Harker Quarterly Summer 2013

Eagles Champs in Softball, Track and More

Graduation: a New Class Sets Sail Grade 5 Filmmakers Bring Moviemaking into Focus Global Online Academy Gathers Steam Harker Technology Director Writes on Education in a Digital World Future Problem Solvers Continue to Tackle Tough Questions

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V o l ume 4 路 N um b er 4

Cover Photo Harker’s softball team earned its first-ever league championship this spring thanks to a real team effort! Read more about the season in Harker News Online and in the Eagle Report, starting on page 26. This photo of rising sophomore Alisa Wakita rounding second is from a game against Alma Heights.

“Alisa was our leadoff hitter and was on her way from first to third after Sarah Bean (rising junior) tapped a beautiful bunt,” said softball coach Raul Rios. “Alisa was a big part of our success this year; she was our second baseman and leadoff hitter. She made second team allleague high honors for freshmen and is also going to be one of our team captains next year,” added Rios.

“We had an amazing season, ending up 14-8 overall and 11-1 in league, along with winning our first-ever league championship. The girls worked really hard all year and when one player was down or hurt, another player would step up and get the job done. We had great team chemistry, and they learned how to believe in themselves and their team. The day we won the league against King’s Academy was a very special day; we were all jumping around hugging each other like 12-year-olds, and the feelings and conversations in our circle after the game were priceless!”

Photographer Diane Villadsen ’11 was covering the game and took the photo: “I was using a Nikon D90 with an 18-200mm lens and, though the direct sunlight that day was a bit harsh, the shot still came out nicely. The game was pretty fast-paced with very few dull moments, so I was able to get quite a few action shots.”

About Harker From its early beginnings in 1893 — when Stanford University leaders assisted in its establishment — to its reputation today as a leading preparatory school with students attending prestigious universities worldwide, Harker’s mission has remained constant: to create an environment that promotes academic excellence, inspires intellectual curiosity, expects personal accountability and forever instills a genuine passion for learning. Whether striving for academic achievement, raising funds for global concerns, performing on stage or scoring a goal, Harker students encourage and support one another and celebrate each other’s efforts and successes, at Harker and beyond.

Harker is a dynamic, supportive, fun and nurturing community where kids and their families make friends for life.

S U M M E R 2 013 / V o l ume 4 · N um b er 4 Pam Dickinson Director William Cracraft Editor Catherine Snider Sally Wing Diane Villadsen ‘11 Copy Editors Kyle Cavallaro Photo Editor

Robert Boucher Steve M. Boyle ‘06 Mariah Bush ‘06 Mercedes Chien, grade 11 Debbie Cohen Ellen DeBiase Melinda Gonzales Samantha Hoffman ‘13 Dan Hudkins Zach Jones Eric Marten Catherine Snider Amy Streeper Diane Villadsen ‘11 Contributors Blue Heron Design Group Rebecca McCartney Triple J Design Design Diamond Quality Printing Printing

Harker News Online (HNO) was launched in April 2009 and reports timely news on the activities, programs and accomplishments of The Harker School and its students, faculty and alumni. You can subscribe to HNO via RSS feeds or a daily digest email alert. Visit http://news.harker.org/.

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Join us for tweets, videos, announcements, photo sharing and more! http://www.facebook.com/harkerschool http://www.youtube.com/harkerschool http://twitter.com/harkerschool http://www.flickr.com/groups/harkerschool

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Harker Summer Summertime brings out a special side of Harker. More than 2,000 K-12 students from around the area – some from much further away – are playing, learning and making friends at Harker summer camps.

The youngest children get a dose of academics in the morning, then spend the summer afternoons playing outside, making videos, learning to dance or otherwise enjoying themselves.

Athletes are on the courts, the diamonds, in the gym and in the pool, among other pursuits. High school students are in classes that spark their interests, and scores of students from around the globe are learning about living in the U.S. and practicing their English at the English Language Institute. Everything is still clicking and humming at Harker, but it has that summertime feel!

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

K-Grade 5: 4300 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 Published four times a year, Harker Quarterly showcases some of the top news, leading programs, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community.

Produced by the Harker Office of Communication 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 communications@harker.org · 408.345.9273

Next Edition: October 2013 2

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8 SUMMER 2013

inside

features

46

8 The Harker Family & Alumni Picnic 12

Graduation: a New Class Sets Sail

Union Campus Blossoms in Preparation for Fall Opening 14

Grade 5 Filmmakers Bring Moviemaking into Focus 16

Global Online Academy Gathers Steam 18

14

Harker Technology Director Writes on Education in a Digital World 19

Digital World Presentations Help Parents See Student Perspective 32

Annual Awards Rebooted 39

Future Problem Solvers Continue to Tackle Tough Questions 50

20

52 43

departments 4 Performing Arts 20 Eagle Report 26 Passages 30 Debate 31 Global Ed 36 Advancement 40 Milestones 43 Visual Arts 46 Greater Good 52 Alumni News and Class Notes 54 Looking Ahead 62

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Headlines

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3

Headlines

By Christopher Nikoloff Head of School

2 013 G radua t ion A ddress

Head of School Urges Graduates to Live with Joy and Passion (like His New Puppy!)

G

ood morning. I would like to welcome the members of the board of trustees, administration, faculty, staff, families, friends, alumni, and the true guests of honor, the graduating Class of 2013, to this year’s commencement exercises. I currently have the privilege of saying a few words of farewell at graduation.

Typically my talk takes the form of a final piece of advice, like “Dare to Singletask” or “See like a Baby.”

Since my talk is the only thing that stands between you and your diplomas, I will continue the tradition

of confining my remarks to one page of single-spaced, size-12 font. However, I make no promises about my margins or font choice. In fact, this year I have chosen the slim yet elegant “Adobe Garamond Pro.” It is only fitting that I draw my advice to you today from the latest addition to our family, Kona, our new chocolate Lab. I noticed that when I say “chocolate Lab” people immediately understand that I mean a dog and not some strange room or device from Willy Wonka’s factory. Also, there is something about a chocolate Lab that stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system unlike any other animal. Perhaps it is the word chocolate – so much more soothing and specific than the word “yellow” for yellow Lab or “black” for black Lab. Also, I just wanted to use the word “parasympathetic” in this talk to make it sound scientific.

What possible advice can I offer from Kona? First, having a puppy improves your social life a little.

We now know some of our neighbors a little better. Many have fallen in love with Kona, offered free dog sitting, and some even take her for walks, one neighbor every day. We are talking to neighbors we never knew we had. Kona is a real draw. Why? Because she loves everyone and everything she sees. She wags her tail, draws back her ears and licks generously.

We thought she would make a good watch dog, but we soon discovered that the only deterrence she presents to an intruder is licking him to death. She loves unconditionally, like a Labrador.

So my advice to you today is to love like a Labrador. I could have generalized to “love o

ot Ph

like a canine” but that just sounds too clinical. No, I mean love like a Labrador. Not

by

only does it employ three “L’s” in a row – “alliteration” for those of you who

le Ky ro la al

v Ca

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recall your poetic devices – but it singles out perhaps the most loving of dog breeds, the Labrador.

Headlines Photo by Diane Villadsen ‘11

“

When I say love like a Labrador, I mean to love unconditionally all that you do and all that is around you. Love your job, your significant other, your family, your garden, your driveway. This is easier said than done.

The Sufi poet Rumi said that “Gratitude is the open door to abundance,” meaning that it is easy to fall asleep and take for granted what is truly wonderful around you. A Labrador is thrilled to see you in the morning, like you dropped from heaven. Of course, the outside chance that you will feed her helps. Take that same loving attitude to all that you do and you will find the

“

When I say love like a Labrador, I mean to love unconditionally all that you do and all that is around you. Love your job, your significant other, your family, your garden, your driveway.

”

abundance Rumi invokes.

Some will hear this as hopelessly naïve, or will question whether or not we can learn from a dog. No, I haven’t been spending too much time in Santa Cruz, though I hope to this summer. I think loving like a Labrador is supremely practical. If you believe in the law of attraction or karma, then love will attract love. Also, we have much

to learn from the so-called “lesser species,” including plants, rivers, mountains and even potatoes. The philosopher Alan Watts dedicated an entire page in one of his books to why a potato is a superior being. It is pretty convincing.

So to conclude, love like a Labrador whatever you do, without condition, with full appreciation and without wobbling. A Zen saying goes, “Walk or sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” If you love like a Labrador, you might find that the world loves you, and that there is very little difference between you and everything you love. Thank you.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

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PROMOTIONS

Grade 8 Promotion Marks Transition to Upper School for Students By Zach Jones

T

he promotion ceremony on June 5 saw Harker’s grade 8 students begin a new stage in their academic lives, as they officially ended their journey as middle school students. The promotion season started on May 20 with a tradition begun last year: a luncheon for eighth graders to enjoy with each other and their advisors, this year held at a community center in Saratoga.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Head of School Chris Nikoloff welcomed the students to this year’s ceremony and congratulated them on the perseverance that led them to this juncture in their school careers. Grade 7 student Megan Huynh, who will serve as the middle school ASB president for the 2013-14 school year, led the students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before a special slide show was shown, compiled by grade 8 students Riya Chandra and Alexis Gauba, displaying memorable scenes from the

2012-13 school year.

Scott Kley Contini, biology teacher and assistant director of instructional technology, gave a special speech to the soonto-be upper school students, encouraging them to welcome the many opportunities that await them over the next four years.

Following a special performance of the Cyndi Lauper song “True Colors” by middle school vocal groups Harmonics and Vivace, rising senior Arjun Goyal, who will be next year’s upper school ASB president, gave a welcome address to the Class of 2017, making sure that the students have much to look forward to in the 2013-14 school year.

The members of the grade 8 class then received their promotion certificates from Nikoloff and Cindy Ellis, middle school head, who made some warm closing remarks to the students. The ceremony concluded with a singing of “The Harker School Song.”

Promotion Ceremony Concludes Grade 5 Students’ Stint at Lower School By Zach Jones special slide show recapping the n June 5, the Class of

O

2020 took the final step on their journey as lower school students at the grade 5 promotion ceremony.

Opening with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by grade 5 class president Avi Gulati, the ceremony continued with Chris Nikoloff, head of school, greeting the students, parents and faculty in attendance and congratulating the grade 5 class on reaching the pivotal next step in their careers as Harker students.

The grade 4-6 dance group Dance Fusion, led by Gail Palmer, amped up the audience with an exciting performance before a

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2012-13 school year was shown.

The members of the grade 5 class then walked up to receive their promotion certificates.

Jennifer Sandusky led the newly promoted students in singing “Lean On Me” and “The Harker School Song” before incoming middle school ASB president Megan Huynh, grade 7, gave a special welcome speech to the students who will be starting middle school in the fall.

Kristin Giammona, elementary division head, offered a heartwarming closing speech to the audience before the ceremony came to a close.

BACCALAUREATE

Students, Teachers Bid Bittersweet Farewell to Class of 2013 at Baccalaureate Ceremony By Zach Jones

This year’s ceremony began with a pair of performances from a string ensemble, directed by Chris Florio, and the female vocal group Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace.

After Jennifer Gargano, the assistant head of school for academic affairs, opened, Butch Keller, upper school head, introduced the faculty speaker, history teacher Julie Wheeler. “I will be the first to admit that I have been in a state of quasi-denial that you, the Class of 2013, were really about to graduate, say goodbye, and start a new and exciting phase of your life outside of Harker,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler noted the Class of 2013 may find it “downright exhausting trying to explain Harker to those who haven’t experienced it as they may doubt whether the fictional, Oz-like place that you describe really exists,” but “it’s an opportunity to redefine yourself.”

Emily Wang ’13, salutatorian, said the most important lesson she has learned is that “the great things are the quiet things.

When I look back at these days, of course I’ll fondly remember the homecoming

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

T

he baccalaureate ceremony, one of Harker’s proudest graduation traditions, took place on May 23 at the upper school campus quad and was highlighted by heartfelt farewells from both student and faculty representatives. Also in attendance was the Class of 2014, next year’s seniors, who began making the transition to being leaders and role models.

“I hope you’ll root yourself firmly in the present.” – Emily Wang, 2013 salutatorian

games, the spirit rallies, the school dances, the spring musicals. But I think that high school is defined by the smaller moments, those brief flashes of time when you look around you and think, hey, I like where I am right now.”

She likened these moments to building blanket forts as a child. “That experience – of sitting under a blanket and dreaming wildly – is perhaps long gone,” she said.

“Yet we carry those dreams with us, an indomitable conviction that we can build castles from bed sheets, that we can build anything, that we can be anything.”

New to this year’s ceremony was the addition of a senior student speaker chosen by the graduating class. The first to be selected for this honor was Carlos JohnsonCruz, who began his speech by recreating a scene described in the infamous Rebecca Black song, “Friday.”

“You see your friends over at the stop, and they’re in their fancy automobile. One guy is ‘kicking it’ in the front seat, another is ‘kicking it’ the back seat, but they’ll get

up if you want them to. Now, you have to make your mind up. Which seat do you take?” Johnson-Cruz asked. “Here, you made something, anything of yourself,” he said. In closing, he reminded his classmates to be aware of the choices that they make and how they affect other people as well as themselves. “‘Know thyself,’ said the Greeks. ‘Know thine actions,’ says Carlos,” he finished.

Head of School Chris Nikoloff closed the ceremony with some heartfelt words of his own before the students departed, the seniors no doubt eagerly anticipating their graduation exercises that weekend.

The full text of this story is at Harker News Online.

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7

GRADUATION

Class of 2013 Walks the Stage in Final Rite of Passage at

Graduation

By Catherine Snider

f all the remarkable milestones Harker students achieve, none is as great or as meaningful as their final rite of passage when they receive their diplomas.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

The pride was palpable on May 24 at the Mountain Winery as the Class of 2013 walked across the stage, collected their diplomas from Head of School Chris Nikoloff, gave a hug or handshake to Upper School Head Butch Keller, and smiled at their class dean, Jeff Draper, who read each of their names.

“It is not competition that is the issue, but how we deal with the outcome that should be our concern.”

–Ashvin Swaminathan ’13, valedictorian

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GRADUATION The weather was perfect – cool and clear; the music, provided by Harker’s chamber ensemble and all-choir Graduation Chorus, was beautiful; the speeches, perhaps among the best yet of the upper school’s 12 graduations.

Ashvin Swaminathan represented his class as valedictorian, and his speech found a perfect balance between honoring the past and preparing for the future. His first words remembered those who are gone: “Let us not forget how blessed we are to have had our lives touched by the love and friendship of” Jackie Wang ’13, teachers John Near and Sharron Mittelstet, counselor Sandy Padgett and school founder Howard Nichols.

He spoke of his own sickly childhood and his mother’s successful struggle with cancer and posed the question, “By what means did every one of us manage to triumph over our tribulations?” The answer? “Our parents,” who were “iron girders” of support.

Introducing his theme of “Let us vow,” Swaminathan adjured his classmates, “Let us vow to continue to treat our parents as our heroes,” to honor them, make them proud and not neglect them “at any time.”

He asked his peers to vow to “never compromise on the value system that our teachers have established for us” in the face of all the temptations to come, and said, “Let us vow to share our leftover resources with those who are not as fortunate as we are.”

The teachers who had led Swaminathan and his classmates on what he called a “beautiful scholastic safari” were on their feet moments after his talk concluded, to be joined almost immediately by his classmates.

Keynote speaker Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, an organization dedicated to volunteerism which has nurtured projects resulting in the gifting of millions of dollars of services, including website creation and pay-it-forward restaurants, at which a person eats for free but pays for the meal of the next customer who comes in to dine. He has devoted his entire adult life to the pursuit of giving.

Mehta’s engaging speech was a rallying cry to fix what is “at the core of all of today’s most pressing challenges: … we have become profoundly disconnected …. We have forgotten how to rescue each other.” He says humans are wired to give and to help each other, and asked, “Will you, Class of 2013, step up to rebuild a culture of trust, empathy and compassion?”

There are three keys to living a life of giving, Mehta said. The first is to give, no strings attached. The second is to receive: “When you give externally, you inson Pam Dick Photo by receive internally.” His third key is to dance. “Our biggest problem with giving and receiving is that we try and track it. And when we do that, we lose the beat.”

He closed with this final thought: “Harker Class of 2013, may you all find greatness in service to life. May you all give, receive – and never, ever stop dancing.”

Nikoloff also had an opportunity to offer some words of wisdom to the class, which he did in a lighthearted talk titled “Love like a Labrador,” meaning unconditionally and with joy. (See Headlines on page 4 for the whole text.)

Then diplomas were bestowed, doves were released and tassels were switched from right to left; the graduates processed out of the amphitheater and walked through a tunnel formed by their teachers, who gave a final round of applause as Harker’s newest members of the alumni family were fondly sent on their way.

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TRADITIONS

Senior Moms and Dads Honored at Special Luncheon

By Debbie Cohen

I

n May the upper school’s gym was transformed into an elegantly set, festive luncheon honoring the parents of this year’s graduating class, featuring speeches, photo collages and delicious food.

This annual event has grown substantially over the years, from its 2004 roots as a simple moms’ potluck lunch; as of last year dads are also included. Tables displayed colorful photo montages and quotes from the seniors on what they used to think they wanted to be when they grew up.

Photos by Eric Marten

Admiring the collages was participant Kari Wolff, mother of senior Drew Goldstein. Wolff said her son had been attending Harker since seventh grade and soon will be heading off to Duke University. Thanks to Harker, however, she said she has little concern about how well prepared he is for the rigors of university life, because, “Harker is as good as college!”

She added that when her son arrived at Harker in middle school he quickly connected with peers who are sure to remain friends for life.

Following the luncheon, all the moms and dads in attendance received a memento of the emotional occasion which kicked off graduation week celebrations. Wolff said the event would have been more bittersweet had it not been for the fact that she has another son (Arthur, grade 9) at the upper school, giving her “a few more years of being a Harker parent.”

