2007 March Harker News

MARCH 2007 (VOL. 13, NO. 6) est. 1893 • K-12 college prep

M o n t h l y

inside Exciting technology in LS classrooms ....................... 6 Gr. 5 show “Dig It!’ dazzles audience .......................... 8 March is Global Awareness Month ............................. 13 “An Incredible Feat” is just that ............................... 15

events Summer registration online now!

Join Ray for summer fun and learning!

N e w s l e t t e r

f r o m

2007

Dance JAMZ Fri., March 16 • 7 p.m.

Sat., March 17 • 7 p.m.

Blackford Auditorium Middle School Campus Tickets: $5/All To purchase tickets e-mail tickets@harker.org

Blackford’s gym rang with the ancient clatter of cold steel in furious combat in early February as over 200 young fencers converged at the United States Fencing Association’s second Regional Youth Circuit of the season.

In the event, hosted by the Elite Musketeer Fencers Club (EMFC), which also runs Harker’s fencing programs, fencers – as young as eight and as old as 18 – fought in 21 events in foil, epee and saber.

The Bay Area is a stronghold of fencing, with nine of the top 18 Youth-14 foilists in the country based here, so there were many hotly-contested battles for the medals and trophies being awarded.

who participate in the sport as an after-school activity, including freshmen Christopher Polson, Maggie Woods, Erica Hansen and Alex Fotland, sophomore Alyssa Donovan, junior Tiffany Yu, and senior Alex Vuko, who refereed at the tournament. Current MS afterschool activity participants include Michael Cheng, Sean Fernandes, Hannah Gorelik, Christopher Pellissier, Dylan Qian, Nathan Sowards, Hansa Srinivasan, Eric Swenson, Erik Andersen, Kiran Arimilli, Michal Kranz and Ravi Tadinada.

The Regional Youth Circuit (RYC)

S c h o o l

is a series of tournaments created to facilitate the development of future Olympic teams. Participants of Under 10 and Under 12 events automatically qualified for the 2007 U.S. Summer National Championships in Miami. The competition also included California School Open Cup events, so teens up to age 18 could compete.

“Fencing is becoming one of the most popular school and college sports in the United States,” said Harker fencing coach Valerie Rosenblatt, founder and head coach at EMFC. “It is also among the top scholarship opportunity sports in the United States.

Harker was among the first schools in the Bay Area to introduce fencing as part of their P.E. and club programs.” Rosenblatt is also one of two RYC coordinators for the western states.

For more information about fencing at Harker, contact Rosenblatt at valerie@emfc.net.

Wiseman Wisdom Shared at Harker-hosted Event Passionate, practical and funny, best-selling author Rosalind Wiseman recently talked to an audience of about 130, which included parents, counselors and administrators from Bay Area private schools, at a Common Ground parent education event hosted by Harker at the Blackford campus. Wiseman’s guiding principle was, “Dignity is not negotiable.” She touched on various topics including the power of social currency, unethical behavior in school and on its playground, misuse of power in technology and cyber-bullying.

Continued on page 16

Harker News — March 07

Ha r k e r

Harker Hosts, Fencers Compete in RYC Fencing Event

Four Harker fencers participated in both the RYC and in the California High School Open held along with RYC events: Erica Hansen, Gr. 9, Justin Iso, Gr. 10, Isaac Madan, Gr. 8, and Ambrish Amaranathan, Gr. 8. Harker has many fencers

2007 Middle School Dance Production

t h e

Supplied by Anita Hansen, parent

A

Harker Gr. 5 students enjoyed a sneak preview of MS life during the annual Step Up Day, and our MS students were great hosts.

See page 8 for story!

editor’s note At press time, Harker faculty came together for an annual retreat to refine practices, share knowledge and contemplate the future. The keynote presentation, a “Cyber World of Trouble,” presented by Katie Koestner, provided valuable and stimulating food for thought.

At Harker, no one sits on their laurels. Whether it’s a student, a staff member, a teacher, or an administrator, Harker is an inspiring community of lifelong learners.

What a great place to be!

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

safety As part of an effort to improve safety around schools, the California Highway Patrol has instituted a program called Operation Safe Passage. CHP and San Jose Police Department teams spent time around the campuses of many area schools – including Harker’s in January – to observe and evaluate particular traffic situations. “However, our expectation at Harker is that everyone demonstrates careful and safe driving practices each day,”explained Joe Gill, assistant head of school, non-academics.

correction Based on information provided to us at press time, the February Harker News reported that Harker was the only school with three semifinalists in the 2007 Intel Science Talent Research contest. It has since been clarified that Harker is the only school in Northern California with three semifinalists, and several other schools in other areas have had multiple semifinalists. Harker New strives for accuracy in every article and regrets the error.

important dates

annual giving

Visit the Web calendars for the latest detailed date information for each division.

Heartfelt Thanks!

n Mon., Mar. 19 – CAIS Teachers’ Meeting. No classes K-Gr. 12 n Mon.-Fri., Apr. 2-6 – Spring Break. No classes K-Gr. 12 n Mon., Apr. 9 – K-Gr. 12 classes resume

CAIS Teachers’ Meeting Teachers to Share Knowledge With Colleagues Harker teachers will participate in an annual conference sponsored by the California Association of Independent Schools on Mar. 19, at Menlo School in Atherton. This all-day event allows teachers from all over the region to share ideas about pedagogy, and to get renewed inspiration from colleagues. “It is unique among such meetings in that emphasis is placed as much on the professional development of the presenters as the attendees, offering a chance for teachers to collaborate, to network and to practice the skills of teacher leadership,” reads the CAIS Web site.

In an impressive showing, nine Harker teachers are presenting workshops: Lisa Diffenderfer (LS asst. director of technology), Dan Matthews (US physics), Craig Michalski (MS English), Susan Nace (US music), Angela Neff (MS asst. director of technology), Richard Page (US computer science), Eileen Shick (LS math), Lauri Vaughan (US librarian) and Donna Ward (MS librarian). Their topics range from using new technology in classrooms, to the changing male singing voice, to “The Secrets of a Successful Socratic Seminar.”

Librarian Invasion Harker hosted a meeting of the Bay Area Independent School Librarians (BAISL) in mid-January on the Blackford campus. About 80 librarians, from Marin to Monterey, met in, of course, the library and in the MPR. The agenda provided for presentations on visual literacy and CE-MARC cataloging, as well as the less daunting “Harker School Puppeteers and Surprise Song.” There were workshops on booktalking (broken down by grade level) and how the above-mentioned CE-MARC cataloging can contribute to standards, critical thinking and assessment. Harker’s own battery of librarians, Director Enid Davis, Kathy Clark (LS), Donna Ward (MS), Sue Smith and Lauri Vaughan (both US) all participated in the presentations.

Staff Update n He’s always been a hero at Harker, but now Robb Cutler, assistant head of school for operations and finance, has been named an official District 1 Hero by the City of San Jose. Mayor Ron Gonzales and then-council member Linda J. LeZotte recognized Cutler on Dec. 12, citing his “deep commitment to improving his neighborhood and his entire community ... through the development of the Blackford Area’s top-ten priorities under the San Jose Strong Neighborhoods Initiative and the creation of a long-term vision for a healthy and strong Blackford neighborhood.” n Kristin Giammona, head of the elementary division, is participating on a WASC/CAIS accreditation team. The Western Association of Schools and California Association for Independent Schools awards accreditation to schools which meet their rigorous guidelines for excellence. Giammona will be visiting San Domenico School in Marin from March 4-7 with six other educators. n Stop by and say hello to Harker’s new library intern, Carolyn Bean, who started in mid-January. Bean is a graduate student in San Jose State University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences program.

“Carolyn has an interest in theater and children’s literature, how children research and how children think,” said Enid Davis, library director. “She is very excited about getting to know our community.” Bean will be at the LS campus on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, assisting our stellar staff of librarians through April.

The logo appearing at the end of some of our stories throughout the year indicates those activities or programs funded

by Annual Giving. See page 4 for update.

tuition info Tuition Due: June 15 This year tuition for the 2007-08 school year is due in full on June 15, 2007. All returning and new Harker families will be billed in the May 16 statement.

New this year: Families can pay the entire tuition with a credit card (MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club or Discover) via the CASHNet SMARTPAY online facility. Just click “Tuition Payment Services” link at the top of each of the division Web pages, and follow the instructions.

Our decision to move our tuition due date two weeks earlier now puts us in line with most other private schools in the area, and allows us to know sooner what openings we will have so we can fill them with the best candidates on our waiting list.

For questions regarding payments or account balances, contact Randall Dukes in the business office at randalld@ harker.org or 553.0362. For general tuition questions, please contact Nan Nielsen in the admissions office at nann@harker.org.

intern Becky Yanovsky, Gr. 11, a staffer on the Winged Post, is interning for The Harker News this spring. Beginning this issue, she will write the Kid Talk feature and other articles, as time permits. Welcome, Becky!

