On Friday, a virtual middle school assembly celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At the assembly, a series of grade 7 speakers delivered calls to action on issues important to them in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day’s designation as a day of service.
The activity was directed by English teacher Rebecca Williams, who asked her students to be “voices of change” by bringing awareness to issues they felt were important.
Linda Zeng spoke on the pressure felt by students preparing for standardized tests and offered some ways students could alleviate stress. Ritik Raman and Rahul Sundaresan spoke on the danger posed to aquatic life by pollution and how people can contribute to a more sustainable world. Disha Gupta offered a passionate plea for the community to find ways to end bullying, which she said creates “a never-ending cycle of abuse.” Savitha Satish talked about the discrimination faced by sufferers of mental illness and encouraged people to educate themselves and others on mental health. Elie Ahluwalia and Myra Thakker talked about how stereotypes can lead to discrimination and explained the difference between being a passive “non-racist” and an active “anti-racist” who analyzes their own stereotyping thoughts and works for a more equal society. Finally, Sofia Shah talked about gender inequality in the workplace and how norms that keep women at home and in a narrow set of jobs must be rejected.
Following the student talks, seventh grader Tanvi Sivakumar announced the Blessing Bags service project, which will provide basic necessities such as water, food and toiletries to the homeless.
The assembly ended with Williams challenging the attendees to find issues they care about and learn how to become an agent of change, followed by attendees announcing the issues they chose in the Zoom room’s text chat.
On Friday night, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist Laila Biali was the second guest of Harker’s Virtual Concert Series, which features a rebroadcast of a past Harker concert followed by a live chat with the artist. She spoke and answered questions about her career and songwriting process.
Speaking via Zoom from her home in Toronto, the Juno-winning Biali answered questions posed by Dave Hart, upper school instrumental music chair, as well as viewers. She recalled how she found an interest in music at a very early age, starting piano at just 3 and half years old and having aspirations of attending Juilliard or the Curtis Institute of Music by her teens. At 15, she suffered an injury in a car accident that severely limited the use of her right arm. During her recovery, she began learning jazz, which she described as “like learning a new language.”
Her career as a singer began while performing at a jazz festival, where she was offered a scholarship to Toronto’s Humber College and found singing and songwriting as new modes of expression. Later, while touring with a group called Sisters of Jazz, Biali was invited to join trumpeter Chris Botti’s band, which eventually led to her moving to New York. There she found work with Paula Cole (during which she met her husband, Ben Wittman) and Sting, a gig that saw her travel to the English singer’s estate in Tuscany. “Sting is your quintessential rock star,” said Biali. “He could totally be what we call a devo, the male version of a diva. He could just waltz into rehearsal whenever he wanted.” Biali was also inspired by Sting’s discipline and work ethic: “He was the first to arrive and the last to leave, without fail.”
Discussing her approach to songwriting, Biali described the process as seldom constant. “It’s changing all the time and in some ways, it’s really informal,” she said. “There’s a point where it becomes a discipline and I have to sit down and hone the idea.”
Biali finds “raw material for songs all around me,” she said. Sources include news stories and various sights and sounds of the cities she’s lived in or visited. She often leaves voice memos on her phone.
One of her favorite activities is heading to the Banff Centre in Alberta to complete songs she has begun writing, because of its environment and access to resources. “For each of the past three records, that has been an integral part of finishing the songs,” she said. She also runs ideas by her husband, who she said “felt like an ally and a friend right away” upon meeting him when they both worked for Paula Cole.
The video of Biali’s performance at the Patil Theater in September 2019 will be available to view until Mon. Dec. 21. Her latest solo album, “Out of Dust,” and her rendition of “Silent Night” are now available on Spotify, iTunes and other services.
Last week, Dr. Abigail Joseph, middle school learning, innovation and design (LID) director, was appointed to the Computer Science Teachers Association’s Board of Directors. Together with the appointment Charity Freeman of Chicago’s Lane Tech College Prep High School, Abigail noted, this decision “is the continuation of a shift that CSTA is deliberately making to change the face of computer science education so that more marginalized groups are granted access to CS education and opportunities to participate in the world in which they live.”
