Harker staff writer Zach Jones contributed to this story.
A beautiful fall day provided the perfect backdrop for the 2013 Harker Harvest Festival, the school’s 63rd annual Family & Alumni Picnic.
As in previous years, the event was held on the middle school campus, but faithful picnic-goers surely noticed the fresh and fun changes to this family-oriented day. The multipurpose room held extravagant silent auction packages, offering art, outings with teachers, gift baskets and more. The cafetorium was kept wide open for laser tag, and lower school children were spotted ducking behind blinds scattered through the room as they tried to catch each other with light beams.
The blacktop was, as always, the site of carnival game booths. Here families tried their luck at skill games, trying to knock down, hit, fill, pop or ring objects for prize tickets. The Pig Pong Toss was a wall of cute painted piggies with actual boxes for noses, which kids tried to fill with Ping-Pong balls. At another popular booth kids threw paint on Frisbees as they spun around, resulting in fun and swirly souvenirs.
Around the edges of the blacktop were many fun activities to tempt kids of all ages. A petting zoo with goats and ducks, pony rides, bounce slides, a dunk tank and more all gathered crowds; and, new this year, old-fashioned tricycle and sack races kept both kids and adults giggling. Katie Florio, kindergarten teacher, was enjoying the trike races: “It’s great to see all the kids out having fun with their families and getting to play with all their teachers.”
As Florio alluded to, the structure of the day was changed to allow teachers more time to hang out with their students, and intense games of foosball, Ping-Pong and basketball throws were played out in the gym. Lower school math teacher Diane Plauck laughed, “I started my day having a Ping-Pong match with one of [my students]. He beat me, but still it was fun.”
“It’s probably really great for the lower school and middle school kids to have a chance to play Ping-Pong or foosball with teachers and stuff like that, to really change up the dynamic of how they interact with one another,” said upper school science teacher Gary Blickenstaff.
Aside from the opportunity to bond with their teachers, students also enjoyed meeting up with their friends in a welcoming and fun environment. “I like that most of my friends come here and we just have fun. It’s basically a huge carnival,” said student volunteer Calvin Kocienda, grade 10, who worked the laser tag area with his friends in the robotics club.
Classmate Alyssa Crawford liked that the Harvest Festival “brings all the different grades together.”
Parent volunteers also had a big impact on the event’s success, running game booths, selling tickets and serving food to the hundreds of attendees. “I just think it’s a great opportunity to help the children and help the school,” said parent Tracy Baeckler (Alexandra, grade 5), who has volunteered since her daughter was a kindergartner.
Themed around a fictional Harker Thanksgiving Parade, the student show was a huge hit, highlighting dozens of kids from nine performing arts troupes. Mallika Vashist, grade 6, who performed with the choir group Dynamics, enjoyed that Harvest Festival offered her the chance to perform in front of a large audience. “Performing in front of a bunch of people is really fun for me,” she said.
Making cameos were Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, as Cookie Monster, Head of School Chris Nikoloff as a giant turkey, and Butch Keller, upper school head, as a big SpongeBob SquarePants “float.” Other administrators as well as the IT and facility departments also walked the stage in the “parade,” to a warm and appreciative round of applause from spectators.
Alumni gathered at their shady grove to reunite and chat, and they had new neighbors this year: the preschool was a welcome presence at this long Harker tradition, with teachers and the newest Eagles having fun in a pumpkin patch. Preschool teacher Tanya Burrell, enjoying her first family picnic, said that not only was it “exciting to see [the preschoolers] outside of the school setting, we’re seeing them explore some of the other booths. It’s nice that they’re part of the larger Harker community.”
Indeed, this event truly captured the community spirit that is so much a part of Harker.
This past week, a Harker cross country runner set a new course record, and the girls golf team posted the best score of any girls golf team in Harker’s history. Here are the scores and great performances from the first week of October:
Cross Country:
At the first WBAL cross country meet of the year, Corey Gonzales, grade 11, avenged the narrow defeat he suffered on that same course last year by setting a new course record of 14:47.5. In the very next race, freshman Niki Iyer won the 60m. Iyer’s winning time of 17:10.0 missed the course record by a single second. Senior Claudia Tischler ran her best race of the year, finishing in fifth place with an time of 18:08.