Harker News — March 07

HEAD

lines

“It’s ten o’clock, do you know where your children are?”

Technology: A Faustian Bargain

Neil Postman, author of “Technopoly,” reminds us that technological advances are always a Faustian bargain containing both gain and loss. The invention of the automobile is an emblematic example of the gain and loss inherent in technological advance. Can we imagine a world without cars and the benefits of horseless travel? On the other hand, is it difficult to imagine the consequences that automobiles have visited upon our environment, atmosphere and lives? Upon reflection, one can attach a similarly polarized perspective to any form of technology.

“The Internet is the telephone party line of the 21st century.”

I am not a Luddite, nor am I advocating rolling back technological advance.

We really don’t have the power to do so anyway. The genie is out of the bottle, Pandora’s Box is opened, the toothpaste cannot be put back into the tube – use any cliché you like. I am not even suggesting that consequences of technological advance outweigh the benefits. Most of the time they do not, and that is why we make the Faustian bargain.

The Internet and the Information Age present us with an abundance of new technological forms that compel us to make the same bargain. Just over the past few years, the enhancements in our ability to upload content to the Internet have radically transformed our personal, creative and social lives. The ability to blog, podcast, upload videos and upload personal content has ushered in what The Economist calls “The Age of Participation” (Apr. ’06). As with any new technology, these powerful tools have great benefits, particularly in the areas of creative expression, information sharing, personal networking and democratic participation. Of course, the misuse of this technology has some unfortunate consequences about which young people show an astounding dose of naïveté.

Most adults today who are “digital immigrants” grew up in a world where many of their youthful transgressions or indulgences disappeared into thin air. A conversation with a close friend, an ill-judged prank, a confession in a diary or even some rumor-mongering all occurred, sometimes with hurtful consequences, without digital preservation for posterity. Today, young people can video pranks or teasing and post them on the Internet; they can record on a blog for the whole world to see their innermost thoughts and feelings about important people in their lives; they can post sensitive information about where they live and attend school, complete with their names and photos, again for everyone to see.

“We are asking all parents to have a serious dialogue with their children about what they may be posting on the Internet.”

For some reason, though digitally savvy, young people seem to be completely unaware of the potential ramifications of uploading personal content. Anyone can potentially view their content: school officials, friends, future employers (yes, employers are now “Googling” candidates), admissions committees and classmates. I often remind students and families that the Internet is insecure (most of the content is not protected), permanent (the content remains for years), and public (anyone can view the content). Students are not pouring out their thoughts into a private Harker News — March 07

diary, nor are they having late-night conversations at sleepovers that disappear into the air. They are communicating private, personal and sometimes hurtful content in a public venue. The Internet is the telephone party line of the 21st century.

Those of us who came of age in the 1970s remember a public service announcement, sponsored by the Church of Latter Day Saints, that was broadcast on television each night at 10 p.m.: “It’s ten o’clock, do you know where your children are?”

Well, it’s the 21st century, do you know what your children are doing on the Internet? Hugh Downs said that the Internet is like the street. We don’t let our children roam the streets without supervision, do we? I am constantly reminding parents that work on the computer is not necessarily academic.

We are asking all parents to have a serious dialogue with their children about what they may be posting on the Internet. Young people have to understand that uploading personal, hurtful, inappropriate or compromising material to the Internet not only hurts them but others too. At The Harker School, we hold students accountable for their behavior outside of school, including online. We have had to address these issues before, and it is not our favorite thing to do. More importantly, we need to raise awareness about some of the ramifications of the online behavior we have described.

It starts with education. We are constantly working to educate ourselves, parents and students about these topics. Most recently, we invited Katie Koestner to give our students in grades 6-12 and all teachers a talk titled “A Cyberworld of Trouble” on the Friday before winter break.

Plato hypothesized that the invention of writing would lead to memory loss, because humans, relying on symbols instead of their own mental capacity, would slowly lose the ability to memorize. We certainly cannot imagine a world without words, can we? Each technology has its price, and it is up to us to make sure our young people don’t pay more than they have to.

—Christopher Nikoloff, Head of School

Parents Enjoy Another Joint Venture The second Joint Venture this year brought out over 70 US alumni and current parents for a fun evening of meeting and visiting. These informal parent socials, organized by the advancement office, are pot-luck gatherings, offered in November and January each year.

Terry Walsh - all photos

We live in an age of a bewildering proliferation of technological advance. Of course, we have experienced this before. The 19th century saw profound societal change, wrought by steam and coal, which shaped the direction of the 20th century. Technological and scientific advances in the past, such as the invention of the alphabet, the discovery of the Copernican solar system and the use of the wheel for transport radically transformed the ages.

chef’s

corner

harker

fund

March is Melon Madness Month!

Corporate and Foundation Grants

Harker will celebrate not just with the everyday melons, like watermelons and cantaloupe (officially known as muskmelon), but by trotting out several varieties. At home, for a nutritious, tasty snack or side dish, you can choose from honeydew, casaba or crenshaw melons, make a fruit kabob with the different varieties, or scoop out a watermelon and make a fruit salad using melon balls, grapes, apples and oranges. On the go? Placed sliced wedges in a self-sealing bag as you head out to soccer practice. Culinary tip: be sure to wash the outside of your melon before slicing into it, or the knife may transfer harmful bacteria from the rind to the flesh of the fruit.

In the last issue of The Harker News, we mentioned that we’d be providing more information on the grants we plan to pursue. After reviewing dozens of corporate and foundation grants, we have selected six as high priority.

Three of these foundations could potentially provide funds in support of the Capital Campaign (see the supplement in this mailing for more details), specifically for the Science & Technology Center’s “green” features.

Remember, March is National Nutrition Month. You’ll see fruit and melon kabobs, chilled melon soup and plenty of fresh melons in your child’s cafeteria.

—Chef Steve Martin

March is National Nutrition Month®

It is also important to note that children who are overweight do not necessarily have to go on a diet. Often just replacing snack-type foods (chips, soft drinks, etc.) with fruits and vegetables – in conjunction with being more active (watching less TV, playing fewer video games) – helps children reach their appropriate weight. Fad diets can be particularly harmful for children and adolescents who are still growing and need a variety of nutrients.

A key factor in children developing a healthy lifestyle is role modeling: • Wash the grapes and hand out a bunch to the entire family (including yourself).

• Grab bananas as you head out to the park.

• Get your kids to plan a meal or a side dish once a week and discuss ways to add whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And younger kids can improve their fine motor skills while helping you cut strawberries!

—Anne Kolker, MS, RD, Harker Nutritionist

“Your participation in the Annual Giving Campaign will demonstrate to outside funders such as these that we have a strong community that supports our mission.”

While we’re excited to be exploring these funding opportunities, there’s no guarantee we’ll be selected. Statistics in the U.S. show that 89% of charitable contributions come from individuals, not corporations or foundations. Philanthropy at The Harker School begins within our own community of parents, faculty and staff, alumni, alumni parents and friends.

PA

This month’s nutrition message from the American Dietetic Association is “Fad Free.” By definition, a fad is an interest followed with exaggerated zeal. For instance, fashion fads can be fun for the time until we see ourselves later in a photograph and ask: “What was I thinking?” Food fads may not be safe and may not help you in your goal of obtaining a healthier lifestyle. Some funny-sounding food fad diets of the past include the Grapefruit Diet and the Juice Diet, and they suggest, incorrectly, that these types of foods actually help burn fat. High protein diets (low in carbohydrates) are starting to lose steam, as well. These types of diets can be hard to follow long-term and you may miss out on several other important nutrients present in foods, such as whole wheat bread, fruits and vegetables.

People do initially lose weight on these diets due to low calories and water loss, but after six months most people regain their lost weight. Long-term success with fad diets has yet to be proven compared to common sense eating – eating more whole foods and consuming less processed foods.

Three other organizations provide funds in support of other areas of need: • Edward E. Ford Foundation, which awards $50,000 to selected private, independent schools. These funds are used for programs such as faculty retention, professional development, endowments and more.

• Malone Family Foundation, which grants up to $2,000,000 to private schools for scholarships.

• Intel Corporation awards $10,000 cash – plus $150,000 in products and services – through its Intel Schools of Distinction program.

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60% NT

Your participation in the Annual Giving Campaign will demonstrate to outside funders such as these that we have a strong community that supports our mission.

If you haven’t made your gift yet this year, you may do so online by clicking on “Giving” from the Harker home page, or you may drop off your gift at the front office of any of our campuses.

ON

Melon Trivia (answers on page 16) True or False: 1. Melons are related to squashes and cucumbers.

