This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
In March, Harker grade 1-2 students participated in a mascot exchange with the Bayan Gardens School in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Harker students received a stuffed camel from Bayan Gardens, whose students received stuffed eagles in return. Students from both schools then sent back photos and videos of the mascots as they went on adventures with the students.
In April, Lela Tuhtan’s grade 4 language arts students received their own gift from Bayan Gardens: a series of essays written by Bayan Gardens students about artists whose work they had researched, along with a picture of one of their own works that they drew to accompany their essays. The Harker students later returned the favor by sending similar projects to their friends in Saudi Arabia.
Music lovers packed the Bucknall Theater on May 9 for a special performance by many of Harker’s youngest musicians, as several instrumental groups took the stage at the Spring Music Concert.
The show started fittingly enough with a performance of “The Harker School Song” by the Bucknall Choir, lower school orchestra and lower school string ensemble, led respectively by Kellie Binney-Smart, Jennifer Sandusky, Louis Hoffman and Toni Woodruff.
The show moved from group to group, demonstrating a wide range of material and versatility. The Bucknall Choir returned to sing several pieces, including an Irish folk song, a Schubert art song and a fun calypso number called “Shake the Papaya Down.”
Hoffman directed the Lower School Jazz Band, who appeared onstage multiple times, performing such tunes as “Tenor Madness” by Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time.”
The first-year strings group performed “Can-Can” by Jacques Offenbach and the traditional song “Lightly Row,” while the first-year winds performed folk songs from the Australian, French and Czech peoples.
A special portion of the show was dedicated to student composers Paul Kratter, grade 4, and Jun Lin, grade 5. Kratter performed his piece, “The Crazy Dude,” on tenor saxophone, while Lin, a violinist, performed his piece, titled “Fight of the Fish,” with his mother, Sieun, on cello.
Lower school performing arts teacher Danny Dunn acted as technical director to make sure both the performers and the audience enjoyed a smooth run of the show.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The phrase “all quiet on the set” was like music to the ears of grade 5 computer science students who, for nearly a month in May, had a blast transforming their classroom into a mini movie studio. Thanks to a special cross-disciplinary project with social studies classes researching famous Americans, the fifth graders readily seized the unique opportunity to create original short films depicting the lives of the high-profile individuals they had studied.
Temporarily stepping outside their regular computer curriculum, the lower school students became immersed in the world of filmmaking as researchers, writers, actors, directors, editors and producers.
“The students are filming scenes from scripts that they wrote in conjunction with research from social studies class,” explained Joe Chung, lower school computer science teacher, during a recent visit by Harker Quarterly to his classroom, where the moviemaking action occurred.
Pointing out a group of students huddled in a corner, he said, “They are rehearsing and memorizing their lines to depict their famous people and introduce them in creative ways.” Working in small teams, student groups collaborated on various roles, creating a bevy of activity. Some busied themselves working behind a camera strategically set up in the center of the room. Others spent their time in front of the lens, acting. Still more were focused on editing their footage using iMovie (a video editing software sold by Apple Inc. for the Mac) to create four- or five-minute films. Using the application, they were able to import video and photo files from their hard drives, editing them and adding effects.
Students Mallika Vashist, Jasmine Wiese, Ishaan Chandra and Jeffrey Liu were working on a film about Madeleine Albright, the first woman to become the United States Secretary of State. Huddled around a computer, the group was immersed in the editing process. The four agreed that the best thing about the project was how much it mirrored the real working world as a truly collaborative experience.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Vashist said that not only did they “learn a ton about Madeleine Albright,” they now better understood the moviemaking process, utilizing various talents to form a completed product. “We are also having a lot of fun!” she added.
Although the majority of the film work was completed during class time, Chung also made himself available for students to work on their projects before and after school, as well as during lunch and recess.
Upon the project’s completion, Chung said he planned to arrange student screenings of the documentaries during each class period, with plenty of popcorn on hand. The films will also be made available on the student portal homework management system (athena2.harker.org) so they can proudly share their work with their parents, viewing it online together.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
On June 5, the Class of 2020 took the final step on their journey as lower school students at the grade 5 promotion ceremony. Opening with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by grade 5 class president Avi Gulati, the ceremony continued with Chris Nikoloff, head of school, greeting the students, parents and faculty in attendance and congratulating the grade 5 class on reaching the pivotal next step in their careers as Harker students.
