Lower school chess champs Omya and Vyom Vidyarthi (grade 2 and 5, respectively) have done it again! At the 2017 CalChess Grade Level Championship last weekend, Vyom won all six rounds in the fifth grade section to take first place. Meanwhile, Omya placed third in the second grade section.
Vyom had success in November as well, tying for third place at the 2017 California Class Warfare Championship, held Nov. 24-25, where he competed against grand master, international master and national master players. He was also one of 17 top young chess players invited to the US Chess School in Glendale.
Omya and Vyom were also members of a team that included Harker students Anika Rajaram, grade 4, and Rohan Rajaram, grade 1, which won the elementary competition and placed fourth overall in the combined K-12 and K-8 section at the bi-annual Northern California Scholastic Team Championship, held Nov. 11-12.
As a result of his recent performances, Vyom has been named one of the top 10-year-old chess players in the country, and will compete as a representative of the United States next year in Spain at the World Cadets Chess Championships.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2017 issue of Harker Magazine.
By João-Pierre S. Ruth
Recently, a computer science instructor at Stanford asked students in an auditorium to raise their hands if they could program in four specific programming languages. Only two students knew all four – and both were Harker grads. This is not surprising to those familiar with Harker’s broad range of technology offerings, which start in kindergarten and drive students to increasingly challenge themselves.
This early inclusion of technology at Harker is part of an academic strategy that prepares students to use what they learn in computer science and programming outside of the classroom. The intensive instruction is designed as a marathon, rather than a sprint, and aims to teach students critical-thinking skills and how to continually use technology as a tool.
Liz Brumbaugh, Harker’s director of learning, innovation and design (LID) for preschool-grade 12, said by being device and platform agnostic, Harker is unique, as schools typically provide just one or two types of devices or platforms to teach technology. Harker’s approach gives students more comprehensive exposure when dealing with computer sciences. Learning to solve problems through programming, or even with Minecraft as the vehicle, is a useful tool. “You walk into any job and you have to be prepared to work with any type of device and use any type of program,” she said.
A comprehensive training regimen at Harker’s lower, middle and upper schools is designed to weave computer science seamlessly into the students’ everyday academic experience.
Getting Started at the Lower School
Students throughout the lower school use mobile devices: iPads for K-3 and Chromebooks from the third through fifth grades. “At every grade level, students are using technology as tools for learning activities,” said Lisa Diffenderfer, computer science department chair and K-5 LID director. This includes research, presentations and practicing specific skills taught in their core classes, she said.
Kindergartners attend computer science and skills courses starting the very first week of school. “They have a 42-minute computer science class once a week for the entire school year where they are introduced to and practice tech literacy skills, such as typing and creating digital artwork,” Diffenderfer said. Midway through the school year, she said, they begin to learn programming fundamentals such as sequencing, logic and problem-solving through an iPad app called Osmo Coding and its corresponding coding blocks.
In first grade, computer science classes are held three times per week in the third trimester of the year. This includes working with an iPad app to practice using algorithmic thinking. The frequency of computer curriculum increases at the lower school so that when students reach grade 5, they take computer science classes twice per week in the first trimester and five days per week in the third trimester. In the first half of that grade 5 course, Diffenderfer said, students use robotics as a path to practice programming concepts. Students use visual programming and Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots to work out solutions to different challenges such as how to program self-driving cars.
Building Up the Skill Set
Sam Linton, a computer science teacher at the middle school, said there are recurring themes throughout the required courses, such as design process and systems thinking presented in a variety of contexts. “In the middle school, we try to expose the students to a wide range of computer science topics, not just programming, in a fun and accessible way,” he said.
For students who intend to continue on in computer science at the upper school, the goal is to lay the conceptual groundwork to better prepare them, Linton said. “To this end, we give them exposure to computer programming languages ranging from Scratch to Python to Java, as well as concepts such as flowcharting.” There is also an elective Java course, which is a good introduction to and preparation for the more demanding approach at the upper school, he said.
Sharmila Misra, also a computer science teacher, said students in all three grade levels are required to take semester-long computer science classes; semester-long electives also are available for all grades. “The required computer science classes curriculum helps every student, both in STEM and STEAM, acquire the computer science concepts required before they leave for the upper school,” she said.
