On Nov. 8, the Harker Speaker Series will host “An Evening With David Amram,” one of America’s most treasured composers and conductors. A professional musician for nearly 70 years – starting out in 1951 as a French hornist in Washington, D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra – Amram has performed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus, and composed the scores for the classic American films “Splendor in the Grass” and “Manchurian Candidate.”
Amram’s career throughout the 20th century led him to collaborations with influential figures including beat writer Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Betty Carter, Tito Puente, Hunter S. Thompson and Leonard Bernstein, who in 1966 appointed Amram the New York Philharmonic’s first composer in residence. Several of Amram’s compositions – including 2007’s “This Land, Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie” and 2002’s “Giants of the Night” – have become some of the mostly widely performed pieces in contemporary music.
“An Evening With David Amram” will include an interview with Amram conducted by upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth, a sit-in performance with Harker instrumental groups and an audience Q&A session. Amram’s famous wit, talent for storytelling and perspectives on the current music industry are sure to make this an event not to be missed!
On Nov. 8, the Harker Speaker Series will host “An Evening With David Amram,” one of America’s most treasured composers and conductors. A professional musician for nearly 70 years – starting out in 1951 as a French hornist in Washington, D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra – Amram has performed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus, and composed the scores for the classic American films “Splendor in the Grass” and “Manchurian Candidate.”
Amram’s career throughout the 20th century led him to collaborations with influential figures including beat writer Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Betty Carter, Tito Puente, Hunter S. Thompson and Leonard Bernstein, who in 1966 appointed Amram the New York Philharmonic’s first composer in residence. Several of Amram’s compositions – including 2007’s “This Land, Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie” and 2002’s “Giants of the Night” – have become some of the mostly widely performed pieces in contemporary music.
“An Evening With David Amram” will include an interview with Amram conducted by upper school English teacher Charles Shuttleworth, a sit-in performance with Harker instrumental groups and an audience Q&A session. Amram’s famous wit, talent for storytelling and perspectives on the current music industry are sure to make this an event not to be missed!
The Common Ground Speaker Series has some great speakers lined up to help parents better understand their children’s challenges. On Sept. 17, a mental health panel titled “Navigating the Tides of Adolescence” will be held at Junipero Serra High School, in partnership with local nonprofit StarVista.
On Oct. 3, Paul Tough will speak at Menlo School in Atherton on the topic “The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us.”
On Oct. 15, Lynn Lyons will speak at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Saratoga and at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School in San Mateo on the subject of “Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: Interrupting the Worry Cycle.”
On Oct. 22, a screening of “The Like Movie” will be followed by a moderated teen panel at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose on “The Impact of Social Media on Our Lives.”
Nov. 4, Michael Robb, PhD, will speak at Woodside Elementary on “The New Normal: Parents, Teens, Screens and Sleep.”
“Late Bloomers: Patience for Alternative Paths” will be the topic of a talk by Rich Karlgaard at Menlo School in Atherton on Nov. 12.
Lisa Damour, PhD, will speak on the topic of “Under Pressure: Confronting Stress and Anxiety in Girls” at the Nueva School in San Mateo and Sacred Hearth Preparatory in Atherton on Dec. 10.
Starting off 2020, Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD, will be in conversation with Julie Lythcott-Haims on “Biased: How Unconscious Bias Shapes Behavior” at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton on Jan. 15.
“Changing the Game: Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids” is the title of John O’Sullivan’s talk, which will take place Jan. 27 at Crystal Springs Uplands middle school campus in Belmont, and on Jan. 28 at St. Andrew’s School in Saratoga and Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley.
On Feb. 12, there will be a Children’s Health Council panel discussion at Menlo School on the topic of “Is it LD/ADHD, Anxiety or Both?”
Wrapping up February, Jackson Katz will speak on “Modern Masculinity: Raising a Stand-Up Guy Not a Stand-By Guy” at Junipero Serra on Feb. 25 and St. Francis High School on Feb. 26.
On March 4, Michael Reichert, PhD, will speak on “How to Raise a Boy: Nurturing the Emotional Lives of Our Sons” at both Harker’s middle school campus and Trinity School in Menlo Park.
