Several open houses were held at all three campuses in November and December, to give interested parents an insight into life as a Harker student. At the upper school open houses on Nov. 7 and Dec. 2, students gave presentations on school work and shared their experiences as Harker students.
Students guided guests around the Saratoga campus to show them its facilities and help them get their questions answered. Student-run clubs had tables and displays set up in Nichols Hall so that parents could get a glimpse of the various extracurricular opportunities available.
The middle school open house was held Dec. 5 and featured dance performances and a pottery-making exhibition. As at other open houses, students acted as guides around campus as prospective parents visited classrooms and chatted with teachers and administrators. BEST and other activities staff members were also present to answer questions and provide basic information.
At the lower school open house on Nov. 14, interested kindergarten and grade 1-5 parents visited at separate times and learned about the different programs from faculty, administrators and BEST staff. For those interested in Harker’s kindergarten program, four Cookies and Kindergarten events will be held Jan. 7, 10, 20 and 25 at 9 a.m. Attendees will receive a tour of the Bucknall campus and will have the opportunity to view a class session and meet with admissions staff. Reservations can be made by calling 408.871.4662 or e-mailing admissionK5@harker.org .
In October, several faculty and staff gathered at the home of Pat and Terry Walsh, grade 5 math teacher and Harker archivist, respectively, for a special poker event to commemorate the passing of beloved Harker U.S. history teacher John Near one year earlier.
The event also acted as a fundraiser for the John Near Resource Center, raising a total of $945. Funds were donated by visitors and those who were unable to attend but wanted to contribute nonetheless. The center, located in Shah Hall, adjacent to Near’s former classroom, reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009. His legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history as well as the John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund.
Two tables of Texas Hold ‘Em were run for the poker competition which was won by recently retired 30-year lower school geography teacher John Zetterquist, who pocketed a $200 first prize. Casey Near ’06, Dickinson and Near’s daughter, cleverly called Zetterquist’s bluff on one hand, which netted her a $75 prize.
“Casey did an amazing job for her first time playing poker,” said host Terry Walsh, Harker’s archivist.
On a balmy Friday evening in mid-November, Harker’s Saratoga campus and Davis Field were lit up for Homecoming and filled with color, pomp and excitement. Despite riding high on a 7-2 record going in and giving their best efforts, the Harker Eagles, plagued by injuries to starters, had their worst outing all season in the actual game, losing 57-8, but the crowd supported their team all the way.
As a K-12 school, Harker’s annual Homecoming is unique and involves the entire community. Spirit week led up to the game and featured hijinks on all three campuses including rallies and visits by varsity players to the lower school, the classic dress-up days at the middle school and a full schedule at the upper school starting with the painting of the class eagles and culminating in the tug-of-war tug-off at halftime.
At game time, under the Davis Field lights, Harker won the toss and Valley Christian-Dublin took the kickoff. On the first play VC-D ran for their first touchdown, adding two more TDs before the end of the first quarter. Harker’s Chris McCallaCreary, grade 12, scored and classmate Greg Cox ran in the two-point conversion to put Harker on the board, but that was the end of Harker’s offensive success. Speaking about the whole season, coach Karriem Stinson said, “I am really proud of what this team has done. They are the tightest group I’ve ever been around and I’m really proud to have coached them.”
Off the field, however, the fun preceded the games (JV lost, as well, after a tough fight) and kept going throughout, including multiple cheers by the Eaglets, the littlest Eagles; musical blasts, including “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath, from the Harker Jazz Band; constant spirit-building from the Harker cheer squad; and a mid-field routine by the Varsity dancers as Mad Hatters performing to a song inspired by the Alice Wonderland movie, under Laura Rae, director of the upper school dance program.
Away from the field, groups were congregating at their rallying points, including a great turnout in the alumni area under their own pavilion on the northeast corner of the field near Singh Aquatic Center. The senior class and Eagle Buddies had food and fun gatherings in the parking lot between Rosenthal Field and the main academic building, bounce houses were on Rosenthal Field and there were various food booths, including one (funnel cakes) staffed by performing arts students and parents to raise funds for a trip to the Fringe Festival next fall.
Just prior to the game the Eaglets did their now-traditional fly-through, then lined up with the older cheerleaders to form a passage for the varsity team to take the field. The halftime tug-of-war result is in doubt as one team had too many players on the rope, but a decision will be forthcoming or a rematch will be held!