2. Melons are one of the rare fruits native to California.

3. There are four varieties of watermelon.

4. Muskmelons are high in vitamins A, C and betacarotene.

5. Melons get sweeter off the vine.

The three grants we plan to apply for in this area are: • Applied Materials Foundation • William G. Irwin Foundation • Mary A. Crocker Trust In total, these foundations could make over $1 million available.

I AT PA R T I C I P

—Melinda Gonzales, Director of Annual Giving

Cisco Parents Make Connection We would like to extend our appreciation to our Cisco parents who have made generous in-kind gifts of Cisco equipment. Because of their gifts, our three campuses are now integrated into one voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone system. Faculty and staff may call between campuses using only a three-digit extension, which will result in cost savings on our phone bills. When a parent calls one campus, they can also now be easily transferred to another campus without having to hang up and call back. Thank you very much to our Cisco parents for their support!

Harker News — March 07

SPORTS Student Thanks “For the past 7 years, I have been involved in the after-school dance program. The money you have donated has paid for costumes, sets and props, late supervision, guest choreographers and more.

With your help, we have produced marvelous, exciting and successful shows.”

—Shreya Nathan, Gr. 8

“My favorite thing provided by Annual Giving was the field trip to Hidden Villa. I liked it because we hiked up the mountain and ate lunch at the top. We made butter out of fresh milk, we painted our faces and we heard a coyote.

Thank you!”

—Gabi Gupta, Gr. 4

briefs

A monthly update from our coaches – go Eagles!

LS Sports n Boys Basketball Congratulations to the D1 (Gr. 5) boys basketball team for completing the first-ever undefeated season. “The boys worked extremely hard to achieve this accomplishment,” said Walid Fahmy, assistant athletic director, K-8.

Members are: Adarsh Battu, Brian Bither, Kilian Burke, Ashwin Chalaka, Suraj Chandrasekhar, Darian Edvalson, Kevin Gao, John Hughes, Sean Knudsen, Kevin Mohanram, Kevin Moss, Nicholas Navarro, Jithin Vellian, Sean Youn, Andrew Zhu. MVP: Bither; Eagle: Navarro; Coach’s Award: Moss.

The D2 (Gr. 5) boys went 0-2, MVP: Samir Baz; Eagle: Avinash Nayak.

Coach’s Award: Alex Pei. Gr. 4 boys basketball MVP: Jeremiah Anderson; Eagle: Matthew Ho; Coach’s Award: Nicholas Nguyen. n Girls Soccer Gr. 5 girls soccer went 0-2. MVP: Shazdeh Hussain; Eagle: Laura Thacker; Coach’s Award: Saachi Jain.

Gr. 4 girls soccer Eagle: Alyssa Amick and Alexandra Walker; Coach’s Award: Delaney Martin and Meghana Appalaraju.

C1 boys (Gr. 6) went 6-2 with a second place finish in the Harker Tournament. MVP: Nikhil Panu; Eagle: Kevin Cali; Coach’s Award: Vincent Yao. C2 boys (Gr. 6) went 3-2. MVP: Arihant Jain; Eagle: David Lindars; Coach’s Award: Michael Cheng. n Girls Soccer A girls soccer went 30. MVP: Monisha Appalaraju, Gr. 8; Eagle: Veronica Bither, Gr. 7; Coach’s Award: Ava Rezvani, Gr. 8.

B girls soccer went 2-2. MVP: Adrienne Mendel; Eagle: Jenny Chen; Coach’s Award: Lorraine Wong, all Gr. 6. n Wrestling The MS wrestling team had four boys qualify for the California State Folkstyle Championships coming up in March. At the Big Easy Folkstyle Championships held in January, Brennan Kee, Gr. 8, took first place in the 70 lbs. category, Santosh

MS Sports The MS boys basketball and girls soccer teams enjoyed very successful seasons! Reminder: tennis, boys volleyball, girls volleyball, baseball and swimming all start on March 19! n Boys Basketball A1 boys basketball (Gr. 8) went 5-5 and took the Consolation Championship at the Queen of Apostles Tournament. MVP: Spencer Jordan; Eagle: Kevin Kai; Coach’s Award: Nicholas Kehriotis. A2 boys went 0-2, but still have the St. Chris Tournament to play. Eagle: Anshul Jain; Coach’s Award: Ramamahesh Seeni. B1 boys (Gr. 7) went 4-4 and took second place in the Harker Hoops Classic. MVP: Stephen Hughes; Eagle: Ananth Subramaniam; Coach’s Award: David Fang.

B2 boys (Gr. 7) went 1-3. MVP: Chaitanya Malladi; Eagle: Kovid Puria; Coach’s Award: Murali Joshi.

Harker News — March 07

Swaminathan, Gr. 8, took second place in the 95 lbs category, Alex Kablanian, Gr. 8, took second place in the 100 lbs. category, and Chris McCallaCreary, Gr. 8, took third place in the 110 lbs. category.

US Sports n Boys Basketball Both JV and varsity boys basketball teams defeated St. Lawrence, in January, with Alex Abarca, Gr. 10, scoring 17 for the varsity. The varsity team defeated Fremont Christian 54-34, with 20 points from Abarca and 12 from senior Lucas Motro, Gr. 12. Varsity is 9-12 overall, and 5-7 in league play. The JV team is undefeated in league play at 11-1, as of press time.

defeated Woodside Priory 47-42 in a close match held at Blackford.

Senior Natasha Sarin had 13 points, junior Melissa Chen had three three-pointers on her way to 12 points, and freshman Kacie Kaneyuki added 10 points in the win. Varsity had a tough loss against Castilleja. Senior Faustine Liao had 11 points in the game. The girls are 813 overall, and 3-8 in league play. Our girls JV basketball team had a tremendous, double-overtime victory at St. Lawrence.

Coach Mike Smith in an e-mail stated: “We used all guts and heart to beat St Lawrence in double overtime in one of the best wins I’ve ever been associated with in any sport at any level.” Congratulations girls! n Girls Soccer Congratulations to our girls soccer team for their senior day victory over Mercy by the score of 2-1.

Goals were scored by sophomore Michelle Lin and senior Julia Price-Madison, with an assist by sophomore Kristina Bither.

Girls soccer is currently 2-8 in league and 6-11-1 overall. Bither is among the scoring leaders in all of CCS with 15 goals. n Wrestling Freshman Cole Davis has won two tournaments so far this season, sophomore Ian Hoffman has earned first, third and sixth place finishes, freshman Stephen Wang has placed third and sixth in recent tournaments, classmate Mark Roh has second, fourth and fifth place finishes and freshman Bogdan Spitters has second and fourth place finishes. n Special Sports Kudos Junior Tanya Schmidt received another high honor when she was recently recognized by prepvolleyball.com as one of the top 50 junior volleyball players in the nation!

n Girls Basketball Our girls varsity basketball team

Lower

school

Author Kurtz Speaks at Assemblies

From Boardroom to Classroom

Author Jane Kurtz visited in January, entertaining the entire school in three assemblies. Gr. 1 teacher Rita Stone suggested Kurtz would make a good speaker: “I first became acquainted with Ms. Kurtz when I attended the International Reading Association Annual Conference in Chicago, this past spring,” said Stone.

Beyond the eBeam (see Harker News, Feb. 2007), LS classrooms are pushing the technology envelope in other ways. “I have been extremely excited about being able to use not only eBeam technology,” said Gr. 3 teacher Howard Saltzman, “but I am also one of

been fun learning how to use all of this “newIt has technology and I have already seen a big difference in the way I am able to provide information about California history…

”

“I totally enjoyed her life’s history -- the fact that as a very young child she moved to Ethiopia with her family.

Kurtz wrote a number of books based on her experiences and memories of that country and the continent of Africa.

two teachers (Nina Anand is the other) who had their classrooms outfitted with a projector in the ceiling, a new DVD/video player and two new speakers in the classroom, along with the eBeam.

“It has been fun learning how to use all of this new technology and I have already seen a big difference in the way I am able to provide information about California histor y to my students, and the way I am able to … keep the third graders engaged. PowerPoint presentations enhanced by pictures, paintings and maps from Internet sites and the use of video clips from United Streaming (a video-on-demand and online teaching ser vice) have also been fun and exciting,” Saltzman noted.

“My teacher’s mind being what it is, I immediately wondered how I could bring this to my students. I decided to use her books, stories in the folk tale genre, to introduce my homeroom students to our study of Africa.

“I’ve used her books with my class and we’ve spent several weeks doing an author study. Having an actual author visit was extremely exciting to all the students. The children heard, from an author of numerous books, exactly what all of their teachers have been helping them discover: that writing is a process, we should write what we know, we use our memories and we should pay attention to the details around us because we just might be able to turn them into a story.”

The process of ramping up to new technology is a two-way street.

