This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
“ImmersionVapor,” the latest work from upper school art teacher Joshua Martinez, was featured at Oakland’s Backstock Gallery through June 16. Using photographs as its medium, the exhibition invoked the feelings of being overcome and surrounded, with the obscuring nature of fog being a central element. The exhibit also explored the nature of memory and how original sensory experiences fade with time.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
“ImmersionVapor,” the latest work from upper school art teacher Joshua Martinez, was featured at Oakland’s Backstock Gallery through June 16. Using photographs as its medium, the exhibition invoked the feelings of being overcome and surrounded, with the obscuring nature of fog being a central element. The exhibit also explored the nature of memory and how original sensory experiences fade with time.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
“ImmersionVapor,” the latest work from upper school art teacher Joshua Martinez, was featured at Oakland’s Backstock Gallery through June 16. Using photographs as its medium, the exhibition invoked the feelings of being overcome and surrounded, with the obscuring nature of fog being a central element. The exhibit also explored the nature of memory and how original sensory experiences fade with time.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Bradley Stoll, mathematics department chair, received an Inspirational Teacher Award from MIT in late March. Lorraine Wong ’13 nominated Stoll for the award, saying, “I am immensely grateful that you believed in me in math, and more importantly, in life, and that you are not afraid to share your belief that being a kind human is more important than getting the best grades in a class.”
Stoll expressed gratitude at being nominated and said he was honored by Wong’s sentiments. “Lorraine’s nomination will be a constant reminder to me that I need to see and treat each student as an individual and not compartmentalize them by their grades, that I need to be compassionate, that sometimes I need to be their teacher, [and] sometimes I need to be their friend.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Martin Walsh, college counselor, flew to Beijing in May for a global education conference, during which he gave a presentation on the correlation between project-based learning and college admissions. He was invited to present by University of Oregon education professor Yong Zhao. During his presentation, Walsh discussed student involvement in robotics, Harker’s research program, Intel Science Talent Search finalists and semifinalists, the class Student-Directed Showcase, the journalism program and other facets of Harker’s programs that produce wellrounded students.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
In March, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) recognized upper school journalism teacher Ellen Austin with a Gold Key Award for excellence in journalism at the CSPA conference, held at Columbia University in New York City. The Gold Key, which dates back to 1929, is the CSPA’s highest honor. “The joy in watching a developing young journalist find his or her voice and being a part of helping him or her find a stance in the world is an incredible experience,” said Austin upon receiving the award.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
In April, Harker instituted a new schoolwide program that separates waste into “wet” and “dry” categories. The initiative coincides with a system rolled out by the city of San Jose and Republic Services, which manages waste for commercial users in the area.
Labeled cans have popped up on every campus, along with signs indicating what kinds of waste go in each can. “Wet” waste includes food waste and used paper goods, such as napkins, tissues and paper food trays. “Dry” waste includes drink containers, clean paper and cardboard, and noncompostable food containers.
In addition to compliance with the city of San Jose and Republic Services, this initiative will help “divert as much of our trash toward recycling as possible,” said Diana Moss, upper school Spanish teacher and a member of Harker’s Green Committee. Making this a schoolwide effort will help ensure that students graduating from one campus to the next will be familiar with Harker’s trash procedures, she added.
“This contributes in a significant way to our green efforts,” said Kate Schafer, upper school science teacher and Green Committee member. “First, we’re making it possible for Republic Services to do their job of diverting material from the landfill, but it also gives us the possibility of assessing our production of waste and reducing it in the future through various efforts such as on-site composting, reduction in use of non-recyclable containers, etc.”
It may also have some financial benefits in the longer term. “Going forward, Harker could actually reduce its output from the campus by separating our white paper from compostable paper, and we could actually start giving that to a different vendor,” said committee member and upper school science teacher Jeff Sutton. “We can start composting. If we get good at it, we could take our own food waste and compost it into compost soil and then, ultimately, save money because we won’t need as many pickups per week.”
