This year’s upper school fall play, “Anon(ymous),” will feature musical works composed by Harker students. A unique interpretation of Homer’s “Odyssey,” the play is “full of sense and places,” said upper school music teacher Susan Nace. “The soundscape to the play is huge, traversing oceans and continents. For one person to write all the music would be a daunting task.”
All of the composers – Brandon Yang, Kimberly Ma and Namrata Vakkalagadda, all grade 12; Agata Sorotokin, grade 11, and grade 10 students Jonathan Ta, Alice Wu and Gurutam Thockchom – volunteered without going through a selection process. “I believe that the people we need are the people we get!” Nace said.
The first task for the composers was for each of them to compose a version of the play’s main theme, dubbed “Nemasani’s Song” after the main character’s mother. Although only one student’s version was chosen to go into the play, Nace remarked that every version could find a place in the production. “There is a striking similarity between all the composers’ music, as they honed into the idea of home,” Nace said. “So I believe they all dug into the collective unconscious of what home sounds like.”
Wu was eager to try her hand at composing for the play even though she admitted her experience as a composer is limited. “I was a bit hesitant about whether I could do a good job with it, but after all, what is life without risks?” she said. “For me, I first figure out what I’m composing for and then just kind of let my mind wander. Sometimes I can find a melody by humming random notes or playing around with the keys on the piano, while other times, I just let the idea sit in the back of my head for a while until I suddenly happen to think of one.”
“I was glad to get the opportunity to compose for ‘Anon(ymous),’” said Sorotokin. “The sheer variety of genres and the idea of using music to enhance the audience’s experience, as in films, drew me to this.” The junior, who sings in the women’s vocal group Cantilena and studies piano at the San Francisco Conservatory, likes to record her ideas as soon as they arrive. “Ideas come suddenly and unpredictably,” she said. “This particular play, ‘Anon(ymous),’ has a lot of cultural references, so I like to picture how my musical ideas fit into the script. Also, it is important to keep in mind what feelings I would like to evoke in my music.”
“Anon(ymous)” premieres in late October. Be sure to attend to hear these student compositions live!
In mid-June, Samantha Madala, grade 11, gave a presentation at a meeting of the Endocrine Society held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The presentation was largely the result of her own experiences with hypothyroidism, an endocrine disorder in which the thyroid gland underperforms and whose symptoms include drowsiness and a lack of focus.
Prior to starting high school, Madala excelled academically. “But when I started high school, I noticed that I had a hard time focusing in class and I always felt tired and withdrawn. My grades were affected too,” she said. “I later found out that my symptoms were caused by hypothyroidism.”
Although relieved that her condition was treatable, Madala was disturbed by the lack of awareness on hypothyroidism and other endocrine disorders. She decided to conduct a study as a first step toward gauging the global awareness of endocrine-related health problems.
Madala and researchers from the University of British Columbia, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Berkeley and the Tufts University School of Medicine created an online survey administered to adults in different age groups and levels of education. “Overall, most survey-takers had very low knowledge of hypothyroidism and other disorders, with the average percentage of correct answers ranging from 15 percent to 45 percent,” Madala said. One of the more surprising finds was that most people surveyed had either completed a college degree or were attending college.
With this data, Madala hopes to eventually make the world aware of endocrine disorders and how they can be treated. “Ultimately, I would like to create solutions to raise awareness of all disorders that can impact learning, and help students reach their academic potential, without having to be held back by health problems,” she said. To this end, she has started a nonprofit organization for students suffering from chronic illnesses. “I believe that children should not have to struggle in school, especially when their problems can be solved with simple, effective treatments.”
She has also begun work on a publication dedicated to the discussion and treatment of pediatric hypothyroidism, featuring useful information on the topic and interviews with medical professionals and patients.
Fall sports continue, with a school record in girls cross country; victories in tennis, volleyball and golf; and a great homecoming event, with huge yardage from the Eagles, despite their loss.
