Near the end of the school year, the Global Empowerment Outreach (GEO) Club raised money for the Malaria Consortium, an organization that provides malaria testing for children in Southeast Asia and Africa. During a week in the spring, GEO members sold tie-dyed, hand-painted drawstring bags and milk teas in various flavors. Students and faculty could purchase a pre-painted bag, request a design or paint a bag themselves. All proceeds were donated to the Malaria Consortium, which GEO members had selected to support (out of five possible charities) at the beginning of the year.
Around the same time, DECA chapter members collected gently used shoes for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting poverty worldwide. Founded in 2006, Soles4Souls’ mission is to collect new and used shoes and clothing from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distribute them via both direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities.
In May some 29 grade 6 students boarded a Tokyo-bound plane for the much-anticipated annual trip to Japan. There, the students reunited with their buddies from Harker’s sister school, Tamagawa Academy.
“This was one of the biggest groups yet! The trip went really well and all the students had such a wonderful time in their homestays,” recalled Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education.
Joining this year’s trip as a chaperone was Gayle Calkins, the middle school’s assistant to the counseling and global education departments. “After working on sending students and chaperones to Japan over the last nine years, it was great to actually experience the welcoming and friendly students and staff of our sister school Tamagawa! Japan and all its sites, people and experiences will be something I will cherish always,” said Calkins.
The Harker contingent first headed to Tokyo’s oldest temple, the Asakusa Sensoji Temple. Legend has it that two brothers, while out fishing one day, caught a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. Although they put the statue back in the water, it continued to return to them, so the temple was built nearby in her honor.
Next up was a scenic drive was to Kamakura, a coastal town an hour south of Tokyo. The group’s first stop was at the Kotokuin (Great Buddha) Temple to see an enormous bronze statue of Buddha. From there, they drove to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shinto Shrine.
The following day, the group arrived at Tamagawa Academy, where they were greeted by their buddies and host families, who waved signs and cheered while the school band played in the background. “After the students were introduced to their homestay parents and siblings, we were ushered into the auditorium for the morning’s entertainment, an energetic Taiko drum performance by their upper school students. The kids loved this! A group of sixth grade students then sang before our kids performed their speeches in Japanese. They did a great job!” recalled Walrod.
The Harker students accompanied their Tamagawa buddies to a number of classes, including math, Japanese, science and P.E. They also had an opportunity to venture over to the lower school, where they did some activities with the younger students. Later, they met with Yoshiaki Obara, president of Tamagawa, to share their experiences so far during the trip.
A highlight of their time at Tamagawa was visiting the Future Sci Tech Lab. Here the kids learned about Tamagawa’s research into developing horticulture technologies to provide food in outer space without soil or natural lights.
When it was finally time to say goodbye, the Harker group was led out to the bus by the Tamagawa students, teachers and parents. Their farewell was filled with hugs, photos and tears. As they departed, they passed many students lining the sidewalk waving goodbye.
On their last full day in Japan, the group visited Hiroshima. Their first destination was the Peace Memorial Park, where they visited the Atomic Bomb Dome, which marks the spot where the first atomic bomb landed in Japan. The ruins at the site (also known as “ground zero”) are dedicated to those who died at the site.
Continuing through the park, the group stopped briefly at the Flame of Peace, which has burned continuously since 1964. “This flame continues to burn as a symbol of the Japanese anti-nuclear resolve to burn the flame until all nuclear weapons are gone from this earth,” said Walrod.
“The students took time to read personal stories of survivors and take some photos. We then walked along the river to the Children’s Peace Monument built to commemorate all the children who had died. We stood in a circle and talked about peace and what we personally could do to make the world a better place,” remembered Walrod.
They also had the opportunity to hear from the daughter of a woman who had survived the bombing. She talked to the students about the lead up to the fateful day and then shared her mother’s story. This marked the first time Harker students had an opportunity to listen to such a personal story in Hiroshima.
The group then headed off to the scenic Arashiyama monkey park, a popular tourist spot located just outside of Kyoto. At the top of the mountain, the students fed Japanese snow monkeys by going onto a special cage and giving them chestnuts through wired windows. Shortly after, everyone headed back to the airport for the long flight home, which gave them plenty of time to reflect and reminisce on all they had seen and done in Japan.
Several Harker students traveled to the California State Science Fair in Los Angeles from May 18-19, where they showcased the projects they had displayed earlier this year at the Synopsys Science & Technology Championship. In the senior division, recent graduate Neil Movva won an honorable mention in the electronics and electromagnetics category. In the junior division, grade 6 student Srinath Somasundaram took second place in applied mechanics and structures, while Alexander Young, grade 8, took fourth place in microbiology (medical). Congratulations to these hard-working science lovers!
In an effort to educate the middle school community about the importance of “wellness,” the campus held its first Wellness Week just before spring break.
From March 23-25 (a short week that included parent-teacher conferences), the students learned about health and wellness, and participated in the annual cancer walk, held on the middle school campus. Prior to the walk, the students engaged in various activities to learn about different forms of cancer and cancer prevention strategies, such as learning about “cancer-fighting foods.”
