Author Alexandra Zapruder, who penned “Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust,” visited Harker on Feb. 8 to speak to students about the subject of her book and why primary accounts are important to historical analysis. Harker journalism students captured the whole story.
Tags: Featured Story, Harker HistoryOn Feb. 1-2, Harker’s upper school hosted the U.S. Association of Young Physicists Tournament’s (USAYPT) U.S. invitational. The tournament featured students from schools from across the country as well as from China and Tunisia.
In preparation for the tournament, the USAYPT gives students at participating schools four physics problems in February of each year. The teams spend the next year researching and coming up with solutions for the problems, and each team presents its findings at the tournament. A team from another school then attempts to find flaws in the solution.
Judges from universities such as Santa Clara University, San Jose State University and University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as companies such as Apple and Google, compare the students’ methods against a rubric and assign scores accordingly.
Chaima Essid, a student from Pioneer Prep School in Tunisia, entered the tournament thanks to a friend who competed while attending school in the U.S. as an exchange student. “I thought, why not? It would be a great experience,” Essid said. Although she admitted to making some mistakes during her presentation, she nonetheless said she had a great experience and that she was “satisfied” with her performance.
Tags: Corporate Home Page, Featured StoryAshvin Swaminathan, grade 12, was recently named one of two national winners in the 2012 Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement. Each year, this award is given to one male and one female student in the U.S. for exhibiting excellence in AP math and science. On the eight exams used to determine winners of the awards, Swaminathan had the highest number of scores of 5 in the entire country for a male student. For his effort, Swaminathan has been awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the Siemens Foundation.
The senior said he was “happy but humbled” to received the award, and credits his steadfast work ethic and well-maintained sleep schedule to his success. “I don’t postpone work, and in fact, I have managed to stay ahead of the lectures in every course that I have taken at Harker,” he said. “I am firm about getting eight hours of sleep no matter how demanding a course is.”
Swaminathan, the son of middle school science teacher Raji Swaminathan, was also very thankful to his teachers, parents and grandparents for their mentoring and support over the years. “I thank my wonderful teachers at Harker for their help and encouragement all the way through,” he said. “None of my accomplishments would have been possible without the unconditional support of my parents and grandparents.”
In December, Pavitra Rengarajan ’12 earned one of two State AP Scholar Awards for her extraordinary performance on the 2012 Advanced Placement exams. She is one of 108 students nationwide to receive this honor. “I didn’t go into the exams with the goal of receiving any special distinction, so I’m not sure that I had any expectations to begin with. In fact, I only realized I had earned this distinction when Ms. [Jennifer] Gargano [assistant head of school for academic affairs] sent me a congratulatory email!” reported Rengarajan, adding that the majority of the exams she took corresponded to her AP classes at Harker.
Rengarajan, now a freshman at Stanford University, said that her college major will likely be computer science. She noted that Harker has “certainly prepared me well for the academic rigor of Stanford. Courses here seem like a natural progression from Harker. I am starting to realize how fortunate I was to have taken advanced topics classes.”
Last year, Ramya Rangan and Albert Wu, both now graduates, became the first pair of national winners from the same school.
Tags: Corporate Home Page, Featured Story, topacademicsDuring the Jan. 18 pajama day assembly, sophomore Eagle Buddies took the opportunity to personally tell their grade 3 pals how proud they were of them for collecting books and pajamas on behalf of children in need.
The upper school students had traveled to the lower school campus as part of the Eagle Buddies program, and to participate in the assembly, which celebrated the grade 3 service project collecting items to donate to the Pajama Program, a nationally run nonprofit organization dedicated to providing new sleepwear and books to kids waiting to be adopted (for the full story on the drive, see the HNO article.)
The assembly was held in the gym on the Bucknall campus, with participants wearing a colorful assortment of robes, pajamas, slippers and snuggly knit hats. Pink robes were all the rage for the grade 3 girls, many of whom sported ponytails and pigtails, while a large number of boys wore jammies showing off their favorite super heroes.
Although wearing sleepwear was optional, almost all of the younger students were dressed in their pajamas, and some of the upper school students wore them as well. Those who didn’t had on Eagle Buddies polo shirts instead. And, to the delight of students, most of the grade 3 faculty showed off their favorite nightwear, adding to the fun, festive atmosphere of the assembly.
Before the assembly officially began, the eager third graders connected with their older Eagle Buddies for a short period of mingling and socializing. The sophomores had been encouraged to bring items to donate to the Pajama Program, which is one of the lower school’s supported charities.
Grade 3 student Alyssa Tomberg said she recommends other schools get involved in the Pajama Program, as well as have an Eagle Buddies program of their own. Her classmate, Antonio Mele, echoed her sentiments, calling the Eagle Buddies program “pretty cool.”
