In March, the lower and upper school jazz bands presented an Evening of Jazz at the Blackford Theater. Directed by lower school music teacher Louis Hoffman, the lower school ensemble performed the John Coltrane standard “Blue Trane” and a special arrangement of the Deep Purple classic “Smoke on the Water.” To further liven things up, Hoffman and several members of the ensemble donned eye-catching and often silly hats. The Harker School Jazz Band, directed by Chris Florio, played a variety of tunes from greats such as Count Basie, George Gershwin and Arthur Hamilton. Running the gamut from rousing, upbeat swing numbers to slow, soulful ballads, the US band performed their set with equal parts subtlety and aplomb.
Orchestras from all three campuses played together in April during the spring concert, held in the Bucknall campus gym. Louis Hoffman led the Lower School String Ensemble and Lower School Orchestra through classic pieces by composers such as Pachelbel, Bach and Tchaikovsky, while Chris Florio conducted the Gr. 6 Orchestra and Gr. 7-8 Orchestra as they performed selections from Beethoven, Debussy, Vaughan Williams and more.
At this event the lower school and Gr. 6 orchestras collaborated on a rendition of “Ancient Aires and Dances” by Ottorino Respighi. Later, the upper school Harker School Orchestra, under Florio’s direction, performed works by Mendelssohn, Stravinsky and others. Highlights of this portion of the program were solo performances by two graduating seniors, violinist Sonya Huang on Camille Saint-Saens’ “Dance Macabre, Op. 40” and cellist Julia Shim on Edward Elgar’s “Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85.”
Gr. 4 and Gr. 5 students posted their highest scores ever during Harker’s annual in-house Math League contest in May. This year, 41 fifth-graders had scores of 28 or higher, with 13 students earning perfect scores. Gr. 5 contestants who scored perfectly were: Steven Cao, Ryan Chen, Cuebeom Choi, Rishab Gargeya, Andrew Gu, Conor Martin, Kshithija Mulam, Eric Pei, Divya Rajasekharan, Aneesh Samineni, Austin Tuan, Peter Wu and David Zhu.
The fifth-graders with a score of 28 or 29 were Sana Aladin, Varun Baldwa, Sarah Baz, Brandon Chow, Quentin Delepine, Aditya Dhar, Elan Friedland, Kedar Gupta, Joyce Huang, Emaad Hussain, Aashish Jain, Preethi Kandappan, Alexander Lam, Lauren Liu, Nikhil Manglik, Anuva Mittal, Judy Pan, Albert Pun, Alayna Richmond, Venkat Sankar, Manan Shah, Scott Song, Meilan Steimle, Ed Tischler, Lindsey Trinh, Misha Tseitlin, Derrick Wang and Edmond Wu.
A total of 29 Gr. 4 students scored 28 or higher, with four of them having perfect scores. Perfect scorers in the fourth grade were Adrian Chu, Vivian Huang, Rajiv Movva and Shaya Zarkesh. Students who had scores of 28 or 29 were: Niko Bhatia, Rahul Bhethanabotla, Megan Cardosi, Siddarth Chari, Kate Chow, Griffin Ellis, Rose Guan, Alan Hughes, Julia Huang, Rishi Iyer, Tanay Kamat, Ania Kranz, Jerrica Liao, Edgar Lin, Taylor Kohlmann, Michael Kwan, Victor Shin, Aadith Srinivasan, Sahana Srinivasan, Justin Su, Shushant Thyagoraj, Gary Tsai, Jessica Wang, Roy Yi and Kaitlin Zhu.
Students at the lower school were treated to an assortment of exciting end-of-year field trips. These included the annual all-grade trips to the Exploratorium, the California Academy of Sciences, the Oakland Zoo and a special expedition to Golfland for select third- through fifth-graders.
In April, kindergarten students went on their annual adventure to the Oakland Zoo. The zoo has a variety of exhibits, with more than 650 animals for visitors to see. There are collections of geographically grouped animals, including those native to the rain forest, African savanna and California.
Every year, students in grade three are treated to a trip to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The academy includes an aquarium with live penguins, as well as a planetarium, a natural history museum and a rain forest dome. It provides students with an excellent means to learn about science and animal life in a fun and hands-on way.