“I owe a lot to my colleagues for helping me with thoughts on how to use all of this technology effectively. Lisa Diffenderfer, Keith Hirota, Rob Regan and Jason Pergament have all helped me greatly,” added Saltzman.

Kurtz brought in copies of her own books from the Harker library and encouraged students to read more. Her stories and talk incorporated her experiences growing up in Africa as a child and she even taught the students some basic songs.

Visiting Quilters Share Craft

Homeroom classmate Jenna Sadhu said she found Kurtz, “inspiring because she really knows how to write books and taught me to believe in my dreams.”

Morgan Douglas, also from Stone’s homeroom, added, “I like Jane Kurtz because she’s bringing books to cultures, and helping other people.”

“Ms. Kurtz kept the students entertained and engrossed,” Stone said. “My students were absolutely delighted that during her presentation they recognized stories and illustrations we’ve shared in our classroom. She obviously made a big impression on the students.”

According to her Web site, janekurtz.com, Kurtz has published a score of books in the last dozen years, including readers, nonfiction, professional books for teachers and novels drawing on her childhood growing up in Ethiopia. Students at Harker were indeed fortunate to spend time with this fine author!

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Gerry-louise Robinson - both photos

Ania Kranz, from Stone’s homeroom, said, “I liked the pictures of the animals. I’ve never met an author before and it was very exciting.”

Kindergartners had a warming activity on a cold January day with a visit from the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. “Two wonderful quilters came and displayed many handmade quilts to the children,” said teacher Gerry-louise Robinson. “They explained the names of designs used in quilting, and then gave the children a sense of history by using the pictures on the quilts to tell a story of how the pioneers came to California.”

According to the museum’s Web site, the samples museum representatives bring to schools, “include African, Japanese, Hispanic and Native American designs, making them relevant to the culturally diverse student population of Santa Clara County.”

The students had a little hands-on time, too. “The children then were given pieces of fabric to design their own quilt squares, which were displayed on the board,” Robinson said.

“The children loved the vivid colors, the fabric used on the back of the quilts as it reinforced the pattern or story the quilt showed. They learned about the many uses of the square and other shapes,” Robinson added.

Harker News — March 07

Look Out Pixar, Here Comes Harker Over the last few months, Harker’s intrepid technology folks have brought Gr. 4 students into the world of multimedia presentations.

Joe Chung, of the computer science department, and Lisa Diffenderfer, assistant director of instructional technology, have been teaching the students how to create presentations using a program called Movie Works Deluxe. Each presentation includes student-created drawings, animations and voiceovers.

For this multimedia project, “the topic we

chose is School Daze and the project was to depict scenes of their choice on any subjects at school,” said Chung. “If students selected P.E. as one of their choices, they had the option of using the Paint program to illustrate that scene and/or using Animator to animate a scene. Students were required to create a total of five scenes – first and last being the title and closing scenes. In between, students chose three of their favorite subjects,” he noted.

Through this project, students learned some basic graphic design principles. “They learned when they create a presentation to limit text on their scene/slide and to maximize the design and creativity of their illustrations,” said Chung. “They also learned how to make good color choices.”

Trans-Ocean Conference a Hit In late January and early February, Harker students answered the question, “What do kindergartners talk about when they videoconference with peers in Japan?”

The videoconferencing with the Tamagawa School, our sister school in Japan, is an annual event, but as the youngest of Harker’s students, the participants find each time is fresh in some way.

The agenda for the first meeting had the groups compare daily foods and sing “This Old Man” to each other.

Harker students were decked out in their assembly uniforms for the day, with the tykes dressed in “black shoes, green pants and belts for the gentlemen, plaid jumpers for the ladies and sweaters for all,” said Sarah Leonard, head of the primary school.

The transmission was accomplished using iChat, an AOL Internet messaging channel, and 16-18 students were on each side. The entire kindergarten class took part over several days.

The meetings took place starting at 4 p.m. in order to synch up with Japanese time. The only glitch at the first meeting occurred, a propos of kindergartners, when the Harker group collectively broke into giggles at the roar of a passing motorcycle filling the room in the midst of the conference. Bet that doesn’t happen at IBM, but they probably don’t sing to each other, either.

Parents Organize Gr. 4 Movie Night

“Besides using the tools from the program to work on this project, students learned how to prioritize and manage their time wisely so that they remained on track and did not fall behind in schedule,” added Chung. The project was so challenging that “many students spent additional lab time before, during and after school, to stay on track.”

Rekha Nandakumar, parent

Students were entranced by the project. “I learned that changing a blank canvas into something beautiful was very cool,” said Emma Malysz. Classmate Nikita Jain added, “The best thing about this project was I used lots of creativity.”

Maya Nandakumar learned a piece of critical technology: “Something I already knew but was reinforced through this project was saving a file to the hard drive and then backing it up on the server.” Beyond the project, students learned a little more about basic organizational skills. “I learned how to better plan ahead by writing [the storyboard of the presentation] down or drawing a sketch,” said Ethan Cutler.

Teacher Chung summed the experience up nicely: “Besides learning the specific tools used in the project, students learned that making an effort and doing their very best does make a difference in their work.”

Harker News — March 07

Another great movie night was held in early February, this time for the Gr. 4 students and their parents. Students voted to screen “Barnyard, The Original Party Animals.”

“This is the easiest way for the kids and parents to relax and unwind after a hectic week of school and work,” said Rekha Nandakumar (mother of Maya), who helped arrange the event.

“The Harker kitchen provides pizza, cookies and popcorn and the Harker recreation staff stay with the kids. Parents usually sit around and enjoy the evening with a good bottle of wine. There is no stress in getting somewhere and finding food or entertainment—Harker does it all!” said Nandakumar.

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Kids ‘Dig’ Ancient Civilizations

Fifth Graders Get Glimpse of MS Life Harker’s annual Step-Up Day took place in early January at the MS campus as Gr. 5 students visited to get a look at next year’s environment. The soonto-be middle schoolers heard presentations by elective teachers, had lunch with mentors, toured classrooms and had an assembly with current sixth graders.

“I liked the cafeteria because of all of the different choices. Also, they had Ping-Pong tables,” said Christopher Zhang, Gr. 5. Classmate Ariana Shulman noted, “We get to sit around the grass and eat lunch.”

The annual Gr. 5 show, titled “Dig It!” gave students and faculty an afternoon of entertainment in late January, and then played to parents and others.

The show ran two days and was about students who take a field trip back in time to visit ancient civilizations. Faculty members were invited as extras to play ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans, and to play the part of the wolf who gave birth to Romulus and Remus, according to tradition. The show featured a time-traveling bus that took students through time, guided by “Lucy” the Skeleton. “Parents were dazzled by the show,” said Kristin Giammona, elementary school head. “A special thanks to performing arts teacher Jennifer Cowgill. She directed the show with patience, grace and charisma,” Giammona added.

Mentors from the MS joined the fifth graders to pass on their experiences for the transition.

Gokulesh Killer, Gr. 8, provided some insight on how the visits help the younger students. “I think Step-Up Day helped the fifth graders because they got a chance to see what sixth grade would be like for half a day,” he said.

“I think it also helped the fifth graders to get a chance to see what electives and what languages and what sort of curriculum and also what sort of changes they will experience between elementary and middle school.

“The best part of being a mentor was being with the kids. Another best part was that feeling after I got picked up that I just helped about 20 fifth graders,” Killer noted.

Daisy Mohrman, also Gr. 8, said teaching the future sixth graders some practical details was important, such as, “how much time they have between classes, how to navigate a new campus, and so much more. It is something that cannot be explained in words or on paper.

“They were definitely helped a lot. Many of them were amazed at the freedoms they would gain,” Mohrman summed up.

Later this month, mentors will travel to the LS campus to talk to fifth graders about MS and what being in sixth grade will be like. A huge thanks to all the MS mentors! Gr. 8: Samir Asthana, Peter Auvil, Tiffany Chang, Tim Chou, Guillaume Delepine, Killer, Ruhi Kumbhani, Mohrman, Francesca Nagle, Shreya Nathan, Allika Walvekar; Gr 7: Sanjana Baldwa, Sonya Chalaka, Kirsten Herr, Kevin Khojasteh, Jay Reddy, Neel Salukhe, Noel Witcosky.

“

kudos n Christina Andrus, Gr. 4, who has studied ballet for nearly five years at the Menlo Academy of Dance, danced in Carlos Carvajal’s “Nutcracker ‘06” with the Peninsula Ballet Theater in San Mateo.