The season closes on March 24 with “We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations that Matter,” with Celeste Headlee at Nueva School’s Bay Meadows Campus and the Bowman School in Palo Alto.
Please note all Common Ground Speaker Series events are free of charge to all community members , including parents, of member schools. Since The Harker School is a member school,parents need only come to the event and identify themselves as Harker parents. No RSVP is necessary. Non-member guests are welcome to attend for $20 at the door. Light refreshments are available 30 minutes prior to each event. Speakers’ books, if applicable, are available for purchase in cooperation with Books Inc.
A Swiss magazine, Das Magazin, includes an article from a local Swiss writer on her efforts to find a school for her child. She visited Harker and included some comments about it in her article.
Volleyball phenom Jarrett Anderson ’19 is lauded in the Los Altos Town Crier as a critical member of Mountain View Volleyball Club’s 18 Red team, which took the 18 Open Division of the USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships earlier this summer.
Harker’s “Urinetown” traveling team went to Scotland this summer to present the show in the noted Edinburgh Festival Fringe and garnered a nice review in the Edinburgh Guide.
A pair of Harker students, Nikhil Sharma and Arnav Joshi, both grade 12, are noted for creating a platform to launch new technology ideas.
Three Harker women were honored by the Davidson Institute. Two were named fellows and one received honorable mention. Patch included the two fellows in this article about Davidson Fellows from the South Bay. For more information on these three women, see our Harker news article.
Jai Bahri, grade 12, who lives in Los Altos Hills, spoke at a recent city council meeting to support raising the minimum wage, as reported in the Los Altos Town Crier.
SportStars Magazine noted its top 75 athletes in the Bay Area, and two of Harker’s finest made the list: Ethan Hu, rising grade 12, for swimming, and Jarrett Anderson ’19 for volleyball.
Silicon Angle featured a very nice article about DoorDash, co-founded by Andy Fang ’10, with a link back to our profile on Fang in December 2018.
Annie Ma, rising grade 12, had her poem, “And the Train Went On,” published by The Skinny Poetry Journal.
CalHiSports, an independent reporter on high school sports, noted Harker had some exceptional teams this year. In a nice write up, the site awarded them statewide all-sports honors for the 2018-19 school year for performances in several sports.
Harker had a group of visitors from New Zealand this year for the Harker Research Symposium. The hometown newspaper, the Wairarapa Times-Age, featured an article about the visit. See Harker News for more details on the visit.
This story was originally published in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
A key tenet of Harker’s philosophy is enabling students to explore their interests and pursue their passions. One way the school accomplishes this is by encouraging its faculty to do the same. Many of Harker’s classes, especially its unique electives, exist because teachers are eager to share their passion for a subject with students.
Never content to rest on their laurels, Harker’s faculty and administration continually work to create new and exciting classes that pique students’ interest, while preparing them for college and beyond. This innovative approach enables Harker to recruit high-level teachers who are experts in their disciplines and have an infectious enthusiasm for the subjects they teach, said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. These teachers continually reevaluate and adjust curriculum to give students the skills they need to be successful, she added.
“Teachers know that we are not a static institution, which is exciting for many,” Gargano said. “We attract the type of teachers we seek – those who are entrepreneurial, hard-working and desirous of an evolving curriculum.”
A rich experience
In many ways, Harker’s upper school course list reads like a college catalog, with elective offerings including The Science of Food; Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation; and Advanced Stone Carving. These unique offerings even extend to physical education, where two semester-long courses in Kinesiology and Sports Medicine introduce students to topics including exercise physiology, biomechanics, and the prevention and care of athletic injuries.
Often these specialized classes aren’t offered at other schools. Take, for example, Sam Lepler ‘96’s post-AP class, titled Honors Advanced Topics in Economics: Game Theory, which is in the business and entrepreneurship department.
“The class examines strategic human interaction using primarily mathematical modeling,” Lepler explained. “It covers various game structures (like the famous prisoner’s dilemma, a common game theory example), as well as strategic moves like threats and promises, the economics of information asymmetry, voting, auctions, bargaining and more.”
