This story originally appeared in the fall/winter 2017 issue of Harker Magazine.
Jocelyn Poplack is no stranger to adventure. She uprooted five years ago when she moved from Texas to California to become a Harker Preschool lead teacher, she takes full advantage of the nature and culture of the Bay Area, and she loves escaping to wild places like Jackson, Wyo. Family is paramount, and she’s a proud aunt to a niece who lives in the Bay Area, and a nephew and niece in Texas. Spending quality time with them and enjoying her mom’s amazing home cooking in Houston are just two things that make her tick. Read on to learn a few more!
What makes you feel like a kid again? Reading children’s books! I love being able to share some of my favorite childhood books with my students and also being exposed to the newer children’s literature.
Brag about something. When I was 7 years old, I won the Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Derby for the biggest fluke caught that year.
What are you doing when you feel most alive? There is nothing that makes me feel more alive than being surrounded by the ocean. I love to snorkel, fish, sail and take boat rides!
What is your most treasured object and why? My family cookbook. When I was a child, I started writing down recipes that my mom, grandmothers and other family members used, as I wanted to be able to recreate the recipes myself and keep the family traditions alive. To this day, I am still adding recipes to the book!
What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? Honestly, I believe this hasn’t happened yet! I look at each day as another chance to accomplish more and more.
This story originally appeared in the fall/winter 2017 issue of Harker Magazine.
Jocelyn Poplack is no stranger to adventure. She uprooted five years ago when she moved from Texas to California to become a Harker Preschool lead teacher, she takes full advantage of the nature and culture of the Bay Area, and she loves escaping to wild places like Jackson, Wyo. Family is paramount, and she’s a proud aunt to a niece who lives in the Bay Area, and a nephew and niece in Texas. Spending quality time with them and enjoying her mom’s amazing home cooking in Houston are just two things that make her tick. Read on to learn a few more!
What makes you feel like a kid again? Reading children’s books! I love being able to share some of my favorite childhood books with my students and also being exposed to the newer children’s literature.
Brag about something. When I was 7 years old, I won the Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Derby for the biggest fluke caught that year.
What are you doing when you feel most alive? There is nothing that makes me feel more alive than being surrounded by the ocean. I love to snorkel, fish, sail and take boat rides!
What is your most treasured object and why? My family cookbook. When I was a child, I started writing down recipes that my mom, grandmothers and other family members used, as I wanted to be able to recreate the recipes myself and keep the family traditions alive. To this day, I am still adding recipes to the book!
What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? Honestly, I believe this hasn’t happened yet! I look at each day as another chance to accomplish more and more.
This story originally appeared in the fall/winter 2017 issue of Harker Magazine.
Grace Wallace ’95, a grade 1 teacher, radiates happiness. Her love for family is paramount – she craves her mom’s lasagna, her late father is still her role model, and she is happiest when with her husband. Born and raised in Fremont (where she still lives), Wallace and her brother, Joe Sabeh Jr. ’93, attended Harker. She told Harker Magazine about her three dog (“If I could, I would have more!”) and some of her other favorite things.
Why do you do what you do? I am so blessed to be doing what I do. I have been given the opportunity to mold these young children into inquisitive thinkers, who can apply what they have learned into real life experiences.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand? I am always donating to homeless pet charities and I wish I could rescue all of these furry babies that need a place to live.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? If it is on your bucket list, you need to try it. You only have one life to live and you do not want to look back and have any regrets.
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows? Arabic was the first language I spoke at home. My dad was from Lebanon and my grandmother lived with us for 12 years.
What is your best technique for making someone smile? Giving them a hug.
What are you obsessed with? Three things: If I could go to Bikram yoga every day, I would. I love all coffee, but my favorite coffee stop is Philz. One of my favorite times of year is baseball season. If we are not going to a San Francisco Giants game, my husband and I are watching it at a restaurant or at home.
This story originally appeared in the fall/winter 2017 issue of Harker Magazine.
Grace Wallace ’95, a grade 1 teacher, radiates happiness. Her love for family is paramount – she craves her mom’s lasagna, her late father is still her role model, and she is happiest when with her husband. Born and raised in Fremont (where she still lives), Wallace and her brother, Joe Sabeh Jr. ’93, attended Harker. She told Harker Magazine about her three dog (“If I could, I would have more!”) and some of her other favorite things.
Why do you do what you do? I am so blessed to be doing what I do. I have been given the opportunity to mold these young children into inquisitive thinkers, who can apply what they have learned into real life experiences.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand? I am always donating to homeless pet charities and I wish I could rescue all of these furry babies that need a place to live.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? If it is on your bucket list, you need to try it. You only have one life to live and you do not want to look back and have any regrets.