The homecoming court was also introduced at halftime and was made up of freshmen Andrew Wang and Claudia Tischler, sophomores Rohit Agarwal and Tiphaine Delepine, juniors Jason Kuan and German exchange student Julia Lambertz; and seniors Amanda King, Brianna Tran, Ben Tien and Santosh Swaminathan, with Greg Cox and Anisha Agarwal, also of the Class of 2011, named king and queen.
“Juniors turned Shah into a pirate-themed still-life portrait complete with Davy Jones and treasure chests filled with doubloons,” said Jason Berry, English teacher and assistant spirit coordinator. “Seniors decorated the campus with clever references to Harry Potter (the 2011 class theme for Homecoming). To close the week’s spirited activities, the senior class hosted the Homecoming dance, cleverly interweaving the classes’ themes with cute decorations and streamers, turning Nichols into a veritable dance hall menagerie,” said Berry.
“Overall school spirit was amazing!” said Kerry Enzensperger, student activities coordinator. “Classes took it upon themselves to decorate Shah, Dobbins and Main Hall; I would like to thank the class spirit officers for all their hard work!”
Photos for the slide show were provided by Ashley Batz, Winged Post/Talon photographers and Robert Boucher.
[Update] Siddharth Chandrasekhar’s segment will be broadcast tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 17. Viewers in the Bay Area or Philadelphia can watch at 7 pm on ABC. Otherwise check out local listings at http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/jeopardy/showguide/whentowatch/
Sidharth adds: “Thanks for all the good wishes from the last match and I hope you enjoy yourselves as much with this one too.”
Nov. 10, 2010 Siddharth Chandrasekhar ’07, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania this spring, made the semifinals in the 2010 College Jeopardy Championships. Chandrasekhar was on the Harker Quiz Kids and Science Bowl teams and was one of 15 who made the championship rounds. Chandrasekhar won in the first round, which aired Nov. 8, and the finals will be broadcast the following week, Nov. 15-19. The whole family, including brother Suraj, grade 9, attended the October 18 taping of the contest. “It was a great experience for all of us,” said his mother, Sukanya Chandrasekhar. “We are proud of him!”
Harker had a great time for a great cause Saturday, coming in second place at the third annual Silicon Valley Trivia Challenge, and donating their winnings back to the host, Junior League of San Jose, for their charitable work.
Held Nov. 7 at Club Auto Sport in San Jose, and mentioned in the San Jose Mercury News the next day, this entertaining fundraiser for the Junior League’s worthwhile education-based charitable work featured county tax assessor Larry Stone as judge and NBC news weatherperson Mike Inouye as the affable master of ceremonies. The first two years of the event Harker sent two faculty teams; this year the school sent one faculty team and one alumni team. The faculty team, Harker Eagle Eggheads, was composed of Brian Larsen, upper school performing arts; Lisa Masoni, middle school Latin; Stacie Newman, middle school English; and Anthony Silk, upper school math. The alumni team, Harker’s Lean Green Knowledge Machine, consisted of Christina Yan ’93, Harker’s alumni director; Ramesh Srinivasan ’93; and Ab Belani and Edward Hejtmanek, both ’06 and employed at Somaxis, a start-up in the health, wellness and fitness industry.
Teams were encouraged to dress in costume and bring props, and the clever themes, raffle drawings, tasty food stations, audience participation opportunities, beautiful cars on display and smooth organization by Junior League volunteers all added up to a winning event.
After the first round of 20 questions half the teams were eliminated, and a second round eliminated all but the top few. Both Harker teams had a great time answering questions on history, pop culture, sports, literature and music, with the faculty team ultimately winning second place and the alumni just missing placement in the top three. Harker promptly donated the $1,000 prize money back to the Junior League to support their community work.
For more information about the event, and the Junior League of San Jose, visit http://www.jlsj.org/sanjose/npo.jsp?pg=home, and save the date for next year’s event: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011.
The middle school’s Writing Mentor Program, now in its third year, will run from fall until spring and gives middle school students a chance to improve their writing schools by being paired with an upper school mentor.
