personal Web pages. Walsh said, “My thinking is that the more the returning students know about the incoming students, the more likely it is that they will become familiar with them and reach out to include them early on.” He also hopes that all students will have their own Web pages by the end of the year.

Tara McFarland, Joe Chung

Teddy Bear Adventure

Harker News — November 04

Gr. 5 parents attended a recent informational meeting about the Marin Headlands field trip coming up in December.

This annual outdoor education trip is part of the science curriculum for Gr. 5.

Nick Gassmann

lower

LS Spanish teacher Anita Gilbert created a sound-file for the first through third graders containing basic vocabulary and phrases that are the focus of the curriculum. The words and phrases were then put on the Web in both Spanish and English. Gilbert said, “The intent is for students to use this sound-file when they do their homework or when they want to learn new vocabulary or review previous vocabulary.” Gilbert added that another benefit will be that parents will be able to help their students at home when the students are learning the correct pronunciation of words.

Elementary science teacher Catherine Le studied the use of handheld computers (PDAs) in the classroom. She familiarized herself with the Palm OS platform and

applications. Le plans to use the science dept.’s PDAs and scientific probes in test runs in her classes this year, in hope that the use of PDAs will be a viable option for the future. The use of PDAs would grant students access to word processing and Web site applications within the classroom. Other applications such as animations, educational games and file sharing will keep the students engaged. The use of scientific probes and graphing applications would allow for real time data collection and analysis.

■ Eaglets & Jr Cheerleaders This year’s Gr. 2 Homecoming Eaglets per formed at both the Lower School Homecoming Assembly and, of course, at the homecoming football game. These continued on pg. 14

The kindergarten class took their annual trip to the Basic Brown Bear Factory in San Francisco at the Cannery near Fisherman’s Wharf. “This location allowed the students to enjoy the sights and sounds of the seacoast as well as the wonder of the Teddy Bears,” said teacher Nancy Curran. Each class received a tour of the factory, chose a bear to take home and learned about the role President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt played in the naming of the favorite childhood toy. “Both bears and children enjoyed a quiet bus ride back to Harker as they all fell fast asleep on the bus snuggling their new bears,” laughed Curran.

13

lower

school planting vegetables (lettuce, peas and celery) and flowers (mums, pansies and snapdragons), along with daffodil bulbs to enjoy in the spring. Parents also helped the students with painting wooden butterflies and decorating little birdbaths made from clay pots and saucers. “The day included

■ Gr. 1 Garden Party Cindy Proctor and Diann Chung’s Gr. 1 classes enjoyed a garden party at the end of September, with parents assisting the students in

delicious snacks and everyone had a wonderful time,” said Proctor. “We could not have done this without such a tremendous amount of parent support,” she added.

Roopal Mayor, parent - both photos

tiny Eaglets, under the direction of Gail Palmer, LS dance instructor, are always a crowd pleaser! This year’s Eaglets are: Ishanya Anthapur, Zoe Bhargava, Caroline Howells, Madeline Lang-Ree, Sonal Pai, Angeline Pan, Jacqui Villarreal and Julia Wang. In addition the Jr. Cheerleaders were leading cheers at Homecoming under the direction of Melinda Harper, founder of Performance Pointe and Cheerleading. This year’s cheerleaders are: Klara Bost, Sabrina Chen, Alexandra Dellar, Kaity Gee, Shivani Gohil, Regan Heslop, Sandhana Kannan, Cordelia Larsen, Mary Najibi, Isabella Scott, Ankita Sharma, Noor Singh, Chloe Vandendries, Madison Beine, Madeline Bourquin, Zoe Bhargava, Paris Grabeel, Anna Kendall, Emma Malysz, Myka Martin, Alexandra May, Sonal Pai, Maneesha Panja, Katherine Paseman, Jordan Peetz, Sheridan Tobin, Gabriela Triant, Jacqui Villarreal, Michelle Douglas, Jazmine Eubanks, Amanda Kalb, Lucy Shen and Amy Wardenburg.

Hiking boots were the latest Gr. 6 fashion for a week last month as students broke in their boots in preparation for the annual trip to the Yosemite Institute.

Students were attending the trip at press time - watch for details next month!

Mark Tantrum

continued from pg. 13

■ Japanese Businessman Helps Prepare Exchange Students Jun Omhae, a Japanese colleague of Harker mom Sharon Mandell

(Molly Gr. 6), visited the lower school campus on Sept. 24 to speak with the Gr. 6 students who will be participating in the Tamagawa Exchange Program.

Omhae’s talk was intended to prepare the students for both visiting Japan and hosting their Tamagawa buddies. The Harker students, who host Japanese partners in October and will be guests in Japan in May 2005, seemed to enjoy the opportunity to hear first-hand what it’s like for a Japanese person to come to America for the first time. They also asked Omhae questions about Japanese customs and lifestyles.

Many thanks to both Omhae and Mandell for sharing their time with our students!

Traditional Chinese Painting

LS students were looking their best as they posed for individual and class photos in late September.

Many thanks to the parents who assisted the classes through the photo schedule and helped the students with last minute touch ups!

14

Gr. 2 teacher Lisa Hirata reported that student Matthew Ho’s grandfather was kind enough to give a traditional Chinese painting demonstration to her students.

“Not only did Grandpa Jing demonstrate the traditional Chinese ar t, he also allowed all of the students to paint with his brushes and gave each student one of his paintings,” said Hirata. H.J. Ho, father of Matthew, also brought in Chinese Moon Cakes to celebrate the Mid-autumn Festival. “I would like to extend a personal ‘thank you’ to Mr. Ho and Grandpa Jing for sharing a bit of their Chinese culture with our class,” added Hirata.

Harker News — November 04

Lisa Hirata-all photos

Nick Gassmann-all photos

Smile! It’s Picture Day!