Students Cement their Harker Histories at Brick Ceremony

By Zach Jones

T

Students who placed bricks at this year’s ceremony are Michael Amick, Kiran Arimilli, Priscilla Auyeung, Neeraj Baid, Pranav Bheda, Deniz Eren Celik, Rohan Chandra, Jenny Chen, Michael Hao Cheng, Siobhan Cox, Madeleine The tradition stretches back to 2002 when Dawson, Tiphaine Delepine, parents of the very first high school class Sylvie Dobrota, John Patrick came up with the idea of laying bricks printed Doherty, Michelle Douglas, Molly with the students’ names and graduation Ellenberg, Rebecca Fang, Jasmine years in the walkway at Graduates’ Grove.

Gill, Drew Goldstein, Varun Gudapati, Sonia Priya Hashim, “I think it’s a great tradition,” said Nirmal Baid, Patricia Huang, Samantha father of graduate Neeraj Baid. “The students Hoffman, Jacob Hoffman, Cristina are leaving their legacy. And they’re kind of Jerney, Amanda Kalb, David leaving a motivation behind for future students Lindars, Rebecca Liu, Meera and their parents to contribute to Harker Madhavan, Simar Mangat, because this is building their future.” Baid Maverick McNealy, Catalina said he’ll place another brick when daughter, Mihailide, Shivani Mitra, Nikhil Nilisha, grade 4, graduates.

Panu, Laura Pedrotti, Shelby Rorabaugh, Alison Rugar, Maya Sita Arimilli said that the brick will preserve the memory of her son Kiran’s time at Harker. Sathaye, Pooja Shah, Arhum Siddiqui, Sonia Sidhu, Alan “It will always be here,” she said. “That feels Soetikno, Hansa Srinivasan, Christopher Sund, Kevin Susai, Lynda Tang, Alice Tsui, Sarina Vij, Emily Wang, amazing.” She, too, will honor her daughter Amy Wardenburg, Molly Wolfe and Justin Yang.

Shalini, grade 9, upon her graduation.

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Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

he upper school campus’ Graduates’ Grove bristled with activity on May 23 as a record 51 members of the Class of 2013 had bricks placed in the walkway at this year’s brick ceremony.

By Zach Jones

A

fter the baccalaureate ceremony on May 23, the 44 “lifers” of the Class of 2013 – upper school graduates who have been Harker students since kindergarten – gathered at the home of Chris Nikoloff, head of school, where they enjoyed a special party and a Mexican dinner while reminiscing about their years together at Harker. The students chatted about major milestones such as earning their cursive licenses and also peered into their pasts by looking at the pictures from their Harker applications.

This year’s lifers are Erik Andersen, Pranav Bheda, Kevin Cali, Nicholas Chuang, Keri Clifford, Ashley Del Alto, Amanda Kalb, Laura Pedrotti, Shelby Rorabaugh, Daniel Wang, Robert Amick, Ragini Bhattacharya, Michael Chen, Jenny Chen, Amie Chien, Siobhan Cox, Tiphaine Delepine, Ria Desai, John Patrick Doherty, Michelle Douglas, Richard Fan, Matthew Giammona, Sonia Gupta, Patricia Huang, Cristina Jerney, Sartajdeep Khalon, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Sondra Leal Da Costa, David Lindars, Catherine Manea, Shivani Mitra, Payal Modi, Suchita Nety, Chloe Nielsen, Simon Orr, Anuj Sharma, Eric Swenson, Ravi Tadinada, Andre Tran, Amy Wardenburg, Molly Wolfe, Lorraine Wong, Katherine Woodruff and Rachel Yanovsky.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Harker Lifers Enjoy Special Fiesta Celebration at Head of School’s Home

TRADITIONS

Class of 2013 Matr iculates

Matr iculation List Class of 2013 College ................ 2 .................................................

Amherst College....................... ................................. 1 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

Boston College................ .................... 1 .................................................

2 Briar Cliff University............ ................................................. ....... ....... . . mbia Colu sh Briti ... 3 University of ................................................. ....... ....... ....... ....... y...... ersit Brown Univ .......... 14 eley............................................

University of California at Berk ............. 3 s................................................

Davi at a orni Calif of y ersit .......... 1 Univ e...................................................

University of California at Irvin ............................ 6 ....... ....... ........ eles Ang Los University of California at ............ 1 Diego.........................................

University of California at San ............................................ 2 ara..

Barb a Sant at a orni University of Calif ................ 2 a Cruz....................................

University of California at Sant ......................................................... 2 . gy. nolo Tech of tute Insti California ................ 1 y................................................

California Lutheran Universit ................ 1 ................................................. ....... ....... ....... . ge.

Colle ton Carle ..................... 8 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

Carnegie Mellon University...... ...................... 1 ersity.....................................

Case Western Reserve Univ ................................. 2 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

Chapman University...... ............... 1 ................................................. ... 3 University of Chicago............... ................................................. ....... ....... ....... ....... . y. ersit .......... 1 Columbia Univ ................................................. ....... ....... ....... . ge.

Colle ut Connectic ................ 4 .................................................

Cornell University.................... ................. 2 ................................................. ....... ....... ge....

Colle th mou Dart .................... 5 .................................................

Duke University.................... ............................. 1 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

Emory University................ ................. 1 Engineering..............................

Franklin W. Olin College of ........................................... 1 ....... y..... ersit Univ ton hing The George Was ..................... 0 ................................................. ........ 3 Georgetown University...... ................................................. ....... ....... ....... ....... ge...

Colle Harvard ................... 2 na-Champaign.......................

Urba at is Illino of y ersit Univ ............. 1 ton............................................

Indiana University at Blooming ......................... 3 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

Johns Hopkins University..... ................... 6 Technology...............................

Massachusetts Institute of ................................ 1 ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......

University of Miami.. .................... 1 .................................................

9 University of Michigan........ ............................................... ....... ....... ....... ....... y...... ersit ...... 1 New York Univ at Chapel Hill.............................. lina Caro h Nort of y ersit The Univ .................... 1 .................................................

Northeastern University......

Class of 2013 Co

llege Matr iculat ion List (continu ed) Northwestern Unive rsity........................ ...................................

University of Notre ............... 3 Dame........................ ...................................

Pacific University.. .......... .............. 1 University of the Pac ............................................................ .......... ific..............................

University of Pennsy ................................... ..... 1 lvania..................... .......... 1 ...................................

Pepperdine Unive rsity........................ ................................... .............. 5 University of Pittsbu .......... rgh........................... ................................... ......... 2 Pratt Institute............ .............. 1 ...................................

Princeton Universit ................................... y................................. ........... 2 ...................................

Reed College............ ............. 3 ................................... ...................................

Rensselaer Polyte chnic Institute....... ..... ....... 1 ...................................

Rhode Island School ................... 1 of Design............... ...................................

Rutgers, The State ............. 1 University of New Jersey at New Bru University of San nswick....... 1 Diego...................... ...................................

San Francisco Con ................... 1 servatory of Music ...................................

University of San ................. 1 Francisco............... ...................................

San Jose State Un ................... 1 iversity...................... ...................................

Santa Clara Unive ..... rsity........................... ................................... ........... 1 Skidmore College.... ................ 5 ................................... ...................................

University of Southe ............ 1 rn California.......... ...................................

Southern Methodis .............. 6 t University............. ...................................

University of St. An ............... 1 dre St. Bonaventure Un ws............................................................. iversity................... ................................... ........... 1 Stanford Universit ................ 1 y................................. ...................................

Stony Brook Unive ............. 10 rsity.

Tufts University........ ............................................................. ............... 1 ...................................

Tulane University. ................................... ............................... ........... 1 ...................................

United States Nav ................... 1 al Academy............. ...................................

Vanderbilt Universit ................. 1 y................................ .....

Wake Forest Unive rsity............................ ........................................... 1 ...................................

Washington Unive rsity in St. Louis....... ............. 1 ...................................

University of Washi .............. 5 ngton..................... ...................................

Whitman College... ................ 4 ................................... ...................................

Whittier College... .......... ............. 1 Willamette Universit ............................................................ .......... y..................................

Williams College... ................................... ..... 1 ................................... .......... 1 .....

Yale University....... ................................... ............................................ 1 ................................... .............. 3

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By Melinda Gonzales

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et ready for some good old-fashioned fun, mixed with some new surprises, at the 63rd annual Family & Alumni Picnic, the Harker Harvest Festival! Scheduled for Oct. 13, 2013, the picnic will be a day of fun, food and festivities for all ages on the Blackford campus.

Our Harker Harvest Festival will celebrate the changing of the seasons from summer to fall and will be a fantastic way to kick off the school year. Families will enjoy carnival games, delicious food, fabulous entertainment and lots more.

h Bush ‘06

Photos by Maria

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We’ll be bringing back some long-time favorites from picnics past, like field games, and giving them a new twist, with Eagle Buddies and homeroom teams, and teachers v. student games. We’ll also be adding some new features such as the Teachers’ Clubhouse, where students can come spend time with teachers and play Ping-Pong or foosball or just hang out. Other new “virtual” activities will appeal to teens and preteens. We’ll also have great activities for our littlest students, the preschoolers who will be brand new to the school this fall.

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Spending the day together having fun will be the focus of the day; students and parents will have the chance to interact with teachers in games and activities of both the old-fashioned and modern kind.

Of course this wonderful event would not be possible without the dedication of our parent and faculty committees. We are very grateful for all the time, creativity and hard work they put in!

Please mark your calendar for Sun., Oct. 13 to help us celebrate the fall season at Harker! If you have questions about the event or would like to volunteer, please contact Harker’s director of special events, Danae McLaughlin, at danaem@harker.org.

FAMILY PICNIC FUN!

Picnic Package Principal for a Day There was a new principal on the lower school campus April 25 when Minali Kapadia, grade 3, took over responsibilities for the entire school day. Emails and calls to the principal’s office were handled by Kapadia with dispatch and aplomb. Kapadia earned the job at the 2012 Family & Alumni Picnic, where it is one of the annual auction packages.

Volunteers Make the Picnic Go ’Round!

Teachers and Students Enjoy ManiPedi Picnic Package On a Sunday in April, four grade 5 girls and six teachers enjoyed a manicurepedicure party at a nail salon in Willow Glen. Organized by Eileen Schick, who also provided bagels, cream cheese and fruit for the gang, the outing was a teacher auction package from last year’s family picnic.

The students were allowed to wear sandals to school the next day to show off their pretty toes. Ever the gamer, math teacher Pat Walsh got into the action, too, no doubt to the delight of the students.

The happy students were Rashmi Iyer, Sejal Krishnan, Michelle Kwan and Angele Yang. Schick and Walsh were joined by colleagues Kristin Giammona, Katie Molin, Kate Shanahan and Catherine Hsieh.

Hundreds of volunteers contribute to the Family & Alumni Picnic each year in many, many ways. Volunteer positions range from one hour in a classroom booth on picnic day to year-round committee work, and we need artists, accountants and everything in between! Our online ivolunteer program will be in use again this year, allowing prospective helpers to see the different opportunities and sign up for a preferred activity.

We truly appreciate the incredible and valuable help we get from our volunteers each year and are eager to have more people join the fun. We’ll have detailed volunteer information as the picnic approaches; if you have questions in the meantime, please contact Danae McLaughlin at danaem@harker.org.

Contacts: Danae Mclaughlin, Director of Special Events danaem@harker.org 408.345.9625

Teré Aceves, Director of Lower School Volunteers terea@harker.org 408.345.9622 Jen Hargreaves, Director of Middle and Upper School Volunteers jenniferh@harker.org 408.345.9626 H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

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Construction on

for New Preschool to Open on Union Campus this Fall

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he busy commotion of construction at Harker’s recently acquired third campus on San Jose’s Union Avenue will soon be replaced by an even more exciting noise: the welcome sound of children at play.

Thanks to a dedicated crew of construction workers, architects and landscapers, the Union campus – which formerly served as a children’s shelter – is getting a muchneeded facelift. Now the property seems well poised to open its doors as Harker Preschool this coming school year.

Turning the eight-acre property into a preschool, as well as the future permanent

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By Debbie Cohen home of Harker’s lower school, has been no easy feat. To that end, Mike Bassoni, Harker’s facility manager, has routinely met with a team of professionals who for months have worked tirelessly to turn the school’s vision of creating the perfect environment for young children into a reality.

The coveted Union site first opened in 1995 as a state-of-the-art shelter for abused and neglected children, boasting residential cottages surrounding a beautiful play area.

However, over time there was a shift away from placing troubled kids into residential facilities, resulting in the shelter becoming nearly empty and underutilized.

Now, Anderson Brulé Architects, Inc. (ABA) is working with Harker to redesign the shelter to meet the needs of a preschool. Crystal Sanderson, a project manager with ABA, reported that the process of converting the property from a residential setting to one intended for educational day use was going remarkably well.

“The shelter was dated, so we are updating it with refreshing finishes to make it more vibrant, as well as accommodating the special needs of a preschool, with areas for napping, playing and restrooms to size,” she said, adding that her firm’s overarching goal

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is to help Harker transform the Union campus into a fun, safe environment, with day to day functional needs met.

To achieve that goal, existing buildings are being modified to make them more open, turning formerly enclosed housing cottages into classroom space with more natural light and room for children to play.

“Harker was really smart to find a facility that could be reused in this way,” noted Sanderson.

Pamela Anderson-Brulé, a founder and the president of ABA, added that her firm was charged with the task of not only freeing up living areas for classroom space, but for administrative office use as well. The building also had to be up to fire safety code and meet the needs of the disabled in compliance with California’s state law.

Anderson-Brulé said they were able to work largely with what they had without having to “start over,” and without a lot of construction waste. “It’s a perfect second use/second life for these facilities,” she said.

Harker first made breaking news when it became top bidder on the available third campus property. Following a due diligence

land when the time comes to move the K-5 programs to Union. The preschool will serve ages 3 through (young) 5-year-olds with the capacity to serve up to 120 students.

Ever since opening the upper school in 1998, Harker has planned to own three campuses. Currently Harker owns the upper Saratoga and lower Bucknall campuses, but holds a lease on the middle school Blackford campus until 2025. However, the Blackford lease has long been viewed as a temporary stopgap measure.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

period, where Harker reviewed areas such as permit, traffic, environmental and title use, the administration successfully closed on the Union property in January.

According to Bassoni, the addition of a new driveway to the site should help alleviate traffic flow concerns. Additionally, he said construction crews are implementing an emergency vehicle access and designated drop-off area.

Voicing his appreciation for all the donors who helped enable Harker to purchase the property, he said the project will finally be complete on “the day I get to see children enjoying and exploring the new facility.”

Indeed, the entire Harker community looks forward to the time when the sight of workers walking around the Union campus clad in yellow vests and hard hats will be replaced by young children laughing and playing.

“Harker is 120 years old … and we intend to continue our history for many more years to come,” Bassoni said.

Look for updates about the new Union campus and preschool in continuous coverage by Harker Quarterly. FAQs about the preschool are also available online at www.harker.org/preschool.

The school’s long-term plan is to locate the middle school on the Bucknall campus and move the lower school to the Union campus.

Other plans in the works include building a gym and theater complex on the Saratoga campus to replace the gym and theater on the Blackford campus; creating a permanent solution for field use; making improvements on the Union campus in preparation for its K-5 use; and relocating some operations currently at Blackford.

And, while the preschool would initially operate on the Union property, it would later be transitioned to leased or purchased

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Grade 5 Students “The students are filming scenes from scripts that they wrote in conjunction with research from social studies class.”

—Joe Chung, lower school comput er science teacher

By Debbie Cohen

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he phrase “all quiet on the set” was like music to the ears of grade 5 computer science students who, for nearly a month in May, had a blast transforming their classroom into a mini movie studio.

Thanks to a special cross-disciplinary project with social studies classes researching famous Americans, the fifth graders readily seized the unique opportunity to create original short films depicting the lives of the high-profile individuals they had studied.

Temporarily stepping outside their regular computer curriculum, the lower school students became immersed in the world of filmmaking as researchers, writers, actors, directors, editors and producers.

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with research from social studies class,” explained Joe Chung, lower school computer science teacher, during a recent visit by Harker Quarterly to his classroom, where the moviemaking action occurred.

Pointing out a group of students huddled in a corner, he said, “They are rehearsing and memorizing their lines to depict their famous people and introduce them in creative ways.”

Working in small teams, student groups collaborated on various roles, creating a bevy of activity. Some busied themselves working behind a camera strategically set

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up in the center of the room. Others spent their time in front of the lens, acting. Still more were focused on editing their footage using iMovie (a video editing software sold

by Apple Inc. for the Mac) to create four- or five-minute films. Using the application, they were able to import video and photo files from their hard drives, editing them and adding effects.

Students Mallika Vashist, Jasmine Wiese, Ishaan Chandra and Jeffrey Liu were working on a film about Madeleine Albright, the first woman to become the United States Secretary of State.

Huddled around a computer, the group was immersed in the editing process.

The four agreed that the best thing about the project was how much it mirrored the real working world as a truly collaborative experience.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Vashist said that not only did they “learn a ton about Madeleine Albright,” they now better understood the moviemaking

FAMILY PICNIC FUN!

Write, Direct, Film and Star in

Movies on Famous People

lar val Ca yle yK sb oto Ph

Although the majority of the film work was completed during class time, Chung also made himself available for students to work on their projects before and after school, as well as during lunch and recess.

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process, utilizing various talents to form a completed product. “We are also having a lot of fun!” she added.

Upon the project’s completion, Chung said he planned to arrange student screenings of the documentaries during each class period, with plenty of popcorn on hand.

The films will also be made available on the student portal homework management system (athena2. harker.org) so they can proudly share their work with their parents, viewing it online together.

