The Gr. 8 trek to China was once again a gratifying and memorable experience for all involved.
After arriving in Shanghai, students had the opportunity to explore the city, see the sights, sample local eateries and of course, shop. On Monday morning, the students went to Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School (SWFLMS), whose own students treated them to a singing of their national anthem and school song. Harker students then got to learn about Chinese opera and play various instruments in the school’s Chinese music class.
The next day, students observed lessons and picked up a few more phrases to add to their Mandarin repertoire. They also got to view some fabulous artifacts and works of art at the Shanghai Museum, and some even made attempts to barter with the locals!
Tuesday’s real treat, however, was an acrobatic show that wowed those in attendance. “From hoops and trapeze to trampolines and motorcycles it was definitely a feast for the eyes!” said Jennifer Abraham, global education director.
The following day, the Harker group got to watch the SWFLMS students do their morning exercises. “It was quite a sight to see with hundreds of kids quickly, yet quietly, exiting the school and lining up on the sports field,” Abraham said.
More class observations followed, with some Harker students sitting in on an English class session. “The kids have commented on several differences between our two schools,” Abraham noted. “The two things that apparently stand out the most are that the teachers change classrooms, and not the students, and that they have a full 10 minutes between classes.”
Later that day, some students learned how to sing in Chinese during one of the language classes. “Surprisingly,” Abraham said, “the boys really got into singing!”
On Thursday, the group visited Zhujiajiao, an ancient water town famous for its boat-filled canals and centuries-old bridges built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. During their stay, the students bought fish to let free in the river along with a wish, and took a boat ride through the town’s canals.
Friday kicked off with a visit to the Wahaha bottled drinks factory. From there, it was off to the Six Harmonies Pagoda, originally constructed more than 1,000 years ago. “The kids raced to the top of the pagoda where they were able to take pictures of the West Lake below,” Abraham said. The group continued to a tea plantation to sample and buy various types of tea, in addition to learning about the process of making tea leaves. After a quick visit to the Chinese Medicine Museum, the tired group headed home.
To celebrate their final day with the Shanghai students, the SWFLMS threw a farewell party that included singing, dancing, heartfelt speeches and poetry.
The group began the following week in Beijing, with a visit to the famous Temple of Heaven. “Walking to the Temple was very entertaining!” Abraham reported. “We stopped to watch people dancing, with a few of our students giving it a try. We followed a long corridor passing older people playing cards, talking and generally just enjoying themselves.”
Afterward, the group visited a family living in Beijing’s “hutongs,” narrow streets and alleys lined with courtyard homes. “We all packed into their living room and, through a translator, spent the next half hour asking all sorts of questions,” Abraham recalled. “The kids had great questions ranging from the one-child policy to experiencing the Cultural Revolution to Chinese perception of Americans. The man was very honest and interesting to talk to.”
As they left the hutongs on rickshaws, the drivers decided to have a little fun and race one another. “It was a sight to see, with 12 rickshaws racing through the very narrow alleys,” said Abraham. “We all had a good laugh and lots of fun.”
The next two days yielded more amazing sights. Students visited the Great Wall of China and took in the fabulous views offered by the ancient fortification. They then took toboggans to the foot of the mountain, where they picked up some souvenirs before heading back to the city. The following day included a visit to Tiananmen Square and the Chinese imperial palace, also known as the Forbidden City.
The group wound up their trip to Beijing with a brief visit to the Summer Palace before returning to prepare for the trip home.
Spirit Week, that rite of spring and the bridge between spring break and Memorial Day, arrived after a week of wet weather, and students were ready to show their spirit! Each day had a special free dress-up theme as well as an activity for the advisories or Houses to compete in. The overall winning advisory – not available at press time – received an extra-abundant Black Ford (this is a custom-painted pedal car stuffed with goodies that resides in the winning advisory’s homeroom). Monday was sports day (no lacrosse sticks allowed), Tuesday was clashing clothes and crazy hair day, Wednesday was pajama day, Thursday was dress for the decade and Friday was rock star day. In keeping with the rock star theme, Friday culminated with a magnificent lip sync contest that got the whole school laughing!
Teacher Michael Schmidt was pleased but not surprised when approached by students who wanted to do a good deed.
