One Harker alumnus has leveraged his middle school science experiment to create a delicious wine. Will Jarvis MS’97, while boarding at Harker, received special dispensation to conduct a wine making experiment for his science class. This spring, Jarvis Winery (a family business), will release a wine based on the experiment. Jarvis, now attending Stanford business school, wasn’t able to sample the wine until he came of age nearly 10 years later.
After aging, the experimental wine was bottled and stored at the winery. When he and his family did open the bottles, they were excited enough about the flavor to call in their resident wine expert, who pronounced the wine exceptional. “I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” said Jarvis when he stopped by to help celebrate the opening of the Ringold Research Laboratory in Nichols Hall in February. “It was mostly conceived as a science experiment, so it wasn’t until later, when we actually tasted the wine, that we actually started to get excited about the quality.” That led to Jarvis’ second attempt to make wine. “Because it was inspired by the science project we decided to name it the Will Jarvis Science Project,” he said. Since college, Jarvis has been involved in wine making. “I have cycled through different positions at the winery,” he noted. “I did a summer working in the fields, a summer in shipping, I’ve done accounting and led tours for a summer; so I made my rounds through the winery, but this is my only personal attempt at wine making since Harker.”
Jarvis recalled the fuss around his original batch, which was in a seven- or eight-gallon cask, compared to the usual 60- gallon barrel. “There was a lot of excitement surrounding the experiment, given it was a fairly unusual project in that I was a 13- or 14-year-old middle school student making wine in my dorm room. Things were pretty compact so there wasn’t anywhere for me to put the barrel except the foot of my bed. That’s what I remember the most: having to live around the barrel, sort of negotiating my living space. Surprisingly enough, as far as I know, no one dipped into the keg – there weren’t any unauthorized wine tastings.”
Now, the new half-barrel (30- gallon) vintage, approved by the winery’s expert, is ready for sale. “We happened upon the quality of the smaller barrel serendipitously, through the science experiment,” said Jarvis, “but it makes a lot of sense because during wine making there is a well known trade-off during aging between absorbing a lot of the desirable oak-y flavors form the barrel, and losing some of the natural fruity flavor of the wine, which is also desirable. That (trade-off) just seems to be a function of time.
“The idea with the smaller-sized barrel, which has a higher surface to volume ratio, is that you absorb the oak at an accelerated rate so you don’t need to age the wine as long in order to absorb the same amount of oak flavor. The end result is that you are ageing the wine for a shorter amount of time in the barrel before you bottle it (and) when you bottle it you are essentially capturing (the flavor at that moment). People have used smaller barrels for experimental purposes before, but we are almost certainly the first winery to try that on a production scale.” Read more about Will Jarvis and his Science Experiment in the June Alumni News!
The annual Harker Blood Drive at the Saratoga campus on Feb. 25 drew a record number of donations, bringing in 82 people and collecting 58 units of blood. The accomplishment is credited with potentially saving up to 174 lives. “This was particularly exciting since this year, new rules and regulations have been imposed that restrict a larger number of people from donating,” said Ananya Anand, Gr. 12, the blood drive coordinator for the Harker Red Cross Club.
Students, faculty and staff showed up to give blood at the drive, which was organized by the Red Cross Club in conjunction with Blood Centers of the Pacific, a nonprofit organization that supplies blood to Northern California hospitals, doctors and patients.
Craigh Hough, a representative from Blood Centers of the Pacific present at the blood drive, said the blood would be used for transfusions, dialyses and other tasks that require donated blood to be on-hand. Specific parts of the blood will also be used, “like when Eskimos take down a polar bear,” Hough said, “they use the whole thing.” Only red blood cells are extracted during donations, as white blood cells are uniquely adapted to each person’s immune system.
Hough estimated that the Harker drive averages about 50 units each year, roughly twice the average amount of other community blood drives. “The blood drive has truly been a way to bring the Harker community together for a wonder ful cause,” Anand said. “Bay Area hospitals are currently facing major shortages in blood, so Harker’s contributions really make a difference. Within 72 hours, all the blood donated goes to a local hospital and every donated unit can save up to three lives.”
Dance Jamz, the annual MS terpsichorean extravaganza held in early March, was upbeat, fast-paced and used a variety of music. Each dance had its own unique flare, and the original costumes were stylish and added to each dance. Gail Palmer, director/choreographer, said, “The dancers were dedicated, energetic and enthusiastic per formers!”
