Orchestras from all three campuses played together in April during the spring concert, held in the Bucknall campus gym. Louis Hoffman led the Lower School String Ensemble and Lower School Orchestra through classic pieces by composers such as Pachelbel, Bach and Tchaikovsky, while Chris Florio conducted the Gr. 6 Orchestra and Gr. 7-8 Orchestra as they performed selections from Beethoven, Debussy, Vaughan Williams and more.
At this event the lower school and Gr. 6 orchestras collaborated on a rendition of “Ancient Aires and Dances” by Ottorino Respighi. Later, the upper school Harker School Orchestra, under Florio’s direction, performed works by Mendelssohn, Stravinsky and others. Highlights of this portion of the program were solo performances by two graduating seniors, violinist Sonya Huang on Camille Saint-Saens’ “Dance Macabre, Op. 40” and cellist Julia Shim on Edward Elgar’s “Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85.”
Eric Nelson, computer science teacher at the upper school and advisor to the robotics club and competitive program, has been named a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by the National Society of High School Scholars. Nelson was nominated by one of his students “for being a great role model, a positive influence and someone who has made a difference — in short, a great teacher,” according to the accompanying letter.
Nobel is a senior member of the famous Nobel family and his award recognizes teachers who have made a lasting difference in classrooms by encouraging students to strive for excellence.
Upper school English teacher Alexandra Mattraw was named one of eight finalists in the 2009 Nightboat Books Poetry Prize competition for her book of poetry, “honest as any treeless place.” Nightboat will be posting her biography, photo and one of her poems on their website soon. “Being a finalist is kind of a big deal for me because I’ve been working on this book for six years and this is another step towards publishing,” Mattraw said. Her chapbook, “Projection,” essentially a chapter of her book, was published by Achiote Press, Berkeley, in April. Mattraw also did poetry readings in San Francisco at Dog Eared Books and Wild West Side in May and is writing a poetry review to be published in Word for/Word, an online journal which has published several of her poems.
Long-serving activities director Chris Daren said goodbye to that role in favor of one as a full-time faculty member teaching journalism. Daren has been running the upper school journalism program of four classes per year for seven years now; as it expanded under his direction, he found he could no longer do justice to both programs.
Daren started with Harker 14 years ago, spending the first two years as a coach, study skills teacher and substitute. He transitioned to the upper school when it opened and has now been advising the yearbook for 12 and the newspaper for seven years, along with a decade as activities director.
In his several roles, Daren has led scores of student trips, near and far. One of the more memorable events during his early tenure was watching Howard and Diana Nichols lead 150-plus students around San Francisco, from dinner to a play to the first spring formal dance, in the second year of the upper school. Daren has particularly enjoyed watching students throughout the years as they grew from quiet and reserved to spirited and boisterous members of their classes.
Daren will be succeeded by current community service director Kerry Enzensperger, who will add these duties to her current role under the title activities coordinator.
The activities director comes in contact with every upper school student sooner or later and, in managing the journalism program, Daren had an impact on the entire community. While advisor to the Winged Post student newspaper, Talon yearbook and TALONWP Online, the publications, and Daren himself, won a number of prestigious awards.
The Winged Post received the National Scholastic Press Associations Pacemaker award for excellence in 2008. In March 2009, Daren received a Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Gold Key award for excellence in teaching journalism and in advising student publications at a special luncheon at Columbia University.
In August 2009, at a CSPA camp in New York, Talon staff earned top honors in the Achievement in Theme category, and numerous individual awards were earned by Talon and Winged Post staffers. Just this year, in March, the Winged Post and the site www.talonwp.com won Crown Awards; the website took a Gold Crown, the highest recognition given annually by the CSPA for excellence in writing, coverage and content, and the Winged Post student newspaper received a Silver Crown for its efforts.
Daren’s change-over was celebrated by administrators and students alike during a special ceremony during the spring spirit week rally in April.
Three Harker alumni were featured speakers at this year’s research symposium, “Technology for Life.” Jennifer Ong ’07, a junior at U.C. San Diego, is pursuing biology and communications majors. Richard Kwant ’07 is studying chemistry and physics at Harvard University, and Brian Ma ’08 is a bioengineering major at the California Institute of Technology.