Girls Tennis:
Girls tennis defeated league rival Sacred Heart Prep this past Tuesday by a score of 4-3 to improve their record to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. Dora Tzeng grade 12, Izzy Gross, grade 1o, Sahithya Prakash,grade 12, and Arden Hu, grade 11, all won their singles matches. Two days later, the girls dropped their contest against state power Menlo, with Tzeng’s victory in her singles match serving as Harker’s only win of the day. This week, the girls head to play Crystal on the road and then return home to host Castilleja.
Girls Volleyball:
Both the junior varsity and varsity squads fell just shy of defeating Sacred Heart last Tuesday. Divya Kalidindi, grade 12, had 20 kills in varsity’s loss. The varsity team rebounded against Castilleja on Thursday, winning in five sets. They hit the road this week to face off against Priory and Menlo.
Water Polo:
Down four goals against Wilcox last Tuesday, the boys rallied back but ultimately came up short, dropping the game 14-12. Eric Holt, grade 11, scored five goals in the game. Karan Kurbur, grade 12, scored four. Billy Bloomquist, grade 11, scored two, and Jeremy Binkley, also grade 11, added a goal as well. The boys then headed to the Sobrato Tournament for the weekend, where they won one game and dropped two. The team’s record now stands at 5-9 overall. They start this week off against Cupertino.
The girls, meanwhile, dropped their game to Wilcox on Tuesday, 11-7, despite three goals from senior Anne Levine and more from Delaney Martin, grade 11, Yasemin Narin, grade 10, and Sheridan Tobin, grade 11. On Thursday, the girls eked out a 5-4 win against Monta Vista, led by Martin’s and junior Anushka Das’ two goals apiece.
Girls Golf:
The girls posted the best score ever for a Harker girls golf team this past Friday in a 199-211 loss to Sacred Heart Prep at Los Lagos. It took the best performance of any team in the league this season for Sacred Heart Prep to pull out a win and take sole possession of second place in the WBAL. A red-hot Kristine Lin, grade 12, earned her sixth medalist honors in as many matches, and Daphne Liang, grade 10, drained a 40-foot put on the ninth hole to make par. Harker is currently in third place in the WBAL with a 3-3 record.
Football:
Varsity football has its senior night this Friday against Livermore Valley Prep at 7 p.m.
Middle school students joined communities worldwide in celebrating the International Day of the Girl Child Oct. 11 – a day which raises awareness about the issues girls face both in the United States and on an international scale. Two years ago, in an effort to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face, the United Nations General Assembly officially declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. This year, the theme of the day was “Innovating for Girls’ Education.”
To mark it, middle school student Aliesa Bahri, grade 8, took it upon herself to organize a commemorative event on campus. She urged eighth graders to show their support for the cause by dressing in blue, and asked that sixth and seventh graders wear some type of blue accessory.
“I wanted to raise awareness about girl’s rights … and I chose the color blue since it is typically associated with boys and goes against the ‘pink is for girls’ stereotype,” explained Bahri.
She said she got the idea to organize the event from her affiliation with an organization called The Girls Leadership Institute (GLI), which seeks to help motivate girls to become leaders. Co-founded by educator and social entrepreneur Simone Marean and bestselling author and educator Rachel Simmons, GLI is a national nonprofit providing transformational programs to girls, their parents and their educational communities.
Bahri used the campus’ lunch hour on the Day of the Girl to hold a special video presentation for grade 7-8 students about the plight of girls in Pakistan, where just over half of all girls make it to a primary school classroom, and only 12 percent make it to secondary school.
A large group of students turned out for the video viewing, where plenty of snacks were on hand.
“Aliesa spearheaded the event and worked with me to see what could be done to raise awareness about this important issue,” recalled Cindy Ellis, middle school head.
According to the United Nation’s website, there is overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves. And, while there has been significant progress in improving girls’ access to education over the last two decades, many girls, particularly the most marginalized, continue to be deprived of this basic right.