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Global Online Academy Provides High-Quality Online Education

Photos provided by Anu

In the spring of 2012, Harker began participating in the Global Online Academy (GOA), a consortium of independent schools located throughout the United States and abroad who organized during the 2010-11 school year to provide high-quality online classes to students at member schools.

shka Das, grade 10

By Zach Jones

Classes are taught by the faculty of member schools and cover a wide variety of topics, including playwriting, global health and app development for the iOS platform. This topical diversity was Harker’s primary reason for applying for membership in the GOA. “Continuously seeking broader programs and broader academics requires that we go beyond what we can deliver just with our own faculty,” said Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology.

The quality of the schools involved in the GOA also meant little worry over the quality of the instruction. “All of the students are members of one of those schools, and all of the people who are teaching are people who are teaching in one of those schools, so we have no issues whatsoever about the quality of instruction or the peers whom the students will be working with,” Hudkins said.

In all, 14 students have taken GOA classes so far. Anushka Das, grade 10, enrolled in a global health class, taught by an instructor at the Lakeside School in Seattle, in the spring semester. One of the main motivators for her was the opportunity to collaborate

Continuously seeking broader programs and broader academics requires that we go beyond what we can deliver just with our own faculty.

—Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology with students from different areas and cultures. “Plus, it was a completely different setting,” she added. “The class involved lectures, video and technology that I had not used before, and the chance of having a new experience was enticing.”

The course itself also offered a new area of study. “I have always been interested in biology, and this course gave a totally new 18

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perspective into the world of diseases and how diseases affect and are affected by social, political and cultural systems,” she said. “It allowed me to globalize my knowledge and gain several new points of view on diseases around the world.”

Classes are conducted via a range of means, using tools such as Skype to video conference with classmates and teachers as well as Google Docs to collaborate on projects. Students also coordinate for their class projects using online discussion threads.

Class sizes are capped at 18 students in order to help maximize effectiveness.

Evan Barth, dean of studies at the upper school, said students who participate in GOA should be prepared to take the online course as seriously as they would any of their other classes at Harker. “A lot of it comes down to mindset,” he said. “It takes a certain amount of time management skills. This class counts as one of their class periods.”

Harker plans to expand its participation in the GOA in the coming years, with some teachers already training to conduct classes online. “After teaching for 28 years, I don’t want to become one of those stuck teachers who doesn’t have the flexibility anymore to adjust to new needs and developments in the pedagogical field,” said upper school math teacher Gabriele Stahl. “At the same time, technology challenges me and sometimes scares me. So I chose this course to leave my comfort zone.”

0010100100101000100101101

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

1101101010110 Values of Computer Science Education Touted By Daniel Hudkins

Editor’s note: Dan Hudkins is Harker’s K-12 director of instructional technology. This article originally appeared in the summer 2013 issue of Independent School Magazine.

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very school plans a curriculum that attempts to meet two parallel objectives: to be consistent with its core values and to prepare its students to be competent and successful adults. This tension leads schools to teach a variety of required courses based on values and perceived needs. But over time, those values and needs change. There were lengthy parts of our educational history in which wood and metal shop or home economics had been considered core skills. In the early 20th century, what independent school would not have included Latin as a required curricular element? Yet how many independent schools require Latin today?

In addition to everything else we teach, at The Harker School (California) we are convinced that the habits of mind learned through an understanding of computational thinking are required if one is to be a knowledgeable adult in the 21st century. And we believe that these skills are best learned through an understanding of computer science.

Vinton Cerf, the father of the Internet, makes the essential argument for computer science classes today: “Embedded computers and their animating software are everywhere, and a well-educated person today has to appreciate and understand their roles in daily life, business, entertainment and scientific research. No curriculum is complete without it.”

Even President Obama has chimed in. Responding to a question about teaching computer science in high school recently, he stated that making that training available in high school “not only prepares young people who may choose not to go to a four-year college to be job-ready, but it also engages kids.”

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Here at The Harker School, we have had a graduation requirement of at least one semester of computer science since the first high school graduating class in 2002. The state(continued on page 34) H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

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PerformingArts

Conservatory Graduates Perform, Say Goodbyes at Senior Showcase Read the complete stories on each event in Harker News Online – just search on the event name.

On May 24 at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose, the graduating seniors in the Harker Conservatory certificate program performed selections from their senior portfolios at the 2013 Harker Conservatory Senior Showcase to an appreciative crowd of more than 500.

By Zach Jones

Photos by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

Modi singing the Kelly Clarkson hit “A Moment Like This.”

After the performances had concluded, the graduates lined up on stage and were called forward to receive their engraved plaques signaling successful completion of this intense arts program.

All 27 graduates of the program have spent the previous four years honing their talents in one of six fields offered by the certificate program.

The show included several dramatic reenactments and, as always, the musical talents of Harker’s Conservatory students were a treat, including vocalist Rebecca Liu’s stirring version of “Ave Maria” and Payal

Music lovers packed the Bucknall Theater on May 9 for a special performance by many of Harker’s youngest musicians, as several instrumental groups took the stage at the Spring Music Concert.

The show started fittingly enough with a performance of “The Harker School Song” by the Bucknall Choir, lower school orchestra and lower school string ensemble. The show moved from group to group, demonstrating a wide range of material and versatility. The Bucknall Choir returned to sing several pieces, 20

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including an Irish folk song, Schubert art song and a fun calypso number called “Shake the Papaya Down.”

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Lower School Spring Concert Highlights Talents of Young Musicians

The Lower School Jazz Band and firstyear strings group performed a variety of catchy numbers and celebrated student composers.

PerformingArts Sci-Fi Romp “Starmites” Shines Bright at Blackford Theater

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

The middle school production of the punk-sci-fi musical “Starmites” took audiences on a wildly colorful romp through a young teenager’s imagination on May 10-11 at the Blackford Theater. This energetic, rock music-driven story centers on a teenager who retreats into a world of comic book characters who then set out on a journey to find a powerful musical instrument.

Spring Sing Features Middle School Vocalists Middle school singers sang about the ups and downs of being a kid at this year’s Spring Sing concert, titled “Just Kidding!” The show featured the grade 6 class and also featured middle school vocal groups Dynamics, Harmonics and Vivace, performing a series of songs about childhood from several famous Broadway musicals such as “Les Misérables,” “West Side Story” and “Hairspray.”

For the finale, all of the night’s singers stood together onstage to sing “Happiness” from “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.”

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

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PerformingArts Huge Oklahoma! Cast, Including Grade 5 Students, Shine in Year-Ending Musical For this year’s spring musical, the Harker Conservatory returned to a familiar favorite, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” directed by Laura Lang-Ree. “I’m so drawn to this story,” LangRee noted. “It’s a perfect chance for our students to experience a true classic, with strong characters, amazing language and beautiful music.”

The show earned eight nominations at the Bay Area High School Musical Theatre: Stage Top Honor Awards in early June, including best overall production and best chorus. The production took home wins in sound and choreography. Read all about it in Harker News Online at http://wp.me/pOeLQ-59g. Hooray, cast and crew!

Photos by Mercedes Chien, grade 11

The huge upper school cast included several grade 5 students, all of whom gave splendid performances. Musical director Catherine Snider

led the “Oklahoma!” band, whose interpretation of the beloved score provided the perfect backing for the talented singing and dancing actors.

Upper School Singers Appear “In Concert” to Welcome Summer, Send Off Seniors A two-part show on May 3, titled “In Concert,” brought together all of the upper school vocal groups to ring in the summer and bid farewell to the graduating seniors and honor them for their dedication to Harker’s performing arts programs.

The first portion of the show was dedicated primarily to songs hailing from Great Britain and the countries that were part of its once-massive empire. Selections included Camerata’s performance of “Shoot False Love”

by Thomas Morley; Cantilena closed the first portion of the show with their rendition of the Sting hit “Fields of Gold.”

Bel Canto kicked off the second part of the show with a pair of African folk songs and a medley of songs from Leonard Bernstein’s beloved score from “West Side Story.” Upper school show choir Downbeat concluded the concert, singing a variety of pop standards, including the poignant a cappella song by Billy Joel “And So It Goes.”

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Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

PerformingArts Kindergartners Live the Dog’s Life in Series of Shows The kindergarten classes of teachers Katherine Chi, Michelle Anderson, Kimberley Sandoval and Kelle Sloan delighted audiences during a series of shows that took place April 25-26 at the Bucknall Theater. Titled “Arf!” each of the four shows, directed by Kellie Binney-Smart, featured each kindergarten class performing caninethemed songs with hilarious skits in between, all the while wearing adorable dog costumes provided by Marylin Watts.

Students provided support behind the scenes, as Danny Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater students acted as the crew for the show. Sasha Pikiner, grade 6, also provided scenic elements to complement Whitney Pintello’s wonderful scenic artwork.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

All-School Instrumental Concert Repertoire Includes Coldplay, Lord of the Rings and a Composition by Grade 7 Musician

The Lower School String Ensemble kicked off the evening with a medley of American songs, and the Lower School Orchestra followed with Beethoven’s famous “Ode to Joy” and “Aragonaise” by Georges Bizet.

The Middle School Orchestra then introduced themselves to the show by teaming up with the Lower School Orchestra for a performance of a segment of Mozart’s Symphony No. 25. Harker Winds, the grade 6 wind ensemble, performed “You Are My Sunshine.”

Photos by Diane Villadsen ‘11

Lower, middle and upper school instrumentalists displayed their talents for an evening audience at the Spring Concert, held April 12 at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose. Several groups performed orchestral music from a wide selection of styles and time periods.

After a brief intermission the Harker Orchestra took the stage, performing, among other pieces, “The Moldau” from Bedrich Smetana’s “Ma Vlast,” Max Bruch’s “Romanze for Viola and Orchestra,” featuring Nayeon Kim, grade 12, and the final piece of the night, “Huapango” by Jose Pablo Moncayo.

Photo by Megan Prakash, grade 11

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PerformingArts

From Irish Folk to Jazz to Michael Jackson, Annual Concert “Unites” Student Vocalists From All Campuses This year’s “United Voices” concert moved to the beautiful Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose, where every one of Harker’s student vocal groups performed. The Bucknall Choir, comprising grade 4-5 students, got things started with the traditional Irish folk song “Shady Grove,” Franz Schubert’s “An Die Musik,” one of the few songs that evening to be sung in a foreign language, and “We Believe in Music” by Teresa Jennings.

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

The grade 6 show choir, Dynamics, included the iconic World War II hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Bigger Isn’t Better” in their threesong set.

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Next up was the grade 7-8 group Harmonics, who sang “All That Jazz” from the musical “Chicago” before being joined by their classmates in Vivace, to sing their rendition of the Cyndi Lauper hit “True Colors.”

Starting off for the upper school was Bel Canto singing a medley from “West Side Story” and the traditional spiritual “Battle of Jericho.” Camerata sang Thomas Morley’s “Shoot False Love,” followed by the upper school show choir group Downbeat, who did the Michael Jackson classic “Man in the Mirror” and funk legends Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Sing a Song.”

The show ended with all of the night’s performers gathering on stage for a stirring performance of Jim Papoulis’ “Oye.”

PerformingArts Huge Cast of Lower School Students Strut Their Stuff at Dance Show

Special note! Orchestra Receives Unanimous Superior Rating at CMEA

“One Hit Wonders!,” this year’s lower school dance production, which took place at the Bucknall Theater at the end of the school year, featured 240 dancers from grades 1-5 moving to the rhythm of some of the most famous one-time chart-toppers of decades past.

Runners, “Yummy Yummy Yummy” by Ohio Express, The Cascades’ “Rhythm of the Rain” and Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee).” In all, 28 routines were performed at each show.

One of the adjudicators at the festival was quoted as saying, “I just want you to know, this is not normal.

This is not a normal high school experience. You have a very good thing going on here.”

Photos by Maria Gong, parent

Students performed numbers to songs such as the “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats, “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight

The Harker Orchestra received its second unanimous superior rating in three years at the California Music Education Association’s South Bay Orchestra and Band Festival in late April.

“This is the highest rating possible and only the second time our orchestra has been able to earn this award,” said upper school music teacher and orchestra director Chris Florio.

Photos by Robert Boucher, parent

Middle School Dancers “Jam” at Yearly Show Dance Jamz, the annual middle school dance show, entertained audiences at the Blackford Theater on March 8-9. Directed

by Gail Palmer with choreography by Rachelle Ellis, Grant Chenok, Stephanie Bayer, Kimberley Teodoro and Palmer herself, middle school students (and several faculty members) hit the stage to perform a variety of uptempo dance

numbers set to music by Skrillex, David Guetta, No Doubt, Michael Jackson and more. One of the highlights of the show was a routine featuring a cast made up entirely of faculty members, including history teacher Cyrus Merrill, English teacher Patricia Lai Burrows and art teacher Elizabeth Saltos. The finale saw the entire cast of dancers gather on the

stage for a rousing number that received a fittingly enthusiastic ovation.

As usual, the stalwart crew of set designer Paul Vallerga, sound engineer Brian Larsen and lighting designer Natti Pierce-Thomson worked tirelessly to keep all the moving parts of this technically demanding show in order.

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EagleReport

by Steve M. Boyle ‘06

This spring included league championships, scholarships and record-breaking performances for Harker. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

Track and Field

qualifying for the finals.

his year saw the most successful day in Harker’s track history when Sumit Minocha, grade 12, won the CCS championship in the 200m, becoming Harker’s second-ever individual CCS champion. His effort was part of a banner day in which Harker had more of its most talented athletes qualify and score points at the CCS championships than ever before in its history.

Photos by Scott Chisam

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Nadia Palte, grade 9, Corey Gonzales and Julia Wang, grade 10, Claudia Tischler, grade 11, and seniors Isabelle Connell, Michael Chen and Ragini Bhattacharya all joined Minocha at the CCS championships. On the team side, both the boys and girls teams placed third in the team standings at the

league championships.

Connell and Minocha finished up their high school track careers by becoming the first Harker athletes to qualify for the state meet, where they faced the toughest competition the state of California has to offer. Each came within less than a second of

Track and field’s 2013 season has been studded with record-breaking moments. Cheryl Liu, grade 10, broke a Harker record in the 100m hurdles, then saw Palte break that same record minutes later. Michael Cheng, grade 12, broke a Harker record in the discus competition.

Minocha broke a Harker record in the 100m for the boys, and Connell, who already owned the 100m Harker record for the girls, improved her own time. Minocha was also recognized as Athlete of the Week earlier this spring by the San Jose Mercury News.

Congratulations to all of Harker’s track and field athletes on a thrilling season!

Softball

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In the bottom of the seventh and final inning of a 1-1 tie game against King’s Academy with two outs and the league championship on the line, freshman Tong Wu singled to knock in sophomore Briana Liang from second base, delivering Harker a walk-off victory. With two out and no one

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on base, Liang knocked a double, setting up Wu’s hit and the exciting final moments.

Photos by Diane Villadsen ‘11

he girls won a league championship this year with an 11-1 record in league play, reaching the first round of the CCS playoffs. The league championship was the first in Harker’s history, and it came in dramatic fashion.

EagleReport

Photo by Le-Chen Cheng

Golf

Baseball

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Harker linksman Kyle Roter, grade 12, received a REACH (Recognizing Excellence, Adversity, Courage and Hard Work) scholarship of $1,500 this spring. Over the past 17 years the REACH Youth Scholarship Program has been providing college funds to high school students who have overcome adversity to excel in academics and sports. Roter suffered from Chiari malformation, a condition in which brain tissue protrudes into the spinal canal. He underwent an operation to correct the problem after headaches became intolerable. Roter received the scholarship at the REACH awards breakfast, chaired by former San Francisco 49er Ronnie Lott at the San Jose Marriott.

he boys ended their season with a 9-15-1 overall record. Kevin Cali, grade 12, led the team with a .425 average, socking seven homers with three triples and two doubles. Jacob Hoffman, also grade 12, led the team with 24 RBIs and was second on the team with three homers. Hoffman hit for a scorching .369 average this year, and senior Drew Goldstein also broke the .300 mark with a .333 average.

Goldstein racked up a .452 on-base percentage, topped by Cali and Hoffman, who both reached base more than half of the time.

Photos by Diane Villadsen ‘11

arker golfer Maverick McNealy, grade 12, is off to Stanford to compete on their golf team next year! He ended his high school career by tying for fourth place at the CCS championships after winning the WBAL individual title.

Shrish Dwivedi, grade 10, also qualified for the CCS tournament.

Overall, Cali and Hoffman had ridiculously impressive slash lines, with Cali slugging .863 and Hoffman slugging .723.

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EagleReport

Congratulations to recent graduate Josh Tien and rising senior Andrew Zhu for being named to the boys volleyball AllMercury News Honorable Mention list.

This is an elite list of players from the 55 high school boys volleyball teams in the section. Go Eagles!

Volleyball

Photos by Ram Bhamidipaty, parent

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he boys volleyball team reached the CCS quarterfinals this year, finally falling to Leigh High School after winning their first-round game against Valley Christian San Jose.

On the girls’ side, Harker freshman Shannon

Richardson and her partner won first place in the AAU Huntington Beach Open Volleyball Tournament 16U Division, qualifying to compete in the AAU Junior Olympic Games this July in Southern California and AAU’s Best of the Beach Tournament this August.

Tennis Photo by Michael Mo, parent

Boys varsity tennis got off to a great start, and the team was 5-1 in mid-March.

The bottom end of the schedule was more challenging, but the boys held their own and then some, beating first Pinewood, then Priory 6-1, capping that streak by beating Aragon 4-3, thus holding a 9-4 record in early April. The team then hit a tough run of three losses to end up with winning record of 9-7 for the season.

In middle school, the varsity A tennis team (grades 6-8) swept both public and private league championships for the first time, winning 5-4 against Kennedy to clinch the second title. The team went 20-0 for the season.

This is the first time the team has gone undefeated in both the regular season and the playoffs, and the first time the team has won both the private and public middle school tennis titles. “This is about as big as it gets in middle school sports!” said Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs.

Lawson added that over the last two years, the team compiled a 36-2 record and won three of four divisional titles. “Coach John Fruttero has done amazing things with the team,” Lawson added.

