The middle school performing arts department changed things up a bit for this year’s fall theater productions, putting on a double bill last week at the Blackford Theater.
The first show of the evening was Alan Haehnel’s “No Show,” guest-directed by Harker alumnus Cooper Sivara ’07, who also served as an assistant director on the upper school production of “The Laramie Project.” This production was also the first annual grade 6 play, a brand new addition to the middle school performance schedule, and featured a cast made up entirely of grade 6 students. In this unique comedy, a group of theater students find themselves in a troubling position, all of them having forgotten that they are to give a final exam performance at the very moment they all appear on stage. Faced with the possibility of a failing grade, the actors band together to produce a play on the spot, humorously surveying the basic tenets of theater in the process.
Next was Phil Willmott’s version of “Treasure Island,” directed by Monica Colletti, which changed the gender of many key characters from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic swashbuckling tale, losing none of the charm or adventurous spirit in the process. Compared with “No Show’s” appropriately minimalist setting and wardrobe, Caela Fujii’s costumes and Paul Vallerga’s set design for “Treasure Island” seemed positively flamboyant, though nevertheless fitting for a story of adventure on the high seas, punctuated by exciting set pieces and fight choreography by Kit Wilder.
Harker’s middle school golf team took second place in a West Bay Athletic League tournament in late October, behind the Nueva School. Harker’s top performer of the day was eighth grader Alex King, who shot a 34, followed closely by Aditya Tadimeti, grade 7, who shot a 36. Katelyn Vo, grade 8, finished with 39, while Natalie Vo, grade 7, and Ronit Gagneja, grade 8, both shot 40. Rounding out Harker’s squad were respectable scorers Marcus Page, grade 6 (41), Bryan Zhang, grade 7 (42), and Bowen Yin, grade 7 (44).
Showstoppers, the grades 7-8 girls dance team, was asked to perform at the 2015 Red Cross Innovation Celebration, which took place on Oct. 24. Showstoppers performed a great vampire-themed routine, despite having little time to prepare for this unexpected performance, as the girls were out for a week on the middle school class trips. Regardless of having little recovery time from their trips, the students were honored to have this opportunity and delivered a fabulous performance.
The Red Cross Innovation Celebration is the American Red Cross of the Silicon Valley’s annual fundraising event that benefits local emergency preparedness, response and recovery efforts for Silicon Valley’s 2 million residents. Go Showstoppers!
The fall sports season was a huge success, with more than 300 participants in grades 4-8.
We are very appreciative of all the parental support we received this season. So many parents stepped up to provide snacks and support for the coaches. We also appreciate the hard work and dedication of our athletes.
Here are the final West Bay Athletic League standings and award winners for the lower and middle school fall sports teams.
Varsity A (grade 8) flag football: Finished in fifth place in the WBAL at 2-4, 5-6 overall. Team awards went to Naveen Mirapuri (MVP), Jeffrey Liu (Eagle) and Vedanth Sundaram (Coaches).
Varsity B (grade 7) flag football: Finished in third place in the WBAL at 4-1-1, 7-3-1 overall. Team awards went to Srinath Somasundaram (MVP), Marcus Anderson (Eagle) and Nikhil Gargeya (Coaches).
Junior varsity A (grade 6) flag football: Finished in second place in the WBAL at 5-2, 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Eric Bollar (MVP), Anquan Boldin Jr. (Eagle) and Richard Amarillas (Coaches).
Junior varsity B (grade 5) flag football: Finished in second place in the WBAL at 4-2. Team awards went to Rohan Gorti (MVP), Frederick Hoch (Eagle) and Drake Piscione (Coaches).
Intramural (grade 4) flag football: Team awards went to Om Tandon and Jack Ledford (Eagle) and Jerry Li and Enzo Lucketti (Coaches).
Varsity A (grades 7 and 8) softball: Finished in third place in the WBAL at 3-1-1, 4-2-1 overall. Team awards went to Alaina Valdez, grade 7 (MVP); Hunter Hernandez, grade 7 (Eagle); and Alex Baeckler, grade 7 (Coaches).
Junior varsity A (grades 4-6) softball: Finished in first place in the WBAL at 4-1-1. Team awards went to Brooklyn Cicero, grade 6 (MVP); Annalyn Bean, grade 5 (Eagle); and Maya Kelly, grade 4 (Coaches).
Intramural (grade 4) softball: Team awards went to Cecilia Yang, Maria Chrysafis and Claire Bauschlicher (Coaches).
