In late June, a 3-D art piece created by recent graduate Manon Audebert was chosen to be featured at the 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit. Audebert’s work, a visual representation of tension showing pieces of cloth being pulled in multiple directions, was among the 30 pieces selected from nearly 49,000 portfolios submitted for entry into the exhibit. Pieces for the exhibition are chosen by experienced high school and college art instructors, who select work that exemplifies the high standards and hard work of students in the AP program.
The 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit begins July 9 at the AP Annual Conference, which takes place in Philadelphia from July 9-13. It will then head to Princeton, N.J., to be displayed at the conference center at the Educational Testing Service. For the remainder of the year and into 2015, the exhibit will be shown at various locations throughout the country, providing inspiration to students and information to teachers in search of professional development opportunities. The remaining locations for the exhibit will be announced later this year.
“I was completely shocked and honored to be selected,” said Audebert. “It was a great validation of all the work that I put in during the year.” She credited upper school art teacher Jaap Bongers as a crucial source of guidance: “He pushed me throughout the year to improve my designs and stay on track.” Audebert plans to attend Pomona College in the fall.
In late June, a 3-D art piece created by recent graduate Manon Audebert was chosen to be featured at the 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit. Audebert’s work, a visual representation of tension showing pieces of cloth being pulled in multiple directions, was among the 30 pieces selected from nearly 49,000 portfolios submitted for entry into the exhibit. Pieces for the exhibition are chosen by experienced high school and college art instructors, who select work that exemplifies the high standards and hard work of students in the AP program.
The 2014-15 AP Studio Art Exhibit begins July 9 at the AP Annual Conference, which takes place in Philadelphia from July 9-13. It will then head to Princeton, N.J., to be displayed at the conference center at the Educational Testing Service. For the remainder of the year and into 2015, the exhibit will be shown at various locations throughout the country, providing inspiration to students and information to teachers in search of professional development opportunities. The remaining locations for the exhibit will be announced later this year.
“I was completely shocked and honored to be selected,” said Audebert. “It was a great validation of all the work that I put in during the year.” She credited upper school art teacher Jaap Bongers as a crucial source of guidance: “He pushed me throughout the year to improve my designs and stay on track.” Audebert plans to attend Pomona College in the fall.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Harker has robust debate programs in the middle and upper schools – and it was a successful year for both!
Middle School by Karina Momary
Growth and Competitive Success
The middle school speech and debate program has seen tremendous growth in the past five years. In 2010, the competitive debate team had fewer than 15 students and participated in only one type of debate. This year, 120 students competed in four styles of debate and 10 speech events.
Team members are dedicated, with students attending lunchtime workshops, after-school practices and weekend competitions. All of this hard work has yielded notable competitive success. The team has been awarded an Overall School of Excellence Award by the National Speech & Debate Association for the past two years.
This prestigious award is given to the top four speech and debate programs nationwide. In addition, the team has won five national championships and numerous regional awards. Several students, including eighth graders Serena Lu and Alan Hughes, have been recognized as undefeated during debates, and speech and debate students in all grades have brought home first, second and third place finishes.
Community
While competitive success is valued, the speech and debate team also builds a strong sense of community. The program hosts numerous team-building events for students and families. For example, the Forensics Family Dinner offered speech and debate families a chance to share a meal and build lasting connections. The team also hosted a speech and debate showcase in May, giving families and students an opportunity to hear from some of the talented team members and providing extra practice to those attending the California Middle School Speech & Debate State Tournament and the National Speech & Debate Association Middle School Nationals.
Preparation for state and national competitions has allowed the students to share the work they have honed over the year with an even larger audience.
Upper School Buddies
This year, relationships were forged as upper school buddies helped middle school team members prepare for competitions. Together, the buddy teams have edited cases, watched videos and shared useful feedback – and the result has been tremendous growth for Harker’s younger debaters. This student interaction also will help ease the transition for middle school students as they move on to the upper school. Upper school buddies have provided middle schoolers with personal coaches and a cheering squad for each tournament.
As the teams prepare for summer trips, they are all excited to share their debating skills with the rest of the country.
Karina Momary is a middle school debate teacher.