The grade 4-6 dance group Dance Fusion, led by Gail Palmer, amped up the audience with an exciting performance before a special slide show recapping the 2012-13 school year was shown. The members of the grade 5 class then walked up to receive their promotion certificates.
Jennifer Sandusky led the newly promoted students in singing “Lean On Me” and “The Harker School Song” before incoming middle school ASB president Megan Huynh, grade 7, gave a special welcome speech to the students who will be starting middle school in the fall.
Kristin Giammona, elementary division head, offered a heartwarming closing speech to the audience before the ceremony came to a close.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Music lovers packed the Bucknall Theater on May 9 for a special performance by many of Harker’s youngest musicians, as several instrumental groups took the stage at the Spring Music Concert.
The show started fittingly enough with a performance of “The Harker School Song” by the Bucknall Choir, lower school orchestra and lower school string ensemble. The show moved from group to group, demonstrating a wide range of material and versatility. The Bucknall Choir returned to sing several pieces, including an Irish folk song, Schubert art song and a fun calypso number called “Shake the Papaya Down.”
The Lower School Jazz Band and first-year strings group performed a variety of catchy numbers and celebrated student composers.
Organizers and members of the Spirit and Service Club recently presented new playing blocks to the kindergarten students. After raising more than $800 during the school year, they decided to purchase some new equipment for the lower school’s youngest students.
Pictured here are grade 4 students and club members Besty Tian, Sidra Xu and Deven Parikh. The kindergartners shown are Gemma Chan, Summer Adler, Stefan Maxim and Rishi Lalwani.
“The kindergartners were really excited to receive this generous gift from the Service Club,” said Ken Allen, lower school dean.
Magic was in the air at this year’s Kiddie Carnival, Harker’s final celebration for K-3. Called “Harker’s Fairytale Land,” the enchanted student event was held at the lower school on the morning of June 6, the last day of school.
Students and faculty came dressed for the 33rd annual carnival in creative fairytale attire. And, as in a perfect storybook ending, a good time was had by all during the festive morning filled with booths, games, activities and prizes. A noon dismissal ended the day, as well as fond farewell wishes to children from teachers for a fabulous summer.
Members of Harker’s BEST staff called the event an opportunity for their department to show their appreciation to the students by offering a fun morning of activities.
“Thank you for allowing us to work with your children … It has been an incredible year!” said Kim Cali, BEST director for the lower school.
The kindergarten classes of teachers Katherine Chi, Michelle Anderson, Kimberley Sandoval and Kelle Sloan delighted audiences during a series of shows that took place April 25-26 at the Bucknall Theater. Titled “Arf!” each of the four shows, directed by Kellie Binney-Smart, featured each kindergarten class performing canine-themed songs with hilarious skits in between, all the while wearing adorable dog costumes provided by Marylin Watts.
Students provided support behind the scenes, as Danny Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater students acted as the crew for the show. Sasha Pikiner, grade 6, also provided scenic elements to complement Whitney Pintello’s wonderful scenic artwork.
Hat-happy kindergartners donned unique and colorful headwear during this year’s annual Spring Hat Parade and egg hunt. Wearing hats they decorated at home themselves, Harker’s youngest lower school students participated in a fun parade which wound its way through the Bucknall campus, stopping off in various classrooms to model the students’ fabulous attire.
Parents with incoming kindergartners recently met other new families while learning key information to best prepare for their first year at Harker during AnswerQuest, the school’s annual orientation event.
The special, informal evening was held in mid-April at the lower school. The information-packed event included a light supper, giving parents the opportunity to get to know one another.
After dinner, participants traveled from table to table in the gym at the Bucknall campus to chat with Harker staff during a program called “The Inside Scoop,” which afforded a helpful one-on-one “ask the experts” session.
An official administrative presentation, a demo of Web portals, and an additional chance for questions and answers followed. A booklet handed out during the program was also made available in a special section of the parent portal on Harker’s website the day after the event.
Sponsored by the Harker admission team as separate sessions for all grade levels, AnswerQuest is an especially important first step for parents of kindergartners who are new to the Harker community and may not have other children already attending the school.
By the end of the evening these new parents went home feeling warmly welcomed, connected to other newcomers, and better informed about all that kindergarten at Harker has to offer.