MS Wrestling – The wrestling team, coached by Karriem Stinson, Charlie Ward and Jeff Paull, participated in the Maverick’s Invitational in Santa Cruz. The following team members placed: Eric Bollar, grade 6, first place; Dezi Johnsen, grade 6, second place; Rohan Arora, grade 8, second place; Max MacKinnon, grade 8, fourth place; and Eric Fang, grade 8, fourth place.
Team awards went to Eric Fang, grade 8, (Eagle), and Henry Cunningham, grade 8, and Ava Lett, grade 6 (Coaches).
VA (Grades 7/8) Girls Basketball – The Varsity A team, coached by Josh Miller and Dan Pringle, finished in second place in the WBAL with a 6-1 record and went 8-2 overall. Team awards went to Courtni Thompson, grade 7 (MVP), Hunter Hernandez, grade 7 (Eagle) and Haley Arena, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB (Grades 7/8) Girls Basketball – The Varsity B team, coached by Jon Cvitanich, finished in a three-way tie for second place in the WBAL with a 5-2 record. Team awards went to Mariamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 7 (MVP), Renee Page, grade 7 (Eagle) and Reina Joseph, grade 7 (Coaches).
VB2 (Grade 7) Girls Basketball – The Varsity B2 team, coached by Richard Amarillas and Raul Rios, finished in seventh place in the WBAL with a 1-6 record. Team awards went to Shalini Rohra (MVP), Aditi Vinod (Eagle) and Anna Weirich (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Brittney Moseley, finished in third place in the WBAL with a 5-2 record. Team awards went to Jacqueline Hu (MVP), Ashley Barth (Eagle), and Priya Rohra and Anya Warrier (Coaches).
JVB (Grade 5) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity B1 team, coached by Lisa Lubke, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 3-4 record. Team awards went to Amrita Pasupathy (MVP), Avery Olson (Eagle) and Alexis Nishimura (Coaches).
JVC (Grade 4) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity C team, coached by Maria Maldonado, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 2-4 record. Team awards went to Kate Grannis (MVP), Maya Kelly (Eagle) and Harshini Chaturvedula (Coaches).
LS Intramural Girls Basketball – Team awards went to Jasleen Hansra, grade 5 (MVP), Alena Su, grade 4 (Eagle) and Emily McCartney, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Ken Allen and Kristian Tiopo.
VA (Grades 7/8) Boys Soccer – The Varsity A team, coached by Chris Salcido and Matt Arensberg, finished in third place in the WBAL with a record of 3-5. Team awards went to Andrew Cheplyansky, grade 8 (MVP), Ryan Tobin, grade 7 (Eagle) and Arya Maheshwari, grade 7 (Coaches).
VB (Grade 7) Boys Soccer – The Varsity B team, coached by Brighid Wood, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 4-3 record. Team awards went to Anton Novikov (MVP), Rosh Roy (Eagle) and James Pflaging and Marcos Acero (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Boys Soccer – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Cyrus Merrill and Dan Williams, finished in third place in the WBAL with a record of 3-2-3. Team awards went to Ishaan Mantripragada (MVP), Sasvath Ramachandran (Eagle) and Dhruv Saoji (Coaches).
JVB (Grade 5) Boys Soccer – The Junior Varsity B team, coached by Jared Ramsey and Tobias Wade, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 2-1-1 and went 3-1-2 overall. Team awards went to Rodrigo Gonzales (MVP), Pranav Mullappalli (Eagle) and Michael Pflaging (Coaches).
LS Intramural Boys Soccer – Team awards went to Neel Handa, grade 4 (Eagle), and Andrew Au and Matthew Goetting, both grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Randy Le Gris and Jim McGovern.
For the third year in a row, the Arts LIVE for Three to FIVE! Harker Preschool Concert Series has brought talented middle and upper school performing arts students to the preschool to conduct music and dance programs.
This year’s concert series kicked off in January with an interactive program called The Human Voice, at which preschool students learned all about voice ranges, thanks to a visit by members of the upper school choir. The choir, along with their instructor Susan Nace, upper school performing arts teacher, performed vocal selections and demonstrated the differences between high and low voices in boys and girls, as well as what is meant by loud and quiet voices.
Then in February, the preschool students enjoyed their first dance performance when upper school dance teacher Rachelle Haun and her junior varsity dance team visited. Looking ahead, toward the end of May, the preschoolers will be visited by the middle’s school’s chamber music ensemble group, directed by Dave Hart.
Mara Beckerman, the preschool’s music and movement specialist, recalled that several years ago, Hart was the first teacher to accept her invitation to visit the preschool with some of his students. Beckerman came up with the idea for the concert series when the preschool opened its doors in fall 2013. Since then the concert series has grown each year.