Andrus worked through a tough homework schedule to prepare for each of the five December performances. This is her fourth year in the “Nutcracker.” Her roles this year included that of one of the admiral’s children in the party scene, a hobbyhorse in the battle scene and a Chinese dancer. n Two of Harker’s finest out-maneuvered opposing chess players from schools all around the Bay Area in December. Aneesh Samineni, Gr. 2, along with Vikram Vasan, Gr. 3, won the first place team trophy in their category in the K-12 California Classic Chess Championship held in Cupertino. The competition included schools from Fremont, Newark, Saratoga, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara and San Jose. The boys presented the trophy to Harker in January.

Harker News — March 07

MIDDLE Wacky Spirit Event Colorful, Loud A recent spirit event in the Bucknall gym had students competing against each other for the honor of their house color – orange, white or blue. They played a version of dodgeball with ice blocks as the targets, a winter-themed variation of Simon Says and a version of Capture the Flag with icicles as the team “currency.”

The noise level suggested that a great time was had by all!

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Infant Simulators on the Move The expanded RealCare Baby Think It Over Project is finishing its second year using the RealCare Baby II, a computerized infant simulator. Last year, over 40 students participated, and this year, 50 Gr. 8 participants will take home the sophisticated simulators. Before the RealCare simulators were acquired, students had only flour sack babies to practice with.

The baby care program is part of the sexual education class and is meant to teach young people just how much attention a real baby needs. Ten different science students will take home a simulator each weekend for five weeks.

The simulators “report” on the care they are given via downloadable information gathered during the simulation run. Users, “assign an infant care schedule, assign a user ID to each baby and transfer programming to each baby from (a) personal computer. Detailed simulation reports show exactly how well ‘Baby’ was cared for,” states maker RealityWorks’ Web site.

Get Ready for Grandparents’ Day! Held Fri., May 4, this year’s Grandparents’ Day theme is “Grandparents…

Our Most Precious Jewels.” It has become an honored tradition to use student artwork on the invitations and program, so all K-Gr. 5 students are invited to create and submit a theme-related picture, drawing or painting.

The final date for submissions is Wed, Feb. 28, and five or more winning pieces will be selected Mar. 7. Check with your homeroom teacher for details about the art contest – and good luck to all who enter!

In addition to the Real Care Baby project, all Gr. 8 students participate in the Flour Sack Baby project for a week, so everyone gets some sense of the responsibility involved in having a child.

Lunch ’n Learns Sharpen Skills

kid talk

In preparation for the MS laptop program, which will put laptops in the hands of all MS students, Angela Neff, assistant director of instructional technology for K-Gr. 8, is running a series of weekly Lunch ’n Learn get-togethers.

Intern Becky Yanovsky, Gr. 11, asked some of our third graders the following question: “Who is your hero and why?”

Faculty members bring laptops and lunch to Neff’s office across from the cafeteria to pick up new skills in a relaxed atmosphere.

“My hero is my dad, because he always helps me ” Maya Jeyendran: My hero is my friend Sandhana because she “ is nice. ” Sandhana Kannan: My hero is my friend Maya because she always “ helps me with math. ” Eesha Chona: My hero is my brother because he is very nice. “ ” Vikram Vasan: My hero is Spiderman because he can shoot “ spider webs. ” Sadhika Malladi: My hero is my brother because he is always very “ nice and gives me piggy-back rides. ”

“Topics var y weekly and are offered two days a week during all three MS lunch periods,” said Neff. Topics have included 1:1 Laptop Classroom, Web 2.0 search engines and applications and HHMS Think Tank.

Emma Doherty: with homework.

Harker News — March 07

“The Lunch ’n Learns are convenient and ver y specific to what the teacher needs to know,” said U.S. histor y teacher Patricia White.

Neff puts real work into the sessions. Her inviting titles, like “Bring Your Laptop and a Friend,” are backed up by transmitting hard and digital copies of some model PowerPoint rubrics for teachers “to peruse and ponder,” before the meeting, she said in her e-mail flyer.

“The group is small enough to allow one-on-one tutorials, so learning is greatly accelerated,” White added. “This falls within the school day so that it does not conflict with other commitments in our busy schedules.

There is…excellent access by the teacher to the computer specialist.

Ah, yes, all this AND she has been known to share her chocolate-covered espresso beans!” she reveled.

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Lorna Claerbout, both photos

“This project begins at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and ends at 10 p.m. Sunday night,” said Lorna Claerbout, K-Gr. 8 science department chair, who manages the program with teacher Scott Kley Contini. ”The project will run schedules from real infants, so this will demand a lot of effort from our students, even though they are not doing it during a school week.”

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Shanghai Guests Forge New Friendships, Share Their World With Harker Harker was host to our friends from Shanghai World Foreign Language

Middle School in late January and early February, and, as usual, students and staff tried to show them the many sides of the Bay Area and California.

The group arrived Jan. 28 and bused right from the airport to the Golden Gate Bridge to cover that iconic landmark. In the course of the three-week visit, chaperones lunched with Head of School

Christopher Nikoloff, and had dinner and played bocce ball with Harker Office of Communications staffers Mark Tantrum and Nick Gassmann.

The 16 Shanghai students enjoyed shadowing Harker buddies through the school and at home, experiencing the myriad delights of an American teenager. Both sets of students and chaperones toured the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the visitors attended on-campus gatherings like an art workshop with teacher Elizabeth Saltos and off-campus shows, like “Camelot” at the San Jose Center for the Per forming Arts.

Other in-house events included attending the US dance production, the MS Valentine’s Par ty (good timing!) and an improvisational acting workshop with per forming ar ts teacher Monica MacKinnon.

Outside, they visited the San Jose Tech Museum and went ice skating at Vallco Ice Center in Cuper tino.

After two fun weeks in Nor thern California, the group, Harker students included, flew to Southern California for a week, visiting Universal Studios, Disneyland

and San Diego Sea World.

Alas, all great trips must come to an end, and the two groups of students and chaperones par ted at LAX, one set for the Bay Area, the other for Asia. Globel education director Bill Bost thanks Patricia Andrews, Lorna Claerbout, Mark Gelineau, Kristin Giammona, Joe Gill and his wife Sarah Lougheed, Catherine Le, Craig Michalski, Lana Morri-

son, Rebecca Williams and all others who hosted or acted as chaperones, brought students in to your homes, contributed skills to workshops and generally helped our visitors have a memorable visit!

Tips for Keeping Your Kids Safe in Cyberspace How can you tell if your children are developing unhealthy online relationships? Any of the below-listed activities are potential indicators that they are developing an unhealthy dependence on online life and are vulnerable to a variety of inappropriate social contacts.

Do your children: • spend most or all of their free time online?

• Tell your children that you love them and are concerned about the excessive amount of time spent online.

• excessively Instant Message with the same person, particularly a stranger?

• Educate your children on the importance of balance in their lives.

Online communication is only one way of being in the world.

• get upset if they have to go out because there won’t be a computer nearby?

• receive gifts or telephone calls from someone you have never met?

• If inappropriate materials are being sent to your child, try to find out who is sending them. If there is any concern that it is an adult, contact the authorities. Here are some good places to get started: Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force: www.svicac.org; Netsmartz Workshop – Keeping Kids and Teens Safer on the Internet: www.netsmartz.org.

• download inappropriate materials sent to them from someone online?

— Compiled from information provided by Angela Neff, director of instructional technology, K-Gr. 8

• value online life more than real life?

• meet with people you have never met?

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If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should have a frank talk with your children and begin monitoring use of the computer whenever they are online. One strategy might be to disconnect the Internet cable unless homework requires being online. Keep the lines of communication open:

Harker News — March 07

Video Conference Bridges the Pacific

Harker Garners First Place in MathCounts Competition Harker took first place against stiff competition -- 215 students from 30 schools -- in early Februar y at the MathCounts, a national competition. This was the chapter-level competition and Santa Clara chapter is one of the toughest due to excellent students from Cupertino and Saratoga schools.

Five Gr. 7 students, Michelle Deng, Revanth Kosaraju, Ramya Rangan, Albert Wu and Patrick Yang joined Gr. 8 students Jerry Sun, Benjamin Tien and Ian Wolfe at San Jose State University for the event. Schools can send only eight competitors and “these students were selected from the 23 students who took the math elective course last semester,” said Vandana Kadam, K-Gr. 8 dept. chair and MathCounts coach.

In late January and early February, Harker Gr. 6 students reached out across the ocean to videoconference with Japanese colleagues on vital environmental topics being studied. The Harker students, who were required to be in full uniform for the occasion, videoconferenced over several days, with the meetings taking place after regular school hours in order to sync up with Japanese time. The students have been corresponding by e-mail on the projects, and two teams of Harker students were selected to present their environmental study projects during each videoconference. Students not presenting participated in the videoconferences by asking questions of Tamagawa students on their presentations.

Kids Feud for Fun at Spirit Event The latest spirit event from the fertile minds of MS advisers, held in late January, was an old fashioned “Family Feud” contest. Advisory teams had to guess what the most popular answers to mundane questions were, thus displaying (or not) the ability to predict how the masses (extrapolated from a sample of 100 respondents) think.

