China has taken on a new relevance for 20 middle school students, who in early April spent an action-packed week touring and meeting with their buddies at the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS), Harker’s sister school in Shanghai.
The group, comprising six seventh graders and 14 eighth graders, visited many of China’s landmarks and historic sites. Originally based around the grade 8 computer science class’ global issues forum, the annual China trip last year expanded to incorporate the grade 7 historical component of learning about ancient China.
Grade 8 student Nikhil Dharmaraj said his favorite part of the trip was the cultural exchange. “My father has been to Shanghai many times, but after one week of staying there, I knew much more about it than him,” he said. “This trip was different from just traveling. I actually got the opportunity to immerse myself in China.”
Kevin Williamson, upper school dean of students, headed this year’s trip. Accompanying him were middle school faculty member chaperones Scott Kley Contini, assistant director of instructional technology; Margaret Huntley, math teacher; Andy Keller, history teacher; and Andrea Milius, who teaches world studies. Keller, who was already in China serving as an exchange teacher at WFLMS, joined the group in Beijing.
Upon their arrival in China, the students were warmly welcomed at the Pudong International Airport by their pals from WFLMS, Williamson recalled. From there, they hopped on a bus for the short drive into the city to meet their host families. Then, they experienced a full day of school, “WFLMS style,” he said.
The students participated in classes including traditional music, calligraphy, the art of mask-making, and learning how to add and subtract on an abacus. “A few of the boys joined a pick-up basketball game with some of the WFLMS students in the afternoon that many of us watched,” said Williamson.
The students’ time at WFLMS ended with a touching farewell party and dinner. Then the Harker contingent departed for the next phase of the trip: Beijing. Their first adventure in Beijing consisted of a rickshaw tour of the Hutong (ancient alleyways that once covered the city).
The tour of Beijing also included a moving visit to Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 protests and ensuing military action. From there the group headed to the Forbidden City, where they were guided through several of its 980 palatial buildings. Then, during a visit to Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, the students were treated to a tai chi lesson by a local instructor.
Later, during a trip to the ancient water town of Zhujiajiao, the group rode boats through the canal and enjoyed an afternoon of sightseeing. Many students said the bridges and canals reminded them of Venice. Come afternoon, they returned to Shanghai for dumplings followed by a show at the World Circus featuring Chinese acrobats.
Another highlight of the trip was a visit to the Great Wall of China. After taking a ski lift to the top of the mountain, the group entered the wall. Students took many photos of the renowned structure and were thrilled to enjoy a fun toboggan ride back down the mountain.
From their educational time at WFLMS to their many sightseeing adventures, the middle school trip to China left students and chaperones with plenty to reminisce on – and share with friends and family back home.
“I haven’t traveled with friends internationally a lot, so this trip was one to remember. I made bonds with both Harker and WFLMS students. These memories will last me a lifetime,” said Dharmaraj.
Despite a valiant effort, faculty and staff members, ultimately, did not have what it took to beat the grade 8 varsity boys and girls volleyball teams during this year’s staff versus student game, held in early April. The students emerged victorious with a score of 48-33.
Amid a cheering crowd of spectators, the grade 8 girls then grade 8 boys played spectacularly – crushing all hope of a faculty free-dress day. Thanks to their win, the entire middle school student body enjoyed a free-dress day on May 1, while faculty and staff wore the required middle school uniform.
“It was a sad day in Mudville for the teachers and staff, but a happy day in the middle school for students!” said Cindy Ellis, middle school division head. “Congratulations to the Harker varsity volleyball teams. And thanks to great half-time entertainment from High Voltage and Show Stoppers.”
In February, sixth graders read to their hearts’ content during a read-a-thon in the library. The event was part of an effort to keep sixth graders entertained while grade 7-8 students attended an assembly.
“While the older students watched the upper school dance show, grade 6 students rotated in half-hour shifts through several different activities, one of which was a read-a-thon in the library,” explained Bernie Morrissey, middle school librarian, who organized the successful event.