MS cross country: Team awards went to Courtni Thompson, grade 7 (top runner); Mihir Sharma, grade 8, Anna Weirich, grade 7, and Kevin Chen, grade 8 (MVP); Arya Maheshwari, grade 7, Grant Miner, grade 8, and Anna Gert, grade 8 (Eagle); and Raj Patel, grade 6, Minali Kapadia, grade 6, and Annabelle Ju, grade 8 (Coaches).
First place finishers were:
Courtni Thompson (Harker meet, Rolling Hills meet, JD Morgan Park meet)
Arya Maheshwari (Harker meet)
Grade 6 boys team (WBAL final meet)
Grade 7 boys team (Harker meet)
Grade 8 boys team (Harker meet)
Grade 8 girls team (Harker meet)
MS swimming: Team awards went to Allison Jia, grade 8 (MVP); Nina Gee, grade 7 (Eagle); and Elizabeth Fields, grade 7, and Rishab Parthasarathy, grade 6 (Coaches).
LS swimming: Team awards went to Alexis Nishimura, grade 5 (MVP); Rani Patel, grade 4 (Eagle) and Linette Hoffman, grade 5 (Coaches).
First place finishers at the Castilleja meet were:
William Zhao, grade 6, 100 IM
Rhys Edwards, grade 7, 100 IM and 50 fly
Leland Rossi, grade 7, 50 free and 200 free
Alyssa Huang, grade 8, 50 fly and 50 breast
Kurtis Tong, grade 5, 25 back
Arjun Akkiraju, grade 8, 50 back
Brittany Shou, grade 6, 100 free
Anish Pai, grade 6, 200 free
Avery Young, grade 7, 50 breast
Grade 6 boys, 100 free relay
Grade 7 boys, 100 free relay
Grade 6 boys, medley relay
Grade 7 boys, medley relay
Grade 8 boys, medley relay
Grade 8 girls, medley relay
First place finishers at the WBAL finals meet were:
Vivek Sunkam, grade 7, put in an inspired performance at the Frank Millet Massachusetts Junior Championship Tour (JCT) squash tournament, held at Harvard University Sept. 18-20. Sunkam was seed 14 at this strong JCT tournament, composed mainly of the top 32 players in the country in the BU13 age division. Sunkam won handily in the first round and won a thrilling five-game match in the second, winning a huge upset. Sunkam’s third-round win put him in semis, and he would go on to place fourth overall.
After this tournament performance, Sunkam moved up the ranks to crack the top 10 nationwide. He is currently ranked ninth in the country in the BU13 category.
Toward the end of the last school year, middle school performing arts teacher Monica Colletti’s grade 7-8 students worked with the SAAS Marina School in Moscow to create video projects in which they performed one-minute monologues. The students were asked to interview someone they knew about their family life growing up. Using the information gleaned from the interview, each student then recorded a one-minute video monologue, mimicking the interviewee as accurately as possible. Videos from both schools were later edited to make one longer video that was submitted to a local school video competition.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2015 Harker Quarterly.
In July, 20 middle school Spanish language students embarked on their biennial two-week immersion trip to Costa Rica, absorbing the country’s rich culture and natural beauty while bolstering their Spanish language skills.
On their trip to La Carpio, a neighborhood made up primarily of Nicaraguan immigrants, the students assisted the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation with painting a house. Other students played with the local children. “It was touching to see how naturally our group used their Spanish to communicate with the children and how sad all of them were to say goodbye,” said middle school Spanish teacher Julie Pinzás, who accompanied the students on the trip.
On another day, the group spent the day learning some staple Latin dance moves. “Our instructor, Jason, taught us how to do the Bachata, Merengue and some fun ways to turn your partner,” Pinzás wrote. “He was impressed on how enthusiastic our students were and their level of understanding.” The next day, they returned to La Carpio, where one group of students helped set up a pop-up library and another visited a preschool, where they helped the children prepare for entry into Costa Rican schools.
The group traveled to the town of Sarchí on Wednesday, known for the Pan-American Highway that connects Central and South America. “Sarchí is also renowned for its colorfully painted oxcart wheels and beautifully hand-carved wood furniture and crafts,” said Pinzás. The students spent the day painting their own wheels, learning the basics under the tutelage of a local artist.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Once again, California was the classroom for students on the annual summer middle school backpacking trip. Soon after school let out, 16 students, accompanied by several teachers, headed off for a five-day trek through the Jackass Lakes region, just south of Yosemite National Park.
