It was happy haunting at Harker’s preschool and lower school on Oct. 31, where children at both locations donned clever costumes and celebrated in separate ways.
At the preschool Harker’s youngest students enjoyed a fun and festive Halloween party in the late afternoon where they participated in themed activities in the classroom, ate special Halloween snacks, and “trick or treated” around the school’s front yard area. Parents were encouraged to attend and participate.
At the lower school, the day once again took the form of the much anticipated Halloween parade. There were plenty of superheroes, ghosts, goblins, witches, fairy princesses and more at the 15th annual event. To the delight of onlookers, each grade level walked around the parade’s pathway a couple times.
Several hundred parents attended the parade, which was sponsored by Harker’s BEST staff. There were bleachers for sitters and plenty of standing room along the route, which was held in the afternoon before dismissal. Students chose to either wear their costumes to school or bring it with them to put on before the parade, but most wore their costumes all day.
It was happy haunting at Harker’s preschool and lower school on Oct. 31, where children at both locations donned clever costumes and celebrated in separate ways.
At the preschool Harker’s youngest students enjoyed a fun and festive Halloween party in the late afternoon where they participated in themed activities in the classroom, ate special Halloween snacks, and “trick or treated” around the school’s front yard area. Parents were encouraged to attend and participate.
At the lower school, the day once again took the form of the much anticipated Halloween parade. There were plenty of superheroes, ghosts, goblins, witches, fairy princesses and more at the 15th annual event. To the delight of onlookers, each grade level walked around the parade’s pathway a couple times.
Several hundred parents attended the parade, which was sponsored by Harker’s BEST staff. There were bleachers for sitters and plenty of standing room along the route, which was held in the afternoon before dismissal. Students chose to either wear their costumes to school or bring it with them to put on before the parade, but most wore their costumes all day.
It was happy haunting at Harker’s preschool and lower school on Oct. 31, where children at both locations donned clever costumes and celebrated in separate ways.
At the preschool Harker’s youngest students enjoyed a fun and festive Halloween party in the late afternoon where they participated in themed activities in the classroom, ate special Halloween snacks, and “trick or treated” around the school’s front yard area. Parents were encouraged to attend and participate.
At the lower school, the day once again took the form of the much anticipated Halloween parade. There were plenty of superheroes, ghosts, goblins, witches, fairy princesses and more at the 15th annual event. To the delight of onlookers, each grade level walked around the parade’s pathway a couple times.
Several hundred parents attended the parade, which was sponsored by Harker’s BEST staff. There were bleachers for sitters and plenty of standing room along the route, which was held in the afternoon before dismissal. Students chose to either wear their costumes to school or bring it with them to put on before the parade, but most wore their costumes all day.
Harker’s first Eagle Buddies event of the year was held at the lower school recently, uniting grades 3 and 10, who had previously only corresponded via letters and pictures.
That all changed when, just before noon on Oct. 3, the third graders assembled on the blacktop at the Bucknall campus, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their sophomore Eagle Buddies.
Clad in their brand new Eagle Buddies polo shirts, and holding signs indicative of their homerooms so that the upper school students could find them, the third graders were overjoyed to finally meet their big pals in person. Then all the students ate lunch together on the main field and were free to play sports (including some “getting-to-know-you” games), work on craft tables located at the edges of the turf, or simply relax for some free play.
Following closing remarks out on the Rincon field, the buddies said goodbye to one another. The sophomores returned to the upper school campus and the third graders went on with their day. But the buddies will continue to follow one another and bond over the course of the next several years in the successful mentoring program.
“Before I first met my eagle buddy, Maria, I was really nervous but excited at the same time,” said big buddy Shannon Richardson. “She was really sweet and somewhat quiet, which is expected from a third grader. We talked about the things she enjoyed most like tennis and reading. For me, being at the lower school again and hearing stories about it brought back so many happy memories. I miss those times so much now; if only we had nap time in high school! While we talked we ate and made friendship bracelets. My Eagle Buddies experience was definitely an enjoyable one and I can’t wait to see her again.”
“We were so excited to see the children become acquainted with their new buddies!” said Ken Allen, the lower school’s dean of students. He noted that upcoming Eagle Buddies events for these two grades will include a pajama day, service project and book drive. They will also continue to correspond via Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day cards.
And, according to Carol Zink, an upper school history teacher who helps coordinate the Eagle Buddies program, there will be a Clown Day for juniors and their grade 4 buddies in January, held at the upper school gymnasium.
Look for continued coverage of Eagle Buddies events in Harker News Online!
Grades 4 and 5 recently held their first spirit/Service Club meeting of the year, playing fun activities in advance of the Harker Harvest Festival.