The annual end-of-year field trip for students in fourth grade is a trip to the Exploratorium, also in San Francisco. This facility is famous for its interactive approach to science and art. Students get to learn about the science behind everyday actions like hitting a baseball or the growth of plants. The goal of this trip is not only to spark the children’s interest in science, but to also get them to think about how they view the world.
As a reward for their stellar picnic ticket sales, qualifying students at the lower school earn a trip to Golfland. Students in grades three through five must sell at least 100 tickets to go on the outing. The kids are allowed a day off from school where they can golf, play video games in the arcade and, weather permitting, enjoy the water slides. This year about 50 students met the criteria for the trip, which was postponed a day due to late spring rains. The students who attended had a blast and agreed that the wait for a sunny day was well worth it.
The Gr. 5 class received an affectionate send-off at the Gr. 5 Awards and Promotion Ceremony on June 2. Held to commemorate the achievements of the fifth grade students as they make their next step to middle school, the ceremony began with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a welcome message from Chris Nikoloff, head of school. Dance Fusion, the Gr. 4-6 dance group directed by Gail Palmer, gave an electrifying performance to the Madonna hit “Vogue.”
Several students received awards in a wide range of categories, including citizenship, effort, academic honors, fitness, individual subjects, academic excellence, leadership, personal presentation, courtesy, cooperation, athletics and sportsmanship. Following the award hand-outs, a slide show to recap the 2009-10 school year was enjoyed. The Gr. 5 students then proudly walked up one at a time to receive their promotion certificates.
Having officially completed the fifth grade, the entire class, led by lower school music teacher Jennifer Cowgill, then celebrated by singing “Today is the Day” by Teresa Jennings and, appropriately, “The Harker School Song.”
Kristin Giammona, elementary school division head, closed the ceremony by wishing the Gr. 5 class well as they continued on their scholastic journey.
Reprinted from the Harker QuarterlyMarch 2010 issue
WinterSong: Bel Canto and Friends
Bel Canto and fellow performers wowed the crowd with a Conservatory concert held on Jan. 22 at Nichols Hall. At WinterSong, this ensemble of Gr. 9-10 singers sang songs from a wide range of genres, including Harry Belafonte’s “Turn the World Around” and a moving rendition of Eric Whitacre’s “Five Hebrew Love Songs,” which was considered to be the group’s most ambitious work ever. They also sang a spiritual, a piece in Latin, and ‘60s staple “Bye Bye, Love.” Elodie Nguyen, Gr. 12, accompanied the group on the piano, and they were directed by Catherine Snider.
Eight Conservatory Certificate candidates also performed solos at the concert, with works ranging from junior Shireen Moshkelani’s “When I Have Sung My Songs” by Ernest Charles to sophomore Alex Najibi’s rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La donna e mobile.” Andrew Lee, Gr. 10, played his own four-movement Baroque-style composition on the piano and Lydia Demissachew, Gr. 11, played Johannes Brahms’ “Rhapsody, Op. 70 No. 2.” John Ammatuna, Gr. 11, was accompanied by Diane Villadsen, Gr. 11, on a song from “South Pacific”; also singing were Vrinda Goel, Gr. 11, Sebastian Herscher, Gr. 10 and Nina Sabharwal, Gr. 9.
Orchestra
As Harker’s instrumental program has grown significantly in the past few years, directors Chris Florio, Louis Hoffman and Toni Woodruff split the annual winter showcase into two parts. Despite the change, both concerts, held Jan. 15, were packed and the showcase was a rousing success.
The early evening show featured Woodruff’s Lower School String Ensemble, the new Lower School Jazz Ensemble led by Hoffman and Hoffman’s Lower School Orchestra. Florio’s Gr. 6 and Gr. 7-8 orchestras closed the concert with Brahms, Fauré and Tchaikovsky compositions.
The second show included Florio’s Jazz Band, featuring front singer Francesca Nagle, Gr. 11, singing smooth tunes and impressive solos from sax player Aadithya Prakash, Gr. 12 and trombonist Benjamin Tien, Gr. 11. The Harker Orchestra also performed all four movements of Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 1,” a Smetana overture and the humorous “Hungarian Dance” of Brahms.