Ellis cited some shocking statistics about girls, both here and abroad: one in three girls around the world is denied an education; in the developing world, one in seven girls is married before age 15; some 54 percent of girls in grades 3-5 worry about appearance and 37 percent about their weight; 57 percent of music videos feature women portrayed as sexual objects; and only 15 percent of top corporate American jobs are held by women.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Good morning. I would like to welcome the entire community, and in particular the classes of 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 to this year’s matriculation ceremony, a tradition that we as a community have practiced since the inaugural year of the upper school in 1998. I would also like to dedicate today’s ceremony to the memory and example of Jason Berry. The original theme of my talk was gratitude, which I believe still fits, as I am sure Mr. Berry would want us to be grateful for what we have and those who surround us. He would want us to have the best year possible.
In the early years of the upper school, when we were a smaller school, we bused the entire community to Villa Montalvo and in that lovely setting committed ourselves to the values expressed in the matriculation oath. Now we take the matriculation oath here, in what is affectionately known as the quad, tying together the values of the oath and the campus where we will honor those values.
The matriculation oath itself, though born with the upper school in 1998, reflects values dear to The Harker School since its founding by Frank Cramer in 1893 as Manzanita Hall. Lifelong learning, well-rounded programs, character and community have been the school’s mission since its beginning. We owe our gratitude to all of the students, teachers, staff and administrators who dedicated themselves to this school and its values over its long history. We are a reflection of their work; we hope to be what they hoped for; we owe it to them to carry the promise forward.
Today I am grateful for a video on gratitude sent to me by Harker parent Claude Cartee. The creator of the video, Dennis Prager, states that both goodness and happiness depend upon gratitude. He says that there has never been an ungrateful happy person in the history of humankind. By this logic it may be safe to assume that there has never been an ungrateful good person as well. We can only know this a priori of course. I am grateful I finally had an opportunity to use the phrase “a priori” in a speech.
I am also grateful for the opportunity I had this summer to travel to Tanzania with 11 wonderful students – Alyssa, Logan, Jonathan, Monica, Namrata, Lea, Shazdeh, Kenny, Parth, Raymond, Callie – and three adults – Dr. Dhoran, Dr. Kamins, and our own Ms. Anita Chetty, the true visionary of the trip. To commemorate the trip I am wearing my Tanzanian tie, a gift from the students, sporting the country’s colors, and made with small beads in the style of the Masai tribe’s traditional handicrafts. Allow me to indulge in a few inside jokes: the journalism jeep by far had the most swag; there were numerous Parth sightings; we found a Chipotle in Arusha; a leopard is difficult to “spot”; some of the big cats were “lyin’” around on the Serengeti.
This was a groundbreaking trip for Harker in many ways. It was the school’s first trip to sub-Saharan Africa, and the half-day eye clinic with the Masai tribe was our first direct service in Africa. 2013 saw another groundbreaking trip: the business and entrepreneurial trip to India. Harker students and faculty, with trips like these, are carrying on a long tradition of global citizenship, initiated in 1992 with the trailblazing exchange between the Tamagawa School in Tokyo, Japan, and The Harker School. Harker students were on five continents in this past summer alone, realizing the vision of fostering global citizenship that longtime head of school and current board chair Diana Nichols had for many decades.
I am grateful for witnessing our students’ willingness to serve during the eye clinic for the Masai villagers. Many Masai showed up to be tested for and potentially receive eye glasses that improved their near vision. We had Masai elders attend who most likely never had an eye exam or even a health exam, outside of what their traditional herbalist could offer. At the end of the clinic the elders of the Masai tribe were gathering in front of the school wearing their glasses. One 80-year-old grandmother sported a black pair of glasses with the word “sexy” written on the frame. It was heartwarming to watch our students set up their stations and get to work without complaint, like they had been working for the U.N. for years. The students also donated 15 goats to the village.
This same sense of service drove the students to raise funds to purchase books and deliver them to a village school outside Arusha. We met with the principal and the board chair of the school on a Saturday to give them the books. The principal said the books will propel his school to new heights. In a world where we can download “Moby Dick” on our cell phones while waiting in the grocery line, his students have just one book per 17 students. The school of almost a thousand students has just 14 teachers. Classes have close to 100 students in them.