Upper School
by Jenny Heidt
Harker’s upper school teams took home national titles this year in Lincoln- Douglas, public forum and congressional debate. Individual events and policy debate students also did very well, and several qualified to compete at nationals. In fact, Harker had more students qualified to compete at the elite Tournament of Champions than any other school in the country.
The team has a long history of winning top awards, but what set this year apart was the breadth of success across all of the forensic events. The upper school team has about 165 students competing in five main events: policy debate, public forum debate, individual events, congressional debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate. The team competes at tournaments throughout the state and nation.
Policy Debate
At various policy debate tournaments, our students advocated for lifting the embargo against Cuba, better enforcing money-laundering laws with Mexican authorities and assisting with a reforestation project in Mexico. Other teams proposed entering into a treaty regarding oil with Venezuela, giving more humanitarian aid to Cuba and improving our border infrastructure. Next year, they will debate the development and exploration of the oceans.
Several policy debaters are considering debate in college, including our most successful pair of Arya Kaul and Ayush Midha, both grade 11. The duo made it to the final round of the elite University of Southern California Round Robin and qualified for nationals. Anika Jain, Aditi Maheshwari, Emmie Malyugina, Rahul Shukla, Molly Wancewicz, Vienna Wang and Ray Xu, all grade 9; Panny Shan, grade 10; and Nitya Mani, grade 11, also brought home trophies.
Policy debaters compete in pairs, argue about the details of public policy and have one resolution for the entire year. This year’s topic was about increasing economic engagement with Mexico, Venezuela or Cuba. Debaters have to innovate and learn about a wide variety of possible public policies to stay current with the topic. Judges tend to be highly trained in argumentation and are looking for students to maximize the number of logical points made during their speeches. As a result, the rate of delivery is very rapid and there is a premium on strategic thinking and research skills.
The in-depth research required for success teaches policy debaters skills that go far beyond the debate rounds. Midha says that policy debate “has been incredibly valuable not only because it has facilitated my research, critical thinking and advocacy skills, but also because the activity has improved my efficiency, time management and organization.” Chandini Thakur, grade 10, agreed, adding, “I’ve learned several methods of research, organization and analysis that I can apply to my other classes.”
Public Forum Debate
“Debate teaches you some of the most important skills in life,” said Sorjo Banerjee, grade 10, public forum team member. “Research, public speaking and critical thinking are all required to become adept at debate. Debate is an amazing extracurricular where you grow as an individual and compete with friends.”
Public forum debate is focused on persuading a general audience. Students need to make logical arguments, but focus on public speaking. Their topics change every two months and cover a wide variety of areas. One of the topics this year asked them to weigh the value of single-sex education, while another was about economic development in India.
Vamsi Gadiraju, grade 11, added that he “enjoyed getting to meet and befriend people from all over the country” and from as far away as China.
Some of the most successful public forum students included Jasmine Liu, grade 10 and Kevin Duraiswamy, Arjun Kumar, Stephanie Lu, Sreyas Misra and Sebi Nakos, all grade 12. Misra and Nakos closed out the National Debate Coaches Association Championship Tournament. Duraiswamy, along with Aadyot Bhatnagar, Nikhil Kishore and Avik Wadhwa, grade 11, and Shreyas Parthasarathy and Jithin Vellian, grade 12, also closed out a tournament, winning a three-way championship at James Logan High School. Finally, Maneesha Panja, grade 12, and Nakos were the champions of the College Prep School Round Robin.
Individual Events
Harker will have three students competing at the National Speech & Debate Association Championship in June: Rohith Kuditipudi and Madhu Nori, both grade 11, and Kenny Zhang, grade 12. Continuing on the theme of strong success across the events, Harker set a new record by qualifying five students to compete at the state tournament in individual events. Kuditipudi; Lisa Liu, grade 10; Steven Wang, grade 11; Andy Wang, grade 12; and Zhang performed very well at the state tournament, with four of them advancing to semifinals.
Students in individual events compete in categories such as original oratory, extemporaneous speaking or dramatic interpretation of literature. Unlike the other debate events, there is not an element of refutation and so students strive to perfect their presentation and are largely judged based on their public speaking skills.
Sarah de Vegvar, grade 9, said that when she was in middle school, she never dreamed she would enter into speech competitions, but that the experience has given her a “chance to improve [her] public speaking skills and become more well-rounded.”