Ong spoke about her new role as chief operations officer for The Triple Helix (TTH), a nonprofit, studentrun organization that publishes undergraduate articles in print and on their website. Founded by Kevin Hwang ’03, its mission, said Ong, “is to allow students the opportunity to voice ideas about the interdisciplinary nature of science, society and law.”
Speaking via teleconference from Harvard, Kwant presented his work on protein structures and interactions. He was able to create crystalline structures of the protein human carbonic anhydrase II, which provide researchers with an atomic level view of what is happening in the protein. “This research will be helpful for biology and medicine in understanding how proteins work and how human biology works,” Kwant said.
Begun as a summer research project at CalTech, Ma’s work seeks to unravel the mystery of how plants, unlike animals, can regenerate. Ma screened epigenetic-related genes to determine if they are involved in the regeneration process.
“Being the first to discover new knowledge is definitely one allure of going into the research field, whether as an undergraduate or afterwards,” said Ma.
For the full report on alumni speakers at the Harker Research Symposium, go to news.harker.org and search on “Research Alumni.”
The 2010 “Technology for Life” research symposium featured two prominent keynote speakers who have broadened their scientific backgrounds into careers with global impact.
Dr. William McClure, a partner at Napa Valley Plastic Surgery, Inc. and a graduate of U.C. San Diego’s medical school and Stanford University, focused on his volunteer work with Interplast, doing reconstructive surgery on children in developing countries.
During 25 years and 55 missions in 14 countries, McClure has repaired cleft lips and palates, burn scars and other issues. McClure said, “I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was in high school,” until a teacher with a burn scar stirred “my first interest in plastic surgery.” During residency, he had the chance to take care of children in Mexico. “Something clicked. That changed my life,” said McClure.
Dr. Christopher Gilbert is the vice president of science and technology at Keystone Dental, Inc. and is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon in materials science.
Gilbert said his father’s interest in bad science fiction, where fantastical microsurgical tools and bionic eyes were part of the stories, inspired him. Some of those medical devices such as surgical robots and ocular implants are now a reality. Gilbert said, “Medical technology has revolutionized health care since the 1960s. Discoveries improve lives; they change lives.”
Noting the interdisciplinary nature of the field, Gilbert advised, “Many of the skills you are now developing in science will serve you in the future. Many of the problem-solving skills I developed in the sciences have served me well in the business world.”
For the full report on keynote speakers at the Harker Research Symposium, go to news.harker.org and search on “Research.”
Nichols Hall on the Saratoga campus hummed with energy on April 10, as Harker’s fifth annual research symposium, “Technology for Life,” got underway. Begun in 2005 by upper school biology teacher and science department chair Anita Chetty, the student-led event is modeled after professional symposia which encourage the sharing of ideas in a noncompetitive setting.
More than 300 people and 69 student presenters attended the increasingly popular event. “Each year sets a new standard and because of the nature of our community, we simply use that standard to grow from,” said Chetty. Three alumni also presented their current university research, and two keynote speakers linked science backgrounds to careers.
The day included breakout sessions led by 19 upper school students and poster presentations by another 16 students. Anjali Menon, Gr. 12, formally presented her work with IBM’s Almaden facility, on using computers to replace human subjects in simulating the action of drug molecules. Her mother, Indira Somanathan, is enthusiastic about Harker’s research program. “Here you have your own facilities and technology. I’m really happy with Nichols Hall,” she said.
Amy Zhou, sponsor coordinator for the symposium and mother of Jason Young, Gr. 11, thinks Nichols Hall plays a big part in the excitement middle school students have for science. “The level of science is getting better and better every year,” she said. “The teachers are encouraging and give you time to work in the lab, and the research class allows you to learn more skills like writing and presentation.” Young presented his work with epigenetic regulation of gene expression, which he will continue at the University of California, San Diego, this summer.
