After a decade working in acting and graphic design in Los Angeles, Emma Hawley has relocated to Chennai, India, for the second half of 2014. She now resides in the ashram headquarters for Sahaj Marg, a spiritual practice in natural path meditation (www.sahajmarg.org). Recruited to take over as an editor for the mission’s quarterly English publication, she has volunteered to help revamp the magazine for the new year. She said she is thrilled at this opportunity to deepen her skill sets and the practice that has begun to satiate her internal quest. Feel free to email Emma at hawley.emma@gmail.com.
2005
Alan Malek is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his master’s degree in statistics last year; previously, he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford. Alan and his long-time girlfriend, Yuanyuan (Yuni) Pao ’07, met at Harker’s Robotics Club when he was a junior and she was a freshman. They’ve been together more than 10 years now! Yuni graduated from MIT in 2011 and received a master’s degree from Stanford last year. She now works in the data-driven marketing field in Cupertino.
2007
Adam Creasman has accepted an exciting new position to help expand Facebook’s presence in the U.K. Currently in the process of moving to London, where he will remain for the next oneto two years, Adam said he is “looking forward to this next adventure.” Look for further coverage about his new international role with Facebook in the winter Harker Quarterly, which will feature a story about alumni living abroad.
Congratulations to Tiffany Chang, who was recently named as a recipient of the inaugural Tracy T. Lefteroff Fund Awards for her work with the Fogarty Institute for Innovation. Located on the campus of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, the institute is an educational nonprofit dedicated to medical technology innovation. Tiffany received her award through the Lefteroff intern program. “The award has allowed me to learn from and work with inspiring professionals in the medical device industry,” she enthused. To learn more: http://www.fogartyinstitute.org/news-20140716.html
2012
Sachin Jain Pranav Bheda and Debanshi Bheda ’07 traveled to Brazil to cheer on the U.S. and enjoy the World Cup.
2013
Michael Amick was named a starter for the UCLA varsity soccer team!
When Maverick McNealy qualified for the U.S. Open (making him the first alumnus known to do so) the Harker community was filled with excitement. There was also a flurry of local media activity singing his praises. While Maverick, who is on the Stanford University golf team, did not make the final cut, he performed brilliantly, coming in at a strong 145, which means that he missed the cut by just five strokes. In fact, he was still in the running right up until the last two holes, where he shot four over. Congratulations, Maverick!
The Class of 2013 left its legacy by gifting the school with water-filling stations, as well as an outdoor classroom. The final touches were put on the classroom this summer, and it is now being used by students and faculty! The classroom, located adjacent to Graduates’ Grove, features benches and a podium for teaching.
2014
Regina Chen was chosen by Cornell University as one of six fencers to join the squad for the 2014-15 season. Regina is a member of the Cardinal Fencing Club, where she has participated in multiple national and international events. She placed 13th at the 2013 Junior Olympic Championships and seventh at the 2011 NAC. She also earned a bronze medal at the 2012 Hong Kong Fencing Association U17 Championship, while finishing seventh overallat the 2012 Hong Kong Fencing Association U20 Championship.
Aaron Lee is among four local high school students who won $2,000 scholarships from the Auxiliary of Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose for their volunteer service and health-care career goals. Aaron, who currently attends Cornell University, said he was a volunteer at Good Samaritan Hospital from January 2012 to June 2014. “I applied for the scholarship as I do intend to go on a pre-med track in college and the scholarship was for students who want to enter the medical field. Looking back, the scholarship probably also feels great knowing that it came from a community I found in high school. [Good Samaritan] was a great place that supported me while I volunteered and also learned to be a leader,” he said.
This past spring, Zina Jawadi was the subject of an ABC (channel 7) news story about her efforts to help hearing-impaired students. Over the summer she went on to receive an award from the Silicon Valley chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America. Zina was one of three such scholarship recipients this year. An honorary potluck luncheon was held for Zina and the other award winners in June, where they also received certificates of merit from Santa Clara County. Jawadi is the first of the association’s scholarship recipients to have attended Harker.
