Parents and their preschoolers moved to the music in a delightful activity in late May. At the end of each year, Mara Beckerman, music and movement specialist, invites parents to visit their child’s music and movement class. In the past, parents simply observed, but this year, they were invited to join in by singing and dancing with their child. It was a great day for children and parents to show each other their moves!
The World Chess Federation recently rated Vyom Vidyarthi, a rising fifth grader, the No. 1 under-10 chess player in the United States and the fifth-highest worldwide. Vidyarthi achieved the rating after his performances at the Bay Area Chess Summer Start Championship and the Best of the West Chess Class Championship, held in April and May, respectively. Congrats and best of luck to this talented young chess enthusiast!
Tags: Chess, kudosConcurrent with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Greg Lawson, assistant head of school, student affairs, was named Harker’s first sustainability coordinator.
Lawson’s new responsibilities include assessing and coordinating support for environmental initiatives generated by the Harker Sustainability Committee, as well as those suggested by the Harker community, including faculty, staff, students and parents.
“Greg will ensure that all ideas regarding Harker’s ecological footprint see due consideration,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school. “He will facilitate a handshake between operations and the rest of the school on important green efforts.”
The appointment “is the pinnacle of the green timeline,” according to Jeff Sutton, Sustainability Committee co-chair and upper school science teacher. “We have been hoping for the creation of such a position.”
Sutton adds that Harker’s recognition as a Certified Green Business by the Bay Area Green Business Program in June 2016 helped lay the groundwork for the new appointment. “Becoming certified provided concrete actions that Harker can achieve to reduce its impact on the environment while saving money,” he said.
Harker’s environmental efforts thus far have resulted in significant savings. According to the California Green Business Program, Harker’s efforts have diverted more than a million pounds of solid waste from landfills since 2012, representing a savings of more than $73,000. Similarly, the Harker community has saved nearly 680,000 kilowatt hours of energy over the same period, banking an additional $68,000. Further coordination is predicted to result in even greater savings.
The appointment demonstrates that environmentally responsible behavior “is not simply the topic-of-the-month,” said Lawson. “We are serious about being a sustainable and green organization to the degree that we can within our operating parameters, and want to have a support system that reflects and finds ways to achieve that.”
“We are on the cusp of some very exciting advances in California, regarding the possibilities for living and working in an environmentally sustainable way,” said Kate Schafer, co-chair of the Sustainability Committee, which includes 18 faculty and staff from all four Harker campuses. “With this new position and the faculty committee working in parallel, we have the opportunity here at Harker to not just teach about sustainability but to truly model what an exemplary institution can accomplish,” she said.
Coordinating efforts will not always be easy, said Lawson, “but … the bigger the challenge, the bigger the potential reward!” As part of his duties, Lawson will attend bimonthly meetings of the Sustainability Committee, and he is currently working with the committee to create an online site in Harker’s portal to record green suggestions from the community and provide information regarding the status of these suggestions.
Tags: Green InitiativesSpring League and CCS Awards
Spring season All-League teams and CCS Scholastic Championship Teams were recently announced, and Harker was well represented!
The state finalist boys golf team once again produced the WBAL MVP, this year with Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 11. Seniors Avi Khemani and Ryan Vaughan earned first team honors, while Shaan Gagneja, Jin Kim, Victor Shin, all grade 11, and Sandip Nirmel, grade 12, earned second team awards.
The lacrosse team had an impressive season and it showed with their postseason accolades. In the classroom, the team was a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a team GPA of 3.6358. On the field, Elise Mayer, grade 10, and Alayna Richmond, grade 12, were named to the first team, while Mahlet Demissachew and Aditi Maheshwari, both grade 12, were named to the second team. Jordan Thompson, grade 12, earned an honorable mention.
The softball team narrowly missed the playoffs this season, but many Eagles were honored for their notable individual years. Kristin LeBlanc, grade 11, and Anika Rajamani, grade 10, each earned first team honors, with Marti Sutton, grade 12, and Cameron Zell, grade 10, being named to the second team, and Grace Park, grade 12, getting an honorable mention.