Questions included: “What is the least favorite part of the Harker uniform?”; “What is the average amount of homework for a middle school student?”; and “What is your response when a teacher catches you doing something wrong?” (Possible answers were: A) stare blankly at them for as long as possible, B) play dead, C) find the nearest student and immediately blame them for what you were doing, D) weep quietly, E) explain calmly what you were doing and accept your fate.) “In the end, the Green team, made up of a mixture of Grades 6, 7 and 8 advisory groups, won,” said organizer Mark Gelineau.

Many of the questions were taken from the actual television game show, said Gelineau. “There were also a few commercial breaks with words from our sponsor, the Harker Fashion Show,” he added. The winners, as usual, took charge of the Black Ford for a month.

Four of the eight students placed in the top ten in the individual competition. Although a fifth student tied for the number ten slot, a random drawing to determine who got the last slot did not go his way. No other school had more than one student in the top ten, Kadam noted.

“They trained hard for this competition,” she added. Harker has been part of this competition for nine years now, and has had students represent the chapter as individuals at the state competition.

“Last year, for the first time, we had a Harker team of four students who made it to the state level, along with one individual competitor, so we are ver y pleased to see these results,” she noted.

Yang placed fifth; Deng, sixth; Rangan, ninth and Revanth tied for and won the toss for 10th place. Wu and Wolfe received honorable mention.

The top finishers are heading to the state competition on Mar. 17 to be held at UC Davis. “They have done a fabulous job and I am extremely proud of all of them,” said Kadam.

Stay Fit News You can’t be too fit, and athletics depar tment chair C.J.Cali’s advisor y is helping spread the word with a monthly one-page newsletter distributed to classrooms. The Januar y issue provided good common sense advice on preparing your body for the stress of finals and gives specific tips to help students improve diet. The newsletter even has a quick recipe for a smoothie. “My hope is that teachers could take a few minutes to have students read it and discuss the topics.” said Cali.

Moms Host Valentine’s Day Feast

Cali is producing the newsletter “to be informative and just to help create awareness amongst our students of the need to stay fit. I thought it would be fun to do, as well as helpful,” he said.

Students were treated to a Valentine’s Day feast by some of the moms on Feb. 9. “Our super moms organized treats for the kids during the advisory period,” said Cindy Kerr, head of the middle school. The goodies were in the MPR, and a “goodie” time was had by all!

The latest issue “will include information regarding top fitness scores, teachers and how they stay fit, kids and how they stay fit, a main piece, a health quiz and maybe another small interest piece,” said Cali. That’s bringing good health right into the classroom!

Harker News — March 07

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eCybermission Teams Present Their Projects to Community

Raji Swaminathan

• The Blackford Chargers who are working on energy conser vation inter viewed Tom King, CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric, in late Januar y on the contribution of PG&E towards energy conser vation. King “was extremely impressed with the information the students had about the topic. Their display of this information came in the form of intellectual questions posed to Mr. King,” said Kadam.

The four Gr. 8 teams – Blackford Chargers, Sumo Wrestlers, Musical Monkeys and Team Chloro – presented their projects to the community in early Februar y, joined by two Gr. 7 teams, Bacteria Busters and CalNilers.

“The students did a fabulous job of presenting topics ranging from energy conser vation to E. coli contamination to the community,” said Kadam. Other team topics included those on the effects of radiation, issues related to multi-tasking in teens, information on West Nile Virus-carr ying mosquitoes, nutrition in school children and issues around school violence. Here are a few glimpses of the activity behind these potentially award-winning projects:

Great After-School Choices Every quarter, students are offered an array of challenging and interesting after-school activities. This quarter, fencing and beginning brass are two of the choices.

The fencing classes come in two levels, beginning and first-level competitive, and both are on Tuesdays. Beginners learn basic fencing stances, movements and blade actions. Competitive fencers learn complex blade actions and footwork techniques, and apply them in electric foil bouting.

“If you’re not sure what sport you like, or if you don’t like the usual basketball and football stuff, you should tr y fencing. It takes brains and is a real workout, too,” said Valerie Rosenblatt, who manages the Harker fencing program.

In the beginning brass class, students will learn trumpet, trombone or French horn. “These instruments are loud and fun,” said Louis Hoffman, music instructor. “They show up in a lot of different musical settings: classical and orchestra, jazz and rock, and pep band. If you like the ‘Star Wars’ theme, you’ll like this activity,” he said. Students will have an opportunity to play with the MS orchestra at the end of the year. Some music experience is a plus but not required.

For more information please contact Lana Morrison, MS recreation director, at 408.553.0359; e-mail: LanaM@harker.org.

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• The Cal Nilers, also presented to the seniors on West Nile Virus issues, handing out a fact sheet, pre- and post-presentations sur veys and informational packets. Members described the histor y, talked about how West Nile Virus spreads, symptoms, treatment of the infection and mosquito eradication techniques.

• The Shining Shields team has created sur veys and a fact sheet about school safety and violence and are collecting data on students’ perception of safety on campus.

The Gr. 7 Bacteria Busters and Cal Nilers have Web sites detailing their work to date and presenting their research at http://thebacteriabusters.googlepages.com and http://calnilers.selfip.com.

Harker teams did ver y well last year, and this year’s teams have ever y hope of duplicating those successes. Good luck!

kudos ■ GEARS, the all-Harker all-girl independent robotics team (see Harker News, Feb., 2007) took first place for teamwork at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League State Tournament in January. Huzzahs to Eva Bruketa, Sonia Gupta, Cristina Jerney, Cecilia Lang-Ree and Payal Modi, all Gr. 6!

Helena Jerney

eCybermission teams have been hard at their projects for over two months now. Eighth grade teams, led by K-Gr. 8 department chair Vandana Kadam, have been making presentations and conducting inter views in the community around Harker, and Gr. 7 teams, led by science teacher Raji Swaminthan have also been hard at it making presentations and developing information.

• The Bacteria Busters made a community presentation in early Januar y to members of Sunnyview Retirement Community in Cupertino, Calif. The group handed out sur veys, made a PowerPoint presentation and handed them an E. coli fact sheet to help audience members remember the impor tant information.

■ Rahul Desirazu, Gr. 6, competed in the 2006 K-12/Collegiate Chess Championship in Florida in December, finishing 20th in the Gr. 6 category. Desirazu started playing chess at Harker in Gr. 2 and has won more than 35 trophies in the last four years at both state and national tournaments. His most notable achievement to date was tying for first place in the K-5 category at the 2006 National Elementary Chess Championship held in Denver in May. One of his winning games at nationals was even published in the Chess Life for Kids magazine.

Desirazu recently started competing in national tournaments for adults and we look forward to publishing his great results in the future!

Harker News — March 07

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US Club Update As usual, the US clubs are busy. Here’s a look at what four of our many clubs are doing.

■ The Red Cross Club

Global Awareness Month Events ■ Blood Drive (Feb. 28) Global Awareness Month is beginning a bit early (Feb. 28), with the first blood drive at Harker in six years, hosted by the Red Cross Club and dedicated to Ashley Barth, teacher Evan Barth’s daughter, who is battling leukemia. Students aged 16-18, who weigh at least 110 pounds, are eligible to donate blood with parental permission; faculty are also encouraged to donate. This blood drive takes place at a crucial time – currently, there is a shortage of blood in the Bay Area. Blood Centers of the Pacific will be collecting and distributing blood locally. Watch for update next month!

Other events are happening in rapid succession:

■ Malaria Week (Mar. 5-9) The Red Cross Club just finished Pennies for Patients, a friendly competition that pits class against class and raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The game was inverted: collect as many pennies as possible in one’s own class jar to earn points, while penalizing the other classes by adding silver and bills to their jars, which are deducted from that jar’s points. Whew! In any case, all accounting aside, over $1,000 was raised for a worthy cause. To join the Red Cross Club, contact adviser Kerry Enzensperger, director of community service.

Malaria Tent (Mar. 7): This event focuses entirely on awareness and education about disease. Students will roll a die and, depending on the number, will receive different stories about a person living with malaria. They will also be able to make a significant choice in the person’s life and will find out the effects of the decision.

Malaria buttons (sold the week of Mar. 5): The proceeds from selling these buttons for $1 each will go to buying bednets that protect people from mosquito bites.

■ The World Language Club

■ Tuberculosis Week (Mar. 12-16)

This is a group of very dedicated people who strive to learn more about languages and linguistics. They want to learn, have fun and support the dying languages around the world.

Hosted by the International Club, there will be drink sales March 13-15 and a mixer on Mar. 17. All proceeds will go to Partners in Health, an organization that targets tuberculosis.