At the winning game, Fruttero said, “Today was not the 9-0 against Menlo last week in the WBAL championship match, but special in a very different way. The team battled from being down 4-1 for the second time this season to win 5-4. It was amazing to see these kids grow and transform themselves into a united championship team, from the inside out. It was an honor to lead them in entertaining a couple of hundred cheering fans today. What a blast!”

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EagleReport he girls lacrosse team’s historic run for a league championship came to a halt with a 17-14 loss to Notre Dame.

This year, the girls set a Harker record for the most victories in a season with 12. With heart, determination and senior leadership, the girls finished the season by defeating rival Mercy

Additionally there is thrilling news for the girls and for the Harker community. Two Harker lacrosse players, Christine Lee, grade 11, and Hannah Bollar, grade 10, have been named to the regional team for the national tournament.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

On April 21, female high school varsity players from all throughout the Bay Area came together to compete for spots on the two SubRegional Pacific NorCal teams. The teams will compete in the 2013 U.S. Lacrosse National Tournament in May. This year marks the 81st anniversary of the event. It is one of the largest women’s lacrosse events in the nation. The 2013 tournament highlights include division championships, a U.S. team exhibition and a premier recruiting opportunity for high school players.

Photo by Diane Villadsen ‘11

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Burlingame 18-8. This win was a sweet one, especially after the team had fallen just shy of success in their bid to capture a league title. After several years of struggle, the lacrosse program now finds itself carrying consecutive winning seasons forward.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Lacrosse

Photo by Diane Villadsen ‘11

Swimming

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ongratulations to all of Harker’s swimmers and divers on a fantastic season.

Harker’s CCS swimmers include freshmen Angela Huang, Grace Guan and Sandhana Kannan; sophomores Aaron Huang and Craig Neubieser; juniors Manon Audebert and Kimmy Ma; and senior Amie Chien. Diver Stacey Chao, grade 10, was Harker’s lone diver this season.

Photos by Diane Villadsen ‘11

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Passages

In Memoriam

by Debbie Cohen

accolades, she never publicly accepted her Harker service pin during her many years with the school.

A natural mother hen at Harker, she often imparted her extensive knowledge about relationships, health and handling day-to-day problems. People were drawn to her kindness and her irreverent sense of humor, and she was sincerely loved at Harker. She will be missed deeply.

Following a brave battle with cancer, Chris Doll passed away on the afternoon of March 11, surrounded by family members. Harker staff member Doll, who worked as the scheduler for the upper school, was a beloved friend and colleague to all who knew her.

To celebrate her life and service at Harker, a wellattended memorial celebration was held at the school.

Doll saw Harker through many changes in her 29+ years at the school. She was an integral part of the institution, always going above and beyond her job description. Over the years she wore many hats, including working in the counseling department as well as directly with Diana Nichols, former assistant head of school and current chairman of the Harker Board of Trustees.

Harker Community Mourns the Loss of Beloved Longtime Employee

learned that Padgett was killed in a domestic incident in her Redwood City home. School counselors, as well as grief counselors from The Centre for Living with Dying, assisted the administration in breaking the news to the faculty and students.

Sandy Padgett, longtime member of the upper school faculty and founding director of Harker’s college counseling program, tragically passed away on April 22. In May she was honored in a special memorial event held in the upper school quad.

Padgett had an illustrious career guiding students. Before joining Harker in 1998, she taught AP English at San Carlos High School; was a counselor at Palo Alto High School; was a career placement counselor at Occidental College; and was a college counselor at the American School in London, the Westridge School in Pasadena and the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks.

During the ceremony many of the moving comments received from her former students were shared. Her invaluable contributions to Harker, and to the lives of so many, were recalled.

In lieu of flowers, Padgett’s family has requested that donations be sent to The Sandy Padgett Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, established in her memory. Checks can be mailed to the Sandy Padgett Memorial Fund, Harker Advancement, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129. Please note “Sandy Padgett Memorial Fund” in the check’s memo line.

“This has been a sad and tragic loss for the community. We continue to provide support to our students and staff, and we hope the outpouring from our community about Sandy’s impact in their lives is a comfort to her family,” said Chris Nikoloff, Harker’s head of school.

Harker community members were devastated when they 30

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Photo provided by Harker archives

Photo by Mark Tantrum

Doll was known as a “master scheduler” who got her start at Harker as a part-time temporary employee. Not one for

Photo provided by Harker archives

Photo provided by Harker archives

From Master Scheduler to Mother Hen, Longtime Staff Member Chris Doll Wore Many Hats at Harker

By Zach Jones

Debate speaker award in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Other individual achievements in Public Forum debate were Arimilli winning the seventh place speaker award and Lu winning the 10th place speaker award. In Congressional debate, sophomore Leon Chin earned sixth place.

At the California High School Speech Association’s State Tournament, also held in April, Zhang reached the semifinals of dramatic interpretation, while Madhuri Nori, grade 10, and Andrew Wang both reached the semifinals of Original Oratory.

Photos by Carol Green

Debaters Close Out School Year With National Success Harker’s upper school debate squads saw plenty of success in the spring.

Their most recent competition was the National Catholic Forensic League’s (NCFL) Grand National Tournament in Philadelphia, held over Memorial Day weekend. There, Zina Jawadi, grade 11, placed fourth out of hundreds of competitors in original oratory. Meanwhile, Kenny Zhang, grade 11, was a quarterfinalist in dramatic interpretation; Steven Wang, grade 10, and junior Andrew Wang were octofinalists in extemporaneous speaking and original oratory, respectively; and Saachi Jain, grade 11, was a semifinalist in Congressional debate.

placing high in Public Forum was the team of seniors Kiran Arimilli and Neel Jani, who finished in the top eight.

Shivani Mitra, grade 12, and Stephanie Lu, grade 11, finished in the top 12, as did the team of juniors Sreyas Misra and Neil Khemani.

Grade 11 student Srikar Pyda won the seventh place speaker award, and Reddy won the eighth place

The Tournament of Champions, held April 27-29, saw more Harker students placing high in Public Forum debate. The team of Anuj Sharma and Aneesh Chona, both grade 12, reached the top eight, with two additional teams – Kader and Duraiswamy and seniors David Grossman and Nik Agarwal – placing in the top 16. Misra and Khemani reached the elimination round. Also performing well at this tournament was Steven Wang, who was a quarterfinalist in extemporaneous speaking.

At the National Debate Coaches Association Championships in April, Pranav Reddy, grade 10, was a finalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate, finishing second, while Reyhan Kader, grade 12, and Kevin Duraiswamy, grade 11, finished third in Public Forum. Also H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

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Presentations Offer Parents

Guidance on Internet Usage and Digital Citizenship

By Zach Jones

acting respectfully

social media

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series of presentations started in 2011-12 seeks to equip Harker parents with the knowledge necessary to help their children become well-rounded digital citizens. The advent of constant access to the Internet and unprecedented interconnectivity via social media has made sound digital citizenship and management of one’s online identity more important than ever.

While the instructional technology department had been engaging students and faculty on concepts of digital citizenship for some time, instructors realized that parents could benefit from knowing how their children were learning to conduct themselves online, and in turn could find the information useful in how they managed their students’ screen time.

cyberbullying

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“We realized that we were telling the students things that the parents didn’t necessarily know,” said Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology. “And that if what we’re trying to do is build Harker’s community and have effective parentschool partnerships, that this was an area where we could help Harker parents better understand what they needed to do to cope with all of the things that were going on.”

These talks began at the lower and middle schools, with K-5 parents learning about topics such as creating passwords, acting respectfully toward others online, interacting with strangers online, deciding what information should be shared with others and cyberbullying. Topics for each presentation are kept developmentally appropriate for the grade level of each family.

At the middle school level, topics include an introduction to social media, personal responsibilities in creating and managing an online identity and the various online tools that

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children may be using, such as Tumblr and Google Chat.

“We let [students] know that we already know how they’re using [the Internet],” said Scott Kley Contini, assistant director of technology at the middle school, who designed and gave the parent presentations along with Gary Mallare, middle school academic counselor. A key point in developing these presentations was to make sure that they were more informative than cautionary.

“We wanted to make sure that we weren’t telling parents what to do,” said Kley Contini. “We said, this is what we’ve done and then left it open.”

This approach, he said, better enabled parents to make informed choices about what was best for their children.

Upper school presentations began in the spring semester and primarily informed parents about how their children were learning to manage their digital footprints, which included their students’ activities on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. “This is the point when the juniors need to be thinking about, well, what is a college going to find out about me if they go looking online?” Hudkins said.

“And just as we’ve had student assemblies that addressed issues like that, we wanted to make sure we were talking with the parents about the same issues we were talking about with the students.”

The upper school talks, given by Diane Main, assistant director of instructional technology, emphasized the importance of enabling students to make good decisions on their own. “If [parents] lock down everything, they don’t get the opportunity to make a right choice. You’ve already made the choice for them,” she said. “We want to help our parents feel like they’re informed and that they can be involved in their students’ technology use in an appropriate way.”

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

time

sswords

digital footprint

information sharing

Harker’s recently emerging philosophy on how to teach students and parents about online conduct is partly a reaction to information in the media and some educational materials that was perceived to be too fearful in tone.

“There was a lot of information that we do not think particularly highly of that came out five or 10 years ago that uses what I refer to as the ‘fear voice,’” Hudkins said.

“It scares them into not doing anything [online],” Kley Contini concurred.

One of the primary resources for the information contained within the presentations was Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that provides a wealth of information for parents and educators, including film reviews, book recommendations and, of particular use to the instructional technology department, resources on digital citizenship. Also, as Hudkins remarks, “they don’t use the fear voice.”

“We’ve used a lot of their stuff as the backbone of our sequencing and some of our topics,” Kley Contini said.

According to Kley Contini, parent response to the presentations so far has been positive overall. “The statement that children must earn screen time stayed with me,” said ChiPei Cherng, parent of Justin Chao, grade 1, and Jonathan Chao, grade 4. “Our family value of being responsible needs to carry over to their screen time mentality as well. It’s a subtle shift in thought from screen time as a prize or bribe to a simple acceptance that our responsibilities come first.”

While parents have shown appreciation for the talks, the courses of action that parents are taking in response have varied, with some parents instituting tighter restrictions on Internet usage and others relaxing them.

“For the most part, what we’re telling them is, you can go whatever route you want,” Kley Contini said. “We’re teaching them at a developmentally appropriate level, and we want you to know what that level is.”

Hudkins explained that part of the overall K-12 scope of the presentations is the idea that restrictions should gradually

be lowered so that graduating seniors conduct themselves online properly once they are in college and free of constant supervision.

“The point we’re trying to make is to empower the parents to continue parenting, but to recognize that along the way, the process from kindergarten through 12th grade is one of very gradually letting go, and if kids have difficulty managing this kind of behavior when they’re in high school, we want them to fall on their faces now when we can pick them up and help them,” he said. “We don’t want them to be so tightly wrapped that when they leave here and are no longer under adult supervision, they just explode.”

People outside Harker have also shown an interest in the school’s approach to this topic. At a February conference held by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), Kley Contini and Mallare prepared a presentation on how they speak to students and parents about online conduct and digital citizenship. At least one school has contacted Kley Contini so far about modeling its approach after Harker’s.

“I believe that these events can benefit every parent,” said Cherng. “Media exposure is pervasive in our children’s childhood, and it’s important to be aware of how to guide them in a positive, thoughtful and safe manner.”

“It’s important that we’re able to communicate what we’re telling kids, what our expectations are, and that we know that some kids are going to mess up,” Main said. “We’re just continuing what Harker does for students but in this specific area.”

“Media exposure is pervasive in our children’s

online identity

childhood, and it’s important to be aware of how to

guide them in a positive, thoughtful and safe manner.”

management

– Chi-Pei Cherng, parent

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Computer Science Education (continued from page 19)

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we are convinced that the habits of mind learned through an understanding of computational thinking are required if one is to be a knowledgeable adult in the 21st century.

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ment in our Program of Studies makes the case for the requirement this way: “The growth of the computer and electronic industries has contributed to profound and fundamental changes in how we work, live, interact with others, and play. We are surrounded with computers, both hidden and obvious, in all aspects of our lives. The computer science department offers a well-rounded program in technology and computer science, with courses that will appeal to the lay user as well as the computer science-bound student.”

Among educators in general, there is widespread confusion about what computer science entails and where it belongs in the curriculum. Computer science is not about teaching students how to use a word processor, spreadsheet or some other computer-based productivity tool. It is not about helping students learn how to make a set of PowerPoint slides to support an oral presentation. It is not about helping students learn how to use digital probeware in a science lab, or how to make a video in a humanities class, or how to create an engaging poster in a graphic arts lab. And it is not just about computer programming. All of these skills can be worthy and valuable parts of a K-12 education, and certainly contribute to one’s technological fluency. However, we are aiming for the higher goal of helping students develop the habits of mind that Jeannette Wing, of Carnegie Mellon University, describes as “computational thinking.”

Wing describes computational thinking as being able to apply human solutions to real-world problems. It represents a human way of thinking, rather than a computer’s way of functioning. As she puts it, “Computational thinking is a way humans solve problems; it is not trying to get humans to think like computers. Computers are dull and boring; humans are clever and imaginative.”

Our computer science classes are informed by experts in the field. Jeannette Wing’s work on defining computational thinking has crystalized much of our course work at Harker and elsewhere. Matt Brenner, of CSTeachLearn and formerly of Phillips Exeter Academy (New Hampshire) and Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.), made the case for computer science in independent schools some time ago.

He argued that, just as a basic understanding of mechanization and automation were the transformative ideas that

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undergirded the industrial revolution, algorithmic thinking is driving the current transformation of our society. “If we don’t know what they [algorithms] are or how to think about, invent, and apply them,” Brenner writes, “then we cannot use them to improve our lives and our society, nor can we understand how others use or wish to use them to the advantage or disadvantage of ourselves and our society.”

In addition, Chris Bigenho, of the Greenhill School (Texas) and the University of North Texas, has gathered evidence of current practices in teaching computer science in many independent schools. Casting a broad net, he posted a request for responses on two active independent school listservs.

From his response summary, it is clear that this is a very active topic in the independent school world. While some respondents were in the exploratory phase, it appears that most were actively developing a computer science program that spanned middle and high school. They shared a broad agreement that computer science is a discipline in its own right with its own habits of mind. However, the surveys revealed some impediments to delivering computer science instruction in an independent school. This is leading to active discussion of several concerns including logistical questions (Can programming be taught on an iPad?), pedagogical questions (How can we best introduce students to the “hard fun” of learning to code?), and questions of recognition for independent learning (Is course credit the only meaningful measure or should we follow the world of industry and the MOOCs and look at badging and other forms of recognition?).

Teaching Computational Thinking The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) recently sponsored a working group to further outline the essence of computational thinking. In a summary report on the working group, Chris Stephenson and Valerie Barr write, “Computational Thinking (CT) is an approach to solving problems in a way that can be implemented with a computer.

Students become not merely tool users but tool builders.

They use a set of concepts, such as abstraction, recursion and iteration, to process and analyze data, and to create real and virtual artifacts. CT is a problem-solving methodology that can be automated, transferred and applied across subjects.”

While this may feel abstract, it encapsulates the logic that is leading schools to incorporate game design and robotics at a variety of levels. Incorporating a deeper understanding of computational thinking is not unlike what we do

10110100011010100100 At Harker, we have done extensive work to embed information literacy across the curriculum. In 2013–14 we will offer a 2:1 iPad program in K-2, a 2:1 Chromebook program in grade 3, a 1:1 Chromebook program in grades 4-5, a 1:1 laptop program (student choice of Windows or Mac OS) in the middle school, and a 1:1 bring-your-own-laptop program in the upper school. We believe that using technological tools to learn across the curriculum with a variety of tools leads to a greater degree of technological fluency.

But none of these programmatic steps directly addresses computational thinking. That requires teaching computer science.

Our computer science classes focus on problem-solving with computers because we know it’s a valuable 21st-century skill in courses and experiences across the curriculum, both inside and outside the classroom. Computer science

it is important to recognize that computer science has evolved into its own discipline with skills that are distinct from science or math – and therefore requires its own department. classes begin in the lower school in fourth grade, where we work with computer simulations and animation. In the middle school, through required courses and elective offerings, the concepts and applications become more sophisticated.

Required courses cover game design theory, robotics and the development of mobile applications. Elective offerings include Web animation, introductory programming and an introduction to Java programming.

The high school program, in part because of our Silicon Valley location, is unusually deep. A semester-length course is required for graduation. Students can meet this requirement by either of two options. The Digital World course is designed for students with limited interest in computer science. It teaches computer modeling and digital representation, and spends substantial time exploring the implications of living in a digital world. For those students with a deeper interest, the sequence begins with computer programming, but includes

AP Computer Science as well as a series of advanced topics in computer science that vary from year to year. Recent topics have included Computer Architecture, Digital Signal Processing, Expert Systems, Neural Networks, Numerical Methods, Programming Languages and Compiler Systems.

The Computer Science Department Another area of confusion about computer science concerns the question of where it should be taught. Some schools fold computer science into the math or science departments. While this may be necessary in the short term, it is not a great long-term solution. For the long term, it is important to recognize that computer science has evolved into its own discipline with skills that are distinct from science or math – and therefore requires its own department.

While non-specialist teachers (like me) can introduce computer science concepts in the early years, they are less capable as the sophistication of the computational thinking objectives increases. For the higher end courses – even the middle school courses – it’s best to tap the skills of a specialist. In other words, for courses that rely on introductory tools like Alice, Stagecast or Robolab, non-specialists can teach quite effectively. However, as the sophistication of the tools and concepts increases – think AP Computer Science and above – it becomes necessary to have computer science courses taught by experienced computer science teachers. We want our English teachers to be able to lead students to a deeper understanding of the text than could be provided by an enthusiastic but unsophisticated reader.