The Harker swim team swept the MVP category as Ethan Hu, grade 9, and Vivian Wang, grade 11, (co-MVPs) each took home top honors. Michael Auld, grade 12, was named to the first team, with Justin Culpepper, grade 12, Alex Yu, grade 10, Angela Li, grade 10, all being named to the second team, and Yannick Bohbot-Dridi, grade 11, earning an honorable mention. Also, both the boys and girls swim teams were Top 5 Scholastic Champions, with the boys finishing with a 3.6977 GPA and the girls finishing with a 3.8286 GPA.
The boys tennis team set a Harker record for wins in a season this year, and that was thanks to many impressive individual seasons, including Edward Tischler, grade 12, and David Wen, grade 11, each taking home first team honors, with Rishi Dange, grade 9, Mihir Sharma, grade 9, and Randy Zhao, grade 11, earning second team, and Ramanand Vegesna, grade 9, receiving an honorable mention. In addition, the Eagles were also a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a 3.7536 GPA.
On girls track and field, Niki Iyer, grade 12, was named to the WBAL first team, and Grace Koonmen, grade 11, earning an honorable mention. For the boys track and field team, Davis Dunaway, grade 12, was named to the first team, Davis Howard, grade 12, Anthony Contreras, grade 11, and the members of the boys 4×100 relay team – Dunaway, Contreras, Mitchell Granados, grade 10, and Angel Cervantes, grade 11 – received honorable mentions. The boys track and field team was also a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a GPA of 3.6598.
The boys volleyball team was a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a team GPA of 3.5172. In addition, SCVAL De Anza Division All-League honors went to Jonathan Schwartz, grade 12, who was named to the second team, and Jeffrey Kwan who was named co-Freshman of the Year.
Finally, the Eagle baseball team earned Peninsula Lake All-League honors with Varun Haltore, grade 12, and Tanay Kamat, grade 11, each being named to the first team, Matthew Kennedy and Dominic Cea, both grade 11, being named to the second team, and Max Lee, grade 9, earning an honorable mention. The boys also performed well in the classroom with a team GPA of 3.5275, earning it recognition as a Top 5 Scholastic Championship.
Awards Banquet
The Upper School Athletic Awards Ceremony for the 2016-17 season was held last week with many Eagles receiving recognition for amazing seasons and careers.
The Super Eagle Award is given to the athletes who have participated in three competitive sports at Harker during one school year. Earning the award were Lily Wancewicz, Alycia Cary, Lilia Gonzales, Marcus Tymous, Cameron Zell, all grade 10, and Haley Arena, grade 9. Earning the Drew Goldstein Commitment Award for playing three sports per year for all four years of high school was Davis Howard, grade 12.
The Eagle Award is given to an athlete in each sport who displays enthusiasm at all times, supports the team and individuals throughout the season, hustles in every task, shows positive role modeling and has a selfless giving approach to the program. This award is voted on by the team members of each sport. Receiving this award were Stephanie Xiao, grade 10, in cheerleading; Peter Connors, grade 11, in boys cross country; Gloria Guo, grade 11, in girls cross country; Will Park, grade 12, in football; Vienna Wang, grade 12, in girls golf; Connie Miao, grade 12, in girls tennis; Lindsey Trinh, grade 12, in girls volleyball; Arnav Tandon, grade 12, in boys water polo; Sarah de Vegvar, grade 12, in girls water polo; Justin Jia, grade 12, in boys basketball; Satchi Thockchom, grade 11, in girls basketball; Joseph Krackeler, grade 12, in boys soccer; Maile Chung, grade 12, in girls soccer; Shikhar Solanki, grade 11, in wrestling; Varun Haltore, grade 12, in baseball; Avi Khemani, grade 12 in boys golf; Alayna Richmond, grade 12, in lacrosse; Kristin LeBlanc, grade 11, in softball; Jack Farnham, grade 12, in boys swimming; Clarissa Wang, grade 10, in girls swimming; Ed Tischler, grade 12, in boys tennis; Angel Cervantes, grade 11, in boys track and field; Grace Koonmen, grade 11, in girls track and field; and Jonathan Schwartz, grade 12, in boys volleyball
The Iron Eagle Award is awarded to the male and female athletes who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to their school, teammates and their sport(s) throughout the entire year, including off-season, preseason, and in-season. Winners were Jordan Thompson and Will Park, both grade 12.