Mele added that the most fun he’s had with his two buddies so far was playing soccer and getting to know each other at the first Eagle Buddies event of the school year. He added that he hopes one day, when he’s older, he can be an Eagle Buddy to a younger student.
Meanwhile, Angeline Kiang, another young Eagle Buddy, said she is used to hanging around with older kids as she has a teenage sibling. Her favorite thing to do with her buddies is simply to hang out. “I love talking with them.”
As the assembly officially got under way, Ken Allen, the lower school’s dean of students, reminded the audience that this is Harker’s sixth year of running the pajama and book drive for children who often come to shelters with “just the clothes on their backs.”
Following his talk, Pallie Zambrano, a spokesperson for the Pajama Program, took to the podium to thank Harker students for supporting the drive and enabling hundreds of children to have new pajamas and books.
Butch Keller, upper school head, then approached the stage wearing a dark robe and slippers. He sat down in a rocking chair and read a book called “Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook” to the children in his warm, distinctive voice, as the lights in the gym were slowly dimmed to set the mood of a bedtime story.
Keller, who received a big round of applause, originally came up with the idea for the Eagle Buddies program in an effort to help bridge the campus divide. The buddies stay together for three years, until the sophomores graduate and the third graders matriculate into middle school.
Concluding the assembly, the Eagle Buddies teamed up to read a book together, which the students selected from a big blue bin holding popular, age-appropriate, scholastic chapter books. Soon after, the pals headed off for a special lunch together before the older students returned via buses to resume their day at the upper school.
Eagle Buddies activities continued the next week, as on Jan. 24 there were two more events, one for juniors and fourth graders and another for seniors and their grade 5 buddies.
Clad in their Eagle Buddies shirts, the juniors hosted their fourth grade friends for “clown day” at the upper school. After eating lunch in the gym together, the students watched a performance by professional clowns, and then were given the opportunity to try a few clown tricks themselves.
That same day the seniors went off to the lower school during their eighth period to watch a special showing of the grade 5 play, “The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, Jr.,” in which all of their Eagle Buddies performed. The sneak preview was held in the gym, where the actual show occurred the following evening. The play, based on the beloved children’s book by Jeff Brown, was free of charge.
“I think Eagle Buddies is a really great concept. For the older buddy the experience is a way to return to a place where school is just really exciting and fun, filled with new experiences,” observed 15-year-old Tiara Bhatacharya, a sophomore Eagle Buddy who has attended Harker since kindergarten.
“Hanging out with your Eagle Buddy is also great because they’re so energetic, hilarious and willing to share as much of their lives with you as possible,” she added.
Tags: Featured StoryIn early January, Student-Directed Showcase put the directorial talents of Harker Conservatory seniors on display in a series of one-act plays. This year’s show featured “The Shadow Box,” directed by Cecilia Lang-Ree, “The Choice is Yours,” directed by Lori Berenberg, “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” directed by Cristina Jerney and “DNA,” directed by Hannah Prutton.
Each production required a great deal of preparation and hands-on work from the student directors, who were involved in every step of the process, including auditioning actors, budgeting, planning and arranging sets and making sure all the technical details fell into place. They learned many more ambiguous lessons along the way, such as “when to stay on certain points and let go on others. And sometimes, letting the process take care of itself instead of trying to control everything,” said Jerney. The class is taught by performing arts chair Laura Lang-Ree, who selects three to four seniors each year after an in-depth audition and interview and guides them through the directing process.
But despite the challenges faced by each of the directors, it is clear that the road to completing the production is one the entire cast and crew travel together. “[My favorite part of directing was] definitely bonding and spending time with my cast,” Jerney said. “They were a really great group of people and I really had fun sharing this experience with them.”
As with every Harker production, Student-Directed Showcase was made possible by a sturdy crew of students and faculty. Harker’s production manager, Brian Larsen, acted as technical director and sound engineer, while Simon Orr, grade 12, was stage manager and Nicholas Semenza, grade 11, deftly handled lighting during the show. The deck crew of Alex Thomas and Jeremy Binkley, both grade 10, and Shilpa Repakula and Zarek Drozda, both grade 9, kept the show running smoothly, and sophomore Delaney Martin handled props and costumes. Stalwart scenic and lighting designer Paul Vallerga again offered his talents to the production, and Caela Fujii offered her guidance on costuming.
Tags: Performing ArtsOn Jan. 18, the upper school vocal group Bel Canto once again got together with some special guests in the Nichols Hall auditorium for this year’s WinterSong vocal concert. Led by Jennifer Sandusky, the group jumped right into the show with performances of Henry Purcell’s “Come Ye Sons of Art” and “Alleluia from Cantata No. 142” by Johann Kuhlau, with accompaniment from violinist Paul Woodruff, violist Toni Woodruff and Serena Wang, grade 10, on piano.
