On Nov. 3 an intrepid quartet of Harker teachers placed third in the fifth annual Silicon Valley Trivia Challenge, held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The contest is a fundraiser held by the Junior League of San Jose, and Chris and Marcia Riedel of Hunter Labs (and former Harker parents) have kindly sponsored the Harker table since the contest’s inception in 2008. Finalists each year, Harker placed third in 2009 and second in 2010; all three times Harker has donated its winnings ($1,000 for second, $500 for third) back to the Junior League.
The Harker Eggheads – Linda Felice (middle school English), Brian Larsen (K-12 production manager), Tony Silk (upper school math) and Paul Vallerga (middle school technical director) – were one of 47 teams. After the preliminary elimination round of 20 questions on subjects like pop culture, chemistry, astronomy, geography and literature, Harker was one of only two teams with a perfect score. In the semifinals, no team was perfect, but Harker had 13 of 15 questions correct and easily made the finals. (It seems that “tittle,” the word for the little dot on a lowercase English i or j, stumped the room.) The final 10 teams held on, with a five-round sudden death finally determining this year’s first and second place winners: a group of friends from Santa Cruz who also won last year, and the team from NBC Bay Area, who called themselves La Triviata. The winner was finally determined by the team who could name the greatest number of Elizabeth Taylor’s husbands.
Each year this fun event includes a costume contest, raffle drawings and cocktails and dinner, and is overseen by master of ceremonies Mike Inouye of NBC Bay Area and trivia question judge Lawrence Stone, the tax assessor for Santa Clara County, who handles the good-natured “boos” accompanying his introduction and judgments with aplomb.
Many thanks to the Harker Eggheads for representing the school so well!
On Nov. 3 an intrepid quartet of Harker teachers placed third in the fifth annual Silicon Valley Trivia Challenge, held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The contest is a fundraiser held by the Junior League of San Jose, and Chris and Marcia Riedel of Hunter Labs (and former Harker parents) have kindly sponsored the Harker table since the contest’s inception in 2008. Finalists each year, Harker placed third in 2009 and second in 2010; all three times Harker has donated its winnings ($1,000 for second, $500 for third) back to the Junior League.
The Harker Eggheads – Linda Felice (middle school English), Brian Larsen (K-12 production manager), Tony Silk (upper school math) and Paul Vallerga (middle school technical director) – were one of 47 teams. After the preliminary elimination round of 20 questions on subjects like pop culture, chemistry, astronomy, geography and literature, Harker was one of only two teams with a perfect score. In the semifinals, no team was perfect, but Harker had 13 of 15 questions correct and easily made the finals. (It seems that “tittle,” the word for the little dot on a lowercase English i or j, stumped the room.) The final 10 teams held on, with a five-round sudden death finally determining this year’s first and second place winners: a group of friends from Santa Cruz who also won last year, and the team from NBC Bay Area, who called themselves La Triviata. The winner was finally determined by the team who could name the greatest number of Elizabeth Taylor’s husbands.
Each year this fun event includes a costume contest, raffle drawings and cocktails and dinner, and is overseen by master of ceremonies Mike Inouye of NBC Bay Area and trivia question judge Lawrence Stone, the tax assessor for Santa Clara County, who handles the good-natured “boos” accompanying his introduction and judgments with aplomb.
Many thanks to the Harker Eggheads for representing the school so well!
William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” the 2012 fall play put on by the Harker Conservatory Oct. 25-27, offered a refreshing take on the revered, centuries-old tale of the rotten happenings in the state of Denmark.
Featuring no fewer than five capable actors and actresses in the title role – Jai Ahuja, grade 10, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Rahul Nalamasu, Hannah Prutton, all grade 12, and Namrata Vakkalagadda, grade 11 – director Jeffrey Draper’s take on one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays uniquely depicted Prince Hamlet’s various and often conflicting mental and emotional states; the transitions as each actor handed the role off the next were interesting and seamless.
Other characters were portrayed by multiple players: Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, was played by Shazdeh Hussain, grade 11, and Cristina Jerney, grade 12; sophomore Jeton Gutierrez-Bujaru and junior Ian Richardson were Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and murderer of his father; and Ishanya Anthapur, grade 10, and Apurva Tandon, grade 12, portrayed Ophelia, Hamlet’s would-be lover.
The guileful Polonius, royal counselor and Ophelia’s father, was played by junior Damon Aitken, who brilliantly put across the character’s stately yet playful attitude. In the role of Horatio, Claudia Tischler, grade 11, was more than effective as Hamlet’s best friend and confidant, and the brash, vengeful Laertes was expertly portrayed by Vishal Vaidya, grade 10.