Renu Singh debuted as the sole performer in “Bharatanatyam Arangetram,” a show presented by the Kala Vandana Dance Company. The successful show was held at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater in San Jose at the end of June. Congratulations, Renu!
Master storyteller Jim Cogan has been a beloved guest speaker at the lower school for many years. He returned in early October to entertain students at the Bucknall campus with his heartwarming tales of quiet courage and compassion.
Cogan enthralled the audience of students and faculty with two stories. The first, a Nez Perce (Native American) fable called “One Day, One Night” offered a lesson in dealing with a bully by standing up for yourself, cooperating with friends and learning that inclusiveness gets everyone working together. The second fable, “Anansi and His Children,” about the well-known storybook character “Anansi the Spider,” focused on cooperation. Anansi is among the most important characters in West African and Caribbean folklore.
A former actor, teacher/administrator, journalist and author, Cogan used material from his new assembly programming, which encourages youngsters to stop bullying by uniting against it.
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Over the summer, many alumni returned to Harker to attend the memorial service for Sylvia Harp, one of the school’s cherished former faculty members. Harp died of liver cancer on March 29. She began teaching grade 8 English at Harker in 1986 and went on to become head of the school’s English department before her retirement in 2003. Pictured here (L- R), at her moving memorial, are: Mark Gelineau ’90, Alka Tandan ’90, Casey Near ’06, Rohini Venkatraman ’06, Meghana Dhar ’06 and Ira Patnaik ’06.
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.
These days, it seems, there is an app for just about everything, and young app developers have become one of the fastest-growing groups of technological inventors. Often working from home with little or no overhead, using free or low-cost app development tools, creative app makers are attracting the attention of technology companies and users worldwide.
With cell phones practically an extension of our bodies, useful mobile apps have the power to directly affect and improve the quality of everyday life. Indeed, app invention is fast becoming part and parcel of the digital revolution and widely being incorporated into computer science education curricula as the demand for fun, easy to use, new apps grows.
This is music to the ears of several Harker alumni, who have launched, or are about to launch, innovative new apps. Meet app designers Neeraj Baid ’13, Govi Dasu ’12, Daanish Jamal ’12 and his business partner, Adhir Ravipati ’05.
Giftbook: A Mobile Wallet that Stores Gift Cards
Before designing his latest app, called giftbook, developer Neeraj Baid ’13 had a vision: that no one should have to carry or lose plastic gift cards again. That desire led to the creation of giftbook (https://gftbk.herokuapp.com/), Baid’s fourth app for iOS (a mobile operating system developed by Apple for use with their iDevices), which stores gift cards in a centralized location.
“Giftbook is an app that makes spending and keeping track of your gift cards easy,” Baid said. “You can save cards from any retailer on your iPhone so you never worry about forgetting one at home,” he added.
The app, which is now available at Apple’s app store as a mobile gift card wallet, already has received overwhelmingly positive customer reviews. However, Baid is planning a design overhaul and a major update in mid- October that will enable users to purchase and send gifts through giftbook.
“I build features as they come up. For a major update like the one coming up, I’m often working the equivalent of a full-time job to ensure it’s ready by October. There’s also a fair amount of non-technical work involved, such as working with partners to allow me to sell gift cards in giftbook,” Baid explained.
In addition to his work as founder of giftbook, Baid also attends the University of California, Berkeley, where he is getting a degree in electrical engineering and computer science. Additionally, he worked as an iOS intern at Venmo, a company that provides a free, friend-to-friend, mobile payment platform app.
Among giftbook’s features is one that lets users know when they are near a retailer with a relevant gift card (with directions to closest locations); the card simply appears on the phone’s lock screen with easy accessibility. The app also uses a standardized approach to displaying barcodes, so gift cards are accepted by all retailers. To ensure security, sensitive gift card data (such as serial numbers and pins) are never stored on a server.