Congressional Debate
“My favorite aspect of (congressional) debate is learning how to deal with competitors in a group setting,” said Sandip Nirmel, grade 9. “This is especially important in congressional debate, where politics play a large role in deciding who gets to speak the most and who gets the most influence in the chamber. Learning people skills is really important for me because I know that they are relevant in the real world,” he added.
Students in congressional debate propose and debate various pieces of mock legislation. They need to be well-versed in current events and excellent public speakers to be successful. Captain Saachi Jain, grade 12, was a fantastic team leader and was especially helpful in coordinating the many research assignments that are needed for the students to be ready to give speeches about a wide variety of domestic and international topics.
Her leadership helped Aditya Dhar and Misha Tseitlin, both grade 9, qualify for nationals. Tseitlin was also first at the National Debate Coaches Association Championship. It is unusual for freshmen to do so well at the varsity level and it speaks to the talent of these students and the quality of the program.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Srikar Pyda, grade 12, and Pranav Reddy, grade 11, had particularly successful years in Lincoln-Douglas competitions. Both young men qualified for nationals. Reddy also took home first place at the National Debate Coaches Association Championship and won titles at several invitationals. There is no one official ranking system for season-long performance, but it is safe to say that Reddy was one of the top five debaters in the country and that Pyda was not far behind him.
Lincoln-Douglas students debate as individuals and their topics change every two months. The topics tend to be philosophical and ask students to weigh competing values. For instance, one of the spring topics asked how poorer nations should prioritize economic development when it poses a threat to the environment.
Natalie Simonian, grade 10, summed up her first year of Lincoln-Douglas debate by saying that she had “a lot of fun going to tournaments” and making “many new friends and getting closer to some of the old ones thanks to debate.”
Summer Plans
Many students are looking forward to a major tournament this June in Kansas City. Harker also has students participating in summer debate workshops that last between one and seven weeks. It has been a great season and the teams look forward to preparing for the next one!
Jenny Heidt is an upper school debate teacher.
Late-breaking news!
The middle school speech and debate program made history in late May at the first California Middle School Speech & Debate State Tournament! Harker emerged with two state championships – a single and a team – and numerous top five finishes. The students spent countless hours preparing and their hard work definitely paid off.
Sagar Rao, grade 8, was named the 2014 Lincoln-Douglas debate California state champion.
Megan Huynh and Aliesa Bahri, both grade 8, and Maddie Huynh and Avi Gulati, both grade 6, were named 2014 policy debate California state co-champions. In Lincoln-Douglas, Serena Lu, grade 8, took third place and was recognized as the top speaker in her division. Alan Hughes, grade 8, was a quarterfinalist and recognized as the third speaker in his division.
In Policy, Maddie Huynh was recognized as the top speaker in her division. Sonya Verma, grade 7, was recognized as the second speaker in her division.
In Dramatic Interpretation, Nikki Solanki, grade 6, was a finalist and Gulati won fourth place.
In Original Oratory, Millie Lin, grade 8, took fourth place and Riya Gupta, grade 7, took third place.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
The year started at a sprint and ended with a bang for DECA and the new business and entrepreneurship department (B.E.) – and all of the participants earned a well-deserved summer break. B.E. finished a historic first year with record sign-ups for the upcoming school year, while DECA finished with its best-ever International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
DECA is an international organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. The DECA chapter’s trip to the ICDC in Atlanta yielded excellent results, with three top five finishes across various competitions and two more in the top 20, making it Harker’s best performance at the competition. Attendee Raymond Xu, grade 9, said, “DECA ICDC topped off this year as a showcase of our abilities, and we not only represented Harker but all of California as well.” Harker’s DECA chapter, which sent a record 24 students to the conference, plans to build on this momentum at future international DECA events.
The DECA chapter also is running an ongoing set of interactive simulations as part of its Team Business/Wharton School of Business program, intended to help students learn how businesses are actually run. Juston Glass, B.E. chair, said he has received “hands-on certification [to teach] students to not just learn theory but [the] actual practice” of how to run a business.
Students have responded very positively to the program. Adarsh Battu, grade 12, said, “Because of the way the simulation is structured, we are encouraged to analyze, innovate and ask questions that are important to running a business,” and that the simulation has “taught me a lot more than I initially expected.”