In the required computer science class, students are taught the design thinking process, which is similar to the software development life cycle. The process comprises user empathy, planning and design, making a prototype, taking feedback, improvising and testing to attain user satisfaction.
These classes are not always focused on syntax-based coding languages, Misra said; computer programming is a small subset of computer science. One reason for the ongoing focus on computer science concepts is that if the knowledge is not used after the semester, it may be forgotten, she said. However, if students are taught logical and analytical skills through systems thinking, computer architecture and flowcharts, they can continue to benefit from the curriculum.
Scott Kley Contini, grade 6-8 LID director, said the programs at the middle school include Gamestar Mechanic, a platform that allows students to create online video games. This design class lets students develop games that can be exchanged with students in other countries. By using the online platform Pythonroom, students also can learn the fundamentals of computer programming and coding. Students then run their programs through online servers that allow for fast, personalized learning opportunities.
Putting the Knowledge to Work
Brumbaugh said that scaling up the challenges for students is important for helping them develop the logic-based, problem solving skill set that is unique to programming. “At the upper school, we have three different tracks in an introductory sense that students could take, plus there is a computer science graduation requirement,” she said.
Upper school students put their accumulated knowledge to the test as they work with more applied aspects of computer science, said Eric Nelson, upper school computer science department chair. “Once they get past preparing for the AP exam, they can take the advanced topics courses, which paradoxically tend to get back to the more fundamental aspects of things,” he said. This includes working with Java, a very high-level computing language full of protections and abstractions that insulate the programmer from the hardware. “Understanding what is under the hood is the difference between being a driver and being a mechanic,” Nelson said. Java teaches students how to drive when it comes to programming. The advanced topics offerings help them learn to be mechanics.
There is also a neural networks course in which students spend the semester creating a basic multilayer perceptron, a type of algorithm, which is the basis for all deep-learning systems. “The differences are in how they are wired, but the principles don’t change,” Nelson said. Through the curriculum, students get a deep understanding of how pattern classifiers work at the lowest levels rather than see them just as black boxes (a computing term for an object with mysterious workings).
Another course in artificial intelligence explores expert systems, which is something the public encounters any time they use a kiosk that asks questions about their preferences. This is a specialized technology, Nelson said, and professionals who build expert systems are pretty scarce. “Learning about and implementing the expert system life cycle will give them a potential edge if they encounter it,” he said.
Getting into the digital nitty-gritty, students in the computer architecture course learn to build a computer from the ground up, starting with NAND logic gates, which is the base element for all logic systems. “There is a local startup that is building educational tools for colleges and universities that teach just these concepts,” Nelson said. Taking the lessons to the next level starts to bring the components together.
In the compilers course, Nelson said, students get a full understanding of what happens to their code as it gets transformed into machine-readable form, what optimization really means and the traps it hides. The programming languages course introduces them to language paradigms other than Java. This requires them to think differently as they move from one language to another.
Two of the languages the students work with are Fortran and C, which Nelson said students are likely to encounter in industry or research. Upper school students also work with LabVIEW, which is the systems engineering software used to control the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire – the European organization for nuclear research). The numerical methods course introduces students to what is happening behind the scenes in tools such as MATLAB and Mathematica, as well as many of the libraries they use as black boxes in Java and Python.
“All of this exposure is superimposed on a requirement to develop good coding practices and a ‘keen grasp of the obvious’ in terms of user interface design and functionality,” Nelson said. Through Harker’s intensive program, students can gain experience with computer science far earlier than their peers at other schools, said Nelson.
This naturally helps them stand out in their university courses and first employment opportunities in computer science, he added, relaying the Stanford University anecdote. When the computer science instructor asked who could program in Java, JavaScript, Python and Fortran, only the two Harker alumni knew all four.
“Both students were in my programming languages course last year,” Nelson said. The Stanford instructor went on to state that Fortran was a trick question, since freshmen were not expected to know Fortran. “Our students now stand out amongst a room full of the best and the brightest at Stanford,” Nelson said. Even if a Harker student does not intend to pursue a career in programming, the problem-solving and logic skills learned here “could be useful to solve any work-related challenge or challenges related to fixing bugs; troubleshooting itself is a detailed process that adults rely upon daily,” said Brumbaugh. If students want to explore computer sciences outside of the curriculum tracks they are on, they also can join extracurricular activities, such as the robotics team, Brumbaugh added. “Our students are going to be the ones who create what the next programming language is – the systems that make currently existing processes better.”
