This article originally appeared in the winter 2011 Harker Quarterly.
In early November, Greg Kastelman ’05 returned to The Harker School to run a workshop for instrumentalists and vocalists interested in pursuing the arts in college.
Kastelman is a public relations manager and booking agent with iCadenza, a company that works with young professionals, aiming to give them a strong start and skill set in creative fields.
Kastelman contacted Laura Lang-Ree, chair of the K-12 performing arts department, about coming to speak with the students.
Twenty-five students attended the workshop, and Kastelman emphasized throughout the workshop, “You create your own opportunities. Your career is what you create.” This goes for everything from finding a job to self-promotion.
Govinda Dasu, grade 12, said, “You can create your own job in the performing arts.”
Kastelman talked to students about the differences between conservatories and regular universities with performing arts programs. Susan Nace, a performing arts teacher at the upper school, says he took care also to say, “You don’t have to major in performing arts to be involved in performing arts in college.”
This point particularly resonated with Sean Knudsen, grade 10, who said that learning there are lots of options in the performing arts in college, even if you aren’t majoring or minoring in them, was “the most important thing I learned.”
From there, Kastelman branched into being involved in the performing arts without necessarily being a performer.
According to Nace, the students agreed that an interactive discussion about competition and collaboration was the highlight of the event, with Kastelman arguing that, while “competition is good for continued growth, collaboration is important, too.”
At the end of event, Lang-Ree said, “I hope that it gave our students a different way about thinking about their future lives in the arts, perhaps a new direction or a renewed commitment. The workshop got them to focus on their strengths and ambitions, and on ways of looking for a college that best suits those.”
Reflecting on the workshop, Payal Modi, grade 11, said, “I gained a lot of insight into my main question: ‘What really happens when people go off to college to pursue performing arts as a career?’”
This article originally appeared in the winter 2011 Harker Quarterly.
Tevis Howard ’98 spent a gap year in Kenya doing malaria immunology research before attending Brown University to earn a B.Sc. in neuroscience in 2007. While a junior there, he founded KOMAZA, a social enterprise working to get rural families in Kenya out of extreme poverty. Since 2008, KOMAZA (www.komaza.org) has planted more than 650,000 income-generating trees with nearly 3,000 farmers, and is now working to grow more than 3.5 million trees with 15,000 families by 2013. Be sure to check out the videos of KOMAZA’s work when you log onto their site.
Q: When you were at Harker, did you dream of doing what you do now?
A: Never! In school I was passionate about science. Winning the Harker seventh grade science fair encouraged me to continue science through high school and into university. My gap year in Kenya exposed me to a new set of challenges and opportunities, inspiring me to switch my focus from science to social entrepreneurship.
Q: What personal traits make you successful at what you are doing?
A: Passion, creativity, critical thinking, empathy, psychological resiliency and unfailing perseverance; entrepreneurship is rarely easy or straightforward.
Q: What in your life so far took you the longest time to learn?
A: It took me some time to realize the need and passion for applying my efforts and leveraging my good fortunes (great education) to make dramatic and sustainable improvements in the lives of the least fortunate. There are big problems on this planet today – 1 billion people (three times the population of the U.S.) struggle for basic survival in extreme poverty on less than a dollar per day. Now I aspire to create as much positive real- world impact as possible.
Q: What’s on the top of your personal and professional “lists” right now?
A: Professionally, my biggest goals are to hire an experienced president to help me raise growth capital for scaling up. We have great traction in Kenya, but now we need to build the managerial and operational capacity to plant over 25 million trees with 100,000 farmers by 2015, becoming the largest forestry company in East Africa. Most of my current personal goals are also professional goals (like, reply to emails faster!). Once I have more time, I’d like to invest a bit more in rekindling friendships and old hobbies – skiing in California and road trips across Africa.
Q: Tell us something surprising about yourself.
A: Despite being prone to sunburn and not really enjoying beaches, I’ve spent more than six years living and working in coastal, equatorial Kenya. My favorite hobby is mediocre gardening/landscaping.
Q: What advice do you have for current Harker students?
A: Get out and see the world! Before you do, it seems really big; once you have, you’ll realize it’s very small. Educate yourself about the major challenges and opportunities we’re facing as a planet over the next 50 years. There are a dozen or so big issues, and many will become intensely exciting and critically important. We are incredibly fortunate to be born into this hyper-accelerating era of humanity (vs. a hunter-gather 20,000 years ago). As current and recent generations of Harker students, we have more opportunity to make an impact with our lives, to build the world we want, than any previous generation of humanity. And we better get it right – if we don’t, we’ll be in for some rough waters; if we do, the future will yield unimaginable awesomeness.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2011 Harker Quarterly.
