The first round of the National Economics Challenge is over and Harker had a record 52 students go way beyond the required AP curriculum to participate. The top five teams in Northern California (defined as the region from San Luis Obispo to the Oregon border) qualified to compete in a written and quiz bowl style competition at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Building on April 7. Three of those five teams are from Harker. The 12 Harker students advancing on are Adele Li, Anika Mohindra, Grace Guan and Abhinav Ketineni, all grade 11; Akshay Battu, Sohil Patel, Sorjo Banerjee, Suraj Jagadeesh, all grade 11; and Rohith Kuditipudi, Aaron Huang, Leo Yu and Steven Wang, all grade 12.
“I am extremely excited to see how we do at the next round because the winner goes on to the National Semifinals for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to NYC to compete in the televised finals!” said economics teacher Sam Lepler.
Upper school vocal group Bel Canto earned an “Excellent” rating at the California Music Educators Association’s Choral Festival in mid-March. The students were evaluated based on criteria including sound quality, technique, musicality and how they expressed song lyrics. They also were shown a short piece of music and given five minutes to learn and perform it for the judges.
“This festival was a really great venue for the students to learn about working toward a collective goal, which is to create a beautiful sound and musical expressiveness as a group,” said upper school music teacher Jennifer Sandusky, who directs Bel Canto. Because groups are not permitted to sing pieces that showcase one performer, the togetherness of the group is especially important. “The achievements they made were because each one of these singers worked together and supported each other.”
An added benefit of appearing at the festival was that it provided valuable experience in performing outside Harker. “After singing for months in my tiny room that isn’t acoustically designed for singing, they had to adjust to hearing themselves in a large auditorium with a concert grand piano supporting them,” Sandusky said. “For the first time, they were able to experience the music in a beautiful concert space, and they had to adjust balance, blend and performance energy accordingly without any rehearsal time in the space.”
Upper school members of the Japanese National Honor Society (JNHS) recently held a fundraiser, at which they sold takoyaki (a Japanese snack), candies and shaved ice, to raise money to help Tohoku earthquake survivors rebuild their lives. Students raised $223.98 in the sale, which was held after school in late February.
“The JNHS students worked really hard on the fundraiser during Japan Week. They practiced making takoyaki during a long lunch prior to the event in my classroom,” said Yumiko Aridomi, JNHS advisor and upper school Japanese language teacher.
Aridomi, who was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, recalled how the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami created both a humanitarian and economic crises in Japan, with over 300,000 refugees in the region.
In addition to the fundraiser, Aridomi reported that some students in her Japanese program participated in the Tohoku Update project to further support relief efforts. Called “Tohoku Update 2015, The Next Generation,” the program has been sponsored by the Japanese American Museum in San Jose for the past four years since disaster struck.
During the program, several groups of students from Tohoku paired with high school students from Harker, Los Gatos High School and the Wesley Church to work on projects to help bring awareness and tourism back to the Tohuku region. The event featured student presentations and an interactive Q&A session, with the Tohoku groups being included live via Skype.
The JNHS recognizes and encourages scholastic achievement and excellence in Japanese study by working with teachers and administrators to develop and maintain high standards of Japanese language education and by promoting cultural activities.
Ten members of the new-last-year Technology Student Association (TSA) club traveled to Bakersfield for the TSA State Conference and came home with plenty to talk about!
At the conference, students competed in a variety of individual and team events, all incorporating future technology. The competitive event topics range from essay writing to architecture and fashion design to teaching. This year, despite being the smallest group attending – one school brought 60 students – Harker students were awarded five first-place medals, two second-place medals and two third-place medals. Some students competed in more than one event.
In the end, every student came home with at least one medal, and club president, Sophia Luo, grade 11, earned multiple first place awards. In addition, Karen Qi, grade 11, was elected as a state officer.
This is especially impressive because until now, the founding California TSA school (Diamond Bar High School near Los Angeles) had held all state positions. “All in all, a remarkable achievement,” said advisor and upper school math teacher Tony Silk. “Last year we cracked open the TSA door; this year, we have it wide open.”