“Our first club meeting was great. We had over a dozen fourth and fifth graders sign up. Fun was had by all!” reported Mel Robinson, a grade 5 P.E. teacher who helps coordinate the club.
Among the activities club members participated in during the first meeting were creating as many words from the phrase “Harker Harvest Festival” as possible, playing “pass the pumpkin” (a game like hot potato) and “pass the baby pumpkin.”
The club meets every Monday in the late afternoon. “We keep points during each spirit event, and the top three homerooms are rewarded with an ice cream party at the end of the year!” enthused Robinson.
But the club is not all fun and games. It will also be introducing important outreach activities (such as aiding in California’s coastal cleanup efforts) and incorporating a Green Committee charged with task of uncovering food waste in grade 4-5 lunches.
“We look forward to an exciting year,” said Robinson.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
In August, lower school math teacher Diane Plauck trekked to Australia, where she served as this year’s exchange teacher at St. Stephen’s College, located on the continent’s Gold Coast. Plauck taught math to the school’s grade 6 and 7 students and also participated in the math lab the students attend on Thursdays. Plauck also observed a number of classes being taught at St. Stephen’s, such as music, handwriting and math.
As a guest of the school, Plauck was treated to several fun-filled trips and outings, including a visit to New South Wales to see the Sydney Opera and a flight above Byron Bay in a single- engine microlight airplane.
When asked to give the special gift of time during a series of recent back-to-school events, Harker parents across all school campuses generously responded by signing up in the hundreds to serve as volunteers.
Thanks to a vast network of talented and enthusiastic parent volunteers, last year more than 1,100 hard-working volunteers set new records by collectively giving well over 4,800 hours of service on behalf of students, faculty and staff. This year, parents seem poised to repeat or even best that record.
At the lower school alone more than 300 sign-ups were collected electronically via iPads on hand at a special breakfast for parents, and about a hundred more flowed in after the event. Some parents chose to use QR codes (printed on sheets of paper and available at the breakfast) which they downloaded using their smart phones.
“We also had sign-ups available at the middle school breakfast, and an upper school welcome barbecue evening event. The upper school parent event coincided with the student social First Friday which had a great turnout as well,” reported Jennifer Hargreaves, director of middle and upper school volunteer programs.
According to her, parents could socialize, sign up and browse the range of volunteer opportunities. “We’ve had over 600 volunteer slots across the middle and upper school signed up for and counting …. We get people signing up every day!” she said.
This year Harker’s volunteer department went paperless with its successful launch of a convenient, new, user friendly, schoolwide online sign-up system called I-volunteer. I-volunteer was introduced across all divisions during the well-attended back-to-school functions. For parents of all campuses, a listing of volunteer opportunities is available on the parent community page of the portal with instructions for signing up.
“Parents were very receptive to both volunteering and the new online sign-up system,” said Tere Aceves, director of the preschool and lower school’s volunteer programs. She had been working on creating the I-volunteer system for the past several years and said she is hoping to soon bring it to the now open Harker Preschool.
Yet, putting technology aside, all of the back-to-school events served as an important opportunity for parents to become better acquainted with the school’s vibrant community by bonding with fellow parents. Present at all events were current parent volunteers and advancement office personnel to welcome newcomers and answer any and all questions about volunteering.
As the long lazy days of summer drew to a close, Harker sponsored several separately held welcome-back-to-school barbecues at the lower, middle and upper schools. It was all part of a schoolwide effort to help students and their families more successfully transition into a new year.
Harker’s Bucknall campus set the scene for two different back-to-school barbecues – one for kindergartners and another for grades 1-5.
In late August kindergartners and their families gathered at the lower school to socialize and enjoy delicious food, which was generously donated in part by Brown Chicken Brown Cow, a new restaurant recently opened in Campbell by Harker alumnus Chris Yamashita ’90.
Following the kindergarten barbecue, the rest of the lower school held their own larger, combined event in early September. “Over 600 people attended …. The energy was great, the food was delicious and company fantastic,” enthused Tere Aceves, volunteer director at the lower school. “What a great beginning of the year!”
At both happenings, parents took the opportunity to relax and catch their breath during the hectic back-to-school time, casually chatting with one another, as well as with faculty and staff, while their children took to the play yards.
Meanwhile, the middle school hosted their second annual barbecue on the Blackford campus in mid-September, with more than 400 attendees. Parents went the extra mile, pitching in by cooking and creating fun activities for the students, including volleyball, tug of war and making candy sushi.
“The relaxed event was a great way for new families to meet current Harker families and to bring the community together,” recalled Jennifer Hargreaves, Harker’s director of middle and upper school volunteer programs.