Water Polo
After a tight 9-7 loss to Fremont earlier in the week, the varsity boys water polo squad roared back to crush Santa Clara on Thursday in their home opener, 14-8 win. In the win, Karan Kurber, grade 12, Eric Holt, grade 11, and Billy Bloomquist, grade 11, all racked up four goals apiece. Arnav Tandon, grade 9, and Stephan Pellissier, grade 12, each added a goal, and Sean Pan, grade 12, anchored the defense with four point-blank blocks. The week before, the boys had faced off against then-undefeated Saratoga High, with Bloomquist, Holt, Pellissier and Alex Thomas, grade 11, all scoring. The team is now 4-5 overall and 1-2 in league play. They travel to Wilcox on Tuesday and host Homestead on Thursday at the Singh Aquatic Center.
The girls played this weekend at the Aptos Tournament, winning one game and dropping three. On Friday evening, the girls lost to Santa Cruz High. The day, the girls defeated Lincoln 7-2 before losing to Pioneer and SLV. Delaney Martin, grade 11, led the team in scoring over the weekend, netting five goals. Helena Dworak, grade 10, had 24 saves in her four games. The team heads to Wilcox to lead off this week and then returns home to host Monta Vista on Thursday.
Cross Country
Freshman Niki Iyer raced the best-ever time for a Harker female runner in her first varsity cross country meet this past week at the Westmoor Invitational, finishing second overall and missing out on first place by one second. Senior Claudia Tischler placed 13th overall, while Connor O’Neill, grade 10, and Rahul Balakrishnan, grade 11, both broke 16:00 to lead the boys team. The team travels to San Bruno Mountain this Thursday for their first league meet of the season. Meanwhile, last Saturday, Corey Gonzales, grade 11, who is ranked in the top-five in CCS, faced off against a national field at the Stanford Invitational.
Football
Harker football dropped their Homecoming game to Mt. Pleasant last Friday, despite recording 420 total yards on offense. Running back Kevin Moss, grade 12, ran for 128 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 11, also scrambled for 52 yards on 11 runs, scoring twice in the third quarter. Forbes also connected with wide receiver Adarsh Battu, grade 12, five times for a total of 142 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown pass. The week before, junior varsity trumped Irvington High 20-6 to jump out to a 2-0 record early in the season. Varsity’s next game is this Fri., Oct. 4, at home against St. Francis at 7 p.m. The junior varsity plays next on Oct. 18 in a home game against Lynbrook.
Tennis
Girls tennis now stands at 4-1 on the season after a 7-0 victory over Milpitas last week. “The Lady Eagles battled through injuries to put together a new season-best team performance against an evenly matched Milpitas squad,” writes Dan Molin, Harker’s upper school athletic director.“The doubles team was highlighted by clutch and spirited wins in both third set tie-breakers and the sharp return of Ariana Shulman, grade 12, to the lineup.” Harker did not drop one set all day in their singles contests. The victory came one week after the girls defeated Fremont 5-2 with Dora Tzeng, grade 12, Izzy Gross, grade 10, and Arden Hu, grade 11, sweeping the singles matches. League play begins this week with a game at the Decathlon Club against Sacred Heart Prep.
Volleyball
The girls volleyball team defeated Lynbrook on Wednesday, bumping up their record to 4-3 overall as they prepare to open league play this Tuesday at Blackford against rival Sacred Heart Prep. They’ve now won two of their past three after an early start where the girls, tested early by a strong schedule, faced off against some of the top contenders in their section. Shreya Dixit, grade 11, Divya Kalindindi, grade 12, and Shannon Richardson, grade 10, have emerged as the team’s offensive leaders with setting duties shared by Selin Ozcelik and Selin Ekici, both grade 10. Mercedes Chien, grade 12, meanwhile, has excelled in her role as libero.
Following their league opener against Sacred Heart on Tuesday, the varsity girls will play Castilleja on Thursday. The junior varsity team has played great ball as well. This past week, the JV team won the silver division championship after victories over Presentation, Valley Christian and Menlo.
