[Update] In error, Harker News Online mis-identified the singer of the moving rendition of “Far From the Home I Love.” Shazdeh Hussain, playing Hodel, was the singer. We apologize for the error.
This year’s middle school musical was an excellent rendition of the 1964 hit “Fiddler On the Roof.” Directed by middle school teachers Monica Colletti and Roxann Hagemeyer, the show ran in the first week of May.
Students began rehearsals in late January, with some practicing five hours a week. As the show neared, however, rehearsals geared up, with students working as many as 15 hours a week to perfect their performance.
Four showings were staged, beginning May 5 and ending May 8. Two shows were for Harker students, faculty and staff, and two were open to the public.
“Fiddler”gave students a chance to display a wide range of talents, including acting, singing and playing musical instruments. It also illustrated the range of theatrical genres, with moments of comedy mixed with sometimes tense drama and even tragedy.
Shazdeh Hussain, Gr. 8, gave a wonderful performance as Hodel, stunning the audience with her singing abilities. Her rendition of “Far From the Home I Love” had many members of the audience in tears.
Sean Knudsen, Gr. 8, playing Tevye, remarked afterward, “It was just a blast working with the entire cast and finally watching it all come together into such a great show.”
Because of limited room backstage, students had the added challenge of maneuvering around props and other actors while trying not to miss their cues. It was not uncommon to see an actor bump into Tevye’s cart before hobbling toward the stage, clutching a shin. However, once they got on stage, all thought of injury was thrown aside as students got wholeheartedly into character.
After this year’s excellent musical we look forward to next year’s effort, and can only wonder at the achievements our theatrical eighth graders will attain in high school!
The state convention of the California Junior Classical League was held in Irvine in April, and Harker’s middle school students excelled in a broad range of categories. Harker ranked second overall among the middle schools at the event. Harker’s middle school also took first in the boys track and field 4 x 100 relay; second place in the banner competition; third place in scrapbook; second place in the T-shirt contest; first place in the female driver, four male “horses” (actually students) chariot race; and second place in the male driver, four female “horses” chariot race.
Oishi Banerjee, Gr. 8, earned first place at the Middle School 3 (MS3) level for overall individual performance in three categories: Arts, Athletics and Combined performance in Academic, Arts and Athletics. Banerjee also tied for first place in MS3 Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes with Kevin Duraiswamy; took first in MS3 girls Dramatic Interpretation; first in MS3 Latin Oratory; first in Modern Myth; third in middle school original poetry; first in Essay; second in Latin Slogan; first in MS vocal performance; second in Multi Media; and first in Certamen Team along with fellow students Duraiswamy, Nikhil Dilip and Anika Ayyar, all Gr. 8.
In addition to her first place Certamen Team win, Ayyar also finished first in MS3 Roman Daily Life; second in MS3 History; second in MS3 girls dramatic interpretation; tied for second place with Urvi Gupta, Gr. 8, in Latin Oratory; first in MS3 Sight Latin reading; second in MS vocal performance; second in MS Essay; second in the MS Dance competition; and second in the MS-Girls 100-meter track event. Gupta also took first place in MS Mosaics, third place in MS3 Reading Comp II and third place in MS3 Latin Derivatives.
Meanwhile, Zina Jawadi, Gr. 8, won first place in the MS3 Individual Athletics category; third in MS3 Grammar II; third in MS3 Vocabulary; second in MS3 Sight Latin Reading; second in piano performance; and first place in both the 400- and 1600-meter MS girls track events.
Adding to his Certamen Team win and first place tie with Banerjee in Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes, Duraiswamy also took first place in MS3 Reading Comprehension II and for the model he built for the Small Models event. He also tied for third place with Allison Chang, Gr. 8, in MS3 Sight Latin Reading. Chang also tied for second place in MS3 Mythology, finished third place in MS Essay and received an honorable mention in MS3 Latin Derivatives.
Sahithya Prakash, Gr. 8, won first place in MS2 Latin Oratory; finished second in MS2 Latin Oratory; third in MS2 Reading Comprehension I; third in the MS girls 100-meter track event; and earned an honorable mention in MS2 Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes.
Taking first in MS Sculpture was Anni Ankola, Gr. 7, who also won first in the MS Boys Costume competition and second place in MS2 mythology.
Sarika Bajaj, Gr. 8, also did well in several events, with second place finishes in MS3 Latin Derivatives and MS3 Reading Comprehension II, as well as a third place finish in MS Scrapbook.
Other middle school placers at the convention were Dilip, who took third in MS3 History in addition to being on the first place Certamen team; Brian Tuan, Gr. 8, who took second in MS3 Pentathlon and third in MS3 Latin Oratory; Vivek Sriram, Gr. 7, earning first in MS1 Reading Comprehension I and third in MS1 Latin Derivatives; Aadyot Bhatnagar, Gr. 7, who finished in first place in both MS2 Vocabulary and MS2 Reading Comprehension I; Samir Baz, Gr. 8, who placed second in MS2 Roman Daily Life; and Christina Wong, third place finisher in MS2 Latin Derivatives.
