Despite not doing “anything special to prepare,” said upper school physics teacher Eric Nelson, Harker nonetheless managed to perform impressively in the 2011 Physics Bowl, organized by the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Ashvin Swaminathan, grade 10, was one of the top 10 scorers in his region for the division 2 (advanced) category with a score of 31, nearly 15 points higher than the average score of 16.4. Harker was also one of the highest-scoring schools in its region in the division 2 category, with 130 points.
More than 4,000 students from more than 200 schools in the United States and Canada participated in this year’s competition, which also had participants from China, Japan and Korea.
James Seifert, grade 12, has been awarded a four-year Legacy Award by the Elks National Foundation Trustees, for the 2011-15 academic years. The award, worth $4,000, is awarded to an outstanding scholar who has proven that he or she exhibits “the core values of the Elks National Foundation: knowledge, charity, community and integrity.” Seifert may be recognized at the Elks National Convention in Phoenix in July.
Seifert will sing in the National Association for Music Eduction All-National Honor Choir in June. They will be singing at the Lincoln Center in Washington, D.C., walking distance from the White House.
They Harker Key Club donated to the Shelterbox Foundation in April to help victims of the Japanese tsunami. The Key Club had originally planned to donate to the Make-A-Wish foundation, but the club board voted unanimously to choose a new organization in light of the disaster in Japan. Club president Jennifer Nguyen, grade 12, said, “We chose Shelterbox because of its mission, practicality, and its timely arrival to disaster areas.” The Shelterbox Foundation sends packages by the same name to disaster stricken areas; these boxes are filled with medical supplies and food to help their recipients.
After choosing to switch charities, the Key Club mobilized its members in order to raise the money to contribute to the organization. After school, the club sold root beer floats, Italian sodas and baked goods that were donated by Key Club members. During the Thursday morning advisory periods, the members of the club sold bagels donated by local business Noah’s Bagels.
These efforts were very successful and the group was able to donate more than $1,000.This translated to one Shelterbox, which was able to help a family of 12. This money was raised in just a few days, April 4-8, a testament to the character and persistence of the Key Club members. Let’s look forward to their next mission and lend a hand.
Two upper school school students participated in the U.S. Chemistry Olympiad last month, sending a junior, Albert Wu, and a sophomore, Ashvin Swaminathan, on to the second round in hopes of advancing to the third round (20 students from the entire U.S.). The first round of tests were taken by 42 Harker students, with Wu and Swaminathan advancing to the national round with the highest scores. The Olympiad, a multiple choice, free response, and lab-based problem-solving chemistry competition is taken across the U.S. to recognize excellence in the study of chemistry. Harker has a track record of being recognized in the competition and advancing to the further rounds.
Wu and Swaminathan took the national test, which was taken by 900 other students across the U.S., and are both hoping to advance to the same level that Vikram Nathan ’09 advanced to, the study camp. From that level, which consists of two weeks of learning and competition, they are hoping to advance again to represent the United States in the international chemistry Olympiad. Let’s wish them luck and congratulate them and the 40 other Harker students on their outstanding performances in the competition.
Upper school vocal groups Downbeat and Bel Canto teamed up in late April for the annual “Songs Into Summer” concert, one of the last performances of the year from both groups and a fitting send-off for graduating seniors who performed with them during much of their high school lives.
Each group performed songs from their diverse repertoires, with some new songs thrown in to make the event extra special. Bel Canto kicked off the show with their performance of “Everybody Rejoice,” from the musical “The Wiz,” employing light yet infectious choreography and clapping. Downbeat followed with a raucous version of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’,” with the performers decked out in ’60s garb and dancing through the aisles on their way to the stage.
Rock and pop music were favored for much of the show by Downbeat, who also performed versions of “Dust in the Wind” by ’70s rock group Kansas and the Natasha Bedingfield hit “Unwritten.”