Middle school students meet with their mentors an hour each week over a period of eight weeks. The mentors look at the writing assignments the students have done as homework and offer their advice to improve the content and mechanics of their work. Mentors often have exercises pulled from online resources that the students can use to focus on areas where they are having difficulty. Mentors are nominated by upper school English teachers and interviewed by Patricia Lai Burrows, middle school English teacher and director of the program.
“In a short period of time, students gain greater confidence in their skills and establish a positive rapport with an older peer,” said Burrows.
The program is open to middle school students who apply by writing a letter to express their interest in participating. They are then interviewed by Burrows before entering the program. “In order to create value and make the most out of this time, students have to be self-driven and self-motivated,” she said.
Clark Cen, a teacher from the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School, visited Harker from late September through early October to observe and teach classes at every campus. It was Cen’s second trip to Harker, having visited previously in 2005.
During his visit, Cen had the chance to teach some lessons in Chinese history, culture and language, at the lower and middle school campuses, which he said “was a lot of fun.” Cen told the students about how Chinese citizens now have more chances to experience foreign cultures, especially the United States, due to media exposure. “We know quite a lot,” he said. Mainstream Chinese culture, on the other hand, is not as accessible, “so some of the understanding is actually out of date.” The classes Cen taught gave him an opportunity to update the students on present-day China.
While teaching at the upper school campus, Cen and the students discussed more abstract topics such as Chinese politics and Confucianism, delving into subjects such as China’s “one child” policy and Chinese currency. Although the upper school students had fewer questions than the lower and middle school students, Cen said, the discussions gave him the opportunity to shed light on these topics from a native’s perspective.
In his free time, Cen visited San Francisco and Alcatraz, which became well-known to Chinese citizens due to its role in the popular movie “The Rock.” He also did a lot of shopping for his friends back home, and spent a Saturday seeing San Jose and visiting the farmers’ market. Cen set aside his last day off to check out the Harker Family and Alumni Picnic before heading back to China.
At the end of September, Harker middle school parents attended preview night, where students and teachers offered a glimpse into high school life.
Nan Nielsen, director of admission and financial aid, invited seniors and juniors to speak about their experiences and favorite aspects of Harker. Allika Walvekar, grade 12, talked about Harker’s Conservatory while others offered views on football, foreign languages, mathematics and forensics.
After a warm welcome from Chris Nikoloff, head of school, and Butch Keller, upper school head, parents and friends were invited to visit departments and learn about the various clubs and activities offered at Harker, which range from Global Empowerment and Outreach to the Harker Business Club to Tri-M Music Honor Society.
Afterward, a formal open house gave the public an opportunity to check out the school, and a chance to speak to teachers and students about the Harker experience. The next open houses will be held Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. and Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
The Harker School Orchestra will be invited to play at the 2012 New Year’s Day parade celebration in London, England, and Lady Catherine Longworth, former lord mayor of the city of Westminister, will be on campus Fri., Oct. 29, to present the invitation.
London’s New Year’s Day parade will be the first official event celebrating both Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee and the city’s Olympic year. The parade’s Festival Concerts, in which Harker’s orchestra will play, are also the first events of London’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
The parade route wends through Piccadilly, Regent Street and Whitehall, through the center of Westminster, ending in the shadows of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. More than half a million spectators are expected to pack London’s streets to watch the spectacular procession.
The invitation will be presented by a delegation of British officials at an assembly including, along with the former lord mayor, Robert Bone, executive director of the London New Year’s Day parade, and Lady Catherine’s husband, John Longworth. The assembly will be entertained by a section of the orchestra and, afterward, the delegation will enjoy a student-led tour of the campus.
Harker is among a number of schools selected from around the U.S. to be invited to perform in the parade and associated venues around London.
This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly
In our summer issue, we told the story of the Harker Alumni & Family Picnic. Now, as it fast approaches, we’d like to share a few more stories, especially from this past decade.
After surviving the legendary “FantaSea 2000” (yes, the picnic where the wet weather lived up to the theme), we forged on to plan our next springtime picnic, the 50th anniversary “Harker Rocks! Fifty Years of Fun!” Poodle skirts and jukeboxes were the order of the day, along with giant 45 records, Curbside Crazies on roller skates, Elvis impersonators and good old rock ‘n’ roll. Christine and John Davis brought a collection of classic cars to create our own Mel’s Drive-In around a huge tent in the center of Rosenthal Field, and the scene was set. It was one of our most rockin’ celebrations ever!