Joseph has been involved with the CSTA since 2012, when she was a computer science teacher at the middle school, and co-founded the San Mateo County chapter in 2015. Last year, Joseph was part of the inaugural cohort of the CSTA’s Equity Fellowship, helping introduce computer science to teachers in other disciplines.
“I have been involved with various organizations help to encourage more non-CS teachers to learn about computer science and integrate it into their discipline,” said Joseph. “I have enjoyed working with teachers in that capacity and focused my Equity Fellowship project on developing professional learning opportunities to demystify computer science for non-CS teachers.” Working with the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San Jose State University, Abigail gave computer science education workshops “to shift perspectives on what computer science is and why CS education is an equity issue that all teachers should care about.”
Joseph said she is looking forward to bringing awareness to equity issues in computer science education in her position on the board. “As a board member, I hope to bring voice to those that do not normally have the opportunity to share opinions about systems that create inequities and access in the field of CS and CS education,” she said. “It is important that a diverse array of perspectives are accounted for when systems and policies are created in any organization.”
Along with thousands of families throughout California, some of Harker’s faculty and staff also have been impacted by the devastating fires in the state. Many have been evacuated and are still working through the process of returning to their homes. Others have lost their homes. Please continue to look for community updates on fundraising efforts that support our Harker families. Two current efforts, organized by family and friends of impacted staff, are raising funds to help upper school English teacher Beverley Manning and lower school academic counselor Patty Marsette. Questions or other information on fundraising efforts can be sent to communications@harker.org.
The latest middle school campus construction update is now live! Join facility manager Mike Bassoni as he updates the community on the pumping and finishing of the concrete that will form the floor of the new classroom building.
While some may see field trips as simply a day off from school, this is far from the case at Harker. Talk to a teacher or student from any grade and it quickly becomes apparent: This is an institution where education and real-world experiences are indelibly linked. From preschool through grade 12, teachers work hard to ensure that students are afforded opportunities to enhance their classroom learning through field trips around the area.
The impact is profound. Students of every age evince delight in seeing classroom learning come alive and indicate time and again that interactive learning bolsters their understanding of the subject matter.
“Children learn best using a variety of modalities – kinesthetic, visual, auditory – and field trips allow students to experience the many ways in which concepts they’ve encountered in the classroom integrate into real life; that is very powerful,” observed Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs.
Lower School
Kindergarten teacher Michelle Anderson has repeatedly witnessed the magic of off-campus learning. Each year she takes her young charges on a series of excursions designed to reinforce classroom learning and teach life lessons such as how to be a welcome guest and behave responsibly in public.
Anderson begins the year with the Teddy Bear Picnic in a nearby park, then continues with trips to a Gilroy pumpkin patch and the De Anza College Fujitsu Planetarium. In late April most years, she completes her science unit with a visit to the Oakland Zoo. “The trip allows the children to get close to the animals they’ve studied in class. They view their habitats and seek out their favorites.
“The kids love our field trips – we all do,” she continued. “They learn how to be good stewards for Harker and enjoy public outings while respecting rules and boundaries. It’s fun for everyone.”
For visual arts teacher Gerry-louise Robinson, the joy of field trips rests in teaching children to live in the moment. For her grade 2 students, Robinson organizes a trip to the San Jose Museum of Art to view art and then make their own works. The outing stimulates the children’s curiosity and encourages them to embrace new concepts without fear. “They discuss what the artists have done and why,” she explained. “They look at art and decide whether they like it – there are no wrong answers – and then explore their own creative impulses.”
The children respond with enthusiasm. “My favorite part was when we got to see all the paintings,” said Kristian Warmdahl. “I liked when we made the art project of the mobile; it’s now hanging in my room,” said Kyra Varro. Natasha Chatterjee is similarly enthusiastic. “I really liked the hanging mobile craft because it shows who I really am,” she said.