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows? Arabic was the first language I spoke at home. My dad was from Lebanon and my grandmother lived with us for 12 years.
What is your best technique for making someone smile? Giving them a hug.
What are you obsessed with? Three things: If I could go to Bikram yoga every day, I would. I love all coffee, but my favorite coffee stop is Philz. One of my favorite times of year is baseball season. If we are not going to a San Francisco Giants game, my husband and I are watching it at a restaurant or at home.
This story originally appeared in the fall/winter 2017 issue of Harker Magazine.
Grace Wallace ’95, a grade 1 teacher, radiates happiness. Her love for family is paramount – she craves her mom’s lasagna, her late father is still her role model, and she is happiest when with her husband. Born and raised in Fremont (where she still lives), Wallace and her brother, Joe Sabeh Jr. ’93, attended Harker. She told Harker Magazine about her three dog (“If I could, I would have more!”) and some of her other favorite things.
Why do you do what you do? I am so blessed to be doing what I do. I have been given the opportunity to mold these young children into inquisitive thinkers, who can apply what they have learned into real life experiences.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand? I am always donating to homeless pet charities and I wish I could rescue all of these furry babies that need a place to live.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? If it is on your bucket list, you need to try it. You only have one life to live and you do not want to look back and have any regrets.
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows? Arabic was the first language I spoke at home. My dad was from Lebanon and my grandmother lived with us for 12 years.
What is your best technique for making someone smile? Giving them a hug.
What are you obsessed with? Three things: If I could go to Bikram yoga every day, I would. I love all coffee, but my favorite coffee stop is Philz. One of my favorite times of year is baseball season. If we are not going to a San Francisco Giants game, my husband and I are watching it at a restaurant or at home.
Charles M. Salter Associates, instrumental in designing the acoustical elements of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center and its Patil Theater, tweeted our Harker News story on the acoustical elements of the building.
Charles M. Salter Associates, instrumental in designing the acoustical elements of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center and its Patil Theater, tweeted our Harker News story on the acoustical elements of the building.
Charles M. Salter Associates, instrumental in designing the acoustical elements of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center and its Patil Theater, tweeted our Harker News story on the acoustical elements of the building.
Clifford Hull, upper school Latin and history teacher, spoke to fellow faculty members recently about his six-week summer experience at the American Academy in Rome, made possible by a Vegesna Teacher Excellence Endowment grant. Hull noted how the experience has informed his teaching, and how he will share his experiences so other Latin and history teachers and classes can benefit.
In 2015 Harker parents Raju and Bala Vegesna founded the Teacher Excellence Program to “enhance and further teachers’ abilities in a manner that has a direct and demonstrable impact on student learning.”
Hull attended the Classical Summer School program at the American Academy in Rome from June 14-28, participating in weekly classes, including From Prehistory to the Early Republic, ca. 1000-500 BCE in week one, through the centuries, to the week-six class, Late Antique & Early Christian Rome, 312-500 CE.
Classes included lectures, Latin reading groups and a number of field trips, including one to Pompeii to observe the relics from the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. Hull noted, among other statistics, that he walked 246 miles exploring ruins and Rome, and took more than 8,500 photographs.
“The program also helped me to gain further evidence to support the influence of Roman culture in our contemporary society,” Hull said. “This will further help me develop a greater appreciation and sense of relevance of the study of Latin, and that of the ancient Romans, in my students who live in the 21st century.”
Hull noted he created an extensive visual library of Latin inscriptions and other realia to help him develop a curriculum to disseminate the information on different knowledge and interest levels. He plans to present to seventh and eighth graders in Lisa Masoni’s Latin classes and has a standing offer to speak in any class covering related topics.
He added that he has been invited by the California Junior Classical League to offer two workshops for students and teachers at its annual State Conference held in Palo Alto in April 2018.
Harker faculty apply for the grant by submitting an application detailing the enrichment project they would like to complete. Teachers have studied in groups, by themselves, in the United States and abroad, and each has returned with a fresh perspective on his or her subject and lots of stories to tell! Harker provides several ways for returning grant recipients to share their knowledge with their colleagues, so it is not just the students who benefit from the learning that the teachers bring home.
Charles M. Salter Associates, instrumental in designing the acoustical elements of the Rothschild Performing Arts Center and its Patil Theater, tweeted our Harker News story on the acoustical elements of the building.