Shouldn’t we want the same in computer science?

Educators are well aware that the limiting factor in all of our teaching and learning is time, and the competition for that time among academic disciplines, athletics, extracurricular activities, service-learning programs, etc., is an ongoing struggle. But shouldn’t we be asking, are we really preparing our students to be 21st-century citizens if we’re not teaching them the logic of the 21st century – computational thinking through computer science?

Vinton Cerf says, “No.” And we agree.

When part of a high-quality academic program, computer science classes add an element that helps all students navigate our complex, technologically driven world. It also gives our graduates an edge over those who are not taught these increasingly essential skills.

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in a wide variety of other academic disciplines in which we lead students to take skills acquired in one course and apply them in another (i.e., applying the ability to create a graph to a population study in a geography class).

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GlobalEducation Photo by Kristin Giammona

On their final full day in Japan, the students headed to Itsukushima Island, famous for its torii gate situated in the water at Itsukushima Shrine. At a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the students hung 1,000 origami cranes in the hopes of being granted a wish, as is promised by an ancient Japanese legend. A bit of fun at the Iwatayama Monkey Park concluded this year’s sojourn.

Middle School Students Enjoy Yearly Trip to Japan In May, 27 grade 6 students spent a week in Japan for the annual trip to Harker’s sister school, during which they explored the country and its rich culture in addition to visiting with their friends from Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo.

After arriving in Japan on May 9, the group checked into the Oiso Prince Hotel in Kanagawa, famous for its wonderful view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Activities for their first full day included a visit to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shinto shrine, the Hasedera Temple and the Great Buddha of Kamakura, followed by a trek to the island of Enoshima for shopping and play time.

The next day, the students had plenty of fun meeting their buddies and enjoying the welcome party that awaited them at the school. “Let’s just say we had no problem with your children waking up early and getting to breakfast by 7 o’clock because they were so excited for their homestays,” said elementary school head and trip chaperone Kristin Giammona in an email to parents during the trip.

Harker students were treated to a special performance by Tamagawa’s orchestra and taiko drumming groups. After the performances, the Harker students presented speeches to their Tamagawa friends, who were very appreciative.

On their last day at Tamagawa, they attended an assembly at the lower school campus, where they enjoyed another student vocal performance and sat in on two class sessions.

Then they returned to the middle school for a potluck and field games. “It was great fun with the sun shining and a light breeze to keep us cool,” Giammona said. The students and parents said their tearful goodbyes at the farewell assembly, where the Harker students received special gifts before leaving to enjoy the rest of their journey.

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By Zach Jones

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Lower School Students Exchange Art Projects About Wildlife and Native Cultures In April, lower school social studies teacher Heidi Gough’s grade 3 students participated in an exchange of art projects with grade 4 students at St. Stephen’s College in Australia.

“The purpose of our exchange with the fourth graders at St. Stephen’s was for the students on both ends to see the similarities in curriculum, but the differences in what that brings to the table,” Gough said.

The St. Stephen’s students sent drawings of Australian native wildlife with accompanying handwritten paragraphs providing information on the animals drawn. In return, the Harker students created and sent back collages featuring various California Native American tribes, such as the Mojave and Chumash; each collage depicted a typical day in the lives of the people of each tribe.

Harker Eagle Soars Through Saudi Arabia During Mascot Exchange In March, Harker grade 1-2 students participated in a mascot exchange with the Bayan Gardens School in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Harker students received a stuffed camel from Bayan Gardens, whose students received stuffed eagles in return. Students from both schools then sent back photos and videos of the mascots as they went on adventures with the students.

In April, Lela Tuhtan’s grade 4 language arts students received their own gift from Bayan Gardens: a series of essays written by Bayan Gardens students about artists whose work they had researched, along with a picture of one of their own works that they drew to accompany their essays. The Harker students later returned the favor by sending similar projects to their friends in Saudi Arabia.

GlobalEducation Grade 7 Students Join Grade 8 Students for the First Time on Annual Middle School Trip to China

By Debbie Cohen Nineteen enthusiastic grade 7 and 8 students participated in the annual middle school trip to China, where they spent time with their buddies at the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai.

Adding to the excitement of this year’s visit to Harker’s sister school in China, which ran from March 27 to April 7, was the addition of the grade 7 students, who joined the trip for the first time.

Originally based around the grade 8 computer science class’ global issues forum, the China trip this year also incorporated the grade 7 historical component of learning about ancient China. According to Harker’s global education department, including seventh graders on the trip proved to be such a success that it will be the norm going forward.

To be able to go on the China exchange trip was a dream come true for grade 7 student Raveena Panja, who said that in Shanghai, spending time with her WFLMS buddy Jasmine taught her a lot about Chinese family values.

Photo by Naomi Hwang

“My favorite memory with Jasmine was when she took me to an outdoor night market. It was so pretty with all the night lights, and everyone I met was so sweet and welcoming.

Beijing was also very beautiful, for it holds the historical and traditional side of China. The Great Wall was breathtaking!

Traveling to China exposed me to a new culture, allowed me

to make lifelong friends halfway across the world and made me realize I am a part of a bigger global community which is filled with wonderful people, regardless of where they are from,” recalled Panja.

Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs, headed this year’s trip, and was accompanied by three faculty chaperones. In addition, middle school computer science teacher Abigail Joseph preceded the group to spend some rewarding time working as an exchange teacher at WFLMS. “I most enjoyed watching the students engage in round-table discussions with their buddies on various topics affecting youth, from homework loads and family rituals to United States-China relations. They were very interested in learning about and sharing with one another,” observed Joseph. “As a teacher it was really wonderful to see two different communities collide and sit down at the table to have real dialogues about personal matters. This made me know the future of dialogue and deliberation is in good hands,” she said.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Upon their arrival in China, the students were warmly welcomed at the Pudong International Airport by their pals from WFLMS. From there, they hopped on a bus for the short drive into the city to meet their host families.

“The variety of experiences that were extended by their host families gave them all a marvelous glimpse into life in Shanghai, and these were augmented by our further travels. The students also had a chance to make regional arts comparisons, attending both the Shanghai acrobats show and the Beijing ‘Legend of Kung Fu’ spectacle,” Lawson reported.

During their time at WFLMS, the Harker students enjoyed attending classes with their Chinese friends and taking part in special activities such as making dumplings and creating culturally-based art projects.

In fact, Harker and WFLMS students grew so close that as their time together came to a close, there were numerous touching goodbyes, speeches, performances and heartfelt promises to stay in touch.

After spending time at WFLMS, the Harker contingent departed for the next phase of the trip, Beijing. Their first

“Traveling to China exposed me to a new culture … and made me realize I am a part of a bigger global community which is filled with wonderful people.”

Raveena Panja, grade 7

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GlobalEducation Photo provided by Raveena Panja, grade 7

Jennifer Walrod, global education director, to learn about entrepreneurship there and see the cultural and natural wonders the country has to offer.

Eager to learn about India’s business and technology culture, the group visited a number of important spots throughout the country. One such spot was Gurgaon, where they met with the founder of India’s largest accelerator – a firm that supports entrepreneurial enterprises – and learned about how the dominance of the mobile phone in India will have a profound effect on how business develops in the country. adventure in Beijing was a rickshaw tour of the Hutong, or ancient alleyways that once covered the city.

Next on the itinerary was a visit to the Great Wall of China.

Taking a ski lift to the top of the mountain, they entered onto the wall. Many photos were taken of the renowned structure, and the students were thrilled to take a toboggan ride back down the side of the mountain.

They also visited the data center of SiFy, one of the biggest Internet service providers in India, and T-Labs, an accelerator designed to assist the ventures of entrepreneurs in the Internet and mobile data fields. There they met a 16-yearold prodigy who is an entrepreneur and examined the business plans of several startups.

Back in Beijing the students visited Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 protests and ensuing military action. Then they headed to the Forbidden City, where they were guided through several of its 980 palatial buildings.

After lunch, they went to Silk Street Market, a famous shopping center, where they had fun haggling with its many vendors. From there, they enjoyed a final outing to the Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, where they rode a dragon boat to the palace’s pavilion.

The grade 7 and 8 students arrived back home in early April, feeling bonded and eager to share their trip experiences with friends, family and fellow middle-schoolers. And this year, the good news for grade 7 students is that they will have a chance to repeat the wonderful experience of the China trip all over again in grade 8!

Seniors Learn About Entrepreneurship in India on Two-Week Trek In late March and early April, students Neeraj Baid, Neel Bhoopalam and Simar Mangat, all grade 12, traveled to India with Chris Nikoloff, head of school, and 38

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Photos provided by Neeraj Baid, Neel Bhoopalam and Simar Mangat, grade 12

Not ones to let a trip to such a culturally-rich country go to waste, the Harker contingent also visited many of India’s spectacular sights, including Delhi’s Lodhi Gardens, the Agra Fort and, of course, the Taj Mahal, to name a few.

They even met the maharaja of Jodhpur, who was gracious enough to give the students an audience with Indian royalty.

Toward the end of the trip, the students visited The International School Bangalore (TISB) to participate in the Idea Challenge Competition, which they ended up winning, and tour the school campus, visiting classrooms and observing the life of TISB students.

The students kept an online journal of their adventures in India, which can be found at http://indiatrip.harker.org.

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ear-End Awards Format Adjusted to Better Match School Mission

By Zach Jones

n an effort to realign its recognition of outstanding students with its mission as a school, Harker has revamped its year-end awards format. This K-12 initiative will recognize students who not only have excelled academically but have also demonstrated other qualities that exemplify the school’s overall goals.

“Basically, we feel that it no longer makes sense to determine the best in a variety of categories when we have such an exceptional group of students,” said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. “That said, we still believe strongly in recognizing students for their efforts and hard work.”

To that end, the year-end awards now honor students who particularly reflect the school’s effort to instill love of learning, commitment to service, leadership abilities and other qualities crucial to Harker’s mission.

In grades 1-5, students will receive citizenship awards for meeting or exceeding expectations in all courses and maintaining a clean disciplinary record.

An effort award will be given to students who meet or exceed expectations in every course they take.

Middle school students are eligible for the Honor Roll, which includes three categories. Maintaining a grade point average of 3.7 or higher will earn the student an Honor Roll certificate for academic achievement. A citizenship Honor Roll certificate will be awarded to students who meet or exceed expectations in all of their classes and receive no more than two disciplinary hours. For meeting or exceeding expectations in all of their courses, students will receive an Honor Roll certificate for effort. A certificate with a gold ribbon will be awarded to students who earn recognition in all three of these categories.

At the upper school, the community service director will highlight five students for their efforts approximately every other month at a school meeting. These students will receive a community service award, and each awardee will have the opportunity to donate $200 to a charity of his or her choosing.

Students who showed their dedication to the Harker community by serving on the student council or honor council will be honored with a school service recognition certificate.

In grades 4-12, students will be given a love of learning award for showing their dedication to being engaged in the classroom and displaying a genuine passion for their subject. Recipients for these awards will be chosen by teachers, with faculty nominating up to five students they believe worthy of the award.

Division heads and deans will then review the list of nominees and decide who will receive the awards.

Awardees who were nominated by more than one faculty member will receive a special keepsake along with their certificates, which they receive by mail.

Students in grades 4-12 who best encompass Harker’s philosophy and goals will receive the mission of the school award. As with the love of learning award, teachers will nominate up to five students who they feel exhibit and promote kindness, respect, integrity and intellectual curiosity, while acting as role models to fellow students and helping to strengthen the Harker community. The list of nominees will be reviewed by each campus’ respective division head and dean, and the awardees will be mailed their certificates.

Those students who were recognized by more than one faculty member will receive a special keepsake.

At the upper school, a leadership award has been introduced, which will honor students who have successfully enlisted the help of others in achieving a goal that benefits and strengthens the Harker community. The process for selecting recipients for this award is similar to that of the love of learning and mission of the school awards. Upper school teachers will select up to two students in their classes who they believe are worthy of the award. After the list is evaluated by the upper school division head and dean, the award recipients will be mailed their certificates, and those who were nominated by more than one faculty member will receive a memento with their certificates.

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Advancement Head of School’s Circle Celebration Thanks Donors for Their Continued Support

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ringing together hundreds of donors and members of the Parent Development Council (PDC), this year’s Head of School’s Circle Celebration thanked donors who give $2,500 and up for their continued commitment to The Harker School and its mission.

Upon their arrival at the event, held in early May in the upper school’s Nichols Hall atrium, participants enjoyed appetizers as they strolled the room, admiring artwork still adorning the walls from the art students’ recently held exhibit.

After opening remarks from Chris Nikoloff, head of school, audience members were treated to performances by Harker’s upper school show choir Downbeat, its middle school all-male dance team High Voltage and middle school girls’ dance group Showstoppers.

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

By Debbie Cohen

A handful of upper school students representing athletics, business, entrepreneurship and other learning areas also talked about how greatly those programs had impacted them. They thanked the audience members for supporting curricula they are so passionate about.

The engaging evening was brought to a close as dessert and coffee were served in the atrium.

Harker Receives Visionary Capital Gift

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s Harker’s “Cornerstones for Success” campaign continues to gain momentum, the school’s advancement team is proud to announce that Jeffrey and Marieke Rothschild (Isaac, grade 11) have made a generous visionary level gift to the campaign.

Photo by Eric Marten

The celebrated purchase of the Union Avenue campus accelerated the need for Harker to swiftly address the cross-campus improvements outlined in its strategic plan. Now, thanks to the generosity of current parents like the Rothschilds, several much-needed facilities will be in place for the upcoming generation of Harker students.

Involved with Harker since 2010, Jeff and Marieke Rothschild have been very supportive of the capital campaign to build a sports and performing arts complex on the upper school campus. After meeting with Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, to first learn about the benefits of Harker purchasing a third property and building the proposed complex on the upper school campus, the duo have offered valuable input on the process.

Jeff Rothschild began his career as an engineer working on operating systems and mainframe storage systems with Honeywell and Intel. In 1994, he joined Accel as an entrepre40

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By Ellen DiBiase

neur-in-residence, which later led to his initial involvement with Facebook as a consultant. After his consultancy via Accel ended at Facebook, he was asked to stay on as a staff member to assist in maintaining the resiliency of their expansive system of servers. He currently serves as the vice president of technology at Facebook, a role he has held since 2009, and continues to maintain his relationship with Accel as a consulting partner.

He and his wife have long supported a variety of educational institutions both locally and across the country. The Rothschilds sponsor a scholarship for undergraduate students in financial need at Vanderbilt University (Jeff’s alma mater), and earlier this year he participated in the 2013 Harker TEDx conference as a guest speaker.

The Harker TEDx program, run solely by students to foster and promote dialogue on youth entrepreneurship, began in 2011 and continues to grow each year with support from parent entrepreneurs who are willing to spend their time mentoring Bay Area students. Isaac Rothschild has also been active in youth entrepreneurship, representing Harker at the Entrepreneurship Leadership Conference this past March after being nominated by Harker faculty to attend.

The Harker School extends its gratitude to the Rothschild family for their charitable gift to the school and welcomes them to an exceptional group of capital campaign donors who have long supported the school’s growth across all three campuses.

Advancement Record-Breaking Response to the “5-for-5” Campaign

By Debbie Cohen

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ith Harker applying for a $5 million grant from the Valley Foundation to support its capital campaign for a performing arts and gymnasium complex, the school launched an end of the year appeal called “5-for-5,” asking those who had not yet contributed to Harker’s annual campaign to donate $5, $50, $500 or $5,000 to help secure the $5 million.

For a number of years Harker’s advancement team has sought to emphasize how important it is for schools seeking financial support from foundations to have a high percentage of participation from parents contributing to annual operations via the annual giving campaign – the amount of the donation is not as important as the commitment to donate.

This year, the message really got out and now just over 80 percent of Harker parents are contributing to the annual fund. “I think the word spread because we were able to be very specific about exactly which foundation we were applying to and the large amount of money that we are seeking.

That made it very real for people,” said Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement.

“Response was tremendous, with hundreds of gifts coming in during the last week of the fiscal year,” reported Melinda Gonzales, managing director of advancement, of the temporary fundraising drive. “Even a five-dollar gift from a family helps increase our parental participation level,” she said.

Annual ELI Recruiting Trip Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, made his annual overseas tour in March, catching up with Harker alumni there as well as hosting informational meetings about our English Language Institute (ELI).

Although the appeal was aimed at parents, the 5-for-5 campaign attracted the attention of grade 3 student Daniel Wu, who donated money he had won in a piano recital to the cause.

“I participated in a piano competition and won $200! I practiced hard for about two years and decided to donate half my prize money to Harker because it is and always will be my favorite school,” said Wu, adding that he loves all the fun activities at Harker such as the picnic and fashion show.

“I want to contribute to the 5-for-5 program to make Harker even more successful.”

“What an incredible third grader, to be thinking about giving back at such a young age!” noted Elise Robichaud, who teaches grade 3 language arts, voicing how proud she was to be his teacher.

Joe Chen ’87 and Laurence Kao ’89 joined the ELI reception in Taipei.

Robert Yeh ’94 attended the ELI reception in Beijing.

Photos provided by Joe Rosenthal

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Endowments Create Scholarship

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he annual reception for the John Near Excellence in History Education and Mitra family endowments was held in late May. Six students talked about their experiences doing serious historical research and, a few days later, next year’s grant recipients were announced. Read the full story in Harker News Online at http://wp.me/pOeLQ-59Q. H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

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Advancement 100 Percent Six New Members Participation Join Harker’s for Harker Board of Fellows

By Ellen DiBiase Faculty in Annual Giving he Board of Fellows, an advisory board to Harker’s Campaign Board of Trustees, welcomed

By Debbie Cohen

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he advancement department proudly reported that Harker faculty reached a record level of 100 percent participation in this year’s annual giving campaign.

At a recent faculty meeting, Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, thanked teachers for going “all in” to support Harker students. To celebrate the achievement, all three campuses held separately organized faculty free dress days.

