For many years, grade 5 math teacher Pat Walsh has spearheaded the annual fifth-grade food drive. This year, the effort took place in November and culminated with a delivery to St. Justin’s Church in Santa Clara, where several hundred bags of canned goods and other non-perishable items were used to make meals and food bags for those in need. Monetary donations, totaling $6,700, also were collected.
Walsh explained that that the holiday season is a good time for students to reflect on the good fortune they have been blessed with, while also making a concerted effort to improve the lives of others who are less fortunate.
At their community social in mid-November, grade 6 students made warm blankets for Project Linus, a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization that provides blankets to children who are seriously ill or living in shelters.
Project Linus works to provide a sense of security, warmth and comfort through the donation of handmade, washable blankets lovingly created by volunteer makers or “blanketeers.”
This was the middle school students’ community service project for this year. In just one afternoon, the sixth graders produced 46 blankets for donation to the local branch of Project Linus, providing comfort and warmth to children in need for years to come.
Project Linus has delivered more than 4 million security blankets to children around the world and has nearly 400 chapters in the United States. The organization originally donated blankets to pediatric cancer patients, however, recipients now include any child who is seriously ill or traumatized.
In mid-October grade 9 students spent their “freshmen service day” volunteering at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. Freshmen service day is a mandatory, daylong event designed to introduce students to community service.
“Working in the beautiful fall sunshine on their annual day of service, the students gardened in many flower beds – hoeing, weeding and raking. They perfected their wheelbarrow skills, learning the fine art of balancing a full load. With the cooler and shorter days ahead, the roses are now winding down and will soon go dormant for a short period. Because of the teens’ help, the grounds are ready. Thank you volunteers!” wrote San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services in an appreciative post on their Facebook page.
Eight grade 7 students in the advisory of Cindy Ellis, middle school head, are collecting shoes for those in need. The shoe drive, which began on Nov. 17 and will run until Dec. 9, aims to collect gently used shoes for donation to Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty worldwide.
Prior to launching the shoe drive – their first service project of the year – Ellis and her advisory created fliers. “We will be collecting shoes to be processed and delivered to people around the world who don’t have any. Children can’t go to school without shoes and adults can’t go to work barefoot. Disease is rampant where people can’t protect their feet,” she said.
Ellis urged the entire Harker community to look in their closets to “find those gently used shoes that just don’t fit anymore or were never worn. We have collection tubs in the front and back loading zones as well as a collection box in the front office. Soles4Souls is the destination for your shoe stash. All sizes and styles are welcome!” she said.
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.
Prior to his performance at the Harker Concert Series, Milwaukee Symphony Concertmaster and player of the 1715 Lipinski Stradivarius Frank Almond gave a special master class to Harker students in the Nichols Hall auditorium. Almond discussed and taught classical violin techniques to several students, going over concepts such as proper bowing technique, posture and changing the character of notes by holding the bow at various angles.
Harker performing arts groups had a big presence at the Santana Row tree lighting ceremony, “Light Up the Row,” on Nov. 18. Seven groups performed at the event, which was attended by thousands of people. The students practiced for weeks to prepare for the event, and Harker students comprised more of the evening’s performers than those from any other school. This was the first Santana Row tree lighting to feature Vivace, the middle school mixed choir, which performed The Beach Boys’ “Melekalikimaka.” Also present were a variety of middle and upper schools dance groups, including the upper school’s junior varsity and varsity dance squads, the grade 7-8 girls dance group Showstoppers and the grade 7-8 boys dance group High Voltage. Each of the groups performed two sets, including the upper school show choir Downbeat, which did a funny, Tim Burton-esque take on the holiday mainstay “Deck the Halls.”
The Harker Conservatory modernized Shakespeare’s popular tale of love and enchantment in its production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which played at the Blackford Theater Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Director Jeff Draper brought the comedy into the present day, staging the play in a city park setting that occupied the majority of the theater floor, with scenic designer Paul Vallerga strategically placing signs of urbanization throughout: a picnic bench here, a swingset there. This unorthodox set drew the audience closer to the story and also gave them a more well-rounded view of the cast.