Contributor João-Pierre S. Ruth is based in the New York City area.
The Mercury News posted a very nice article noting a girl from Gunn High School has started an outreach effort with Veterans and students from Harker and other schools are also now participating.
The Mercury News posted a very nice article noting a girl from Gunn High School has started an outreach effort with Veterans and students from Harker and other schools are also now participating.
The Mercury News posted a very nice article noting a girl from Gunn High School has started an outreach effort with Veterans and students from Harker and other schools are also now participating.
We had an exciting lower and middle school fall sports season! Please see the accomplishments of our fall sports teams and individuals below:
VA Flag Football (grade 8): The Varsity A team, coached by Richard Amarillas and Tim Hopkins, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a record of 0-7 and went 1-8 overall. Team awards went to Richard Amarillas and Sam Boucher (Eagle), and Marcus Page and Ethan Huang (Coaches).
VB Flag Football (grade 7): The Varsity B team, coached by Mike Delfino and Edward LeGrand-Sawyer, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a 2-4 record and went 3-4 overall. Team awards went to Armaan Thakker (MVP), Zain Vakath and Dylan Parikh (Eagle) and Rohan Gorti (Coaches).
JVA Flag Football (grade 6): The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Dan Pringle and Matt Arensberg, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a 0-4 record and went 1-5 overall. Team awards went to Om Tandon (MVP), Thomas Egbert (Eagle) and Jack Ledford (Coaches).
JVB Flag Football (grade 5): The Junior Varsity B team, coached by Walid Fahmy and Tobias Wade, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a 0-4 record and went 0-5 overall. Team awards went to Drew Diffenderfer (MVP), Vyom Vidyarthi (Eagle) and Liam Jeffers (Coaches).
LS Intramural Flag Football (grade 4): Team awards went to Brennan Williams (MVP), Topaz Lee (Eagle) and Rishaan Thoppay (Coaches). The team was coached by Karriem Stinson and Kristian Tiopo.
VA Softball: The Varsity A team, coached by Raul Rios and Vanessa Rios, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a record of 1-4 and went 1-5 overall. Team awards went to Brooklyn Cicero, grade 8 (MVP), Nicole Arena, grade 8 (Eagle) and Claire Chen, grade 7 (Coaches).
JVA Softball: The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Jon Cvitanich and Brittney Moseley, was the WBAL league champ with a record of 4-0 and went 5-0 overall. Team awards went to Maya Kelly, grade 6 (MVP), Saira Ramakrishnan, grade 5 (Eagle) and Isha Kotalwar, grade 6 (Coaches).
LS Intramural Softball (grade 4): Team awards went to Mackenzie Chadwick (MVP), Tanvi Sivakumar (Eagle) and Minal Jalil (Coaches). The team was coached by Julie Meline.
MS Swimming: Team awards went to Michael Tran, grade 8 (MVP), Linette Hoffman, grade 7, and Logan Braun, grade 6 (Eagle), and Carlo Banzon, grade 7, and Eira Saraff, grade 6. Unfortunately, the WBAL finals were cancelled due to poor air-quality issues. However, we did have a few first place finishers in the Castilleja meet. Michael Tran (50 fly, 100 freestyle relay and 100 medley relay), Heidi Lu, grade 6 (25 backstroke), Elvis Han, grade 8 (50 backstroke and 100 free relay), Nika Lebedev, grade 7 (100 individual relay), Sascha Pakravan, grade 8 (100 free relay), Willian Zhao, grade 8 (100 free relay and 100 medley relay), Carlo Banzon, grade 7 (100 medley relay) and Kai Burich, grade 8 (100 medley relay).
LS Swimming: Team awards went to Shwetha Sundar, grade 4, and Nikhil Pesati, grade 5 (Eagle), and Kaan Kurtoglu, grade 4, and Disha Gupta, grade 4 (Coaches).
MS Cross Country: Team awards went to Dawson Chen, grade 8, and Ashley Barth, grade 8 (MVP), Shahzeb Lakhani, grade 8, and Emma Gao, grade 6 (Eagle), and Alex Liou, grade 8, and Trisha Iyer, grade 6 (Coaches). Unfortunately, the WBAL finals were cancelled due to the poor air quality issues. However, we did have a few first place finishers in the league meets. Our grade 8 boys team took first place at the Crystal Springs Relays and our grade 7/8 boys team took first place at the Harker Meet.