■ Gr. 2 Parent Social Gr. 2 grade level coordinators, Greg Martin and Jeannette Perez-Triant organized a second grade parents coffee social in early Oct. Parents stopped by to get to know some of their fellow Harker parents. The Gr. 2 parents will continue to gather on the first Thursday of each month at the new Starbucks at the corner of Fulton St. and Campbell Ave. For information on the other grade level parent activities log on to the Harker Web site parent home page for lower school and click on “Volunteers.”

middle

school

Harker’s yearlong MS Character Development Program this year was launched on Oct. 7 with an assembly focusing on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship – from small communities to large communities and even global communities. Topics discussed included stem cell research, the presidential election and the constraints and merits of America’s two-party system.

Students also participated in substantial discussions about many of the referendums, propositions and candidates on the ballot Nov. 2, and discussed

■ The Harker MS 2004 edition of enlight’ning, an annual literary arts magazine, was recently awarded a bronze medal certificate from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association of New York. The publication’s staff of 13 students completed the magazine during

club time, working throughout the spring to compose this 48-page publication that showcases our students’ outstanding art, poetry, and prose. “In the detailed critique Harker received for the magazine, special commendations were given for the strength of the artwork and the writers’ sophisticated vocabularies, as reflected in the poetry and essays of enlight’ning,” reported faculty advisor Stacie Newman. Congratulations to our talented MS students for this wonderful recognition!

Harker News — November 04

and compared the difference between voting on relatively well-known ballot issues – like President and Vice President – to voting on lesser known issues such as voting for school board members, judges and propositions. They also discussed deeper issues including

the difference between a referendum and a proposition, party affiliation, newspaper recommendations, television ads and name recognition.

All of this was in preparation for the students’ own voting activities, which took place in homerooms on Oct. 12. Students were given actual ballots normally used by registered voters in the City of San Jose, and key ballot initiatives and candidates were pulled from the official ballot to create a smaller scantron version for the students to use for voting.

“It helps teach the value of politics and citizenship,” said Ian Davis, Gr. 8, of the MS voting activities. “It was informative and a lot easier and a lot more fun and interactive than learning out of a book,” said Davis.

Of the overall Character Development Program, Cindy Kerr, MS division head said, “The

Election Results The results of the Character Development Program’s MS elections were as follows: • President/Vice President: John Kerry/John Edwards • Senator: Barbara Boxer • Proposition 62 - Yes • Proposition 63 - Yes • Proposition 66 - Yes • Proposition 68 - No • Proposition 69 - Yes • Proposition 71 - Yes

purpose is to help develop the kind of citizens who are globally aware and capable of better dealing with the situational ethics ever yone faces on a daily basis.”

This Harker program plays a large role in teaching students how to become responsible and productive citizens. Other topics for activities and discussion in this year’s program will include personal integrity, respect, leadership and kindness.

MS Spirit Assembly Shows Harker Spirit

Mark Tantrum - all photos

Ali Abdollahi - both photos

MS Election Activity Promotes Civic Responsibility

Gr. 8 and Gr. 7 students showed their Harker spirit during the MS spirit assembly on Oct. 14, representing their respective classes in the Scooter Board Race. Participants raced with partners on two scooter boards tied to each other while their classmates cheered on their team!

15

middle

school

Tech NOTES MS Laptop Cart Debuts!

■ Scott Graham’s Algebra I Honors classes collected data from the Internet, entered it into Excel spreadsheets, and analyzed it.

■ Raji Swaminathan’s Gr. 7 Science students connected the laptops to motion probes to collect data and then studied the results graphically.

Now that all US students are required to bring their own laptops to school, the US laptop carts are being upgraded and given to the LS and MS for teachers to use in their classrooms. As teachers gain experience with them, I know we’ll see more and more challenging and interesting projects!

—Laura Miller, Director of K-8 Instructional Technology

Tech Grants Help Teachers Enhance Student Learning Each year, a number of proposals submitted by Harker teachers are selected to be a part of the Harker Tech Grant Program. These grants are awarded to teachers who have developed plans to further use technology in their classrooms to enhance the learning experience for their students. The following are the MS teacher projects that were chosen to participate in the Harker Tech Grant Program for this year.

■ MS Spanish teacher Julie Pinzas used Powerpoint as a medium to create presentations on particularly difficult grammatical topics in order to provide examples that integrated cultural information for the students. The presentations also included opportunities for students to practice their language development skills.

■ MS science teacher and K-8 department chair Simon Keilty examined the application of laptop carts in MS science classrooms.

Two laptop carts with wireless Internet connections are available to MS as of the 2004-2005 academic year. After becoming familiar with the procedures for supporting student use of the laptop carts, Keilty designed or redesigned certain at-home student projects supporting Gr. 8 curriculum using applications or web-based tools from MovieWorks, QUIA.com and Project WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment). To support the dissection component of his Gr. 8 biology curriculum, Keilty examined the possibility of using MovieWorks to edit, produce, and share the student dissection tutorials that previous students had made using IMovie. He also began editing and building some online quizzes, surveys, activities and games using the QUIA.com platform used by some LS and MS teachers. Lastly, Keilty edited and prepared three activities supported by UC Berkeley’s Project WISE, an online learning environment where students can examine real-world scientific evidence and analyze current scientific controversies. In his classes, Keilty plans to have students use the WISE browser tools to investigate a variety of course content areas from scientific controversy to genetically engineered food products to HIV prevention. The classes will use these tools to take notes, discuss theories, and organize arguments in a virtual discussion forum.

16

MS Students Help Guide Back-to-School Night The MS held its annual Backto-School night on Monday, Sept. 27. The evening went smoothly, largely thanks to several MS students who volunteered their evening to serve as guides at the event.

The Gr. 7 guides were Natasha Dandia, Priya Banerjee and Priya Sathaye.

Gr. 8 guides were Ian Davis, Pratusha Erraballi, Kaavya Gowda, Shreya Gowda, Ida Gorshteyn, Paari Kandappan, Minaz Laiwalla, Elizabeth Liu,

Mark Tantrum - all photos

■ Doug Knight’s and Henry Cuningham’s Gr. 7 English students have used the laptops for writing papers.