Based on their achievements, all 10 students qualified for the National TSA Conference, which takes place this summer in Dallas. If you see any of these students, be sure to congratulate them! Participants were Eric Cheung, Craig Neubieser, Eric Wang, all grade 12; Cynthia Hao, Kevin Ke, Sophia Luo, Karen Qi, Belinda Yan, all grade 11; Adrian Chu, Randy Zhao, both grade 9.
In early March, the upper school’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Club hosted a week of fun activities in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (as well as queer and questioning) communities.
The week kicked off with a GSA video presentation, shown at the upper school’s regular Monday school meeting. The video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLkc9Eho0Vk) showcased an interview with four of the upper school’s gay and lesbian teachers: Donna Gilbert, history and social science department chair; Karl Kuehn, dance director; Jeffrey Draper, performing arts teacher; and Abel Olivas, Spanish teacher and modern and classical languages department chair.
The next day, the GSA held a fundraiser during extra help periods and after school, selling rainbow bracelets and Hobee’s famous blueberry coffee cake, donated by the gay owner of the popular local restaurant chain. Proceeds were directed toward a local youth support group called “Outlet.” Founded in 1997, Outlet (http://www.acs-teens.org/what-we-do/outlet/) empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth, and builds safe and accepting communities through support, education and advocacy.
“The community was generous and supportive, and because of that, we’ll be able to make a nice donation to Outlet to support the great work they do,” said Olivas, who serves as an advisor to the GSA, one of more than 30 clubs started by Harker’s upper school students.
On Wednesday, GSA members asked the Harker community to pick up a free rainbow sticker in front of Manzanita Hall during the long lunch and to wear it for the remainder of the day to show their support for the cause, and particularly for Harker’s own LGBT students and faculty. At noon on the same day, GSA sponsored a salsa lesson in the dance room, inviting participants to bring a dance partner of either gender.
All of the events were consistent with the GSA’s mission to raise awareness about the LGBT community and promote acceptance of a group that adds to the rich diversity of both Harker and the larger society, Olivas explained.
Kuehn, who also advises the GSA, said he was very pleased with GSA week. “I’ve received numerous compliments regarding the video shown at the school meeting, and had a great time selling baked goods and bracelets after school. It has been an honor to work with students so committed to giving back to the community. When I was in high school, we did not have a GSA club, so getting involved and interacting with students, while promoting awareness and education, has been very rewarding,” he said.
Harker student Jenny Bourke, grade 11, is one the group’s eight members. “I feel that the success with which we sold our cake and bracelets was the highlight of the week. We raised $450!” she enthused.
“I am very grateful to work in an environment that celebrates diversity and honors the full interests and education of our students,” added Kuehn.
Four Harker students were recently named national winners in this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, earning a total of five medals. Kaity Gee, grade 11, won a gold medal for her piece in the Flash Fiction category, titled “If I Have a Daughter.” Harker’s other gold-medal winner, Suzy Lou, grade 12, won in Poetry for “Searching for Strongly Regular Graphs.”
Andrew Rule, grade 10, won two silver medals for his short stories “Abbeyman Funerary and Post-Mortem Services” and “The Cellar-Keepers’ Tale.” Meilan Steimle, also grade 10, picked up a silver medal for “Differentiating Equations” in the Personal Essay/Memoir category.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have brought attention to the work of young creative minds for nearly a century. Notable past recipients include Sylvia Plath, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote and Joyce Carol Oates. More than 300,000 submissions were reviewed for this year’s awards, for which the top 5-7 percent were considered for national recognition.
It was a busy week for Harker sports, as swim teams, a tennis team, a volleyball team, the softball team, the baseball team, the lacrosse team, a golf team, and the track and field squad all played games!
Swimming
The girls crushed Crystal Springs 112-44 and defeated Mercy-Burlingame 107-80 in last week’s opener. Junior Angela Huang qualified for CCS in the 50 Free with a time of 25.47, while freshman Vivian Wang qualified in the 100 Free (54.51) and 200 Free (1:59.21). The girls also qualified in the 200 IM relay with a time of 1:58.47 thanks to great swims by freshman Taylor Kohlmann, junior Grace Guan, Huang and Wang. For the boys, senior Aaron Huang qualified for CCS in his two individual events, the 100 Breast (1:01.53) and 200 IM (2:01.55).