Harker’s upper school players buoyantly unfurled the story of arranged marriages, mistaken identities, magical formulas and theatrical ineptitude, giving the play just the right amount of whimsy and charm. Carol Clever’s costume design put the human characters in modern dress while the mischievous, magical fairies were draped in garb that ranged from the regal to the outlandish.
Upper school vocal groups delighted an evening audience in the Nichols Hall auditorium on Nov. 13 with “Ad Amore: Love as a Light,” featuring Bel Canto, Camerata, Guys’ Gig and Cantilena. Bel Canto, directed by Jennifer Sandusky, opened with Michael Praetorius’ “Anima Mea,” the first of a series of songs by European composers, which included the traditional French song “Brilla Brilla Piccola Stella” and “Funiculi, Funicula” by Luigi Denza.
Camerata, the upper school’s mixed chamber ensemble directed by Susan Nace, opened with a pair of hymns – “Barechu” by Salamone Rossi and “Alleluia” by Michael Praetorius – and concluded its set with Adriano Banchieri’s “Contrapunto bestiale alla mente,” which had its singers imitating the sounds of animals over a nonsensical poem sung by the basses.
In a slight departure from its usual fare, the student-run boys group Guys’ Gig began with the traditional “Gaudeamus Igitur,” with an arrangement by Johannes Brahms. Alex Henshall, grade 11, then sang solo on “McDonald’s Girl” by the Harvard Din and Tonics.
Closing the evening was the women’s choir Cantilena, also directed by Nace, who began with the concert’s namesake, “Ad Amore” by Lee Kesselmann, and continued with “Suscepit Israel” from Bach’s “Magnificat.”Following a rendition of Franz Biebl’s haunting “Ave Maria,” Cantilena ended with Greg Jasperse’s dynamic and uplifting “Voice Dance.”
Middle school thespians found themselves in a motley collection of roles in this year’s middle school fall play, Alan Haehnel’s “The Unfinished.” Directed by Monica Colletti, this one-act comedy found its characters at the mercy of a writer (Alexander Kumar, grade 6) who has not yet finished their stories, essentially imprisoning them in his mind.
When the innocent Melisande (Claire Russell, grade 7) enters their already-crowded world, the characters are forced to examine the significance of a newcomer. The ever-cynical Guy (Haris Hosseini, grade 8) and the hopeful Narrator (Claire Newman, grade 8) disagree on the likelihood that they will ever be realized, while the surly Janitor (Max MacKinnon, grade 7) simply wishes they would all leave. In the end, the wide variety of character archetypes, including the Bride and Groom (Dilara Ezer and Matthew Hajjar, both grade 8), the Cheerleader (Ellie Lang-Ree, grade 8) and the Clown (Jai Bahri, grade 7), find themselves freed through the Writer’s clever inclusion of the mall in one manuscript – a play titled “The Unfinished.”
Paul Vallerga’s set design was appropriately sparse for this particularly character-driven story. Carol Clever’s costume design was also simple but effective, making the characters appropriately recognizable.
San Jose Mercury News – Nov. 20, 2014: Football player Keanu Forbes, grade 12, is mentioned in the Varsity Extra Highlight Reel for his performance against St. Francis CCC, in which he ran for 223 yards on 14 carries and had 91 yards on two kick returns.
San Jose Mercury News – Nov. 14, 2014: Rajiv Movva, grade 9, is mentioned in the Around the Valley’s School Scene insert for winning first place in the mathematics category in the Broadcom MASTERS competition.
IndiaWest – Oct. 24, 2014: Sadhika Malladi, grade 11, is mentioned for being named a regional finalist in this year’s Siemens Competition.
ServiceSpace.org – Oct. 23, 2014: A blog post features an image of the Winged Post’s coverage of hip-hop artist and activist Nimo Patel’s visit to the upper school.
San Jose Mercury News – Oct. 22, 2014: Water polo player Emma Brezoczky, grade 9, was recognized for the four goals she scored in Harker’s 10-9 victory over Fremont.
SweetyHigh, Oct. 20 – 2014: Junior Sadhika Malladi and senior Daniela Lee are featured in a post about the Google Science Fair, in which they finished as global finalists.