HELLO FROM SHANGHAI! Harker’s partners in the Gr. 8 exchange program with the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School (SWFLMS) recently sent a group photo of the students who will visit Harker in January 2005, along with a list of their newly chosen American names. Harker students participating in the inaugural Shanghai exchange will be leaving Nov. 6 - watch the Dec. newsletter for a report!

Mitali Parmar, Pauline Phan, Anu Ramachandran, Denzil Sikka and Tiffany Tseng.

MS Picture Day Show those Pearly Whites!

MS students smiled for the camera at the annual MS Picture Day. Harker News — November 04

Nick Gassmann-both photos

■ Simon Keilty’s Gr. 8 Science students used the laptops for Internet research, course review games and activities, and practice quizzes.

Courtesy of SWFLMS

The MS debuted their first laptop cart in October, and a number of teachers have already put this new cart to good use with their students:

upper

school

Harker’s JSA – A New Tradition of Leadership Following in the Harker tradition of offering programs and curricula that prepare students to be the leaders of the future, the Harker Junior State of America (JSA) hosted a “Pizza and Politics” event on Oct. 13, the evening of the third presidential debate. JSA students from several local high schools, including Independence High, San Jose High Academy and Monte Vista, attended the event where the debate and ballot issues were discussed after viewing the televised debate. Over 80 students and faculty attended and participated in the lively debate.

Both the national organization and the Harker chapter of the JSA are utilizing the upcoming election to

Coming from a very liberal school in a very liberal area and meeting and debating conservative minds have opened up my mind, and I’ve learned to accept that people look at the world in drastically different ways than I do.”

Mark Tantrum-all JSA photos

provide JSA members direct exposure to the political process at its highest levels. JSA, a nonpartisan group for students interested in politics, government, debate, the law, and education, is the largest student-run high school organization in America with over 16,000 members throughout the U.S.A. and Canada. One of the most unique aspects of the JSA is that students organize every aspect

Juniors Samantha Fang and Amira Valliani were among the 41 high school girls nationwide selected to participate this year in the Mt. Holyoke College “Take the Lead” program, designed for idealistic, actionoriented young women who want to make a difference in the world. At press time they were returning from a special weekend at the college in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Watch the December issue for a full recap and congratulations to Fang and Valliani!

of it, from the school chapter level to the national administration, and three Harker students have been elected to hold several high-ranking positions as officers for the Golden Gate Region: Tara Chandra, Gr. 11, who serves as the mayor of the Golden Gate Region; Amira Valliani, Gr. 11, the region’s senator to the larger JSA government representing Northern California; Natasha Sarin, Gr. 10, the chief of staff for the region.

Being involved in JSA has helped Chandra makes some decisions about her future. “Being in JSA actually helped me discover my true interests and passions, and even helped me decide what I want to major in in college; I now know I want to study foreign policy and work for the U.N. - maybe even be president one day.”

instructional technology and JSA advisor Daniel Hudkins said the 60+ group has since outgrown the ability to meet in a classroom, and have held recent meetings in the gym. “The JSA has now become one of the most popular US programs,” he said. Many of Harker’s JSA members will be attending an Oct. 30 conference in Berkeley regarding ballot issues for California, and Sarin has written

JSA regional officers Amira Valliani, Tara Chandra and Natasha Sarin.

“Through (JSA) I’ve become a much more powerful speaker, and I’ve learned countless amounts about the political world,” said Valliani.

“Most of all, I’ve learned to be open-minded. Coming from a very liberal school in a very liberal area and meeting and debating conservative minds have opened up my mind, and I’ve learned to accept that people look at the world in drastically different ways than I do.”

Harker’s JSA group was formed in 2000, and US director of

Harker News — November 04

Two Students Invited to National Leadership Program

two articles – one about her experience at the 2004 JSA Summer Program at Georgetown University, and the other about Harker’s JSA program – that will be published in the November issue of “The Junior Statesman,” the national magazine of the JSA. “JSA is so beneficial to students because it allows us to get involved at an early age,” said Sarin. “One of the largest problems plaguing our countr y right now is the lack of voting, especially in the 18-24 age bracket. Programs like JSA combat youth apathy by informing young people and teaching them about politics so they will be more enlightened, informed adults.”

■ WASC Selects Two Harker Students Harker seniors Sara Laymoun and Ben Shapiro have been selected to participate in this year’s accreditation process of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), a governing body that evaluates and provides accreditation to independent schools in California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and other American/International schools in the Pacific and East Asia. Laymoun and Shapiro will each serve as a student evaluator and assist with the accreditation process of a Bay Area school this year.

Since 2003 one or two Harker students have been nominated each year to take part in this process. Last year, Jacinda Mein ’04 served on the group evaluating Lynbrook High School. “I learned a lot from the members of the team who had all been teachers and school administrators in different school districts across the state of California,” said Mein. In 2003, Kelly Gault ’03 was the Harker participant in the WASC program.

Kevin Williamson, US dean of students, said participation in the process is of particular interest to students who are interested in education as a career, and that all participants then go through a formal training process so they know what to look for and how best to help with evaluations.

Remember to VOTE November 2!

17

■ Bubble Tea to Falooda The International Club held a weeklong international drink sale after school during the week of Oct. 4 with diverse drink offerings

as advisors and help facilitate the clubs’ activities, along with the other French and Spanish teachers.

Both clubs include members of the National Foreign Language Honor Society, but are open to language students at any level who would enjoy opportunities to develop their language skills.

Ali Abdollahi

■ Acting Class Takes Yoga During the month of October Monica MacKinnon’s US Acting class studied Hatha Yoga each week, under the instruction of Julianne Rice.

“Becoming more aware of the body is valuable for anyone, but it is especially important for performers,” says MacKinnon. “I’m thrilled

that celebrated the numerous foreign cultures represented in the Harker community, including Italian soda, Thai ice tea, Chinese pearl milk tea, Mexican horchata and Indian falooda.