Dance Production: Percussion Pathways
Harker dancers hit the stage Jan. 29 and 30 in Percussion Pathways, this year’s theme for the ever-popular annual upper school dance production. Choreographers selected percussion-heavy music and were challenged by director Laura Rae to create dances that allowed them to “move to their own drummers.”
Student choreographers worked with Harker dance teachers Rae and Karl Kuehn, and dancers Heidi Landgraf, Adrian Bermudez and Sasha Stepanenko ’06 to create a three-part show, taking the audience through Harker school life into an exploration of larger themes about belonging, suffering and mystery. Some students, including Johnny Lau, Gr. 12 and Malika Mehrotra, Gr. 11, also had the opportunity to choreograph their own dances for the show, putting out toe-tappers and crowd-movers to “Break It Down” by Manu Dibango and “Shadowplay” by The Killers.
Dance Jamz Electrifies Audiences
Dance Jamz, the annual middle school dance show, energized audiences in early March, as nearly 150 dancers from all middle school grade levels performed several dance styles. The show ran March 4-6, first showcasing the students’ talents for Gr. 5, then entertaining their middle school classmates and finally performing for friends and family.
Directed by middle school dance teacher Gail Palmer, with co-direction by dance teachers Amalia Vasconi and Karl Kuehn, the show highlighted swing, contemporary modern, musical theater and hip-hop, with elements of Bollywood and Latin.
The dynamic lighting by middle school performing arts teacher Paul Vallerga brought more flair to each performance, including a dramatic shot of silhouetted hiphop dancers. Students and parents alike were thrilled to see the talented young dancers perform their hearts out onstage!
Conservatory Classic
The second annual Conservatory Classic, “An Evening with Past, Present and Future Harker Stars,” brought together the Harker community at the end of winter break, with proceeds going towards the performing arts program. Vocal and musical theater alumni Kartik Venkatraman ’09, Stephanie Kim ’08, Siobhan Stevenson ’07 and many others returned to campus to perform collaborative pieces with current students.
Graduated Guys’ Gig members joined the current crew in song. A string octet, an alumni jazz combo and solos from students were also performed to highlight Harker’s performing arts in preparation for Phase 4 of the school’s master site plan – a new performing and visual arts center.
Reprinted from the Harker QuarterlyMarch 2010 issue
Lower & Middle School
Basketball
Coached by Greg Lawson, the Gr. 8 varsity A team improved defensively over the season, but had difficulty scoring. The team finished the season 3-7, with wins against Pinewood, Crystal Springs and Woodside Priory.
The seventh graders had much more depth than Gr. 8 – enough players to field three teams. The Gr. 7 varsity B1 team finished league play 7-0, making them league champs! The Gr. 7 varsity B2 team finished 3-4, and the Gr. 7 varsity B3 team finished 1-6.
The Gr. 6 boys junior varsity A team overcame the setbacks of injured players through good student leadership, finishing strong in league play. Coach Walid Fahmy said, “Look out for these boys as they move on to seventh grade!” The boys ended the season 2-7.
Coach Mousa Katwan credits the camaraderie of the Gr. 5 JV B1 team for a strong finish. “Strong play down low from Alex Mo gave us an advantage on offense, while the strength and heart of Nicolas Bean on defense stopped opposing teams’ efforts. Overall the boys learned a lot and grew together while having fun,” Katwan said. The team ended the season with a 4-5 record.
Coaches Tobias Wade and David Ramos both enjoyed the season with the Gr. 5 B2 team. Wade reported, “Our boys practiced and played hard, and it was a learning experience for them.” Everyone improved throughout the whole season and the team ended with a 2-7 record.
The Gr. 4 JV C team had only two days of practice before the team’s first game but, reported coach and lower school P.E. teacher Jim McGovern, “The boys jelled quickly and worked on playing an exciting fast-break style of basketball.” Although their season record was 3-5, the boys were very close to flipping those numbers as two losses were only by one point each. McGovern added, “I look forward to the continued effort and love for the game by this group of players.”
The girls Gr. 4-5 basketball team had a fantastic season. The JV B1 team, who finished one game shy of a perfect season before tournament play, led the charge and the JV B2 team truly enjoyed the spirit of competition and the fun they had with their teammates. Finally, the JV C team also enjoyed spirited competitions and the thrill of victory following exciting back-to-back wins.