The apps Baid created prior to giftbook are Take Me Away, SpeakToSnap and a URL shortener for Google. Take Me Away allows users to travel the world from their iPhones by tapping a location button for any global destination, where they can view photos taken by real people, among other features. SpeakToSnap is a voice-activated camera, while the URL shortener allows users to quickly and simply shorten long and unwieldy URLs, using Google’s goo.gl shortening service.
Baid’s first app, SpeakToSnap, came about after taking the Global Online Academy iOS class offered at Harker during the spring of his senior year. “Harker really helped lay a critical computer science foundation,” he recalled.
“Every app I have built comes out of necessity for something I want in my own life,” he said. “For example, I built giftbook after graduating from high school. I needed a way to manage the huge number of gifts I received from graduation parties and already had from before. I’ve found that working on something you personally want is the best way to remain dedicated and complete it at the highest quality possible.”
The best way to learn iOS development, he advised, is simply by doing it. “Your first app won’t be your best – and it shouldn’t be. You’ll learn a lot from building something silly like a URL shortener, and that knowledge will be invaluable as you build your next apps. There are incredible iOS resource tutorials available online and pre-made app components,” he noted.
Learning Dollars: A Pilot Project Designed to Help English Learners in Developing Countries Land Jobs
Govi Dasu ’12 recently returned from a trip to India, where he spent his summer doing background research for an app he is designing, now in the pilot stage, called Learning Dollars. The socially conscious app aims to help individuals in developing countries improve their economic situation by landing higher paying jobs.
Dasu said he plans to accomplish this by first helping users to learn English and then connecting them with helpful resources to find better employment. The higher paying jobs in developing countries include vocations such as hotel workers, airport employees, cashiers, clerks and call center staff – all of which require English language mastery.
While in India, Dasu worked exhaustively on an experiment to see whether Rosetta Stone (a $400 software program) could teach English to someone unable to speak the language.
In doing so, he noted the ways the software could be made more comprehensive and effective for users in the developing world. One of his test users was a middle-aged cook named Geeta, who dropped out of school after second grade and does not know how to read any language (but can speak two). Extensively working with her helped Dasu gain an understanding of what kind of education technology works in developing countries, especially with people who are illiterate and (like Geeta) may not have used a computer before.
Before conducting his work abroad, Dasu believed that, if successful, “a free smartphone app that uses Rosetta Stone’s method might be able to help people in the developing world to learn English in order to gain access to higher paying jobs and higher education.”
While he walked away from India with mixed feelings about the viability of the Rosetta Stone program, it did not deter him from moving forward with work on his own app. Indeed, the testing process allowed him to note ways in which the software could be improved for users in the developing world. He said he came up with the name, Learning Dollars, because it has “learning” in it (i.e., learning English) but at the same time, it sounds like “earning” (as in earning dollars). He said he hopes to get a minimum viable product (MVP) out in the coming month. The program uses a Google app engine setup and coincides with his goal to dedicate his life to fighting poverty, promoting democracy and protecting freedom.
“Often the dollar – which besides being the U.S. currency, is the international reserve currency – is associated with a strong purchasing power in many developing countries,” said Dasu, who recently graduated (after just two years) from Stanford University.
During his years at Harker, he participated in many extracurricular activities, including serving as the school’s ASB vice president.
NextSpot: A Mobile App for Fluid Group Events
When Daanish Jamal ’12 and Adhir Ravipati ’05 partnered to create NextSpot, a mobile app that helps coordinate everyday meet-ups, they wanted to create something that they and their peers would find useful in their own lives.
Now available in Apple’s app store, NextSpot streamlines the details of such things as grabbing lunch between classes, catching a movie at the end of the week, enjoying a day at the beach, playing a game of basketball or planning a night on the town. It is integrated with Yelp and saves past favorite meeting spots, among other features.