Meanwhile, the DECA chapter is engaged in a social media contest to pick the theme for a conference it will host in August. It will introduce newcomers to the various components of DECA while helping them develop good relationships with the officers whose DECA careers they hope to emulate.
The B.E. department also has kept busy. This year, it began overseeing Harker’s TEDx series; these talks aim to spread ideas and spark conversation on a variety of topics, such as technology and education.
This year, Harker’s TEDx talks surpassed all previous attendance and performance metrics, with speakers from prestigious companies including David Girouard, founder and CEO of Upstart, a rapidly growing lending company.
Meanwhile, the B.E. department’s Career Connect program worked to “connect students with their futures.” Extending an existing mentorship program, Career Connect pairs eager students with mentors and experts in the fields of medicine, business, law, computer science and engineering. Riya Chandra, grade 9, said, “The panels have been so inspiring to listen to and have even opened up my thoughts for considering other fields that I was not interested in before.” The program plans to continue pairing mentors and mentees in the coming school year.
In addition, B.E. oversees a podcast series, in which host Glenn Reddy, grade 11, interviews local business leaders about their experiences. Most recently, he interviewed Adam Draper, co-founder and CEO of Boost VC.
Sophia Luo, grade 10, who has managed the logistics of the B.E. podcast series as its director of operations, said, “I have been exposed to the life stories and experiences of successful business professionals of the Bay Area.” Luo and fellow students look forward to the continuation of the series.
The B.E. department has made great strides in its first year at Harker. Like runners after a marathon, the DECA chapter and B.E. programs have crossed the finish line and earned their recovery period. But their breather won’t last long as Glass is expecting increased interest from the student body and explosive program growth next year.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Amid the festivities leading up to graduation, seniors active in the performing arts have a pregraduation of sorts: they graduate from the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program, signaling their successful completion of a fouryear course in dance, technical theater, theater, vocal or instrumental music, or musical theater.
Seniors performed selections from their portfolios to a packed house at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater in San Jose.
Acts ranged from a Shakespearean monologue, divided into two parts performed toward the beginning and end of the show, to a clarinet sonata during which the instrument was slowly dismantled section by section, leaving the player with only a mouthpiece. Dance graduates performed and musical theater students enacted moments from Broadway shows. Vocalists, a harpist playing a traditional Chinese instrument, and classical and jazz instrumentalists rounded out the eclectic evening, overseen by a technical theater graduate.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Spring break was especially memorable for The Harker School Orchestra, which traveled to Chicago to perform at the Chicago International Music Festival – and came home with a Gold Award. Earlier this year, the orchestra was chosen to premiere a new piece by composer Jeremy Van Buskirk. The piece, titled “… such as I am you will be,” was one of three performed by the orchestra at the festival, along with Arturo Marquez’s “Danzon No. 2” and the fourth movement of “Symphony No. 5” by Dmitri Shostakovich.
The orchestra’s performance earned high praise from Deborah Gibbs, president and CEO of World Projects, the production company behind the festival, who declared The Harker School Orchestra was the best high school orchestra she had ever heard. Chris Florio, upper school music teacher and director of the orchestra, was similarly enthused. “We have been preparing all year long for this event and I could not be more proud of how our students performed,” he said.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Upper school vocal groups came together for In Concert on May 2. Jennifer Sandusky directed Bel Canto in a diverse set including “Tres Cantos Nativos Dos Indios Krao,” a song that combines melodies sung by South American natives.
The girls choir Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace, sang selections from Europe, including “Dancing Song” by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály.
Next, the always-entertaining boys a cappella group Guys’ Gig brought smiles and laughter to the show with pre-intermission picker-uppers.
Camerata, also directed by Nace, opened the second half of the show, finishing with Greg Gilpin’s “Keep on Walkin’ Down that Heavenly Road.”
Show choir Downbeat, co-directed by Sandusky and Laura Lang-Ree, came out of the gate with a rousing version of “Something’s Coming” from “West Side Story.” They were joined by Bel Canto for the final song of the evening, Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run.”
More than a dozen Harker students are on a summer research trip in Tanzania, and upper school biology teacher Mike Pistacchi sent some updates on this amazing trip!