For grade 4 and 5 students, the art experience is a children’s musical theater production at San Jose’s historic Montgomery Theater. This year’s offering was “Into the Woods,” Stephen Sondheim’s fanciful take on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. “It was especially exciting for the children to see this show because there was a Harker middle school student in the production,” said Robinson.
Attending a live theater performance imparts many lessons, Robinson explained. “The most interesting thing I learned was that the show took one to two months [to create],” marveled Nicki Yazdi, grade 5, who also welcomed the chance to learn in a new setting. “What makes trips off campus so fun is that we get to be with friends while learning something new.”
Watching a live performance also compels students to engage with the experience in real time, Robinson asserted. “They can’t press the pause button like they can when watching a video at home, so they learn to be present.” For many students, this appreciation of the moment holds true for the entire outing. “My favorite part of the trip was probably the bus ride,” said Ivanya Sadana, grade 5. “I got to hang out with my friends, and I got to spend time with my mom,” she observed.
Whatever students’ takeaway, offering them opportunities to embrace the arts is critical, Robinson contended. “We have some incredibly talented students at Harker; I want to be sure they know that their path in life can encompass their passion for the arts.”
Middle School
Middle school visual arts teacher Sofie Siegmann also believes deeply in the power of art and views field trips as an essential part of her curriculum. “Arts education not only involves creating art but also looking at art,” she asserted. “It’s a very direct experience and I want my students to be aware of the resources around them.”
Since joining the Harker faculty three years ago, Siegmann has explored a variety of options for exposing her students to the area’s rich visual culture. “We’ve been to Stanford to see the Anderson Collection of modern and contemporary art and the Cantor Arts Center and we’ve done Downtown Art-Walk San Jose,” she said.
Although Siegmann’s courses are electives for students, she maintains they’re no less important to their overall education. “I press my students to think critically about what they’re seeing and ask themselves ‘What is art? How does an artist think?’ and ‘How do artists choose their materials?’ I also encourage them to experience the works emotionally by appreciating their shapes, colors and sounds. I think everyone can have a connection with art, and I want to foster that connection.”
Siegmann’s students see the value in these excursions. “Unlike traditional classes, the skills you learn in art can be interpreted in many different ways outside the classroom and are more of a tool for artists to express their thoughts,” observed Anika Mantripragada, grade 8. “I truly believe that class trips are an integral part of the learning experience. They have broadened my views on how the skills we learn in class can be applied outside.”
“Harker students are very good at analyzing and studying, but I also think it’s important for them to have experiences that are more impulsive, organic and in the moment,” Siegmann observed. “My students see slides and videos of art all the time, but I want them to understand there’s great joy in experiencing art face-to-face as well.”
Face-to-face learning is also favored by middle school history and social science teacher Cyrus Merrill. Each year following the completion of his class unit on the 1920s, Merrill hosts a Roaring ’20s dinner for all grade 8 students. “I put a big emphasis on social history in my teaching process. My lessons on the period center on FAME: fashion, art, music and entertainment.”
For years, Merrill ended the 1920s unit with a classroom party. “Then about five years ago, I decided to step it up and host a dinner party outside the school,” he said. The dinner takes place at a local restaurant owned by collectors who have decorated the place in period-specific style and greet students in costume. “You walk into the place and it feels like [the 1920s],” marveled Merrill. “It’s filled with player pianos and other mechanized instruments as well as artwork of the day. The kids eat food cooked from 1920s recipes, drink sodas and fizzes common to the period, and listen to music from the time. It’s a lot of fun.”
Merrill encourages students to come in costume and distributes talking points culled from class content in advance of the evening to encourage discussions on issues of the day. “I ask students to try to have at least 10 things they could talk about from that list and then during the course of the evening, I stop by each table group and say, ‘Tell me about a fashion trend or a song you like.’ I expect them to draw on things they’ve learned in class, for example by using slang from the period while conversing or distinguishing ragtime from blues or 1920s hot jazz.”