MS Golf: The middle school golf team was league champs of the WBAL Fall tournament, winning by 10 strokes. The top golfer of the tournament was Claire Chen, grade 7 (35), followed by Freddy Hoch, grade 7 (37), Marcus Page, grade 8 (38) and Athreya Daniel, grade 7 (40).
Last week, the yearly grade 5 food drive culminated in a donation of 1,900 food items (worth more than $700) to St. Justin’s Community Ministry Pantry. Students collected items over a period of two weeks, requesting canned vegetables, pasta, rice, beans and other goods. The drop-off was a special occasion for the students and parents, who were joined by former lower school teacher Pat Walsh, who started the food drive more than 20 years ago. Walsh retired at the end of the 2016-17 school year after an incredible 41 years at Harker, and his appearance to help with the drop-off was a fitting way to end a successful effort!
This article originally appeared in the summer 2017 issue of Harker Magazine. The winter issue of the Harker Magazine will be in mailboxes at the end of December with great features on computer science, the first year at college, our wonderful BEST program and more!
About 21.5 million children between the ages of 6 and 17 play team sports, according to a 2011 survey by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. Nearly 40 percent of those are between the ages of 13 and 16. At Harker, nearly 70 percent of students in grades 4-12 participate in the school’s sports program. So, what attracts students to athletics?
We Are Family
A popular acronym in the sports world states: Together Everyone Achieves More. Sports aren’t just about making yourself better or boosting your own stats; they are about putting the team first. As upper school boys and girls golf coach Ie-Chen Cheng stated, “The most successful teams we’ve had are always the ones with team members who understand the importance of team goals.” This unity can be very meaningful to student athletes.
“The bond between teammates is something very unique and special,” stated volleyball and lacrosse player Taylor Iantosca, grade 12. “We go through a lot together: the wins, the losses, the victories, the tragedies, everything. I enjoy being able to contribute to something greater than myself while representing my school.”
Sharing these experiences and spending a lot of time together creates a deep sense of camaraderie and friendship. “Sure, we all like to compete and win,” stated middle and upper school coach Mike Delfino, “but as the years go on, the game results tend to fade a bit from memory. But the friendships made and the overall experience of being part of a team and competing last forever.”
Isabella Spradlin, grade 11, said, “My teammates on the volleyball team know me better than anyone else, because we are required to have such a deep understanding of each other’s personalities and abilities. Throughout the season, we spend so much time practicing and getting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so that we can get the best possible outcome in any match or situation.”
If teammates are like a family, then the coaches are like the parents. Harker prides itself on selecting the best possible leaders for every sport. When asked how Harker went from being a new high school in the late 1990s with little success in athletics, to a school that produces numerous WBAL, CCS and state competitors each year, Dan Molin, upper school athletic director, was quick to give praise to one group of people. “It really has to do with our coaches,” he said. “Kids recognize quality and it’s proven with our coaching staff. [The students] buy in and the coach shows them the way.”
The quality of the programs and coaches resulted in a 2015-16 season in which 13 of the upper school’s 20 varsity sports sent teams or individuals to the CCS or NCS playoffs, with one individual advancing to NorCals, and three individuals and one team making it all the way to state. This emphasis on top-notch coaching also has produced success at the middle and lower schools, with nine league championship teams during the 2015-16 season.
But the Harker athletic experience isn’t only about the victories. “We don’t talk about winning, although of course we try to win, but that’s not the ultimate barometer,” said Molin.
However, when individuals unite for a common goal, like a family, “it increases their chance of succeeding because they learn to have each other’s backs,” stated Karriem Stinson, lower and middle school assistant athletic director.
Have Some Fun
“First off, we want to make sure the kids are having fun,” stated Molin, regarding the mission of Harker’s athletic department. Athletics allows students to escape the books and classrooms for a short time; it gives their minds a break from academics and allows them to concentrate on a completely different area.
“In an academic environment like Harker, [sports] is the break that a lot of them need in the day,” stated Brighid Wood, a middle school coach and assistant to the athletic directors.