We caught up with retired lower school teacher Howard Saltzman to find out about his years and fondest memories as a Harker teacher, as well as how he spends his post-Harker time.
Q: What did you teach at Harker and for how long?
A: I taught at Harker for 31 years! I was a fourth grade teacher for the first 13 years and taught third grade the last 18. At first, I taught all subjects! Once third grade was departmentalized, I taught just social studies. Ultimately, I really enjoyed teaching California history.
Q: Did you coach any sports or advise any clubs?
A: I coached fourth and fifth grade sports after school for about 15 years. It was so much fun coaching football, basketball, soccer and softball. I stopped coaching once my son, Michael, was
in sixth grade so I could watch him participate in those same sports.
Q: What is your typical day like now that you are retired?
A: Now that my wife, Susan, and I are retired, I enjoy working in the yard, walking with my dog and doing a little traveling. We have had a chance to go to Sydney, Australia; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Vancouver Island, Canada; and Las Vegas, Nev.
Q: Are you pursuing any long- desired goals, now that you have time?
A: On May 25, my daughter, Kari, gave birth to our first grandchild, Kiora! So, we are excited about being able to take care of her Monday through Friday, so Kari can teach English at Palo Alto High School. Our son, Michael, is an English teacher at Irvington High School and coaches football at Saratoga High School.
Q: What is your fondest memory of teaching at Harker?
A: I have so many fond memories of my days at The Harker School. Those memories all revolve around the terrific students and colleagues that
I had over the years. I was always surrounded by truly outstanding teachers at Harker. Howard and Diana Nichols were both visionaries! I had the chance to see both of them take Harker from a one-campus,
K-8 school to a three-campus, K-12 school. They constantly strived to make Harker the best that it could be. Betty Koski and Marla Vallone worked with me for the first 13 years in the fourth grade. They were terrific teachers. I could not lose.
Q: Do you keep in touch with any former students?
A: I did have the privilege to work with Grace (Sabeh) Wallace ‘95 the last few years at the Bucknall campus. She was an outstanding student in
my class when she was in the fourth grade. Also, I recently had a chance to connect with both Matt Baker ’83 and Karri Sakai ’84. Matt was in my first class at Harker while Karri was in my second class. Now, they’re married and have a daughter in the first grade at Harker who had Grace Wallace as a teacher last year.
Q: Can you share a memory of your days at Harker with us?
A: Pat Walsh and I taught together all 31 years! What an outstanding teacher and great friend. His sense of humor made all my years at Harker so much more enjoyable.
Q: Do you have any message for the current students or the Harker community in general?
A: How lucky I was to have been a teacher at The Harker School. My own children had a chance to attend Harker and both were very well prepared for high school, college and life.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2011 Harker Quarterly.
Rachel (Bendis) Shekhtman ‘94 graduated from the University of Oregon in 2000 with a B.S. in economics. After a short stint as a financial advisor in Illinois, she emigrated to Israel where she has been working as a business consultant, business writer and coach for U.S. clients. This year she has begun organizing a wilderness therapy program in Israel for troubled teens called BaMidbar.
Q: When you were at Harker, did you dream of doing what you do now?
A: My dreams in junior high school were not focused on a specific career or lifestyle. There were three main themes in my dreams for the future: I wanted to help others, I had a deep connection with nature and I had a strong need to be loved. I am happy to know that these three drives are all fed to- day by my career and my personal life.
Q: What do you find most exciting about your career or current project?
A: I am passionate about both my career and my current project (which is a volunteer operation for me), and I love that they both involve helping people. Right now the wilderness therapy program is most exciting for me because it will be filling a real need here in Israel and because I believe deeply in the approach. I find it rewarding to know I have an impact on the lives of others.
Q: What personal traits make you successful at what you‘re doing?
A: Compassion, intuition, creativity and an ability to quickly analyze a situation.
Q: What in your life so far took you the longest time to learn?
A: Unfortunately, I am still on the way to learning personal organization. There actually is such a thing as “natural consequences.” Most rules are simply there to protect us from having to suffer natural consequences and to try to isolate the impact of a person‘s behavior to that person. Sounds pretty simple, but it didn‘t come “naturally” to me.
Q: What‘s on the top of your personal and professional “lists” right now?
A: Personally: 1) ensuring my husband and each of my four children get the individualized attention and love they need; and 2) preserving and feeding my individual identity by continuing to learn, to build and maintain friendships, and to have fun. Professionally: launching the BaMidbar: wilderness therapy project (http:// www.bamidbar.org.il) while continuing to provide my clients quality service.
Q: Tell us something surprising about yourself.