Rosenthal thanked members of the Faculty Development Council (FDC), a group working to increase faculty participation in the annual giving process, and encouraged others to join in. As a result of the record-setting faculty/staff drive, many parents were also inspired to make a gift or pledge to the campaign.

This year’s FDC members: • Representing the lower school: Michelle Anderson, Diann Chung, Jared Ramsey, Eileen Schick and Grace Wallace.

• Representing the middle school: Jonathan Brusco, Monica Colletti, Keith Hirota, Vandana Kadam, Andy Keller and Pat White.

• Representing the upper school: Victor Adler, Chris Colletti, Chris Florio, John Heyes, Andrew Irvine, Smriti Koodanjeri, Eric Nelson, Sue Smith, Bradley Stoll and Troy Thiele.

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six new members during its spring reception held in April.

Current parents Dr. Raju Vegesna and Jeffrey Rothschild joined Harker alumni Ayanna Cage ’89, Ken Hunt ’79, Maheen Kaleem ’03 and John Owens ’85 in becoming part of a dedicated group of current parents, alumni parents and alumni who meet regularly to exchange ideas on strategic planning for the school.

Vegesna, a highly respected Silicon Valley entrepreneur, currently chairs the Raju Vegesna Infotech & Industries Group, a consultancy firm serving the information technology industry.

Earlier in his career, he leveraged his technical and business expertise to found two leading technology companies, ServerWorks and ServerEngines.

He and his wife, Bala, live in San Jose and are the parents of twins Ramanand and Srivani, grade 5.

Rothschild and his wife, Marieke, are the parents of Isaac, grade 11. Rothschild currently serves as the vice president of technology at Facebook and works as a consulting partner with Accel in Palo Alto. He co-founded Veritas Software, which merged with Symantec in 2004.

Hunt, who received a Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2012 Harker Homecoming game, currently serves as the president of Produxs, which designs online marketing platforms for Fortune 500 corporations and sophisticated consumer video sites. With his experience in strategic marketing, he has secured and managed millions of dollars in commercial deals, government contracts, grants and venture capital. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Mary, 13, and Kenneth, 9.

Kaleem has done extensive work in the movement against human trafficking.

As one of the leaders of the Georgetown University anti-trafficking group SSTOP (Students Stopping the Trafficking of People), she helped organize a regional student conference on trafficking and is currently completing her studies as a student attorney at the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2010 she received the Community Service Award at Harker’s All-Alumni Day. Owens is a partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. He graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1996 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that he was a federal prosecutor for more than 11 years, focusing on white-collar fraud and corruption cases. He and his wife, Marjorie, have two daughters, Jaclyn, 8, and Audrey, 4, and live in San Diego.

The Board of Fellows reception was hosted by Dr. Randhir and Shalini Thakur (Chandini, grade 9; Keshav, grade 8; Shivani, grade 3) at their Fremont home.

Cage is a corporate paralegal with Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

She brings 14 years of experience as a paralegal, law clerk and licensed attorney in the state of New Jersey, Photo by Kyle Cavallaro including five years of experience in private practice.

She is engaged to be married to John Carey this July.

Milestones

By Debbie Cohen

Photo provided by Diane Main

Assistant Director of Instructional Technology Ranks in Top 100 for Educational Expertise Diane Main, the upper school’s assistant director of instructional technology, has been named one of the “100 Top Experts in eLearning and Technology Education” by a blog called The .Edu Toolbox.

“I didn’t know about [the honor] until someone congratulated me on Twitter and provided a link!” said an incredulous Main, who was ranked number 94 on the list by the site, a learning and educational resource.

While most of the experts honored by the blog’s list are very active in the field of educational technology through social media such as Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, those listed in the top 10 are extremely well-known “edu-bloggers” and speakers who are also educators themselves.

Main helps organize local educational technology events through professional development activities she helps run. She also presents on the topic at a number of conferences

Before coming to Harker, she worked at the Milpitas Christian School for about 14 years as a teacher in computer technology. A member of Phi Kappa Phi, Main is a Google certified teacher, Google apps certified trainer and SVCUE board president.

Freed and her research team presented a paper detailing their findings on student learning and understanding in chemistry, with a focus on misconceptions. She served as project manager of the study, which was sponsored by FACET Innovations, a Seattle-based educational research and development company dedicated to the improvement of learning and teaching in science from elementary through graduate school – what educators call K-20.

“We designed an online formative assessment system (available free at

She is also the director of the Making Education Relevant and Interactive through Technology (MERIT) program of the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. MERIT is a yearlong professional development experience for teachers, with a two-week summer institute.

Upper School Chemistry Teacher Presents Research Findings at Conference in Puerto Rico This past spring, upper school chemistry instructor Rachel Freed headed off to the annual National Association of Research in Science Teaching conference in Puerto Rico. She was invited to attend the conference with a group from Sonoma State University with whom she had previously worked as a research technician.

Photo provided by Rachel Freed

The blog writes: “Diane Main is passionate about students receiving the skills they need to succeed, and so she took up an interest in educational technology. Her website highlights various presentations and handouts that are helpful for Ed Tech-related activities.”

each year. She began working at Harker last summer and currently teaches one class (Digital World) while simultaneously working with faculty at the upper school on their own technology integration and other ideas. She is also an adjunct faculty member at San Diego State University, teaching an online educational technology course.

Freed and her research team presented a paper detailing their findings on student learning and understanding in chemistry, with a focus on misconceptions. She served as project manager of the study, which was sponsored by FACET Innovations ...

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Milestones Diagnoser.com) which gives teachers all of the necessary components to integrate formative assessment into their chemistry curricula. A key aspect is the sets of ’diagnose questions,’ with very specific information on exactly what misconceptions their students have within a given topic,” she explained.

In addition to participating in the research, design and creation of the online system, in the summer of 2011 Freed helped train six pilot teachers on formative assessment and the implementation of the system. She then followed them throughout the year, conducting classroom visits and weekly teleconferences to help them use the program and obtain feedback.

The project was done in collaboration with researchers at SRI (Stanford Research International) in Menlo Park and FACET Innovations.

“While I was there I met a handful of colleagues with whom I have established relationships for future collaborations. One in particular shared ideas with me on how to teach oxidation-reduction reactions and the research she is doing with her college students. I have already used some of these ideas with my classes here at Harker, and I hope to contribute to her data in the future from my own classroom experiences,” said Freed.

she had been working with for professional development called ORIAS (The Office of Resources for International and Area Studies).

Sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley, ORIAS provides scholarly resources and professional development for K-12 and community college educators.

Her application to be considered for the trip consisted of a series of essay questions focused on the incorporation of global education and international perspectives into her curriculum, especially in reference to the Middle East and Islam.

Middle School History Teacher Travels to Turkey on Training Trip Middle school history teacher Andrea Milius loves spending her days speaking about events from the past.

Last month the inspiring instructor made a little history of her own after being selected as the first Harker faculty member to travel to Turkey on an impressive two-week historic and culturally-based teacher training trip.

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Photos provided by Andrea Milius

The unique travel program was offered through the Middle Eastern Studies Center at Ohio State University, which strives to peacefully bridge gaps dividing people along cultural, ethnic and religious lines.

Aided by a Turkish guide named Serkand, Milius and nine other lucky trip recipients (including teachers, curriculum writers, librarians and even an international lawyer) gained firsthand knowledge of the Middle East, its past and current economic, social and political developments.

The goal of the trip was to enable participants to return to their work in

Milestones the United States better equipped to promote teaching, learning, research and public awareness of the diverse array of Middle Eastern languages, cultures and peoples.

“The trip achieved its objectives. I feel honored to have participated, and I am so thankful that Harker supported me in this endeavor. I learned so much about Turkish daily life and culture as well as the many intricate details about the actual practice of Islam, even though this was one of my major areas of research in graduate school,” reported Milius.

Middle school librarian Bernie Morrissey gave a presentation at the Computers in Libraries Conference, held the first week after spring break in Washington, D.C. Morrissey spoke to librarians from institutions around the country on the impact the Internet has had for gay and lesbian youth, and how it has revolutionized the “coming out” experience.

“Beginning with simple message boards and chat rooms back in the early 1990s and culminating with the wildly Photo by Mark Tantrum successful ’It Gets Better’ project in 2010, online resources for isolated youth have saved thousands of lives,” reported Morrissey.

The informative session he led at the conference explored the evolution of these resources as a means to help more libraries serve a vulnerable and

During his presentation, he encouraged librarians who already knew about the online resources to make sure their colleagues and students were aware of it as well. He also urged those learning about it for the first time to pass the word on.

Before heading off to D.C., Morrissey practiced his talk on a small group of Harker teachers, whose feedback helped him refine and improve his final delivery. “I was very happy to represent Harker at the conference and hope to have many similar opportunities in the future,” he said.

Prior to becoming a middle school librarian at Harker in 2007, Morrissey worked as a high school librarian in Chicago. As a teenager in the 1990s, he personally benefitted from some online resources for gay and lesbian youth, though, he added, “much of today’s technology was still in its infancy.”

“Bernie’s excellence as a librarian is evident in projects like this. Helping kids out with classroom research is one thing. Anticipating personal, potentially life-changing (and lifesaving) information needs is quite another,” said Lauri Vaughan, upper school librarian. “Conference organizers clearly recognized the value of his research and by extension, Bernie is helping not just Harker kids, but teens around the world.”

Poetic Manuscript by Upper School English Teacher is Finalist for Prestigious Prize Award-winning poet and upper school English teacher Alexandra Mattraw Rosenboom recently shared the exciting news that her second poetry book manuscript was a finalist for the prestigious Colorado Review Prize for Poetry. Out of nearly 700 entries, her work placed among the 30 finalists.

“I highly respect the publication and

press, which has published some of my favorite poets. Some of my university professors had their first poetry books published through this competition, so it was cool to get so close,” said Rosenboom, who this summer will be holding several poetry readings at various locations throughout the Bay Area (see her website at http://alexandramattraw. wordpress.com for details).

Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

Middle School Librarian Raises Awareness about Gay and Lesbian Teens at Conference in Washington, D.C.

often silent population.

A third generation Northern Californian, Rosenboom has taught at Harker since 2002. She is a former resident of the Vermont Studio Center and has published several chapbooks.

Her poems and reviews have also appeared in many journals, including Seneca Review, Denver Quarterly, VOLT, Word For/Word, Cultural Society, Verse and American Letters & Commentary, among others. Her work has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

“I highly respect the publication and press, which has published some of my favorite poets.

Some of my university professors had their first poetry books published through this competition, so it was cool to get so close,” said Rosenboom.

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Schoolwide Art Exhibits Photo by Kyle Cavallaro

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Photo by Sapna Suresh, grade 11

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Students of All Ages Celebrate Art at Harker in Stunning Spring Exhibits

By Debbie Cohen

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pring is a special time for art at Harker, when all three campuses hold exhibits, giving students age-appropriate venues in which to display various works they have completed throughout the year. At the lower and middle school shows, students featured their best drawings, paintings, carvings and ceramics. In the upper school, older students showcased selected items from a range of artistic media, including sketches, chalk pastels and bronze castings. Below is a year-end reflection of art at Harker, which was, indeed, in full bloom this past spring!

Lower School Students Impress with Wide Range of Work Harker’s youngest artists (K-5 students) kicked off their annual art show at the lower school with a well-attended opening reception in May. Refreshments were served as exhibiting students once again demonstrated an impressive range of abilities in their remarkably sophisticated sculptures, drawings and architectural designs.

Among the grade 4 art on display were many illustrations of vases holding dainty pussy willows and scenes of bridges running over beautiful waterways.

Meanwhile, grade 1 students created a series of unique depictions of owls using chalk pastels, clay, acrylics and even Sharpie pens.

Kindergartners specialized in creating playful pictures of sea creatures, moonlit pumpkins and flowers.

“I think it’s really cool to see everything the other grades are doing,” said Rashmi Iyer, grade 5, who had stopped to admire several works in the art show on her way up to class.

The festive art show began in the main lobby outside the Bucknall gymnasium and wound its way into the gym and up the stairs, all the way to the top floor classrooms.

“This year we got to try new things,” she added, excitedly noting that she had created a “Starry Night” illustration (based on the famous Van Gogh piece) as well as some ceramic animal sculptures.

Displays were grouped by themes which included, among other items, grade 5 oil pastels dubbed “Inspired Starry Nights,” grade 3 foil/metallic pen creations called “African Reliquary Figures” and grade 2 ceramic “SelfPortraits.”

Arushi Nety, also grade 5, added that even though she doesn’t consider herself an artist, she enjoyed making a ceramic whale and seeing it on display at the art exhibit. “It’s a very different type of whale,” she said, with obvious pride.

Photos by Diane Villadsen '11

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SCHOOLWIDE ART EXHIBITS

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

Middle School Students Showcase Increasingly Complex Pieces

array of sculptures depicting familiar scenes, including that of a diner.

The middle school art exhibit is unique in that its opening reception is held off-site, at the Saratoga main reception lobby, to showcase the quality of middle school art for the many visitors to the school's main office.

The beautiful gallery-style showing featured select student work of colorful paintings, ceramics, figurines, wire sculptures and mobiles. After a brief run at the upper school, it was relocated to the Blackford multipurpose room.

In May, the middle school hosted an endof-the-year art exhibit at its Blackford campus, which was all-inclusive and ran through that month following an opening afternoon reception.

According to art instructor Elizabeth Saltos, at the end of each year the middle school’s visual arts program honors outstanding students working in various media with Golden Brush awards.

Among the items on display were animal-themed ceramics, playful illustrations of sneakers and high-heeled shoes, small canvas paintings held on stands, intricate hanging glass designs and an

“The students who stand out in an art class are the ones who consistently explore each lesson. They take it farther.

They use it as a window into their minds. What these students create goes beyond the lesson and reveals something about themselves,” said Saltos.

Beyond the Harker shows, Saltos was excited to note that a number of her students had artwork selected for display in the nearby Saratoga Rotary Exhibit at West Valley College, also held in May.

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Upper School Students Create Gallery-Style Art It was nearly March when Harker’s talented AP Studio Art students put their works on display at a special reception held in the upper school’s Nichols Hall atrium. Using a variety of media, grade 12 students created paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs covering a vast range of styles and themes.

Inspired by Tim O’Brien’s book, “The Things They Carried,” Emily Wang created a series of drawings depicting famous historical events, such as the raising of the

SCHOOLWIDE ART EXHIBITS

U.S. flag at Iwo Jima, the Tiananmen Square protests and the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, a series of sculptures by Sylvie Dobrota illustrated principles of tension and movement that came to mind while examining a knot. Eric Swenson’s photography portraits featured subjects as they imagined key moments in their lives, such as the passing of a loved one or a climactic scene in a movie.

The professionally-styled show was visited by both students and faculty, who strolled through the atrium admiring the various projects. AP Studio Art is a high-level class for talented artists, mostly seniors, interested in both 3-D art, taught by Jaap Bongers, and 2-D art, taught by Pilar Agüero-Esparza.

Following on the successful heels of the AP Studio Art exhibit was the upper school’s regular annual art exhibition held in May, also at the Nichols Hall atrium gallery. That show featured juried art selections, distribution of prizes to a dozen student artists and DJ music (sponsored by the Spirit Club) during a long lunch on the day of its opening.

The exhibition, which featured more than 150 pieces in various genres such as paintings, ceramics, advanced photography, 3-D models and sketches, was juried by Ace Lehner, an Oakland-based artist, arts and culture writer and art educator. In judging the works, Lehner looked for technical proficiency, critical engagement or inspiration, and originality.

Standing in front of her still-life depiction of strawberries, exhibiting artist and senior Molly Wolfe said that she finds taking art classes to be a great “de-stressor” and wonderful way to take a break from the pressure of studying.

“I love it! I advise other students to take art, even if only for one semester,” said Wolfe.

Juried Awards

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

For drawing, seniors Lynda Tang and Emily Wang placed first and second respectively. Tang also won first prize for painting, followed

by Svetlana Petrova, grade 12, in second place. Senior Eric Swenson placed first in photography, while seniors Tiphaine Delepine and Jasmine Gill tied for second. For graphic arts and digital drawing, senior Simon Orr placed first, followed by both Megan Prakash, grade 11, and Daniel Wang, grade 12, in second. Senior Jessica Son won both first and second prizes for sculpture. Senior Amanda Kalb won first prize for ceramics, followed by Elizabeth Bettencourt, grade 10.

The Best in Show award was presented to Orr.

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By Zach Jones

Long-Running Future Problem Solving Program Builds Critical Thinking Skills and Confidence

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or Harker students looking for a unique and engaging way to address global issues, the Future Problem Solving (FPS) program has been a mainstay for more than 15 years. “FPS is a great program,” said Olivia Zhu ’11, who began participating in FPS in grade 7. “I think that students get an amazing opportunity to learn a lot of fundamental skills that they perhaps wouldn’t get the chance to develop as much in traditional classes.”

international finals for 10 years running.

“It’s very exciting for the kids because there are teams that are doing this in Singapore, China, Australia, New Zealand; so they meet all these [students from] different schools,” Merrill said. “We’ve become sort of the powerhouse school in the state, so routinely we send multiple teams to internationals, and last year we took first place in the senior team [category].”

Each year, Future Started in 1974 by GeorgiaProblem Solving based psychologist Ellis Program International Paul Torrance, FPS now (FPSPI) chooses boasts participation topics that form the by more than 250,000 basis of the problems students in grades 4-12 that students will worldwide each year. solve at state-level At Harker, the program and international is offered to students in competitions. Topics grades 6-12. Middle school Photos by Diane Villadsen ’11 have included history teacher Cyrus Merrill took over everything from neurotechnology to the Harker program during the 1998-99 alternative energy to celebrity culture. school year, and with the key involvement of upper school computer science teacher Students perform their own research on Susan King and middle school math these topics in preparation for receiving the teacher Margaret Huntley, it has since scenarios that FPSPI will eventually disexperienced immense growth and success. tribute to the many participating schools.