“Basketball is my outlet,” said Jordan Thompson, grade 12. “I can forget all my responsibilities and just focus on the game.”
Soccer and volleyball player Aria Wong, grade 8, agrees. “Having something to do after school lets me forget about tests and homework and lose myself on the field,” she said.
Rosh Roy, grade 8, who plays flag football, basketball, soccer and runs track, added, “I like sports because it lets me be free and also lets me share memories with my friends.” While some students simply want to have fun, others find great satisfaction in succeeding in sports.
“My favorite aspect of sports was simply the opportunity to accomplish something unique,” stated Shrish Dwivedi ’15, an accomplished golfer at Harker who now plays at Duke University. “Academic pursuits afford a self-satisfaction that is extremely fulfilling; however, athletic accomplishments provide an incomparable feeling that I find highly enjoyable.”
Growing from the Inside
Perhaps the most important benefit of competing in sports is the personal growth each athlete experiences. “Athletics help children understand a lot about themselves. You’re looking well beyond the Xs and Os,” said Wood. “You’re looking at the actual child. You’re helping them grow as a human being.”
When a coach can lift up a child like that, everyone wins. Competing in sports also gives students the opportunity to learn how to fail, as well as how to deal with not being the best at an activity. In a recent article for Observer.com, titled “How Playing Sports, Even Poorly, Can Make You More Successful in Business,” author Judy Mandell cited psychologist Robert Troutwine: “To persevere when one is not good at something shows a great deal of character. To continue to strive under conditions of failure shows determination, the ability to handle frustration and resiliency.”
Anthony Contreras, grade 11, explained that sports can help athletes grow in the face of adversity and use this growth in other areas: “Sports has shown me how to handle difficult situations and to how to properly learn from my mistakes. Everything that I have learned from sports carries on to my personal and student life.” This personal growth isn’t just a handy trait that helps someone be a good person – it can be useful in the professional world as well.
Mandell continued in her article citing Rachel Gary, director of media strategies and communications at ONE World Sports: “Many of the traits needed to succeed in sports are similar to those needed to succeed in business, including goal-setting, confidence, discipline and leadership skills.” These skills, along with others, have helped Kristina Bither ’09 in her medical career. “Now working in the emergency department, I am able to stay calm and focused when situations get stressful,” she said. “I know the importance of coming together to work as a team and stepping up to be a leader when it is needed.”
Theresa “Smitty” Smith, lower and middle school athletic director, summed up what it’s like being part of the Harker athletic department: “There are little victories every day.” Whether it’s seeing the athletes growing as a family, growing as individuals or just having some fun, the victories on and off the field, court or pool show why teens continue to flock to sports.
Last week, fifth graders headed up to the Marin Headlands for the annual class trip, during which they took in the breathtaking views offered by the hilly destination, located just across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The students, separated into hiking groups, headed off to various locations around the area. At the Marine Mammal Center, students visited local animals that were being treated for illness. Other students hiked down to the beach for an up-close look at the ocean, while another group enjoyed the indoor touch pools set up by the environmental education organization NatureBridge.
During their afternoon free time, students socialized at their dormitories and played sports such as basketball, soccer and volleyball. Students also braved the wind and rain for an evening hike, in which they traveled to the beach to view the noctiluca, a bioluminescent species of dinoflagellates. Other stops during the trip were Hawk Hill and a local lighthouse. Students also went on a series of hikes around the area, which presented ample opportunities to experience the Marin Headlands’ natural wonders.
On Friday morning, lower school students were treated to a visit by members of San Jose Taiko. Formed in 1973, San Jose Taiko is recognized as one of the world’s top ensembles in “taiko” (drum) performance, an art form with roots dating back to sixth century Japan. During the latter half of the 20th century, taiko performers introduced elements of other genres such as jazz and samba.
The musicians performed a selection of pieces from their repertoire and introduced students to some of the basic concepts they incorporate into their performances, including “ki,” spiritual energy that is often expelled through shouts known as “ki-ai.” San Jose Taiko’s Yurika Chiba demonstrated this by having the students yell “Sa!” in unison, to the delight of the SJT performers. They also demonstrated the different sounds they shout during performances to communicate the types of beats to be played.
Several students were offered the opportunity to play the taiko themselves, which they gladly accepted. Fellow students and faculty in attendance cheered enthusiastically at the students’ drum rolls!