Bel Canto showed their love for the classics, including Mozart’s “Ave Verum” and traditional pieces such as “Shine On Me” and “Shenandoah,” which featured violin accompaniment by Downbeat member Alex Najibi, grade 11. Bel Canto also had wonderful accompaniment on piano from Ramya Rangan, grade 11, who has spent the entire year as the group’s accompanist.
Downbeat’s much-anticipated performance of the Queen classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” didn’t disappoint. After rigorous practice, the group fired on all cylinders, bringing the art rock epic to life with great vocal performances and choreography, which included stomping and headbanging during song’s famous “hard rock” section, drawing cheers from the large audience.
The seniors in Downbeat (there were none in Bel Canto this year) were then recognized for their time and dedication with gifts from their fellow students. Next year’s new Downbeat members – Govi Dasu, grade 11, Rohan Chandra, Cristina Jerney and Indu Seeni, all grade 10, and Suraj Chandrasekhar, Shenel Ekici, Sean Knudsen and Namrata Vakkalagadda, all grade 9 – were also announced and given sweatshirts to christen their new membership, before the group performed Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to conclude the show.
Bel Canto is directed by Catherine Snider. Downbeat is co-directed by Snider and Laura Lang-Ree.
The Harker Innovation Team submitted “Turn off the Lights,” a video about conserving electricity, to the LEAF ECOmmercial contest. Isaac Madan, grade 12, said, “The goal of our video is to promote lower electricity consumption by encouraging people to take action — particularly to turn off lights whenever possible.” Their aim was to take a large and complex topic, energy consumption and its environmental impact, and provide a simple way to address it – turning off lights. Madan hopes that this video would allow the viewers to take immediate action, consider their overall electricity consumption, and then find new ways to reduce their electricity use.
The ECOmmercial competition is a yearly competition that strives to bring together high school students with the goal of having a positive environmental impact. While the Harker team did not win the competition this year, they look forward to submitting more videos in the future and continuing to work on more competitive environmental and engineering projects.
Over the weekend, 15 Harker students traveled to the University of Kentucky to compete in the 40th Tournament of Champions. The Tournament of Champions (TOC) is an elite national tournament that requires students to earn qualifying legs at national circuit invitational tournaments during the school year. With each preliminary round akin to an elimination round at a regular-season invitational, Harker students competed in Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas and Congressional Debate.
After seven preliminary rounds, four Harker Public Forum teams made it to the sweet 16 (octofinal) elimination round bracket. This is the first time in the Public Forum division that a school has made up 25 percent of the elimination round pool. Senior Ziad Jawadi and sophomore Reyhan Kader as well as sophomores Aneesh Chona and Anuj Sharma were eliminated in the round of 16. Juniors Rohan Bopardikar and Akshay Jagadeesh were the fifth seed going into elimination rounds and won their octofinal, however juniors Frederic Enea and Aakash Jagadeesh were the fourth seed and also won their octofinal round. This meant that Harker eliminated itself from the tournament with Enea and Jagadeesh advancing over their teammates to the semifinal round.
In the semifinal debate, Enea and Jagadeesh debated Ridge MP (New Jersey), a team that had been in finals of both the TOC and Grand Nationals in 2010. On a 2-1 decision, Enea and Jagadeesh advanced to the final round of competition. The final round, against a team from Lake Highland (Florida), ended in a 5-0 decision in favor of Harker.
This is the second time that Harker has won the Public Forum Tournament of Champions, with Kaavya Gowda ’09 and Kelsey Hilbrich ’10 winning in 2009. Harker is the first school in the history of the Public Forum division of the Tournament of Champions to win multiple championships.
The Harker Forensics Team thanked the entire Harker community in an email message. “In the final round of competition, Fred took a moment before his speech to thank all of the teachers, staff, and students at Harker and while you may not have been in Kentucky with us this weekend, the spirit of Harker helped propel these students to this historical level of success. Thank you!” wrote Carol Green, forensics teacher.