Chris Daren

Rachel Newman, Gr. 12, conceived the idea of a French club to serve as a venue for students to practice speaking French in an informal setting, attend French cultural events, provide peer tutoring in French, and more. Amulya Mandava, Gr. 11, spearheaded the formation of a Spanish club, which will also provide a social environment in which students can practice their conversational skills, attend Hispanic cultural events, participate in community service projects with Hispanics, and serve as peer tutors. US French teacher

Mark Tantrum

■ New Foreign Language Clubs US foreign language students at Harker have launched two new student-run clubs: The French club and the Spanish club.

.

to have the opportunity to share this experience with the students.”

■ Pre-Tour Performance at Saratoga Library The Friends of the Saratoga Libraries have invited Cantilena and the US Orchestra to play at their Festive Holiday Celebration on Wed., Dec. 15 in the Saratoga Library’s Community Room at Antoinette Gathy and US Spanish 13650 Saratoga Ave. This event is teacher Paul Pickering will serve open to the public, and is a potluck to be shared by all attendees. Hors d’oeuvres begin at 6 p.m. and the music program begins at 6:30 p.m.

The groups, directed by Susan Nace and Richard Frazier, LET’S ALL GO TO THE MOVIES! On the evening of Fri., Oct. 1 will be over 200 Harker students gathered in front of a giant movie performing screen on Dobbins Field for the 4th Annual Lawn & Movie selections from event. Movie-goers, snuggled in sleeping bags and blankets, their February enjoyed all the regular movie snacks including hot dogs, European Tour popcorn and soda. Prior to the movie, students enjoyed a comedy show by the Harker Improv Group in the FDR. repertoire.

18

■ Vocal Ensembles to Provide Music for Fall Play Cantilena and Guys’ Gig are providing pre-show and incidental music (music which aids or underscores the story in a nonmusical play) for the Conservatory’s fall play, Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” joined by various other singers from the student body. In addition, a Dickens Caroling Ensemble - Molly Newman, Siobhan Stevenson, Emily Isaacs, Aseem Shukla, Joshua Kwan - will sing traditional Yuletide music. Members of Cantilena are: Shivani Bhargava, Casey Blair, Avanti Deshpande, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, Subha Gollakota, Lauren Harries, Julia Havard, Katherin Hudkins, Emily Isaacs, Gail Nakano, Casey Near, Molly Newman, Kathy Peng, Amanda Polzin, Vani Pyda, Paloma Solorio, Dylan Syrett, Rohini Venkatraman, and Nina Vyedina.

Members of Guys’ Gig are Ankur Gupta, Vijay Umapathy, Aseem Shukla, Matt Emery, Joshua Pinzas, and Jason Lee. ■ US Back-to-School Volunteers Parents attending the US Back-toSchool Night on Sept. 23 had a much easier time finding their way to classes thanks to the help of the following US student guides.

Many thanks for taking the time during your busy school week to help! Gr. 9 - Lauren Ammatuna, Ayushi Gummadi, Kritika Kailash, Stephanie Kim, Jenny Kwon, Tiffany Lai, Aarathi Minisandram, Deepa Ramakrishnan, Sharon Su and Tiffany Yu; Gr. 10 - Rachel Bareiss, Emily Isaacs, Nina Vyedina, Mansi Shah, Siobhan Stevenson and Ashley Yang; Gr. 11 - Alix Briggs.

■ JCL Inductions Members of the Junior Classical League (JCL) welcomed new members at the Induction

Mark Tantrum

school

FLYING FEET! Harker alumni Loren Due ’85 has returned to Harker as the instructor for Capoeira Angola, a new physical education class that is an African-Brazilian tradition of fluid rhythmic martial art played in a circle. The roda, or game, includes a combination of movements - a mix of acrobatics and choreographed dance - as two players finesse and maneuver against one another while Capoeira music, an essential element, is played.

Ceremony in the FDR on Sept. 24.

The new JCL members are: Gr. 7 Brandon Araki, Cole Davis, Julian Gill, Lauren Guerra, Chris Guimarin, Christine Hsu, Scott Mohanram, Sean Morgan, Alysia Patel, Reid Patterson, Govind Raghunath, Jeremy Chou, Kelsey Chung, Monisha Dilip, Kyle Drummer,

Nick Gassmann

upper

Carina Fernandes, Tim Healy, Veronica Hsieh, Valerie Hwa, Elaine Ke, Sohini Khan, Brian Lee, Maddy Lucas, Matt Park, Nishadh Raghupathy, Colby Rapson, Bogdan Spitters; Gr. 9 - Payal Agarwal, Catherine Chiu, Janise Chan, James Shaver, Stephanie Syu, Ruth Tepper, Tiffany Yu; Gr. 10 - Cassie Kerkhoff.

Harker News — November 04

school

■ Freshmen Service Day All 153 freshmen participated in Harker’s 6th annual Service Day on Oct. 13. Students voted on their favorite sites in advance and prepared for a day of giving and friendly bonding with their adviser groups. Focus areas for this year

could help with so many things in so little time. If everybody did this once or twice every few months, the world would be better.” When asked if any of her values, opinions or perceptions had changed by involving herself in the community, Emily Chow said, “My perceptions

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead included hunger, homelessness, literacy and education, children and families, elderly services, health and disabilities, animals and the environment.

The following quote by Margaret Mead is this year’s US Community Service theme:“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

The participating organizations this year were Beginning Steps to Independence, Emergency Housing Consortium, Humane Society Silicon

Valley, Oak Meadows Extended Care, Sacred Heart Community Service, San Jose Family Shelter, Second Harvest Food Bank, Sobrato Family Living Center, and Terreno Gardens Extended Care.