“An amazing group of students came to me at the beginning of the year and asked if there was some way they could help another school,” said Schmidt. “They had a year’s worth of experience doing it as fifth graders when they and Miss (Shelby) Guarino raised funds for a school in Uganda. This year, they asked me to help them create a fundraiser for our sister school in Costa Rica, Cloud Forest School.
Jeremy Binkley, Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari, Allison Kerkhoff, Glenn Reddy and Alex Thomas, all Gr. 6, and Zina Jawadi, Gr. 7, call themselves Peace 2 Peace and each of them made contributions in their own way, Schmidt noted. “But most importantly they showed the kind, giving nature that makes me proud to be a teacher here at Harker.
“They asked their student body to offer donations of unwanted items that Peace 2 Peace could sell at a garage sale,” Schmidt said. The group made collection containers and placed them around campus. “Every day, for over three months, the kids would gather the items that had accumulated in the bins and store them in my room. Due to some amazing donations from students, faculty and parents, Peace 2 Peace was able to raise $1,200 for Cloud Forest School.”
The benefits of the collection go beyond the money raised, though. “I love seeing such generosity extended towards our sister schools!” said Jennifer Abraham, director of global education. The students found the process rewarding. “You can’t replace the feeling of working together with your friends and teachers for a special cause,” said Gutierrez-Bujari. Binkley added, “It might have been a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun too.”
A group of Gr. 7 boys, Andrew Zhu, Kevin Moss, Darian Edvalson, Nikhil Dilip and Adarsh Battu, competed in the Department of Energy Regional Science Bowl Competition at the National Hispanic University in early March. The team, organized by Harker parent Ian Edvalson, met every other weekend throughout fall to practice science questions – and to play! Many other teams practice twice a week, and, “that they were able to win third place with such relatively little practice is testament to the outstanding preparation students receive in our middle school science program!” said US Spanish teacher and mom Diana Moss. “Kudos to Ian Edvalson!”
The 2008 edition of enlight’ning continues to rack up awards. In late March, the literature magazine beat out two others for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s (CSPA) Gold Crown Award. This is the second year in a row the magazine has won the top award. Among other specific compliments paid the issue, the CSPA noted in its CD-ROM, “2009 Crown Winners,” the following enlight’ning strengths: “From cover to cover, staff branded this publication an exceptional literary journal, visually professional in appearance, format, use of color and illustration throughout. Purposeful choice of color palette and use of white space further distinguish this publication. The clean lines of this publication exemplify the fact that each visual and written piece was tightly edited. There is an acute attention to detail in the editorial process.”
Of one page in particular, CSPA reviewers wrote: “The stark quality of the poem ‘Algebra’ is paired with the proportional design of ‘Quilt Squares’ – two works of art that do more than share space. Together, they provide a unique perspective.”
“Needless to say we are really proud!” said teacher Stacie Newman, who, along with Michael Schmidt, advises the staff. “We owe a great debt to all the middle school students whose work was offered for the magazine; their contributions were outstanding, and without them we couldn’t create a winning publication!” she added.
The yearly Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship, held March 18 in downtown San Jose, was once again a big success for US and MS Harker students.
Denzil Sikka, Gr. 12, was one of two Top Senior High Award winners from Harker, earning a Dr. Paul Callahan Technical Paper Award for having one of the best technical papers shown at the fair dealing with physical and biological sciences. Her paper, titled “Aging is Predictable – Biomarkers of Aging: Age Prediction by Use of Mathematical Models of Biomarkers” also netted her a $100 prize. She also received a $200 cash prize for winning the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award.
Harker’s second Top Senior High Award winner was Isaac Madan, Gr. 10, for his paper “The Impact of the Planar Cell Polarity Pathway Function on the Structure of the Cerebellum.” Madan took home the Grand Prize Alternate in biological sciences and earned a trip to the state science fair.
Madan and Haran Sivakumar, Gr. 11, who also earned a trip to the state science fair, both placed first in the Medicine/Health/Gerontology category. Rahul Ahuja, Gr. 12, earned a second place award in the Individual Project subcategory and received an honorable mention from the U.S. Army.