Though it’s become a core course in university economics departments, Lepler said he doesn’t know of any other high school that offers an advanced course in game theory, “especially not withthe use of multivariate calculus that I include,” he added. “I knew the students would love it, learn a ton, be able to use what they learn outside the classroom, and be well prepared to explore further at the university level.”
And while the course sounds highly specialized, it draws a diverse group of students. Nearly one-third of the senior class takes the course, Lepler said. Some students enjoy the strategic decision-making, while others enjoy the applied math concepts or economics in general, he explained, adding that the diversity of students in the class makes it “dynamic and entertaining.” Tiffany Zhao, grade 12, became interested in game theory when she took AP Microeconomics as a junior. She took Lepler’s game theory class this past year and thoroughly enjoyed it. “The course material itself was fairly nuanced and complex, but extremely fascinating, covering strategies and applications that many business models use,” she explained. Zhao said the class prepared her well to continue studying game theory in college, adding that the concepts also are applicable to everyday life.
“As Mr. Lepler said on day one of the course, game theory is simply a strategic analysis of basic human interactions,” she said. “When I go off to college, I’ll meet more people and knowing more about the economic basis behind our interactions will deepen my relationships with my peers.”
Many of Harker’s courses reflect the college experience, commented English teacher Charles Shuttleworth. In college, for example, “literature courses are almost always genre studies or focused on a particular author. Students get the chance to develop a deeper understanding of a particular area of study that they’re interested in exploring, and to study with teachers who have a particular expertise and passion for the subject.” To bring that rich experience to his classroom, Shuttleworth developed a course titled Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation. Shuttleworth first became interested in Beat writing in college and taught on the subject 25 years ago at Horace Mann School in New York, which Kerouac had attended. At that time, Shuttleworth interviewed more than 30 of Kerouac’s former classmates and presented his findings at a conference celebrating Kerouac’s life and work.
“I think [it’s] a very important and relevant topic, as it had a profound effect literarily and culturally,” Shuttleworth explained, adding that the class covers more than literature. It explores “the changes in America from the 1930s to the 1970s, from the Great Depression through the hippie and punk movements – the emergence of a counterculture focused on personal freedoms and personal expression, giving voice to ‘the unspeakable visions of the individual’ (Kerouac’s phrase).”
Shuttleworth said the opportunity to teach such specialized classes is what prompted him to leave his native New York to join the Harker faculty. Teaching on the Beat generation in Northern California – a major hub of the movement – also enables him to incorporate unique hands-on experiences, including an annual field trip to City Lights Bookstore and The Beat Museum in San Francisco. Over the years, students also have attended readings by Beat poets, toured a home that was a setting in a Kerouac novel, and met with two Kerouac biographers, as well as Jami Cassady Ratto, daughter of Beat poet Neal Cassady.
In an anonymous class evaluation, one student marveled at the depth of the class and Shuttleworth’s passion for the topic. “I am in awe at how mature a scholar you are and I think this experience taking your class is unparalleled,” the student said.
This past year, Shuttleworth applied for and received a grant from the Raju and Bala Vegesna Foundation’s Teacher Excellence Program at Harker. The grant enabled him to further his research on Kerouac, “in particular his experience as a fire lookout in Washington state, which was pivotal in his life and career,” Shuttleworth said, adding that during his research, he uncovered several important unpublished documents, and has been able to share his experience with his students. (For a fuller account of Shuttleworth’s work on Kerouac under the Vegesna grant, see news.harker.org and search for Shuttleworth).
Students first
Of course, no matter how passionate a teacher is about a topic, a class won’t be successful if it doesn’t appeal to students.
“The primary goal in developing a new course is to think about the needs and interests of our students,” said science teacher Kate Schafer, adding that since Harker already offers a wide variety of courses, new offerings should fulfill unmet needs.
Such was the case with The Science of Food, an elective Schafer developed several years ago. Students eat up the class – both literally and figuratively.
