Advanced technology has brought Harker students father down the global education road. Tobias Wade‘s Gr. 5 World Geography class enjoyed a video conference with teacher Joe Chung while Chung was on a teacher exchange in Shanghai, using Skype, a free video phone technology. Chung talked to the students about his experiences in Shanghai and answered student questions.
Lisa Diffenderfer, assistant director of instructional technology K-Gr. 5, provided tech support for the conference which required no special equipment other than a computer.
“What a cool piece of technology!” said Wade. “Seeing him while he answered the students’ questions really brought China into the classroom, giving the students a window into another culture, literally!”
Chung noted that one of the oft-asked questions was about weird foods, “so I thought it was fitting to challenge Tobias that if I tried one of the weird foods that I happened to have with me – duck neck, foot, heart, tongue – that he would have to try it next week as well.” Wade accepted the challenge and had his students vote on what food Chung should try – duck tongue was the preferred choice. Once the conference started, Chung took out the tongue and bit into it. “It was slimy and chewy, but not a whole lot of flavor. Luckily it was not gamey!” he said.
Alex Chien wanted to know what types of computers students in Shanghai use (PCs) and several questions revolved around the Great Wall of China. Cameron Palte asked, “How does the Great Wall of China look up close?” Given the grandeur of the structure, said Chung, “It is difficult to put into words the awe of it all, when you’re standing in the middle of the Great Wall. The amount of construction for many years to put this wall together is unimaginable. It is a sight to be seen!”
Grace Guan said the Skype conference “was cool because he answered all our questions. Also because we got to see him eat duck tongue.” Classmate Aashika Balaji agreed. “It was cool to see Mr. Chung eat the duck tongue. It looked gross but then he brought it back to see and smell it.” All in all, the conference was a sensory experience for the eyes, ears and, finally, the nose!
Members of the Gr. 5 class treated an audience of Gr. 4 and 5 students to some afternoon enter tainment with a lip syncing exhibition on Feb. 6. The event was emceed by students Nathaniel Stearns and Lisa Liu. Kicking things off were Kurt Schwartz and Gurutam Thockchom, who hammed it up to Pete Townsend’s “Let My Love Open the Door.” Elina Sendonaris and Allison Wang per formed “Total Eclipse of the Hear t” by Bonnie Tyler. In another highlight, students Suraj Jagadeesh and Akshay Battu replaced their air guitars with the guitar-shaped controllers from the popular “Guitar Hero” video game, and jammed to the Bon Jovi hit “You Give Love a Bad Name.” Not to be outdone, Kate Shanahan, Gr. 4-5 study skills and Gr. 5 English teacher, and Pat Walsh, Gr. 5 math teacher, performed a routine to the Sonny and Cher classic “I Got You Babe” to end the afternoon on a highly amusing note.
This school year marks the occasion of the 10th year since Harker opened the Bucknall campus and launched the new Upper School.
There will be a variety of activities and features throughout the year to celebrate, and to marvel at just how far we’ve come in 10 short years. Harker’s “Toast to 10 Years” celebration inspired teachers Diann Chung and Cindy Proctor to host a Gr. 1 activity on the 10th day of school, all based on the number 10.
Activities included the Flying Gumdrops, a Bean Bag Toss, a Ring Toss, the challenge of finding 10 things wrong on a page, and a variety of math games based on the number 10. “The Gumdrop Fling was fun when it touched the ceiling!” noted student Dominique P.
Other groups counted out 10 Goldfish (and ate ‘em!), while nearby, students jumped rope, counting up and down by tens. Each activity had its adherents. Matthew H. “liked counting 10 Goldfish and then eating them,” while Alexandra J. said she “liked the jump rope and counting by tens.
After the lower school art exhibition closed with the school year, many pieces were selected to move on for display at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) at Stanford University.
The arrangement came about when art teacher Eric Hoffman, intent on getting a public showing, asked his students for suggestions on where they could exhibit. Said Hoffman, “One of my students, Matthew Ho, Gr. 5, suggested a hospital and I thought, ‘what a great idea!’ Since we already have an association with Stanford it seemed only natural to ask them if they were interested.
“I think our students do great work and something I have always wanted to do is get the work out into the public, so that people can see how great our children are and certainly to promote the school and our programs. That is just a really positive thing to do,” Hoffman said. “My students are very excited about it.”
Hoffman made his first inquiry before Christmas, and the process was nearly completed in May. “We had an initial meeting, where we went to visit the hospital,” said Hoffman. “We met with their staff and talked about the possibility of having an exhibition there. We had also taken a collection of work, paintings, drawings, prints and collages that had already been completed. After the initial meeting, I invited them to come to Bucknall and view the art around campus. I had Chef Dave Hendricks prepare a special lunch for them which was quite wonderful,” Hoffman noted.
“They brought in their specialist, Ted Cohen, one of the leading exhibition designers in the country and somebody I had met when I was going through graduate school,” said Hoffman. “He designs exhibitions for a number of museums and galleries in the area and across the United States as well. It was very nice to know he was in charge.”
The process is underway for about 50 pieces to go on display, and Hoffman and Cohen will decide on the pieces to be used. Three-dimensional art will go in the hospital art display cases on the ground floor of the hospital and there will be framed art across the street in the outpatient clinic in waiting rooms and corridors. The exhibition should be in place by the end of the year, said Susan Gray, administrative project manager at the hospital.
“The goal is simply to make another connection to our community and share the talents of other children with our patients and families,” Gray said. “The level of talent, color, imaginative design, whimsy and nature themes all resonated with us and our art committee’s goals.”
The display will rotate pieces after about six months, Hoffman said. Although the initial plan is to run the exhibition for a year, “we are hoping for a long-lasting association.”
“As Sue Bass (art teacher), Jamie Fung (art assistant) and I toured the LPCH facility, you could really see how the artwork brightened people’s lives. It is a stressful time for a lot of families, especially at a children’s hospital. The artwork helps put a little smile on their faces, somehow,” Hoffman said. “We really felt that it was a good thing to do. It is about cheering up somebody’s life, and for our students it is, number one, a great way for them to give back to the community.”