Harker also had a number of winners in the competition’s Computers/Mathematics category. Andrew Stanek, Gr. 12, took first place in the Individual Project subcategory, and received second place in the Technical Paper subcategory. Senior Dominique Dabija was given a second place award in both the Technical Paper and Individual Project subcategories.
In the Biochemistry/Microbiology category, Elena Madan, Gr. 12, Alex Han, Gr. 11 and Peter Gao, Gr. 10, were all second place award winners for Individual Project. Madan also received a $200 cash prize from the Palo Alto chapter of the Association for Women in Science. Aaron Lin, Gr. 12, was awarded $100 and an Achievement Certificate from the Santa Clara County Biotech Education Partnership.
Ramya Rangan and Kathryn Siegel, both Gr. 9, won an honorable mention for their team project in the Botany category, while Emily Carr, Gr. 12, was awarded a certificate and a medal from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for her project in the Environmental Sciences category. Senior Anand Natarajan’s paper, “Spatial Control of Gene Expression using CT-guided Collimated X-rays to Modulate Transcription,” earned him a first place award in the Technical Paper category, with fellow senior Baladitya Yellapragada taking a second place award in the same category for the paper “Virtual Worlds for CPR.”
Lastly, but not leastly, Jerry Sun, Gr. 10, earned a first place award for Technical Paper in Zoology for his work, “Cinnamomum Verum Bark Essential Oils Affect on the Movement of Ants.”
On the MS side, students came up big in the Physics category. Vikas Bhetanabhotla, Gr. 7, took home a second place award in Individual Project, and also received a Certificate of Achievement from the NASA Ames Research center, as well as a VIP visit to the NASA Ames facility and an honorable mention from the United States Coast Guard. Fellow seventh graders Allen Cheng and Daniel Pak also hauled in a second place award for their team project, which received an honorable mention from ASM International, formerly known as the American Society for Metals. Another seventh grader, Brian Tuan, received an honorable mention for Individual Project, as did Michaela Kastelman, Gr. 8, who also hauled in a $100 cash prize and earned a $100 donation to the MS science department from Trimble Navigation.
Ashvin Swaminathan, Gr. 8, was the winner of a first place award in the Individual Project area of Biochemistry/Microbiology, while Jennifer Dai, Gr. 7, and Suchita Nety, Gr. 8, received honorable mentions for Individual Project in the same category.
In Engineering, Varun Gudapati, Gr. 8, was the winner of a second place award for Individual Project and received the first place award from ASM International, which included a $100 cash prize. Vikram Sundar, Gr. 7, was another Engineering award recipient, receiving an honorable mention from ASM International and a HP35s scientific calculator from Hewlett-Packard.
Ramakrishnan Menon and Benjamin Yang, both Gr. 8, received the second place award for Team Project in Environmental Sciences, and both also received a certificate of achievement from the American Meteorological Society.
In the Medicine/Health/Gerontology category, eighth grader Jacqueline Wang was a Top Junior High Award Winner, winning an Isabelle Stone Award for Best Biological Science Projects, which included a plaque, a $100 cash prize and a trip to the State Science Fair. Wang also earned a first place award for Individual Project, a certificate from the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and a Board of Directors Award in the Middle School category from the Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association. Zina Jawadi, Gr. 7, received an honorable mention. Nikhil Baradwaj, Gr. 8, was given a Certificate of Merit from the American Psychological Association.
Elsewhere, Paulomi Bhattacharya, Gr. 8, received a first place award for Individual Project in Earth Space/Sciences. Bhattacharya was also invited to the State Science Fair and the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, and received a Special Award for Geoscience Excellence from the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for Women Geoscientists.
For the school’s performance at the fair, Harker received an Outstanding School Award, and US biology teacher Kate Schafer won an Outstanding Teacher Award. Congratulations, obviously, are due all around!
Dance Jamz, the annual MS terpsichorean extravaganza held in early March, was upbeat, fast-paced and used a variety of music. Each dance had its own unique flare, and the original costumes were stylish and added to each dance. Gail Palmer, director/choreographer, said, “The dancers were dedicated, energetic and enthusiastic per formers!”