Overall, the students appeared to enjoy their Service Day experiences and teachers were thoroughly impressed by how well their advisees responded to the different environments. After returning from the Emergency Housing Consortium, Eugenia Sorotokin expressed, “It is amazing how we Harker News — November 04

stayed the same, but I never put my ideas into action, and today helped me do so. We helped out behind the scenes. I would recommend [Emergency Housing Consortium] because it’s a really welcoming place and it is fun to help out.”

Nicholas Sutardja spent his morning visiting with elders at Oak Meadows Extended Care.

“Talking to old people about life and helping them was a great experience for me.

Seeing how thankful they were was great. This was a unique experience for me. It was fun and I learned a lot.” When Brian Ma returned from the Humane Society, he shared, “I would recommend this site to anyone; physical labor can be a great teacher, and there’s plenty to be found here from gardening, to cleaning cages and doing laundry.

And afterwards, you can observe the animals…The Humane Society is a home for animals as a shelter is a home for homeless people.”

Stephanie Lio, who was touched by her experience at Beginning Steps for Independence, said, “I learned that people with cerebral palsy or motor disabilities are very intelligent and ‘normal’ like the rest of us, and that silence shouldn’t be synonymous with a lack of understanding. I perceive people with disabilities a bit differently now and realize that they have the same feelings and intentions as the rest of us. It was very refreshing from my usual school day.” Ariel Gaknoki was also moved by her visit to the Sobrato Family Living Center. She noted, “It is just really

sad people have to go through such hard times but it’s incredible what this agency is doing to help. I never realized how accomplished I would feel by doing this. I feel amazing about having helped out those [in need].”

■ Mission Chamber Orchestra Thank you to Arkajit Dey, Ayumi Funaki, Jason Han, and Nina Vyedin, for volunteering at the Mission Chamber Orchestra season opening concert in late September.

Mission Chamber Orchestra Board Member, Maureen Norwich commented, “All four students stayed late and were very helpful and on time. We truly appreciate Harker’s support of the Silicon Valley musical community.”

■ March For the Arts The annual March For the Arts

festival in downtown San Jose was a hit with US students assisting. All proceeds from the event were donated to support South Bay nonprofit arts and after-school enrichment programs for youth. Stephanie Syu, Shannon Tan, Nina Vyedin, and Heidi Wang were commended by volunteer coordinator Gemma Barozzi. “The students from Harker were far beyond the standard of high schoolers out there. They had great attitudes and were willing to work. It was a pleasure!”

“30 cents can provide a child with one notebook and pencil for school.”

■ Key Club District Project The Key Club’s district project theme for this year is “COLOR,” an acronym for: Commit to education;

Nick Gassmann

Community Service Update

Open up opportunities to preteens; Lift the lives of cancer patients; Offer assistance to pediatric trauma prevention; Replenish the wonders of nature. Club member Aline Zorian, Gr. 10, said, “Key Club is an awesome club that gives you the opportunity to volunteer and help out your community. The coolest part is that you also get to do it with your friends.”

■ Sunday Friends Halloween Party The Key Club also had a grand time assisting with the Sunday Friends Halloween bash that many children from low-income families in the South Bay anticipate each year.

Students volunteered as “orange vest helpers,”“roving photographers,” and many were showered with smiles at the face painting Mark Tantrum - all Service photos

upper

booth. Director Janis Baron was ■ Trick-or-treating for UNICEF thrilled with the community turnout Members of the Key Club supand the number of Harker students ported UNICEF this month by going who participated. door to door with coin collection ■ Family Picnic Volunteers – boxes. Their contributions will help Watch for names of US student support health, education, volunteers in the Dec. issue! nutrition, and emergency relief programs for children and UPCOMING US SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES families in third world Nov. 2-12: Second Harvest Canned Food Drive countries. The Nov. 5: JF Smith Elementary Movie Night Volunteers UNICEF Web Nov. 20: Christmas In the Park Display Setup site breaks it down in Visit http://faculty.harker.org/JajaH/ for information. simple terms:

19

focus

debate

Harker’s Debate Program One of Top 100 in Country The first in an occasional series about Harker’s many clubs and programs.

Harker’s Speech and Debate Society began when Howard and Diana Nichols decided in 1998 that Harker should offer a topquality debate program in its new upper school, and in Aug. 1998 they hired Dr. Matthew Brandstetter to build and lead

Debate Program has now become one of the most outstanding new debate programs in the country, and was recently recognized by the National Forensic League as one of the nation’s Top 100 Schools, ranking 59 out of 2,700 NFL chapter debate schools in the United States.

To elevate Harker’s Speech and Debate Society to its current

Harker’s Speech and Debate Program has now become one of the most outstanding new debate programs in the country and was recently recognized by the National Forensic League as one of the nation’s Top 100 Schools, ranking 59 out of 2,700 NFL chapter debate schools in the United States.

Donna Brandstetter-all debate photos

Harker’s inaugural debate program. In their first competition a small group of eight Harker girls traveled to CSU Long Beach and managed to advance to the elimination round of the prestigious Jack Howe Invitational Tournament, returning home with eight awards. Harker’s Speech and

Alexandra Garr-Schultz, Gr. 12, and Sean Turner, Gr. 11, display the spoils of their victory with Dr. Matthew Brandstetter at the Santa Clara Spring Invitational in 2003.

20

believed Dr. Brandstetter at first when he told me that my academics would improve because of what I would learn on the debate team, but since I’ve learned to organize and express my thoughts, assignments that used to be painfully time-consuming have become so much easier to complete.”

Fellow debater Siddarth Satish, Gr. 11, concurred. “Being par t of Harker Forensics has greatly molded my intellectual abilities,” he said. “It has made me think more critically and has driven me to apply logic and reason to all academic under takings.”

In 1999 Harker applied for and was granted affiliate chapter status with the National Forensic League, a national honorar y society that recognizes student achievements in the forensic arts.

After a year of consistent successes by the debate team, Harker was officially recognized as a National Forensic League Chapter School in 2000.

stature, Brandstetter admitted he faced a substantial challenge.