The principal wanted to pass on a message to our students. He urged Harker students to take full advantage of their educational opportunities, to listen to their teachers and work hard. I deliver his message not because I doubt you will follow it or because I think you need reminding of the principal’s advice. I repeat his message for him, because I know that he would want to know that we have true gratitude for the rich academic and personal experience this community offers and that we do not take it for granted. I believe we owe it to him and his students to remind ourselves to be grateful for all we have.
This talk is perhaps not much more than the equivalent of what we used to hear from our parents at dinner: eat your vegetables because they are starving in Africa. I guess I am saying appreciate your books, your eyesight, your community, because not everyone is as fortunate as we are. There is one difference though, and that is the following: now we are hearing the same advice from real people who care that we care, and whom our students have directly met due to our global outreach.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen master, has said that we do not stop to be mindful of the miracle of our eyes, our ability to walk, our loved ones around us. I have often said that the world isn’t looking for more smart, evil people. The parts of our mission that speak to kindness, respect and global citizenship are as important as any, and our students are reflecting these values locally and globally every day. But it starts with gratitude, and that is what I wish for you this year. Thank you.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The much anticipated sound of children at play filled the first day of school at Harker Preschool, which officially opened for classes on Sept. 3.
“We had a wonderful and memorable first day! The teachers and administration can’t tell you how great it was to see our beautiful space finally filled with children. The best part was that smiling children, teachers and parents could be found on the way into school and the way out,” said Andrea Hart, preschool director.
Located on Union Avenue, Harker Preschool sits on an 8-acre site which was purchased by Harker from the county last year. Renovations had been underway since January to prepare for the preschool, which received final approval on July 18 from the state and licensing agency.
Following the excitement of getting the licensing – and launching a new preschool website – were outreach and marketing efforts that had been waiting until official license approval. Adding to the anticipation was a tremendous leaning in by the entire Harker community, with volunteer parents working alongside faculty and staff to help unpack boxes and get classrooms set up for the big day.
A flurry of official activities occurred just before the preschool’s grand opening, including a new parent orientation and a Little Visit event. The Little Visit day, which took place at the end of August, was designed to give both parents and children the opportunity to visit the school, become comfortable in the space, spend time with teachers and meet some classmates. Families were divided into two small groups per classroom and were able to play and explore in the cottages and out in the nearby yard.
Some of the preschool students have siblings attending The Harker School’s lower, middle and upper schools. “We’re very excited to add the preschool to our K-12 school community,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school.
The new play-based preschool will offer programs for 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds and transitional kindergartners. With a focus on child-centered learning and teacher-guided explorations, Harker Preschool offers a curriculum rich with music, art, movement and nature. All of the preschool teachers have college degrees and backgrounds working with children.
“We are building a very special place for young children, with kind, passionate and highly qualified teachers giving guidance. We also have a large, thoughtfully developed campus, and the best blend of early childhood education philosophies enabling children to develop and learn while engrossed in rich, hands-on play experiences,” said Hart.
A Bay Area native, Hart previously spent 11 years working as a teacher at the Bing Nursery School, the play-based laboratory preschool at Stanford University. She started her educational career years before that teaching in local Montessori preschools. Hart is also a former student of the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Columbia University.
“We are all so excited about the new preschool,” said longtime Harker employee Kelly Espinosa, who oversees the school’s summer and preschool programs. “It is a beautiful facility that promises to be a one- of-a-kind experience for young children,” she added.
For more information about the new Harker Preschool, contact preschool@harker.org. And look for updates about the new Union campus and preschool in continuous coverage by Harker Quarterly.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Summertime fun kicked into high gear at Harker this year, as enrollment for camps and other seasonal programming skyrocketed across all three campuses, resulting in a record-breaking number of participants.
Shortly after school let out, Harker opened its doors to the public, becoming a one-stop-summer-program-shop by extending its huge variety of offerings to K-12 students both locally and from around the globe.
According to Harker’s summer programs office, attendance at all summer happenings totaled 2,740 participants. On the Harker summer menu were: a camp for young kids, an institute for middle and high school-aged students, a program for foreigners to learn English, a large and varied sports camp, and a swim school that even adults could attend.
“We were thrilled and delighted at the incredible turnout for Harker summer this year!” enthused Kelly Espinosa, longtime director of summer programs. She noted that Harker has been providing outstanding summer programming for more than half a century.