“Say you’re a college student, trying to get 20-25 friends over for a party. What we’ve learned is that you’re not going to create a Facebook event (or Evite or Eventbrite) because that sets too formal a tone. On the other hand, messaging/group messaging is casual but too unorganized. NextSpot fits this use case – casual, organized events,” Jamal explained.
“We released a beta this past spring to select fraternities and sororities at Georgetown, USC, Stanford, Oregon and UC Santa Barbara. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive, and we are gearing up for our launch in a few weeks as well as raising our next round of funding,” added Ravipati.
Generally, it takes at least a few months to develop an MVP with the core functions of an app, Jamal and Ravipati agreed. After releasing an MVP, it becomes a quicker process developing the product based on user feedback.
Presently the talented duo are devoting themselves full-time to working on NextSpot. Jamal has taken a leave of absence from Georgetown University and Ravipati left his previous startup earlier this year to focus on launching the app.
They believe that their time at Harker helped pave the way for their current perseverance. “Harker has a great track record of occupational and entrepreneurial success amongst its graduates. I don’t know if it can be narrowed down to one or two things, but rather developing a problem- solving mindset that challenges you to look at problems differently,” said Ravipati.
Excitement was in the air on Sept. 30 as kindergarten parents – representing Harker’s biggest community of new families – gathered for their first Back-to-School Night. The well-attended event got underway with teachers of special subjects and various support services hosting tables on the kindergarten patio. Parents enjoyed visiting the tables and mingling on the patio before moving to their child’s homeroom. Presentations from the language arts and math teachers rounded out the evening. Parents left the event armed with useful information about the exciting year ahead!
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Kelly Espinosa is the director of summer and preschool programs and longtime picnic coordinator.
The Harker community was deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of alumna dad, longtime volunteer and all around great guy, Fred Carr.
As soon as his daughter (“Lifer” Emily Carr ’09) joined Harker in 1996, Fred could be seen volunteering all around campus. He sat on the development council from 1997- 2003, was a dedicated library volunteer for many years, served as an ambassador for new parents, and helped with the fashion show and many performing arts events. He did it all!
Where Fred left his biggest mark was as a loyal and indispensable member of the picnic committee for almost 18 years. His handyman skills and his creative but practical perspective made him the “go-to guy” in a field of mostly mom volunteers. Fred brought his own tools, built things at home, scouted out new ideas and was a favorite of the facilities crew because, as one of the crew said, he “actually knew what he was doing!” Even after Emily graduated from Harker in 2009, Fred’s commitment to the picnic never wavered. He came to picnic meetings, spent weeks building games, put in late nights and never stopped prepping for all the crazy things the picnic committee dreamed up. He was always the first one to arrive on picnic morning and made sure he was available throughout the day for whatever needed to be done.
Fred was a strong, quiet man, with a warm, gentle nature and a dry sense of humor. He was always there when we needed him, and we truly could not have run the picnic for all those years without him.
A large contingent of picnic volunteers (from 1996 to the present day) gathered at his Celebration of Life ceremony, held in mid-August, to remember him and support his wife, Candy, and Emily. There’s no doubt we will miss him and that every October his picnic pals will be lifting our glasses and offering a tearful toast to our dear, dear friend.
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.
It was with great sadness that The Harker School announced that John Foster McKenna MS ’05 passed away on Aug. 8, after a 20-month battle with brain cancer.