In addition to winning a number of Using the topic as the major theme, categories at every competition they’ve these scenarios describe a troubling situattended since 2002, Harker FPS students ation 30 years into the future for which have won the privilege to compete at the students must devise solutions.

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The process starts with students – either as teams or individuals – coming up with a number of challenges the scenario presents, such as negative environmental impact, economic recession or public health problems. Each of these challenges must integrate different categories or aspects of society affected by the challenges that are defined by FPSPI, such as government, technology, economics, religion and so on.

After identifying the challenges, students work on finding and summarizing an “Underlying Problem,” an especially important challenge posed by the future scenario. The students then formulate a number of possible solutions (16 for teams, eight for individuals) to the underlying problem and develop criteria by which to evaluate them.

my goal is to motivate students to do things on their own, and I want them to develop leadership skills and concepts.”

Another skill that develops during involvement in FPS, and one that has earned Harker students many awards in state and international competitions, is presentation. This portion of the

Criteria can include cost-effectiveness, benefit to society, ease of implementation and other factors.

After selecting what they deem to be the best solution, students then come up with an action plan that would be used to roll it out. During competition this entire process takes place in a two-hour time period, which can seem a formidable task for many first-time FPS competitors.

Luckily, students have the opportunity to go through a practice round at their respective schools, which FPSPI also uses as a means of getting feedback on the chosen topic.

?

“FPS focuses on developing good research skills, critically analyzing a situation, developing solutions and an action plan and then presenting that plan concisely and convincingly,” said Zhu. “Condensing those steps in a single process provides fundamental and important training that is useful for academic work in high school and college, extracurriculars and so much more. The possibilities and applications really are endless.”

Merrill feels one reason for Harker’s continued success in FPS competitions is the mentorship provided to middle school FPS students by members of the upper school FPS club, who have already been competing for a number of years by the time they become upper school students.

“It’s daunting to learn how to do all this the first time around, but their training of the younger kids works really well, and of course they’re also role models when the kids look up to them,” Merrill said.

For the most part, Merrill tries to limit his role in the process in order to encourage the students to become reliant on their own critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

“My goal in teaching is to fire myself from the process,” he said, later adding, “To me,

Photos by Diane Villadsen ’11

competition, which often has Harker students performing skits with musical numbers featuring adaptations of modern pop songs with altered lyrics, have also become a source of confidence for the students, as well as a nice break from an otherwise heavily analytical process. “It’s giving confidence and presentation skills which are completely different from the analytical writing,” Merrill said.

“In my first year participating in seventh grade, I was extremely shy about getting on stage and speaking in front of crowds,” said Shelby Rorabaugh, grade 12, who started with FPS in grade 7. “So when Mr. Merrill told us we would all have to sing and dance and make silly puns in ridiculous garbage bag costumes in front of a full auditorium, I was terrified.” Though she disliked the presentation aspect of the competition at first, it later became something she enjoyed.

Two years after her first appearance, her team’s presentation won first place at the international competition.

“I could hardly believe the progress I made from that shy seventh

grader, fumbling around stage with a quiet voice,” she said. “Just two years later, I would be winning my first major award at internationals.”

FPS also contains a scenario-writing competition, in which students compose short stories based on one of the competition topics. Earlier this year, Rorabaugh was named the first place international winner in scenario writing, becoming the first Harker student to win this honor. She has qualified for internationals in scenario writing in every competition since she began competing in grade 8 and said that her creative writing skills have since dramatically improved. Her proudest achievement, however, has been helping the upper school FPS club become more established. “I couldn’t be more proud of my fellow senior club members,” she said. “We’ve really worked hard to improve the high school portion of FPS, since it is relatively student-driven in its leadership compared to the middle school division.”

Several years ago, Merrill decided to offer a parting gift to the graduating seniors of Harker’s FPS program. He settled on rubber ducks, “because when you buy rubber ducks they come in themed sets of four,” one for each team member. It has since become a fun and revered tradition of the program, and rubber ducks of many different sizes can be seen in various places around Merrill’s classroom.

Rorabaugh has called her decision to join FPS “the best decision of my life. I came because of friends, and I stayed for the quirky community of friends and faculty and the learning environment.”

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GreaterGood

Photos by Kyle Cavallaro

opportunity to go to camp!” said Cindy Ellis, middle school head. “I know they will also enjoy the many decorated Frisbees from the middle school students while at camp.”

The symbolic stroll was held in late March at Blackford.

Supplementing cash donations were sales of T-shirts, water bottles, Jamba Juice, baked goodies, temporary tattoos and wrist bands, all of which were sold by volunteers.

The “biggest cancer walk poster ever” was hung on the amphitheater wall from March 25-29 and stood 8 feet high.

Advisories also made small, honorary flags for those who have survived or passed away which were then placed in the ground along the walking path.

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Upper School Student Creates Unique Math Program for Children

Photo provided by the Gupta family

Students, faculty and family members recently put on their walking shoes for the seventh annual Harker Cancer Walk. The successful schoolwide effort netted more than $8,000 for Camp Okizu. “This will give many young cancer patients a fantastic

“The Cancer Walk is truly an effort of the community that I have grown to cherish at Harker,” said Michael Schmidt, organizer, who teaches middle school computer science.

“Thank you again for our seventh amazing Cancer Walk.”

Like many teens, Urvi Gupta, grade 11, maintains a jam-packed schedule, yet she makes time to give back to her community by providing free math tutoring to K-3 kids at local libraries in San Jose using a unique program she created called OneInMath. The program teaches youngsters simple ways to add, subtract, multiply, divide and understand concepts quickly for math success.

with Gupta’s program for some time.

As a result of her efforts, aside from all the children her program has helped, Gupta received a commendation on June 11 from the City of San Jose for her efforts.

Students Raise Record Amount for the Humane Society Life just got a little easier for animals at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, thanks to the efforts of the school’s grade 1 community service project.

“I designed the free volunteer-run program from the ground up, defining its purpose, goals and developing materials, including 1,862 math problem sheets, teaching instructions, learning videos, program format, volunteer instructions and the logistics of running it,” said Gupta, who teaches as well as independently manages the overall program.

The students showed their love for the shelter’s displaced rabbits, dogs and cats by collecting monetary donations, buying needed supplies and making toys for distribution to the shelter.

“We raised about $900 (a new record) and collected more than 80 bags of toys, supplies and food for the animals,” reported the students’ homeroom teacher, Cindy Proctor, who oversaw the project.

She currently supervises more than 150 kids and 27 high school volunteers across three libraries using the program, which was implemented in November 2011. Now, the popular OneInMath classes – which utilize video instruction in addition to faceto-face volunteer tutoring – have both students and parents excited about learning mathematics.

Gupta was recently honored as Volunteer of the Year from the entire San Jose public library system for her dynamic math program and volunteer efforts. The top honor began with a nomination from local librarian Vidya Kilambi, who had been impressed

Photo by Cindy Proctor

More than $8,000 Raised by Annual Cancer Walk; Harker Community Goes the Extra Mile During Walk to Raise Money for Camp Okizu

By Debbie Cohen

GreaterGood

By Zach Jones

In addition to monetary donations, items for collection included animal treats, collars, litter, toys, clean blankets, sheets, towels and comforters.

GEO Week Raises Funds to Build Schools Overseas The Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) student club held its annual GEO week in mid-March, raising nearly $1,000 for Pencils of Promise, an organization that works to build educational programs in poor areas of the world. Some of

“We would like to express our thanks for the tremendous support and generosity of our Harker families for participating in this project. The donations continue to come in, and we are extremely grateful,” said Proctor.

Blood Drive to Help Remedy Local Blood Shortage

This year’s successful drive resulted in the collection of 44 total pints, which will benefit the Blood Centers of the Pacific, a nonprofit organization that supplies blood to Northern California hospitals, doctors and patients.

Thirty-nine Harker students, faculty and staff members gave blood at the drive, which was organized by the Red Cross Club, with five people donating double red cells.

Photos by William Cracraft

At least 100 locally-based hospital patients desperately in need of blood will be helped, thanks to the annual Harker Blood Drive held at the upper school campus in March.

Pencils of Promise’s efforts include building schools, training teachers and providing supplies. The organization has already completed construction on 110 schools, and 14 are in construction with plans for at least four more.

According to Amie Chien, grade 12, GEO president, the cost to provide a year’s worth of education for a child in one of these areas is just $25. “A pair of jeans from Express is easily $25, a week’s worth of Starbucks every morning, about the same. If we were to give up a little luxury for a week, we could easily find $25 lying around,” she said.

Read more about each of these generous efforts in Harker News Online. Just search on the appropriate term.

Five Seniors Recognized by National Charity League for Thousands of Volunteer Hours On March 16, Michelle Douglas, Cristina Photo provided by Heather Wardenburg , parent Jerney, Emily Wang, Amy Grace Wardenburg and Molly Wolfe, all grade 12, were honored by the Heritage Oaks Chapter of the National Charity League, Inc. NCL is a philanthropic organization that fosters mother-daughter relationships through community service, leadership development and cultural experiences.

Over the past six years, the five seniors have logged hundreds of volunteer hours (often with their mothers) at many local organizations including the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity - Silicon Valley, Humane Society of Silicon Valley, InnVision, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Sacred Heart Community Services.

In addition to these awards, Wardenburg has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for volunteering over 100 hours in a calendar year for all six years she has been volunteering, and Wolfe and Jerney have also each received the award in the past.

Wardenburg will also be receiving the Senior Service Award, which is given to the graduating senior with the highest cumulative philanthropic hours earned during her years at National Charity League.

Senior Honored by Stanford for Volunteering Senior Leslie Chan was awarded the Stanford University Medical Center Auxiliary Scholarship in May in recognition of exemplary service and contributions to the C-1 Unit and Junior Volunteer program at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics.

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AlumniNews

By Debbie Cohen

‘Keller Tour’Continues to Unite Harker Alumni Attending Universities Throughout the U.S. Among the major highlights of the year for Butch Keller, upper school head, is visiting with Harker alumni at college campuses throughout the United States.

ided by Mar

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This fall, the Kellers paid visits to alumni attending the University of California, Berkeley, Chapman University and Pepperdine University; in the winter they traveled to the Claremont Colleges; and the traditional spring break tour took them to Duke University, University of North Carolina, Vanderbilt University and

Trip highlights included bringing alumni from different colleges together for group dinners, updating them on Harker happenings and touring each campus. Next year the Kellers plan to visit the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as at least two other schools, as of yet unconfirmed.

yEllis Deacon

The trip, now affectionately called the Keller Tour, began in spring 2009 when he and his wife, Jane, an upper school math teacher, headed to New York to attend a performance by the Harker Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Several alumni living in the area heard the Kellers were in town and asked them to stop by. Soon after, requests were flooding in from other alumni to “come out and see us,” recalled Butch -Butch Keller.

“Catching up with students who had a direct relationship with us was incredibly rewarding.”

Northwestern University.

“This was one of the best trips because I knew all the classes at each school,” said Keller, Butch Keller, upper school head explaining that Today, there are when he initially additional shorter visits started the tour there in addition to the big East were alumni who had graduated Coast trip. Keller uses the tour as prior to his becoming upper school an opportunity to not only stay in head. “Catching up with students touch with alumni, but to visit with who had a direct relationship with them while they are still in college, us was incredibly rewarding.” gaining invaluable feedback on “I continue to be amazed at how how well Harker prepared them for excited everyone is to see each university life.

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other. We also remain impressed by the appreciation the alums express for the visit,” added Jane Keller.

After four years running the Keller Tour, Butch Keller said he is thrilled to be able to report that “our alumni are happy and having a lot of fun in college.”

Save the Date

The Keller Tour will be at Stanford University on Oct. 5.

More details to come!

AlumniNews New Union Site Perfect Setting for Alumni Easter Egg Hunt The beautiful new Union campus was the site of the third annual Easter egg hunt for Harker alumni families. Held in March, the event attracted more than 100 attendees, triple the number of participants over previous years.

For many alumni it was their first visit to Harker’s recently acquired third campus, home of the soon-to-be-launched preschool opening this fall, and future permanent site of the lower school.

Some of the alumni who came out for the fun family event are now themselves parents of current Harker students (or soon-to-be Eagles).

Adding to the festive mood were a bounce house and arts and crafts tables complete with child-friendly, make-it-yourself projects, including egg-shaped magnets, bunny masks and color-your-own crowns.

A visit by the Easter bunny rounded out the morning.

Photos

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by Sam

“It was a wonderful day shared with family and friends,” enthused MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations. “Being on the new campus and watching past generations and future Eagles all together was an added bonus for our special alumni community.”

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STAY CONNECTED

Connect with alumni through Facebook and LinkedIn as your new social and professional lives ramp up! We’d love to hear from you! http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Harker-Alumni-166447 (or just go to LinkedIn and search on Harker alumni) https://www.facebook.com/ HarkerAlumniAssociation (or – you guessed it! – search on Harker Alumni Association while logged in to your Facebook account)

ALUMNI SAVE THE DATES

September If you are a Harker alumna/us, please join us on Fri., Sept. 27 for a family-friendly tailgate party at Homecoming on the Saratoga campus, hosted by the alumni office.

OCTOber Celebrate the changing of seasons with us at the harvest-themed 63rd annual Family & Alumni Picnic!

Join fellow classmates this fall on Sun., Oct. 13, at the Blackford campus to reconnect and reminisce at the picnic’s special alumni luncheon.

The alumni relations office is providing free picnic admission to alumni and their immediate families and hosting a luncheon from 12-1 p.m. (immediately following the performing arts performance).

Attendance at the picnic’s alumni barbecue hit record numbers last year, and we’re anticipating an even bigger turnout this year. Come on out for some old-fashioned fun and new surprises!

NOVEMBER Alumni to Hold First Ever Basketball Games Against Harker’s Varsity Boys and Girls Teams!

Save the date for Harker’s first ever alumni basketball games, to be held Tues., Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. on the Blackford campus. The girls and boys junior varsity teams will scrimmage against faculty members before the two varsity teams go head to head with the Harker alumni group later that evening. The event, organized by MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations, is the first of its kind. There will be refreshments served and complimentary T-shirts handed out. Mark your calendars for the tip-off and let the alumni office know if you are planning on attending so we have plenty of time to make a winning lineup!

Stay tuned for more information from your class agents!

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AlumniNews Saturdays were also major highlights.

I loved it all!” he enthused.

After working for 30 years with the U.S. Forest Service in California and the Pacific Northwest regions, Dell, whose wife had recently passed away, embarked on a second career as an adjunct instructor at Arizona’s Pima Community College.

PAMA Graduate Went on to Lead Adventure-Filled Life Military schools were very popular during the years surrounding World War II, when John Dell ’44 attended Harker’s historic predecessor, the Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA).

There he taught natural and cultural histories of the Southwest and conducted educational study tours throughout the region and to many foreign countries. He also led local wilderness hiking trips and mountain climbing and canyoneering expeditions.

Dell said that among his fondest memories of PAMA were the “exhilarating rides” in the bike patrol through the back roads and countryside around Palo Alto, which was still a small community. “And the hotdogs, chips, ice cream and movies downtown on 56

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“I owe thanks to the colonel and all his staff. They were great people,” said Dell, who has enjoyed reflecting back upon his time at PAMA and looks forward to the continued chronicling of his fascinating life in his own soon-to-be written publication.

“PAMA instilled an appreciation for humility, sensitivity, perseverance and the value of teamwork.”

–John Dell ’44

Today, the 81-year-old former fire ranger and expedition leader credits the school, which was an elementary and middle school for boys, with playing a key role in shaping his life.

“It was a time I began to develop my self-confidence along with important social skills. PAMA instilled an appreciation for humility, sensitivity, perseverance and the value of teamwork. It certainly taught me basic military disciplinary skills that would later serve me well as a combat U.S. Marine during the Korean War … and beyond in my career as a ranger and forest fire staff specialist,” said Dell, a native Californian who now resides in Tucson, Ariz.

experiences. Dell is not new to writing, having published more than 50 professional papers and articles on forest fire ecology and protection. He is also the author of the “Southern Arizona Trails Resource Guide.”

Photos provided by John Dell ’44

He eventually returned to college himself, to explore new areas and skills, receiving a B.A. in communications from Brigham Young University.

Dell participated in several humanitarian missions to Afghanistan as a board director with the Childlight Foundation for Afghan Children (childlightfoundation.org). The nonprofit humanitarian organization was started by his daughter, Diana Tacey, and strives to aid the destitute children of Afghanistan, many orphaned and displaced by nearly 40 years of devastating wars.

Just last year he retired from these incredible activities and is currently working on a book about his life

Editor’s note: When Dell attended PAMA it was under the direction of Colonel Richard Kelly. The school (like Dell’s own life) saw many changes. Donald Nichols assumed leadership of PAMA in 1950 and The Harker Day School in 1959. He merged the two schools under the name Harker Academy in 1972. Howard Nichols succeeded his father in 1973, dropping the military program while expanding academics and other program offerings at what later became The Harker School.

AlumniNews Photo provided by Jessica Lin ’12

Alumna’s Dream of Becoming a Published Writer by Age 18 Comes True Just shy of her 19th birthday, Jessica Lin ’12 received word that her short science fiction story titled “Mortar Flowers” was officially accepted for publication

by Nature Journal, one of the world’s most cited interdisciplinary scientific periodicals.

This acceptance marked the first time Lin had ever sold a story, which was recently featured in the prestigious magazine’s special section for science fiction short stories called “Futures.”

“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” she said of the story acceptance, the best birthday present any young writer could ask for.

Lin is double majoring in comparative literature and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

one she accepted at Carnegie Hall in New York City last June.

Lin recalled that during the awards ceremony, “Whoopi Goldberg and Meryl Streep gave very inspiring presentations about the importance of art and its impact on society. I will always remember something Meryl Streep said, which was that the gift of writers is to express the things that we all feel, but are unable to put into words.”