The Saturday matinee show featured an understudy cast that was very warmly received by the afternoon audience. Maya Nandakumar, grade 10, Rachel Renteria, grade 9, Simran Singh, grade 10 and Gurutam Thockchom, grade 9, were stirring as Hamlet, while Aashika Balaji, grade 9, and Madi Lang-Ree, grade 10, had convincing turns as Gertrude. Claudius was well-played by freshmen Dhanush Madabus and MC Smitherman, and Shannon O’Shea and Cordelia Larsen, both grade 9, deftly handled the challenging role of Ophelia. Grade 9 students Rishabh Chandra and Janet Lee were both strong as Polonius and Horatio, respectively.
Paul Vallerga’s set design made clever use of a large video monitor that changed with each setting. Natti Pierce-Thomson’s evocative lighting was also a key feature, such as the scenes in which Hamlet speaks with his father’s ghost (played by Justin Gerard, grade 12, also cast as the player king, messenger and priest, and by Kaushik Sankar, grade 9, at the understudy show), drenched with red light and intensified by the reverb and bass that boomed throughout the Blackford Theater when the specter spoke.
Eschewing the usual period garb, costume designer Caela Fujii placed the characters in modern attire more befitting a gangster movie, evidence of the transcendent power of the play’s themes of betrayal, revenge and moral conflict. The climactic sword fight sequence was well-choreographed by Kit Wilder, managing director of San Jose’s City Lights Theater.
John Hunter, named one of Time magazine’s top 12 education activists, and whose talk on TED was voted 2011’s “Most Influential,” spoke at Harker in early October as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series.
Hunter, who is also an award-winning teacher, discussed his invention of the “World Peace Games,” which he described as a “geopolitical simulation” that is played mostly by students in grade 4 but is suitable for all ages, and focuses on building problem-solving skills by having students address problems occurring in the real world. Students play various roles in the game, such as world leaders, cabinet members and even arms dealers. Some students are even given roles of great power, such as the ability to control the weather or determine if a business venture will succeed. Aside from facilitating, asking questions and signaling the beginning and end of every game session, Hunter never directly intervenes.
Students must use the power they have been given in each role to solve the problems presented to them. Every country in the game must also have its asset value raised by the time it ends. “In other words, everybody has to win for the game to be won,” Hunter said. In addition, he makes Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” required reading for all students participating in the game.
The Common Ground event included a viewing of a documentary film from 2006 that showed Hunter’s students working together to finish the game successfully. In the 34 years that he has been running the game for his students, Hunter said, “They have never failed to save the world. They do it in different ways every time.”
John Hunter, named one of Time magazine’s top 12 education activists, and whose talk on TED was voted 2011’s “Most Influential,” spoke at Harker in early October as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series.
Hunter, who is also an award-winning teacher, discussed his invention of the “World Peace Games,” which he described as a “geopolitical simulation” that is played mostly by students in grade 4 but is suitable for all ages, and focuses on building problem-solving skills by having students address problems occurring in the real world. Students play various roles in the game, such as world leaders, cabinet members and even arms dealers. Some students are even given roles of great power, such as the ability to control the weather or determine if a business venture will succeed. Aside from facilitating, asking questions and signaling the beginning and end of every game session, Hunter never directly intervenes.
Students must use the power they have been given in each role to solve the problems presented to them. Every country in the game must also have its asset value raised by the time it ends. “In other words, everybody has to win for the game to be won,” Hunter said. In addition, he makes Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” required reading for all students participating in the game.
The Common Ground event included a viewing of a documentary film from 2006 that showed Hunter’s students working together to finish the game successfully. In the 34 years that he has been running the game for his students, Hunter said, “They have never failed to save the world. They do it in different ways every time.”
John Hunter, named one of Time magazine’s top 12 education activists, and whose talk on TED was voted 2011’s “Most Influential,” spoke at Harker in early October as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series.
Hunter, who is also an award-winning teacher, discussed his invention of the “World Peace Games,” which he described as a “geopolitical simulation” that is played mostly by students in grade 4 but is suitable for all ages, and focuses on building problem-solving skills by having students address problems occurring in the real world. Students play various roles in the game, such as world leaders, cabinet members and even arms dealers. Some students are even given roles of great power, such as the ability to control the weather or determine if a business venture will succeed. Aside from facilitating, asking questions and signaling the beginning and end of every game session, Hunter never directly intervenes.
Students must use the power they have been given in each role to solve the problems presented to them. Every country in the game must also have its asset value raised by the time it ends. “In other words, everybody has to win for the game to be won,” Hunter said. In addition, he makes Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” required reading for all students participating in the game.
