Passages
Jacqueline Wang ’13 (Jan. 12, 1995 – Oct. 20, 2011) The Harker community experienced the heartbreaking loss of one of its students, Jacqueline Wang, a junior, in October. Jackie was a wonderful student with many friends at Harker, and is much missed by classmates, teachers and administrators. An assembly was held to share the news with the upper school students, and a team of grief counselors were on hand that day, and for the ensuing weeks, to help our students and Photo by Megan Prakash, grade 10 - TALON faculty grapple with the loss. A memorial to honor her life was held Nov. 3, with classmates, administrators and teachers in attendance, including Jackie’s teachers from her earlier years at Harker. A “tree of life” was planted in front of Shah Hall to commemorate her life, with symbolic additions representing her classmates: yellow daisies for the Class of 2015; green boxwoods for the Class of 2014; white daisies for the Class of 2013; and black lava rocks for the Class of 2012. Simar Mangat, junior class president, remembered her as being “the very essence of happiness.” Jackie’s parents shared some poignant memories, and the gathering moved inside Shah Hall for a moving slide show of photos from Jackie’s life that her parents had prepared. The Wangs expressed their joy in seeing the entire Harker community come together. “We feel that Jacqueline will live in all of our hearts and our actions.” The school continues to offer counseling and guidance to all students and faculty. Jackie’s parents have graciously offered their help and support in the school’s efforts to increase education and awareness in our community for all to better understand the signs of depression. Condolences and any communications to the family can be emailed to loriv@harker.org or sent to 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129.
By Sara Kendall
Alumni
Alumnus Gives Performing Arts Students New Way of Looking at Colleges
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This point particularly resonated with Sean Knudsen, grade 10, who said that learning there are lots of options in the performing arts in college, even if you aren’t majoring or minoring in them, was “the most important thing I learned.”
Kastelman contacted Laura Lang-Ree, chair of the K-12 performing arts department, about coming to speak with the students.
According to Nace, the students agreed that an interactive discussion about competition and collaboration was the highlight of the event, with Kastelman arguing that, while “competition is good for continued growth, collaboration is important, too.”
n early November, Greg Kastelman ’05 returned to The Harker School to run a workshop for instrumentalists and vocalists interested in pursuing the arts in college.
Kastelman is a public relations manager and booking agent with iCadenza, a company that works with young professionals, aiming to give them a strong start and skill set in creative fields.
Twenty-five students attended the workshop, and Kastelman emphasized throughout the workshop, “You create your own opportunities. Your career is what you create.” This goes for everything from finding a job to self-promotion. Govinda Dasu, grade 12, said, “You can create your own job in the performing arts.” Kastelman talked to students about the differences between conservatories and regular universities with performing arts programs. Susan Nace, a performing arts teacher at the upper school, says he took care also to say, “You don’t have to major in performing arts to be involved in performing arts in college.”
From there, Kastelman branched into being involved in the performing arts without necessarily being a performer.
At the end of event, Lang-Ree said, “I hope that it gave our students a different way about thinking about their future lives in the arts, perhaps a new direction or a renewed commitment. The workshop got them to focus on their strengths and ambitions, and on ways of looking for a college that best suits those.” Reflecting on the workshop, Payal Modi, grade 11, said, “I gained a lot of insight into my main question: ‘What really happens when people go off to college to pursue performing arts as a career?’” H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY
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