The upper school Chemistry Club presented demonstrations, and at a “Harker Hospital” workshop, middle school students, under the guidance of upper school students, ran EKGs, took blood pressure readings and analyzed simulated blood samples. “This was a great opportunity for us not only to showcase some of our sophisticated data acquisition tools, but for our upper school students to mentor and inspire younger Harker students,” said Chetty.
Divya Kalidindi and Namita Ravi, both Gr. 8, were two of 34 middle school students on hand to discuss their poster presentations. Studying the effect of caffeine on the regeneration of body parts in planaria, they found that caffeine could halve the time required for planaria to grow a new head. Looking forward to working in Nichols Hall next year, Kalidindi said, “The center seems more professional. It is going to be really fun.” Ravi added, “The topics are really good here.”
Inspired by his study of respiration to research the effect of phosphate on algae blooms in aquatic ecosystems, Josh Batra, Gr. 8, said, “It was fun to see my experiment in action.” Batra is looking forward to more exposure to biology and physics in the upper school.
Event sponsors offered hands-on technology demonstrations and career advice for students and parents. Brendon Yu, Gr. 8, stood in line to try out Autosuture, by Covidien Surgical. Taking a turn at the hand instruments for suturing, Yu said, “This helps you get inside the body and sew delicate arteries. It requires a lot of practice.”
The day closed with a workshop titled “Research Internships, Technical Writing and Research Competitions,” led by a panel of seniors. “These articulate and talented students gave such an informative talk that parents wanted to hear it again,” Chetty said. “The prospect of approaching a university researcher can be daunting. Seeing that their Harker peers have been successful in doing so is highly encouraging,” said Chetty. “Presentations such as this one continue to assist in moving forward the mandate of the symposium, which is that it is a student-led research conference for students.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2010 Harker Quarterly.
Nichols Hall on the Saratoga campus hummed with energy on April 10, as Harker’s fifth annual research symposium, “Technology for Life,” got underway. Begun in 2005 by upper school biology teacher and science department chair Anita Chetty, the student-led event is modeled after professional symposia which encourage the sharing of ideas in a noncompetitive setting.
More than 300 people and 69 student presenters attended the increasingly popular event. “Each year sets a new standard and because of the nature of our community, we simply use that standard to grow from,” said Chetty. Three alumni also presented their current university research, and two keynote speakers linked science backgrounds to careers.
The day included breakout sessions led by 19 upper school students and poster presentations by another 16 students. Anjali Menon, Gr. 12, formally presented her work with IBM’s Almaden facility, on using computers to replace human subjects in simulating the action of drug molecules. Her mother, Indira Somanathan, is enthusiastic about Harker’s research program. “Here you have your own facilities and technology. I’m really happy with Nichols Hall,” she said.
Amy Zhou, sponsor coordinator for the symposium and mother of Jason Young, Gr. 11, thinks Nichols Hall plays a big part in the excitement middle school students have for science. “The level of science is getting better and better every year,” she said. “The teachers are encouraging and give you time to work in the lab, and the research class allows you to learn more skills like writing and presentation.” Young presented his work with epigenetic regulation of gene expression, which he will continue at the University of California, San Diego, this summer.
The upper school Chemistry Club presented demonstrations, and at a “Harker Hospital” workshop, middle school students, under the guidance of upper school students, ran EKGs, took blood pressure readings and analyzed simulated blood samples. “This was a great opportunity for us not only to showcase some of our sophisticated data acquisition tools, but for our upper school students to mentor and inspire younger Harker students,” said Chetty.
Divya Kalidindi and Namita Ravi, both Gr. 8, were two of 34 middle school students on hand to discuss their poster presentations. Studying the effect of caffeine on the regeneration of body parts in planaria, they found that caffeine could halve the time required for planaria to grow a new head. Looking forward to working
in Nichols Hall next year, Kalidindi said, “The center seems more professional. It is going to be really fun.” Ravi added, “The topics are really good here.”
Inspired by his study of respiration to research the effect of phosphate on algae blooms in aquatic ecosystems, Josh Batra, Gr. 8, said, “It was fun to see my experiment in action.” Batra is looking forward to more exposure to biology and physics in the upper school.