Golf
The girls golf team defeated Notre Dame San Jose this past Thursday, 213-246. Kristin Lin, grade 12, shot a 36. Daphne Liang, grade 10, shot a 39, and Ashley Zhong, grade 10, shot a 42. On Friday, the girls team upset their league rival Menlo 228-235 with Lin again shooting a 36. The weekend before, the girls finished in ninth place in the Lone Tree tournament in Antioch, with Lin shooting an 80 to finish in third place. The girls have a tournament on Monday of this week, followed by matches against Castilleja on Thursday and Sacred Heart on Friday.
When asked to give the special gift of time during a series of recent back-to-school events, Harker parents across all school campuses generously responded by signing up in the hundreds to serve as volunteers.
Thanks to a vast network of talented and enthusiastic parent volunteers, last year more than 1,100 hard-working volunteers set new records by collectively giving well over 4,800 hours of service on behalf of students, faculty and staff. This year, parents seem poised to repeat or even best that record.
At the lower school alone more than 300 sign-ups were collected electronically via iPads on hand at a special breakfast for parents, and about a hundred more flowed in after the event. Some parents chose to use QR codes (printed on sheets of paper and available at the breakfast) which they downloaded using their smart phones.
“We also had sign-ups available at the middle school breakfast, and an upper school welcome barbecue evening event. The upper school parent event coincided with the student social First Friday which had a great turnout as well,” reported Jennifer Hargreaves, director of middle and upper school volunteer programs.
According to her, parents could socialize, sign up and browse the range of volunteer opportunities. “We’ve had over 600 volunteer slots across the middle and upper school signed up for and counting …. We get people signing up every day!” she said.
This year Harker’s volunteer department went paperless with its successful launch of a convenient, new, user friendly, schoolwide online sign-up system called I-volunteer. I-volunteer was introduced across all divisions during the well-attended back-to-school functions. For parents of all campuses, a listing of volunteer opportunities is available on the parent community page of the portal with instructions for signing up.
“Parents were very receptive to both volunteering and the new online sign-up system,” said Tere Aceves, director of the preschool and lower school’s volunteer programs. She had been working on creating the I-volunteer system for the past several years and said she is hoping to soon bring it to the now open Harker Preschool.
Yet, putting technology aside, all of the back-to-school events served as an important opportunity for parents to become better acquainted with the school’s vibrant community by bonding with fellow parents. Present at all events were current parent volunteers and advancement office personnel to welcome newcomers and answer any and all questions about volunteering.
As the long lazy days of summer drew to a close, Harker sponsored several separately held welcome-back-to-school barbecues at the lower, middle and upper schools. It was all part of a schoolwide effort to help students and their families more successfully transition into a new year.
Harker’s Bucknall campus set the scene for two different back-to-school barbecues – one for kindergartners and another for grades 1-5.
In late August kindergartners and their families gathered at the lower school to socialize and enjoy delicious food, which was generously donated in part by Brown Chicken Brown Cow, a new restaurant recently opened in Campbell by Harker alumnus Chris Yamashita ’90.
Following the kindergarten barbecue, the rest of the lower school held their own larger, combined event in early September. “Over 600 people attended …. The energy was great, the food was delicious and company fantastic,” enthused Tere Aceves, volunteer director at the lower school. “What a great beginning of the year!”
At both happenings, parents took the opportunity to relax and catch their breath during the hectic back-to-school time, casually chatting with one another, as well as with faculty and staff, while their children took to the play yards.
Meanwhile, the middle school hosted their second annual barbecue on the Blackford campus in mid-September, with more than 400 attendees. Parents went the extra mile, pitching in by cooking and creating fun activities for the students, including volleyball, tug of war and making candy sushi.
“The relaxed event was a great way for new families to meet current Harker families and to bring the community together,” recalled Jennifer Hargreaves, Harker’s director of middle and upper school volunteer programs.