The inaugural John Near Scholar Grant cycle is complete and the first three reports, on military insubordination during the Vietnam War, U.S.-China relations between 1972-1986 and the impact of the Gettysburg campaign on the Civil War, have been filed in the John Near Resource Center for public access.
Olivia Zhu, Justine Liu and Tyler Koteskey, all graduating this year, were celebrated by mentors, administrators, parents and history department members and by Near’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of the Office of Communication.
The gathering filled the Near Center in Shah Hall and the recipients summed up their experiences researching their papers and thanked mentors and others who assisted their endeavors. The center, adjacent to Near’s former classroom, reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009 and his legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history.
The John Near U.S. History Endowment, the first of its kind at Harker, includes the funding of grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects of their choice along with access for the entire campus for history-related databases. Near’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, established the endowment based on his wishes prior to his passing.
When Zhu started her project last year, “The UCMJ and Insubordination: Suitability of Military Judicial Responses during the Vietnam War,” she just knew she wanted it to be about insubordination. “I work on the Honor Council here at school and maybe that’s where my interest in rules and rule breaking came from,” Zhu said. “I decided, ultimately, to settle on insubordination during the Vietnam War and how the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addressed insubordination among soldiers.
“Essentially, I explored the origins of the code of law, tracked its development and attempted to analyze its efficacy; additionally, I looked at some specific incidents and individuals (like Howard Levy, Bruce Petersen and the Presidio Mutiny) in the context of larger trends.
“As I learned more about my topic, I started figuring out why it appealed to me so much in the first place. Insubordination is something that’s very hard to perfectly define or understand, especially in the context of such a controversial role, and I was really interested in the clash between law and disobedience. I liked seeing why people tried to test the UCMJ and whether their actions were justified or not – there’s a bit of a blurry line there.
“I really enjoyed this entire research process – it’s been so much fun. I think the most important part of this grant was coming to realize that all my teachers helped me so much. For example Ms. [Julie] Wheeler and Mr. [Ray] Fowler lent me DVDs, Ms. [Carol] Zink and Dr. Erin Redfern [of the English department] lent me their own books to use, and the librarians were always so warm and so accommodating – it was just very much a community effort going into this paper,” she said.
Zhu, who will attend Harvard University, found that resources at hand were plentiful and travel to Vietnam was beyond the scope of her work. “I considered going to the Presidio but very little of the military infrastructure or records remain there,” Zhu said. “I watched a documentary with several interviews done there, so had a feel for the inside of the Presidio.”
Zhu said she probably would have not done the research without having been awarded the grant. “This is something where you are sitting in class and you think, ‘Oh, this is cool,’” Zhu said, “but without the grant there is not that impetus to pursue it and there is not the support system there. When you write the paper the most important thing is having an advisor.”
Zhu’s advice to future Near scholars: “I would suggest trying to get more access to primary sources. Also, don’t be afraid of library fines – the renewal cycle can take a week and it is way more efficient to pay the fines!”
Wheeler mentored Zhu throughout the research. “I had Olivia last year as a student and to get to work with her this year was such a pleasure,” she said. “This is quite a topic. Every time you peel back a layer you get 18 fascinating things that are tied together. Olivia managed to wade through the legalese and make it understandable.”
Liu first got interested in her topic, “The China Card versus the China Trade: Sino-American Economic Relations, 1972-1989,” covering the relationship between China and the U.S from President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, while in class. In mentor Ramsay Westgate’s AP U.S. History class, Liu found the text devoted only two lines to Nixon’s 1972 ground-breaking visit to China. Meanwhile, for another class, Liu was writing a paper on the currency devaluation in modern China and mentally began tracing the historical line between the two events, focusing on the economic aspects.
“What I was really interested in was why Nixon thought that it was in the interest of U.S. foreign policy for Kissinger to make a secret visit to China,” said Liu. “I was interested in the economic background of that decision. I used some of the grant funds to go to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. I was able to go into the archives room to read and handle the original documents, letters and memos relating and leading up to his 1972 trip to the PRC. What was great was that some of the documents had only really been declassified in July 2010, so that was pretty exciting. It was a really amazing opportunity and my first time ever being in close contact with documents of such historical importance.
