Eighty-six grade 7 science students combined their artistic talents with math skills to create a 72” x 52” recreation of an iconic portrait of Isaac Newton. The idea was created as a physics-art collaboration between middle school science instructor Raji Swaminathan and fine arts instructor Elizabeth Saltos. Using the same grid-enlargement method Raphael used to create his frescoes 500 years ago, the students were each given a 1″ x 1″ image, which they had to enlarge to a 6.5” x 6.5” inch square. After 88 squares were completed, the students taped them together to form a portrait of Newton surrounded by many of his inventions and scientific contributions. Said Swaminathan, “This whole semester, seventh graders hear more about Newton than anybody else, and this project is something hopefully that they will remember in their 30s and 40s.”
Representatives from the Punahou School in Honolulu, which counts President Barack Obama among its alumni, visited the Harker middle school campus in mid-February to learn how Harker uses technology in the classroom. During their tour, they watched science teacher Raji Swaminathan give a lecture using PowerPoint, saw Concepcion Grande’s Spanish students use Audacity to practice their language skills and observed science teacher Scott Kley-Contini’s students use Google Moderator to hold a confidential question and answer session, as well as use Slide Rocket to give live feedback on a presentation.
Feb. 22, 2011
[Update] The grade 5boys soccer team, coached by Jared Ramsey and Walid Fahmy, had an exciting win over Sacred Heart 2-1, after playing the same team to a 3-3 tie earlier in the season. The team is currently 2-0-2 and is tied for first place in the league!
The grade 7boys soccer team, coached by Nicholas Hahn and David Ramos, dominated Priory 9-0 and currently is in second place in the league with a 2-1 record.
The grade 7 girls basketball team, coached by Loreen Talagtag and Joe Mentillo, played an exciting game against Menlo last week, falling at the end 25-26.
Feb. 16, 2011
The early winter season of grades 4-8 boys basketball and girls soccer has come to a close. What a fantastic season it was, especially for our boys basketball teams!
EARLY WINTER SEASON
Boys Basketball
Our grade 8 varsity A boys basketball team went 6-0 in league and 10-1 overall. They took home the league championship and won the WBAL end-of-season tournament as well, a Harker first! The team was led by co-MVPs Eric Holt and Srivinay Irrinki, Eagle Award winners Vamsi Gadiraju and Avik Wadhwa and Coaches Award winner Arjun Ashok.
Our grade 7-8 varsity B basketball team went 6-1 in league and 8-2 overall. They took second place in the WBAL and fifth place in the WBAL tournament. The team was led by MVP Sidhart Krishnamurthi, grade 8; Eagle Award winner Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 7; and Coaches Award winner Prithvi Gudapati, grade 7.
The grade 6 junior varsity A basketball team went 3-3 in league for a fourth place finish in league and went 3-5 overall. The team was led by MVP Andrew Gu, Eagle Award winner Alex Mo and Coaches Award winner Alex Youn.
The grade 5 junior varsity B basketball team went 6-0 in league and 7-1 overall. They took home the league championship and took second place in the WBAL tournament. The team was led by co-MVPs Brando Pakel and Siddhart Chari and Eagle Award winner Eric Andrus.
Our grade 4 junior varsity C basketball team went 6-0 in league and also took home the league championship! The team was led by co-MVPs Jackson Williams and Jarrett Anderson and Eagle Award winner Jason Peetz.
Girls Soccer
Our grade 8 varsity A girls soccer team went 2-5 in league, but their record was not indicative of how good the team actually was. All but one of the losses was by a single goal, which was usually scored just before time expired. The team was led by co-MVPs Alyssa Amick and Savi Joshi, Eagle Award winners Diba Massihpour and Safia Khouja and Coaches Award winner Gabi Gupta.
The grade 7 varsity B soccer team went 2-4 in league with a couple very close losses. The team was led by MVP Alisa Wakita, Eagle Award winner Jessica Liou and Coaches Award winner Naomi Molin.
Our grade 6 junior varsity A soccer team went 2-3-1 in league with huge wins over Castilleja and Crystal Springs. The team was led by MVP Anuva Mittal, Eagle Award winner Lyndsey Mitchell and Coaches Award winner Divya Rajasekharan.
Our grades 4-5 junior varsity B soccer team went 1-3-2 in league with a solid victory over Girls Middle School, 6-1, and a couple of 2-2 ties. The team was led by MVP Alexandra Lu, grade 4; Eagle Award winner Lilia Gonzales, grade 4; and Coaches Award winner Krishna Bheda, grade 5.
