On the evening of Jan. 22, about 40 kindergartners and their families gathered in the lower school gym lobby for a festive Valentine’s Day-themed party. After enjoying a yummy pizza dinner, participants enjoyed making Valentine’s Day-related arts and crafts.
Tags: Featured Story Photo, Lower SchoolSarah Mohammed, grade 5, won a bronze medal for archery at the 2016 California State Indoor Championships, in the women’s under-12 division. Her score can be found in this link.
The official medal ceremony will be held on Feb. 27. Mohammed will also be going onto compete in the nationals to represent California. Nationals indoor competitions takes place over many weekends all over the United States, lasting a couple days on average.
Here’s a nice mention of Sarah’s qualification in the San Jose Mercury’s Sports Shorts, too! http://www.mercurynews.com/high-school-sports/ci_29441541/sports-shorts-saunders-selected-maac-35th-anniversary-womens
Tags: Featured Story, In the News
Thanks to a recent lower school dress drive, the holiday season was made a little brighter for at-risk and underprivileged youth at the Starbird Youth Center in San Jose. The items collected became part of a larger donation of more than 500 gifts that were handed out to clients of the center.
“There were about seven bags of boys and girls party clothing donated,” recalled Tere Aceves, Harker’s director of event fundraising. Last month the lower school hosted a holiday cookie decorating event, at which parents were asked to bring in gently used children’s dress clothing for the drive. About 60 parents heeded the call for such items.
Harker parent Erin Vokey (Miles, grade 1) is the youth activities supervisor at the Starbird Youth Center and is in charge of the center’s day-to-day activities, as well as its literacy programs.
“We are an after-school program that works with at-risk and under-privileged youth. We help them by providing food, homework help and a safe place to go after school. We also do a program called The Good Choices, which is a basic moral guide that teaches them what are the right choices to make to lead a better life,” she said.
At the time of the dress drive, the center also had partnered with the Family Giving Tree to distribute gifts to clients and their families for its annual Christmas event, Vokey explained. “We set up a room where children picked out clothing from the holiday dress drive. This is the second year we have had the dresses there and it was a huge success. Fellow Harker parent Julie Carr (Aiden Harshman, grade 1) and her family volunteered to hand out all of the dresses to the youth in our community. It was an extremely heartwarming event,” recalled Vokey.
Another Harker parent, Stephanie Black (Chloe, grade 1), is the program director at the Starbird Youth Center. “Without her none of this would have been possible,” added Vokey.
Carr and her son (Aiden Harshman, grade 1) agreed that it was wonderful to see the joy in the kids’ faces when they got a beautiful dress, jacket or new shirt. “Stephanie, Erin and the entire staff at the center made it so easy for us to come in and volunteer. We are very grateful for the work they do and proud that we got to represent Harker’s philanthropy,” said Carr.
Carr noted that a fun, unexpected perk of being at the event was meeting the woman who does the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright, who was there to donate a pinball machine for the kids. “It was a Simpsons-themed machine and the kids loved it!” said Carr.
“There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing kids learn how to make good choices in life,” said Cartwright, noting that one of the reasons she wanted to achieve success in her own work was so she would have the means to help others.
Of his experience volunteering, Carr’s son, Aiden, reported that it was “really cool.” He said that there were lots of games to play with at the center and that he enjoyed seeing the kids get toys. “It made me feel good in my heart.”
Tags: Featured Story Photo, Lower School, OutreachIn December the lower school hosted a festive and fun holiday cookie decorating event for parents. Coffee and a light breakfast was served. Parents had been asked to bring in gently used children’s clothing for donation to the lower school’s dress drive, to help make the holidays more special for kids in need in the community. The middle and upper schools held their cookie decorating events together at the upper school campus, with both parents and students invited to attend. An unexpected side benefit of the activity was that it proved to be a great stress reliever for the high school students, who were able to relax in between taking their finals. In fact, it was so effective that talks are already in the works to bring it back next year during finals!
Tags: Featured Story Photo, Lower School, middle school, upper schoolThis article originally appeared in the winter 2015 Harker Quarterly.
The fall sports season was a huge success, with more than 300 participants in grades 4-8.
We are very appreciative of all the parental support we received this season. So many parents stepped up to provide snacks and support for the coaches. We also appreciate the hard work and dedication of our athletes.
Here are the final West Bay Athletic League standings and award winners for the lower and middle school fall sports teams.