June 7:
We woke up this morning to the sight of zebras and elands drinking from a pond 100 feet from our rooms. Then we headed out to Mt. Kilimanjaro for a beautiful hike through a pristine cloud forest (we only stopped 17,000 vertical feet short of the summit!). We then drove down to the savannah where, on the way to our lodge in Tarangire National Park, we sighted zebras, elephants, warthogs, impalas, vervet monkeys and a brown snake eagle! Now we are sitting on the lodge patio with a 180-degree view out over the park as we wait for dinner to be served. Tough life on safari …
June 8:
Today we had an amazing day, spending the entire time exploring Tarangire National Park by Jeep. We saw an absolutely stunning number of animals today, including impalas, zebras, elephants, the largest buffalo herd imaginable (think 500-plus giant animals all staring at your car) and even found ourselves in the midst of a group of female and baby elephants that wandered within 20 feet of our Jeeps while we snapped pictures. We also conducted our first transect study, as the students collected data including animal counts, group sizes, GPS locations and distributions. We will be comparing the data collected today with the data from three other parks as we assess biodiversity in various ecosystems. Other activities today included discussions of legal and social issues in the country, the ecological importance of permanent water sources in the savannah and the increasing fragmentation of giraffe populations in Africa. So yes, we are tired, but happy!
Tomorrow morning we leave to study anthropology in the Olduvai Gorge World Heritage Site (where our earliest hominid ancestors lived) and then head to a three-night stay in the Serengeti National Park.
June 12:
We’re now lounging in the extremely plush Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge after three amazing days and nights “glamping” in a tent camp in the Serengeti wilderness. We had several days of game driving in the Serengeti, in which we saw all of the big five (leopards, buffalo, lions, elephants and rhinos) in one day; most of the group even got to see a cheetah stalk, chase and kill a gazelle (this is a very rare experience). We also were incredibly lucky to see three of the world’s last remaining wild black rhinoceroses in their natural habitat. At night we could hear lions roaring and hyenas laughing outside of our tents. Quite the full-immersion safari experience!
Tonight we are at the aforementioned Sopa Lodge, where our rooms look out over a 4,000-foot drop to the world’s largest volcanic crater (technically a caldera). We can see about 30 miles out over the crater which is full of wildebeests and other wildlife. Needless to say, it is breathtaking.
Tomorrow morning we get a bit of a sleep-in and then we make the transition from “safari” to “cultural and social immersion” as we spend the next three days visiting several tribes and immersing ourselves in their lifestyles. This will include fishing with the Datoga (tomorrow) and a pre-dawn hunting excursion with the Hadzabe, Africa’s last full-time hunting and gathering tribe (note: we will not be doing the hunting!) We will also be visiting and volunteering with the various charity groups that we have been raising money for and running an eye clinic for the Maasai tribe.
June 14:
Today we had the true once-in-a-lifetime experience of meeting and spending the morning with a group of Hadzabe, Africa’s last hunting-gathering tribe. This was not a tourist experience; our guides arranged for us to meet this group based on their long relationship with the tribe. When we found their camp out in the Lake Eyasi wilderness we sat around the campfire with them and both sides asked questions of the other out of mutual curiosity. The Hadzabe were impressed by our students’ politeness and puzzled by our assertions that in our society women can be equal to men even though women are not strong enough to fight off dangerous animals. We asked one Hadzabe woman if she had ever been to the town and she had no idea what a town was. Clearly a unique cultural experience!
On our part, we got to talk to the women about what their lives are like and learn about medicine and how to shoot arrows with the men. After some archery practice we headed out with the skin-clad hunters on a two hour hunt, literally running through the bush with the hunters and their dogs fanning out in front seeking game. The hunters were armed only with bows and a variety of arrows, some poisoned with a local tree sap. They did not manage to find any antelope or baboons (apparently the tastiest animal) but they made some amazing shots and brought down several birds, which they roasted on their fires back at the huts.
After our Hadzabe visit we got on the road and after a stop to do some souvenir shopping (and lots of haggling) we made it to Lake Manyara.
Tonight everyone is totally exhausted, no doubt thanks to the overwhelming cultural immersion of the morning!
More than a dozen Harker students are on a summer research trip in Tanzania, and upper school biology teacher Mike Pistacchi sent some updates on this amazing trip!
