This year marks the beginning of the Eagles Buddies Program, which pairs one or two sophomores with a grade 3 student to foster an ongoing relationship that will continue when the Class of 2013 graduates and the lower school students move on to middle school.
During Thursday advisory, sophomores sprawled out across desks, and even the floor, with markers, crayons and colored pens to write introductions to their new young buddies. “I’m very excited to meet you. I remember when I was in third grade. I had a buddy as well. It was lots of fun. I know we’ll have fun as well,” Apricot Tang, Gr. 10, wrote to her third-grade counterpart, Annie Ma.
“My favorite activity is tennis,” Christopher Chang wrote to his buddy, Ekdatha Arramreddy. “Maybe one day you can come watch me play. What activities do you enjoy?”
“The goals for the program are to foster a K-12 sense of community, and to promote responsibility, relationships and communication,” sophomore advisor Carol Zink said. Inspired by Butch Keller’s experiences with a similar buddy program his daughters went through, faculty and advisors from both grade levels – including sophomore class dean Jeff Draper, lower school dean of students Joe Connolly and Zink – have worked together to establish events throughout the year.
Before the official kick-off on Oct. 6, when the sophomores travel to Bucknall to meet face-to-face and play games with their buddies, the students have begun writing letters to each other to introduce themselves, sharing their summer stories and favorite activities. They’re also preparing for a fun-packed year filled with events like watching the homecoming game together, participating in the lower school’s Pajama Day and attending the Spring Spirit Week rally.
Many teachers noted how enthusiastic the sophomores were. “The girls especially got into it, filling their cards with pictures and using different color markers,” history teacher Ally Montana said.
Both students and faculty alike are looking forward to forging friendships.
“I am most looking to watching the students interact during the various activities we have planned for them at each campus,” Connolly said. “I am also looking forward to watching the relationships develop and the positive benefits each student, young and old, will receive.”
This story first appeared in the Summer 2010 edition of the Harker Quarterly
Since starting at the upper school in 2001, robotics at Harker has grown into an opportunity for both middle and upper school students to learn real-life engineering skills in addition to providing a fun, competitive environment. This year, the programs at both levels have achieved success on all fronts.
“Organizationally, the team functioned better than I have ever seen,” said Eric Nelson, upper school computer science department chair and mentor to the US robotics team. “They had a good business structure, created an initial business plan, made promotional elements, maintained the website and managed the engineering elements of the program.”
Under Nelson’s direction, the program has been designed to emulate the structure of a Silicon Valley start-up firm. Students manage the budget of the program, select officers to run the would-be company, oversee and execute the engineering and programming of the robots, train the members of the team, purchase parts, develop partnerships and promote the team. “The only thing the team does not deal with is a payroll,” Nelson said.
Andrea Lincoln, Gr. 12, served as the executive president of the upper school robotics team during the 2009-10 school year, and said she enjoyed the cohesiveness and intense, hands-on approach offered by Nelson’s unique take on the program. “Over only six weeks the core members will work over 400 hours, an average of 60 hours a week,” she said. “That 60 hours does not include school or homework, so the build period is really intense and bonds us together as a team.”
Both of Harker’s robotics teams participate in competitions by FIRST, a nonprofit organization that holds robotics competitions for various grade levels nationwide.
The US team had a strong showing at the Sacramento regional, finishing in the top 24 out of 50 teams, impressive for a team that is almost entirely run and maintained by students. “Most winning teams outsource a large part of their efforts to professionals or semiprofessionals,” Nelson said. “We outsource very little. I require that the students learn to manage the team, the structure, the design, the construction and the testing, to name a few.”
Nelson added that the team “is moving in the direction of a sustainable, successful organization. It’s just going to take a while to get there as they learn how to, and not to, do it along the way.” At the middle school level, the robotics program began as a club during the 2005-06 school year before becoming an elective in 2009-10. The class is used as a way to introduce students to a method of programming focused less on details and more on the end result.
“The secret is to divide things into smaller, more manageable problems and conquer strategically,” said Michael Schmidt, the team’s instructor. The class originated as a student club, but as interest and the need for more meetings grew, the club this year became an elective class that met every day for one semester, in addition to eight Saturdays.
