Six Harker students were recently invited to perform with the California Band Directors Association’s 2017 All-State ensembles. Alexa Gross, grade 12, joined the High School Symphonic Band as a bassoonist. Kai-Ming Ang and Katie Chang, both grade 9, will perform with the High School Concert Band on French horn and percussion, respectively. Junior Amy Jin will play violin for the High School Full Orchestra.
Eighth graders Anika Fuloria and Leland Rossi also successfully auditioned for junior high school ensembles. Fuloria, a string bassist, earned a spot on Junior High School Symphonic Band, while Rossi will play trumpet with the Junior High School Jazz Band.
The students will perform with their respective groups at the California All-State Music Education Conference. The event, to be held Feb. 16-19 in San Jose, is organized by the California Music Education Association.
Congratulations to Michael Amick ’13, who was selected in the second round (32nd overall) of the MLS draft by the Portland Timbers. Amick played college soccer at UCLA, where he was a three-time team captain, first team All-Pac 12 selection in his sophomore year, honorable mention All-Pac 12 selection in his junior and senior years, Pac 12 All-Academic first team selection in his junior and senior year, and Pac 12 men’s soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year in his senior year. “When I finally heard my name, it was a huge relief and a very exciting moment to walk on stage, taking the next step to pursue my soccer career,” said Amick. See the moment when Amick was selected: http://www.timbers.com/post/2017/01/13/2017-mls-superdraft-defender-michael-amick-s-draft-day-podium-speech
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team dropped a close 37-35 game against Castilleja last week. Jordan Thompson, grade 12, led the Eagles with 18 points in the loss. Later in the week, the Eagles bounced back with a 60-33 win over Mercy Burlingame. Thompson again scored 18 points, with Selin Sayiner, grade 11, adding 11 points. The Eagles have most of the week off until they host The Kings Academy on Friday.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team picked up a 66-50 win over Crystal Springs Uplands last week, with Eric Jeong, grade 11, leading the way with 17 points. The victory also marked the 600th win in the impressive career of coach Butch Keller. However, later in the week, the Eagles fell to Eastside College Prep 51-44. Gene Wang, grade 10, led Harker with 11 points. Next up for the boys are home games versus The Kings’ Academy on Tuesday and Menlo on Friday.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team dropped two matches last week, a 2-1 loss to Crystal Springs Uplands and a 4-0 loss to Sacred Heart Prep. This week, the Eagles host Menlo on Friday and Eastside College Prep on Friday.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team was defeated 8-0 by Woodside Priory last week, but looks to rebound with three matches this week. The Eagles travel to Castilleja on Tuesday and Mercy Burlingame on Thursday, before hosting Eastside College Prep on Friday.
US Wrestling
The Eagles wrestling team opened its league season with a 45-36 loss to Los Altos last week. Alan Hughes, grade 11, Eric Fang, grade 9, and Davis Howard, grade 12, all picked up wins by pin. This past weekend, the Eagles competed at the Los Gatos Wildcat Invitational with Fang finishing third in the 195-pound division, Devin Keller, grade 9, finishing fourth in the 136-pound division and Kobe Howard, grade 10, finishing seventh in the 132-pound division. The Eagles host their first match of the year this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Blackford against Saratoga High.
MS Wrestling
Congrats to Dezi Johnsen, grade 7, who took first in the grade 6-8 boys 142-pound division at the prestigious New Year’s Bash middle school wrestling tournament in Clovis this past weekend.
Congratulations to cross country and track coach Scott Chisam on being named a starter at this year’s state track meet. Chisam is a member of the CCS Starters Association and was nominated to join starters from other CIF sections at the finals in June.
Izzy Connell ’13 continues her stellar collegiate career at Pepperdine University as she set two school records in the first meet of the women’s indoor track season. At Northern Arizona’s Friday Night Duals last Friday, Connell broke her own school record in the 60-meter sprint, placing sixth in the event. She also placed sixth and broke the school record in the 400. Connell also holds the school records in the 100, 200, 400, 4×400 and the indoor 200.
Several Harker math students had strong scores in National Assessment & Testing’s 2016 Fall Startup Event. Coached by upper school math teacher Anuradha Aiyer, the students worked to make Harker the fifth-highest placing school in the country. Freshmen Jeffrey Kwan and Rohan Cherukuri placed 13th and 20th, respectively, in the grade 9 division. In the grade 10 division, Katherine Tian placed 17th. Swapnil Garg took third placed in the grade 11 division, where Jimmy Lin placed 17th. Finally, in the grade 12 division, Misha Ivkov placed 14th.
Students participating in the Fall Startup Event are given 100 problems and tasked with solving as many as possible within 30 minutes. It is the first of four contests administered by National Assessment & Testing throughout the school year.
Earlier this month, grade 6 parents pitched in to put together holiday dinner baskets for LifeMoves, a local organization dedicated to helping homeless individuals and families transition to stable housing.
“Participating families were asked to donate $10 towards the project,” said Harker parent Shuba Gautham (Samvita, grade 6, and Satvika, grade 4). “We had committed for 10 baskets, but collected enough for 17 baskets. We plan to use the remaining money for another food drive in spring.”
In early December, families went shopping to purchase the items for the baskets. They later gathered to create the baskets, which will be delivered to the LifeMoves shelter next week.
Over the course of the fall semester, middle school computer science students have been learning that software creation is about much more than knowing how to code. Utilizing the concepts defined in the Design Thinking Process (which is currently taught to graduate students at Stanford University), young programmers are learning how to create the best possible user experiences.