“I think without the grant I would not have had the incentive to go out there and really write a comprehensive paper. That was the first time I got to be that close to documents that were that important to history, so that is something that I really valued that I couldn’t have done without the grant and the guidance of my mentors.” she said.
Liu will also attend Harvard in the fall and had a few words of advice, as well, for future Near scholars. “I would recommend they do their research the summer beforehand so they can figure out when a good time is to plan the trip. You have to have your entire bibliography done, you have to know where your paper is going – you have to have that outline structured for it to be a really productive trip. I outlined where I wanted my paper to go with questions I wanted to answer so I could track down exactly which archives, which boxes, of the thousands that are in the library, that I wanted to look at.”
Westgate was appreciative of the depth Liu went to in her researches. “The opportunity to explore such an important topic that is not only so relevant to our community and to our government but to go beneath the rhetoric and go to a deeper level was just phenomenal,” he said. “Every time I mentioned one or two things, I felt as if she came back with three or four answers, and that is just a testament to her, her tremendous work ethic and her intellectual curiosity.”
Koteskey’s project, “High Water Mark: Discussing the Impacts of National Power on Confederate Military Strategy through the Lens of the Gettysburg Campaign,” has been in development since the second grade when he was photographed wearing the uniform of a Union officer, said Koteskey, tongue-in-cheek. His paper analyzes the elements of national power as they applied to the Confederate States of America in 1863.
“It was the middle of the Civil War, and a crucial moment for the South,” he said. “They could reinforce the western half of the country,” but decided to make an offensive move against the North instead to try to force a call for peace.” Koteskey used his grant to travel to the Gettysburg region over the summer where he stayed with a family friend who is a Gettysburg battlefield guide for the Army War College.
“My host in Pennsylvania, Captain Bill Tyson, was instrumental in showing me around battlefields, helping to arrange interviews and providing valuable historical insight, which really complemented the guidance of my faculty advisor, Mr. Fowler.”
“What I think was most valuable to me in this project was going to Pennsylvania last summer to do the research,” Koteskey said. “It was a really different experience than I would have had getting information from books. I was able to visit Harper’s Ferry, and the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields which, apart from being really awesome for a history buff, helped me form a better appreciation of some of the geographical factors constraining Civil War generals in their campaign planning,” said Koteskey, noting that he probably wouldn’t have done the research without the grant.
“My most defining memory though was probably my interview with Dr. Richard J. Sommers, the senior historian at the U.S. Army Military Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle. He is a published author on the Civil War who really embraced his time with me, turning our ‘interview’ into a Socratic discussion on Civil War strategy; it completely changed my mind, and the ultimate course of my paper, on many of the preconceived notions I had about General Lee’s best strategic option in the summer of 1863. He also gave me a tour of the Institute and its Civil War resources, and I got to go into a special library that’s normally restricted to the public.”
“It was really a rewarding experience,” Koteskey said of the entire project. “Mr. Fowler was extremely helpful because not only did we have just a ton of fun talking about civil wars, what-ifs and the ultimate outcome of the confederacy, but he really helped me focus my topic. All in all, it was a great experience and I want to thank the endowment fund for the opportunity.” Koteskey will attend UCLA in the fall and plans to major in political science, which “draws a lot on historical foundations,” so feeding his appetite for history.
Koteskey’s passion for the Civil War led him to enter and be named a finalist in the History Channel’s National Civil War Student Challenge, one of only 30 out of the thousands who took the challenge. The final test was the weekend of April 30-May 1 and final results will be announced by mid-May.
Koteskey’s words of advice to the next John Near scholars? “Have fun with your topic. Pick something you are interested in, that you really love, that you can picture yourself slaving over.”
“I really enjoyed working with Tyler,” said Fowler. “His passion and enthusiasm are easy to see and he picked a really challenging topic. He went to all the great extremes he described to set up his premise and argue that convincingly.”