A: I made a choice a number of years ago to live my life according to the ancient laws and customs of my Jewish heritage, in the land of the Jewish people, Israel. I have four kids ages 2 through 8, and we‘re expecting a foster child in the near future. On an entirely different note, my first year in university I was a theater major, and I interned at a professional theater. I also was two quarter credits short of a minor in archaeology when I graduated from university.
Q: What advice do you have for current Harker students?
A: Almost every rule has a reason. Every person has feelings: your words and actions can hurt them terribly or give them true joy. Your choices can and do make a big impact on your future and the future of others.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2011 Harker Quarterly.
On June 4, Harker welcomed back its graduates of all ages at the annual All Alumni Day. Despite considerable rain, Harker alumni arrived at Nichols Hall, built after most of the attendees had left Harker, to reminisce, catch up and honor two distinguished alumni.
For the first hour, alumni and teachers met and caught up on the developments in their lives after Harker. Many of the younger alumni found the event very helpful for discussing their current careers and networking. Dan Hudkins, the K-12 director of instructional technology, said, “It’s wonderful to see where our alumni go with the knowledge that we give them here.”
After the preliminary period of mingling and munching on the food provided by the Harker kitchen staff, the attendees moved into the auditorium to see Harriet Skapinsky and Colin Dickey ’91 receive their awards. During the evening’s introductions, Christina Yan ’93, director of alumni relations, gave Chris Nikoloff, head of school, a check for over $18,500 on behalf of the alumni who donated to Harker this school year.
Nikoloff then introduced Skapinsky, the event’s first honoree, who received the Phyllis Carley Award. Skapinsky dedicated her Harker career to the English as a Second Language (ESL) program in the 1980s and 1990s. Nikoloff the introduced Skapinsky, saying, “She was a second mother to her students at their home away from home.” Many of her former students were ecstatic to be able to submit short video clips thanking her for teaching them and allowing them to succeed; these video clips were edited together and shown to the audience. It was clear from Skapinsky’s reaction that she remembered her former students and couldn’t be more proud of their successes.
The day’s second honoree, Colin Dickey ’91, was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award for his work exploring grave robbing; his book on the subject is “Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius.” In his short address, Dickey fondly recalled his time at Harker, saying, “Of all the institutions I’ve participated in, Harker has the biggest place in my heart.”
In the end, despite the pervasive precipitation, the event was a success, reuniting teachers and alumni alike. For more information about alumni events, email the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@harker.org.
Alumni gathered in the Windy City in early January for a get-together at Sable Kitchen & Bar, inside downtown Chicago’s Hotel Palomar. Half a dozen alumni from the Chicago area and Christine Yan, director of alumni relations, introduced themselves to each other. Yan brought the group together so she could hear what the alumni office can do to support Chicago alumni and to let those who know each other catch up. The meeting at Sable, well-known for great food and inventive cocktails, was so much fun that Will Redfield ’87 and Mariposa (Widdoes) Brant ’96, both of whom have young families, are planning to organize something for Harker alumni and their families again when the weather warms up. Emily Chow ’08, currently at Northwestern University, came for the fun and took photos, too!
This article originally appeared in the spring 2011 Harker Quarterly.
Harker has implemented a new streamlined alumni admission process this year to ease admission for the children and grandchildren of Harker alumni.
In the announcement, Diana Nichols, chairman of Harker’s Board of Trustees and former head of school, said that whether students attended Manzanita Hall, Harker Day School, Palo Alto Military Academy, Harker Academy or The Harker School, there is much that alumni from all of the schools share. “Even though time has passed, the core values and principles of the school haven’t changed,” she said. “We have a history together of shared common values.”
In addition to the core values that have remained throughout the school’s history, Nichols also cited the safe environment, caring community, great teachers and improved facilities as “wonderful reasons” for alumni to send their children to Harker. “You are Harker family, and we’d love to have your children – or grandchildren – attending Harker and carrying on the traditions.”
The features of the alumni admission process include waiving the application fee; giving qualified alumni children (who pass testing and meet behavioral standards) top consideration in the application process; providing alumni children with priority equal to current students for financial aid; and offering a 10 percent discount to alumni children for Harker’s summer programs.
Nichols came to Harker Academy in 1973 to chair the science department and teach biology. In 1979 she was named assistant principal, and was principal from 1984-91. From 1992 until her retirement in 2005, Nichols was Harker’s head of school. She was named a Harker Board of Trustees lifetime trustee in 2005 and became the Board’s chair in 2010, and she is passionate about bringing our legacy children into the fold. “We hope to see you on our campuses soon – for a visit or to pick up your child or grandchild from school!” she said.
Harker alumni should contact Nan Nielsen, director of admission, at nann@harker.org or 408.249.2510 and request a special private alumni tour. For the summer discount, alumni should contact Kelly Espinosa, summer programs director, at kellye@harker.org.