“Students carried all their own food, cooked all their own food, and learned to become independent in a new environment through teamwork, problem-solving, and math skills,” recalled middle school science teacher Daniel Sommer.
Sommer, along with fellow science teacher Ben Morgensen and middle school math teacher Margaret Huntley, accompanied the students on their wilderness adventure.
The trip was marked by beautiful weather and a great mix of first-time and returning hikers, some sleeping in a tent for the very first time and others taking on real leadership roles. All of the students took turns setting up camp and cooking dinner. They also learned how to catch fish in the lake and purify all their water.
Alex Rule, grade 9, has gone on the trip for the past few years. “The backpacking trip was a mixture of exhilaration, challenge and friendship. We were faced with some very difficult hikes, but we pushed each other along and achieved some of the greatest accomplishments of our lives. The views were breathtaking … but just as enjoyable as appreciating the magnificent nature was creating relationships with the other backpackers. I found myself really loving their personalities, and I could not have made it as far as I did without them,” he said.
The middle school backpacking trip was a casual, optional outdoor travel opportunity for students. This fall, many middle school students will participate in exciting, weeklong class trips, also providing hands-on learning outside the classroom. Last year, grade 6 students visited the Santa Cruz Mountains; grade 7 toured national parks around the Southwest; and grade 8 journeyed to Washington, D.C.
“Overall, my three years doing the [backpacking] trip have created some of the best weeks of my life, and I genuinely feel like other people interested in the trip will feel the same way if they decide to come along!” said Rule.
Karina Momary, middle school debate coach, had a nice surprise in her snail mail box one morning in mid-September: a letter from the White House! She received a missive from President Barack Obama acknowledging the middle school debate team’s success this past year. In addition to the letter, the envelope also contained photos of the First Family. This acknowledgement came after the middle school debate team was named an Overall School of Excellence by the National Speech & Debate Association, an award given to just three schools nationwide. This is the fourth time in a row the MS team has received this award! Read more about both upper and middle school debate triumphs this summer at Harker News! https://staging.news.harker.org/?p=26731
In July, 20 middle school Spanish language students embarked on their biennial immersion trip to Costa Rica, absorbing the country’s rich culture and natural beauty while bolstering their Spanish language skills.
After arriving in the town of Grecia, the students, along with middle school Spanish teachers Julie Pinzas and Susan Moling and upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss, settled in for the night and prepared for their visit to San Luis the next day. Zip-lining across the San Luis rainforest was an exciting start to the second day, which also saw the students sampling Costa Rican cuisine and learning more about the history and architecture of Grecia.
Day three started with a visit to ACCE language school, where the students were placed in small groups for their Spanish lessons. “As usual, they impressed the director and Costa Rican teachers with their Spanish!” Pinzas said. After their time at ACCE, the students trekked from Grecia up to Volcan Poas, a nearby active volcano.
Another memorable day was spent at La Carpio, a neighborhood made up primarily of Nicaraguan immigrants, where the students helped the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation paint a house. Other students played with the local children. “It was touching to see how naturally our group used their Spanish to communicate with the children and how sad all of them were to say goodbye,” Pinzas said.
On another day, the group visited Manuel Antonio National Park and enjoyed a hike through the rainforest that eventually lead them to a beach, “which looked like it was from a movie set with majestic palm trees surrounding a turquoise bay,” Pinzas reported. The capuchin monkeys playing above were a welcome sight for the students, who also greatly enjoyed a few hours splashing in the water.
The group also spent a day learning some staple Latin dance moves. “Our instructor, Jason, taught us how to do the Bachata, Merengue and some fun ways to turn your partner,” Pinzas wrote. “He was impressed on how enthusiastic our students were and their level of understanding.” The next day, they returned to La Carpio, where one group of students helped set up a pop-up library and another visited a preschool, where they helped the children prepare for entry into Costa Rican schools.
The group also visited the town of Sarchí, known for the Pan-American Highway that connects Central and South America. “Sarchí is also renowned for its colorfully painted oxcart wheels and beautifully hand-carved wood furniture and crafts,” said Pinzas. The students spent the day painting their own wheels, learning the basics under the tutelage of a local artist.
The next day was spent at Centro Educativo Nuevo Milenio, where they engaged in an interactive speaking activity and games with their Costa Rican friends. Later in the day, the students performed at a talent show. “The show was truly amazing!” Pinzas exclaimed. “We were all awed and inspired by many of the performances which included several truly creative modern dances by both individuals and grade-level groups.”