In addition to the larger number in overall enrollment, there were exciting new happenings in both the English Language Institute (ELI) and Summer Institute (SI). At the lower school ELI saw a huge jump in enrollment specific to elementary school students. Meanwhile, at the upper school, SI successfully added specialty classes to its afternoon activity program.
“Harker summer had everything a camp consumer could want,” said Espinosa, adding that she was also pleased to see how many non-Harker students chose to spend their summer at the school.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Laughing and shielding their eyes from the sun, a group of Summer Institute (SI) participants casually tossed a Frisbee to one another out on Rosenthal Field. Meanwhile, in the upper school gym, another group of students playing volleyball couldn’t help but notice the delicious aroma from the nearby kitchen where a cooking class was underway.
From backyard games held on the field to volleyball boot camp and “cooking corner” in the gym and kitchen, SI students this past summer enjoyed brand new specialty class period offerings.
It was all part of Harker’s increasingly popular Summer Institute program, held on the Saratoga campus.
Open both to Harker students and the general public in grades 6-12, the institute ran from June 17 through Aug. 9.
Holding a plate of freshly made scrambled eggs in her cooking class, Romina Parimi, a grade 6 student at San Jose’s Challenger Berryessa School, called it her favorite special activity.
As a non-Harker student and first-time participant to SI, she said she was impressed by how beautiful the upper school campus was. “The academics are good; the activities are good!” she enthused.
The unique specialty classes were available via SI’s afternoon activity program (A.P.) where many middle school-aged students like Parimi signed up for courses, which changed weekly. In addition to outdoor games, volleyball and cooking, other rotating class options included art, jewelry-making, magic, improv, dance, tech, junior lifeguard, chess and circus arts.
SI had two separate tracks, one designed for middle schoolers and another geared toward high school students. SI participants typically combined a morning academic program with afternoon activities, allowing them to earn credits and learn new skills, yet still have plenty of time left over for summertime fun.
The institute’s academic portion offered rigorous for-credit courses such as algebra, economics and programming, as well as non-credit opportunities for enrichment and growth like creative writing, Web design, debate and robotics. A driver’s education course was available for students aged 15 and up.
For middle school participants A.P. provided many options for specialty classes and recreational activities. Weekly sessions were divided by themes, such as superhero, western, fantasy, Harry Potter, Disney and animation.
There were also off-campus field trips every couple of weeks to such hot spots as the shoreline, the Tech Museum and Capitola.
“The wide range of choices and flexibility allowed each student to design a schedule around his or her own academic needs and personal interests,” explained Keith Hirota, summer middle school director.
Grade 9 students had the option to either participate in A.P. or join the older high school students who had no organized afternoon activity program but enjoyed free, drop-in access to the library, pool, art room, Ping-Pong table, basketball courts and study spaces. For all grades, an on-site prepared lunch was included.
According to Hirota, a total of 920 middle and upper school students were enrolled in the summer’s overall SI program, of which 550 participants were non-Harker students. He added that an average of 80-85 students per week attended A.P., with about 50 of those individuals coming from the general public.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The hot, late-afternoon sun could not deter a group of lower school English Language Institute (ELI) students from heading outdoors for recess, where they located a shady spot by the play structure and happily constructed a tower out of wooden blocks.
Although the group spoke several different languages, they expertly communicated in the silent yet universally understood language of childhood play. Few words were spoken, but concentration ran high as the group stacked block upon block.
Once satisfied with their work, they took time out to talk (with interpretive help from a counselor) to Harker News Online about their experience in the school’s growing ELI program for elementary school-aged children held at the Blackford campus.
Nine-year-old ELI student Helen Kozak shared that going on a field trip to the beach at Santa Cruz reminded her of being back home in Ukraine, where she lives near the sea. “I like the ocean very much,” she said in remarkably good English, adding, “I swim all day long.”
In addition to swimming, her favorite things about ELI were archery, circus arts and computer lab. “I liked it all,” said Kozak, who has been to the United States several times but never before in the ELI program.
“My favorite thing about ELI was recess!” enthused 11-year-old Aaron Guo of China.