In meetings, “students who know foreign languages spend about half an hour teaching something to the club,” said Sophia Gilman, Gr 10, World Language Club president. “Our lessons have ranged from Korean numbers to the Russian alphabet to Hebrew songs.

■ AIDS Week (Mar. 20-23)

“We teach each other and compare alphabets, numerals, origins, grammars and vernaculars of our many and diverse mother tongues. After a lesson, we play fun games with the information to make sure we remember it!” said Gilman. The club has held a linguistics workshop and, in early February, the first-ever Harker Linguistics Olympiad. The club meets every Monday and Friday during the extra help period. Viva Lingua!

■ Travel Club Did you know the sound made by the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is so loud that it can be heard 40 miles away? Did you know every year an igloo hotel is built in Sweden with the capacity to hold 100 people?

“The Harker Travel Club is not only a club dedicated to ‘traveling’ all around the world but also a chance to hear unknown experiences through another’s eyes,” says adviser Ben Spencer-Cooke, English teacher. “Members connect places, people and time while learning interesting facts and hanging with friends.”

To learn more, contact Spencer-Cooke at 345.9616.

■ Psychology Club Psychology Club members use experiments, discussions or quizzes to help explore people’s behavior, thinking and interactions. Recently, students have had fun learning about “good” versus “bad” stress, and color associations with different emotions. Upcoming topics include: relationships between siblings, a mini research simulation, and how desk space can reflect one’s personality!

“As much as possible, we talk about aspects of psychology that directly relate to our own lives,” said senior Annelise Han, president and founder of the Psychology Club. The group usually meets on Fridays in room 84, during the extra help period.

Harker News — March 07

Global Grooves (released Mar. 20): This is the second compilation of student and faculty music, and features original student artwork. There will be a Global Grooves concert in the Edge on Mar. 28. CDs will be sold for $10.

■ Global Awareness Lunch (most likely Mar. 23.)

Students will pay a small fee for an admission ticket to this special event. They will listen to a speaker while being served food by the World Awareness Committee members. Students will also have the chance to enter a raffle for a RED iPod. T-shirts (sold throughout the entire month): The shirts will feature an original design by a Harker student. T-shirts will be sold for $15.

If you’d like more information, contact the student-run World Awareness Committee at WAC-harkerwac@gmail.com.

It’s your world, too!

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Talent Abounds at Coffee Houses

Update Debate

It’s not a club, and it’s not a sport – it’s Coffee House. “Five times a year, always on a Friday night, we invite students to join us for these Coffee Houses,” said college counselor Alistair Grant, who has been coordinating the evenings this year. Interested students should contact him for the next session date.

Harker students traveled to Sacramento in late January to compete with 15 other schools for the opportunity to represent the Northern California district at the National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals in Houston, Texas, over the Memorial Day weekend. The overall team effort of 63 students combined to earn The Harker School several honors. Those teams and individuals who earned the right to compete at the National Tournament in Houston are marked with an asterisk.

Sessions “typically run for a couple of hours,” he said. “The first half is devoted to improvisation. The second half is an open mic, providing students an opportunity to share with their peers and other members of the Harker community any talent they might have. During the last Coffee House one of the students played the bagpipes! What a beautiful sound,” enthused Grant (a native Scotsman!).

Earning varsity Policy second place honors: Pratusha Erraballi & Prachi Sharma (both Gr. 10).* Quarterfinalists: Stephanie Lio & Tonia Sun (both Gr. 11); Aneesh Goel & Jay Shah (both Gr. 11); Dominique Dabija & Christine Yu (both Gr. 10). Speaker awards: Lio (second), Sun (fourth), Erraballi (fifth).

Earning varsity Lincoln-Douglas second place honors: Juliane Tran, Gr. 10.* Quarterfinalist: Chetan Vakkalagadda, Gr. 10; Octafinalists: Paula Lauris, Gr. 11, Vikram Nathan, Gr. 10, Jessica Lee, Gr. 12. Lauris and Nathan also won fourth and eighth place speaker awards, respectively.

“Over the course of the past couple of years I have seen students perform funny skits, recite poetr y, play a variety of instruments and so on.

One of the reasons I so enjoy being part of those evenings is because students seem to feel so comfortable and supported while they are on stage. It’s a great environment, the improvisers are incredible and I admire their ability to per form spontaneous comedy! They are always full of life and energy,” Grant finished.

Speaker awards went to: Nikita Sinha, Gr. 10 (first), Kumar (second), Gill (third) and Perelman (fifth).

Harker students earned the top four places in both divisions of the Novice Policy & Lincoln-Douglas Close Out. In Policy (all Gr. 9): Adam Perelman & Vinay Kumar, Connie Lu & Jyoti Narayanswami, Andrew Zhou & Kevin Zhang, Akum Gill & Sachin Mitra. In Lincoln-Douglas: Anu Ramachandran, Gr. 10 (first), Ketan Ramakrishnan, Gr. 10 (second), Sachin Rangarajan, Gr. 10 and Senan Ebrahim, Gr. 11 (tied for third).

Seniors Caitlin Contag & David Linder* tied for third place in Public Forum and earned first (Contag) and second (Linder) place speaker awards.

Placing in Student Congress were: Stephanie Benedict, Gr. 11 (fifth), Ebrahim (sixth), David Kastelman, Gr. 10 (eighth) and Ramakrishnan (tenth).

Shelter Elves Receive Many Thanks

On Feb. 2-3, 19 Harker students joined over 300 other delegates for the 36th annual Santa Clara Valley Model United Nations (M.U.N.) conference held at Santa Teresa High School. With 19 schools in attendance, Harker took two of the seven top committee honors along with three other awards. The eight students earning these awards were: Adam Creasman, Gr. 12, Top Delegation representing Congo in the Security Council; Sophia Gilman, Gr. 10, and David Kastelman, Top Delegation representing Angola in UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization); Ananya Anand, Gr. 10, and Christine Yu, Outstanding Delegation representing Angola in SOCHUM; Nikita Sinha, Gr. 10, Honorable Mention representing Congo in SOCHUM (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee); and Stephanie Benedict and Priya Thumma, Gr. 10, Honorable Mention representing Angola in WHO (World Health Organization).

Good deeds do linger. Harker received a batch of thank you cards from the families who received gifts from Harker Shelter Elves. They have been posted on the bulletin board outside Community Service Director Kerry Enzensperger’s office. Thanks again to all who contributed to this valuable charitable program!

kudos ■ Senior Daniel Paik may be finishing high school, but he has an ongoing career with the San Jose Youth Symphony. Paik has been playing the cello for ten years and has been a member of the Youth Symphony since Gr. 4. Paik was featured in the SJYS 2006-2007 season program, was a co-winner in the 2006 Young Artist Competition, second place winner in the 2005 Chinese Music Teachers Association of Northern California Music Competition and is a member of the SJYS String Quartet. Paik is now the principal cellist with the SJYS! ■ Senior David Linder was recently awarded a City of Saratoga commendation by Mayor Aileen Kao honoring him for his leadership with Boy Scout Troop 535 in planning, organizing and sponsoring an electronics waste recycling event in January at the Saratoga site. In 2003, California passed the “Electronic Waste and Recycling Act” to esablish a new program for consumers to return, recycle and ensure the safe and environmentally sound disposal of electronic waste.

The January event that Linder organized was a highly successful event with over 700 cars passing through, recycling over 59,473 pounds of electronic waste and raising over $4,000. David was honored and gave a short speech which was featured on the Saratoga City council website.

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In March, Harker students will participate at two national M.U.N. conferences.

Gilman, Yu, Benedict and Neha Sabharwal, Gr. 10, will travel to New York to represent Albania at the National High School M.U.N. conference. Nine Harker students will represent Singapore, Georgia and the Philippines at the West Coast National M.U.N. conference at UC Berkeley.

Waffles, Anyone?

Freshmen discovered the good and the bad of running a business in late January, while holding a waffle sale to raise class funds. The group made about $100 and sold out, but 11 waffle cookers running in the same room put a strain on the power supply.

Flo Turkenkopf

Robert Sesek

UPPER

“The idea is to have this fundraiser be a monthly event and we are hoping to pull off the next one on the Feb. 21,” said Flo Turkenkopf, freshman class dean. “I am currently working with maintenance to make sure the power issue is not a continuing problem. “ On the plus side, “I heard that the line was down the hall,” said Turkenkopf. “Students were raving that the waffles were delicious. It was great to see many of the freshmen working hard, cooking the waffles. The class officers organized the event and it was a huge success,” she added.

Harker News — March 07

Joy of Dance Evident in Annual Dance Production, “An Incredible Feat”

Melinda Gaul

This year’s dance production, “An Incredible Feat,” was entirely student choreographed, and included a teenage choreographer from Puerto Rico who performed with the Varsity Dance Troupe. “It was one of the best dance shows that Harker has seen in years,” commented Harker parent Sherry Ammatuna (Lauren, Gr. 11, and John, Gr. 8).