During Hart’s first visit, the preschool students were enthralled to hear and touch a French horn, saxophone, harp, flute, violin and an enormous tuba, Beckerman recalled. “The student musicians each spoke about their instruments and played lovely selections for us that morning. The performance ended with a short ‘instrument petting zoo,’ where our 3- to 5-year-olds were guided by the student musicians and allowed to touch each instrument,” she said.
The students and staff could not stop talking about this concert for weeks, added Beckerman. “The students all shared which instrument they were going to play someday. The most petite girl in the school was very definitely going to play the tuba!”
Last year the grade 6 choir came for a concert, at which they sang a story and led the children in some movement activities. Another time, when Beckerman discovered that the father of one of her students sang with an a cappella group called Hookslide, she invited the group to perform at the preschool. “That day we heard some truly amazing harmonies and even learned to beat box,” she said.
Throughout the years, the preschool students have responded enthusiastically to the various concerts, repeatedly telling Beckerman that they look forward to having “the big kids” come out to perform. “They love it!” she said.
On March 20, the Harker Programming Club hosted the annual Harker Programming Invitational. Schools from all over the Bay Area competed in a programming contest that “put their algorithmic programming skills to the test in a competitive yet encouraging environment,” said Sadhika Malladi, grade 12, a club officer.
Offered at novice and advanced levels, “We host a two-hour competition followed by a 30-minute challenge round that allowed teams to improve on their scores,” Malladi said. Between rounds, students attended talks from sponsors and university representatives, who discussed ways students could pursue their interest in computer science after graduating from high school.
Sponsors included Pebble, Carnegie Mellon University, Star League, Make School, A-Star and ACEprep.
Taking first place in the advanced-level competition was Aragon High School, followed by Nueva High School in second and Monta Vista High School in third. Saint Francis took first place in the novice competition, where Diablo Vista took second and Dougherty took third. Harker students are not allowed to place in the competition.
On March 17, the Harker performing arts department held its United Voices concert at the Blackford Theater. This annual event brings together vocal groups from the lower, middle and upper school campuses for a memorable night of melody and harmony.
The lower school was represented by the Bucknall Choir, featuring singers in grades 4-5. Middle school groups included the grade 6 choir Dynamics, the upbeat grade 7-8 musical theater group Harmonics and the grade 7-8 concert choir Vivace. From the upper school were Bel Canto, vocal jazz group Acoustics, Camerata, the advanced women’s choir Cantilena and the Downbeat show choir.
For the finale, all of the evening’s performers gathered onstage for a massive ensemble performance of Karl Jenkins’ “Adiemus.”
During spring break, more changes were made to the upper school campus to prepare for the athletic and performing arts center construction project. First, the large oak tree in the campus quad, deemed unsalvageable, was cut down piece by piece before its massive trunk was removed.
The hundreds of ants and other bugs living in the tree were sent scurrying by the commotion. Finally, what remained of the stump was whittled down. On the following day, the three large boxed trees on Rosenthal Field were loaded onto a large flatbed truck by way of a 100-ton crane and relocated to a space just outside Nichols Hall.
Arborists had previously dug out and crated these Coast Love Oak trees and over break they were moved to a holding spot prior to final re-planting on the Saratoga campus . Stay tuned for more updates on upcoming construction projects!
The boys golf team defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 175-216 last week. Ryan Vaughan, grade 11, shot a team-best 32. The Eagles face The King’s Academy Monday.
Girls Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse team came up short 12-10 against Mercy Burlingame and 9-3 against Sacred Heart Cathedral last week. On Tuesday, the Eagles face off with Notre Dame San Jose at PAL Stadium.
Baseball
The baseball team dropped two games to Crystal Springs Uplands last week, 11-0 and 10-3. It faces off with Trinity Christian this Thursday at Cal State Monterey Bay.
Softball
The softball team lost to the Fremont High 11-0 last week. Cameron Zell, grade 9, had two hits in the loss. The Eagles meet up with Notre Dame San Jose on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Blackford.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team lost to a tough Menlo team 7-0 last week, but rebounded with a 5-2 win over Crystal Springs Uplands. The Eagles are back at it Tuesday as they face The King’s Academy.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team dropped a four-game match to Fremont last week, with Chris Gong, grade 9, leading the way with 10 kills. Next Wednesday at 5:45 p.m., the Eagles host Wilcox High at Blackford.