A series of stirring solo performances followed thereafter, including senior Justin Gerard’s rendition of the late 1920s classic “Old Man River,” and a version of the beloved Leonard Cohen ballad “Hallelujah,” sung by Gwen Howard, grade 9. Freshman Elina Sendonaris’ interpretation of Debussy’s “Claire De Lune” provided the perfect segue for a special appearance by Cantilena, the upper school women’s chamber ensemble directed by Susan Nace, who beautifully performed Ko Matsushita’s choral piece, “Dona Nobis Pacem.”
Bel Canto then retook the stage for the final series of songs for the evening, which included Felix Bernard’s “Winter Wonderland of Snow,” the traditional English folk song “Barbara Allen” and the finale, a rousing rendition of the African-American spiritual “Battle of Jericho.”
Tags: Performing ArtsThanks to Sarina Vij, grade 12, and debate teachers Carol Green, Greg Achten and Jonathan Peele for providing this update!
UCLA Forensics Tournament, Jan. 11-13
In policy, Nitya Mani, grade 10, and Panny Shan, grade 9, advanced to the quarterfinals. Shannon Hong, grade 9, was named the ninth-place speaker and Shan was the third-place speaker.
In Lincoln-Douglas debate: Karan Das-Grande, grade 12, and Raymon Xu, grade 11, were triple-octafinalists. Junior Srikar Pyda was a double octafinalist and Pranav Reddy, grade 10, reached the octafinals. Reddy was also named 20th speaker.
Arizona State University, Jan. 10-13
Harker Public Forum students did extremely well at the Arizona State University tournament this past weekend. With 214 registered debaters, Harker had six upper school and one middle school team clear to elimination rounds. Junior Zoe Papakipos and Samali Sahoo, grade 9, barely missed the elimination rounds with a record of 4-2 in preliminary rounds. Upper and middle school students all worked together at the tournament, discussing arguments and strategies and preparing for upcoming rounds.
Alex Lam and Aditya Dhar, both grade 8, placed in the top 32 teams after meeting another Harker team in the double-octofinals. Seniors Pranav Sharma and Varun Gudapati as well as Aadyot Bhatnagar and Stanley Xie, both grade 10, met other Harker teams in the octofinal round and thus placed in the top 16 teams at the tournament.
Grade 11 students Maneesha Panja and Sebi Nakos as well as sophomores David Lin and Andrew Jin lost in the quarterfinal round (top eight) after going undefeated in the preliminary rounds. Jithin Vellian, grade 11, and Nikhil Kishore, grade 10, met another Harker team in the quarterfinal and thus placed in the top eight at the tournament.
Shivani Mitra, grade 12, and Stephanie Lu, grade 11, made it to the semifinal round of the tournament where they were eliminated and thus placed in the top four teams at the tournament.
In addition to team accomplishments, a number of Harker students were awarded with individual speaker awards. Lin earned fourth overall speaker, Nakos was eighth, Reddy was ninth, Jin was 10th, Mitra was 14th and Lu took 24th speaker out of 214 competitors.
Myers Park High School Tournament, North Carolina, Jan. 3-6
At the 40th annual Myers Park Laird Lewis Invitational in North Carolina, Harker Public Forum had some great results. Debating on the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the teams of Suraj Jagadeesh and Abhinav Ketineni, both grade 9, as well as seniors David Grossman and Nikhil Agarwal, were triple octofinalists. Kevin Duraiswamy, grade 11, and Reyhan Kader, grade 12, were quarterfinalists and seniors Anuj Sharma and Aneesh Chona advanced to the finals of the tournament.
At the same tournament, Andy Wang, grade 11, won first place in original oratory and was a semifinalist in impromptu speaking. Warren Zhang, grade 12, was a finalist in congressional debate.
University School “Sunvitational” Tournament, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Jan. 10-14
Arjun Kumar, grade 11, took second place in congressional debate and Steven Wang, grade 10, was a semifinalist in extemporaneous speaking and impromptu speaking.
Tags: DebateSociety for Science announced Wednesday that Paulomi Bhattacharya, grade 12, has been named one of 40 finalists in this year’s Intel Science Talent Search, becoming the first Harker student to be named an Intel STS finalist and a Siemens contest finalist in the same year. Bhattacharya, who was also a Siemens finalist last year, “is a classic example of a student who has gone through our whole research program,” said science department chair Anita Chetty.
Bhattacharya found the inspiration for her project, titled “A Novel AAA-ATPase p97/VCP Inhibitor Lead for Multiple Myeloma by Fragment-Based Drug Design: A Computational Binding Model and NMR/SPR-Based Validation,” while interviewing for a position at the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences at Univeristy of California, San Francisco, last year. “As I discussed possible projects with my professor, he mentioned a post-doctoral research group in the department that was working on a National Cancer Institute-funded project,” she said. “But the target protein was proving to be very difficult, and even after a year they had few significant results.”