The Common Ground event included a viewing of a documentary film from 2006 that showed Hunter’s students working together to finish the game successfully. In the 34 years that he has been running the game for his students, Hunter said, “They have never failed to save the world. They do it in different ways every time.”
Homecoming, a cherished Harker tradition, will take place Nov. 2, as the Eagles take on Lynbrook High at Davis Field on the upper school campus. Aside from the intense competition on the field, there will be plenty of other attractions available to members of the Harker community, including great food, tailgate parties, a bounce house for the kids, performances by talented Harker student groups, the time-honored Eaglets flyby and more!
Spirit activities have already gotten under way, with rallies taking place at the lower and middle school campuses on Oct. 18, where members of the upper school football team appeared to boost the younger students’ excitement for the event. The excitement continues into the week of Oct. 30, with upper school spirit in full swing. Students will be wearing themed attire on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, and sporting their class colors on Nov. 2, the day of the upper school’s raucous Homecoming rally.
The Homecoming pre-game festivities will officially begin at 5:30 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 2, with kickoff at 7 p.m. Alumni are invited to visit the alumni tailgate party, which will start at 6 p.m.
Please visit www.harker.org/homecoming for a full schedule and more details, and we look forward to seeing you on game day!
Attendees at the 62nd Harker Family & Alumni Picnic on Oct. 14 gloried in the timelessness of the picnic: new things each year–especially the faces of students growing up–and some of the classics, like the never-get-tired-of-it dunk tank. The whole event, one of the big opening events of the school year, was attended by about 800 people and again fulfilled its promise in providing fun and entertainment to the entire Harker community on a warm fall day.
Families were greeted by Harker faculty and staff as they reached the entrance to the middle school campus, where the day’s festivities took place. This year’s theme, “Jaws, Paws and Claws,” celebrated all manner of wildlife, and patrons were treated to animal shows at the Blackford amphitheater throughout the day.
The crowd was also entertained by an energetic show by a wide selection of groups from Harker’s performing arts department, including Dance Fusion, the grade 4-6 boys and girls dance group; Downbeat, the upper school show choir; and the grade 6 choir, Dynamics.
Picknickers, particularly the younger ones, especially enjoyed being able to see and pet the pigs, goats, rabbits and other animals on display at the petting area. Talented and well-trained dogs performed tricks and ran through an obstacle course to the delight of audiences, and even a python several feet in length was available for visitors to view and briefly wear on their shoulders.
The always-popular game booths were among the main attractions throughout the day. Volunteers spun wheels of fortune, players tossed golf balls, shot hoops and more to win a myriad of prizes, including stuffed animals, toys and bottles of wine. One of the most popular carnival games, the dunk tank, continued to be a hit with picnic-goers. “The dunk tank was a little cold today. If you noticed, the weather was a little overcast,” said upper school chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine, who had an early shift. He was one of a number of faculty members who had the honor of sitting in the dunk tank this year, and one of the most enthusiastic: “I kind of like the anticipation,” Irvine said.
Kaela Bien, grade 5, who liked “watching the teachers get dunked,” also enjoyed the canine feats on display at the dog show. “It’s fun, and they’re sort of mischievous too,” she said.
Generous student and parent volunteers helped sell tickets to the booths that kept visitors entertained and fed all day. Food booths, run by parents, faculty and staff, served delicious refreshments, snacks and hot meals from a variety of vendors. Returning were the food trucks, which proved a hit during the 2011 picnic and received a similar response this year, serving Asian fusion and other types of cuisine.
At the “Claws Vegas” silent auction area, attendees bid on all sorts of prizes, ranging from trips to New York City and Las Vegas to sleepovers and animal-shaped topiaries. Parent alumna Tiffany Nishimura ’86 (Alexis, grade 2), said the silent auction was her favorite part of the picnic for the wide variety of prizes available and the various opportunities for “supporting the school.”
Harker alumni had a big presence at this year’s picnic, with more than 130 alumni and their families joining in on the fun. A special lunch area was set aside so that alumni could meet and reminisce, while alumni children enjoyed a craft activity. Alumni director MaryEllis Deacon reflected on the picnic, saying, “It is a time to come back, reconnect, and visit with those teachers who helped you as a child become who you are today. It also allows you to remember the fun things, the games, the food and the spirit of Harker.”
Vincy Chan, parent of Gemma, K, and Gianna, grade 3, said she enjoyed seeing the community’s hard work come to fruition: “It’s like a family, so I just love helping out, and then … seeing all our hard work.”
“When you see everybody come together, and see all the people in their civilian clothing, it shows the magic that makes the Harker community Harker,” Irvine said.