The first-time ELI participant added that his second favorite activity was basketball. He also liked all the “fun outings” to places like the Golden Gate Bridge and tide pools at the ocean.
Each summer the lower and upper school campuses are filled with excited students like Kozak and Guo, who come from abroad to improve their English speaking and writing abilities. And this year the lower school had a greater number of attendees than in previous years; in the lower school alone there were children from China, Korea, Japan, Ukraine and Turkey.
According to Anthony Wood, ELI director, the program saw a notable increase in enrollment at the beginner level, with more foreign students over at the Blackford campus than ever before, requiring a total of four classes. Older students (middle and high school-aged) attended ELI on the Saratoga campus.
ELI initially began as a year-round boarding school, which closed in 2001. Its current summer program evolved and has been around since 2004. There were more than 60 students enrolled for the secondary division over the course of this summer, and at least 55 enrolled in the primary division.
Many ELI students and their families learned about the institute via the recommendation of American friends or relatives familiar with the program. But long before Harker launched the successful ELI program, the school had already earned a worldwide reputation for being among the finest in the United States, which further explains why ELI annually attracts students from diverse Asian and European countries.
The ELI program runs for an eight-week intensive session and is always kicked off with a welcome reception for ELI participants and their guardians. Students ages 6-16 are bound for American boarding schools, universities or internationally-based primarily English-speaking schools. They come to Harker to prepare for and increase their chances of admission to their next educational institution.
For the younger ELI students, formal class instruction is combined with enrichment programs, such as swimming and playing games. Often ELI students are able to join in activities with children attending the regular on-site summer camp, allowing them to have fun while improving language skills.
Karen Glovka, ELI primary program teacher, said the program for younger students teaches English in the context of what children like to do. True beginners who know no English learn greetings, colors, shapes, numbers, the alphabet (names of letters and sounds) and school and family vocabulary. Students with more developed skills work on reading, writing and computer
skills.
“We strive to keep the learning fun,” explained Glovka, who for the past 10 years has also taught Spanish during the regular school year at Harker’s lower school.
The most advanced ELI students, usually middle and high school students, stay at the Saratoga campus and work on special projects tailored to their needs, including SAT preparation. They are assisted by mentors (called buddies or conversation partners) who are Harker juniors, seniors or recent graduates.
These older ELI students receive visits from admissions directors from some of the finest boarding schools worldwide, who come to Harker personally to meet with them and give presentations about what their schools have to offer.
Joe Rosenthal, Harker’s executive director of advancement and the former director of Harker’s boarding program, is also a frequent guest lecturer to the ELI program on the topic of studying in the United States. This past spring Rosenthal organized a series of receptions in Asia on behalf of ELI, which provided a chance for the school to reconnect with several alumni now residing there.
At the end of their time at Harker, ELI students, upon full completion of either a three- or seven- week course, are eligible to receive a certificate (handed out during an official closing ceremony) and recommendation from their teachers.
On field trip days ELI students of all ages can be seen sporting green program T-shirts as they head out for cultural adventures to such diverse attractions as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Exploratorium, Academy of Sciences, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Santa Cruz Natural Bridges State Park and the Tech Museum.
Some ELI participants and their guardians opt to live with friends and relatives in the area. Others choose to stay at The Marriott Residence Inn, which made housing available for ELI students this year.
ELI participants at both the lower and upper schools may come with the primary goal of being able to travel, speak and learn in the States, yet they often leave with something they might not have anticipated: wonderful memories and strong ties to their new Harker community!
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
It was “the summer of wow!” over at the lower school’s Summer Camp+ program, just as the colorful sign which hung near the entrance to the Bucknall campus proclaimed.
The wow factor was evident at Camp+, where children could be seen joyfully climbing up a rock structure, hula hooping and cooling off in the pool or with a water mat and hose out on the field.
Indeed, campers were able to choose from a wide array of appropriate age-related activities, creating the perfect environment for youngsters in K-6 to let loose and have some fun outdoors following earlier morning indoor academics.
Students had the choice of enrolling in either CoreFocus or LOL (Learning Opportunities in Literature) for the academic portion of the day. CoreFocus was a three- or four-week math- and language arts-focused program. LOL was a two-week integrated curriculum centered around a literary theme. Both programs left room for the optional added afternoon activity program.