The show, presented in the Blackford Auditorium over two nights in Februar y, covered a wide variety of dance styles in its 10-dance program – from Columbia to Ireland, Ethiopia to America – and featured over 40 student per formers, including Harker’s Varsity and JV Dance Troupes. The audiences seemed to thoroughly enjoy the fast-paced show, which included ethnic dance solos by Laura Holford, Gr. 11, Laura Sanchez-Hartzell, Gr. 12, and Emily Chow, Gr. 11; hiphop routines; comedic interludes; and Cooper

Sivara, Gr. 12, doing a spot-on Elvis Presley interpretation. Kudos to US dance director Laura Rae for her “incredible feat” of bringing yet another fabulous show to the stage for all to enjoy. Special thanks also the student crew and teachers Paul Vallerga and Brian Larsen for such a beautifully designed production.

Quiz Bowl Team Reaches Elite Eight

Robotics Students Develop Projects

Please congratulate seniors Sid Chandrasekhar and Jessie Li, and sophomore Anand Natarajan on their 340 to 180 point Quiz Bowl victory over De La Salle. The show was scheduled to air on Sat., Feb. 24. “This win sends Harker to the next round of Elite 8, which will be seeded by consecutive point earnings,” said math teacher Melinda Gaul, who advises the Harker team. That next match will be on Mar. 3, time and opponent to be determined.

In preparation for the first round of the 2007 FIRST competition, US robotics club members are working on early developmental stages of their project such as conceptual and theoretical physics, electrical circuitry and basic framework discussions.

Music Workshop Impresses Singers Twenty-one young women from the US Conservatory experienced two hours of enthusiastic singing, raucous and challenging rhythm games, sharing and exchanging songs with Linda Hirschhorn and Vocolot on Jan. 28.

“Vocolot is known for their fusion of folk, jazz, traditional and cantorial vocal traditions. They sing songs in several languages – English, Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, Arabic – and their music is rooted in universal heart, social conscience and Jewish soul,” explained music teacher Susan Nace, who arranged for the workshop.

Student response was very enthusiastic. Anna Huang, Gr. 12, said, “I was surprised at the dynamics within such a small group. The content was enriching, personal, up-close and intimate.” Huang’s classmate Yuanyuan Pao said, “They sang to me and to my heart.” And sophomore Ananya Anand summed it up: “The most wonderful music workshop I’ve ever been to.”

The enthusiasm wasn’t all one-sided. Shana Levy, a member of the group, e-mailed Nace, “The Harker girls gave me hope for the future. I was inspired by how much they love the songs they do and have done in the past – like they are personal friends they hold dear.”

Visiting alumna Leena Bhalerao ‘02, who now works at Planned Parenthood, stopped by to talk to students in sex education classes. See Alumni insert for full story.

The Harker News (USPS 023-761) is published monthly except July, Aug. and Sept., by The Harker School, Office of Communications, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. Application to mail at Periodicals Postage Rates is paid at San Jose, CA and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Harker News, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose CA 95129.

Harker News — March 07

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School Continued from page 1 Wiseman said we live in a culture which teaches narcissism and not self-reflection. Culture teaches us to look the other way when we are being belittled. The more normal something is, the more we need to look at it. She urged parents not to use the word ‘nice’ to kids; demand ethical behavior – no shrugging and eye-rolling – and raise socially competent children who do their best overall. She stressed the fact that children and adults have to have mutual respect for one another.

Children have to be treated with dignity and, in turn, treat adults with dignity. It translates to social justice and lifelong responsibilities.

HARKER

wide Parenting is not rocket science but may be harder.

must take a stand and request a civil dialogue.

Wiseman reiterated that boys and girls believe culture dictates what they must have when it comes to clothes and gadgets; that they shouldn’t take anything seriously and shouldn’t be passionate about the wrong things: drums and guitars are ok for boys, but violin is not considered cool. Parents who buy cool gear, like the Coach bag for their schoolchild, are also sucked into this culture of social currency.

Also, parenting is not a zero sum game, and if your child does not get into a certain AP class, for instance, overreacting causes huge resentment of you by your child. When it comes to grades or position on teams, you have to be invisible and your child has to be passionate about advocating himself. It is a part of developing competency. She added that no single school is good for all kids; just because the school has lots of applications lined up for a few spots does not mean that the school would necessarily be good for your child.

She urged parents with differing values to talk to one another when questions arise about their children going to each other’s houses. One

When it comes to technology, she spoke about pictures taken using cell phones and kids destroying each other on the Internet. We have to assert and stand for family values. She also asked us to be aware of fake “MySpace” and real “MySpace” pages.

Overall, the audience seemed to come away with useful thoughts to reflect on and enjoyed listening to Rosalind Wiseman. Prior to her talk Wiseman was interviewed by our student reporters, and said she was impressed with their excellent questions.

—Vidya Lakshmi, Harker parent

profile

Band Is a Bond Between Harker Music-Lovers You never know what people do when school’s out for the day, but it’s usually interesting to find out.

Two Harker employees, J Gaston, US graphic arts teacher, and Vince Salinas of Harker’s maintenance team join three other guys and make music. “We’re pretty much a jam band,” said Gaston. “We play a fusion of rock, reggae, Latin blues and funk – no polka, though.”

The band, called Vinnie Salinas and the C-list, is “guitar driven,” said Gaston, with two guitars, bass, drums and Salinas on percussion.

Along with guitar, Gaston, who bought his first guitar with “paper route money when he was 12,” is the singer. His interest in music doesn’t end at the stage. “I’m an electronics guy, so I customize guitars and amps,” he noted.

The band does covers but creates its own sound, too. “We do write our own tunes, myself and the other… guitarist,” said Gaston. “A lot of our music is made up on the spot. We really do like to jam. And, in fact, a lot of times we’ll take a tune in a new direction one day, then that will become the song. It

is very organic a lot of times.”

Gaston usually chooses the songs, “though some of the tunes are the other guys’,” he said. “We do the love theme from (the movie) “Spartacus,” we do “A Go Go,” which is a John Scofield tune. We do some (Grateful) Dead covers, we do some original stuff, we do a couple Santana tunes.”

If the set list sounds eclectic, there’s a reason. “I was looking into the Grateful Dead when I was early on in high school,” said Gaston, raised in New England. “From there I got really into 50s R&B and soul, and a lot of funk bands coming out of Detroit and Chicago from the 60s and early 70s. That took me into what contemporary people were doing along that vein, people like John Scofield and Medeski Martin and Wood and people like that.” Gaston has played in ska and surf bands and says his strongest influences have been “eclectic. I try to seek out things that have been heard by very few,” he said. And he and Salinas found common ground.

Salinas, a San Jose native, plays percussion – conga, timbales,

bongos, sticks – and his favorite is an African Tshombe drum, a big wooden drum carved from a tree trunk. He cites the Grateful Dead and Miles Davis as primary influences. “They are definitely people who went out of their way to make things a little different,” he said. With Gaston in the band, the combination of styles has been mellifluous. “We just started playing with him six months ago – he came in and played in a heartbeat.

It was a good buzz,” said Salinas.

The band has cut a demo CD and is looking for gigs, but since two

Melon Trivia Answers 1. True, melons are from the gourd family, though squashes are considered vegetables and melons are fruit.

2. False. Melon seeds were transported to the U.S. by Columbus and eventually cultivated by Spanish explorers in California.

3. False. There are over 200 varieties of watermelons.

4. True. One cup of cantaloupe is only 60 calories, and a great source for vitamins.

5. False. Sugar content decreases after harvest, so don’t let melons sit too long before enjoying the sweet taste.

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

Grades K-5: 4600 Bucknall Rd., San Jose, CA 95130; Grades 6-8: 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117; Grades 9-12: 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 Harker believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity and does not discriminate against its employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), national origin, ancestry, age (over 40), marital status, political affiliations, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by state or federal laws, local law or ordinance.

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members are under-age, they can’t play nightspots. One of their first gigs might be at the Naglee Park Garage, owned by art teacher Pilar Agüero-Esparza’s husband. The restaurant bills itself as serving neighborhood kitchen cuisine, and is located in a refurbished 1920s building with plenty of open-air space for a band.

The Harker News provides timely information, news and features about the Harker community to current and alumni Harker families.

Editor: Pam Dickinson; Lead Writer: William Cracraft; Copy Editors: Catherine Snider, Jennifer Maragoni; Production: Crystal Boyd, Blue Heron Design Group; Photos: Mark Tantrum, unless noted; Printing: Carol Sosnowski; Mailing Coordinator: Desiree Mitchell.

Harker News — March 07