“It’s definitely the only science class where you get to eat the results of your experiments,” Schafer said, adding that labs regularly involve cooking and baking. For example, different groups might prepare slightly different recipes to explore the differences between leaveners, fats or temperature. “One of the things that really excited me about developing this course is that it had the potential to appeal to a wide swath of Harker students with varying academic interests. This definitely turned out to be the case.” In the class, students develop some kitchen skills while learning science, Schafer said, adding that there is also a nutritional component. “It’s important to have an understanding about how to make good choices in your diet and to be skeptical of the claims made about various diets and ‘health’ foods. It’s become clear that cooking for yourself means eating healthier, and I hope that my course helps students to have confidence in the kitchen and a curiosity about the science of why we prepare foods the way we do.”
When the class was introduced in spring 2016, students did their cooking and baking in the kitchen in the auxiliary gym complex. Though Schafer made it work with the support of Harker’s kitchen staff, it wasn’t ideal to have 16 students gathered around one stove, she explained. This year, Schafer’s classroom was outfitted with two stoves, a dishwasher and a refrigerator. “It’s allowed us to do so much more in the course than we could initially,” she said.
Even at the middle school, classes such as Innovation Lab and an extensive array of visual and performing arts electives give students a taste of the specialized courses offered at the upper school.
Innovation Lab, a sixth grade elective, teaches students to use a process called design thinking to develop solutions to unique problems and challenges. “The idea is to use a process that encourages designers to understand their customers well and to explore multiple design concepts before settling on one to prototype,” explained teacher Sam Linton. “I enjoy seeing all the surprising and amazing things that the students come up with.”
Standing out from the crowd
Before developing a new class, teachers must first get buy-in from the Harker administration. Once teachers get the green light, the process of developing the class and getting University of California approval as a class it will accept on a student’s transcript can take a year or more.
“I have found that the administration is open-minded to new courses if they foresee a strong demand. I had to sell the idea, but they were open to buying it,” said Lepler of his game theory class. Other teachers echoed this sentiment, adding that the administration is committed to providing a wide range of classes to meet student interest and set Harker apart from other schools.
“As a large school with a large faculty, we are able to offer many courses that speak to the interests of our students,” Gargano said. “Especially by the time students are juniors and seniors, they can create a specialized schedule based on their interests and/or the skills they desire to learn or enhance.”
When Jaap Bongers, just-retired visual arts department chair for K-12, started the art department at the upper school in 1998, then-president Howard Nichols asked him how he could help make Harker stand out.
“I answered him by saying we should allow art teachers to teach their strengths,” said Bongers, who had previously spent years carving marble sculptures in Italy. Stone carving isn’t a widespread skill and few high schools had facilities for such a class, Bongers said.
“Howard asked me what it would take. I explained to him that we needed a setup for pneumatic tools and small individual studios,” Bongers recalled. “You can imagine how surprised I was when I came back from summer break and found everything I had mentioned in place.” Bongers said stone carving is an activity that students either love or hate. “It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to work in stone, and that is not for everyone,” he explained. Unlike modern-day technology, which offers instant gratification, “this class forces the students to think long-term and develop the patience and ability to give things time, be creative and open to change all the way until the project has been completed.”
The love of learning
In his 40 years teaching high school Latin, Clifford Hull said Harker is the first school he has taught at that offers post-AP Latin classes. Hull teaches honors advanced Latin literature courses covering Roman epic, satire, history and love poetry. Post-AP Latin students must already have successfully completed the AP Latin course and received at least a three on the exam. Most have taken at least five years of Latin, and they all have a deep knowledge and love of the language. These students have spent many years studying Latin and the school administration recognizes that some students would love to continue on, Hull said.
When developing or tweaking courses, Hull said he considers how the course relates to students in the 21st century; whether students will enjoy the class and what they will get out of it; how the knowledge they gain will relate to other disciplines; and whether the course will increase their love for and interest in Latin. Senior Nikhil Dharmaraj, who began studying Latin in sixth grade, said Harker’s post-AP Latin classes instilled in him “a true, deep love for the subject.” Whereas lower level classes focus on grammar skills and translating sentences, and the AP class is geared toward the exam, post-AP classes are about “being a scholar, getting to read esoteric, incredible Latin works – not learning new grammar rules, but applying the ones we’ve already learned to uncover fascinating stories from the past,” he explained.