Other highlights included senior Delaney Martin dropping more than 22 seconds from time in the 500 Free, sophomore Catherine Huang tying for second in the JV 50 Free with her all-time best of 36.94, and freshman Shikar Solanki swimming his personal best in the JV 100 Free with a time of 1:03.92. Our swimmers compete next at Sacred Heart Prep.
Track and Field
The track team posted many personal bests in the K-Bell Invitational last Saturday at Los Gatos. Freshman Anthony Contreras and senior Allen Huang each dropped their 100m times and continue to rank in the top 10 in the league. Contreras also won his 200m race by a whopping 20m. Sophomore Winnie Li and freshman Gloria Guo each ran seasonal bests in the 100m hurdles and the 800m, and Li added a personal best in the 100m. Sophomore Davis Dunaway posted his best-ever marks in the 65m hurdles and the triple jump, while junior Lev Sepetov ran a strong fifth in his 800m race, posting a season’s best of 2:20. The boys 400m relay team opened with a very fast 49.12 race, good enough for second place in their heat. The team participates in their first league meet this Wednesday at Bellarmine. Some of the group will also race in the St. Francis Invitational next Saturday.
Tennis
The boys team extended its undefeated streak to eight matches to start the season with victories over Pinewood and Priory last week. They’ll look to stretch that mark to 10 when they travel to Crystal Springs and Sacred Heart this week.
Volleyball
The boys won their season opener against Oak Grove in four games last week but lost a tough five-set match against ECP Friday in their league opener. Junior Kurt Schwartz had 16 kills in the win over Oak Grove. They’ll host Los Gatos on Wednesday.
Softball
Softball defeated Mercy-SF last week but fell to 3-2 overall after losses to strong King’s Academy and Alvarez teams. Freshman Kristin LeBlanc had two hits against Mercy and junior Marita Del Alto pitched very well throughout the week.
Baseball
Baseball lost to Mills twice last week to open league play, evening up their record at 3-3 overall. Junior Miles DeWitt went three for three on Thursday with two RBI’s and a triple. The team plays Westmoor and Lynbrook this week.
Golf
The boys are still undefeated in league after a 187-208 win over King’s Academy last week. They face league rival Menlo twice this week.
Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse team lost to Sacred Heart Cathedral Friday by the score of 12-7. They’ll travel to play Woodside on Wednesday, then return home to host Carlmont on Friday.
Update April 14, 2015 Patrick Lin finished between 9th-12th, qualifying as an alternate!
March 11, 2015 Eight Harker students are among 169 qualifiers in the invitational round of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad! That round will take place this Thursday, March 12 and the top performers will go on to represent the United States at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Bulgaria in late July. Please congratulate Swapnil Garg, grade 9; David Zhu, grade 10; Emily Pan, grade 11; and Matthew Huang, Rahul Jayaraman, Patrick Lin, Sachin Peddada and Madelyn Wang, all grade 12. For more information: http://www.nacloweb.org/about.php. We’ll update this story as results come in!
Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, can hardly believe a decade has gone by since the upper school launched its exchange program with students from the Collège de Gambach in Fribourg, Switzerland.
“The first one occurred in the school year 2004-05!” enthused Walrod.
Mid-February heralded the beginning of this year’s program, with the arrival of 11 Swiss exchange students and their two chaperones.
“New friendships formed quickly between the grades 10 and 11 Harker students and the Swiss buddies they hosted,” recalled Walrod.
The Collège de Gambach is a secondary school under the authority of Switzerland’s department of public education and cultural affairs. The school is located near an important economic and cultural border between German and French Switzerland.
While visiting, the Swiss students lived with their Harker hosts and their families, allowing them to become fully immersed in American life. They enjoyed observing various classes, as well as sightseeing in the Bay Area and beyond.