Congratulations to all the middle school student winners at this year’s California JCL convention!
Two instrumental groups from the lower school, one of which included members from Gr. 6, won silver awards at the Heritage Music Festival. The event took place this past weekend at Foothill Community College.
Heritage festivals are held around the country for various skill levels. At this one, Harker entered non-high school-aged groups for the first time. Louis Hoffman, lower school music director, was pleased with the results. “They did so well,” he said.
Awards were given by three judges based on a standard rather than in competition with other groups, meaning each group had to meet certain expectations, Hoffman explained. Of the approximately 20 groups at the competition, Harker was the only one with elementary school students. The rest featured high schoolers, as well as one junior high group, which made the awards that much more difficult to earn.
About 25 students from Gr. 2-6 were in the jazz ensemble and about 27 from Gr. 2-5 were in the orchestra. Following their performances, a judge spoke to the groups, giving critiques and compliments in a sort of mini clinic, Hoffman said. Each student received a pin to commemorate the results and the school received two plaques to display on campus.
Hoffmann gave credit to Laura Lang-Ree, chair of the performing arts department, and to Chris Florio, upper school orchestra director, for their efforts in building the lower and middle school programs.
“The students’ behavior was so good,” said Hoffman. “They acted wonderfully. I was so proud of them.”
Albert Chu, Gr. 8, was one of eight California winners in the Promising Young Writers Program, which recognizes talent and emphasizes the importance of writing skills. Initially, 12 eighth-grade students submitted a theme piece of writing as well as writing samples. Harker nominated Chu and classmate Anika Ayyar to represent the school in the competition. Chu’s work was judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style. He earned a Certificate of Recognition for Superior Performance in Writing, and Ayyar received a Certificate of Participation.
Many Harker middle school students recently participated in the annual overnight picnic, dubbed the “Party All Night Party.” Held at the Saratoga campus, the fun kicked off with a pizza dinner. The students then set up camp and were treated to a variety of exciting activities, including swimming, campus treasure hunts, glow in the dark tag and crazy crafts. The evening was capped off with the showing of a movie, complete with popcorn and hot chocolate. For those middle school students who missed out on this year’s slumber party, don’t worry. You will have another chance next year to take part in this annual tradition.
This year’s Evening of Jazz represented a first for Harker’s conservatory. It was the first concert to feature musicians from both the lower and upper school jazz bands. Director Chris Florio said he was “really passionate about [the school’s] instrumental program being strongly K-12.” He called the pairing of the bands “the newest example of how we’re succeeding with that goal.” The night got off to a rousing start with the lower school band performing first. Next up was the upper school band, featuring soloists Ben Tien, Dwight Payne, Frankie Nagle and Nikunj Donde. The show ended with an encore of “Brick House,” with solos from graduating seniors Aadithya Prakash, Sammi Werthen and Won Hee Lee.
Exercising their creativity, Gr. 7 advisories took a break from their studies in early April to make sidewalk chalk drawings of things they love most about Harker.
Two teams of Gr. 8 students were recently declared winners in the Southwest Pacific Region for this year’s eCybermission contest.
Dubbed the Dust Busters, Sharon Babu, Allen Cheng, Albert Chu and Daniel Pak won first place and each received a $3,000 savings bond. They will also travel to Baltimore in June for the National Judging Event to compete against three other teams at the same grade level. In the past five years that Harker has participated in the eCybermission competition, five teams have advanced to this level.
Vikas Bhetanabhotla, Divyahans Gupta and Brian Tuan, collectively known as Analytic Trio, won the criteria award for Application of Science, Math and Technology. The award included a $2,000 savings bond for each member of the team.
Every year, schools from across the country compete in the web-based eCybermission competition, which has students solve problems in their community by utilizing their skills with science, math and technology.
For one week in late February, Gr. 8 students found themselves playing the role of parent, as they were required to carry and attend to flour sacks for the duration of the week. All of the five-pound flour sacks were required to wear real clothes at all times and could not wear beanies, which often make breathing difficult for babies.
The object of the week-long activity, which is a part of the students’ sex education curriculum, was to give eighth graders some insight into the enormous responsibility required to be a parent. It also had some academic implications, since students received points for the project in their science classes.
Some measures were implemented during the week to make sure that students could still enjoy school activities and be responsible parents at the same time. Students were allowed to babysit up to three children if one of their classmates wanted to play on the blacktop, and a special “day care” program was set up for students who had after-school obligations to meet, such as performing arts or athletics.
Harker middle school students recently participated in the National Latin and National Myth Exams. More than 150,000 students in 14 countries took the National Latin Exam. Of these, more than 50 were from Harker. They did particularly well, with 51 receiving awards, including 16 gold medals and five perfect papers. In high school, the students will have the opportunity to win scholarships if they continue to do well on the exams.
On the National Myth Exam 24 Harker students received medals. This included two perfect scores received by Allison Wang, Gr. 6 and Oishi Banerjee, Gr. 8. Eight students earned silver while 14 received bronze.