Following the picnic, Chris Nikoloff, head of school, gave well-deserved credit to all responsible for the event’s success. “Special thanks to the talented and creative flock of volunteers who comprise the picnic committee and the Harker faculty and staff who were as busy as beavers helping to make the picnic a great success,” Nikoloff said, making special mention of picnic co-chairs Lynette Stapleton, Kelly Espinosa and Tiffany Hurst, “whose vision made it possible for all our little eagles and their families to soar to new heights today!”
Harker hosted two exciting visits from exchange teachers last month, one from Japan and the other from China. Both Yu Sasaki of Japan and Zhang Tao of China were warmly received and are now missed by students and teachers alike.
On Sept. 6 Sasaki, who lives in Sendai, Japan, visited the upper school campus to talk to students about her work with Save the Children, a leading nonprofit organization devoted to promoting children’s welfare. Sasaki is currently involved in Japan’s post-tsunami relief efforts and used her Harker visit as an opportunity to inform the upper school students about it.
“It was a wonderful experience to discuss our post-tsunami relief efforts with five Japanese classes at Harker. In each class, I got interesting questions from students and was happy to know that they still care about what happens on the other side of the earth. I was also amazed by the charity work some students did after the tsunami,” she said.
Then, from Sept. 8-21, Zhang Tao (who goes by Ruth) visited from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai, China. In recent years the WFLMS has added a high school, where Zhang teaches English to sophomores and juniors. During her time at Harker she observed and taught classes on all three campuses, spending the bulk of her time at the middle school. Highlights of her visit included teaching such subjects as Chinese poetry, Mandarin, calligraphy, and tai chi.
“She was super excited to have been selected for this exchange,” recalled Jennifer Walrod, director of Harker’s global education program. “When I met with her while visiting China last March we spent a lot of time discussing what types of classes she could teach while here.”
In addition to the annual teacher exchange program with Japan and China, Walrod explained that Harker’s partnership with WFLMS has resulted in a student exchange program in the middle school as well. Harker also hosts visiting teachers from Australia.
The teacher exchange program is an example of Harker’s ongoing effort to build progressive academic and cultural partnerships between institutions around the world, providing meaningful experiences for students at all grade levels – preparing them to be true global citizens.
Taylor Eigsti returned to a sold-out Nichols Hall auditorium on Sept. 28 to kick off the third season of the Harker Concert Series. Performing to a very enthusiastic crowd, the 27-year-old jazz piano phenom again dazzled an audience made up of everyone from budding jazz fans to longtime aficionados.
The slow, lilting chords of Eigsti’s version of the jazz standard “Cheryl” coursed through the auditorium as the show began, expertly punctuated by veteran drummer Jason Lewis’ light cymbal hits. The trio soon brought up the volume, with Eigsti bassist John Shifflett playing in fast, tight harmony. Never one to chew up scenery, Eigsti gave Shifflett and Lewis ample room to display their knack for tasteful soloing, in addition to showcasing his own immense chops.
“Speaking Song,” one of Eigsti’s own compositions, started with a fast, tricky solo filled with arpeggios and wide intervals, flowing into a strident and confident melody. Following Shifflett’s melodious bass solo, the band shifted into a gallop during Eigsti’s solo, culminating in a raucous middle section before mellowing for the ending.
For the last song of the first set, a rendition of Kenny Dorham’s “Lotus Blossom,” the trio was joined by Eigsti’s longtime friend and Harker middle school music teacher Dave Hart on trumpet. Hart navigated the songs shifting times and rhythms in seemingly effortless fashion, and also showcased his formidable improvisational skills.
During the intermission, several guests at the show remarked about the quality of the venue and reception.
“It’s wonderful,” said Vickie Grove of Portola Valley, a longtime Taylor Eigsti fan who attended last year’s concert. “I love the venue. It’s small. The food is excellent. It’s really fun.”
Kim Huynh, who lives in San Jose, decided to attend after being impressed with her experience seeing pianist Adam Golka last season, saying she enjoyed the “very nice reception. It was exceptional. It was great.”
The second set had some more surprises, including another guest turn by Dave Hart on “Declan,” written by Lewis and named after his son, and a powerful performance on vocals by the young and talented Laila Smith on “Midnight After Noon,” written by Eigsti with Becca Stevens.
Among the more emotionally charged pieces performed was “Distressed,” which Eigsti composed for the 2011 film “Detachment,” starring Adrien Brody. Fittingly, Eigsti performed with no accompaniment for this brooding piece, which was at times also dissonant, plodding and atmospheric.
Eigsti finished the show with the uplifting, groove-driven “Magnolia,” whose rousing mid-section and calming final moments drew a well-deserved extended ovation.