The goal, said Merrill, is for students to have a fun evening that’s content inspired. “I’m a big believer in experiential learning; I like to bring history alive by challenging the kids to step into the past,” he said. “My hope is that they come away from the experience with a curiosity about life in different time periods.”
Student reactions indicate Merrill’s dream is being realized. “The party felt extremely authentic. I felt as if I had been transported back to the 1920s and was living my life from that time,” said Samvita Gautham, grade 9, of last year’s adventure. Classmate Deeya Viradia agrees. “Although we learned much about the ’20s in the classroom, this dinner taught us about the ways that people lived and interacted with each other,” she said. “Experiencing that firsthand is nothing like reading about it in a textbook.” Grade 9 student Amruta Dharmapurikar delighted in seeing history lessons come to life. “We’ve seen photos of old telephones and pianos and toilets, but it’s a different experience to see it all up close – it’s not just an abstract idea – they actually used those things and there’s proof right in front of us.”
Upper School
Fostering curiosity about life in other eras is also the impetus for upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth’s field trip to City Lights bookstore and The Beat Museum in San Francisco. After months of studying the works of Jack Kerouac and other Beat writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti in Shuttleworth’s Beat Generation class, students hop a bus to San Francisco to experience the power of this formative generation for themselves. They spend an hour or so with famed Kerouac biographer Dennis McNally – author of “Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation and America” – and then tour the museum and bookstore.
“The Beat Generation was the beginning of gay rights, women’s rights, freedom of expression and the ecology movement, but my students have had little contact with the subject matter because the 1950s are so far in the past for them,” said Shuttleworth. “Exposing them to the period’s energy and passion beyond the walls of my classroom is a big thing. They meet people who were directly involved in the movement; it’s a very visceral way to connect them with the subject matter they’ve been studying.”
Students appreciate the chance to unite coursework with the real world. “The trip to San Francisco was a different way of learning apart from class notes, books and discussions,” said senior Sahil Gosain. “Meeting people who lived through this time period made the learning more personal.” Classmate Jatin Kohli concurred: “The trip added a whole new perspective to the course and made it feel like we were part of the history; physically standing in the same places and talking to the same people [as the Beat poets] was an unforgettable experience.”
Standing together and talking with others is what the trip to the 2019 Silicon Valley Youth Climate Strike was all about. And as the Harker Green Team’s faculty advisors, upper school teachers Kate Schafer and Diana Moss were eager to facilitate their students’ involvement. “Our students are concerned about climate change and want to do something meaningful here and now, but they don’t always realize they have the power to make a difference,” said Schafer, who teaches biology. “Many aren’t from cultures where it’s commonplace to attend rallies or city council meetings to promote a cause, so we’re always looking for opportunities for students to get involved in ways they might not otherwise consider.”
The youth-organized climate strike was the perfect vehicle. Prior to the strike, students discussed climate change and made posters, then traveled to San Jose City Hall to share their concerns with the mayor and council members. “We want the kids to realize that they have a voice, that activism matters and that public officials will respond,” said Moss, a Spanish teacher. “This is the world they will inherit, so it’s important that they engage now.”
Students found the rally energizing. “I sometimes feel isolated because it seems like a lot of kids at school don’t care that much about environmental issues,” confessed Green Team member Anvi Banga, grade 12. “But at the Climate Strike, I met many young people who care about the giant problem we have and who are willing to spend their time and energy to fight for something they believe in, which was super cool.”
“Sometimes I feel like kids are all talk and no action,” agreed senior Aditi Ghalsasi. “Going to the strike felt good because I was doing something about an issue that’s important to me.” Classmate Anthony Shing was also inspired. “Getting people together to share their beliefs instills the idea that we can make a change in our community and the wider world.”
The experience also offered students a valuable illustration of the difference between theory and practice. “You can talk a lot of theory in class, but when you get involved, you get an immediate check on your wild ideas,” said Ghalsasi. Fellow student Allison Jia agreed: “When you immerse yourself in an environment, it bolsters your understanding of the subject matter and gives you a fresh perspective on things you’ve learned in class.”