“The classics are inherently interdisciplinary,” he continued. “In studying Latin, I learn so much about religion/culture, mythology, history, philosophy and linguistics. And since Latin is the root of so many modern languages, it is also mind-blowing to start making those connections, seeing how words I use every day come from this civilization from so long ago.” As a 2018-19 Mitra Scholar, Dharmaraj wrote an extensive research paper on the influence of Roman poet Lucretius’ works – including his epic poem “De Rerum Natura” (“On the Nature of Things”) – on Charles Darwin and the ideas he presents in “On the Origin of Species.” He plans to study both computer science and classics at Harvard University in the fall.
Hull said he is pleased to see his students, like Dharmaraj, making connections between Latin and other disciplines. “My greatest rewards for teaching these courses are the ‘aha moments’ when students make it very clear with an audible ‘aha’ that have just learned something new, and to also see them decoding, analyzing and appreciating the intricate motifs interwoven in the texts,” he said.
Jennifer Maragoni is a freelance writer and editor based in Folsom.
On Friday night, this year’s Summer @ the Conservatory program completed its three-week camp with a showcase featuring three shows brimming with talent from students, alumni and faculty. The days leading up to the showcase were spent in the classroom working on all aspects of theater craft, from scene study to set building, with workshops in dance, auditions and voice from Los Angeles-based professionals, while afternoons were spent in production for the showcase.
High school-level Conservatory Intensive students were featured in “The Bully Plays,” directed by theater veterans Tony and Tanna Kienitz. Conservatory Presents, directed by Class of 2015 alums Zoë Woehrmann and Madi Lang-Ree, produced two productions: “Daisy Pulls it Off” (Lang-Ree) and “Race to the Saturn Exhibit” (Woehrmann). Lang-Ree and Woehrmann are both graduates of the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program and went on to complete degrees in the arts. Lang-Ree graduated magna cum laude from Chapman University with a B.A. in theater, with departmental honors, and minor in integrated educational studies. She begins work at The Goodman Theater in Chicago this August. Woehrmann recently graduated from New York University with a B.F.A. in drama from the Tisch School of the Arts. Recent Harker graduates Emmy Huchley, Neha Premkumar and Ellie Lang-Ree – also Harker Conservatory graduates – served as production assistants, aiding in the classroom in rehearsals and with design execution.
Laura Lang-Ree, Harker’s K-12 director of performing arts, founded S@tC last year and serves as its artistic director. The program was started following the closing of the California Theatre Center, one of Lang-Ree’s favorite local summer theater offerings. “Our three weeks was such a joy and I loved watching our students grow,” she said. “Being able to work alongside such talented graduates is a teacher’s dream. I’m so proud of everyone involved!”
On Friday night, this year’s Summer @ the Conservatory program completed its three-week camp with a showcase featuring three shows brimming with talent from students, alumni and faculty. The days leading up to the showcase were spent in the classroom working on all aspects of theater craft, from scene study to set building, with workshops in dance, auditions and voice from Los Angeles-based professionals, while afternoons were spent in production for the showcase.
High school-level Conservatory Intensive students were featured in “The Bully Plays,” directed by theater veterans Tony and Tanna Kienitz. Conservatory Presents, directed by Class of 2015 alums Zoë Woehrmann and Madi Lang-Ree, produced two productions: “Daisy Pulls it Off” (Lang-Ree) and “Race to the Saturn Exhibit” (Woehrmann). Lang-Ree and Woehrmann are both graduates of the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program and went on to complete degrees in the arts. Lang-Ree graduated magna cum laude from Chapman University with a B.A. in theater, with departmental honors, and minor in integrated educational studies. She begins work at The Goodman Theater in Chicago this August. Woehrmann recently graduated from New York University with a B.F.A. in drama from the Tisch School of the Arts. Recent Harker graduates Emmy Huchley, Neha Premkumar and Ellie Lang-Ree – also Harker Conservatory graduates – served as production assistants, aiding in the classroom in rehearsals and with design execution.