Hargreaves further noted that there was also an upper school welcome barbecue evening event for parents (replacing last year’s breakfast for parents) which coincided with the student social First Friday. Both events had a large turnout, with the added bonus of bringing upper school students and parents to the Saratoga campus simultaneously.
Over the years, Harker’s volunteer-led back-to-school barbecue events at all three campuses have grown in popularity, with attendance increasing steadily.
Summertime fun kicked into high gear at Harker, this year, as enrollment for camps and other seasonal programming skyrocketed across all three campuses, resulting in a record-breaking number of participants.
Shortly after school let out, Harker opened its doors to the public, becoming a one-stop-summer-program-shop by extending its huge variety of offerings to K-12 students both locally and from around the globe.
According to Harker’s summer programs office, attendance at all summer happenings totaled some 2,740 participants. On the Harker summer menu were a camp for young kids, an institute for middle and high school-aged students, a program for foreigners to learn English, a large and varied sports camp, and a swim school that even adults could attend.
“We were thrilled and delighted at the incredible turnout for Harker summer this year!” enthused Kelly Espinosa, longtime director of summer programs. She noted that Harker has been providing outstanding summer programming for more than half a century.
In addition to the larger number in overall enrollment, there were exciting new happenings in both the English Language Institute (ELI) and Summer Institute (SI) programs. At the lower school ELI saw a huge jump in enrollment specific to elementary school students. Meanwhile, at the upper school, SI successfully added specialty classes to its afternoon activity program.
“Harker summer had everything a camp consumer could want,” said Espinosa, adding that she was also pleased to see how many non-Harker students chose to spend their summer at the school.
Below is an overview of the record-breaking Harker Summer 2013:
Summer Camp+ Wows K-6 at the Lower School
It truly was “the summer of wow!” over at the lower school’s Summer Camp+ program, where 763 children in K-6 enjoyed a wide array of summertime activities designed to delight and amaze them.
According to Joe Chung, program director of Camp+, Harker’s youngest students were happily occupied with such on site highlights as a patriotic games bash, water carnival, sleepover for older campers, presentation for parents, and birthday celebration for camp mascot “Ray.” Campers also partook in numerous offsite field trips, from local outings for bowling and miniature golf to farther trips out to the Oakland Zoo and Coyote Point.
Students had the choice of enrolling in either CoreFocus or LOL (Learning Opportunities in Literature) for the academic portion of the day. Core Focus was a three- or four-week math and language-arts-focused program. LOL was a two-week integrated curriculum centered around a literary theme. Both programs left room for the optional added afternoon activity program.
Afternoon activities were grouped by ages and weeks, with kindergartners attending kindercamp. First and second graders were in the owls group, third and fourth graders were called condors, and fifth and sixth graders were referred to as eagles. The first session of camp included such weekly themes as wow, whamo, wipe out, and work out. The second session featured weeks called wisdom of wizards, waiting on winter and wonders of wildlife.
“This was my third time at Camp+, and I really recommend it!” enthused grade 3 student Alexis Nishimura. To her, the best part about camp was “hanging out with friends,” followed by “all the fun activities and outings.”
Summer Institute Offers Individualized Programs for Students, Grades 6-12
From backyard games held on the upper school field to volleyball boot camp and a cooking corner in the gym and kitchen, Summer Institute (SI) students this year enjoyed brand new specialty class period offerings.
Open to both Harker students and the general public in grades 6-12, the institute got underway mid-June and ran until early August. SI had two separate tracks, one designed for middle schoolers and another geared towards high school students. SI participants typically combined a morning academic program with afternoon activities, allowing them to earn credits and learn new skills with plenty of time leftover for summertime fun.
The unique specialty classes were made available via SI’s afternoon activity program where many middle school students (and some high school freshmen) signed up for courses which changed weekly and included off-campus field trips. Rotating course options included art, cooking, outdoor games, volleyball, jewelry making, magic, improv, dance, tech, junior lifeguard, chess and circus arts.
Proudly displaying a plate she had been working on in ceramics class, Anjali Ravella, a soon-to-be grade 6 student at the new Summit Denali charter school in Santa Clara, said it was her favorite special activity so far. A first-time participant to SI, she noted that she also enjoyed learning from podcasts in her earlier academic class on “super study skills.”
The institute’s academic portion offered rigorous for-credit courses such as algebra, economics and programming, as well as non-credit opportunities for enrichment and growth like creative writing, Web design, debate and robotics. A driver’s education course was available for students aged 15 and up.
Grade 9 students had the option to either participate in Activity Program (AP) or join the older high school students who had no organized afternoon activity program but enjoyed free drop-in access to the library, pool, art room, Ping-Pong table, basketball courts and study spaces. For all grades, an on-site prepared lunch was included.
