This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly
The academic year at the lower school began smoothly, with fresh-faced students taking on new responsibilities and learning new concepts about school life. Grade 3 students, for instance, spent much of the first few days finding their lockers and figuring out where to go between periods. “The administration and the teachers were all out there on the first few days at the change of periods helping students and reassuring them,” said Joe Connolly, K-5 dean of students. At an assembly held on the first day of school, the students learned that the year’s theme would be “compassion,” a subject that will be discussed with students throughout the year. Also new this year is the Eagle Buddy program, in which every student from grade 3 is paired with a student in grade 10, with whom they will interact at various events throughout the year.
Over at the Blackford campus, students spent their first few days adjusting to their everyday routines. During their orientation on Aug. 23, students met with advisors, received their textbooks and schedules and were given a primer on the advisory system. Students have many new things to look forward to, including several key changes to the lunch program. This year the kitchen has two new service areas and an expanded selection of foods, including more vegetarian options. Students, faculty and staff can now enjoy the new Chef’s Grill, the BBQ Express and The Bistro. Because of the new bell schedule, students in grades 7 and 8 will now eat together.
The third year of the Gallon Jug Contest saw another collection of creative entries from grade 4 and 5 students. The contest is a math class challenge requiring students to create gallon guys, gallon gals, animals and other objects using divisions of a gallon (such as four quarts, eight pints and so on). Winners were separated into two categories, one for creativity and one for functionality, or how well the creation showed the relationship between the measurements. This year’s winners, all grade 4, are: Compass, Henry Wong; Native American Girl, Alexandra Lu; Harker Eagle, Nikhil Dharmaraj; Caterpillar, Ally Wang.
In support of the 2010-11 Bucknall theme of compassion, grade 1 teachers, including Cindy Proctor and Diann Chung, led a contingent of about 15 Harker families and teachers from several grades on the Oct. 2 Humane Society of Silicon Valley Walk ‘n Wag fundraiser.
“Most families and teachers brought their dogs, or borrowed a dog for the event,” said Proctor. “One child was dog-sitting and brought that dog. Some children came without a dog and just enjoyed everyone else’s dogs,” she said.
“I loved doing the walk,” said Lauren Beede, grade 3. “My small dog was very tired at the end, and once we got home she drank LOTS of water. I think my dog liked it, too.” Shannon Li, grade 1, added, “I liked meeting my teachers’ dogs,” while classmate Emily Tan encapsulated the event perfectly: “I liked playing with my friends, and I got to pet a dog, too.”
“I thought the event was a wonderful success,” said Proctor. “It brought together teachers, parents, students and dogs! It was a special opportunity to be able to have the Harker community reach out for a good cause.”
The walk supports the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and the many animals they save and care for every day. The group walked the 1.5 mile route, and later in the year, first graders will be doing a community service project with the Humane Society.
This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly Harker’s 2010 Summer Camp brought students from all over the San Jose area for learning and fun – often both at the same time.
With the entire afternoon set aside for activities, summer academics for K-8 took place within a short class day, from 8:30-11:30. The curriculum focused primarily on math and language arts, and the environment was somewhat more relaxed than regular school, according to Diann Chung, K-8 summer academic principal. “It’s still education, but it has a different vibe,” she said.
To ensure that each student was appropriately challenged, teachers used differentiated instruction to adapt their lessons to multiple levels within the same classroom. The summer curriculum was designed to be compatible with that for the school year, not redundant, and teachers had a great deal of latitude within which to incorporate games, crafts and activities.
For example, teacher Alice Cooley read a silly story to her first graders every day. “They think it’s great to hear me get my tongue twisted while reading ‘Fox in Sox,’” she said.
Elective topics ran the gamut from math to language arts, science, technology and the arts. In Enviro-Kids, students made their own dust collectors for a study of air pollution and later used computers to learn more about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Campers in grades 1-4 looking for a different kind of academic experience, or just a shorter camp, opted for a two-week thematic program titled Big Blue Marble. The curriculum integrated science, history, the arts and social studies – and, of course, math and language arts – into a multidisciplinary study of our world.
Each session focused on two continents, and students wrote in their travel journals, counted in different languages, and read both fiction and nonfiction. During the Africa module, all classes made hummus and fufu (sweet potato balls). They studied mummies and hieroglyphic writing, and created 3-D square and triangular pyramids.
“I really enjoy the integrated curriculum,” said veteran Harker teacher Kathleen Ferretti. “It’s a chance to look at things in a different way and have a lot of fun doing it.”
Some students in grades 5-8 chose two-week summer courses with a longer school day (8:30-3:30) for an in-depth look at a single subject area.
Michael Schmidt, Harker middle school computer science and robotics teacher, taught a lighter version of his required seventh grade course in which students built robots out of Legos. After learning how to program their creations during several days of robot wars, the students directed their energy toward making useful robots.
Products included Lego motorized wheelchairs, robotic pets, a grocery scanner, and a vending machine that operated perfectly during the parent demonstration before slipping off the table and crashing apart. With a maturity beyond his years, the builder shrugged, “That’s why vending machines aren’t built out of Legos.”