Track and Field
The track and field team competed at the Firebird Relays at Fremont High last weekend. Highlights included Demonte Aleem, grade 9, placing first in the frosh/soph 100m and shotput; Anthony Contreras, grade 10, placing third in the frosh/soph 100m; and Lilian Gonzales, grade 9, placing fifth in the frosh/soph 3200m. The Eagles take on their WBAL rivals at their next meet held at Bellarmine High on April 13.
Swim
The Eagle swim team traveled to Sacred Heart Prep last week for the SHP Invitational. Highlights included a win in the girl’s 200 Medley Relay consisting of Taylor Kohlmann, grade 10, Grace Guan, grade 12, Vivian Wang, grade 10, and Angela Li, grade 9, who improved the CCS qualifying time; Vivian and Grace also went first and third respectively in the 100 Backstroke, both swimming CCS qualifying times; Michael Auld, grade 11, won the 500 Freestyle with a commanding eighteen second lead over his closest opponent; and Li, Guan, Wang and Ihita Mandal, grade 9, qualified for CCS in the 400 Free Relay. The Swim team has a WBAL meet on April 7 at Menlo High.
Sophomore Divija Bhimaraju recently received a certificate of excellence in this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community Awards for her efforts to help blind people. She also received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for the amount of time she has dedicated to her volunteer work.
Bhimaraju felt prompted to help the blind when she attended a conference by the Sankara Eye Foundation in 2011. “These glimpses that changed my life came in the form of a few short, minute-long videos of pre-surgery and post-surgery blind children,” she said. “I think it was the gratitude and wonder on those small faces that inspired me to initiate change on that day, and it’s what motivates me now.”
She later founded Donum Visi to help grant disadvantaged people the gift of sight by spreading awareness and sponsoring surgeries. She also devoted time to local community service.
“With careful planning, advertising and management, I hosted free seminars for young children in which I created PowerPoints and pamphlets about the eye and different ailments,” she said. She also designed hands-on projects for the students, including color-coding, telescope building and optical illusions. In addition, Bhimaraju mentored a robotics team and taught basic science and English to children, for which she received donations.
“This fusion of my passions, teaching and service, served a double purpose: not only did I interactively teach and foster interest in academic subjects for young children, but I earned nearly twice the money I intended through voluntary donations by inspired students,” Bhimaraju said.
She has been able to sponsor 179 cataract surgeries. “I have changed 179 real, tangible lives, and I’ve seen videos of children who’ve undergone treatment through my efforts.”
Recently, Bhimaraju has been gathering eyeglasses and distributing them to those in need. Already she has donated more than 50 pairs to grant children in India the chance to see better. She also is seeking volunteer opportunities at schools for the blind and has contacted vision centers geared toward the homeless to distribute more glasses locally.
In December, Bhimaraju traveled to southern India and lived with the president of Sodhana, a leading community service organization. “I played with and taught children in Sodhana’s straw-roofed schools, and interacted with poor women who were surpassing traditional village hierarchies by taking part in self-help groups,” she recalled.
Overall, Bhimaraju sees her charitable efforts as a journey of self-discovery. “The one central question that has driven philosophers mad, that has sparked revolutions, that tears at the insides of every teenagers, is ‘Who am I?’ And I think that’s the biggest gift that I have received from volunteer work. Donum Visi has given me purpose: I have a vision for the world, a plan to make it happen, and a place for myself in it.”
Middle and upper school jazz musicians came together in mid-March for the 2016 Evening of Jazz at the Blackford Theater. The show featured the talents of the Grade 6 Jazz Band, Grades 7-8 Jazz Band and the upper school’s Lab Band, all directed by Dave Hart, as well as The Harker School Jazz Band, directed by Chris Florio.
The folks in attendance were treated to works by the likes Thad Jones, Horace Silver, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. For the final number, all of the evening’s musicians appeared on stage to perform a rendition of Pee Wee Ellis’ “The Chicken.”
Arjun Subramaniam, grade 11, was selected to study at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at SUNY Stony Brook as part of the Simons Summer Research Program. From June 27 through Aug. 9, Subramaniam will work full time with assistant professor Thomas MacCarthy, performing research in the department of applied mathematics and statistics.
Each year, Harker nominates three students for the program. They are selected based on their academic standing, the strength of their application and teacher recommendations. Each year many of the country’s best science students apply for this unique research program, but only about 12 percent are selected to participate. Congratulations to Arjun for this stellar opportunity!
India.com, March 29, 2016 — A review of the “Family Party” film, which features Harker alumni Vishal Vaidya ’15, Rahul Nalamasu ’13, Jai Ahuja ’15 and Cecilia Lang-Ree ’13
India West, March 25, 2016 — A news story about the film “Family Party,” which was recently acquired by Netflix.