On Friday, the lower school held its annual Kids Heart Challenge, which raised more than $20,000 for the American Heart Association while promoting active, healthy lifestyles. Taking place mainly in the lower school gym, students could be seen enthusiastically jumping rope and hula-hooping to show their appreciation for the benefits of physical activity. Donations are still being accepted until March 18.
Each year, schools across the country hold Kids Heart Challenge events of their own. Harker began participating more than 20 years ago when the event was known as Jump Rope for Heart.
Two Harker students recently earned high marks in the American Protégé International Piano and String Competition. Seventh grader Christine Tao, a pianist, placed second in the junior category (ages 11-14) with her performance of Chopin’s “Nocturne #8 in D Flat Major,” while her brother, fifth grader James, placed second in the young musicians category (ages 5-10) for his rendition of Mozart’s “Fantasia in D Minor.” Both have been invited to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at New York’s Carnegie Hall during American Protégé’s 2023 recital season. Videos of Christine’s and James’ performances have been made available. Congratulations to both of these young talents!
On Friday, lower and middle school students viewed special presentations about the importance of acknowledging Indigenous land and the history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, the direct ancestors of the Thámien Ohlone-speaking people, the original stewards of the land on which Harker’s campuses now rest. Also shown were videos of the ceremonies unveiling the land acknowledgment monuments that have been placed on each campus. Each video featured representatives from the lower and middle school Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees speaking to their respective communities. Students at each campus then viewed the newly unveiled monuments for themselves. These activities were the continuation of the land acknowledgment ceremony that took place at the upper school in May, footage from which was also shown Friday.
In late June, grade 3 students kicked off their Lemonade for Livy fundraiser to benefit the Epilepsy Foundation. The program is named for Olivia “Livy” Scheinman, who has been living with epilepsy since birth. During morning recess on July 28, the students will run lemonade stands to raise more funds. To promote the activity, students placed posters around the lower school campus containing a QR code for more information about the fundraising effort. Students also prepared by reading Jacqueline Davies’ “The Lemonade War,” in which two young entrepreneurs learn the key elements of the lemonade business. To learn more about living with epilepsy, students also spoke remotely with Maile Chung ’17, who was diagnosed with epilepsy during her freshman year at Harker. Students showed their gratitude for Chung’s insight by writing thank you messages to her following her appearance.
Squash enthusiast Sarah Thiru, a rising fifth grader, posted impressive results on both coasts over the last month, taking second place in the GU11 category at both the West Coast Junior Gold tournament in Fremont and the New York Junior Gold tournament in New York City over the July 4 weekend. She finished her run in US Squash’s GU11 division ranked eighth in the country and will soon begin competing in the next division.
June 17, 2021:
Rising fifth grader Sarah Thiru’s squash success continued as she placed first in the GU11 category at the Junior Gold tournament, held June 4-6 at McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville, Va.
June 3, 2021:
Over Memorial Day weekend, fourth grader and squash player Sarah Thiru took second place at the West Coast Regional Junior Championships, held in Redwood City. Thiru competed in the GU11 category, for girls under the age of 11. Congratulations!
Yesterday, fifth graders celebrated their final day as lower school students at the grade 5 promotion ceremony. Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, only students were permitted to attend in person. Families of the students viewed the ceremony from home via a livestream.
“It has been a pleasure being your principal for the last two years,” said Kristin Giammona, grades 4-5 division head. “I know you’re going to love your new campus and represent The Harker School well in the future in all of your endeavors.”
Kate Shanahan, grade 5 English teacher, was chosen by students to deliver some farewell remarks to the Class of 2028. Shanahan congratulated the students on completing their journey through the lower school and completing an entire school year remotely. “Your next chapter includes having the honor of being the first sixth graders to step foot on a brand new middle school campus with teachers and students who can’t wait for you to arrive,” she said. “All of us here at Bucknall look forward to seeing what you do.”
The newly minted middle schoolers then stepped up to receive their certificates one by one, each handed to them by Brian Yager, head of school.
Rising eighth graders Ananya Pradhan and Luke Wu then spoke to the incoming sixth graders to give them a preview of what awaits them in their future lives as middle school students, including advisories, extracurricular activities and new electives. “We welcome you and we hope that you are equally thrilled to be coming up here,” said Pradhan.
Several teams of Harker students received recognition at this year’s Tech Challenge, held by The Tech Interactive in San Jose. Each year, the Tech Challenge invites students in grades 4-12 to use engineering skills to solve a real-life problem. This year’s task was to use recycled cardboard to create a useful appliance that could transform into another useful appliance. Because this year’s Tech Challenge was held virtually, teams showed their work for judges at a virtual showcase.
Nicholas Knauer, Ameera Ramzan, Adrian Roufas and Chelsea Xie, the sixth graders who made up team Yes We CAAN, won the Outstanding Overall award for creating a cat playhouse that could also be repurposed into an organizer for books and writing utensils.
Team RASA – an acronym made with the first initials of fifth graders Riya Chadha, Abby Heinlein, Sofe Jalil and Augusta Chen – went a similar route, creating a school supplies organizer that could be converted into a cat house. Their work won them the Judges’ Choice award for Outstanding Presentation.
Fifth graders Christian Choi, Matthew Lee and Andrew Pangborn – who competed as Team MAC n Cheese – won the Outstanding Engineering Design Process award for their creation of a small desk that could be converted into a trash can. They were also finalists in the video contest.
On Wednesday, the annual grade 3 pajama and book drive came to a close, with 156 pairs of pajamas and 406 books collected. The goods will be donated to the Pajama Program, an organization that will distribute them to children living in shelters and temporary housing.
The annual assembly celebrating the effort was held virtually this year, but key parts of the tradition remained, including students wearing pajamas and a special story reading by Butch Keller, upper school division head, who read Pat Zietlow Miller’s “Be Kind” to the students in attendance.
This week, the lower school recognized the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a wide variety of activities and class sessions focused on his life and the lessons to be learned in his battle for civil rights. On Thursday, third graders attended a special assembly with musical artist Diane Ferlatte, who told stories and sang songs to celebrate King’s dream and accomplishments. She shared the story of abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery, recapped the events of King’s early life that led to his activism and shared stories from her own life.
On Friday, history teacher Tobias Wade led a discussion with his grade 4 students that covered how racist and discriminatory behaviors are learned and King’s use of civil disobedience, which included viewing portions of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Grade 5 history teacher Jared Ramsey recapped King’s life and accomplishments and discussed the roots of systemic racism in America, dating back to the English colonies. Grade 5 students also did activities such as solving math problems based on key events in King’s life. Vocal music teacher Kellie Binney led a discussion about the gospel song “We Shall Overcome,” an important anthem of the civil rights movement, and how different singers interpret the music differently based on the lyrics.
As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day this Monday, may we all find ways to honor his legacy and this national day of service. Further information on how to serve can be found at The King Center and AmeriCorps.
Over the winter break, chess enthusiast Omya Vidyarthi, grade 5, took first place in the U10 girls division of the FIDE Online World Cadets & Youth Rapid Championships. The event invited the top players from the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe to compete. Vidyarthi was the top American player in her age group and competed with players from countries including Brazil, China, Guatemala and India. Congratulations!