Event sponsors offered hands-on technology demonstrations and career advice for students and parents. Brendon Yu, Gr. 8, stood in line to try out Autosuture, by Covidien Surgical. Taking a turn at the hand instruments for suturing, Yu said, “This helps you get inside the body and sew delicate arteries. It requires a lot of practice.”
The day closed with a workshop titled “Research Internships, Technical Writing and Research Competitions,” led by a panel of seniors. “These articulate and talented students gave such an informative talk that parents wanted to hear it again,” Chetty said.
“The prospect of approaching a university researcher can be daunting. Seeing that their Harker peers have been successful in doing so is highly encouraging,” said Chetty. “Presentations such as this one continue to assist in moving forward the mandate of the symposium, which is that it is a student-led research conference for students.”
Keynote Speakers Inspire with Advice, Careers
The 2010 “Technology for Life” research symposium featured two prominent keynote speakers who have broadened their scientific backgrounds into careers with global impact.
Dr. William McClure, a partner at Napa Valley Plastic Surgery, Inc. and a graduate of U.C. San Diego’s medical school and Stanford University, focused on his volunteer work with Interplast, doing reconstructive surgery on children in developing countries.
During 25 years and 55 missions in 14 countries, McClure has repaired cleft lips and palates, burn scars and other issues. McClure said, “I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was in high school,” until a teacher with a burn scar stirred “my first interest in plastic surgery.” During residency, he had the chance to take care of children in Mexico. “Something clicked. That changed my life,” said McClure.
Dr. Christopher Gilbert is the vice president of science and technology at Keystone Dental, Inc. and is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon in materials science.
Gilbert said his father’s interest in bad science fiction, where fantastical microsurgical tools and bionic eyes were part of the stories, inspired him. Some of those medical devices such as surgical robots and ocular implants are now a reality. Gilbert said, “Medical technology has revolutionized health care since the 1960s. Discoveries improve lives; they change lives.”
Noting the interdisciplinary nature of the field, Gilbert advised, “Many of the skills you are now developing in science will serve you in the future. Many of the problem-solving skills I developed in the sciences have served me well in the business world.”
For the full report on keynote speakers at the Harker Research Symposium, go to news.harker.org and search on “Research.”
Alumni Impress Symposium Attendees with Current Research
Three Harker alumni were featured speakers at this year’s research symposium, “Technology for Life.” Jennifer Ong ’07, a junior at U.C. San Diego, is pursuing biology and communications majors. Richard Kwant ’07 is studying chemistry and physics at Harvard University, and Brian Ma ’08 is a bioengineering major at the California Institute of Technology.
Ong spoke about her new role as chief operations officer for The Triple Helix (TTH), a nonprofit, student- run organization that publishes undergraduate articles in print and on their website. Founded by Kevin Hwang ’03, its mission, said Ong, “is to allow students the opportunity to voice ideas about the interdisciplinary nature of science, society and law.”
Speaking via teleconference from Harvard, Kwant presented his work on protein structures and interactions. He was able to create crystalline structures of the protein human carbonic anhydrase II, which provide researchers with an atomic level view of what is happening in the protein. “This research will be helpful for biology and medicine in understanding how proteins work and how human biology works,” Kwant said.
Begun as a summer research project at CalTech, Ma’s work seeks to unravel the mystery of how plants, unlike animals, can regenerate. Ma screened epigenetic-related genes to determine if they are involved in the regeneration process.
“Being the first to discover new knowledge is definitely one allure of going into the research field, whether as an undergraduate or afterwards,” said Ma.
For the full report on alumni speakers at the Harker Research Symposium, go to news.harker.org and search on “Research Alumni.”
In April several students enjoyed a special night at the home of Head of School Chris Nikoloff for “American Idol” night, as part of a picnic silent auction package. Siobhan Cox, Gr. 9, won this event at the Auction Under the Stars at this year’s Family & Alumni Picnic. She turned the occasion into a celebration of her birthday, inviting friends Tiphaine Delepine, Molly Ellenberg, Michaela Kastelman, Rachel Yanovsky and Emily Wang, all Gr. 9.