Eager to help and seeking a new experience, Bhattacharya joined the team and began working on one of three unexplored drug target regions. “I designed an independent project and worked separately from the group throughout the summer, reading background literature, learning the molecular modeling techniques, using NMR/SPR spectroscopies, and learning the underlying theories of physics and chemistry,” she said.
In choosing the project, Bhattacharya expressed her desire to add to the field of cancer research. “I know far too many who have fought cancer without success,” she said. “Consequently, I jumped at the opportunity to pursue a cure for multiple myeloma. The cause that I was fighting for strengthened my resolve to creatively make an impact by scientific advancement.”
In addition to her success in these contests, Bhattacharya has also been an active member of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WiSTEM) and other clubs, written for the Triple Helix Online and presented at the Harker Research Symposium on multiple occasions. “She represents a student who has taken advantage of not only the clubs, but of internships, research classes and the many other opportunities available to her in the research program,” Chetty said.
Bhattacharya has expressed her thanks to the many Harker teachers in various programs and disciplines who have supported and mentored her since she started at Harker in grade 5, including lower school history teacher Pat Walsh, middle school math teacher Vandana Kadam, middle school biology teacher Lorna Claerbout, middle school history teacher Cyrus Merrill, upper school science department teachers Chetty, Mala Raghavan, Chris Spenner, Robbie Korin and Richard Page and math teacher Victor Adler.
She also mentioned her sincere gratitude to her professor at UCSF, Dr. Matthew Jacobs, “for giving me the opportunity to work with him in this emerging field,” and her post-doctoral mentor at UCSF, Dr. Michael Chimenti, for offering his guidance to her throughout the project.
Read about Bhattacharya and the other finalists in these articles:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_22431592
http://frenchtribune.com/teneur/1315629-paulomi-bhattacharya-final-round-science-talent-search-2013
Tags: Featured Story, Research, Science, topacademics, topresearchDr. Nicolae Mihailide, father of Catalina, grade 12, and an orthopedic surgeon based in Romania, visited Anita Chetty’s human anatomy and physiology classes on Jan. 3 to give presentations on his profession and offer insight into various surgical procedures. Using projected x-ray images from past procedures, Mihailide asked students to identify the problems with the patients in the images. He then explained the procedure, providing samples of prosthetics used in the operations.
Tags: Featured StoryUPDATE: March 21, 2013
Michaela Kastelman, whose run as DECA Silicon Valley president ends in March, was recently awarded an Applegate DECA Scholarship worth $5,000. She will receive the scholarship, which is sponsored by Hilton Worldwide, at the DECA International Career Development Conference in April.
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During the first week of the new year, 77 students from the Harker Business Club attended the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference hosted by the California state association of DECA, a nonprofit organization that prepares students interested in pursuing careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.
The conference presented an opportunity for students to receive feedback from judges (one of whom was Head of School Chris Nikoloff) on their business plans and to brush up on their presentation skills and learn how to respond to real-life situations. There was also a competitive element to the event, as students participated in contests that involved role-playing or written tests. In all, Harker students won 14 trophies and several medals, with Harker teams and individuals earning eight top-three finishes.
Andre Jia, grade 12, and Brian Tuan, grade 11, took first place in the team Marketing Communications competition. Saachi Jain and Brinda Perumal, both grade 11, were the second-place team in the Business Law and Ethics event; juniors Allison Sun and Emily Lin earned second place in Sports and Entertainment Operations Research; Emily Wang, grade 12 took second place in individual Business Finance; Jennifer Dai and Katie Gu, both grade 11, took third in the same event; seniors Tiphaine Delepine and Rachel Yanovsky took third in Travel and Tourism; Kevin Susai and Rohit Agarwal, both grade 12, placed third in Sports and Entertainment Marketing; and senior Neeli Gadagottu finished third in Restaurant and Food Service Management.
The event was a special one for student and current DECA Silicon Valley President Michaela Kastelman, grade 12, who gave a heartwarming farewell speech to the attendees. Her tenure as president will end in March, as she graduates this year. Meanwhile, Sophia Luo, grade 9, ascended to a new role at DECA Silicon Valley after being elected secretary and treasurer for next year.
“I think that Harker was really successful, especially since a lot of our chapter is made up of freshmen and sophomores,” Delepine said. “Of course, we are still learning and we hope to do better at States!”
Delepine noted that the regional event was viewed primarily as an opportunity to train for the state competition in March, where the top three written test competitors and top four role-players will head to the international conference in April.
Tags: Corporate Home Page, Featured Story