Our grades 4-5 intramural soccer team enjoyed their introduction to soccer and look forward to competing in games in the near future. The team was led by MVP Priya Bhanot, Eagle Award winner Rebecca Mak and Coaches Award winner Claudia Opris, all grade 4.
LATE WINTER SEASON
After a highly successful early winter season, the late winter girls basketball and boys soccer seasons have gotten off to a productive start. Many teams have already played quite a few games.
Girls Basketball
The grade 8 girls basketball team is 1-4 in league play, competing against very competitive eighth grade teams in the WBAL. Recently the team enjoyed an exciting victory over Priory, 27-11. Key players are Lehka Chirala, Eugene Gil and Savi Joshi.
The grade 7 girls basketball team is 1-2 after starting the season with an exciting win over Stratford, 32-23. Key players are Sadhika Malladi, Shannon Richardson and Namitha Vellian.
The grade 6 basketball team is 1-3 in league play, after starting the season with a win over Girls Middle School, 35-15. Key players are Joelle Anderson, Jordan Thompson and Lindsey Trinh.
The grade 5 girls basketball team is 2-1 in league play with huge wins over St. Matt’s, 22-2, and Sacred Heart 2, 16-10. Key players are Anika Banga, Megan Huynh, Satchi Thockchom and Akshaya Vemuri.
The grade 4 girls basketball team is 1-2 in league play with a victory over Sacred Heart 2, 18-6. The team is led by Kayla Dominguez, Keili FitzGerald, Jennifer Hayashi and Alexandra Janssen.
Boys Soccer
The grade 8 boys soccer team is 1-2 in league play with an exciting win over King’s Academ, 3-1. Key players are Jeremiah Anderson, Edwin Chen, Thomas Doyle and Nikhil Kishore.
The grade 7 boys soccer team is 2-1 in league play with solid victories over Keys, 3-0, and Priory, 9-0. Key players are Jonathon Keller, Andrew Kirjner, Calvin Kocienda, Michael Quezada and Nathaniel Stearns.
The grade 6 boys soccer team is 2-1 in league play with a 6-0 win over Pinewood and a 4-1 win over Crystal Springs. Key players are Kedar Gupta, Sandip Nirmel, Ryan Vaughan and Nicholas Weisbloom.
The grade 5 boys soccer team is 2-0-2 in league play with a 4-1 win over Sacred Heart 1, a 2-1 win over Sacred Heart 2, a 3-3 tie with Sacred Heart 2 and a 1-1 tie with Pinewood. Key players are Jin Kim and Matthew McCallaCreary, Rohit Shah and Vedant Shah.
The grades 4-5 intramural soccer team has enjoyed their introduction to soccer this season and look forward to competing in the near future. The team is led by Nirban Bhatia, grade 5; Jarrett Anderson, grade 4; Chris Gong, grade 4; and Krish Kapadia, grade 4.
Beginning Japanese students in Harker’s middle school finished their culture projects on Feb. 4, by creating beautiful origami lilies for their mothers, to be given on Valentine’s Day as a token of appreciation and love. The students also made Japanese-style cards and attached them to the flowers with a message written inside entirely in Japanese.
Middle school students taking Advanced Japanese went on a culinary and cultural field trip on Feb. 4 to practice their language skills. The students traveled to the authentic Japanese restaurant Tanto in Sunnyvale, where the Japanese-speaking wait staff was instructed to ignore any student request spoken in English. Japanese teacher Kumi Matsui said the students benefited from practicing Japanese outside the classroom while also being exposed to authentic Japanese cuisine. The students also had the chance to interact with two visiting high school students from the Tamagawa School in Tokyo, Japan, who joined in on the delicious outing.
This January, Harker’s entire grade 5 class – with a little help from a few talented upper school technical theater students and a cadre of adventurous teachers – took part in multiple performances of the musical “Go West,” by John Jacobson and Roger Emerson.
The musical, a fantastical retelling of the Gold Rush billed as “A Musical Celebration of America’s Westward Expansion,” served as a shared meditation on the origins of Northern California. It was further personalized with several added scenes by performing arts teacher Jennifer Cowgill which framed the story’s narrative as a fifth grader’s presentation to his classmates, and by a new scene in which our heroes run into a tribe of Native Americans.
That scene, written by Cowgill, history teacher Jared Ramsey and math teacher Pat Walsh, featured Ramsey and Walsh alongside teachers Shital Ashar, Joe Chung, Joe Connolly, Kristin Giammona, Shelby Guarino, Cathy Le, Katie Molin, Eileen Schick and Tobias Wade as members of the Nisenan Tribe in the Sierra Mountains, who teach the young adventurers and explorers how to use the land.