Hargreaves further noted that there was also an upper school welcome barbecue evening event for parents (replacing last year’s breakfast for parents) which coincided with the student social First Friday. Both events had a large turnout, with the added bonus of bringing upper school students and parents to the Saratoga campus simultaneously.
Over the years, Harker’s volunteer-led back-to-school barbecue events at all three campuses have grown in popularity, with attendance increasing steadily.
Editor’s note: DECA used to be an acronym, but is now the organization’s name.
As the school year begins in earnest, the Harker DECA leadership team traveled to San Francisco’s Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing to learn from other chapters at this year’s Northern California DECA University.
DECA hones the skills of emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in finance, hospitality, management and marketing. The leadership team, including heads of public relations, treasury and membership, attended the Sept. 7 conference, which centered on teaching leadership teams critical skills needed to excel in the upcoming year.
Harker group advisor and mentor Juston Glass, director of business & entrepreneurial programs, said one important feature was for the group to see firsthand how businesses are using technologies to direct their teams. IBM, the ubiquitous technology company, and Uber, a four-year-old taxi service startup based in San Francisco, led the headlining discussions.
Shannon Hong, grade 10, public relations officer for DECA freshmen and sophomores, said she learned a great deal from her fellow DECA PR leaders, specifically “ways to make DECA the most prominent club in the school by utilizing social media properly.” She has used what she learned at the conference to plan a strong social media campaign for the club.
Gaurav Kumar, grade 12, director of PR for juniors and seniors, intends to use what he learned at the sessions to ensure the club has a top-notch relationship with the Harker community. “Making community outreach a more prominent part of our chapter’s endeavors,” is a key theme for him now, he said.
Club president Monica Thukral, grade 12, used the conference to work on her ability to manage the group as a whole. She learned “how other chapter presidents and vice presidents are better able to get everyone involved … to meet deadlines and collaborate more effectively,” she said. An overriding theme of the conference was goal setting and planning, something Thukral and her fellow leaders will be able to leverage for each of their teams.
After a long day of networking and learning, the leadership team bonded over shared excitement at a Giants game, unfortunately a 2-1 loss to the rival Arizona Diamondbacks. “When DECA activity gets crazy, these events will help keep the team together,” said Glass.
On Sept. 11, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced that 55 Harker seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. This is the second-highest number of semifinalists from Harker since the school began participating during the 2004-05 school year.
The students, listed in alphabetical order by last name, are:
Aditya Batra, Adarsh Battu, Vikas Bhetanabhotla, Kilian Burke, Shivani Chandrashekaran, Allen Chen, Rebecca Chen, Stephanie Chen, Meena Chetty, Zareen Choudhury, Albert Chu, Jennifer Dai, Kevin Duraiswamy, Shenel Ekici-Moling, Christopher Fu, Nikkan Ghosh, Apurva Gorti, Katie Gu, Divyahans Gupta, Helena Huang, Benjamin Huchley, Shazdeh Hussain, Saachi Jain, Gaurav Kumar, Monica Kumaran, Connie Li, Emily Lin, Mabel Luo, Angela Ma, Kimberly Ma, Maya Madhavan, Richard Min, Sreyas Misra, Varun Mohan, Nishaant Murali, Vikram Naidu, Anisha Padwekar, Daniel Pak, Zoe Papakipos, Alexander Pei, Preethi Periyakoil, Megan Prakash, Namita Ravi, Isaac Rothschild, Arthur Shau, Rahul Sridhar, Vikram Sundar, Brian Tuan, Leslie Tzeng, Nihal Uppugunduri, Sachin Vadodaria, Brandon Yang, Albert Zhao, Andrew Zhu and Kevin Zhu.
About 1.5 million students are entered into this contest every year by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test as grade 11 students. Approximately 16,000 of these students are named semifinalists, and are required to maintain an exemplary academic record, receive an endorsement from a school official, submit an essay and receive SAT scores consistent with their scores on the PSAT/NMSQT in order to become finalists.