Schmidt made sure his students absorbed key concepts without letting go of the joy. “The more fun I’m having, the more fun they’re having,” he said.
Five Harker students took high honors at the the 13th Po Leung Kuk Primary Mathematics World Contest (PMWC), held in July in Hong Kong. David Zhu and Peter Wu, now grade 6, were on the Silicon Valley team that took first runner-up in the Po Leung Kuk Cup. Cindy Liu, Rachel Wu and David Lin, all now grade 8, helped the East Bay team reach second runner-up.
In individual competition, Liu had a perfect score and won a first place honor, Zhu earned a second place honor and Peter Wu and Rachel Wu won third place honors.
Each student at the competition was selected from two tryout rounds. Both rounds were administered by MathEdge, an organization that trains students in problem-solving and competitive mathematics. The first round attracted 154 students from 76 Bay Area schools. From the first round, 15 were selected to attend a 12-week training camp. Of those 15, eight were selected to compete at the PMWC after a second tryout.
In late September, the students of each lower school homeroom, with help from teachers and parents, got to work on the door decorations for 60th Annual Family and Alumni Picnic. A yearly tradition, the doors are decorated to reflect the theme of the booth that each classroom will run during the picnic.
The doors decorations are expected to be finished and visible on the Bucknall campus by Mon., Sept. 27. On the weekend before the picnic, the door boards will be moved to the Blackford campus to be displayed for all picnicgoers to see.
Softball
The junior varsity B volleyball team, composed of fourth and fifth grade students, is currently undefeated after a 12-7 victory over Sacred Heart. Key players included Alyssa Whitman, grade 4; Kayla Dominguez, grade 4; and Satchi Thockchom, grade 5.
Football
Junior varsity B football is 1-1 on the season after a huge win over St Matthews. The victory was made especially sweet by the close nature of the game; the final score was 20-19. The team is lead by fifth graders Rohit Shah, Justin Su, Brando Pakel and Michael Kwan.
Swim
The Swim team has their first meet later this week, so check back next week for results.
Grade 1 students and their parents gathered at the Bucknall campus on Sept. 18 for a special movie night in the Bucknall gym. Prior to the movie showing, the kids enjoyed playing outside on the playground equipment and worked on a beading craft before dinner. They also munched on pre-movie pizza, veggies, and a dessert choice of apple pie or brownies. Parents were also treated to lasagna, salad and dessert. To cap off the evening, BEST staff helped kids settle in the gym to watch an entertaining Disney movie called “Space Buddies,” which each viewer enjoyed with a bag of popcorn.
Lower school students have spirit assemblies, about one a month, throughout the year to promote school spirit and homeroom unity. The students compete against one another for spirit points and the homeroom with the highest score at the end of the year wins a party, so the stakes are high!
The year’s first assembly was held this week, much to everyone’s delight, and included peace tag, freeze dance and body shapes. In the body shapes competition each homeroom used a minimum of 15 students to spell out words, letters or shapes with – what else? – their bodies. The result was a hilarious morning meeting and a great start to the spirit program!
This year marks the beginning of the Eagles Buddies Program, which pairs one or two sophomores with a grade 3 student to foster an ongoing relationship that will continue when the Class of 2013 graduates and the lower school students move on to middle school.
During Thursday advisory, sophomores sprawled out across desks, and even the floor, with markers, crayons and colored pens to write introductions to their new young buddies. “I’m very excited to meet you. I remember when I was in third grade. I had a buddy as well. It was lots of fun. I know we’ll have fun as well,” Apricot Tang, Gr. 10, wrote to her third-grade counterpart, Annie Ma.
“My favorite activity is tennis,” Christopher Chang wrote to his buddy, Ekdatha Arramreddy. “Maybe one day you can come watch me play. What activities do you enjoy?”
“The goals for the program are to foster a K-12 sense of community, and to promote responsibility, relationships and communication,” sophomore advisor Carol Zink said. Inspired by Butch Keller’s experiences with a similar buddy program his daughters went through, faculty and advisors from both grade levels – including sophomore class dean Jeff Draper, lower school dean of students Joe Connolly and Zink – have worked together to establish events throughout the year.
Before the official kick-off on Oct. 6, when the sophomores travel to Bucknall to meet face-to-face and play games with their buddies, the students have begun writing letters to each other to introduce themselves, sharing their summer stories and favorite activities. They’re also preparing for a fun-packed year filled with events like watching the homecoming game together, participating in the lower school’s Pajama Day and attending the Spring Spirit Week rally.
Many teachers noted how enthusiastic the sophomores were. “The girls especially got into it, filling their cards with pictures and using different color markers,” history teacher Ally Montana said.
Both students and faculty alike are looking forward to forging friendships.
“I am most looking to watching the students interact during the various activities we have planned for them at each campus,” Connolly said. “I am also looking forward to watching the relationships develop and the positive benefits each student, young and old, will receive.”