This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Middle school students embarked on an exciting language immersion trip to Costa Rica in late July. The journey started with ziplining through Costa Rica’s lush rainforest. Later, the students headed to the ACCE language school, where they sat in with the local students and impressed the instructors with their level of Spanish usage.
Among the more eye-opening parts of the trip was the visit to La Carpio, an area outside the Costa Rican capital city of San Jose that houses approximately 34,000 people, mostly poor immigrants from Nicaragua. There, the students helped the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation by painting buildings and helping to promote a health fair to the local population.
Other highlights included a visit to Manuel Antonio National Park, participating in a talent show at a local K-12 private school and a fun scavenger hunt in the city of Grecia, where students were required to speak to the citizens in Spanish to complete their tasks.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Several upper school students traveled to Switzerland in June to meet with their friends at Collège de Gambach, practice their French and explore the country’s beautiful scenery and culture. Their first day at Collège de Gambach consisted of a tour of the campus and a board game with German and French speakers.
One of the group’s favorite stops was the Cailler Chocolate factory, where they learned about the history of chocolate and how it is made. They also sampled a variety of cocoa beans and, as expected, the many varieties of chocolate made by the company.
Later, in Lausanne, the students boarded a steamboat to Vevey, where the food company Nestlé is headquartered. There, they visited the Alimentarium, a cooking museum where the students learned about the history of food preparation, cooking utensils and even table manners. Their final day at Collège de Gambach was spent eating lunch and enjoying time with their Swiss friends.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
This year’s upper school summer adventure to Japan had students visiting many of the country’s famous landmarks and historical sites. During their first couple of days, the students headed to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima to hear an account from a person who survived the first atomic bombing; they later visited Miyajima to enjoy the scenery and wildlife.
After disembarking the bullet train in Kyoto, the students had a great time in the former Japanese capital, spending the night at a temple and attending a morning prayer session. While in Kyoto, they visited a number of famous temples, including the Golden Pavilion, and interacted with the locals in Japanese.
During their visit to Harker’s sister school, Tamagawa Academy in Tokyo, the students met their host buddies for the first time and began their homestays. After a few days of fun and bonding with their Tamagawa buddies, the students said their goodbyes and headed home.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
In August, lower school math teacher Diane Plauck trekked to Australia, where she served as this year’s exchange teacher at St. Stephen’s College, located on the continent’s Gold Coast. Plauck taught math to the school’s grade 6 and 7 students and also participated in the math lab the students attend on Thursdays. Plauck also observed a number of classes being taught at St. Stephen’s, such as music, handwriting and math.
As a guest of the school, Plauck was treated to several fun-filled trips and outings, including a visit to New South Wales to see the Sydney Opera and a flight above Byron Bay in a single- engine microlight airplane.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Naomi Molin, grade 10, spent a month in Australia from mid-June to mid-July on a trip to further explore her interest in the performing arts as well as to see the many fascinating sights the country has to offer. Another bonus was, of course, spending time with her friends at St. Stephen’s College.
Her fun-filled trip included a dance workshop with two members of the London cast of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which was followed by a viewing of the show. She also participated in the St. Stephen’s spirit activities, which included many aspects of Australian aboriginal culture, such as a dance, face painting and throwing boomerangs.
Molin’s host family even took her on a trip to Australia’s world-renowned Great Barrier Reef, where they explored the area’s islands and towns and viewed crocodiles, kangaroos, wallabies and other animals at a wildlife education center.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
From late July to early August, upper school students traveled to Costa Rica to create and present research projects at the University of Georgia’s Costa Rica campus at San Luis. The students spent their time observing local wildlife in the field and doing lab work on their findings. Some of the topics students researched included intra-species bird calls, hermit crab activity and plankton diversity.
The students later presented the results of their research to an appreciative audience at a symposium held at the UGA campus. During breaks from their research, the students went to a science fair being held at a local elementary school, went ziplining over the Costa Rican cloud forest, visited a bat jungle and went rafting.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA) graduate William Mathews Brooks ’67 found something unique scuba diving in the Indonesian seas: a new species of coral reef fish. The discovery was the cover story in the April edition of the International Journal of Ichthyology.
“The fish is specifically of the goby (Gobiidae) genus,” explained Brooks, who named the species – a brightly colored orange and pink fish with a distinctive bright yellow mid-lateral stripe that runs horizontally down the side of its body – Eviota pamae.
This new species is named pamae in honor of Pamela Scott Rorke, Brooks’ wife and diving companion on the expedition that uncovered the fish.
A successful businessman and entrepreneur, Brooks is well known in adventuring circles for his passion for the outdoors. An avid climber, mountaineer and alpinist, he is a certified international mountain guide and founder of Brooks-Range Mountaineering Equipment Co. He is also a longtime certified scuba diving instructor who began diving in college in the early 1970s.
Brooks was twice decorated by the American Mountain Guides Association, once in 2010 and again in 2012. He collected that organization’s two most prestigious awards, the Presidential Gold Medal and Lifetime Achievement Award, and is its honorary past-president.
He credits Harker with giving him the tools he needed early on to able to lead such a successful life. “PAMA provided me with a wonderful academic and moral base. When I first entered the school I was a struggling student …. By the time I left I excelled and became a merit scholar,” he recalled.
Spectators arrived in droves to the upper school campus’ Davis Field for this year’s Homecoming, attended by families – both new and returning — from all of Harker’s four campuses.