The show featured 145 students, Gr. 6-8, with 16 dance routines including jazz, modern, hip-hop and tap, and featured some all-boys dances. A new tradition, started to honor Gr. 8 dancers in their last big show, is the posting of all the previous Gr. 8 dance shows, starting in Gr. 1, so they could take a turn down memory lane. “It was touching for both the dancers and their parents,” noted Palmer. “We feel it is a privilege to work with many of the dancers from kindergarten through Gr. 8, and watch them grow as people, dancers and performers. This is one way we can say thank you for all the years of dancing with us.”
The US robotics team traveled to San Diego from March 4-7 for a three-day regional competition. Harker made it to the quarter final round before being eliminated by the alliance that wound up winning the competition. US science teacher and robotics advisor Eric Nelson was pleased with how the team per formed, and said the competition provided some much-needed practice for the Sacramento regional competition in late March.
At the US assembly on Feb. 23, members of the Honor Council spoke to their fellow students about how they plan to help the Harker community combat academic dishonesty. Arjun Mody, Gr. 11, shared what he and other Council students learned during a trip to New Orleans, where they attended a conference on school honor councils and codes. Mody said Harker was one of “about 20” schools in attendance. “We soon realized that many schools are dealing with the same problems that we face here,” he said. “It was interesting to see the different perspectives that the faculty and students have on this issue and how these differences can be reconciled.”
Based on student feedback and lessons learned from the New Orleans conference, the Honor Council members came up with a number of changes they decided to implement.
One such change will involve more openness with the Harker community about honor code violations, including publically disclosing the types of transgressions to the community, but not student names.
Speaking to the assembly, Olivia Zhu, Gr. 10, said the Honor Council will try to be more transparent about its activities. “Basically, we’re trying to show more about how we work and why honor should be important in the community,” she said.
The Honor Council will also add another member from the junior class. “This means that that additional member will be more grounded when he or she is a senior,” Zhu said.
Zhu also announced an outreach to the rest of the Harker community on the issue of academic dishonesty. Honor Council members will meet with faculty during their weekly meetings to discuss their concerns and how they can be addressed. Additionally, members will discuss the topic with LS and MS students.
Anthony Silk, US math teacher and Honor Council faculty advisor, said at the assembly that openness to share news of honor code infractions would initially be “painful,” but ultimately beneficial. “The more we know,” he said, “the better we’ll do.”
Silk later added: “We, all of us, need to take this seriously if we are serious in our desire to be our best, not just academically, but as an honor-bound community as well.”
Alex Han, Gr. 11 has been named one of the top runners-up in the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards in California, and, as a Distinguished Finalist, will receive an engraved medallion to commemorate the award at an assembly in March. Han also qualifies for the President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizing Americans of all ages who have volunteered for at least 100 hours of community service. Han spent two summers volunteering in Seoul, South Korea, assisting adults afflicted with Downs Syndrome and autism. Han helped with cooking and cleaning and assissted individuals to participate in sports, music, language and art classes.
There were only 234 finalists named out of over 5,000 local honorees, nationwide. “The recipients of these awards vividly demonstrate that young people across America are making remarkable contributions to the health and vitality of their communities, said John R. Strangerfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. “They truly deserve all of the praise and encouragement we can give them.” The Presidents Award is via the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. More details on the Prudential award can be found on their Web site.
Six Harker seniors — Dominque Dabija, Daniel Kim, Elena Madan, Anand Natarajan, Vikram Nathan, and Denzil Sikka — have been named semifinalists in Intel’s Science Talent Search. This represents the highest number of semifinalists a single California school has produced since the contest began.
The students each received $1,000 for this milestone, and are now eligible to win the $100,000 grand prize.
There were only 25 semifinalists in California, out of 300 nationwide. Over 1,600 students submitted entries. Harker winners’ research covered a wide array of subjects, from “Computational Methods for Identifying Functionally Important Residues Involved in Allosteric Communication Pathways” (Dabija’s) to “Novel Quantitative Models of Reaction Kinetics” (Nathan’s). In 2006, Harker’s Yi Sun (’06) went on to the nationals, taking second place and winning $75,000.
Harker students have a long tradition of contributing to worthy causes, but they more than out did themselves during Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) Week in November when proceeds more than quadrupled the original goal.
The fundraising activities, as noted in the San Jose Mercury News Online, administered by members of the campus GEO club, ranged from vows of silence by students to the hilarious but lucrative pig-kissing commitment by faculty members. The result? Enough money was raised not only to supply about 50 pigs to rural farmers to bring them above the poverty level, but, ultimately, enough to build an entire school serving up to 500 children. The final amount was more than $14,000, a stunning result in these hard economic times.