Varsity A (Grade 8) Flag Football
Finished in fifth place in the WBAL at 2-4, 5-6 overall. Team awards went to Naveen Mirapuri (MVP), Jeffrey Liu (Eagle) and Vedanth Sundaram (Coaches).
Varsity B (Grade 7) Flag Football
Finished in third place in the WBAL at 4-1-1, 7-3-1 overall. Team awards went to Srinath Somasundaram (MVP), Marcus Anderson (Eagle) and Nikhil Gargeya (Coaches).
Junior Varsity A (Grade 6) Flag Football
Finished in second place in the WBAL at 5-2, 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Eric Bollar (MVP), Anquan Boldin, Jr. (Eagle) and Richard Amarillas (Coaches).
Junior Varsity B (Grade 5) Flag Football
Finished in second place in the WBAL at 4-2. Team awards went to Rohan Gorti (MVP), Frederick Hoch (Eagle) and Drake Piscione (Coaches).
Intramural (Grade 4) Flag Football
Team awards went to Om Tandon and Jack Ledford (Eagle) and Jerry Li and Enzo Lucketti (Coaches).
Varsity A (Grades 7-8) Softball
Finished in third place in the WBAL at 3-1-1, 4-2- 1 overall. Team awards went to Alaina Valdez, grade 7 (MVP); Hunter Hernandez, grade 7 (Eagle); and Alex Baeckler, grade 7 (Coaches).
Junior Varsity A (Grades 4-6) Softball
Finished in first place in the WBAL at 4-1-1. Team awards went to Brooklyn Cicero, grade 6 (MVP); Annalyn Bean, grade 5 (Eagle); and Maya Kelly, grade 4 (Coaches).
Intramural (Grade 4) Softball
Team awards went to Cecilia Yang, Maria Chrysa s and Claire Bauschlicher (Coaches).
Middle School Cross Country
Team awards went to Courtni Thompson, grade 7 (top runner); Mihir Sharma, grade 8, Anna Weirich, grade 7, and Kevin Chen, grade 8 (MVP); Arya Maheshwari, grade 7, Grant Miner, grade 8, and Anna Gert, grade 8 (Eagle); and Raj Patel, grade 6, Minali Kapadia, grade 6, and Annabelle Ju, grade 8 (Coaches).
First place finishers were:
Courtni Thompson (Harker meet, Rolling Hills meet, JD Morgan Park meet)
Arya Maheshwari (Harker meet) Grade 6 boys team (WBAL final meet) Grade 7 boys team (Harker meet) Grade 8 boys team (Harker meet) Grade 8 girls team (Harker meet)
Middle School Swimming
Team awards went to Allison Jia, grade (8) MVP; Nina Gee, grade 7 (Eagle); and Elizabeth Fields, grade 7, and Rishab Parthasarathy, grade 6 (Coaches).
Lower School Swimming
Team awards went to Alexis Nishimura, grade 5 (MVP); Rani Patel, grade 4 (Eagle) and Linette Hoffman, grade 5 (Coaches).
First place finishers at the Castilleja meet were:
William Zhao, grade 6, 100 IM
Rhys Edwards, grade 7, 100 IM and 50 y Leland Rossi, grade 7, 50 free and 200 free Alyssa Huang, grade 8, 50 y and 50 breast Kurtis Tong, grade 5, 25 back
Arjun Akkiraju, grade 8, 50 back
Brittany Shou, grade 6, 100 free
Anish Pai, grade 6, 200 free
Avery Young, grade 7, 50 breast
Grade 6 boys, 100 free relay
Grade 7 boys, 100 free relay
Grade 6 boys, medley relay
Grade 7 boys, medley relay
Grade 8 boys, medley relay
Grade 8 girls, medley relay
This article originally appeared in the winter 2015 Harker Quarterly.
The Bucknall Choir’s fourth and fifth graders had the rare opportunity to work with one of the Bay Area’s finest choral directors at their recent choral retreat. Jeffrey Benson, director of choral activities at San Jose State University, is considered a leading authority on the development of choral singers. Students were mesmerized and inspired by Benson’s enthusiasm and engaging techniques during the 75-minute workshop. Bucknall Choir directors Kellie Binney-Smart and Carena Montany are excited for the growth that this opportunity has given their young singers.
Students in grades 2 and 3 celebrated the giving spirit of the holidays at the annual Grades 2-3 Holiday Show, held Dec. 17 at the Bucknall Theater. Directed by lower school music teacher Carena Montany, the show featured students singing a variety of holiday-themed songs, including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Feliz Navidad” and “O Chanukah, O Chanukah.” Several numbers included special solo performances or instrumentation, such as the maraca and claves played respectively by second graders Sophia Schafer-Wharton and Jackson Powell on “Feliz Navidad.” The upbeat “Gettin’ in the Mood (For Christmas)” featured exciting choreography by Kimberly Teodoro.