The labeled cans were set up during spring break in classrooms and strategic spots on each campus. Green Committee members have been working to get the word out. Lower school students were informed about the rollout during educational assemblies, and on April 22 – celebrated around the world as Earth Day – faculty and staff wore green and blue to show their support of the wet/ dry program. Meanwhile, middle school students took quizzes about the wet and dry classifications during their advisories. Upper school students were informed of the new procedures at the April 14 morning school meeting with a special video and presentation. A bulletin board display in the lunch area, featuring amusing photos of costumed students, also reminds everyone of the proper way to dispose of their trash.
So far, Schafer says, the roll out has been “a big success. Across as many campuses as we are and as many trash cans as we have, [when you] try to change a system, there’s a lot of components to it, there’s a lot of facilities-level changes that need to be made, a lot of education. I think the education part of it is ongoing and will continue to be.”
“On the whole, the community has really gotten behind our efforts,” said Green Committee member Margaret Huntley, a middle school math teacher. “People are pleased to have the opportunity to divert waste from landfill, particularly through the new composting collection. In particular, many of the students returning from exchange trips to Japan and China better understand the importance of protecting our resources and environment.”
Educating the community on the importance of adhering to the new program has been and remains a priority. “We see this new system as a journey, not something with a hard deadline,” said Huntley.
“The faculty and staff have been extremely cooperative and open to the new program,” said Robyn Stone, committee member and preschool STEM specialist. “They have asked great questions and come up with systems and strategies for wet/dry reclamation in their own classrooms and offices.” Preschool students have even discovered one additional benefit of the program: “Our preschoolers enjoy sorting out their lunch and snack items into ‘green’ and ‘blue’ bins,” Stone added.
Harker’s dedication to introducing the wet/ dry system effectively and on such a large scale has already received recognition from Republic Services, which gave Harker a recycling award in May. “We’ve had really a lot of positive feedback from Republic Services,” said Schafer. “They’re just so impressed with how serious we are about wanting to do this correctly.”
The wet/dry program is just one piece of the Green Committee’s – and the school’s – continued dedication to making Harker as environmentally responsible as possible. The lower and middle schools began adopting the upper school’s policy of eliminating the use of paper cups among students, faculty and staff. “We removed all paper cups from grades 4 and 5. They need to bring their own water bottles or use the water fountains,” said lower school art teacher Gerry-louise Robinson, another committee member. “After-school time has removed [paper] cups too.”
Paper cup usage at the middle school also has been “greatly reduced,” Huntley said, and the hope is that it will be eliminated on campus in the near future. In February, the middle school’s Green Club began a program to recycle Capri Sun drink containers by using a service called TerraCycle, which collects and recycles materials that are difficult to recycle. The money generated from this effort was donated to environmental programs.
At the preschool, much of the kitchen’s food waste has been converted into food for worms and rabbits at the campus’ farm area. In addition, “The facilities crew has diligently saved all of the schoolyard green waste in a compost pile, which has been rotting nicely all year,” Stone said. “We used that compost together with compost created by our worm colony in our garden beds.”
Perhaps the biggest recent step, however, was the Green Committee’s application to get Harker certified as a Green Business by the Bay Area Green Business Program. Getting certified was originally part of a longer-term plan, but the committee made the decision to apply after it realized how much progress it had made. “At the beginning of the year, we said we wanted to apply some time in the next three years,” said Schafer. “It turned out that we were a lot closer than we realized and there’s a lot of momentum right now to make change and a lot of people are really on board with trying to accomplish this.”
In addition to improved waste management, Sutton cited other improvements such as using more efficient light bulbs, and reducing the amount of printed material by putting information online and increasing electronic communications.
Although the committee had not yet heard from the California Green Business Program at press time, Schafer pointed out that the decision to apply was itself an indicator of just how far Harker has come in its green efforts thus far. “It may indeed take us another two years to have checked off all those boxes. We’ll have to see, but it’s a huge step,” she said.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
On a bright Wednesday morning in May, a group of 3 year olds from the Acorn Cottage gathered excitedly in Harker Preschool’s music room. Their teacher, Mara Beckerman (aka Ms. Mara) welcomed them to this, her first class of the day.
After the youngsters took their seats on brightly colored mats arranged in a circle, Beckerman said, “Listen closely and tell me what you think you hear!” Then she hid behind a desk and used a musical instrument to produce an odd noise, which the children said sounded like water or rain.