The Athletic Commitment Award is given to seniors who have played four years of at least one sport at Harker and exhibited characteristics such as commitment, positive leadership, good sportsmanship and a strong work ethic. Earning this award were Chelsie Alexander, Steven Cao, Anthony Crook, Justin Culpepper, Sarah de Vegvar, Mahlet Demissachew, Alexis Gauba, Jordan Goheen, Sarah Gonzalez, Kedar Gupta, Taylor Iantosca, Justin Jia, Joseph Krackeler, Nina Levy, Aditi Maheshwari, Connie Miao, Anuva Mittal, Rishabh Nijhawan, Grace Park, Parth Pendurkar, Andrew Rule, Marti Sutton, Priyanka Taneja, Lindsey Trinh, Michael Tseitlin, Abhay Varmaraja and Melinda Wisdom.
The League Achievement Award is given to seniors who played four years of athletics at Harker, achieved first team All-League honors, and exhibited characteristics such as commitment, positive leadership, good sportsmanship and a strong work ethic. This year’s winners were Michael Auld, Maile Chung, Kailee Gifford, Saketh Gurram, Varun Haltore, Avi Khemani, Lyndsey Mitchell, Sandip Nirmel, Jonathan Schwartz, Will Park, Daniel Reidenbach and Davis Howard.
The Director’s Award is given to seniors who played four years of Harker athletics and achieved at least one of the following: was awarded first team All-League, was recognized at the state or section level, or achieved league MVP honors. Recipients also much have exhibited characteristics such as commitment, positive leadership, good sportsmanship and a strong work ethic. This year the award was given to Ryan Vaughan, Joelle Anderson, Rachel Cheng, Davis Dunaway, Jack Farnham, Arben Gutierrez-Bujari, Misha Ivkov, Niki Iyer, Alayna Richmond, Arnav Tandon, Jordan Thompson and Edward Tischler.
Congratulations to all the amazing Harker athletes!
Tags: SportsThe annual middle school trip to Japan in mid-May took 23 grade 6 students across the Pacific to meet with their buddies at Tamagawa Academy, and see many of the country’s cultural and geographic landmarks. After arriving in Tokyo on May 11, the students spent a couple of days exploring the city. They visited the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the Sumo Museum and the Anime Museum, where they learned about the process of making an animated film.
Tamagawa Academy gave Harker a warm welcome on May 13, despite less-than-savory weather conditions. “Despite the heavy rain, we were greeted with excitement, big smiles, and hugs from Tamagawa buddies, parents and teachers,” reported Alana Butler, middle school dean of students, who served as a chaperone on the trip. Both Tamagawa and Harker students gave speeches, and Tamagawa’s middle school headmaster welcomed the Harker representatives and offered his appreciation for the 21-year relationship between the two schools. Following the ceremony, Harker students left with their homestays for the remainder of the weekend.
The Harker students spent much of their first full day at Tamagawa attending classes with their buddies, including English, math, science and foreign languages. During a stop at Tamgawa’s agricultural department, “We learned that the university is producing lettuce, selected herbs and fruit using specific LED lights and light combinations,” said Butler. “It was an amazing sight to see!”
The next day started with a brief welcome meeting with Tamagawa head of school Yoshiaki Obara, after which the group headed to the school’s planetarium. “As Keiko of the planetarium program explained, it is rare that a planetarium is attached to a school,” Butler wrote. “Therefore, having one at Tamagawa is truly special.” Later that day, the students attended a special assembly that included performances of karate, ballet, fencing and comedy. Harker students Ashley Ruan, Arissa Huda and Aria Jain performed as well.
The final day of Harker’s visit to Tamagawa began with students participating in the Tamagawa lower school’s morning assembly and daily exercise routine. “As Harker guests, we joined in and brought smiles to many faces,” wrote Butler. They later attended English and music classes at the lower school. “Since the students are very young and at the beginning stages of learning English, lessons involved students walking around and introducing themselves to their new Harker friends,” Butler said.