The MS robotics team competes in the FIRST Lego League (FLL), which is offered to students in grades four through eight and uses robots from the LEGO Mindstorms product line. The competition guidelines dictate what is taught in class. “Each year, FLL creates a new theme and a set of tasks to perform,” said Schmidt. “These tasks must be performed by the robot autonomously with no help from the students other than pressing the run button.” The students create, load and run the programs that contain the orders the robot must follow to win the competition.
Schmidt said this year was considered “very successful,” with three Harker teams advancing to the state level of FLL competition. “This class provides a technological experience that is very educational for the kids, but is also on the costly side,” Schmidt said. “More teams are sponsored by parents than schools. So this really puts Harker’s middle school at the forefront of computer science instruction, since we are capable of absorbing those costs, and providing a class that meets regularly to focus on specific goals.”
In mid-August, inmates transformed San Mateo Women’s Correctional Center’s kitchen into a bustling culinary scene reminiscent of Iron Chef.
In the timed cooking contest, four teams of former and current inmates, JobTrain students and celebrity chefs whipped up delectable dishes for a panel of judges, including Harker’s very own chef Danae McLaughlin.
To give back to the community and provide skills that can aid offenders after release, chef Elihu Kittell, who runs the kitchen at the jail, started the program in 2006 with chef Adam Weiner. Weiner works for JobTrain, a nonprofit educational and training institution that helps communities break out of poverty, crime and drugs by providing courses, job training and additional assistance for all ages.
McLaughlin, who has competed and received medals from the American Culinary Federation, initially became involved with JobTrain after meeting Weiner at a competition geared towards youth leadership and career development. Impressed by JobTrain’s mission and various programs, McLaughlin and Steve Martin, Harker’s executive chef, judged one of JobTrain’s competitions and then began hiring JobTrain students as interns in the Harker kitchen.
McLaughlin served as a kitchen judge and tasting judge, commenting on the teamwork and also on the salads, salmon, jambalaya and pecan pie placed before her. She also had the opportunity to chat with the inmates about her experiences as a woman in a kitchen and becoming a Certified Executive Chef.
McLaughlin joined a galaxy of public officials including judges Sheriff Greg Munks, Supervisor Adrienne Tissier and Assistant Sheriff Trisha Sanchez, in congratulating everyone for their effort and awarding Team No. 4 – Amilia Otis, Laura Engman and Captain Quinlan – for winning the competition.
“It was really a great feeling that I could actually be a role model for them!” McLaughlin said. “This event gave all these women something to look forward to and something to work towards. In the end, it was the look of accomplishment and empowerment that I saw on all their faces that was the best thing about being involved.”
To view broadcasts of the event, visit KTVU, CBS5 or ABC7.
[Update] Shannon Richardson, grade 7, took a silver medal in the 2010 USA Volleyball Beach Junior Tour Championships – Open Division in the Girls U12 Category Aug. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Richardson’s usual teammate, Selin Ekici, also grade 7 (both girls played for Harker’s undefeated grade 5 and 6 teams), was unable to attend, so Richardson teamed up with another girl for the event. Congrats Shannon!
Sept. 3, 1020
Middle school students Selin Ekici and Shannon Richardson, both grade 7, competed in several beach volleyball competitions as a team this summer and earned a chance to compete in the USAV Beach Volleyball Junior Tour. The pair placed third at the NoCal Open in Santa Cruz on Aug. 7, and secured a trip to the Junior Tour Championships, which were held Aug. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Over the summer, Christopher Sund, grade 8, was accepted to the THINK Summer Institute, which provides a comprehensive college experience to 60 gifted students around the country. The program also offers the opportunity to earn college credit by taking courses from university faculty members.
Maverick McNealy, grade 10, made headway in the youth golf world during the summer, winning the Ray Anderson Memorial Junior Golf – Tournament in Milpitas, and finished 12th at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego, which featured 152 players from across the country.
Gail Nakano ’06 recently auditioned for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and to her delight has been accepted for the 2010-11 season. Nakano just earned a chemistry degree from Vassar College where she was very involved in the choral and opera programs. For the past two years she has been with the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers. Singing in the San Francisco chorus has been a dream of hers since seeing them as a child.