“The read-a-thon was nothing complicated: just coming to the library, choosing a book and doing some sustained silent reading. Students enjoyed it very much, and some probably would have read for the entire 90-minute period if we had let them. The other activities were arts and crafts in a classroom, and athletic contests in the gym,” he recalled.
This year, enough donations were collected at the upper school’s annual blood drive to save up to 81 lives, according to Sabrina Sidhu, grade 11, who serves as president of Harker’s Red Cross Club, which organized the recent drive.
“By the end of the day, we had collected 27 units of blood, which went to the American Red Cross,” she said. “I’m glad that so many people were interested in donating. Unfortunately, a large portion of potential donors were turned away because their hemoglobin levels were not high enough. Regardless, I was really happy with the way that everything came together. It was heartwarming to see how excited all of the donors were to have the chance to help out someone in need.”
Harker students, faculty and staff members united to give blood, which was distributed to local hospitals within the required 72 hours. According to Red Cross statistics, every donated unit can save up to three lives. Every two seconds, a patient relies on blood and platelet donors for help.
The Red Cross is the largest single supplier of blood in the United States, collecting and processing more than 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply and distributing it to some 3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide.
Harker recently instituted a new schoolwide waste 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 non-compostable 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.”
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 have taken 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 students of the proper way to dispose of their trash.
Harker recently instituted a new schoolwide waste 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 non-compostable 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.”
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 have taken 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 students of the proper way to dispose of their trash.
Harker recently instituted a new schoolwide waste 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 non-compostable 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.”
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 have taken 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 students of the proper way to dispose of their trash.
David Zhu, grade 9, was recently announced as one of the finalists in the 2013-14 season of the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO). As one of 24 other finalists (out of more than 2,600 initial entrants), Zhu will travel to Clemson University in South Carolina for a summer training camp, during which four of the finalists will be chosen to represent the United States at the 2014 International Olympiad in Informatics.
The finalists were selected after a series of five contests, starting in November of last year, which had students tackling programming problems spanning various techniques and difficulty levels.
Congratulations and best of luck to David Zhu at the summer training camp!
Across the Harker sports universe, teams are in the final stretch before the playoffs! Let’s get to the action!
Track and Field
Harker freshman Niki Iyer and senior Claudia Tischler both ran in the Serra High School Top 7 meet, placing second and seventh, respectively. Both girls will race in the prestigious Sacramento Meet of Champions this Saturday. The team, meanwhile, headed to Pacific Grove last week for its final tune-up before its last league meeting this Wednesday and the upcoming league championships. At the last meet, 10 Eagles posted season personal bests and sophomore Alex Dellar posted a top eight league mark in the 800m. Other event leaders included junior Sriv Irrinki with 12.10 in the 100m, sophomore Calvin Kocienda in the 65m hurdles, and freshman Misha Ivkov in the high jump (5’0″) and long jump (16’4″).
Volleyball
The boys went 4-1 and took home third place out of 16 teams Saturday at the Monta Vista Tournament, defeating Valley Christian, Leland, Los Altos and Bullard of Fresno. The team’s only loss came to the eventual champion, Monta Vista. At 18-9 overall, the boys are ranked seventh in CCS heading into a week in which they host Kings Academy on Wednesday and top-ranked Mountain View on Friday.
Swimming
The swim team celebrated its senior day last Wednesday against Sacred Heart Prep. Though both teams were unable to down the Gators, each saw some very fast swims. The boys varsity 200 medley relay ? which includes freshmen Jack Farnham and Michael Auld, and juniors Aaron Huang and Craig Neubieser ? qualified for the CCS Championships. Auld won the 200m freestyle. For the girls, senior Kimberly Ma won the 200 IM and senior Manon Audebert qualified for CCS in the 100m freestyle. The swimmers race Wednesday at Menlo, then in the league championships next week.