Coming out from behind the desk, Beckerman showed the children where the sound was coming from: an instrument, made from a cactus plant, called a rainstick. Partially filled with small pebbles, beans and nails, the stick is believed to have been invented by the Aztecs in the hope that playing it would bring about rainstorms.
The rainstick is just one of many unique instruments the preschoolers were introduced to in music class. Each week, Harker preschoolers of all ages attend interactive music and movement specialty classes, taught by Beckerman, who for the past 25 years has worked with pre-K to adults and children with special needs, in both private and public schools.
Following the rainstick exercise, the children went off to make their very own musical instrument called a shaker egg. Each child was given various materials, including very fine yellow fish tank gravel, medium size black lentil beans and larger red fish tank gravel. Each created a different sound. The children, having been sensitized to “listening,” experimented to create a unique shaker by choosing a combination of the three materials.
Beckerman explained that a shaker egg is a modern hand percussion instrument from Latin America that makes a rhythmic sound when shaken. It is similar to a maraca without a handle. When she told the children they got to take the eggs home, to keep and show their parents, delighted shouts of “yay!” filled the classroom.
Student Ishaan Dhillon-Patel said he had never made a shaker egg before. “Mine is going to be the weirdest of all!” he said with a huge grin as he carefully filled his egg with the tiny pebbles.
Sitting across from him, classmate Omya Vidyarthi proudly held up her purple egg, noting that purple is her favorite color. “Mine is so loud!” she exclaimed, giving it a shake.
Satisfied with their egg creations, both Dhillon-Patel and Vidyarthi returned to their mats and sang songs with their peers while tapping their shakers from one knee to the other, keeping a steady beat with the music. Beckerman explained that “this simple movement of crossing the midline of one’s body is so important for a child to develop.”
After the Acorn Cottage students ended their music and movement session, Beckerman quickly rearranged the room to welcome her next class, the transitional kindergarten (TK) group. “It’s time for music. It’s time to sing along!” sang Beckerman while playing the guitar as they settled into their spots on the floor.
Beckerman introduced a new song, called “Sobonana Kusasa,” which was an especially big hit. “The words are from the Zulu people in South Africa meaning ‘goodbye till we meet again,’” she said, noting that the children really enjoy learning songs in different languages.
TK student Zachary Davidson said he liked the song. “It made me feel quiet,” he said.
“The new ‘Sobonana Kusasa’ song was nice because I felt calm and sleepy,” added Vera Sorotokin.
Meanwhile, classmate Rishi Kutty’s favorite song was “Hey Dum Diddley Dum.”
“I sing it at home ’cause I love it so much,” he said.
For William Wu, the best part about music class was the movement aspect. “I liked the running, galloping and jumping movements, holding hands and swaying,” he reported.
“These may seem like simple movements, but children of this age are still learning to move their bodies,” said Beckerman.
In addition to singing and having fun moving around, the TK students took turns playing a range of musical instruments set up at various stations. Together they made a beautiful orchestra of sounds using xylophones, temple blocks with mallets and wooden frog guiros (an instrument with a serrated surface that produces sound when it is scraped).
Back in February it rained and preschool classes of all ages learned about worms. Students got to look and hold them, as well as sing songs and get on the floor and do a worm dance. During the same month, Beckerman helped organize a successful schoolwide Chinese New Year parade. The children learned the traditional song “Guong Xi” with new lyrics (by Beckerman) that told the traditional story of the Chinese New Year and the monster Nian. During the parade, the students played instruments and wore homemade masks, as well as traditional lion and dragon costumes loaned by a Harker parent.
Most recently, the music and movement specialty class, along with Harker’s middle school, hosted the inaugural “Music LIVE for Three to FIVE!,” at which the preschool welcomed the middle school’s chamber ensembles. Under the tutelage of David Hart, the show was led by student performers playing instruments such as the French horn, tuba, alto saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, flute, violin and harp.
With the belief that physical development is as important to the young child as any other area of learning, Beckerman uses music and movement experiences to help children gain strength, coordination, agility and a positive relationship with their bodies. “Through dance, games, songs, rolling, sliding, jumping, marching and more, they enjoy and appreciate movement in many forms,” she said.