Even though it occurred at a much earlier date than usual, and with slightly warmer weather, the event still retained the atmosphere that has made it a favorite with the Harker community. Prior to the game, early arrivals enjoyed food prepared by Harker parents at the parking lot tailgate area and by Harker’s kitchen staff, who served various dishes from the Mrs. Carley’s Café trailer, now a beloved tradition of every Homecoming. Grade 9 students sold pizza, sodas and candy to raise funds for various projects and spirit activities.
Younger attendees, meanwhile, had a blast at Rosenthal Field, where several bounce houses were set up so they could jump to their heart’s content. Others played schoolyard games and tossed Frisbees and footballs back and forth.
Back at Davis Field, onlookers enjoyed watching the first of two tug-of-war contests, with grade 10 defeating the Class of 2017. Spectators then watched performances by the lower school’s junior cheer squad and the upper school’s varsity dancers. Harker’s upper school jazz band, led by Chris Florio, also performed throughout the evening from their perch overlooking the field from the bleachers.
As the contest between Harker and Mount Pleasant drew nearer, the crowd enjoyed one of Homecoming’s most anticipated traditions, the Eaglets’ “Fly Through,” with lower school students adorned in eagle costumes performing a dance routine to the familiar strains of Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle.”
Shortly after the Harker Eagles burst through the Gauntlet of Spirit, flanked by members of Harker’s various cheer teams, singers from the lower, middle and upper school campuses gathered mid-field for a rousing version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” directed by Jennifer Sandusky.
As the Eagles faced off against Mount Pleasant, the festivities continued both on the field and in the tailgate area. While the boosters in the stands cheered on their Eagles, Harker alumni in attendance met and reminisced in the special alumni area and parents socialized, while students relished the opportunity to spend more time with their friends.
“I like how there’s a lot of spirit and happiness,” said Angele Yang, grade 6. “It’s really fun and you can meet all of your friends, and it’s really fun to watch the game.”
Come halftime, the upper school cheer squad took to the field to entertain the crowd, and the Class of 2014 bested the juniors in the final tug-of-war contest of the year.
Upper school math teacher Victor Adler, dean of the class of 2014, then introduced this year’s Homecoming Court, who circled the field before the announcement of Adithram Rengaramchandran, grade 12, and Renu Singh, grade 11, as this year’s Homecoming King and Queen.
Although Harker lost the game 52-26 to Mount Pleasant, those in attendance still enjoyed the time spent bonding with other members of the community. “A lot of fun things go on. A lot of kids are having fun, so it’s a great event,” said parent Kim Hailey (Chris, grade 9). “A lot of great people and parents are at the school, and it’s good for them to get together.”
The middle school’s recent Harker Harvest Hootenanny was the first spirit event of the school year for students in grades 6-8. Held out on the field of the Blackford campus, the fun afternoon assembly gave middle school students a sneak peek at some of the games that will be played at the upcoming Harker Harvest Festival, the school’s 63rd annual Family & Alumni Picnic.
Gathering by house and advisories, the students listened to information about the upcoming festival before participating in three field games: a barnyard animal impression contest, potato sack race and spoon balancing competition. The games were set up as advisory versus advisory events, with the winners of each going on to represent their house in further contests. The overall winning house received special spirit points and got to go to lunch first on the next school day.
“It was the first major event to make use of our new house parents – volunteers who help us with various house activities and spirit events,” reported middle school English teacher Mark Gelineau, who helped organize the hootenanny.
Gelineau explained that there are four houses in the middle school, with students placed in a house by their advisory and remaining there during their entire middle school duration. Each house contains students from every grade, with house names coming from the Harker school seal.
The four middle school houses are Praestantia, which means excellence, and is symbolized by a lion; Scientia, which stands for knowledge, illustrated by a dragon; Beneficium, meaning service, depicted by a knight; and Constantia, for character, represented by a horse.
According to Gelineau, each advisory chose students to be their representatives for the potato-sack race, the spoon carry, and the barnyard animal impression contest.
“With all four houses cheering them on, the potato-sack racers were a vision of speed and grace as they hopped and shambled across the field, but ultimately, it was Praestantia House that took that event. The spoon race involved balancing a golf ball on a spoon and running as quickly as possible without dropping it. Beneficium House took the glory there. Then finally, for the barnyard animal impression contest, incredibly convincing pig noises sealed it for Praestantia House, giving them overall victory,” said Gelineau.
Congrats to five singers who have earned spots in the prestigious American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Coastal Region Honor Choir! With more than 300 singers auditioning, all five Harker singers were named to the choir. Named to the mixed choir was Ishanya Anthapur, grade 11 (alto 2). Named to the women’s choir were: Katie Chung, grade 10 (soprano 2); Maya Nandakumar, grade 11 (alto 2); Sahanna Narayan, grade 10 (soprano 1); Simran Singh, grade 11 (alto 1).
The number indicates what part – high alto or soprano (1) or low alto or soprano (2) – each girl will sing in the choir at its performance Nov. 23, 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. Each girl’s audition included an Italian art song (40 points), tonal memory (25 points), sight reading (20 points), and scales and triads (15 points).
“It is range and voice quality that determines their placement into a voice part,” noted Susan Nace, a Harker choir director at the upper school. The girls’ audition will next be measured against other qualifiers from the state to determine who goes on to the state honor choir. Please congratulate these girls when you see them!