Harker had never competed on the In 2000 Harker’s debate program national circuit, and Harker debaters needed time to gain experience and the necessar y reputation for national tournament successes.

“I knew building a top-notch debate program would Harker debaters transporting their files to USC Trojan require many Championships in 2000. hours of preparation that would compete qualified for the prestigious with Harker students’ already Tournament of Champions held stretched homework and study annually at the University of time,” he explained. However, Kentucky, making an immediate Brandstetter found that the impression on the debating students were undaunted by the community. Regarding this honor, amount of preparation time Brandstetter said, “In only its third needed for tournament competiyear of existence the Harker tions. “The students began to debate team had been invited to discover that the debate research attend a tournament that engages and tournament competition the top 72 teams in the nation, prepared them for classes in a way and ultimately determines the they had not thought possible,” he national champion.” said. Harker debaters agreed with The Harker team has continued to Brandstetter’s assessment. Amira qualify for this national showcase Valliani, Gr. 11, said, “I never

Harker debater Simon Linder ’04 has his necktie properly adjusted by Coach Matthew Brandstetter.

tournament every year since their original appearance in 2000. In the 2003 tournament of champions, Harker advanced to the round of 16 and Harker debater Alexandru Iftimie received second speaker recognition overall.

Iftimie currently attends USC and is an active member of the debate team.

Other notable achievements during the program’s six-year history include three consecutive years as Grand Sweepstakes Winners at the Southern California Debate Championships from 2002 to 2004 and attaining National Forensic League All-American student honors in 2003 and 2004.

In 2004 the National Forensic League recognized Brandstetter and the Harker Speech & Debate Society with the diamond key award for coach-directed success.

In addition, the annual Harker Invitational Debate Tournament has been a tremendous success in all five years of its existence, with 20 schools from California, Oregon and Nevada (see related stor y in this issue).

Brandstetter’s role in building this outstanding program, and the successes of the many students involved in Harker’s Speech and Debate club, is clear. However, Brandstetter ultimately credits the school’s leadership for the club’s success. “The tradition of speech and debate at The Harker School is predicated on the principles of Harker News — November 04

focus

debate

quality, integrity and effectiveness, and this tradition owes its existence to Howard and Diana Nichols who shared a visionar y ideal and saw to its realization during the formation of the upper school,” he said. “The students and faculty involved with this program will always be indebted to them for their generous support of forensic activities.”

Given the amount of success the debate team has amassed in its short histor y, there is obviously enough credit to go around. We commend Brandstetter – and the more than 200 Harker debaters over the past six years – for building such an outstanding, nationally recognized program, and we wish them all continued success!

Top Left: Speech & Debate members check-in on their way to the Woodward Debate.

Bottom Left: The Debate team prepares materials at the team meeting to begin the school year in 2003.

Above: Harker debaters at Stanford University in 2001.

Pictured, from left to right, are Nayan Mehra ’04, Edward Peng ’04, Mathias Belayneh ’04, Sheena Tomar ’01, Margaret Chen ’04, and Sridhar Chadalavada ’04.

Fifth Annual Harker Debate Tournament the “Best Ever!”

The Fifth Annual Harker Invitational Debate Tournament was held Sept.

25 and 26 on the Saratoga campus with 20 schools from California, Oregon and Nevada participating.’

“The on-time performance, good judging, great food and helpful atmosphere is indeed a hallmark of The Harker School and an integral part of its tradition,” said Matthew Brandstetter, communication department chair and director of forensics. He also praised and thanked all of the parent volunteers. “Some of the parents have been engaged in planning for this event since early Februar y, and were here early mornings and

late evenings during the tournament weekend.”

Brandstetter, along with U.S. history and public speaking teacher Jennifer Fields and debate teacher Tim Mahoney, commented on the wonderful impression Harker made throughout the tournament. “The Harker Speech and Debate Society members did an outstanding job representing our school,” said Brandstetter. “Several of their peers and coaches from other schools commented on how helpful our students were throughout the tournament weekend.” He noted that there was a tremendous sense

of pride among the debate club that Dr. J.W. Patterson, director of debate at the University of Kentucky and director of the Tournament of Champions, visited the campus during the tournament

and was very impressed with the support for the debate program. In short, Brandstetter said, “The collective effort of the Harker community “made this year’s tournament event the best ever!”

Debate Tournament Renamed to Honor Howard and Diana Nichols Communication department chair and director of forensics Matthew Brandstetter was joined by Gr. 12 Harker debaters Arjun Naskar, Linda Yen and Nilay Gandhi, and Gr. 11 debaters Amulya Mandava and Meghana Dhar, in honoring Howard and Diana Nichols by officially renaming the Harker Invitational Debate Tournament as the Howard and Diana Nichols Invitational Debate Tournament.

Thanks to Tourney Volunteers!

The weekend of the Harker Invitational Debate Tournament was a busy one for Speech & Debate parent volunteers. Harker’s alumni debate parents generously contributed to the coaches’ reception on Friday

Once again, it was a high-spirited group of parent Mark Tantrum

volunteers who dedicated a beautiful fall weekend in service to The Harker School. evening and were even seen tending sausages and burgers over smoking barbeque grills on Sun. for lunch service. Volunteer kitchen crews hummed on Fri. evening and throughout the day on Sat. and Sun. preparing and serving meals to feed the hungr y crowd of youthful debaters and coaches. Other volunteers were on hand to welcome, direct and super vise in the rooms during the debate competitions. Once again, it was a high-spirited group of parent volunteers who dedicated a beautiful fall weekend in ser vice to The Harker School.

Howard Nichols, in reference to the tremendous success the debate program has enjoyed since its inception in 1998, said, “The idea of bringing debate to Harker, and that debate was a good match at Harker has certainly proven to be the case.”

The surprise announcement nearly brought Diana Nichols to tears.

She said, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this honor. It’s really wonderful.”