The students spent the rest of the day with their Tamagawa buddies, attending classes and enjoying lunch before emotional farewells were exchanged. “Hugs, smiles and tears were all present as our Harker students said goodbye to their Tamagawa buddies,” Butler wrote. “Feeling like most parents saying goodbye to their children, the Tamagawa moms and dads were just as sad to see their Harker guest children leave.”
Upon arriving in Kyoto the next day, the group set out to explore the former Japanese capital with their tour guide, Akira. “As we drove around, Akira pointed out foliage, statues and other things that were specific to the area,” wrote Butler. The students and chaperones had a great time watching a kimono fashion show at the Nishijin Textile Center and seeing the Fushimi Shinto shrine. Once the large crowds had subsided, they also walked through Kiyomizu Temple.
On May 19, the group spent their final full day in Japan in Hiroshima, where they toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Local guides Mito and Michiko provided historical facts and personal stories regarding the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945. The students presented 1,000 paper cranes that they had folded, which were left at the Children’s Peace Monument in memory of the wish of Sadako Sasaki, who fell ill following the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and folded origami cranes in the hopes that she would be granted a wish upon folding 1,000 of them, in accordance with an ancient legend.
Their final cultural stop on the trip was at Miyajima Island, where they walked with deer and viewed the Itsukushima Shrine, built more than 1,400 years ago.
Tags: express, Global Education, Japan, Tamagawa Academy, topgeThe Senior Showcase on May 12 featured the 2017 graduates of the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program performing in various disciplines, including dance, musical theater, and vocal and instrumental music. The 34 students who presented that evening had spent the previous four years in intensive study of one of the seven disciplines offered by the conservatory. At the conclusion of the performances, the students received their certificates to signify their completion of the program, and showed their appreciation for the teachers who provided crucial guidance over the previous four years.
This Harker Conservatory graduates honored this year were:
Dance: Tamlyn Doll, Hazal Gurcan, Surabhi Rao, David Zhu
Instrumental Music: Cuebeom Choi, Maile Chung, Jack Farnham, May Gao, Alexa Gross, Aashish Jain, Soham Khan, Lauren Liu, Edward Oh, Judy Pan, Shekar Ramaswamy, Andrew Rule, Vedaad Shakib, Melinda Wisdom, Alex Youn
Musical Theater: Shivani Awasthi, Zahra Budhwani, Priyanka Chilukuri, Anahita Far, Chetana Kalidindi, Sara Pachauri, Medha Shah, Kayvon Solaimanpour
Theater: Sana Aladin, Sravya Cherukuri, Emre Ezer, Marina Newman, Amrita Singh, Brandon Stoll
Vocal Music: Mia Giammona
Tags: Harker Conservatory, Performing ArtsThe preschool welcomed a special visitor Monday, as Harker parent and NASA employee Rochelle Ribeiro (Zachary Mascarenhas, kindergarten) joined the transitional kindergarten students in the STEM lab to teach them about space travel. She brought in models of the spaceships; fruit flies that astronauts will be taking to space to study (they are really tiny!); and an astronaut suit, including gloves and helmet that the children were able to try on. The kids had lots of fun on a sunny spring day!
Tags: expressRosh Roy, Marcus Anderson and Hunter Hernandez, all grade 8, were named middle school athletes of the year on Monday. Roy excelled in flag football, basketball, soccer and track; Anderson was a star, playing flag football, basketball and baseball; and Hernandez was amazing in her sports of softball, basketball and volleyball. The annual award dates back to 1979. Congratulations Rosh, Marcus and Hunter. Go Eagles!
Rising senior Jacqueline He and rising junior Prameela Kottapalli were recently recognized in the third annual Young Authors Writing Competition, held by the Bay Area Book Festival. He’s short story “House of God” was deemed the winner in the combined 11th/12th grade division, while Kottapali’s “Never Been Better” earned her third place in the 10th grade division. SFGate has the full story. Congratulations!
