In April, middle school history teacher Cyrus Merrill took his grade 6 advisory to Malibu Grand Prix for a fun-filled outing as the end of the year approached. Activities during the day included go-kart racing, miniature golf, a pizza dinner, arcade games and a ride on the much-loved, water cannon-equipped bumper boats, during which Merrill was a favorite target.
The middle school had a lively and informative assembly on Earth Day (April 22), showcasing both students’ knowledge and their care for the environment. The assembly was conducted by the students. Susan Moling, Spanish teacher, said, “it was super inspiring! I’d love more assemblies like this one – where the kids create the content.”
The student-run activities were the highlight of the day: grade 8 students presented Earth Day skits and public service announcements, grade 6 students built solar cookers and baked Earth Day cookies, and everywhere around campus Earth Day posters were on display. All of the activities were themed around environmental consciousness and healthy living.
Scott Kley Contini, grade 8 biology teacher, said the Earth Day assembly was successful. “[The students] amazed me with their level of awareness and inspired me with their creativity,” he said “I feel so lucky to be teaching such talented individuals.”
For more information, contact Lorna Claerbout, K-8 science department chair, at lornac@harker.org.
Tags: ScienceThe middle school grade 7 and 8 orchestras and Vivace choir performed impressively this spring, each earning awards at performing arts festivals. The orchestras performed at the California Music Educators Association festival in May and, for the first time, both of the orchestras were awarded Unanimous Superior ratings to recognize their skill and dedication their crafts. This double award has come after a year dedicated to improving all of the students’ individual abilities and their work as a group.
Vivace traveled to a middle and high school choir festival in Anaheim in April. The group performed three pieces in front of an audience and a panel of judges. Their performance of classical, jazz and traditional/spiritual pieces earned them high praise from the judges. Dave Hart, middle school music teacher, said, “I was blown away by their musicianship and ability to blend.” Hart wasn’t the only one the group impressed; the judges recognized them for their strong team effort, awarding them a gold medal and one of the highest middle school choir scores. After the performances, the groups were invited to celebrate their hard work at Disneyland.
Let’s congratulate the groups on a fantastic end to a year that, according to Hart, was dedicated to “learning music and having a great time.”
Tags: Featured Story, Performing Arts, toppaAt the beginning of May, the middle school held a teacher appreciation day to recognize the continuing efforts of the teachers. To demonstrate their appreciation, the administration cooked breakfast and the middle school parents made lunch for the teachers. That Wednesday, the school meeting was dedicated to students and teachers celebrating together. These events were dedicated to thanking teachers for their seemingly unending work in educating students that is perpetually above and beyond the call of duty.
On April 21, the Blackford campus received some cosmetic love and care from two middle school advisory groups, courtesy of that school’s student council. The council had raised funds by selling candy to the students over the course of two weeks, with the intent of beatifying the school grounds; they ultimately decided on a flower planting as the best way to contribute.
Lana Morrison, dean of students, and Melinda Gonzales, academic counselor, along with their advisory groups, dedicated their lunch periods to creating a stylized Harker logo outside of the main office. The H in the logo was created using white pansies, green ornamental grass and a river rock border. Be sure to stop by to see the new flowerbed!
The grade 6-8 tennis team, although still competing in playoffs, went a combined 10-4 this season in two separate leagues. The team went 5-2 in the WBAL and took third place in the final tournament. The team went 5-2 in the MTP and are currently in the quarterfinals of the final tournament. The team is led by Sophia Luo and Vikram Vasan, grade 7, and Srivinay Irrinki, grade 8.
The grade 6-8 water polo team finished off the season in fine fashion this past weekend with convincing victories over Terman 22-4 and Castilleja 20-0. They finished the season with a combined record of 6-3. The team was led by Billy Bloomquist, Delaney Martin, Ryan Palmer and Darby Millard, all grade 8; Shivali Minocha, grade 7; and Harry Xu and Pooja Kini, grade 6.
The grade 5 girls JVB1 girls volleyball team won the WBAL title with a record of 6-0! Key players were Satchi Thockchom, Aria Coalson and Sameep Mangat. Key players for the JVB2 team were Julia Amick and Jennifer Hayashi, grade 4 and Sanjana Avula, grade 5.
The grade 6 girls JVA girls volleyball team were tri-champions of the WBAL with a record of 6-1! Key players were Lindsey Trinh, Rachel Cheng and Joelle Anderson. Key players for the JVB6 team, who finished in a three-way tie for second in the WBAL, were Priyanka Chilukuri, Priyanka Taneja and Sarah Tien.
The grade 7-8 girls were combined into three teams. The varsity A team went 9-0 to take first place in the WBAL! The team was led by Shannon Richardson, Jacqueline Chen and Doreene Kang, all grade 7. The varsity B team went 8-1 to take second place in the WBAL. The team was led by Leeza Kuo, Hannah Bollar and Allison Kiang, all grade 8. The varsity B2 team went 7-2 for a two-way tie for second place in the WBAL. The team was led by Kelly Wang, Neha Sunil and Archana Podury, all grade 8.
The grade 6-8 boys volleyball teams went a combined 15-0 this season! The varsity A team was led by Matt Ho, Justin Lee and Richard Gu, all grade 8. The varsity B team was led by Austin Tuan, Alex Youn and Andrew Gu, all grade 6. The junior varsity A team was led by Justin Xie, Albert Xu and Shekar Ramaswamy, all grade 6.
The grade 5-8 baseball program continues to develop and there were some exciting games with Crystal Springs and Sacred Heart, and of course, the close game between the Harker grade 5 and 6 teams where the fifth graders took home the victory this year. The lower school team was led by Michael Sikand, grade 7 and Tanay Kamat and Will Holaday, both grade 5. The middle school team was led by Logan Drazovich, grade 7 and Karan Walia and Alex Lam, both grade 6.