Each year, a spirited four-way game of “color clash” kicks off the beginning of the fun Camp+ activities. The traditional gathering, held in the Bucknall gymnasium, groups students on yellow, red, green and blue teams in an array of silly games cheered on by captains (aka camp counselors) wearing color-coordinated outfits that run the gamut from superheroes to hula skirts and silly hats. Kindergartners stay for the beginning of color clash before heading outside to the lawn where they have their own special activities, including art projects.
Enthusiasm ran high at this year’s event, held in June. In a nice gesture of team spirit, campers got bonus points for loudly cheering for not only their own group but for everyone
else as well. (Check out all the action in this video taken at the program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_LDnLG7U7c)
“Go, team yellow!” shouted camper and second grader Enzo Lucketti, also a regular student at the lower school. His favorite things about camp were climbing on the rock structure outside and getting his study skills up in the academic portion of his day.
According to Joe Chung, program director of Camp+ and an elementary computer science teacher, there was something for everyone in the program. On-site highlights included a patriotic games bash, water carnival, sleepover for older campers, presentation for parents and birthday celebration for camp mascot “Ray.” Campers also partook in numerous off-site field trips, including local outings for bowling and miniature golf and more distant trips to the Oakland Zoo and Coyote Point.
Afternoon activities were grouped by ages and weeks, with kindergartners attending kindercamp. First and second graders were in the owls group, third and fourth graders were called condors, and fifth and sixth graders were referred to as eagles. This year, the first session of camp included such themes as wow, whamo, wipe out and work out. The second session featured weeks called wisdom of wizards, waiting on winter and wonders of wildlife.
“This was my third time at Camp+, and I really recommend it!” enthused grade 3 student Alexis Nishimura. To her, the best part about camp was “hanging out with friends,” followed by “all the fun activities and outings.”
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
For more than a decade, Harker’s summer tech grant program has enabled Harker teachers to find new and exciting ways to enhance and diversify the ways they teach, whether it be creating engaging presentations, providing students with access to more learning resources or simply finding better ways to organize homework and in-class assignments.
Lower school English teacher Katie Molin decided to acclimate herself more to some of the Chromebook applications that her students will be using during the year. “As an English teacher, I’m always interested in ways to make the teaching of essay writing easier, the grading of essays more efficient, and the feedback more meaningful,” she said.
To accomplish this, she learned how to use Google Docs as a way for students to submit their work. “Google Docs will allow me to give the students more detailed feedback on their writing. It will be easier for them to edit their work, and I will know when they think they have ‘fixed’ the problem,” she said. “Their work will be stored and accessible now in a way it wasn’t before.”
Molin’s students will also use Blogger, another Google product, to post responses to short stories. She also plans to use her own blog to inform parents about their students’ classwork.
In order to show lower and middle school English teachers how to use Membean, a new online vocabulary program, English teacher Patricia Lai Burrows created tools that explained how the program works and how to show students to use it. “I created videos using Google Hangout on Air to navigate through the Membean teacher dashboard, understand the class statistics and create quizzes,” she said. “As part of this process, I learned how to create YouTube channels to house all my videos, and also to include Google Effects to enhance and add some humor to the presentations.”
Burrows said her training tools would help ease the burden on teachers as they prepared for another school year. “I know how daunting it is for a teacher to have to learn a new tool while prepping for the coming year and adjusting to all the other changes that naturally occur in a new year,” she said. “I wanted to create resources that would manage teacher stress associated with learning a completely new program like this one.”
She further added that the tech grant program is a great opportunity for faculty to learn skills that will benefit both themselves and their students. “I am grateful that the school encourages this kind of professional development, and it appears to me to be a win-win situation,” she said.
Building on their tech grant project from last year, upper school librarian Meredith Cranston and history teacher Julie Wheeler created an online area where AP Government students can create websites devoted to a topic they will be focusing on during the school year.
“We liked the political discussions they were having on the blog, but we wanted them to get more into media analysis, looking at where they were getting their political news, what perspectives these news sources might have, and just thinking a little more critically about media messages in general,” Cranston said.