The show featured 145 students, Gr. 6-8, with 16 dance routines including jazz, modern, hip-hop and tap, and featured some all-boys dances. A new tradition, started to honor Gr. 8 dancers in their last big show, is the posting of all the previous Gr. 8 dance shows, starting in Gr. 1, so they could take a turn down memory lane. “It was touching for both the dancers and their parents,” noted Palmer. “We feel it is a privilege to work with many of the dancers from kindergarten through Gr. 8, and watch them grow as people, dancers and performers. This is one way we can say thank you for all the years of dancing with us.”
As their last year in middle school enters its final months, Gr. 8 students got an extra dose of responsibility in caring for a flour sack baby in early March. The surrogates were looked after for an entire week and “it is important for the students to be responsible parents for the entire week,” said K-Gr. 8 P.E. department chair Chrissy Chang.
Students lost points if they abandoned their baby or it was harmed. Although the program permitted use of babysitters, they could look after no more than three babies at one time. The exercise took place during a week of dance show rehearsals and athletic schedules, so special day care stations had to be established – just like for real parents. While most students successfully cared for their flour sack babies, several soccer players were unable to prevent subjecting their charges to drenching rain.
“The objective of the project is to have responsibility for a child; therefore, they cannot just put it in the locker and leave it. They must care for it and make sure it is safe,” said Chang. Teachers and BEST staff participated by reporting neglect and other violations.
“I really got into the project, dressing the flour sack in clothes and giving it a name,” said Samantha Hoffman. “For a while, the sack felt almost like an actual baby, if only because it required so much constant attention.
“The most challenging aspect was keeping the ‘baby’ in pristine condition until the teachers could grade it,” Hoffman added. “Rain filled the entire week of the project, and daily activities such as lunch and recess posed possible threats to the flour sacks.”
Classmate Lydia Werthen agreed. “Having the ‘baby’ definitely gave me a sense of responsibility, particularly because we were judged on how well we could take care of it. It was difficult to carry an extra five pounds around campus on top of all my books, let alone having one pile of school things in one hand and a flour sack in the other. It made me much more aware of what I was doing and how I was holding everything, which is basically what a parent should think about too.”
Werthen noted two major difficulties in carr ying the baby around. “The first one was the weather; it was raining for the first half of the week and that was when none of us knew our babies had to be wearing clothes! For almost three days I was frantically trying to make sure that not a single drop of water hit my flour sack. The second hardest par t about it was when I had to use my locker. Even opening my locker and taking out a few notebooks was far more challenging than I had expected, and taking out my backpack was quite an ordeal. I noticed at the end of the week that most students had star ted carrying their backpacks around campus instead of making frequent trips to their lockers as well.”
Like Hoffman, Werthen did not lose points for neglect, “but there were several times when I was close to. For example, after Harmonics I would sometimes just walk away from the classroom to go home and suddenly remember my baby was still in ‘day care’ in the Harmonics room. It wasn’t uncommon to see a stampede of eighth graders running back to the room after school to fetch their babies, just like me!”
Hoffman noted, “My favorite part of this project was the lessons I took away from it. Surprisingly, carr ying a flour sack baby around for a week was a fun and efficient way to teach adolescents the disadvantages and hassles of being a teenage parent.”
Werthen found a bright side, too. “The most enjoyable par t about the flour sack baby week was placing myself in a parent’s shoes for five days and being able to share the experience with my friends. For most of the week it wore this really cute baby chicken mask and it was funny to see how ever yone else decorated their flour sacks. I also loved dressing up my baby. During lunch recess we would sit in a circle with all our babies and just take pictures and have fun with them. At the end of the week and into the weekend we were allowed to bake something using the flour, but most of my classmates chose not to and I can kind of understand why. This project just had a really great impact on our parenting skills and responsibility, even if we were working with basically five pounds of flour.“
Harker students have yet again stepped up to help others who most need it. Starting in late May, the MS started collecting funds to support relief efforts in China and Myanmar. All funds collected were donated to the International Red Cross. These two tragic disasters have affected countless families around the globe and the school provided some moral support to our Chinese sister school, the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School, sending a card of sympathy for those who have families in the affected areas.
Gr. 7 and 8 student council members set out to beautify Vasona Park in April. The half dozen students were participating in a beautification day at the Los Gatos park and spent their time raking leaves, pulling weeds and cleaning bulletin boards.
The middle school student council leads dozens of community service activities throughout the year.