New Class of 2013 alumni Kenny Zhang, Anuj Sharmaand Aneesh Chona were defending national champions in the public debate forum sponsored by the National Forensic League (NFL), which held its first tournament in 1931. Sharma and Chona made history as the first team to repeat a final round appearance in a debate event as a partnership. Although they lost in finals in a close decision, they had gone undefeated through 15 rounds of competition. Zhang won second place in the dramatic interpretation event, marking the highest honor a Harker student has won at a speech national championship. There were some 4,000 people watching the debate live and thousands more watched it stream online. Go Forensic Eagles!
This past summer 11 biology students, three journalism students and four chaperones made Harker history by embarking on an educational first for the school: a trip to Tanzania. Armed with a “world as their classroom” mentality, the group set off for the 10-day groundbreaking trip, called “One Health in Tanzania,” on July 24.
The Tanzanian adventure was the brainchild of upper school science department chair Anita Chetty, who had spent years planning and researching the trip. Head of School Chris Nikoloff joined Chetty in supervising the group of students.
Also serving as chaperones were Dr. Murali Daran and Dr. Alexandra Kamins. Daran (Lea, grade 12; Rohan, grade 10) is a cardiologist and has done extensive medical charitable work in places like the Dominican Republic. Besides serving as the group’s “doctor-on-call,” he inspired the students with a talk on his charitable work. Kamins is a recent graduate from the University of Cambridge whose doctoral work was in Ghana. She has also been on several study programs in Africa; her experiences provided essential support when collaborating on the curriculum with Chetty.
“I designed the trip as though it were a short, college-level type course,” said Chetty, explaining that the trip, while filled with great sights, was not primarily about sightseeing. “The focus was on the educational curriculum … and I was so impressed at how the students rose to that challenge.”
In fact, every aspect of the trip was infused with an opportunity for learning, from game-drives filled with biology lessons to visiting reserves and meeting with health professionals. One highlight was learning firsthand about the current AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. The situation became real to students as they met with health professionals, including a gynecologist and nurse at an AIDS clinic.
Another trip highlight was visiting with the Maasai tribe, when the students had the opportunity to personally donate toys to a local village school. It was an eye-opening experience for journalism student Jonathan Dai, grade 10.
“The tribe treated us like family and welcomed us into their homes and daily lives. We played games with their kids, herded goats and cattle, and even played a soccer game against the adult male tribe members,” he recalled.
While visiting with the Maasai, students set up an eye clinic, testing tribe members’ eyes and handing out prescription eye glasses they had brought over with them for that purpose.
“One of the most influential moments for me was visiting the Maasai. On a walk to and from the lake they tried to teach us some of their native language. For example, they taught us how to count and some basic phrases. Regardless of the fact that neither of us spoke the others’ languages we managed to communicate and bonded really quickly, which was an amazing experience,” recalled Alyssa Amick, grade 11.
Namrata Vakkalagadda, grade 12, said that a very personal memory for her was learning beading from a village tribe healer. “Even though we had an obvious language barrier, the connection between us was almost immediate. She welcomed my curiosity with open arms and continued to patiently guide my hands and hand me beads, until I created a bracelet which I was able to keep for myself. This memento of mine I think might be one that is dearest to me, because I created it with a member of the Maasai community and it was a connection that was personal between the two of us.”
The Tanzania trip was such a success that plans are already in the works for another one next summer. In addition to giving the gift of sight by providing eyeglasses, Chetty is also collecting money to buy and bring desperately needed textbooks to the Tanzanian public schools.
“There is nothing like learning that is directly experienced, whether educational or philanthropic,” said Chetty.
Jason Berry’s family and friends nearly filled WestGate Church yesterday afternoon to say goodbye. Heartfelt memories of his childhood and early years as a teacher were shared; the loss to his family and the community was mourned. A large group, many of whom were alumni, then moved to Harker’s Saratoga campus for a reception.
Family members joined the group shortly after it started, and Chris Nikoloff as well as two of Berry’s colleagues addressed the group very briefly, followed by more memories exchanged, and more tears shed for the life cut short.