Tennis
The boys played three tough matches last week, but their losses to Cupertino, Homestead and Sacred Heart will steel them for the upcoming CCS playoffs. Even after the 0-3 week (which included a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Sacred Heart), the boys still own a 12-8 record. They compete Monday and Tuesday in the league’s individual tournament, and then head to the Decathlon Club for what is sure to be a thrilling rematch against Sacred Heart. The JV team has a great record as well, with a 10-2 mark heading into its final match this Thursday against Sacred Heart.
Baseball
The boys lost to Westmoor 8-5 last week, despite big games from seniors Johnny Hughes and Varun Kamat. Hughes had two hits, including a double, while Kamat had a hit with three RBI. Juniors Keanu Forbes and Neil Sadhu and freshman Nic Bean also recorded hits in the loss. The boys have three chances to redeem themselves this week.
SoftballJunior Vivian Isenberg’s three hits and freshman Grace Park’s two RBIs were not enough to stave off a loss to Castilleja. In the loss, junior Sarah Bean pitched a solid game, while freshman Marti Sutton, and sophomores Tong Wu and Alisa Wakita also added hits. The girls will play Notre Dame and Gunderson this week.LacrosseThe Lacrosse team has a busy week, playing Sequoia on Monday, Woodside on Tuesday and Mercy on Thursday.
Tags: Sports
Spring break was an opportune time for The Harker School Orchestra, which traveled to Chicago to perform at the Chicago International Music Festival. Earlier this year, the orchestra was chosen to premiere a new piece by composer Jeremy Van Buskirk. The piece, titled “… such as I am you will be,” was one of three performed by the orchestra at the festival, along with Arturo Marquez’s “Danzon No. 2” and the fourth movement of “Symphony No. 5” by Dmitri Shostacovich.
The orchestra’s performance won a Gold Award and high praise from Deborah Gibbs, president and CEO of World Projects, the production company behind the festival, who declared The Harker Orchestra was the best high school orchestra she had ever heard. Chris Florio, upper school music teacher and director of the orchestra, was similarly enthused. “We have been preparing all year long for this event and I could not be more proud of how our students performed,” he said.
“The whole orchestra prepared by rehearsing every day in class since January, and as concertmaster, I feel very proud to lead and be part of such a hard-working and talented group,” said violinist Helen Wu, grade 11. “Every day without fail, regardless of whatever else we have going on, we always came together during first period to work and refine our music.”
Sahithya Prakash, grade 12, who plays bassoon, noticed changes in the orchestra’s practices as the concert neared. “As we got closer to our performance, our focus and intensity kept rising,” she said. “I felt really exhausted after each practice because I had put my 100% into playing, and I felt that the entire orchestra did too.”
Although Van Buskirk did not have a hand in selecting the orchestra that played his piece he was “extremely grateful they were chosen.” Premiering a new piece, he said, is a unique challenge for both the composer and an orchestra. “It’s a challenge to bring a new piece of art into the world for the first time,” he said. “As a composer, I can not do it by myself. I need willing and enthusiastic performers. Chris Florio and The Harker School Orchestra did an amazing job.”
While writing and refining his piece, Van Buskirk sent unfinished versions of it to the orchestra, who recorded their renditions and sent them back. He and Florio then discussed how the piece could be written to best fit the orchestra. “The students work hard and they are very musical,” Van Buskirk said. “It’s rare for a composer to have this level of access to a orchestra while writing a new piece. They met the challenge head on.”
Wu felt honored to premiere “…such as I am you will be,” calling it “remarkable musically and ideologically. Dr. Van Buskirk was a pleasure to work with, very involved in the creation of his piece and enthusiastic about rehearsing with us.”
For Prakash, being selected to premiere the piece served as validation for the positive feedback the orchestra receives from its director. “Mr. Florio keeps emphasizing how special the Harker Orchestra is and how talented we all are,” said Prakash, “and I think being chosen to premiere this piece made me realize that we really are a talented group of individuals.”