An Off-Broadway actor for many years, Beckerman transitioned from musicals to her own one-woman show as a storyteller/ musician, traveling the country and conducting workshops in acting and storytelling. For the past 10 years, her focus has been on music and movement for pre-kindergarten through elementary grades.
“I feel like I am where I always really wanted to be – a teacher,” said Beckerman, adding that through teaching comes the ability to help make the world a better place.
The music and movement class is one of three specialty classes offered at Harker Preschool. The others are the STEM lab and art studio. According to Andrea Hart, director of Harker Preschool, all of the specialty classes are broken up by ages.
The specialty classes are rich with activities and educational materials in each particular subject area, which offer a balance between child-directed exploratory learning and teacher-directed activities. But, said Hart, the specialists make these classes meaningful for each child.
“Mara is a great example of an early childhood professional who is an expert in her subject and has a passion for teaching young children. You can see this every day in her classes; she is deeply interested in knowing and guiding each individual child,” Hart said.
Look for further articles on specialty classes at Harker Preschool in future issues of Harker Quarterly.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
On a bright Wednesday morning in May, a group of 3 year olds from the Acorn Cottage gathered excitedly in Harker Preschool’s music room. Their teacher, Mara Beckerman (aka Ms. Mara) welcomed them to this, her first class of the day.
After the youngsters took their seats on brightly colored mats arranged in a circle, Beckerman said, “Listen closely and tell me what you think you hear!” Then she hid behind a desk and used a musical instrument to produce an odd noise, which the children said sounded like water or rain.
Coming out from behind the desk, Beckerman showed the children where the sound was coming from: an instrument, made from a cactus plant, called a rainstick. Partially filled with small pebbles, beans and nails, the stick is believed to have been invented by the Aztecs in the hope that playing it would bring about rainstorms.
The rainstick is just one of many unique instruments the preschoolers were introduced to in music class. Each week, Harker preschoolers of all ages attend interactive music and movement specialty classes, taught by Beckerman, who for the past 25 years has worked with pre-K to adults and children with special needs, in both private and public schools.
Following the rainstick exercise, the children went off to make their very own musical instrument called a shaker egg. Each child was given various materials, including very fine yellow fish tank gravel, medium size black lentil beans and larger red fish tank gravel. Each created a different sound. The children, having been sensitized to “listening,” experimented to create a unique shaker by choosing a combination of the three materials.
Beckerman explained that a shaker egg is a modern hand percussion instrument from Latin America that makes a rhythmic sound when shaken. It is similar to a maraca without a handle. When she told the children they got to take the eggs home, to keep and show their parents, delighted shouts of “yay!” filled the classroom.
Student Ishaan Dhillon-Patel said he had never made a shaker egg before. “Mine is going to be the weirdest of all!” he said with a huge grin as he carefully filled his egg with the tiny pebbles.
Sitting across from him, classmate Omya Vidyarthi proudly held up her purple egg, noting that purple is her favorite color. “Mine is so loud!” she exclaimed, giving it a shake.
Satisfied with their egg creations, both Dhillon-Patel and Vidyarthi returned to their mats and sang songs with their peers while tapping their shakers from one knee to the other, keeping a steady beat with the music. Beckerman explained that “this simple movement of crossing the midline of one’s body is so important for a child to develop.”
After the Acorn Cottage students ended their music and movement session, Beckerman quickly rearranged the room to welcome her next class, the transitional kindergarten (TK) group. “It’s time for music. It’s time to sing along!” sang Beckerman while playing the guitar as they settled into their spots on the floor.
Beckerman introduced a new song, called “Sobonana Kusasa,” which was an especially big hit. “The words are from the Zulu people in South Africa meaning ‘goodbye till we meet again,’” she said, noting that the children really enjoy learning songs in different languages.
TK student Zachary Davidson said he liked the song. “It made me feel quiet,” he said.
“The new ‘Sobonana Kusasa’ song was nice because I felt calm and sleepy,” added Vera Sorotokin.
Meanwhile, classmate Rishi Kutty’s favorite song was “Hey Dum Diddley Dum.”
“I sing it at home ’cause I love it so much,” he said.