Soccer
The junior varsity B boys soccer team also had a fantastic season, with exciting victories against Crystal Springs, Pinewood and St. Joseph’s Sacred Heart. At press time, the team was 4-1 in league and in second place in the standings. The team was led by Nikolas Weisbloom, Kedar Gupta and Joseph Krackeler, all Gr. 5.
The intramural boys Gr. 4-5 soccer team also learned a lot about soccer and had a lot of fun with their teammates and coach Jim McGovern. The team was led by Nirban Bhatia, Rohit Shah and Shaya Zarkesh, all Gr. 4
Girls varsity A soccer had an exciting season, coach Chrissy Chang reported. “We faced many tough opponents but were still able to put the ball in the back of the net, and every player contributed to our awesome soccer season.” The team had individuals who played outstanding offense and defense, and they ended the season 2-5.
Coach Justin “Sully” Sullivan was impressed with the vast improvement of the girls Gr. 7 varsity B team, which showed in their strong finishes of their final four games, where they won two of the four and nearly earned a draw in another. Excellent goaltending was an important part of the team’s improvement and Sullivan complimented several players with particularly strong play and excellent hustle. The season ended 2-5, and with several players returning, next year’s soccer season looks to be an exciting one.
Despite the 1-5 season record of the Gr. 6 JV A team, coach Cyrus Merrill was impressed with the strength and growth of his team. “The ladies played even with a number of the teams in the league and surprised many of them with early goals and strong play,” he commented. The girls enjoyed practicing next to the upper school girls soccer team at Blackford this season.
The Gr. 5 JV B team finished 5-0-1 to take the leag ue championship, making it back-to-back league championships for the Gr. 5 girls softball and soccer teams this year. Coach Casey Henderson credited fearless goalkeeping and added, “The girls demonstrated a wide variety of skills and enthusiasm during the season.”
Upper School
Basketball
The varsity boys basketball team had a strong season that included a historic win against Sacred Heart Prep in Prep’s gym. They ended the regular season with a remarkable 20-4 overall record and 12-2 league record, securing second place in the league. In CCS play, the boys played Stevenson at the Blackford gym after securing the sixth seed but lost to Santa Cruz 56-44 in the CCS quarterfinals.
The JV boys ended their season as WBAL champions! The team had a 20-2 overall record and was 11-1 in league.
Girls basketball ended their season with an overtime loss to playoff-bound King’s Academy and a loss at Mercy- Burlingame over the break. The girls were very competitive in every game this season and were actually one non-league win away from qualifying for CCS. They ended the season 7-14.
Soccer
Boys soccer had a great season, coming close to making it to CCS. They faced Menlo School in the league finals where they lost 2-1, just missing CCS qualification. For a squad that started as many as eight freshmen per game, it was a remarkable season, which ended 8-8-2 overall.
Girls soccer ended their season with a loss to Mercy- San Francisco 2-1. This committed group of young ladies ended the season 2-5-3 in league play, was competitive in every match, and showed improvement throughout the season.
Wrestling
Although wrestling meets are team events, individuals, rather than teams, proceed to league championships and CCS finals. This year three wrestlers made it to CCS finals and one, Santosh Swaminathan, Gr. 11, made Harker history by taking fifth place in the 103-pound weight class, the first Harker wrestler to medal at CCS.
The response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti tops the list of Harker’s recent outreach efforts. Students, teachers and parents joined forces at all three campuses to fund ongoing efforts to provide food, medical supplies and shelter to the victims of the January temblor in Port au Prince, the tiny country’s densely populated capitol.
The Bucknall Student Council and the Gr. 4-5 Spirit and Service Club helped organize a hot chocolate and donuthole drive in January, earning over $3,000. Several lower school teachers and staff donated funds to offset the costs of food and drink to further enhance profit margin.
“Our student body truly outdid itself with its generosity and concern displayed throughout our fundraising effort,” said Kristin Giammona, elementary division head Gr. 4-5. “It is heartwarming to witness and be a part of such an outpouring of care and monetary support.”