Nearly 30 middle school students attended the State Latin Convention at Miramonte High School in Orinda in early April. The group enjoyed a variety of activities ranging from workshops (the Roman soldier re-enactors were a particular favorite) to a banquet, and, naturally, participated in the competition, with many winning prizes. Harker placed second overall in the middle school category.
Awards at the MS1 level (all grade 6): Sean Costello, second in Latin sight reading; Aditya Dhar, first in derivatives, first in mythology, first in Latin oratory; Alexander Lam, second in derivatives; Eric Pei, honorable mention in grammar; Venkat Sankar, first in dramatic interpretation (boy); Amrita Singh, first in dramatic interpretation (girl), third in grammar, third in Latin sight reading; Jackson Su, honorable mention in mythology; Arjun Subramaniam, first in tennis, second in dramatic interpretation (boy); Karthik Sundaram, first in strings; Austin Tuan, second in grammar. In addition, Dhar won the individual academic sweepstakes in MS1.
Awards at the MS2 level (all grade 7, unless otherwise indicated): Billy Bloomquist , grade 8, second in Latin sight reading, third in reading comprehension; Rishabh Chandra, first in grammar, third in reading comprehension; Richard Gu, grade 8, second in reading comprehension, third in mythology; Sadhika Malladi, first in reading comprehension; Kaushik Sankar, third in reading comprehension; Elisabeth Siegel, first in pentathlon, first in essay; Vivek Sriram, grade 8, first in derivatives, first in reading comprehension, first in Latin sight reading; Allison Wang, second in mythology, second in pentathlon, third in Latin sight reading. The certamen (quiz bowl) team of Chandra, Sankar, Siegel and Wang placed first in the state.
Awards at the MS3 level (all grade 8): Anni Ankola, third in costume (he dressed as Charon), honorable mention in vocabulary; Zabin Bashar, first in impromptu art, honorable mention in mythology, honorable mention in reading comprehension; Aadyot Bhatnagar, first in reading comprehension, first in vocabulary, second in strings; Maya Nandakumar, first in mythology, first in dramatic interpretation (girl), second in vocal music; Bhatnagar and Nandakumar tied for first in the individual academic sweepstakes at the MS3 level. Also, the certamen team of Bashar, Bhatnagar, Nandakumar and Rasika Raghavan, grade 8, (in preliminary rounds) placed first.
Other participants were Chris Finsterbusch, Brendan Tobin, Albert Xu, all grade 6, and Ryan Fernandes and John Nicolas Jerney, both grade 7. In conjunction with the upper school, the delegation was awarded first place for spirit. The T-shirt designed by Kevin Ke, grade 7, placed first, as did the banner created by Shannon Hong and Natalie Simonian, both grade 7, and Sophia Shatas and Allison Kiang, both grade 8. The chariot team came in second in their race. The scrapbook created by Nandakumar placed third.
Tags: Featured StoryMay 11, 2011
Harker’s Vandana Kadam, middle school math teacher, led Celine Liang, grade 7, from Harker, and three students from other California schools to the Mathcounts national championship in Washington, D.C.
Students from Redwood, Cupertino and Kennedy middle schools, California’s top finishers at the state level, were the other three members of the championship team. Liang was third in the state competition. Mathcounts was founded 28 years ago by the National Society of Professional Engineers, CNA Foundation and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
“Making it to the California state team itself is an accomplishment due to the population and the competition,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school.
A total of 250,000 students participated in MathCounts nationwide this year, coached by over 5,000 coaches, noted Kadam. There were 56 teams at nationals, which ran May 5-8. The teams come from each of the 50 states, plus the Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico, and added teams from the District of Columbia, Department of Defense and the State Department. No matter how large or small the state is, only four top students represent each one.
Students are graded individually for individual prizes and also on the team score. The team score comprises the average of the four individual scores and an additional team round. California beat all top teams to clinch first place and each member of the winning California team won a $2,000 scholarship and a trip to space camp. “The students did an awesome job. Harker was well represented by Celine Liang,” said Kadam.
Tags: In the News, MathematicsIn honor of Rome’s 2764th birthday, the middle school beginning Latin classes of Lisa Masoni and Andrea Milius cooked or brought Roman foods for a modest feast. Masoni’s students brought, for the first time ever, ostrich and wild boar. Milius’ class covered food basics, and both classes had a great end-of-year celebration with plenty of learning thrown in.
In early May a representative of the Shriners Hospitals for Children – Sacramento came to Harker’s middle school to accept a $1,200 check from the Peace2Peace club. The club’s eighth graders raised the money in their annual garage sale to help the Shriners. Glenn Reddy has been spearheading these efforts over the last three years and this year was assisted by Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari, Jeremy Binkley and Alex Thomas, backed up by Sophia Shatas, Hannah Baz and Christina Andrus.
The Shriners Hospitals for Children is a nonprofit network of 22 hospitals that gives aid to children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, cleft lips and palates. The specific hospital that Peace2Peace is supporting is located in Sacramento.
Advised by Steven Hewitt, the group solicited items to sell at their sale, asking for everything from toaster ovens to paintings on velvet in their creative announcement, stating, “one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure” as their philosophy. They requested the donations be placed in special red bins spotted around the Blackford campus. In mid-April, aiming for a dry weekend, they collected all the goods, set up shop and ran the sale from Reddy’s home.
“Over the past few years, we have raised money for places in Uganda, Costa Rica and India,” Reddy said. “We sat down and realized this year that people need help locally and not just in other countries. Since I have been a patient at Shriners myself, I recommended the Shriners hospital as a group to donate to.”
The Los Altos Town Crier ran a nice story on the effort on May 4. It can be found online.
Tags: Featured Story, Outreach, topoutreach