For William Wu, the best part about music class was the movement aspect. “I liked the running, galloping and jumping movements, holding hands and swaying,” he reported.
“These may seem like simple movements, but children of this age are still learning to move their bodies,” said Beckerman.
In addition to singing and having fun moving around, the TK students took turns playing a range of musical instruments set up at various stations. Together they made a beautiful orchestra of sounds using xylophones, temple blocks with mallets and wooden frog guiros (an instrument with a serrated surface that produces sound when it is scraped).
Back in February it rained and preschool classes of all ages learned about worms. Students got to look and hold them, as well as sing songs and get on the floor and do a worm dance. During the same month, Beckerman helped organize a successful schoolwide Chinese New Year parade. The children learned the traditional song “Guong Xi” with new lyrics (by Beckerman) that told the traditional story of the Chinese New Year and the monster Nian. During the parade, the students played instruments and wore homemade masks, as well as traditional lion and dragon costumes loaned by a Harker parent.
Most recently, the music and movement specialty class, along with Harker’s middle school, hosted the inaugural “Music LIVE for Three to FIVE!,” at which the preschool welcomed the middle school’s chamber ensembles. Under the tutelage of David Hart, the show was led by student performers playing instruments such as the French horn, tuba, alto saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, flute, violin and harp.
With the belief that physical development is as important to the young child as any other area of learning, Beckerman uses music and movement experiences to help children gain strength, coordination, agility and a positive relationship with their bodies. “Through dance, games, songs, rolling, sliding, jumping, marching and more, they enjoy and appreciate movement in many forms,” she said.
An Off-Broadway actor for many years, Beckerman transitioned from musicals to her own one-woman show as a storyteller/ musician, traveling the country and conducting workshops in acting and storytelling. For the past 10 years, her focus has been on music and movement for pre-kindergarten through elementary grades.
“I feel like I am where I always really wanted to be – a teacher,” said Beckerman, adding that through teaching comes the ability to help make the world a better place.
The music and movement class is one of three specialty classes offered at Harker Preschool. The others are the STEM lab and art studio. According to Andrea Hart, director of Harker Preschool, all of the specialty classes are broken up by ages.
The specialty classes are rich with activities and educational materials in each particular subject area, which offer a balance between child-directed exploratory learning and teacher-directed activities. But, said Hart, the specialists make these classes meaningful for each child.
“Mara is a great example of an early childhood professional who is an expert in her subject and has a passion for teaching young children. You can see this every day in her classes; she is deeply interested in knowing and guiding each individual child,” Hart said.
Look for further articles on specialty classes at Harker Preschool in future issues of Harker Quarterly.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
On a bright Wednesday morning in May, a group of 3 year olds from the Acorn Cottage gathered excitedly in Harker Preschool’s music room. Their teacher, Mara Beckerman (aka Ms. Mara) welcomed them to this, her first class of the day.
After the youngsters took their seats on brightly colored mats arranged in a circle, Beckerman said, “Listen closely and tell me what you think you hear!” Then she hid behind a desk and used a musical instrument to produce an odd noise, which the children said sounded like water or rain.
Coming out from behind the desk, Beckerman showed the children where the sound was coming from: an instrument, made from a cactus plant, called a rainstick. Partially filled with small pebbles, beans and nails, the stick is believed to have been invented by the Aztecs in the hope that playing it would bring about rainstorms.
The rainstick is just one of many unique instruments the preschoolers were introduced to in music class. Each week, Harker preschoolers of all ages attend interactive music and movement specialty classes, taught by Beckerman, who for the past 25 years has worked with pre-K to adults and children with special needs, in both private and public schools.
Following the rainstick exercise, the children went off to make their very own musical instrument called a shaker egg. Each child was given various materials, including very fine yellow fish tank gravel, medium size black lentil beans and larger red fish tank gravel. Each created a different sound. The children, having been sensitized to “listening,” experimented to create a unique shaker by choosing a combination of the three materials.
Beckerman explained that a shaker egg is a modern hand percussion instrument from Latin America that makes a rhythmic sound when shaken. It is similar to a maraca without a handle. When she told the children they got to take the eggs home, to keep and show their parents, delighted shouts of “yay!” filled the classroom.