The students received resounding applause for their presentations. “You three – and your work – perfectly embody what Mr. Near intended with this grant,” commented Dickinson. “He would be so incredibly proud of all of you.”
Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 10) have established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities which will match gifts for the Annual Giving Campaign up to a total of $100,000.
“The subject matters taught under humanities, such as history, languages, communications and philosophy, are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
Those interested in helping the Mitras’ effort can contribute online at www.harker.org/onlinegiving, send a check to Harker Advancement Office, 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117, or drop off a check at any campus front office.
“The Mitra family’s endowment offer, and every matching give from others, will benefit our students every year, for years and years to come,” said Melinda Gonzales, director of development.
Harker’s Conservatory graduates shone on the Blackford stage on April 22 during Harker’s 10th annual Senior Showcase. Featuring 33 performers from every discipline – theater, musical theater, technical theater, vocal music, instrumental music and dance – it was the largest showcase in the Conservatory’s history.
The fast-paced two-and-a-half hour show included everything from high-energy dance numbers to stirring dramatic scenes to inspiring instrumental and vocal pieces. Splendid piano accompaniment was provided by Melissa Lin. Production values were high as usual, with Conservatory candidates Michael Prutton and Araby Martin handling sound and lights, respectively, as their part of the showcase. Lead-off performer John Ammatuna demonstrated the great use of tech by descending from the ceiling on a swing for his infectiously upbeat performance of “Footloose,” from the film of the same name.
Two performers brought their siblings on stage to duet with them: Francesca Nagle’s brother, Nico, grade 10, joined her on guitar while she sang and played banjo on “Wake Up Everybody” by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen; and Warren Kwong had his sister, Audrey, a Conservatory graduate in 2007, play violin for his virtuoso viola/violin duet. Other performances featured multiple graduates, including Pierre Gerard and Amal Asghar acting a scene from Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” and the final dance performance of Anisha Agarwal and Malika Mehrotra, which featured an impressive ensemble of no fewer than 14 dancers.
The night’s masters of ceremony were Tina Crnko and Cole Manaster, both grade 11, who introduced every performer and kept the crowd warm between performances with humorous banter.
At the end of the show, the featured performers were presented with their plaques from the Conservatory advisors, signifying their graduation from the elite program.
This year’s Harker Conservatory graduates are:
Anisha Agarwal (Dance), John Ammatuna (Musical Theater), Amal Asghar (Theater), Samir Asthana (Theater), Clara Blickenstaff (Musical Theater), Daniel Cho (Musical Theater), Jennifer Dai (Instrumental Music), Carmen Das-Grande (Dance), Lydia Demissachew (Instrumental Music), Mallika Dhaliwal (Vocal Music), Katharine Forsberg (Dance), Pierre Gerard (Theater), Nidhi Gandhi (Instrumental Music), Vrinda Goel (Vocal Music), Michelle Holt (Vocal Music), Warren Kwong (Instrumental Music), Christina Li (Vocal Music), Araby S. H. Martin (Technical Theater), Malika Mehrotra (Dance), Daisy Mohrman (Dance), Shireen Moshkelani (Vocal Music), Nirjhar Mundkur (Musical Theater), Francesca Nagle (Instrumental Music), Aditya Parige (Theater), Michael Prutton (Technical Theater), Ava Rezvani (Instrumental Music), James Seifert (Musical Theater), Naomi So (Dance), Catherine Stiles (Instrumental Music), Allika Walvekar (Musical Theater), Michelle Vu (Dance), Jason Young (Instrumental Music) and Olivia Zhu (Dance).
Their Harker faculty advisors are:
Laura Lang-Ree (Musical Theater), Jeffrey Draper (Theater), Brian Larsen (Technical Theater), Catherine Snider (Vocal Music), Susan Nace (Vocal Music), Chris Florio (Instrumental Music) and Laura Rae (Dance).