June 7:
We woke up this morning to the sight of zebras and elands drinking from a pond 100 feet from our rooms. Then we headed out to Mt. Kilimanjaro for a beautiful hike through a pristine cloud forest (we only stopped 17,000 vertical feet short of the summit!). We then drove down to the savannah where, on the way to our lodge in Tarangire National Park, we sighted zebras, elephants, warthogs, impalas, vervet monkeys and a brown snake eagle! Now we are sitting on the lodge patio with a 180-degree view out over the park as we wait for dinner to be served. Tough life on safari …
June 8:
Today we had an amazing day, spending the entire time exploring Tarangire National Park by Jeep. We saw an absolutely stunning number of animals today, including impalas, zebras, elephants, the largest buffalo herd imaginable (think 500-plus giant animals all staring at your car) and even found ourselves in the midst of a group of female and baby elephants that wandered within 20 feet of our Jeeps while we snapped pictures. We also conducted our first transect study, as the students collected data including animal counts, group sizes, GPS locations and distributions. We will be comparing the data collected today with the data from three other parks as we assess biodiversity in various ecosystems. Other activities today included discussions of legal and social issues in the country, the ecological importance of permanent water sources in the savannah and the increasing fragmentation of giraffe populations in Africa. So yes, we are tired, but happy!
Tomorrow morning we leave to study anthropology in the Olduvai Gorge World Heritage Site (where our earliest hominid ancestors lived) and then head to a three-night stay in the Serengeti National Park.
June 12:
We’re now lounging in the extremely plush Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge after three amazing days and nights “glamping” in a tent camp in the Serengeti wilderness. We had several days of game driving in the Serengeti, in which we saw all of the big five (leopards, buffalo, lions, elephants and rhinos) in one day; most of the group even got to see a cheetah stalk, chase and kill a gazelle (this is a very rare experience). We also were incredibly lucky to see three of the world’s last remaining wild black rhinoceroses in their natural habitat. At night we could hear lions roaring and hyenas laughing outside of our tents. Quite the full-immersion safari experience!
Tonight we are at the aforementioned Sopa Lodge, where our rooms look out over a 4,000-foot drop to the world’s largest volcanic crater (technically a caldera). We can see about 30 miles out over the crater which is full of wildebeests and other wildlife. Needless to say, it is breathtaking.
Tomorrow morning we get a bit of a sleep-in and then we make the transition from “safari” to “cultural and social immersion” as we spend the next three days visiting several tribes and immersing ourselves in their lifestyles. This will include fishing with the Datoga (tomorrow) and a pre-dawn hunting excursion with the Hadzabe, Africa’s last full-time hunting and gathering tribe (note: we will not be doing the hunting!) We will also be visiting and volunteering with the various charity groups that we have been raising money for and running an eye clinic for the Maasai tribe.
June 14:
Today we had the true once-in-a-lifetime experience of meeting and spending the morning with a group of Hadzabe, Africa’s last hunting-gathering tribe. This was not a tourist experience; our guides arranged for us to meet this group based on their long relationship with the tribe. When we found their camp out in the Lake Eyasi wilderness we sat around the campfire with them and both sides asked questions of the other out of mutual curiosity. The Hadzabe were impressed by our students’ politeness and puzzled by our assertions that in our society women can be equal to men even though women are not strong enough to fight off dangerous animals. We asked one Hadzabe woman if she had ever been to the town and she had no idea what a town was. Clearly a unique cultural experience!
On our part, we got to talk to the women about what their lives are like and learn about medicine and how to shoot arrows with the men. After some archery practice we headed out with the skin-clad hunters on a two hour hunt, literally running through the bush with the hunters and their dogs fanning out in front seeking game. The hunters were armed only with bows and a variety of arrows, some poisoned with a local tree sap. They did not manage to find any antelope or baboons (apparently the tastiest animal) but they made some amazing shots and brought down several birds, which they roasted on their fires back at the huts.
After our Hadzabe visit we got on the road and after a stop to do some souvenir shopping (and lots of haggling) we made it to Lake Manyara.
Tonight everyone is totally exhausted, no doubt thanks to the overwhelming cultural immersion of the morning!