And this, said Gargano, is the whole point. “Learning about a subject by hearing or reading about it is one thing. Having a personal experience with that subject is another,” she observed. “In the classroom, knowledge is sometimes imparted in segments, so when we expose our students to concepts in the real world, they’re integrated into an even more comprehensive framework, and that can make all the difference.”
Lori L. Ferguson is a freelance writer based on the Florida Gulf Coast.
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2020 issue of Harker Magazine.
A constant source of calm humor and graceful leadership, Debra Nott, director of health services, shepherds the school through everything from scraped knees to air quality issues and pandemics. She has also lent her expertise to the California School Nurses Organization as president of its Bay Coast section, where she implemented conference standards that continue to this day. Nott and her husband of 40 years have sent two daughters through Harker, one of whom was an Olympian (“I sewed over a hundred synchronized swimming suits and headpieces …”). This nurse who loves dancing, step aerobics and Zumba shared a little more about her favorite things.
What piece of advice have you given your children? “Be careful of what you need to believe or have to believe.” Sometimes we desperately need to believe something is true, regardless of evidence to the contrary. Recognize that and think it through again.
What would constitute a perfect day for you? I had a perfect day in Rio de Janeiro. Our daughter Andrea qualified for the Olympics in the morning. She placed first; the American flag was raised high and we sang our national anthem. In the afternoon, my husband and I jumped off a cliff in a tandem hang glider (with an expert) and landed on the beach. That night we watched the sunset from Sugarloaf Mountain.
What are you obsessed with? Star Trek and Star Wars.
What gives you a reason to smile? I love it when our youngest students want to re-enact how an injury occurred, sometimes complete with jumping off a chair and rolling around on the floor!
What do you love most about your life? Students and adults come to me every day. My goal is that when they leave, they will feel better.
If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? Although I love being a nurse, my first career goal will always be astronaut. Unfortunately, I get motion sickness at the drop of a hat, and let’s just say calculus and I didn’t see the world in the same way!
San Francisco native Paul Vallerga is the man behind the exquisite set designs for all middle and upper school performing arts productions. He also teaches a grade 7-8 Production and Design class. Vallerga likes the classics: He listens to baseball on the radio, watches old movies and named his “occasionally evil” cat Iago. He likes guiding his students into the word of technical theater with a sense of calm and attention, encouraging people around him to stay relaxed. Here’s a little more that Harker Magazine learned from this creative teacher, who is grateful to have made a career in the arts.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand?
We seem to be in a time where anger, bullying and a general incivility are not only acceptable but admired. I would fix that.
What makes you feel like a kid again?
Cheesy monster movies. Occasionally a new one pops up that, even with millions of CGI dollars, still gets the right vibe. The latest “Godzilla” got this right – he still looks like a guy in a rubber suit.
What is the biggest risk you have ever taken in your life?
I had just graduated with a B.A. in theater. I landed a temp job at Fairchild Semiconductor, and I designed one show at the California Theatre Center. I was offered permanent work at both places the same week. After some soul searching, I took the theater job, though it was lower paying. I was there for 20 years, and it led me directly to Harker.
What is your most treasured object and why?
I have a picture of my father right at the end of his life, with me in the background, and we both are (without knowing it) making the same hand gestures. I really love that picture.
What is something that you pretend to understand when you really don’t?
Baseball free agency.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
Don’t sweat the small stuff – and it’s all small stuff.
With the COVID-19 pandemic complicating schedules and making travel infeasible for many around the world, many families were unable to attend Harker’s Summer English Language Institute. “Long story short, most of our Chinese families could not commit to our program due to conflict of schedule,” said ELI director Joe Chung.
However, because there was still great interest among families in Japan, Natsuko Mitsugi of the Tokyo-based after-school program GKCors stepped in so that Japanese students could attend ELI remotely. “We thought if there is any way we can provide the opportunity to local children to experience Harker ELI, we wanted to try,” she said. Mitsugi had heard about Harker in 2017 through a friend in the Bay Area, and had also met Joe Rosenthal, director of strategic initiatives, while he was visiting Japan.