The son of Harker middle school P.E. teacher Melanie McKenna and her husband, John William McKenna, he is also survived by his grandparents, John Eugene McKenna and Marilyn McKenna, along with numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
After attending Harker through middle school, McKenna went on to attend Bellarmine College Preparatory and Gonzaga University, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
The funeral was held St. Victor’s Catholic Church in San Jose and was followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, the McKenna family honored John’s wishes and requested donations be made to Bellarmine and The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Middle School Team Wins National Titles
Our middle school program performed fabulously at the National Speech & Debate Association Championship in June in Overland Park, Kan. For the third year in a row, the squad received an Overall School of Excellence Award, which is given to the top three middle school debate programs in the country. Many students performed well to contribute to this title. Karina Momary, middle school communication studies teacher, gave a special mention to Aliesa Bahri and Megan Huynh, both grade 9, for taking home the championship in policy debate, and to Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 8, for winning first place in original oratory.
Debaters Studied at Universities Across the Nation
Harker debaters spent anywhere from one to seven weeks studying debate at various universities. The summer debate institutes took place at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown University, Michigan State University and Harvard University. Students lived in the dorms and worked with some of the top debate instructors in the nation.
Panny Shan, grade 11, said, “My teachers and peers allowed me to rapidly improve my skills while still having fun.”
A highlight of the Georgetown camp was when Ayush Midha, grade 12, interviewed Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., about his experiences as a leader in the civil rights movement. Georgetown debate students were also able to visit the U.S. Supreme Court and were present for the controversial Hobby Lobby decision. “These experiences offered me some incredible insight into the inner workings of our political system and gave me a unique appreciation for American politics,” Midha said.
Several dozen students also attended a camp for public forum and individual events, hosted at Harker by Carol Green, communication studies department chair. The camp featured a great staff of Harker teachers and alumni, as well as other respected coaches in the community. Thirty students attended the public forum debate segment and 12 students attended the individual events, including several experienced Harker middle school students. At the end of the two weeks, the speech students performed in a showcase for the entire institute and the public forum students had a tournament and performed their final round for the whole institute. The debate faculty looks forward to holding the summer program again in 2015.
Upper School
This year’s national topics promise to be interesting and educational. Policy debaters will be arguing about ocean development, such as offshore oil drilling, Arctic exploration or aquaculture regulations. Lincoln-Douglas debaters have as their first topic the question of whether or not people should be obligated to be organ donors. Public forum students are weighing the value of athletic franchises to their local communities.
Zarek Drozda, grade 11, enthused, “I am looking forward to another great year of Harker debate. We have a very strong team this year and I can’t wait for the first tournament!”
Greg Achten, who advises Lincoln- Douglas debate, concurred. “We have a fabulous lineup of talent and strong team leaders,” he said. “It will be one of our best seasons to date.” The team will compete throughout California as well as in Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and a few other states.
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Avni Barman, grade 12, has founded a successful art therapy program designed to bring the joy of art to local hospitals and homeless shelters.
To date, she has implemented her Art for Recovery Project at the following local organizations: My Friends (a pediatric healthcare center), Regional Medical Center, Family Supportive Housing, as well as the shelters StandUp For Kids and Abode Services.
Barman, who has spent her life immersed in art, made cards for hospital patients and senior homes as a lower and middle school student. She first began to work with patients at Kaiser Hayward in the summer following her sophomore year and typically works with children ages 4-15, who have come to look forward to her visits and special one-on-one time.
Now, Barman is looking to expand the Art for Recovery Project to include more volunteers and implement the program in many Bay Area hospitals and shelters. Her long-term goal is to find other art students who would like to join her in teaching art to the sick and needy in the Bay Area.
“After personally seeing the therapeutic effects of art on patients in hospitals and troubled children in homeless shelters, my goal is to reach every needy shelter in the Bay Area. I welcome like-minded students from the Harker student body (artistic or not) to join me in scaling this program. Harker’s enriching environment has driven me to start something that leverages my passion, while serving the community,” she said.
Barman’s innovative art therapy endeavor was written up in the San Jose Mercury News. To read that story: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_26462913/harker-student-avni-barman-shares-her-passion-art.
For more information or to volunteer with Art for Recovery, email artforrecovery01@gmail.com or visit art4recovery.com. To donate to the Art for Recovery Project, visit piggybackr.com/arttherapy.