Cox and friends enjoyed a specially-cooked Chinese dinner of lettuce wraps, won tons, pot stickers and chicken prepared by Harker’s own chefs and served by Nikoloff, helped by his son, Alexander, age 3 [Ed.: He’s now 4!]. The birthday cake was made of ice cream, Cox’s favorite, and this one had Oreos as well.
After dinner and birthday cake the girls had a hilarious time with Nikoloff watching “American Idol” and arguing about who was the best singer. Cox and her parents were impressed with Nikoloff’s refusal to let anyone help with serving and clearing the table, and with the gift boxes each girl was sent home with containing “leftovers” (in reality an iTunes gift card). Be on the lookout at next year’s picnic for your chance to enjoy some quality time with our head of school!
This article originally appeared in the summer 2010 Harker Quarterly.
Good morning to all our esteemed guests: members of the board of trustees, administration, faculty and staff, alumni, families, friends, and to our true guests of honor, the graduating class of 2010. I currently hold the privilege of making a few remarks of farewell at graduation. This address is the last requirement standing between you and your diploma. Knowing this, and aware of the fact that you outnumber me, I will continue the tradition of confining my remarks to one page of single-spaced, size twelve font. I will continue to refrain, however, from making any promises about the size of the margins.
In this address, I typically try to give one final piece of advice, such as, “Dare to be wrong” or, “Be like Curious George.” Today I want to take advantage of the fact that we are wholly focused on one thing, your graduation. That focus is nice, isn’t it? Together we can feel the wind, see this commanding view, contemplate the future, and maybe even listen to our own thoughts. Today we are one consciousness delicately caught in that timeless space between past and future. Sounds deep, doesn’t it?
Today and in the future, you will have more and more claims made on your attention, and I am sure you will be asked to multitask. We all have unquestioning faith in this wonderful skill, multitasking, and we are often told that we need to multitask to succeed in the workplace. But I want to counter that the world does not need more multitaskers. We need more singletaskers, people who think deeply and slowly about one thing. The world needs, I believe, people who can, like Einstein, devote three-and-a-half years to a single problem, such as why light behaves like both a particle and a wave. So my advice to you today is, “Dare to singletask.”
Now I know that “Dare to singletask” isn’t very catchy. Multitasking sounds much cooler. Who wants to singletask? According to Microsoft Word, it’s not even a word. (Multitask is, by the way.) I considered using the word “monotask,” which at least has the benefit of beginning with an “m,” like its counterpart “multitask.” But I like “singletask” because of its conjuring of “singlemindedness.” Besides, monotask sounds like something you do when you have mononucleosis, or runs the risk of sounding monotonous. Singletask sounds like you are doing it on purpose.
And purpose is the purpose. Pascal said, “All of man’s trouble stems from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” I am asking you to do just that. Sit in a room alone. Since most of you will have college roommates whom you cannot eject, find any place that will do. A library corner, or the woods. Just be alone with your thoughts. Do one thing deeply and well. Struggle with a very difficult book for months. Stare at a flower. Think about the purpose of life.
This is not an anti-technology rant. I love technology as much as the next person. I have an iPhone and a Kindle. I don’t Twitter, but I think I know what it means. If my wife allows me, I might even get an iPad. Rather, I am just calling for more horsepower where we need it – deep, analytical thinking about one important topic. The inscription at the entrance of the Oracle at Delphi was “Know thyself.” Greeks visited Delphi to find answers, but the answer they received was to look within.
Besides, you may not be as good at multitasking as you believe. Research by Clifford Nass at Stanford University shows that chronic multitaskers who think they are good at doing many things at the same time actually perform poorly at multitasking. He says that most of what we know about psychology suggests that the brain is not very good at multitasking, yet we are called to do it more and more.
So when your future boss or professor asks you to do two or three things by next Wednesday, do them well by next Tuesday. Do not say, “Excuse me, but my head of school advised me not to multitask at graduation.”