The wellness initiative also focused on reducing stress through meditation and yoga, as well as the importance of diet and exercise to both physical and emotional well-being. The students enjoyed participating in yoga and meditation workshops. They were also given free-dress days and encouraged to wear clothing that allowed for freedom of movement.
“The student council president and vice president brought the idea (of relieving stress) to the school after attending a Challenge Success conference. We then expanded that idea to also include community wellness, and acceptance and appreciation of diversity and empathy,” noted Cindy Ellis, middle school head.
To that end, the students held lunch “mixers” around such topics. At the end of the day, parents were invited to come early to participate in their own activities around the same communal outreach themes.
The Wellness Week was unique in that it incorporated both physical wellness and outreach-oriented facets. Many middle school teachers and staff assisted in the week by supervising, participating in or leading various activities. Wellness Week proved so successful that it is now slated to become an annual tradition.
During Autism Awareness Month in April, several upper school students helped organize and performed in “Light It Up Blue,” a benefit concert held at Santana Row that raised more than $700 for the Pacific Autism Center for Education (PACE).
During the lively afternoon concert, solo artists and bands took to the stage, donating their time and tips to the organization, which provides services to people with autism and their families. Performances by Harker students Gurutam Thockchom, grade 11, Jonathan Yiu, grade 11 and Satchi Thockchom, grade 9, kicked off the event.
Harker senior Allison Kiang serves as the president of PACE’s Youth Leadership Committee (YLC), which was responsible for organizing and running the event. In addition to the live performances, YLC members ran a booth called Operation Enable, which included activities to raise awareness about what it is like to live on the autism spectrum.
Members of the YLC come from various local high schools. Joining together, they spent months planning the fundraiser, from booking the venue to contacting bands and organizing event details.
Founded in 1989, PACE provides programs for individuals with autism and other related developmental disabilities. PACE operates a school for clients (ages 6-22) and offers early-intervention therapy services. The organization also operates group homes for children and adults. PACE’s assistant executive director, Karen Kennan, said she was very impressed by the Harker student’s “commitment to philanthropy and their willingness and eagerness to volunteer and give back to the community.”
Photos for this story were provided by PACE, YLC. More in-depth coverage of the benefit concert can be found in this article published by Harker’s upper school student newspaper, “The Winged Post.”
The American Scholastic Mathematics Association recently published the results of its annual mathematics contest, and Harker earned first place in the senior division (grades 9-12) and first place with special merit in the junior/intermediate division (grades 7-9). The contest is done by mail during the fall semester. Each participating school receives packages of question sets, which are opened on designated dates over a period of months. Students have 35 minutes to answer each question. Answers are scored once the last examination is administered. Schools from all around the world participated, including China, Czech Republic, Bahrain, Vietnam, Kenya, Kuwait, Indonesia, Austria and Poland.
Four Harker students were chosen for the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) All-National Honor Mixed Choir! They are Krishna Bheda (alto 1), rising grade 10; Gurutam Thockchom (bass 1), rising grade 12; Sahana Narayanan (soprano 2), rising grade 12; and Ashwin Rao (tenor 1), rising grade 11. The choir will assemble Oct. 25-28, in Nashville, Tenn.
The road to nationals requires auditions, as well as participation in regional and state honor choirs (which also require auditions), so full honors to these four!
Huge congrats! Four Harker female lacrosse players were named 2015 Academic All-Americans for the Northern California chapter by US Lacrosse. The students, all rising seniors, are Elizabeth Edwards, Natasha Mayor, Aishu Murari and Sai (Shreya) Sunkara. Go Eagles!
Academic All-American honorees exhibit exemplary lacrosse skills, good sportsmanship on the field and represent high standards of academic achievement.
With just a little bit of water and a whole lot of fun, the students at Harker Preschool celebrated the end of the school year with “Splash Day.” Held on the campus’ large field on the morning of June 4, the event saw parents joining in on the action alongside their children.
The preschoolers came to school dressed in their swimsuits and cover-ups in eager anticipation of the day, which also included an interactive bubble show in the gym. In keeping with Harker’s effort to conserve water, all splashing activities took place on the field where the water would benefit the grass.
The day’s activities featured small pools filled with water and toys for pouring, splashing and squirting; ball pools (with just a little water and a lot of balls); bubble stations (for making big bubbles using a wand and a hula hoop); ice discovery tables; under-the-sea tables; wet sponge block building; wet foam picture crafts; and beach balls and toys strewn around the play yard.
A number of parents helped with setup and cleanup, for which the preschool’s staff was very appreciative. “We think we did a great job providing exciting water activities for the children, while keeping our ‘water conservation hats’ on. The children were all thrilled to be in their bathing suits at school and to run around on the big field. The day was definitely a splashing success!” recalled Kelly Espinosa, director of summer and preschool programs.
Kudos to the Harker Quiz Bowl Team, which won first place at the 2015 Bellarmine Middle School Invitational on May 24. The event was organized by National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT).
Earlier in the year, the team had advanced to NAQT’s Middle School National Championship Tournament, held in Dallas on May 9. There, the team competed with 128 teams from all over the country, advancing to the elimination round and finishing 29th in the nation.
The Harker team comprised grade 8 students Nishka Ayyar and Jack Dawson, and grade 7 students Kyle Li, Arun Sundaresan and Jin Tuan.