Tags: literature, topliteratureBoys Golf
Congratulations to the boys golf team for reaching the CIF State Championship for the second year in a row. More than 1,500 California schools compete every year in boys golf, and Harker ended the season fifth in the state. The top scorer for Harker was Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 11, shooting a 2-under-par 69 at Poppy Hills Golf Course. Congratulations on another great year!
Spring League and CCS Awards
Spring season All-League teams and CCS Scholastic Championship Teams were recently announced, and Harker was well represented!
The state finalist boys golf team once again produced the WBAL MVP, this year with Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 11. Seniors Avi Khemani and Ryan Vaughan earned first team honors, while Shaan Gagneja, Jin Kim, Victor Shin, all grade 11, and Sandip Nirmel, grade 12, earned second team awards.
The lacrosse team had an impressive season and it showed with their postseason accolades. In the classroom, the team was a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a team GPA of 3.6358. On the field, Elise Mayer, grade 10, and Alayna Richmond, grade 12, were named to the first team, while Mahlet Demissachew and Aditi Maheshwari, both grade 12, were named to the second team. Jordan Thompson, grade 12, earned an honorable mention.
The softball team narrowly missed the playoffs this season, but many Eagles were honored for their notable individual years. Kristin LeBlanc, grade 11, and Anika Rajamani, grade 10, each earned first team honors, with Marti Sutton, grade 12, and Cameron Zell, grade 10, being named to the second team, and Grace Park, grade 12, getting an honorable mention.
The Harker swim team swept the MVP category as Ethan Hu, grade 9, and Vivian Wang, grade 11, (co-MVPs) each took home top honors. Michael Auld, grade 12, was named to the first team, with Justin Culpepper, grade 12, Alex Yu, grade 10, Angela Li, grade 10, all being named to the second team, and Yannick Bohbot-Dridi, grade 11, earning an honorable mention. Also, both the boys and girls swim teams were Top 5 Scholastic Champions, with the boys finishing with a 3.6977 GPA and the girls finishing with a 3.8286 GPA.
The boys tennis team set a Harker record for wins in a season this year, and that was thanks to many impressive individual seasons, including Edward Tischler, grade 12, and David Wen, grade 11, each taking home first team honors, with Rishi Dange, grade 9, Mihir Sharma, grade 9, and Randy Zhao, grade 11, earning second team, and Ramanand Vegesna, grade 9, receiving an honorable mention. In addition, the Eagles were also a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a 3.7536 GPA.
On girls track and field, Niki Iyer, grade 12, was named to the WBAL first team, and Grace Koonmen, grade 11, earning an honorable mention. For the boys track and field team, Davis Dunaway, grade 12, was named to the first team, Davis Howard, grade 12, Anthony Contreras, grade 11, and the members of the boys 4×100 relay team – Dunaway, Contreras, Mitchell Granados, grade 10, and Angel Cervantes, grade 11 – received honorable mentions. The boys track and field team was also a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a GPA of 3.6598.
The boys volleyball team was a Top 5 Scholastic Champion with a team GPA of 3.5172. In addition, SCVAL De Anza Division All-League honors went to Jonathan Schwartz, grade 12, who was named to the second team, and Jeffrey Kwan who was named co-Freshman of the Year.
Finally, the Eagle baseball team earned Peninsula Lake All-League honors with Varun Haltore, grade 12, and Tanay Kamat, grade 11, each being named to the first team, Matthew Kennedy and Dominic Cea, both grade 11, being named to the second team, and Max Lee, grade 9, earning an honorable mention. The boys also performed well in the classroom with a team GPA of 3.5275, earning it recognition as a Top 5 Scholastic Championship.
Awards Banquet
The Upper School Athletic Awards Ceremony for the 2016-17 season was held last week with many Eagles receiving recognition for amazing seasons and careers.
The Super Eagle Award is given to the athletes who have participated in three competitive sports at Harker during one school year. Earning the award were Lily Wancewicz, Alycia Cary, Lilia Gonzales, Marcus Tymous, Cameron Zell, all grade 10, and Haley Arena, grade 9. Earning the Drew Goldstein Commitment Award for playing three sports per year for all four years of high school was Davis Howard, grade 12.