A 50th-anniversary party takes a lot of planning, and no volunteer worked harder than the great Dede Ogami, the queen of all things auction, a publications perfectionist and a dear friend. During the preparations for “Harker Rocks!” she would always joke, “I wish I were in Paris!” She and her good buddy, auction co-chair Kim Pellissier, even left a message the night before the picnic, simply stating, “Gone to Paris!” So, since we’ve always gone to great lengths to keep our volunteers happy, we named our 2002 event “Picnic in Paris – La Fête Fantastique!” We were all able to bask in the glow of Ogami’s favorite destination – “Rue de Harker”! We do what we “can-can”!
In 2003 we were met with more fun and new challenges. This was the first time in history that we produced two family picnics in one year. The first one began simply enough. During “Picnic in Paris” setup week, we noticed a windmill from the student production of “Oklahoma!” on the gym stage, and someone said, “We’re not in Kansas anymore!” Of course, that reminded us of Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,’’ and the rest is, well, history. “The Wonderful Picnic of Oz … There’s No Place Like Harker” was born. Everyone got in the spirit of the day – emerald green wigs and all! Following the “yellow brick road” were Harker parents Candy Carr as the Tin Man, Janet Rohrer as the Scarecrow and Melody Moyer as the not-so-cowardly Lion (costumes courtesy of our super seamstresses, Pellissier and Alice Schwartz). Even Howard Nichols, our beloved school president, dressed as the Wizard himself. It was a delight for munchkins of all ages and plenty of picnicking for one year!
As Harker expanded, so did our special events. The first Harker Fashion Show was on the horizon, and homecoming was a welcome addition for our budding upper school as well as for the entire Harker community. It was decision time. Moving the family picnic back to the fall seemed like the best thing to do, but could we pull it off that same year? We sat down with our dedicated, hard-working, fun-loving, absolutely wonderful committee and asked that question. They said, “YES!” So, in a matter of just a few months, without missing a beat, they orchestrated the sweetest picnic ever. “Once Upon a Picnic … And They Lived ‘Harkerly’ Ever After!” was its own fairytale, and storybook perfect!
After such a busy year, we decided to kick back and enjoy the tropics in our 2004 “Picnic in Paradise … A Tropical Isle, Harker Style!” Everyone sported a by now traditional picnic T-shirt and was welcomed by steel drums, tropical birds and flower leis flown in by Kelly Delepine and family. Such fun! Then, in 2005, we really decided to “chill” with one of our favorite picnics of all time, the “Polar Picnic … Everything’s Cool at The Harker School!” Snow machines and ice sculptures helped set the scene for a day of frozen fun.
The addition of Co-Co Crossing brought us everything chocolate, including our favorite San Jose Chocolate Fountains. Even our new T-shirt sponsor, the Ammatuna family’s I ❤ Yogurt shop, served delicious chocolate flavors. It was a yummy day for all!
By 2006 we were ready for adventure, but little did we know that the real adventure was just beginning. Our resident Aussie, Vanessa Bullman, always had fun stories to tell about her native country, and we were hooked. We would bring Australia to Harker with “Picnic Down Under … An Awesome Aussie Adventure!” but not without a little research. Veteran picnic volunteers Nancy Claunch and Melody Moyer and I traveled to Sydney and surrounding areas to gather lots of ideas (and souvenirs) for our Boomerang Gang of volunteers. What a trip! Waiting for us back home was our delightful “decorations diva,” Debbie Buss, who, in her quest to design Ayers Rock for the auction area, created a mine’s worth of paper rocks that have gained more picnic miles than a trip to Australia itself! (Be sure to look for them this year in their fourth reincarnation). But what was the real adventure? Moving the entire picnic to the Blackford campus!
In 2007, we packed up the “wagons” for our “Blackford or Bust! Pioneer Picnic … Harker Heads West!” Nichols Hall was being built on the site of many a family picnic at the Saratoga campus, which was even more fitting than you might know. Former school president Howard Nichols was an avid scholar on all things related to Harker family picnics. He knew and loved its history better than anyone. Whether it was riding across that field on a horse to delight the children for a western theme, or meticulously helping set up the games with his trusty tape measure in hand, Nichols’ presence was always treasured. So it seems especially fitting that this 60th family picnic is being held on his birthday, Oct. 10. We know he would be proud. Happy birthday, all!