“The audition went fairly well,” said Nakano. “The sight reading got a little tough for the a cappella pieces, but my piece and the excerpts in the second part … went a lot better I think. They haven’t figured out which pieces I’ll be in yet, but I’m so happy!”
In addition, Nakano earned a chorus spot in the West Bay Opera’s fall production of “La Forza Del Destino.”
New Parent Welcome and Orientations in late April gave new parents a chance to learn more about Harker and the options available for their children in the coming school year. In an interesting twist, the parents in attendance were given booklets with commonly asked questions to ask faculty and staff members at the events.
Orientations were held on each campus and each featured tables from each department with informative posters answering questions from the booklets. The new format was introduced so parents could more actively learn about the school.
The new parents were shown brief presentations that introduced them to other aspects of the school such as the online parent portal and Annual Giving, and a brief Q & A session followed each presentation to address specific questions.
Harker Summer Camp brings students from all over the San Jose area for learning and fun–often both at the same time.
The summer academic program differs from its school-year counterpart in a number of ways. For one thing, “It’s just more relaxed,” says Summer Academic Principal Diann Chung. “It’s still education, but it has a different vibe.” One reason may be that the day starts a bit later, at 8:30, and the academic schedule ends at 11:30 to make way for afternoon activities.
Offered for children entering kindergarten through grade 8, the curriculum is not just school-year redux. Chung, who chairs the regular K-1 academic team, works closely with the other department chairs to make sure the summer curriculum is compatible with that for the school year, and not redundant. “We try to make sure they are seeing and doing something different,” she says.
It can’t be easy to meet the academic needs of students with a wide variety of baseline skills in only four weeks, but that is what happens. The key, says Chung, is “differentiated instruction.”
Operating under this principle, teachers adapt the curriculum to the individual student’s level. Within the classroom, the children work in small groups, with each group offered a slightly different take on the lesson. With the help of an aide, the teacher makes sure that every student is challenged, but not too much.
There are fewer subjects to study, too. The morning consists of one class period each of math and language arts, and one 45-minute elective. Everyone is conscious of the fact that it’s summertime, so teachers have a great deal of latitude with which to incorporate games, crafts and activities into the curriculum.
Teacher Alice Cooley makes sure to read a silly story to her first-graders every day. “They think it’s great to hear me get my tongue twisted” while reading “Fox in Sox,” she says.
In math, she uses a lot of manipulatives, objects students handle to help them learn. For example, she noticed that the kids knew the value of individual coins, but had trouble combining them. So she put together a little bag of faux coins for each child. “We’re working with things they are missing, but doing it in a fun way,” she says. “It’s hands-on learning.”
Elective topics run the gamut from math to language arts, science, technology and the arts. During each four-week session, students select two from such intriguing choices as Hopscotch Math, Kitchen Chemistry and Jump Write In.
On a recent day, third- and fourth-graders from the Enviro-Kids class were running across the field with their homemade dust collectors for a study of air pollution. Later they would be using computers to learn more about the Gulf Coast oil spill and writing about experiments with different ways to clean up oil.
Grade 1 parent Trupti Kapadia likes the balance of choices that the four-week program offers. “There is some pre-designed curriculum, some electives that offer parents a choice on what extra academic emphasis to give their kids, and then the 3:30-5:00 Special Interest Hour, where the kids get to make their own choices,” she says.
She enrolled her twins, Nikki and Kaden, in KinderCamp last year to help them adjust to Harker. Now first graders, they are enjoying camp just as much. In fact, says Kapadia, “As the first session was ending, they checked in with me to make sure they were signed up for the second session.”
So much has changed over the six decades the picnic has been held! It began in Palo Alto in the 1950s, and even then dedication made the difference. “Picnic” at Harker has a meaning all its own. It’s not just a picnic … it’s so much more!
The first family picnic was held at the Palo Alto Military Academy in 1951 on a sunny Sunday in October. The school kitchen provided lunch, and activities included a tug-of-war, the ever-popular (and often messy) family egg toss, awards ceremony and military parade. In the 1960s “Alumni Day Exercises” included the Presentation of the Colors, a bugle competition, physical exercises and the colorful bicycle drill, led by Cadet Captain Dan Gelineau (middle school teacher Mark Gelineau’s father).