The Eagle Award is given to an athlete in each sport who displays enthusiasm at all times, supports the team and individuals throughout the season, hustles in every task, shows positive role modeling and has a selfless giving approach to the program. This award is voted on by the team members of each sport. Receiving this award were Stephanie Xiao, grade 10, in cheerleading; Peter Connors, grade 11, in boys cross country; Gloria Guo, grade 11, in girls cross country; Will Park, grade 12, in football; Vienna Wang, grade 12, in girls golf; Connie Miao, grade 12, in girls tennis; Lindsey Trinh, grade 12, in girls volleyball; Arnav Tandon, grade 12, in boys water polo; Sarah de Vegvar, grade 12, in girls water polo; Justin Jia, grade 12, in boys basketball; Satchi Thockchom, grade 11, in girls basketball; Joseph Krackeler, grade 12, in boys soccer; Maile Chung, grade 12, in girls soccer; Shikhar Solanki, grade 11, in wrestling; Varun Haltore, grade 12, in baseball; Avi Khemani, grade 12 in boys golf; Alayna Richmond, grade 12, in lacrosse; Kristin LeBlanc, grade 11, in softball; Jack Farnham, grade 12, in boys swimming; Clarissa Wang, grade 10, in girls swimming; Ed Tischler, grade 12, in boys tennis; Angel Cervantes, grade 11, in boys track and field; Grace Koonmen, grade 11, in girls track and field; and Jonathan Schwartz, grade 12, in boys volleyball
The Iron Eagle Award is awarded to the male and female athletes who demonstrate the highest level of commitment to their school, teammates and their sport(s) throughout the entire year, including off-season, preseason, and in-season. Winners were Jordan Thompson and Will Park, both grade 12.
The Athletic Commitment Award is given to seniors who have played four years of at least one sport at Harker and exhibited characteristics such as commitment, positive leadership, good sportsmanship and a strong work ethic. Earning this award were Chelsie Alexander, Steven Cao, Anthony Crook, Justin Culpepper, Sarah de Vegvar, Mahlet Demissachew, Alexis Gauba, Jordan Goheen, Sarah Gonzalez, Kedar Gupta, Taylor Iantosca, Justin Jia, Joseph Krackeler, Nina Levy, Aditi Maheshwari, Connie Miao, Anuva Mittal, Rishabh Nijhawan, Grace Park, Parth Pendurkar, Andrew Rule, Marti Sutton, Priyanka Taneja, Lindsey Trinh, Michael Tseitlin, Abhay Varmaraja and Melinda Wisdom.
The League Achievement Award is given to seniors who played four years of athletics at Harker, achieved first team All-League honors, and exhibited characteristics such as commitment, positive leadership, good sportsmanship and a strong work ethic. This year’s winners were Michael Auld, Maile Chung, Kailee Gifford, Saketh Gurram, Varun Haltore, Avi Khemani, Lyndsey Mitchell, Sandip Nirmel, Jonathan Schwartz, Will Park, Daniel Reidenbach and Davis Howard.
The Director’s Award is given to seniors who played four years of Harker athletics and achieved at least one of the following: was awarded first team All-League, was recognized at the state or section level, or achieved league MVP honors. Recipients also much have exhibited characteristics such as commitment, positive leadership, good sportsmanship and a strong work ethic. This year the award was given to Ryan Vaughan, Joelle Anderson, Rachel Cheng, Davis Dunaway, Jack Farnham, Arben Gutierrez-Bujari, Misha Ivkov, Niki Iyer, Alayna Richmond, Arnav Tandon, Jordan Thompson and Edward Tischler.
Congratulations to all the amazing Harker athletes!
Alumni
Check out this article on Izzy Connell ’13, who is still working hard on the track and in the classroom:
http://www.pepperdinewaves.com/sports/c-xc/spec-rel/052517aaa.html
Plus, a really nice piece on Maverick McNealy ’13 and the end of his golf career at Stanford:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/25/end-of-the-road-for-golf-prodigy-maverick-mcnealy-at-stanford/
Tags: express, Sports