Students met at GKCors and did their lessons together while receiving instruction from ELI teachers, working online from California. “We provided our facility and Harker teachers gave online live lessons for three hours every day,” Mitsugi said. “There are mainly two levels and each class has assistant teachers from GKCors.”
Despite the changes to the program, students enjoyed the lessons and activities planned for them. Karen Glovka’s students “were having fun every day, said Mitsugi. They learned about living things, rainforests and so on. They really enjoyed the games they played.” Although some of the more advanced lessons were challenging, “at the end of the week, we could see their satisfied faces,” Mitsugi said.
Giving the students a place to learn together was very important for the program, as it enabled the students to socialize and learn from one another. “Children had lunch together, played together and learned from each other,” said Mitsugi. “Of course, it would have been better to spend time at a Harker campus, but in a situation like this, we think we did the best we could. We really appreciate what the Harker ELI team did for us.”
Had 2020 gone as planned, a contingent of upper and middle school Latin students would have headed to the University of Richmond in Virginia for the annual National Junior Classical League Convention. The convention was held virtually July 24-29 instead, with 12 Harker students joining the California delegation for games, academic competitions and assemblies.
Rupert Chen, grade 10, kicked off his term as second vice president of the California Junior Classical League by leading the California delegation in nightly organizational meetings and submissions to spirit and service competitions. California placed first in service (letters to representatives) and second overall for large states in spirit and service. Chen and his brother Felix, grade 8, appear at the 35-second mark in a video of one of the spirit themes, “Golden Slumbers/Purple Rain,” named for the JCL colors of purple and gold.
Rupert Chen also served as webmaster for CaJCL for the 2019-20 school year, and the CaJCL website placed first in the website competition. Kabir Ramzan, grade 9, is taking over as webmaster this year.
Students earned the following academic awards, competing at the level of Latin completed in 2019-20.
Level 1/2:
Rahul Sundaresan, grade 7: First in Academic Heptathlon, Ancient Geography, Hellenic History, Roman Life, Mythology, Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations, and Latin Derivatives; Second in Classical Art; Third in Roman History
Sundaresan also competed on the novice open certamen (quiz bowl) team that placed second. Open certamen teams are made up of students from different states.
Level 1:
Felix Chen, grade 8: Fifth in Latin Derivatives, Reading Comprehension and Roman Life
Level 2:
Trisha Iyer, grade 9: Fifth in Reading Comprehension
Kabir Ramzan, grade 9: Third in Latin Vocabulary
Michelle Wei, grade 9: Fifth in Reading Comprehension
Iyer and Ramzan also played on the California intermediate competitive certamen team, which placed eighth.
Level 3:
Tiffany Chang, grade 10: First in Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations, fifth in Latin Vocabulary
Rupert Chen, grade 10: Fourth in Reading Comprehension Prose
Michelle Jin, grade 10: Third in Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations
Lauren Liu, grade 10: First in Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations, first in Latin Literature, second in Reading Comprehension Poetry, second in Classical Art, third in Latin Vocabulary, fifth in Latin Derivatives, fifth in Reading Comprehension Prose
Nicholas Wei, grade 10: First in Reading Comprehension Poetry, second in Latin Grammar, second in Latin Vocabulary, second in Reading Comprehension Prose
Level 4:
Ann Ryan, grade 11: Summa cum laude in Impromptu Art
Level 5+:
Jeffrey Fung ’20: Second in Greek Life and Literature, third in Reading Comprehension Poetry, third in Latin Vocabulary, fourth in Hellenic History, fourth in Roman Life, fifth in Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations, fifth in Latin Literature
At the final assembly, Lisa Masoni, middle school Latin teacher, was presented with a Summa Cum Laude Sponsor award. This award recognizes contributions to JCL on the local, state and national level. Her nominators highlighted her service to CaJCL as treasurer for the past 14 years, as well as her work on the national level on the certamen moderator squad.