In 1972, Palo Alto Academy and Harker Day School became Harker Academy and moved to Saratoga Avenue. Picnic tradition continued under headmaster Howard Nichols and the Dads’ Club, and the first Saratoga picnic was on what is now Davis Field. In 1975, the Dads’ Club, under the leadership of Harker dads Marty Scarpace (father of elementary school head Kristin Giammona), Bob Sparkman and Wally Briefs, decided to use the picnic to fund a swimming pool. Scarpace purchased pool blueprints, Sparkman added carnival games to the picnic and Briefs built the Plinko game himself – and it is still used today. The pool was built the very next year. In 1978, the Sparkman family donated a trip for two to Hawaii and the family picnic raffle was born.
Then came the 1980s. Picnic attractions changed and none was more exciting than skydivers landing in the picnic field after lunch! Briefs, chair in the early 80s, even rallied the Mothers’ Club by speaking at the annual Mothers’ Dinner, actually dressed as a mother! Enter the incomparable Morici family, with volunteer extraordinaire Becky and Sausage Sandwich King Tony (who inherited the job from Scarpace) and the picnic was on its way to new heights. In 1985, as a Harker parent at that time, I became chair of the family picnic and in 1986 teamed up with then recreation director Kelly Espinosa (now director of summer programs).
Over the years the team and many wonderful volunteers, staff and students have made picnic history.
While the ’80s saw the addition of memorable themes, more games, more entertainment and more fun, the ’90s proved to be a decade of growth and change for the school as well as the picnic. In 1991, a new kindergarten complex was built and in 1993, we honored the school’s 100th birthday with a Centennial Celebration picnic, featuring a turn-of the- century schoolhouse, an aerial banner across the sky and a giant birthday cake. In 1994, Dobbins Hall was completed with beautiful glass doors that opened out to a perfect patio stage for student performances, so the family picnic was reborn on spacious Rosenthal Field (adjacent to Nichols Hall).
In the midst of all the changes, a dynamic group of fantastic parent volunteers kept the picnic fresh. The great Dan Zanotto graciously accepted the title of Sausage Sandwich King from Tony Morici, and “reigned” through the ‘90s. Yet, the search was on for someone to fill in for Harker super-moms Maryanne Wilson, Jorja Smith, Sue French and Shirley Mortenson, who were retiring from picnic central as their children were graduating. Along came the dynamic duo, Nancy Claunch and Melody Moyer, two talented, funloving, hard-working Harker moms. With the help of their friends Sherry and Louis Ammatuna, Sharon and Harris Meyers, Ken Azebu and Dede Ogami, Amanda Lundie, Ni Denari, Fred and Candy Carr, Fumiko Kimura, Chidori Okubo, Alice Schwartz, Judy Stapleton, Smita and Nayana Patel, the Kawahara family, Linda Sabeh, Robyn Peetz, Kathy and Steve Polzin and many more, the picnic thrived as never before!
The “Curbside Crazies” reigned supreme, especially in 1998 when the picnic became a springtime event. With many weeks available to promote the Harker Goes Hollywood picnic, accepting donations on the curb in elaborate costumes while giving Oscar-worthy performances became the order of the day. “My Fair Lady” Week and “Titanic” Week were legendary! Even Howard and Diana Nichols made a grand entrance at the volunteer breakfast dressed as a movie director and starlet. Then, at the picnic, the Santa Clara Aquamaids provided entrancing synchronized swim performances. Super supporters John and Christine Davis arrived on the scene with kindergartner Cole (who graduated this May), decked out in their NASCAR gear, as they set up their 14- foot spaceship Messenger II along with a selection of NASCAR racecars. What a team! Family picnic organizers promoted the 1999 spring event with a parade, rallies, elaborate door decorating, and spirit, spirit, spirit! The picnic was bigger than ever!
The new millennium arrived with a splash, literally, with FantaSEA 2000. With two days to go, it had been raining off and on most of the week and organizers made the call to move the event indoors for the first time. It came to be known as “Plan B” and the whole crew worked around the clock to move everything into the gym, hallways, classrooms, the library – wherever there as space. When all was said and done, Harker families and friends came in droves to enjoy a fabulous day “at sea.”