Student Ishaan Dhillon-Patel said he had never made a shaker egg before. “Mine is going to be the weirdest of all!” he said with a huge grin as he carefully filled his egg with the tiny pebbles.
Sitting across from him, classmate Omya Vidyarthi proudly held up her purple egg, noting that purple is her favorite color. “Mine is so loud!” she exclaimed, giving it a shake.
Satisfied with their egg creations, both Dhillon-Patel and Vidyarthi returned to their mats and sang songs with their peers while tapping their shakers from one knee to the other, keeping a steady beat with the music. Beckerman explained that “this simple movement of crossing the midline of one’s body is so important for a child to develop.”
After the Acorn Cottage students ended their music and movement session, Beckerman quickly rearranged the room to welcome her next class, the transitional kindergarten (TK) group. “It’s time for music. It’s time to sing along!” sang Beckerman while playing the guitar as they settled into their spots on the floor.
Beckerman introduced a new song, called “Sobonana Kusasa,” which was an especially big hit. “The words are from the Zulu people in South Africa meaning ‘goodbye till we meet again,’” she said, noting that the children really enjoy learning songs in different languages.
TK student Zachary Davidson said he liked the song. “It made me feel quiet,” he said.
“The new ‘Sobonana Kusasa’ song was nice because I felt calm and sleepy,” added Vera Sorotokin.
Meanwhile, classmate Rishi Kutty’s favorite song was “Hey Dum Diddley Dum.”
“I sing it at home ’cause I love it so much,” he said.
For William Wu, the best part about music class was the movement aspect. “I liked the running, galloping and jumping movements, holding hands and swaying,” he reported.
“These may seem like simple movements, but children of this age are still learning to move their bodies,” said Beckerman.
In addition to singing and having fun moving around, the TK students took turns playing a range of musical instruments set up at various stations. Together they made a beautiful orchestra of sounds using xylophones, temple blocks with mallets and wooden frog guiros (an instrument with a serrated surface that produces sound when it is scraped).
Back in February it rained and preschool classes of all ages learned about worms. Students got to look and hold them, as well as sing songs and get on the floor and do a worm dance. During the same month, Beckerman helped organize a successful schoolwide Chinese New Year parade. The children learned the traditional song “Guong Xi” with new lyrics (by Beckerman) that told the traditional story of the Chinese New Year and the monster Nian. During the parade, the students played instruments and wore homemade masks, as well as traditional lion and dragon costumes loaned by a Harker parent.
Most recently, the music and movement specialty class, along with Harker’s middle school, hosted the inaugural “Music LIVE for Three to FIVE!,” at which the preschool welcomed the middle school’s chamber ensembles. Under the tutelage of David Hart, the show was led by student performers playing instruments such as the French horn, tuba, alto saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, flute, violin and harp.
With the belief that physical development is as important to the young child as any other area of learning, Beckerman uses music and movement experiences to help children gain strength, coordination, agility and a positive relationship with their bodies. “Through dance, games, songs, rolling, sliding, jumping, marching and more, they enjoy and appreciate movement in many forms,” she said.
An Off-Broadway actor for many years, Beckerman transitioned from musicals to her own one-woman show as a storyteller/ musician, traveling the country and conducting workshops in acting and storytelling. For the past 10 years, her focus has been on music and movement for pre-kindergarten through elementary grades.
“I feel like I am where I always really wanted to be – a teacher,” said Beckerman, adding that through teaching comes the ability to help make the world a better place.
The music and movement class is one of three specialty classes offered at Harker Preschool. The others are the STEM lab and art studio. According to Andrea Hart, director of Harker Preschool, all of the specialty classes are broken up by ages.
The specialty classes are rich with activities and educational materials in each particular subject area, which offer a balance between child-directed exploratory learning and teacher-directed activities. But, said Hart, the specialists make these classes meaningful for each child.
“Mara is a great example of an early childhood professional who is an expert in her subject and has a passion for teaching young children. You can see this every day in her classes; she is deeply interested in knowing and guiding each individual child,” Hart said.
Look for further articles on specialty classes at Harker Preschool in future issues of Harker Quarterly.