Performing Arts Students Get Behind-the-Scenes Look at Show Biz from Talented Alumnus Talk of Broadway and the big screen took on a new reality for upper school Conservatory students following a recent “Life in the Arts” workshop with guest speaker Gary King ’87.

Many of the students found it hard to believe that King, who serves as the director, writer and producer of his films, never studied acting at Harker or anywhere!

“I didn’t study performing arts at Harker, nor did I go to film school in college. I received a master’s in psychology way back in the day.

“Coming back to Harker was a complete shock,” mused King, who couldn’t believe how much everything had changed.

“I’m glad that one thing which has remained the same is the faculty’s passion for the school and their students,” he said.

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Ever since her days at Harker, Lin’s writing career has been on a fast track for success. Back in 2011 and 2012 she was recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers when she won two annual Scholastic Art & Writing awards (both national silver medals) in the novel writing category. The second

The duo advised workshop attendees to expect setbacks, but not become defeated by them.

valla

Accompanying him was Broadway and film actress Christina Rose, who plays the lead role in his movie, which was released earlier this year and has received awards at venues such as the Raindance and Phoenix film festivals. King and Rose showed a trailer of the movie and spoke candidly about their experiences working in today’s rapidly changing entertainment industry.

He recalled how Harker gave him a well-rounded education, taught him responsibility and prepared him for the future by giving him the tools to succeed. “It definitely made a difference in my life,” affirmed King, whose work is best known for delivering powerful performances with an emphasis on a strong, visual style.

le Ca

“As the concrete is being replaced in Sarajevo, these roses are disappearing.

When I read that, I was immediately struck by the enigma of how they came to be, and I thought it was a terrible loss that they were being wiped out by construction. Three years later, I still hadn’t forgotten about them! It occurred to me that I could weave these two ideas together. Immediately, I had this vision of a flower boy in a fantastical war-torn city,” she said.

“Talking with the students was exciting as it was amazing to see how talented and eager they are to learn and grow within their areas of interest. They surely are taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities Harker offers to them,” he said.

by Ky

This past spring King, an awardwinning filmmaker and director, returned to Harker to discuss his unique road to show business with the aspiring performing arts students.

He also gave a behind-the-scenes look at his new hit indie film, “How Do You Write a Joe Schermann Song?”

Although he had loved cinema from a young age, King never thought to make a career out of it until after spending a few unfulfilling years working in the field of human resources.

Photo

Lin said she got the idea for the short story several years ago when she went on a “Wikipedia tangent” and discovered Sarajevo roses, which are deformations in the concrete caused by mortar shell explosions that are later filled with red resin as a memorial to the dead.

I’m self-taught when it comes to filmmaking,” said King, who was reached for comment following his Harker visit.

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AlumniNews

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Photos by Ky

Every spring the graduating class is inducted into the Harker Alumni Association during a special luncheon held in the Nichols Hall atrium.

This year’s event, welcoming the Class of 2013, occurred at the end of May. A highlight of the induction was the unveiling of the senior class gift, a monetary contribution of more than $9,000 to be used towards the installation and maintenance of the water filters and refilling stations located on the upper school campus.

lass of 2013

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Gets Warm Welcome into Alumni Association at Induction Lunch

Through class fundraising and their senior donations, the students rallied together to create a surplus of funds which was directed towards purchasing a bench in memory of Sandy Padgett. The bench will be the focal point of an outdoor classroom. A beloved and original member of the upper school faculty and founding director of Harker’s college counseling program, Padgett passed away on April 22.

A donation from the graduating class will also be made to The Sandy Padgett Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, already established by Harker’s advancement department.

In addition to welcoming seniors as alumni and presenting class gifts, the induction lunch also provided an opportunity to announce the group’s class agents, provide seniors with a gift from the office (a laundry bag complete with instructions on how to use it) and the drafting of senior memories and “shout-outs.”

According to MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations, bringing in the newest alumni class is all part of Harker’s “K through Life” approach. “The seniors are moving on but realizing we are always here for them, whether we visit their college or they come by to have lunch with a favorite teacher,” she said.

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Submitted by Class Agents

ClassNotes

Alumni from all classes through 1997 are listed under the years they would have completed grade 8 at The Harker School, Harker Academy, Harker Day School or Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA). For all classes after the Class of 1997, alumni are listed under the class years they would have graduated from high school, regardless of whether they completed high school studies at Harker. For unlisted classes, we invite you to email alumni@harker.org if you are interested in becoming a class agent or would like to nominate a classmate.

1973 Class Agent: Alan Stevens (alanclassreunion@ earthlink.net)

1976 Class Agents: Joy Aliason Younes (joycyounes@yahoo.com); Cindy Cottrell DeAngelo (cldeangelo@yahoo.com)

1977 Class Agent: Mike Pons (michael.pons@gmail.com)

1978 Class Agent: Silvia Malaccorto (smalaccorto@contoural.com)

1979 Class Agent: Chip Zecher (chipzecher@hotmail.com)

1980 Class Agent: Greg Argendeli (slackmaster@gmail.com)

1981 Class Agent: Kristin (Scarpace) Giammona (kristing@harker.org)

1982 Class Agents: Tina (Johnson) Murray (tinammurray@earthlink.net); Pauline (de Vos) Aasen

(thedutchfox@gmail.com); Keil Albert (kaalbert@geo-consultants. com)

(joypaterson@gmail.com); Tala Banato (tala.banato@gmail.com); Kelle Sloan (kelles@harker.org)

1984 Class Agents: Karri Baker (karribaker@me.com); Kristin Quintin (kquintin@intevac.com)

1988 Class Agents: Eric Xanthopoulos (eric.xanthopoulos@gmail. com); Aileen Eveleth (a_eveleth@yahoo.com)

1989 Class Agent: Katie Wilson (mkate_wilson@yahoo.com)

1990 Class Agent: Chris Yamashita (iamtheyamo@yahoo.com)

1991 Class Agent: Ashley Anderson (anderbruin@gmail.com)

1992 Class Agent: Amanda Mathias Bonomi (amandambonomi@gmail.com)

1993 Class Agents: Joy Paterson

1994 Class Agent: Leyna Cotran (leynacotran@gmail.com) Award winning playwright Wajahat Ali writes about the American Muslim experience. He recently published a piece titled "I am not the Tsarneavs" on Salon.com.

Leyna Cotran shared the exciting news that she and Andrew Zimdars were married (see the Celebrations section for more information about their wedding). Leyna also reported that she received her Ph.D. in software engineering from the University of California, Irvine, in June.

Middle school grad Brad Keller spent this past school year as UCLA’s fulltime assistant coach for the men’s volleyball team. The former Loyola Marymount outside attacker and, most recently, UC Irvine assistant coach is the founder of the Bay to Bay Volleyball Club in San Jose, which is a youth boys’ volleyball club created to serve the needs

of the South Bay community.

He was the chief director of the organization from 200106. Brad graduated from Loyola Marymount in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and a minor in marketing.

“This is my first season as the lead assistant here at UCLA, and it has been a great experience. The ability to teach life skills through a sport has always been something that has intrigued me. I have been extremely fortunate to work with arguably one of the best coaches in our sport who values personal development and culture building over the basics of winning and losing. This was a very productive year in that we were able to change the culture and still have a run at the national championship,” said Brad, who attended Harker for grades 7 and 8.

He called Harker “a special place” that constantly pushed him to his limits, both scholastically and athletically. “The best thing about Harker has been, and still is, the people,” he said.

1995 Class Agent: Lisa (Bowman) Gassmann (lisagassmann@gmail.com)

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ClassNotes 1996 Class Agent: Ashley S. Franke (ashley.franke@gmail.com) Ann Chu and Steve Blomquist had a baby girl. Please see the Celebrations section for more information.

Lisa Hall Hagen and her husband, Ross, had a baby girl. Please see the Celebrations section for more information.

1997 Class Agents: Chelsea Gilliland (cgilliland@gmail.com); Lindsey Hochrine (lynn.laka@fireskyresort.com)

2002 Class Agents: Akhsar Kharebov (axarharebate@gmail.com); Yasmin Ali (yasminfali@gmail.com); Isabella Liu (isabella.a.liu@gmail.com) Anupreet (Brar) Mahadevan and her husband, Vinay, welcomed a baby boy, Arvind, on March 17. Please see the Celebrations section for a photo. As if having a baby weren’t big enough news, two weeks later Anupreet found out that her husband’s job was relocating the family to Doha, Qatar, this summer for a two-year expat assignment. So, they will be moving from hot Houston to an even hotter Doha ... and missing California weather in a serious way!

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Since finishing med school last year, Vijay Nayak has been in Los Angeles for his intern year. He moved to Philadelphia in June to start his residency in radiology at Drexel. If anybody is living in or visiting Philly from that time onward, let him know!

Genisha Saverimuthu and Isabella Liu, who became good friends in grade 8, have recently reconnected in New York City where they both live and work. Over brunches, dinners and drinks, they have had the pleasure of comparing how they’ve changed since junior high (and in many ways, how they haven’t) and recently found out they are both “ENTP Myers-Briggs,” which confirms everything they already knew!

2003 Class Agents: Julia N. Gitis (juliag@gmail.com); Maheen Kaleem (maheenkaleem@gmail.com)

2004 Class Agents: Jacinda A. Mein (mjacinda@gmail.com); Jessica C. Liu (jess.c.liu@gmail.com) Nickisa Hodgson was married in April. Please see the Celebrations section for details!

2005 Class Agent: Erika N. Gudmundson (erika.gudmundson@gmail. com)

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2006 Class Agents: Meghana Dhar (meghanadhar@gmail.com); Jeffrey Le (Jeff87@gmail.com); Casey Near (caseylane@gmail.com) Carissa Chu reports that she is taking a year off from the University of California, San Francisco, medical school to do a public health research fellowship in Guangzhou, China. Her project is focused on understanding retention of IV drug users in methadone clinics to better understand how to engage this population in health services. She also plans to brush up on her Cantonese/Mandarin, learn more about the Chinese health system and travel!

After graduating from New York University’s Stern School of Business, Mina Lee moved to Singapore to work across Southeast Asia for the Boston Consulting Group. After a couple years there, she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the World Bank/ infoDev., a grassroots organization that creates incubators around the world to directly increase entrepreneurship for job creation. At the World Bank, Mina is both designing and implementing an innovation fund to invest in startups in the Caribbean.

She is responsible for helping to draft longterm strategy for the innovation, technology and

entrepreneurship practice within the World Bank.

Last fall, Tara Chandra signed with Clear Entertainment for management of her singing career. Since then, she’s been working on a full-length album with producers in L.A., London and Boston. Back in March, Tara took time to perform at SXSW, an annual music, film and interactive conference and festival held in Austin, Texas. Following that she released a new single and a music video (“Who You Do”).

Now she’s back to writing and recording!

Jaya Pareek is taking a sabbatical from Deloitte (where she’s been a consultant for the last few years) to work at Kiva for six months. Her fellowship is related to product management and she’ll be working from their flagship office in downtown San Francisco. There, she will help Kiva’s product team figure out how to make the lending process easier, quicker and more accessible to those who need it most.

2007 Class Agents: Cassie Kerkhoff (ckerkhoff@ucsd.edu); Audrey Kwong (audmusic@gmail.com)

2008 Class Agents: Stephanie Syu (ssyu363@yahoo.com); Senan Ebrahim (sebrahim@fas.harvard.edu)

Provid

ed by

Tanya

Schm id

t ’07

ClassNotes

Once again Tanya Schmidt is making news. While at Harker, Tanya stood out as an AllAmerican volleyball player and National Merit finalist.

Now the recent graduate of Santa Clara University reports that she is living in Belgium, where she has been playing volleyball professionally for the past three months. “Since I have been here, my team, Oxyjeunes Sodraep Farciennes, is 11-0! We still have a few more games to play, but because of our record, we have been

named champions of the National 1 league in Belgium,” she said, noting that when she is not playing volleyball, studying French or volunteering in Brussels, she spends her time traveling throughout Europe. She will be returning to California in June and hopes to be able to see and catch up with friends and family then.

“I look forward to hearing what’s been going on in your lives, too!” she said.

Until then all her matches are covered on the local Belgian network, available at http://telesambre.rtc.be/ content/view/16917/166/.

2009

2012

Class Agents: Rachel Wang (rachel.serendipity@gmail.com) Stephanie Guo (stephanie.j.guo@gmail.com)

Class Agents: Will Chang (12williamc@students. harker.org); David Fang (12davidf@students.harker.org)

2010

2013

Class Agents: Kevin Fu (kf800@yahoo.com); Adrienne Wong (adriee@gmail.com)

2011

Class Agents: Kathir Sundarraj (13KathirS@alumni.harker.org); Nikhil Panu (13NikhilP@alumni.harker.org); Nicholas Chuang (13NicholasC@alumni.harker.org)

Class Agents: Rani Mukherjee (rani.mukherjee18@gmail.com); Hassaan Ebrahim (hassaan.e@gmail.com)

Congratulations to the Class of 2013 on your graduation and welcome to the Alumni Association! We look forward to hearing updates from you!

Provided by Lisa Hall Hagen ’96

Ann Chu ’96 and Steve Blomquist ’96 welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Kimberly Chu Blomquist, on Feb. 18.

She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20.25 inches long.

Photo by Pam Dickinson

Anupreet (Brar) Mahadevan ’02 and her husband, Vinay, welcomed a baby boy, Arvind, on March 17.

The Class of 2004 had a mini-reunion at Nickisa Hodgson's wedding at the end of April. This photo is from the rehearsal dinner. L-R: Laena Keyashian, Courtney Johnson, Jessica Liu, Nickisa Hodgson (in back, in teal), Karla Bracken, Thomas MacMahon, Jen Lin, Priti Trividi, Aditi Bhattacharyya, Sameer Deen.

Provided by Anupreet

This past New Year’s Eve Lisa Hall Hagen ’96 delivered a little girl named Nora Marion Hagen. She was two months early and weighed just under 3 pounds. After a stay in the hospital, Lisa and her husband, Ross, brought Nora home, and she is now a happy and healthy baby, weighing about 8.5 pounds.

Leyna Cotran ’94 and Andrew Zimdars were married on Sept. 22, 2012 at the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino.

Photo provided by Leyna Cotran

Please join us in congratulating the following:

Provided by Ann Chu ’96

Alumni Celebrations

(Brar) Mahadevan ’02

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LookingAhead KEYDATES

Save the Date!

ORIENTATIONS

Fri., Aug. 23 (Grade 9) Student Orientation Fri., Aug. 23 (Grades 6-8) Parent/Student Orientation Mon., Aug. 26 (Grades 9-12) Student Matriculation & Orientation Tue., Aug. 27 (Grades 4-5) Parent/Student Orientation Wed., Aug. 28 (K-3) Parent/Student Orientation

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Tue., Aug. 27 121st Academic Year Begins (Grades 6-12) Thu., Aug. 29 121st Academic Year Begins (K-5)

BACK TO SCHOOL PARENT WELCOME & VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP Mon., Aug. 26, 9 a.m.

Middle School Breakfast - Blackford MPR Fri., Aug. 30, 8:15 a.m.

Lower School Breakfast - Bucknall Gym Fri., Aug. 30, 5:30 p.m.

Upper School Welcome BBQ - Saratoga Quad

Sun., Oct. 13, 2013 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

presents

Anon(ymous) A play by Naomi Iizuka

LABOR DAY HOLIDAY Mon., Sept. 2 - No Classes (K-12) Visit the website for complete calendar information.

Thurs.-Sat. Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2013 7 p.m.

Blackford Theater

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H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

SUMMER 2013

Concert Series 2013-14

LookingAhead Sat., Nov. 16 8 p.m.

Respect Sextet

Union Campus Update!

The Union campus is almost complete for our proposed preschool opening this fall. Check the website for more detail and information about our proposed programs.

Photo by Ryan Gould

Fri., Dec. 13 8 p.m.

Project Trio Photo by Tom Walsh

Fri., March 7 8 p.m.

Miro Quartet Photo by Nathan Russell

General Admission: $20 Pre-event reception one hour prior to each performance.

Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks included.

Cash bar for wine and beer.

Pledge Week Sept. 29-Oct. 5 Make your gift or pledge before the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic (Oct. 13, 2013) to be eligible for the Napa weekend drawing!

HOMECOMING

Davis Field Fri., Sept. 27, 2013

Tickets: www.harker.org/concertseries

Nichols Hall Auditorium | Upper School Campus 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose For more information contact communications@harker.org or call 408.345.9243.

Harker Quarterly (USPS 023-761) is published four times per year (September, December, March and June) by The Harker School, Office of Communication, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Jose, CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Harker Quarterly, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.

H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

SUMMER 2013

63

Circa 1932

Summer Camp

Photo courtesy of the Harker Archives

“S

ummer breeze makes me feel fine….” Long

offered a summer schedule of morning academics,

before Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts wrote

followed by military drills, calisthenics, swimming,

their 1972 iconic summertime song, campers from

baseball and hikes.

the Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA), one of

Although it is hard to imagine an era when bugling

Harker’s predecessors, were enjoying July zephyrs

and rifle practice were on the list of the school’s

at Camp Eldorado at Lake Alpine in the Sierra. The

scheduled summer activities, making magical

boys slept in tent cabins and ate in a log cabin mess

summertime memories is an integral part of

while spending days fishing, swimming, biking and

Harker’s rich history. Today, Harker offers a bevy

horseback riding and, in the evenings, gathering

of unique camps and other programs available

’round a campfire. Other activities included archery,

to both Harker and non-Harker students and to

bugling, rifle practice and, of course, boating.

participants from around the globe, with Camp+

According to Terry Walsh, Harker archivist, the

for the younger set, Summer Institute for high

earliest record of a school summer program dates

schoolers and the English Language Institute for

back to the 1920s. It was then that PAMA first

visitors from other countries.

4 0 8 . 2 4 9 . 2 510 H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY

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