Fast forward to 2010! In the coming months, we’ll be sharing more picnic stories, including moving the family picnic back to the fall in 2003 (two picnics in one year) and finally heading to our new home at the Blackford campus. We all love this special day at Harker; whether it’s indoors or out, rain or shine, in the spring or in the fall, it’s a time for us to come together each year and appreciate how lucky we all are to be a part of the Harker family.
Partially compiled from the Harker Archives (parent Debbie Dawkins, contributor)
As summer rolls on, Harker continues to appear in news outlets nationwide. Stay tuned throughout the month for more updates!
Investors.com — July 1, 2010: Harker is mentioned as one of three U.S. high schools where “it’s cool to be smart,” and is identified as a top school in the “STEM” subjects: science, technology, engineering and math. The story also mentions Harker’s quality facilities, knowledgeable, attentive faculty and the numerous awards acquired during the 2009-10 school year. Chris Nikoloff, head of school, was interviewed for the story and said, “There really isn’t any limit to how far a student can pursue a passion.”
San Jose Mercury News — July 19, 2010: The newspaper has printed a brief story about the middle school debate students reaching the finals of the National Middle School Forensics Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. The tournament featured more than 450 students from 20 states.
Harker’s summer programs kicked off during the first week of June, offering a vast array of academic and recreational programs to students in grades K-12.
This year’s Summer Institute began June 7 and offers for-credit courses to Harker upper school students. The institute offers three-week and six-week courses that are equivalent to those taken during the academic year, and include classes in math, science, art and English.
Kamya Arora, who starts as a freshmen at Quarry Lane School in the fall, enrolled in a ceramics class at Saratoga for the summer. “It’s really fun, because we get a lot of materials that we can use so we’re not really limited by what we don’t have,” she said. “I find it really exhilirating to have a lot of projects.”
Another ceramics student, Stevenson High School rising sophomore Nurihan Park, said he likes the class “very much” because he and other students are afforded “a lot of freedom” to create.
A driver’s education course wrapped up June 14, while the Forensics Institute begins in August and will provide students with the opportunity to improve their competitive debating skills in events such as the public forum debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate and policy debate. New to the Forensics Institute this year is the Forensics Experience, where a week is devoted to training for the student congressional debate before moving on to individual events.
Harker’s Summer Camp for K-Gr. 8 students has also returned, providing a well-rounded combination of academics and recreational activities. At the camp, which began June 21, students spend the mornings learning subjects such as math, language arts and science. In the afternoons there is a wide variety of fun activities to enjoy, including sports, music, arts and dancing. Campers will get to go on field trips to several California landmarks.
For kindergartners, the Kindercamp prepares students for the fall semester by teaching basic language and math skills. Students who stay for the afternoon play games, make crafts, hear stories and will also take field trips of their own.
Harker summer camp is offered in four-week and two-week sessions. The second four-week session runs July 19-Aug. 13, while the remaining two-week sessions run July 6-July 16 and July 19-July 30.
Finally, the English Language Institute (ELI), Harker’s intensive program for students who wish to improve their English speaking and writing skills, got under way in late June. Students are learning vocabulary, study skills, reading comprehension, grammar, writing and oral presentation. Students also get to practice their newfound skills by conversing with native English speakers. ELI has proven to be a valuable aid to international students hoping to gain admission to American boarding schools and English international schools. New to ELI this year is the Primary Program for beginning English speakers ages 6-8. The program is held at Bucknall and furnishes an environment designed specifically for the youngest participants in the program.
Summer athletic programs The Swim School, which began June 7 and runs until Aug. 6, is offering quality instruction to swimmers as young as 3 years old—watch for the whole story, soon!
Just in time for World Cup fever, Harker’s Soccer Clinics have returned to bring professional instruction to soccer lovers ages 5-16. Two options are being offered this year. The Training Clinic, for ages 10-16, and Just4Kicks for ages 5-12.
Tennis Camp, running through Aug. 6, features two programs, both headed by Craig Pasqua, Harker tennis coach and a certified professional with the United States Professional Tennis Association.
Coverage of this year’s summer programs will continue as the season progresses. Please visit the Summer @ Harker website for more information.