—Nancy Reiley, Director of Community Relations Harker News — November 04

21

briefs

Mark Tantrum

are sure to be tough competitors at this month’s St. Victor’s Tournament. After holding the fifth and sixth graders of Hillbrook to zero touchdowns and six negative rush yards in the first half, the Gr. 5 D boys flag football boys had difficulty doing the same against the boys from Hillbrook in the second half. With a 0-1 record under the command of David Eng, Adam Boone, Stephen Hughes, Rahul Madduluri, Saagar Sarin and Gene Wong, the boys have been preparing themselves for two

22

games versus Rainbow Bridge, a game against St. Christopher’s, and a rematch versus Hillbrook.

The Gr. 4 boys flag football team has been preparing themselves over the last few weeks and look forward to facing the 5th grade boys in a full length, officiated game in early November.

This season, both the Gr. 8 A1 and Gr. 7 B1 girls volleyball teams have shown what it takes to beat tough opponents like Carden, Hillbrook and Valley Christian. The A1 team has a record 3-1 in league matches, and with a 3rd place finish at the St. Justin’s Tournament, the team was ecstatic when they took the top prize at this years St. Victor’s Tournament.

With some serving and hitting help from Candace Silva-Martin and Kristina Bither, this team of girls was able to win their division of the St. Victor’s tournament 5th, 6th, 7th, and now their 8th grade year! The B1 team is 2-1 in league and with the skillful awareness of Alysia Patel, Kendra Moss and Amy Rorabaugh, they are looking forward to an upset at the upcoming St. Victor’s Tournament this month. With a slight stumble out of the gates, both the A2 and B2 girls volleyball teams look to better themselves by squeezing a few wins out of their remaining games. Sarah Estrada, Shefali Netke and the rest of the B2 girls are sure to impress after

almost beating out tough opponents in close 3rd game matches. The C1 girls volleyball team is off to a great start, as well, and led by Kristina Little and Henna Mishra, the team is currently 3-3 in league. The Gr. 5 D girls volleyball team has a record of 1-0. They defeated a strong serving team from Apostles winning game one by a score of 25-21, losing the second game 25-23, and coming back in the third game 15-13. The Gr. 4 girls volleyball team is enjoying a year of developing their skills and solidifying the fundamentals of volleyball as they prepare for competition next year. With over 90 participants, the LS swimmers (Gr. 4-6) have been training and working hard in anticipation of their intramural swim meet at Bucknall. Each swimmer has had hours of swim instruction and they are excited to show what they have learned later this month.

—Theresa “Smitty” Smith, Gr. 4-8 Athletic Director, and Nick Gassmann, Coach

Upper School A casual glance at the Mercury News sports page recently offered a glimpse into the Harker sports program. Starting off, one saw that the Harker volleyball team cruised to a three game victory over WBAL foe Mercy Burlingame. Taking the three games at scores of 25-20, 25-14, and 25-21, the Eagles

improved their league record to 51, and their overall record to 14-3.

Behind the dominating performances of freshman Tanya Schmidt and her sister, junior Sylvia Schmidt, the team is having its finest season ever. After taking defending league champion Castilleja to five games recently, losing the last game 13-15, the team is eagerly awaiting the

Steven Wong, parent

With a record of 4-0, the Gr. 8 Harker A boys flag football team has planted a strong foothold in league play thus far. With wins over Hillbrook (15-14) and Los Altos (1812), and more dominant victories over Valley Christian (27-6) and Carden (36-6), Arman Gupta, Jasper Liao, and the rest of the Harker Eagles stand poised to win this year’s St. Victor’s Flag Football Tournament. While boasting a 4-1 record, the Gr. 7 boys B flag football team has also gained much respect in their division, and is sure to continue their success as the season continues. With the help of Ryan Cali and Lung-Ying Yu, the team has been able to crush teams like Los Altos (38-6), Apostles Lutheran (46-6), and Achiever Christian (29-12), and has yet to meet a foe this year that doesn’t expect them to be a tough opponent in league play. Under the leadership of young pigskin slinger Timmy Lin and a receiving core of Gautam Krishnamurthi, Rishi Sharma, Brennan Kee and Guillaume Delepine, the C boys flag football team’s record of 2-1 has become a bit deceptive.

Looking past the loss they have won two, and with a stifling defense

Mark Tantrum

Lower & Middle School

rematch that will decide the league champion.

Looking elsewhere in the newspaper, there’s a victory for the Eagles soccer team. Behind the two goals of sophomore forward Adam Rubin, the Eagles defeated PSAL rival Fremont Christian. After a slow start the Eagles have won two in a row, defeating Pinewood 2-0 as well.

Glancing further down the page, there was the heartbreak of coming oh so close to a championship. The girls golf team, looking to complete the season undefeated, came up a single stroke short, in a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame San Jose, with the final score being 203-204.

Steven Wong, parent

SPORTS

Harker News — November 04

Cross country coach Philippe Gonzalez is pleased with the progress of the team. In their most recent race, the team improved their personal best times across the board. A cross country race is 2.8 miles, usually up and down hills and steep slopes. Discipline and determination are keys to successful cross country running, with a great deal of training and conditioning. This is not a sport for the timid!

The football team was gearing up for the annual homecoming game, entering the fray with a 2-3 record, coming off a tough 15-8 loss to St. Vincent of Petaluma. The team earned a come from behind 22-16 victory over Burton HS the previous week. Often outmanned and always undersized, the team plays with courage and heart, providing exciting and entertaining football.

Although the team came up short in the homecoming game vs Berean Christian, they fought hard and competed with pride. Many injuries to key players have left the team shorthanded. They look to get back on track against Kings Academy.

Each of the US classes chose a city to theme their spirit week activities around this year (Freshmen –

Honolulu; Sophomores – New York; Juniors – North Pole; Seniors – Hollywood), and the week’s activities included a Cab Relay (raced on tricycles), a pool relay with swimmers holding props representing their cities, and skits and lip-synch routines. The seniors claimed victory once again at the annual half-time Homecoming Tugof-War, earning the right to display

the Seniors Rule sign at the entrance to the Edge.