Laura Lang-Ree, Harker’s K-12 director of performing arts, founded S@tC last year and serves as its artistic director. The program was started following the closing of the California Theatre Center, one of Lang-Ree’s favorite local summer theater offerings. “Our three weeks was such a joy and I loved watching our students grow,” she said. “Being able to work alongside such talented graduates is a teacher’s dream. I’m so proud of everyone involved!”
On Friday night, this year’s Summer @ the Conservatory program completed its three-week camp with a showcase featuring three shows brimming with talent from students, alumni and faculty. The days leading up to the showcase were spent in the classroom working on all aspects of theater craft, from scene study to set building, with workshops in dance, auditions and voice from Los Angeles-based professionals, while afternoons were spent in production for the showcase.
High school-level Conservatory Intensive students were featured in “The Bully Plays,” directed by theater veterans Tony and Tanna Kienitz. Conservatory Presents, directed by Class of 2015 alums Zoë Woehrmann and Madi Lang-Ree, produced two productions: “Daisy Pulls it Off” (Lang-Ree) and “Race to the Saturn Exhibit” (Woehrmann). Lang-Ree and Woehrmann are both graduates of the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program and went on to complete degrees in the arts. Lang-Ree graduated magna cum laude from Chapman University with a B.A. in theater, with departmental honors, and minor in integrated educational studies. She begins work at The Goodman Theater in Chicago this August. Woehrmann recently graduated from New York University with a B.F.A. in drama from the Tisch School of the Arts. Recent Harker graduates Emmy Huchley, Neha Premkumar and Ellie Lang-Ree – also Harker Conservatory graduates – served as production assistants, aiding in the classroom in rehearsals and with design execution.
Laura Lang-Ree, Harker’s K-12 director of performing arts, founded S@tC last year and serves as its artistic director. The program was started following the closing of the California Theatre Center, one of Lang-Ree’s favorite local summer theater offerings. “Our three weeks was such a joy and I loved watching our students grow,” she said. “Being able to work alongside such talented graduates is a teacher’s dream. I’m so proud of everyone involved!”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Professional accomplishments of our faculty and staff.
Preschool science teacher Robyn Stone has been very busy! In April, she presented at the California Association for the Education of Young Children’s annual conference, where her two workshops – “Engineering and Design Thinking Projects” and “Mathematize This!” – were very well received. She also was featured in the CAAEYC Connections spring 2019 journal, and was invited to present at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Professional Learning Institute in June. In addition, Stone completed her National Geographic Educator certification in April, and was selected to give a workshop titled Environmental Literacy” in October at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose. She is also slated to complete the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Leadership in Education Administration program in June.
Debra Nott, Harker’s director of health services, was awarded the 2019 Excellence in School Nursing Administration Award by the California School Nurses Organization in mid-February. “Debra’s dedication to student health and excellence in school nursing practice is an inspiration to her peers and colleagues throughout the state,” said Sherri Vitali, awards and scholarship chair for the organization. “CSNO is very proud of Debra and her many accomplishments.” The award was presented at the 2019 CSNO conference in Monterey in front of 600 of Nott’s peers.
In January, upper school music teacher Dave Hart gave a presentation at the Jazz Education Network in Reno, Nev. His presentation, called “From the Ear to the Horn: Inspiring Students Through Creativity,” was sponsored by Harker and the Stanford Jazz Workshop. In it, Hart showed how teachers can improve their students’ overall musicianship through emphasis on improvisation, and how practicing skills such as learning to play by ear, singing and reading music with their fellow students can also encourage them to be more creative.
Middle school learning, innovation and design director Abigail Joseph was recognized in February by the city of Seattle’s information technology department, which tweeted from its account @SeattleITDept: In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth we recognize @drabigailjoseph – A technology educator, computer scientist, design thinker, STEM enthusiast looking to create, collaborate, innovate and institute meaningful social change.