One tool being used to teach these concepts is Gamestar Mechanic, a game design program that computer science teacher Sharmila Misra says is useful for learning how to design software with users in mind. “Our students use Gamestar Mechanic as a tool to apply software designing concepts that are essential for programmers,” Misra said. “Nowadays, programming can be learned online too, for free. However, these software development concepts are definitely not something the students can just learn online.”
Using games as a basis for teaching software design seemed like a natural choice, because many students were already so familiar with them. “Using that as the base, students stayed on board with enthusiasm to learn computer science concepts,” said Misra.
The students’ first users were their buddies at Japan’s Tamagawa Academy, who not only are just beginning to learn English but also have varying experiences with games, Misra said, “as they don’t yet have laptops of their own like our students do.”
In their work with Gamestar Mechanic, students learned how to empathize with potential users, which helps them in defining the requirements for the games they create. After defining the challenges that must be surmounted to meet user requirements, they sketched out concepts and took feedback from users and peers who are both like- and different-minded. Prototypes were then made and released to the Tamagawa students, who provided additional feedback, which was then used to finish and release the final products.
Using the knowledge and experience gained from their first projects, the students are now making games for their peers at Harker.
Misra characterized the students’ response to Gamestar Mechanic as “very enthusiastic,” noting that “since the requirements, the design, the feedback, making the game and testing are all using games, students relate to it very easily and get engrossed in it and they don’t even realize they are learning concepts taught in a graduate school.”
Last week, the middle school’s performing arts department held its annual fall plays, treating audiences to staged versions of two classic tales by Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Middle school theater teacher Katie Champlin directed both plays, each of which featured multiple roles for narrators and storytellers, moving the plots at a brisk pace without losing the dramatic effect. The sixth graders’ version of “Rip Van Winkle” contained many of Irving’s original words, and students used percussion instruments to create sound effects reminiscent of the Catskill Mountains, where the story takes place.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a grades 7-8 production, was a comedy-infused retelling of the frightful tale of Ichabod Crane’s encounter with the terrifying Headless Horseman. For the finale, several students played the part of Sleepy Hollow’s whirling trees during the Headless Horseman’s legendary ride.
Last week, the middle school’s performing arts department held its annual fall plays, treating audiences to staged versions of two classic tales by Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Middle school theater teacher Katie Champlin directed both plays, each of which featured multiple roles for narrators and storytellers, moving the plots at a brisk pace without losing the dramatic effect. The sixth graders’ version of “Rip Van Winkle” contained many of Irving’s original words, and students used percussion instruments to create sound effects reminiscent of the Catskill Mountains, where the story takes place.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a grades 7-8 production, was a comedy-infused retelling of the frightful tale of Ichabod Crane’s encounter with the terrifying Headless Horseman. For the finale, several students played the part of Sleepy Hollow’s whirling trees during the Headless Horseman’s legendary ride.
Last week, the middle school’s performing arts department held its annual fall plays, treating audiences to staged versions of two classic tales by Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Middle school theater teacher Katie Champlin directed both plays, each of which featured multiple roles for narrators and storytellers, moving the plots at a brisk pace without losing the dramatic effect. The sixth graders’ version of “Rip Van Winkle” contained many of Irving’s original words, and students used percussion instruments to create sound effects reminiscent of the Catskill Mountains, where the story takes place.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a grades 7-8 production, was a comedy-infused retelling of the frightful tale of Ichabod Crane’s encounter with the terrifying Headless Horseman. For the finale, several students played the part of Sleepy Hollow’s whirling trees during the Headless Horseman’s legendary ride.
Grade 6 students received a warm visit from their friends at Tokyo’s Tamagawa Academy in mid-October. The Tamagawa students arrived at Harker on Oct. 14, and enjoyed a welcome dinner, where they caught up with their Harker buddies. Tamagawa students then met up with their homestays and spent the weekend visiting sites around the Bay Area, including San Francisco and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The following week, Tamagawa students spent time observing their buddies’ classes and partaking in various fun activities, including making tie-dyed T-shirts with both the Harker and Tamagawa logos printed on them. They also learned the Virginia Reel, a 1600s folk dance, from middle school history teacher Melanie Ramsey.
On their final day at Harker, the Tamagawa students met with Head of School Chris Nikoloff, enjoyed an origami activity and attended a special homecoming assembly.
This past July, students Mahi Gurram, Connie Xu, Donna Boucher, Lilly Anderson, all grade 10, and Sam Boucher, grade 7, traveled to Tibet, China for a cultural exchange program with the Maizhokunggar County School.
After landing in Lhasa, the group stayed in Tibet for a total of 11 days, in which they exchanged cultures with Tibetan children, grades 3 through 6. The Tibetan children, who had had very little, if any, contact with foreigners, listened to short stories in English and practiced their conversation skills through fun games that the Harker students had brought with them. The Harker students shared photos of California and other major cities and states in the U.S. with the curious Tibetan children. The children teamed up to played soccer and catch on the school’s field, and Harker girls braided some of the Tibetan girls’ hair with colorful ribbons.
In exchange, Tibetan children performed a few Chinese jump rope routines and taught the Harker students several Tibetan phrases and authentic games. Harker students were invited to eat lunch in the teachers’ lounge and talked to several teachers who had also never seen foreigners. The teachers were mesmerized by Donna Boucher’s green eyes, Anderson’s curly hair, Xu’s ability to speak both Mandarin and English fluently, Gurram’s darker complexion and photos of Sam Boucher playing hockey. Both parties seemed to have gained an immense understanding of the other. Overall, the five Harker students participated in one of the most eye-opening and thrilling experiences of their lives.