Similarly, middle school students participated in Coin Wars, a friendly grade-level competition to make a difference. The organizers asked students to donate pennies and nickels for Haitian relief. The class with the largest number of one- and five-cent coins in their collection earned the most points. The effort, won by the class of 2015, raised a total of $3,100 in ten days.
Although they planned their fundraising and blood drive months in advance, members of the upper school Red Cross Club adapted their efforts to benefit Haitian relief. The annual blood drive collected over 80 donations from eligible students, faculty, staff and parents. While donations will likely be used locally, the collection helps offset blood donations elsewhere that will be sent to Port au Prince.
In another Red Cross effort, students emptied their pockets of change in a competition to slime the class dean and class presidents at the weekly school meeting, prompting generous contributions. The mounting piles of coin attracted daily attention in Manzanita Hall, and playful challenges by the deans and presidents to stuff the jars of their competitors added spice to the contest.
In the end, the sophomores were victorious, resulting in class dean Matt Harley and class president Revanth Kosaraju suffering a sliming worth $1,137. In total, the slime contest earned $1,983, an amount complemented by bake sales and pretzel-grams which earned $274 for a total of $2,267.
“We thought that it would be great to offer the Harker community an opportunity to assist Red Cross Haiti relief efforts during our week,” said Red Cross Club president Alex Han, Gr. 12. “We put our best efforts into raising awareness for the cause and making our fundraisers original and exciting, whether through selling handmade pretzel-grams or having a dean and class president get slimed.”
In late February 18 upper school students spent half a day removing non-native plants from the Arastradero Preserve as part of a project by Acterra, an environmental nonprofit in Palo Alto. “The weather held and everyone enjoyed working together; we got a lot done,” said Kerry Enzensperger, director of upper school community service. Harker students were involved in a variety of other activates geared toward helping the community as well.
Gr. 3 students collected new pajamas and books for needy children in the U.S. and elsewhere. Over 330 pairs of pajamas and 677 books were collected. “All of the third graders were encouraged to participate by bringing in books or pajamas,” said Joe Connolly, dean of students K-Gr. 5. “We had two third graders present the donations to Pallie Zambrano, co-president of the Northern California Chapter of The Pajama Program.”
On Martin Luther King Day, an official Congressional Day of Service, Colin Goodwin, Gr. 4 English teacher, organized a group of about 30 Gr. 4-5 students and parents to work with Save the Bay, planting native trees and grasses at the Eden Landing Ecological Preserve in Hayward. “On our day of service we planted something like 300 plants,” said Goodwin. “This was my first year organizing this project, and I hope to do the project again next year .”
Upper school Key Club members organized a drive for denim in January, collecting lightly-used jeans for homeless teenagers worldwide.
The class of 2011 held its annual toiletries drive, collecting hundreds of personal hygiene items for distribution at local homeless shelters. Similar efforts are mounted by lower school English teacher Pat Walsh and middle school librarian Bernie Morrissey on their campuses.
Lower school students authored and sent valentines to U.S. marines serving in Afghanistan.
Members of the middle school Peace2Peace Club will transform donations of lightly used toys, electronics and games into funds for daycare in India via a garage sale over spring break. The program allows older siblings who would otherwise be forced to stay home, to attend school regularly.
Upper school girls and boys soccer teams raised over $3,000 through T-shirt sales and donations for cancer research at their January doubleheader.
The middle school Service Club gathered new and gently used winter coats to benefit the local organization InnVision (www.innvision.org), which helps Bay Area families and individuals who are homeless or struggling financially.
Math instructor Peggy Crisler challenged middle school advisories to provide Christmas gifts for families through Kidango, a Bay Area nonprofit child development agency.
The lower school welcomed the summer season in style on June 3 during the annual Kiddie Carnival, held on the last day of school. Kids enjoyed a wide variety of fun activities, including a giant rubber slide, a bounce house and even a makeshift winter wonderland, complete with artificial snow.
Kristin Giammona, elementary division head, recently volunteered at the Children’s Discovery Museum as a guest activity leader at Family Science Night in the Museum. Giammona was recommended to the event by a Harker parent who felt she would do an excellent job.
Family Science Night provides an opportunity for students to experience science in a fun and hands-on way. The theme of the night was “Toy Box Physics,” one of the museum’s more popular themes. It included an examination of simple machines and how they are present in the toys kids use everyday.