According to Keith Hirota, summer middle school director, a total of 920 middle and upper school students were enrolled in this summer’s overall SI program, of which 550 participants were non-Harker students.
Ten-year-old Richard Hsieh is non-Harker student who met his new Harker pal Nakul Bajaj, age 11, in SI. Although the two took different morning academic tracks, they said they enjoyed hanging out together for many of the afternoon activities – and now hope to continue their newfound friendship during the regular school year.
English Language Institute Attracts Participants, Aged 6-16, From Across the Globe
Summer at Harker brought with it its own special international flavor, as students at both the lower and upper schools got to meet and interact with peers from all over the world.
Thanks to the school’s renowned English Language Institute (ELI) program, more than 100 international students – from elementary through high school – come to Harker to increase their chances of admission to primarily English speaking educational institutions.
According to Anthony Wood, ELI director, this year’s program saw a notable increase in enrollment at the beginner level, requiring a total of four classes, with at least 55 youngsters enrolled in the primary division. Older students (middle and high school aged) attended ELI on the Saratoga campus.
At the lower school program, 9-year-old ELI student Helen Kozak recalled that going on a recent field trip to the beach at Santa Cruz reminded her of being back home in Ukraine, where she lives near the sea. “I like the ocean very much,” she said in remarkably good English, adding “I swim all day long.” In addition to swimming, her favorite things about ELI were archery, circus arts and computer lab. “I like it all,” said Kozak, who has been to the United States several times but never before in the ELI program.
“My favorite thing about ELI was recess … which we are in right now!” added 11-year-old Aaron Guo of China. The first time ELI participant said that his second favorite activity was basketball. He also liked all the “fun outings” to places like the Golden Gate Bridge and tide pools at the ocean.
At the Saratoga campus older ELI students worked on special projects tailored to their needs, including SAT preparation. They were assisted by mentors (called buddies or conversation partners) who are Harker juniors, seniors or recent graduates. At the end of their time at Harker, ELI students, upon full completion of either a three- or seven-week course, received a certificate and recommendation from their teachers.
On field trip days ELI students of all ages could be seen sporting green Harker T-shirts as they headed out for cultural adventures to diverse Bay Area tourist attractions. Upon their return, their travel experiences were strategically incorporated into their learning curriculum.
Sports Camps Cater to All Skill Levels of Students, Aged 9-16
The middle and upper school campuses set the scene for Harker’s wide variety of on-site, first-rate sports camps, where 518 athletes learned a new sport or worked on improving skills in a sport they had already taken up. This year Harker offered softball, basketball, football, soccer, TRX (suspension body training), wrestling, volleyball and water polo camps.
Wrestling camp was new to this year’s summer sports program. Designed to motivate the novice wrestler and challenge the more advanced, the camp was open to students in grades 6-12. Serena Olmos, a senior at Lincoln High School, said she enjoyed the new camp offering because it helped students focus on their weakness as wrestlers, “and not just on what you’re good at.”
It was just last year that water polo was added to the sports camp choices. All of Harker’s summer sports camps are designed to be a positive, skill-focused environment where highly experienced coaches provide training in a well-structured, character driven atmosphere. Young athletes were encouraged to improve skills, develop teamwork and, most of all, have fun!
Swim School Offers Beginner to Advanced Lessons for Participants, Ages 3-Adult
The Harker Swim School provided both children and adults the opportunity to learn, refine and extend their swimming abilities in a noncompetitive, positive environment. Held at the upper school’s beautiful Singh Aquatic Center, it offered swim lessons for all skill levels, as well as a junior swim team for students in grades 2-8. The swim school is not part of Harker’s regular sports camp programming (for example, the water polo camp is not taught through the swim school).
For more information on Harker’s varied summer offerings visit summer.harker.org.
About 120 new and returning Harker families gathered for the lower school’s inaugural Playdate in the Park in early August at the John D. Morgan Park in Campbell. The event provided a casual morning of fun and friendship, as well as an early opportunity for lower school families to gather as a community.
“It was all about meeting new families and reconnecting with old friends,” said Tere Aceves, the lower school’s director of volunteer events. “It was great to see kids playing soccer and on the playground, many of the little ones enjoyed the water facilities, and dads were playing Frisbee with students, too.”
“There were many activities to do at the park, and families also brought their favorite games and outdoor recreational equipment to share with friends,” added Mandi Corona, Harker’s events coordinator.
New students were provided with a Harker T-shirt prior to the Playdate in the Park event and were excited to have a chance to put it on for their first lower school function. Returning students proudly displayed their regular school T-shirts or ones from other fun Harker happenings, such as picnic and summer camp.
During the entire morning of what proved to be a successful first communal event of its kind, lower school staff were on hand for questions at a nearby Harker alumni tent.