More than a dozen Harker students are on a summer research trip in Tanzania, and upper school biology teacher Mike Pistacchi sent some updates on this amazing trip!
June 7:
We woke up this morning to the sight of zebras and elands drinking from a pond 100 feet from our rooms. Then we headed out to Mt. Kilimanjaro for a beautiful hike through a pristine cloud forest (we only stopped 17,000 vertical feet short of the summit!). We then drove down to the savannah where, on the way to our lodge in Tarangire National Park, we sighted zebras, elephants, warthogs, impalas, vervet monkeys and a brown snake eagle! Now we are sitting on the lodge patio with a 180-degree view out over the park as we wait for dinner to be served. Tough life on safari …
June 8:
Today we had an amazing day, spending the entire time exploring Tarangire National Park by Jeep. We saw an absolutely stunning number of animals today, including impalas, zebras, elephants, the largest buffalo herd imaginable (think 500-plus giant animals all staring at your car) and even found ourselves in the midst of a group of female and baby elephants that wandered within 20 feet of our Jeeps while we snapped pictures. We also conducted our first transect study, as the students collected data including animal counts, group sizes, GPS locations and distributions. We will be comparing the data collected today with the data from three other parks as we assess biodiversity in various ecosystems. Other activities today included discussions of legal and social issues in the country, the ecological importance of permanent water sources in the savannah and the increasing fragmentation of giraffe populations in Africa. So yes, we are tired, but happy!
Tomorrow morning we leave to study anthropology in the Olduvai Gorge World Heritage Site (where our earliest hominid ancestors lived) and then head to a three-night stay in the Serengeti National Park.
June 12:
We’re now lounging in the extremely plush Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge after three amazing days and nights “glamping” in a tent camp in the Serengeti wilderness. We had several days of game driving in the Serengeti, in which we saw all of the big five (leopards, buffalo, lions, elephants and rhinos) in one day; most of the group even got to see a cheetah stalk, chase and kill a gazelle (this is a very rare experience). We also were incredibly lucky to see three of the world’s last remaining wild black rhinoceroses in their natural habitat. At night we could hear lions roaring and hyenas laughing outside of our tents. Quite the full-immersion safari experience!
Tonight we are at the aforementioned Sopa Lodge, where our rooms look out over a 4,000-foot drop to the world’s largest volcanic crater (technically a caldera). We can see about 30 miles out over the crater which is full of wildebeests and other wildlife. Needless to say, it is breathtaking.
Tomorrow morning we get a bit of a sleep-in and then we make the transition from “safari” to “cultural and social immersion” as we spend the next three days visiting several tribes and immersing ourselves in their lifestyles. This will include fishing with the Datoga (tomorrow) and a pre-dawn hunting excursion with the Hadzabe, Africa’s last full-time hunting and gathering tribe (note: we will not be doing the hunting!) We will also be visiting and volunteering with the various charity groups that we have been raising money for and running an eye clinic for the Maasai tribe.
June 14:
Today we had the true once-in-a-lifetime experience of meeting and spending the morning with a group of Hadzabe, Africa’s last hunting-gathering tribe. This was not a tourist experience; our guides arranged for us to meet this group based on their long relationship with the tribe. When we found their camp out in the Lake Eyasi wilderness we sat around the campfire with them and both sides asked questions of the other out of mutual curiosity. The Hadzabe were impressed by our students’ politeness and puzzled by our assertions that in our society women can be equal to men even though women are not strong enough to fight off dangerous animals. We asked one Hadzabe woman if she had ever been to the town and she had no idea what a town was. Clearly a unique cultural experience!
On our part, we got to talk to the women about what their lives are like and learn about medicine and how to shoot arrows with the men. After some archery practice we headed out with the skin-clad hunters on a two hour hunt, literally running through the bush with the hunters and their dogs fanning out in front seeking game. The hunters were armed only with bows and a variety of arrows, some poisoned with a local tree sap. They did not manage to find any antelope or baboons (apparently the tastiest animal) but they made some amazing shots and brought down several birds, which they roasted on their fires back at the huts.
After our Hadzabe visit we got on the road and after a stop to do some souvenir shopping (and lots of haggling) we made it to Lake Manyara.
Tonight everyone is totally exhausted, no doubt thanks to the overwhelming cultural immersion of the morning!