[Update] Although the Eagles gave it their best, the varsity basketball team fell to Santa Cruz at the end of February, 56-44 in the CCS quarterfinals. Santa Cruz started off the game with a full-court press that never let up. At the end of the first quarter, we were down by seven points, but that was the closest the Eagles got. Despite the best efforts of our boys, including several impressive three-pointers from Partha Mahajani, Gr. 11, and, with 6:41 left in the game, a three-point shot from Ryan Cali, Gr. 12, that brought us to within seven points, we couldn’t catch up to the early lead that Santa Cruz held for the entire game. About 50 fans made the trip to Salinas to cheer the boys on as they ended their post-season play.
Feb. 26, 2010
In front of a loud and supportive crowd in the Blackford gym, the Eagles varsity basketball boys won their CCS game Thursday night against Stevenson, 62-46. The game started off with both teams trading baskets for a close first quarter, which got the crowd motivated to cheer even louder. By halftime, Harker was up 34-20, and the boys never looked back. With impressive play by the starting players, including seniors Ryan Cali, Greg Plauck, Rohan Shah, Lung-Ying Yu and Partha Mahajani, Gr. 11, the Eagles kept the lead in the fast-paced game. They play tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals against Santa Cruz High School at Hartnell College in Salinas. For the remainder of the tournament, our boys feel they have a chance to continue advancing. They could use your support! CCS charges for entry: $8 adults, $4 students with ID.
A win against Santa Cruz means the boys will play again Tuesday, March 2, in Salinas in the semifinals. Finals are Friday, March 5, at Santa Clara University.
The new upper school library took a major step towards completion when the first of several huge, curved, laminated beams was set in place in early February. Additional beams have been added and pre-formed walls are going up daily. The library is sited at the very center of the Saratoga campus. The new library will be nearly twice the size of the old and have a number of new features, including an eBeam-equipped classroom and expanded study tables with task lighting and electricity ports. These improvements follow a watershed year for all library users, including a streamlined Web design customized to each age and curriculum, and a proxy server to allow for single user log-ins to the extensive collection of databases around the clock. Along with changes in the virtual realm, with the opening of the new upper school library, all three campuses will enjoy wireless learning spaces with ceiling-mounted projector systems.
A team of 13 Harker students, advised by upper school math teacher Anthony Silk, were among the top 20 teams in the National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC), organized by the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).
The team’s project was called the Cellular Attachable Rotating Earpiece (CARE), a device that attaches to an electric wheelchair, allowing amputees to speak on their cell phones normally instead of having to speak loudly or yell. A prototype of CARE was tested with Donna Yeager, a good friend of upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss. Yeager visited the Saratoga campus in December to test the device, which is conveniently located on the headrest and includes an earpiece and microphone.
Yeager brought three of the students along with Moss onto the set of her cable access show “On The Move” to discuss their project and the process of its design and implementation. During the competition, the students produced a video detailing the design and construction of the device.
On Jan. 25, Emily Wang, Gr. 9, was presented with an Outstanding Art Award for the piece she submitted, titled “Reaching Out,” to the middle school publication “enlight’ning.” The magazine, published every spring, showcases artwork, poetry and prose created entirely by middle school students. The drawing was composed and submitted to the magazine while Wang was attending the middle school in Gr. 8.
The magazine itself was awarded a Gold Medal Certificate by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, scoring 979 out of 1,000 points. During the 2008-09 school year, “enlight’ning” received the CSPA’s Gold Medalist Certificate and Gold Crown awards.
The Harker School was presented one of two $7,500 grants from HSBC Bank at the Jan. 27 grand opening of their new branch at Paseo de Saratoga in Saratoga.
In keeping with the bank’s mission of supporting education and the environment in the communities they serve, Harker’s grant was awarded for the school’s science research program and Harker’s Research Symposium. “We’re proud to be in this community, and Harker is an integral part of it,” said corporate relationship manager Matt Cherian.
Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academics, and Anita Chetty, Harker’s science department chair, represented Harker in accepting the grant. “We’re very grateful for HSBC’s support of our science research program and our annual research symposium,” said Gargano. Chetty expressed her gratitude on behalf of the students. “We’ll use the award to provide materials and resources that directly impact student research,” she explained. The other HSBC grant was presented to the North American Chinese Educational Federation for their work with under-served children.
Also sharing a few words at the event, which included refreshments and a ribbon cutting, were Dominic O’Hagan, regional president; Kathleen King, mayor of Saratoga; Liz Kniss, county supervisor; and Marilyn White, Saratoga Chamber of Commerce board chair.
Chris Nikoloff, Harker’s head of school, said the grant will be announced to the school community at student and faculty meetings this week. “HSBC’s contribution will enable our students to explore their scientific interests, contribute original findings to the body of scientific research available, and present those discoveries to the academic and scientific communities.”
The public is invited to Harker’s annual Research Symposium on Sat., April 10. For more information, visit the Web site.
On the heels of the recent announcement of Harker’s four Intel Science Talent Search (STS) semifinalists, word came Jan. 27 that Namrata Anand, Gr. 12, was named a finalist in the contest. Anand, whose project analyzed the chemical composition of stars in the Andromeda galaxy, received $7,500 and will travel to Washington, D.C. in March to compete for the $100,000 grand prize with 40 other finalists from across the country. She will also have a chance to meet and greet with Nobel laureates and President Barack Obama.
Anand is Harker’s first Intel STS finalist since 2006, when Yi Sun went on to claim second place and won a $75,000 scholarship.
Kate Schafer, upper school biology teacher, credited the mentors involved who assisted the semifinalists, and also recognized the “many students that enter and put in amazing amounts of time” into their projects.
Anand and other students working on Andromeda-related projects received mentoring from Raja Guha Thakurta, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, as well as UCSC P.h.D students Evan Kirby and Kristen Howley. Karoline Gilbert, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington Seattle, also assisted with Thakurta with mentoring the students. The mentors provided everything from custom software to personal guidance to the contestants as they worked on their projects.
Four Harker upper school students were named Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists at a special assembly on Jan. 13. Each student was awarded $1,000 and has a shot at becoming one of the 40 finalists who will compete in Washington, D.C., for the $100,000 grand prize. A total of 300 semifinalists were chosen nationwide from an initial pool of 1,700 contestants.
Of the four semifinalists, all of them seniors, three were selected for projects focusing on the Andromeda galaxy. Namrata Anand’s project analyzed the chemical makeup of stars to learn more about the galaxy’s history, while Andrew Zhou studied the different star types in the galaxy. Kevin Zhang looked at the similarities between Andromeda’s stars and those found in other galaxies. Vishesh Jain was awarded for his project that analyzed heart disease diagnosis techniques.
Last year, Harker produced six semifinalists, the most ever by a West Coast school and the seventh-most in the nation. Harker alumnus Yi Sun ’06 took second place in the 2006 finals, earning $75,000.
The voices of Bel Canto were the star attraction at WinterSong, a special concert held at Nichols Hall on Jan. 22. Directed by Catherine Snider, who also provided piano accompaniment for most of the evening’s soloists, this upper school group sang in a variety of styles, ranging from pop to classical. Several pieces included percussion, such as their performance of Harry Belafonte’s “Turn the World Around,” during which the singers erupted into an amusing chorus of animalistic hoots and hollers while playing drums, sticks and shakers. Piano accompaniment during Bel Canto’s performances was provided by Elodie Nguyen, Gr. 12.
Bel Canto’s performance was highlighted by a stirring rendition of Eric Whitacre’s “Five Hebrew Love Songs,” a series of challenging pieces that the students were thrilled to perform after months of hard practice.
Several solo singers were also heard throughout the show, including Shireen Moshkelani, Gr. 11, singing “When I Have Sung My Songs” by Ernest Charles, Vrinda Goel, Gr. 10, performing Roger Quilter’s “Spring is at the Door,” freshman Nina Sabharwal’s version of the classic “Stormy Weather” and a performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Younger Than Springtime” by junior John Ammatuna, accompanied by Diane Villadsen, also Gr. 11. Foreign language songs were sung by Sebastian Herscher, Gr. 10, performing a German lied, and Alex Najibi, Gr. 10, who sang Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s “La donna e mobile” in its native language.