Cowgill also served as the director and musical director, and with more than 120 students, she created rich crowd scenes that humanized the extensive palate of 1800s American social life, placing crowds of cowboys, belles, reporters, journalists, sailors, doctors, businessmen, moguls, policemen, train conductors, mayors and politicians all side by side, not to mention one or two horses and cows.
The image of so many actors on one stage, sharing the story, is both rare and striking, and as Cowgill could no doubt attest, bringing more than 100 young students together towards a common purpose is no easy feat, even before they are asked to pour their hearts out in song. Yet, as Cowgill said, “They are singing two- and three-part harmonies in a number of songs in the show. This is very impressive for a group of over 100 fifth graders.”
Indeed, all of the entrances, exits and movements of the production were tied to music, and the show began as a pantomime. Not only that, most of the student-actors remained onstage for the majority of the show. “This would be incredibly challenging for even older students to learn, and they have done it, much to my surprise, quite well,” said Cowgill.
Students from the lower, middle and upper schools were eager to pitch in. Teacher Danny Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater class was stage crew, handling props and directing traffic behind the scenes. Dunn’s middle school technical theater class also devised one of the key design features of the show: an abstraction of a locomotive formed by the rhythmic churning of trunks, wool blankets, a rusted hoe, a lantern and more objects ripped from the era that together composed the ultra-theatrical rendition of an early train.
Meanwhile, three upper school students, Araby Martin, Michael Prutton and Christophe Pellissier, all grade 12, pitched in their time to realize the production. Prutton handled responsibilities as the assistant lighting designer and then the light and video operator during the show. Pellissier served as the sound operator, and Martin worked as assistant stage manager.
Even the show’s program owes a debt to student contribution: fifthgrader Kaitlin Hsu, who also took part in the performance, did the illustration for the program’s cover.
As impressive as the show’s production was, Cowgill was keen on noting the importance of the process to the students’ learning experience and personal development, pointing out that the shared artistic journey helped the students to learn skills of bravery and self-expression, methods of collaboration with a team, and lessons in the cultivation of empathy.
“The process of rehearsing for a show allows them to take risks and share creativity, work with others, and develop consideration for the people with whom they interact every day,” Cowgill wrote in her program note – skills that will serve the students well in whatever their futures bring. “By being involved in this, they are beginning to develop life skills that stretch beyond the classroom.”
Nineteen Chinese students from the World Foreign Language Middle School in Shanghai, China, visited Harker for a week in mid-January as part of an annual exchange program organized by the global education department. The Chinese students were paired with Harker “buddies,” whose families hosted the students for the duration of their stays.
The exchange group was given the full VIP treatment at Harker, where they were able to observe and attend several classes, including dance with Gail Palmer, drama with Monica Colletti and art with Elizabeth Saltos. After getting a taste of Harker’s classes, the visiting students assisted their buddies in leading a Chinese traditional paper-cutting activity for grade 4 and 5 students. While they were here, the Chinese group went on excursions to San Jose, Stanford and San Francisco, where they went souvenir shopping and walked across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The middle school played host to Harker grade 5 parents on Jan. 9 for a “What’s Brewing” event aimed to present the myriad opportunities and activities available to students in grades 6-8. After Head of School Christopher Nikoloff welcomed the parents, they were treated to presentations on topics ranging from elective opportunities to global education opportunities, and from the laptop program to the spring musical.
The Harker School is hosting its tenth annual math invitational on March 5, 2011, open to all middle school students in grades 6–8. Students are invited to participate as individuals and in teams of four to seven students. Schools that do not have complete teams will be combined with others to create a team.
Registration deadline is Feb. 15 and invitations have already been mailed to many schools in the area. The contest is limited to 14 students per grade, per school; cost is $5 per student. Late registration is $10 per student. Please note students are not provided lunch and chaperones / coaches are responsible for supervising their students during the lunch break (12 noon to 1:30 p.m.). For full information, download the flier!
The Harker grade 6 Lego Robotics team advanced to the state championship after taking first place in the First Lego League (FLL) competition held on Dec. 4 in Daly City. Aditya Dhar, Rishab Gargeya, Manan Shah, Kayvon Solaimanpour and Peter Wu took the first place teamwork award in the qualifying tournament and second place research award in the regional tournament. Their project task was to choose a problem based on biomedical engineering, research it and present a solution. The team came up with a solution for the treatment of asthma using nanotechnology. The championship tournament is scheduled for Jan. 29 in Newark, Calif.