This year the US began a new tradition, and built floats during the week before Homecoming – in their city theme – and then paraded them around the track the night of the game. The week long Homecoming Competition was won by the Class of 2006 (juniors), with a whopping 11,550 points! Sophomores earned 8,700 points, seniors earned 7,950 and freshmen earned 4,500.

Spirit week culminated with a Homecoming dance Saturday night attended by over 400 students, and sponsored by FBLA and the senior class.

US activity director Chris Daren said, “The changes the sponsors made to the Homecoming dance, such as formal dress and decorations, elevated this to one of the best dances of the year. They did a great job!”

Will Courchesne, Talon staff

Finally, in sifting through the myriad of high school sports scores, it was noted that Harker defeated Mercy San Francicso in tennis by the score of 4-3, another closely contested win for the Eagles.

Behind sophomore sensation Christina Yee, the team is battling for second place in league this year. Currently, Yee is undefeated for the entire season, and recently won the singles championship at the prestigious Santa Catalina tournament, where many of the areas top players competed.

US Homecoming Spirit Week 2004

Mark Tantrum - all Spirit photos

However, by virtue of their 5-1 season record, combined with their early season defeat of Notre Dame, the team has earned a Cochampionship with Notre Dame!

Congratulations to the girls for successfully defending their WBAL title! The team should be proud of their accomplishments the past two years! Team members include Audrey Leung, Colleen Lee, Elyse Kim, Xin Wang, Tiffany Lau, Lauren Choi, Amy Huang and Kristie Cu. Coach Chris Colletti has been thrilled and impressed by the girls’ attitudes as well as their swings!

school

Freshmen Sophomores Juniors Seniors

Hillary Brooks, Talon staff - all float photos

upper

See you at the ball games!

—Jack Bither, US Athletic Director Harker News — November 04

23

from

the archives

Diana Nichols: Educating the Whole Child Editor’s Note: This is the second in this year’s “From the Archives” series to honor Howard and Diana Nichols as they prepare to retire at the end of this school year. This piece was researched and compiled by Harker Archivist Sue Smith.

One of Diana Nichols’ most important early contributions to Harker, where she started in 1973 as a 9th grade* biology teacher and

Program, with guidance and direction from Dr. Kenneth Blaker of the university. Beginning in 1981 Harker’s Personal Development curricula included courses in stress reduction and relaxation, building a positive self-image, and career planning. Students in Gr. 7 and 8 engaged in goal setting, self exploration and improving their communication skills, receiving

Diana’s early contributions in creating these important programs is still evidenced today and has helped form the legacy of outstanding student programs that is one of the many hallmarks of The Harker School. support and reinforcement in a small group learning environment.

Examples of small group lessons included students pairing up as “parents” to work on a list of three values they wanted to impart to their children. In 1987 Howard Nichols also led one of the student groups, and in an article in the school newsletter that year he said, “It’s fascinating to observe these thirteen and fourteen year olds realize how difficult it is to decide what they should promote as values to begin with, and then have to figure out how to do it.”

Harker Archives -all photos

department chair, was her insight and appreciation for the emotional needs of the students. As a teacher Diana Nichols always saw her role as a student advocate, and she felt that students had unique challenges as they transitioned into high school, and that high selfesteem and values clarification was essential to success. While working on her masters’ degree in Marriage and Family Counseling at Santa Clara University in the early 80s, Nichols developed curricula for Harker’s Personal Development

Dan Gelineau, former MS dean, facilitating a small group discussion during a personal development class in 1988.

Today Dan Gelineau, who led some of these groups for many years, recalls, “One of the favorites for the students was called The Student Court. In this activity the students were part of a trial jury, judging a fictitious scenario involving students and ethics, such

The Harker News is published nine times per year by the Harker Office of Communications. Current and archived issues are also available on the Parent Home Page on the Harker Web site at www.harker.org.

Editor: Pam Dickinson; Asst. Editors: Terry Walsh, Crystal Boyd; Photography: Mark Tantrum; Contributors: Ali Abdollahi, Cathy Snider, Jaja Hsuan, Laura Vandendries, Chris Daren, Nick Gassmann; Design: Blue Heron Design; Printing: Harker Copy Shop; Mailing Coordinator: Ashley Sukovez, Jerusha Hew Len

24

as cheating, seeing a friend shoplifting, etc. Each of us played the role of judge and Diana provided us with judicial robes to wear during the class, adding to the realism for the students.”

Howard Nichols, who was headmaster at that time, teaching a personal development class in 1987

In the early 80s Diana also launched Harker’s counseling program, which was developed as a key program in the school’s effort to develop mature and academically successful graduates.

Under Diana’s leadership and management, the counseling staff was skilled in identifying the source of a student’s difficulties, and in helping students overcome them.

helped form the legacy of outstanding student programs that is one of the many hallmarks of The Harker School. *Harker Academy consisted of grades K-9 from 1972 - 1979.

Grande 9 was dropped in 1979 and Harker continued to be a K-8 school until the upper school was launched in 1999.

Diana Nichols as vice principal in 1979. At this time, Nichols was working on her MFC at Santa Clara University as she developed the personal development classes.

For many students, the problem was simply a question of budgeting time for homework or improving study habits, and Diana and the counselors worked together to devise solutions for individual students.

Diana’s early contributions in creating these important programs is still evidenced today, and has

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

Coming Next Month: “Howard Nichols – From Palo Alto to Saratoga Avenue” Click on the Tribute to the Nichols link on the Harker Web site and share your memories and congratulations!

Grades K-6: 4600 Bucknall Rd., San Jose CA 95130 Phone 408.871.4600 • Fax 408.871.4320 Grades 7-12: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose CA 95129 Phone 408.249.2510 • Fax 408.984.2325

The Harker School does not discriminate in the administration of its educational policies, athletics or other school-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices on the basis of age, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or nonjob-related handicap.

Harker News — November 04