The concert also featured two appearances by students performing on piano. Sophomore Andrew Lee performed his own four-movement composition, and Lydia Demissachew, Gr. 11, played Johannes Brahms’ “Rhapsody , Op. 70, No. 2.”
[Update] Watch the video of this exciting contest! Check out Harker students on Quiz Kids at http://www.vimeo.com/8665715!
Jan. 12, 2010 At their first Quiz Kids event of the year on Jan. 9, students Andrew Zhou and Brandon Araki, both Gr. 12, and Olivia Zhu, Gr. 11, notched a victory against Archbishop Riordan. The Harker team fell behind early on, but later cleared the deficit and won the game in the extreme lightning round with a final score of 450-190.
Those who could not attend the taping of the game can tune in to KRON4 on Sat., Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. to view the game for themselves. Harker’s next Quiz Kids game will be played on Sun., Feb. 28.
In early January, Cantilena (Harker’s classical, all-female singing ensemble directed by performing arts instructor Susan Nace) received a visit from two members of Chanticleer, the San Francisco-based all-male choir that has achieved worldwide renown since its founding in 1978. Singers Ben Johns and Gabriel Lewis-O’Connor served as guest teachers for the day as part of Chanticleer’s Education Outreach program.
The pair ran the students through some singing exercises and offered their guidance with two songs Cantilena had been learning: “Hotaru Koi,” a Japanese children’s song arranged by Ro Ogura, and “The Snow,” by late 19th- and early 20th-century composer Sir Edward Elgar. Along the way, they coached the students about how to interpret the words and music vocally, as well as express themselves through movement while singing.
[Update II] The final total the US Girls Soccer Team raised for the American Cancer Society at their Kicks Against Cancer fundraiser held on January 13, 2010 is $3,787!
Jan. 22, 2010:
The varsity girls and boys soccer teams raised a total of approximately $2,500 for the American Red Cross last week with their special Kicks Against Cancer fundraiser, which culminated with the teams’ respective games against Pinewood School and Crystal Springs Uplands School. Raised through a variety of means, the money will go toward breast cancer prevention.
Organizers leveraged a number of different methods to raise the amount, including selling tickets to the games, raffling prizes from local merchants and selling commemorative ribbons that were displayed during the game.
Faculty and staff also pledged to donate $150 for every goal scored by Harker, and each game featured a halftime penalty kick contest in which participants paid a dollar for a chance to score a goal against each team’s goalkeeper.
At the upper school assembly on Jan. 19, Chris Collins, assistant to the director of athletics, received a special commemorative soccer ball to honor her hard work in ensuring that Kicks Against Cancer was a success.
Jan. 7, 2010:
A number of organizations at Harker have run anti-cancer fundraisers over the years, and now an athletic team is joining the effort. The upper school varsity girls and boys soccer squads are currently raising funds for their “Kicks Against Cancer” games on Jan. 13 at Davis Field. The girls varsity soccer team will play Pinewood School at 4:30 p.m., and the boys will play Crystal Springs Uplands School at 6:30 p.m.
The admission charge of $10 will include a pink T-shirt (while supplies last) commemorating the event. Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 each. Prizes will include, among other things, a signed jersey and ball from the San Jose Earthquakes, a bowling party, gift cards and Harker apparel. Attendees can also purchase a commemorative ribbon with an optional personal message, which will be displayed on Davis Field on the day of the event. All proceeds raised from the event will go toward breast cancer research and prevention.
All items will be available for purchase at the games, or during lunchtime in the days leading up to the event, at the Edge on the Saratoga campus. Items can be purchased with cash. Purchases of $10 or more can be charged to a student account. Donations can be sent on The Harker School’s Saratoga campus to Troy Thiele, girls varsity soccer coach and upper school math teacher. Coach Thiele can be contacted at troyt@harker.org. Checks should be made payable to The Harker School.