After going on a tour of the upper school with their Harker pals, the exchange students observed and participated in classes such as dance, debate, art, chemistry, drama, poetry and American history. They also made Native American dream catchers with Keith Hirota, middle school social studies teacher and K-8 department chair. Another highlight for the Swiss students was taking an American cuisine cooking class at Cucina Bambini, a local hands-on cooking school.
Grade 11 Harker student and program participant Daphne Yang said it was the little things – like hanging out at the mall and talking over coffee at Starbucks – that she remembers most fondly about time spent with her Swiss buddy.
“The Swiss visit was really a learning experience,” Yang said. “I got to interact with people from a different background and culture than I am used to, and I had fun picking up bits and pieces of their lifestyles as they were immersed in mine. It made me realize how much I enjoy learning not only other languages, but also the culture that comes with it. … With all the fun we’ve had, I can’t wait to visit Switzerland in the summer to learn more!”
One thing that really interested Yang was that the Swiss buddies had never seen a school bus before. She found it “very cute” that they were awed by the yellowness of the vehicle and took pictures and selfies in front of it.
At the end of their special time together, Harker students and their new Swiss buddies said their goodbyes over a farewell party in the campus bistro. Come June, they will be reunited, this time in Switzerland. The upcoming adventure will afford the Harker contingent the opportunity to immerse themselves in Swiss culture, brush up on their language skills and explore the country’s vast natural beauty.
Ken Barber, an upper school substitute teacher who assisted Walrod during the Swiss visit, said the best thing about watching the interactions between the Harker and Swiss students was the development of close relationships. “Their interactions seemed to be warm and genuine,” he recalled.
Diana Moss, upper school Spanish teacher and Class of 2015 dean, “loved hosting the Swiss chaperones, Cyril and Ole. They were enthusiastic about experiencing every aspect of American culture, including vinyl records, old cars, motorcycles and country music. They were particularly excited to see my husband’s ‘man space’ garage packed full of tools and choice gadgets, saying it was exactly the image they had of a typical American home. We engaged in long and lively discussions about culture, language and schools, and our home felt very quiet after they’d left. I know we’ve established a friendship that will endure – exactly the goal of a cultural exchange!” said Moss.
Winter sports wrap up and spring sports gain traction!
Basketball
The boys crushed Del Mar High School 71-38 in a second-round game in front of a loud and supportive crowd at Blackford, thanks to senior Sriv Irrinki’s 20 points and senior Eric Holt’s 15 points – including a breakaway dunk! However, the boys dropped their CCS quarterfinal game 52-45 to No. 4 seed Pacific Grove at the Kaiser Arena in Santa Cruz on Saturday, despite 19 points by Holt and 12 by Irrinki. The team ends the season with a 16-10 overall record, a fourth-place league finish and a CCS Academic Championship.
The girls’ season also came to a close last week as they lost a first-round CCS game at Carmel High. The team finished in third place in league this year with a 12-12 overall record.
Wrestling
Sophomore Davis Howard represented Harker at the CCS wrestling tournament this past weekend, losing two matches against tough opponents.
Golf
The boys placed eighth out of 24 teams last Monday at Lone Tree Golf Course in Antioch. The team competes three days this week. On Wednesday, they tee off against rival Sacred Heart Prep.
Track and Field
The track and field season began Saturday in the rain at Christopher High School. The team toughed it out in the adverse weather, winning seven events and setting six stadium records, thanks to freshmen Grace Koonmen and Aadi Ghildiyal, sophomore Niki Iyer, and juniors Alex Dellar and Calvin Kocienda, and the mile-relay team of Koonman, Iyer, Dellar and sophomore Winnie Li.
Lacrosse
The girls lost to Burlingame last week. They will look to bounce back at Davis Field when they play their home opener against Gunn High School.
Baseball
The Eagles split their two games last week, including a 12-1 blowout victory over North Valley Baptist. They play an away game Friday.
Softball: The softball team starts its season this week.
Tennis: The team starts its season this week.
Volleyball: The boys begin their season next week.