Pianist Peggy Lao and violinist Toni Woodruff very capably provided the accompaniment during the show, while technical director Danny Dunn and her crew of grade 5 technical theater students again rose to the task of making sure the show was a success. The impressive backdrop by scenic designer Whitney Pintello provided the ideal atmosphere for a holiday-themed production.
Tags: Featured Story Photo, Performing ArtsOn Dec. 15, just days before the winter break, the grade 1 homeroom students of teachers Imelda Kusuma, Cindy Proctor, Larissa Weaver and Rita Stone gathered on the stage at the Bucknall Theater for the annual grade 1 holiday show, directed by Carena Montany. The students sang seasonal favorites, including “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” as well as newer songs, including “Spin a Little Dreidl” and “A Million Little Snowflakes,” the song for which the show was named.
Accompaniment was provided by violinist Toni Woodruff and pianist Peggy Lao. Credit also goes to technical director Danny Dunn and her grade 5 technical theater class for keeping the show running smoothly, and to scenic designer Whitney Pintello and choreographer Gail Palmer.
Tags: Featured Story Photo, Performing ArtsSeveral lower school performing arts groups got together in early December for the 2015 Lower School Winter Concert, directed by Louis Hoffman, who also conducted lower school’s Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra. Other featured groups included the Bucknall Choir, conducted by Kellie Binney-Smart and Carena Montany, the Lower School String Ensemble, conducted by Toni Woodruff, and the Preparatory String Ensemble, also directed by Woodruff.
The evening program included performances of pieces both classic and modern, many of them selected for their seasonal appropriateness. Highlights included the Jazz Ensemble’s performance of “Cold Duck Time” by Eddie Harris, a rendition of the traditional “A Festive Holiday” by the Preparatory String Ensemble, a selection of Christmas tunes performed by the String Ensemble and the Lower School Orchestra’s show-closing performance of Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.”
A number of special guests also found their way into the show, including the Grade 6 Orchestra, conducted by Dave Hart, performing Soon Hee Newbold’s “Spirit of the American West.”
Several music teachers, including those from Harker’s after-school music programs, also performed at two junctures during the show. The first, a rendition of “Comin’ Home Baby” by Ben Tucker, featured Teresa Orozco on flute, Hart on trumpet, Chris Motter and Owen Stewart-Robinson on guitar, Joshua Thurston-Milgrom on double bass and Rick Algeria on drums. Later, teachers again took the stage for a performance of Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Concerto in D Major for 4 Violins,” performed by Pierre Dazin on violin, Woodruff on viola, Rick Leder on piccolo trumpet, Natachia Li on cello and Thurston-Milgrom again on double bass.
Tags: Performing ArtsSeveral lower school performing arts groups got together in early December for the 2015 Lower School Winter Concert, directed by Louis Hoffman, who also conducted lower school’s Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra. Other featured groups included the Bucknall Choir, conducted by Kellie Binney-Smart and Carena Montany, the Lower School String Ensemble, conducted by Toni Woodruff, and the Preparatory String Ensemble, also directed by Woodruff.
The evening program included performances of pieces both classic and modern, many of them selected for their seasonal appropriateness. Highlights included the Jazz Ensemble’s performance of “Cold Duck Time” by Eddie Harris, a rendition of the traditional “A Festive Holiday” by the Preparatory String Ensemble, a selection of Christmas tunes performed by the String Ensemble and the Lower School Orchestra’s show-closing performance of Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio.”
A number of special guests also found their way into the show, including the Grade 6 Orchestra, conducted by Dave Hart, performing Soon Hee Newbold’s “Spirit of the American West.”
Several music teachers, including those from Harker’s after-school music programs, also performed at two junctures during the show. The first, a rendition of “Comin’ Home Baby” by Ben Tucker, featured Teresa Orozco on flute, Hart on trumpet, Chris Motter and Owen Stewart-Robinson on guitar, Joshua Thurston-Milgrom on double bass and Rick Algeria on drums. Later, teachers again took the stage for a performance of Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Concerto in D Major for 4 Violins,” performed by Pierre Dazin on violin, Woodruff on viola, Rick Leder on piccolo trumpet, Natachia Li on cello and Thurston-Milgrom again on double bass.
Tags: Performing Arts