Harker alumni who have not registered with the school’s alumni office can do so by contacting their class agent or e-mailing Christina Yan, alumni director, at christinay@harker.org.
Senan Ebrahim ’08 and his running mate Bonnie Cao have won the Undergraduate Council elections at Harvard University. Ebrahim was named a Presidential Scholar while at Harker. The pair earned 45 percent of the vote, about 1,400 votes, then took the contest with a majority when third-place votes were re-allocated to the two top tickets. Ebrahim’s tenure as student life committee chair gave him a boost, as much of the contest was about student social life.
Two recent Harker graduates attending local schools were recently recognized for their hard work. Alisha Tolani ’06, now at Stanford University, and Tanya Schmidt ’08, now at Santa Clara University, were featured in their schools’ online news publications for their contributions to quality of life and athletics, respectively.
Tolani received the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for distinctive contributions to undergraduate education. This award is given to students who do impressive work with the goal of improving the quality of life for undergraduate students. She earned this accolade in part because of the many activities she is involved in. These include “serving as the ASSU executive co-chair of undergraduate health and wellness, resident assistant at West Florence Moore Hall, research assistant at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and peer counselor at the Bridge,” according to the award. She was also cited for her role in founding Stanford’s coalition to end violence against women. The award thanked Tolani “for making Stanford a safer and more comfortable home for all students.”
Schmidt, a junior, was lauded for her excellent play on the Santa Clara women’s volleyball team. In a recent game the Broncos, 11-7 on the season at press time, defeated Idaho 3-1 and Schmidt was the star player. She posted a season-high 17 kills with an over-500 average. Head coach Jon Wallace had this to say of her performance: “Tanya had a great night. She was unbelievable tonight. She was quick, moving the ball around and competing extremely well.” Currently she is fourth on the team in kills with an impressive 129 and continues to play a big role in the Broncos’ success.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2010 Harker Quarterly.
Alix Natalia Briggs ’08 attended Harker for Gr. 5-9 before transferring to Interlochen Arts Academy, a private boarding school in Michigan, to pursue theater in her final three years of high school. In 2009 she was chosen out of thousands of entrants as one of three winners of a youngARTS award in the play and script writing for film or video category; 141 young artists were named winners in several disciplines. Because of this exposure, she was selected by famed choreographer Bill T. Jones for the HBO documentary-series “Masterclass.” A New York Times article about the show, in which Briggs is mentioned, can be found on the NY Times website. Currently she is a sophomore at the University of Michigan and continues to pursue her dream career as an actress and aspiring playwright.
Editor’s note: Harker has had two previous winners of youngARTS awards. For information about their program, please visit http://nfaa.org/Programs/.
Q: When you were at Harker, did you dream of doing what you do now?
A: Definitely. My interest in theater began at Harker, where I participated in Harmonics and later, the upper school Conservatory. The arts program at Harker is incredibly encouraging and community-centric. I wanted to maintain that sense of community for the rest of my life, which is why I chose to further pursue theater. I think my Spanish teachers would be pretty surprised to find out that I’m double-majoring in Spanish, though!
Q: What do you find most exciting about your career or current project?
A: Through the youngARTS program, which led to my project with HBO, I was able to meet a host of inspiring, uber-talented peers. Being able to collaborate with other artists my age has definitely been most exciting.
Q: What personal traits make you successful at what you’re doing?
A: I’d say my brashness, my outspokenness. Nothing is off limits for me. I think a large part of that is a result of growing up in the Bay Area; the Bay Area is definitely the poster child of ‘freedom of speech.’ I was fortunate enough to grow up in a place where I was exposed to all sorts of different opinions, cultures and issues.
Q: What in your life took you the longest time to learn?
A: In order to be happy, you have to be flexible. If you invest all of your potential for happiness into one goal, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. It’s better to put energy into your everyday pursuits, and then see where it takes you.
Q: What’s on the top of your personal and professional “lists” right now?
A: I want to travel the world and expose myself to as much as possible. I’d love a job that would pay me to travel – my own show on the Travel Channel, maybe? I’m a huge fan of the Ling sisters and their investigative-journalism-fueled-by-new-media approach. I think that’d be a great way to combine my interest in international studies with my background in theater.
Q: What advice do you have for current Harker students?
A: Don’t take your education for granted; most of your peers, when you leave Harker, will not have had the same opportunities as you – be respectful and mindful. Always remember that there is a world outside of Harker; it’s easy to be consumed by the ‘bubble.’ Put your effort into learning the material as opposed to just trying for stellar grades. And apply for youngARTS – it is a tremendous opportunity (for high school seniors and college freshmen under 18)!