A critical component of the effort was GEO’s efforts to educate students on the conditions in China the group hoped to alleviate by providing pigs to help farmers climb above the poverty level. The GEO week kick-off began the Friday before with a talk by Kim Plewes, international youth coordinator for Free the Children, a Toronto-based organization assisting families around the world to escape poverty by harnessing the energy of North American youths.
Plewes traveled from Toronto in early December to accept the oversized check and thank the students in person for their hard work and generosity. “This is remarkable,” she said in front of an assembly of students. “We have not had a single school in Northern California in the last two, three, four years remotely raise this much this much money in an entire year, and you did it in a single week.”
Along with the vow of silence pledges and pig-kissing contest, student fundraising included a beverage and tote bag sale and, to raise awareness, a millennium development goal scavenger hunt trivia contest on poverty and China.
Funds will go to Gansu province in China where alternative income efforts include providing pigs to farmers and training the farmers on their care. That extra income often allows the children to go to school along with reducing hunger and improving living conditions.
“We are amazed at the week that the GEO club at Harker was able to put together in just three short months,” said Plewes. “We haven’t seen this level of organization and successful execution of such a diverse number of fundraising and awareness raising events from any other group in California.
“On behalf of the entire Free The Children team, I would like to thank the GEO club for all of the effort and creativity that they demonstrated during the amazing week that happened recently. We are blown away by the support and energy from the Harker community for our programming in China. Thank you!”
A dozen Harker students, staff and alumni volunteered at an inaugural fundraising event held by The Wellness Community – Silicon Valley (TWCSV) to honor professional, volunteer and family caregivers. Filmed and broadcast by Comcast Cable, over 300 attended the event that honored 22 caregivers, and raised $38,000 for the organization. Harker students and staff assisted with the silent and oral auctions, distributed honoree gifts, and took photographs at the event. They were: Margaret Krackeler, Daniela Lapidous, Ishika Peravali, Gr. 9; Tracey Chan, Pierre Gerard, Araby Martin, Erica Woolsey, Gr. 10; Mark-Phillip Pebworth, Gr. 11; Emily Carr, Gr. 12; Jessica Liu ’04; and Chris Collins and Pam Dickinson, staff.
“Attendees and committee members alike commented on how responsible, caring and poised our students were,” said Dickinson. Karen Storey, executive director of TWCSV said, “Everything went so smoothly with their help. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
The STAR Caregivers Awards recognize and support the work of individuals and organizations that provide care that makes a difference in the quality of life for cancer patients and their loved ones. TWCSV provides education and support services at no charge to individuals and families facing cancer. For more information about the organization, visit www.svwellness.org.
Harvard professor, author and leading scholar of “Positive Psychology,” Tal Ben Shahar, Ph.D. presented a lecture titled “Learning to Be Happy: The Science of Happiness” at Nichols Hall on Oct. 16. Shahar’s appearance was part of the Common Ground Speaker Series, organized by a coalition of Bay Area schools to provide communities the opportunity to hear opinions from experts in the fields of education and parenting.
Shahar segmented his talk into four topics. The first, “Giving Ourselves Permission to be Human,” discussed how people are expected to be happy, and that happiness is equated to not having negative or painful feelings. Suppressing negative feelings, he said, also suppresses a person’s ability to have positive feelings. Feelings both positive and negative must be accepted in order to have more control and feel happier.
He then talked about how people can deal with the stress, saying that people are often stressed from trying to accomplish too much. To deal with stress, Shahar recommended taking breaks, of which there are three kinds: “micro breaks” lasting a few minutes to a few hours per day, “mezzo breaks” that include getting the right amount of sleep per night and taking the occasional day off, and “macro breaks” that consist of a week or more of time off.
Shahar championed the value of exercise, citing studies that indicate exercise could help the formation of new neurons in the brain, and improve memory and creativity. He also advocated the practice of meditation – focusing on a single thing to keep the mind from wandering, while breathing deeply and regularly. Studies have shown that “professional mediators” such as Buddhist monks are better able to deal with negative experiences.
The final part of Shahar’s lecture, “Focusing on the Positive,” dealt with how people can learn to recognize the positive aspects of their lives. He offered the idea of making a “gratitude journal” in which people would write down five things that they are grateful for each day. A podcast of Shahar’s presentation is posted on the Harker Parent Portal.
