This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Among the major highlights of the year for Butch Keller, upper school head, is visiting with Harker alumni at college campuses throughout the United States.
The trip, now affectionately called the Keller Tour, began in spring 2009 when he and his wife, Jane, an upper school math teacher, headed to New York to attend a performance by the Harker Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Several alumni living in the area heard the Kellers were in town and asked them to stop by. Soon after, requests were flooding in from other alumni to “come out and see us,” recalled Butch Keller.
Today, there are additional shorter visits in addition to the big East Coast trip. Keller uses the tour as an opportunity to not only stay in touch with alumni, but to visit with them while they are still in college, gaining invaluable feedback on how well Harker prepared them for university life.
This fall, the Kellers paid visits to alumni attending the University of California, Berkeley, Chapman University and Pepperdine University; in the winter they traveled to the Claremont Colleges; and the traditional spring break tour took them to Duke University, University of North Carolina, Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University.
“This was one of the best trips because I knew all the classes at each school,” said Butch Keller, explaining that when he initially started the tour there were alumni who had graduated prior to his becoming upper school head. “Catching up with students who had a direct relationship with us was incredibly rewarding.”
“I continue to be amazed at how excited everyone is to see each other. We also remain impressed by the appreciation the alums express for the visit,” added Jane Keller.
Trip highlights included bringing alumni from different colleges together for group dinners, updating them on Harker happenings and touring each campus. Next year the Kellers plan to visit the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as at least two other schools, as of yet unconfirmed.
After four years running the Keller Tour, Butch Keller said he is thrilled to be able to report that “our alumni are happy and having a lot of fun in college.”
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The beautiful new Union campus was the site of the third annual Easter egg hunt for Harker alumni families. Held in March, the event attracted more than 100 attendees, triple the number of participants over previous years.
For many alumni it was their first visit to Harker’s recently acquired third campus, home of the soon-to-be-launched preschool opening this fall, and future permanent site of the lower school.
Some of the alumni who came out for the fun family event are now themselves parents of current Harker students (or soon-to-be Eagles).
Adding to the festive mood were a bounce house and arts and crafts tables complete with child-friendly, make-it-yourself projects, including egg-shaped magnets, bunny masks and color-your-own crowns. A visit by the Easter bunny rounded out the morning.
“It was a wonderful day shared with family and friends,” enthused MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations. “Being on the new campus and watching past generations and future Eagles all together was an added bonus for our special alumni community.”
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Military schools were very popular during the years surrounding World War II, when John Dell ’44 attended Harker’s historic predecessor, the Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA).
Today, the 81-year-old former fire ranger and expedition leader credits the school, which was an elementary and middle school for boys, with playing a key role in shaping his life.
“It was a time I began to develop my self-confidence along with important social skills. PAMA instilled an appreciation for humility, sensitivity, perseverance and the value of teamwork. It certainly taught me basic military disciplinary skills that would later serve me well as a combat U.S. Marine during the Korean War … and beyond in my career as a ranger and forest fire staff specialist,” said Dell, a native Californian who now resides in Tucson, Ariz.
Dell said that among his fondest memories of PAMA were the “exhilarating rides” in the bike patrol through the back roads and countryside around Palo Alto, which was still a small community. “And the hotdogs, chips, ice cream and movies downtown on Saturdays were also major highlights. I loved it all!” he enthused.
After working for 30 years with the U.S. Forest Service in California and the Pacific Northwest regions, Dell, whose wife had recently passed away, embarked on a second career as an adjunct instructor at Arizona’s Pima Community College.
There he taught natural and cultural histories of the Southwest and conducted educational study tours throughout the region and to many foreign countries. He also led local wilderness hiking trips and mountain climbing and canyoneering expeditions.
He eventually returned to college himself, to explore new areas and skills, receiving a B.A. in communications from Brigham Young University.
Dell participated in several humanitarian missions to Afghanistan as a board director with the Childlight Foundation for Afghan Children (childlightfoundation.org). The nonprofit humanitarian organization was started by his daughter, Diana Tacey, and strives to aid the destitute children of Afghanistan, many orphaned and displaced by nearly 40 years of devastating wars.
Just last year he retired from these incredible activities and is currently working on a book about his life experiences. Dell is not new to writing, having published more than 50 professional papers and articles on forest fire ecology and protection. He is also the author of the “Southern Arizona Trails Resource Guide.”
“I owe thanks to the colonel and all his staff. They were great people,” said Dell, who has enjoyed reflecting back upon his time at PAMA and looks forward to the continued chronicling of his fascinating life in his own soon-to-be written publication.
Editor’s note: When Dell attended PAMA it was under the direction of Colonel Richard Kelly. The school (like Dell’s own life) saw many changes. Donald Nichols assumed leadership of PAMA in 1950 and The Harker Day School in 1959. He merged the two schools under the name Harker Academy in 1972. Howard Nichols succeeded his father in 1973, dropping the military program while expanding academics and other program offerings at what later became The Harker School.
This acceptance marked the first time Lin had ever sold a story, which was recently featured in the prestigious magazine’s special section for science fiction short stories called “Futures.”
“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” she said of the story acceptance, the best birthday present any young writer could ask for. Lin is double majoring in comparative literature and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Lin said she got the idea for the short story several years ago when she went on a “Wikipedia tangent” and discovered Sarajevo roses, which are deformations in the concrete caused by mortar shell explosions that are later filled with red resin as a memorial to the dead.
“As the concrete is being replaced in Sarajevo, these roses are disappearing. When I read that, I was immediately struck by the enigma of how they came to be, and I thought it was a terrible loss that they were being wiped out by construction. Three years later, I still hadn’t forgotten about them! It occurred to me that I could weave these two ideas together. Immediately, I had this vision of a flower boy in a fantastical war-torn city,” she said.
Ever since her days at Harker, Lin’s writing career has been on a fast track for success. Back in 2011 and 2012 she was recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers when she won two annual Scholastic Art & Writing awards (both national silver medals) in the novel writing category. The second one she accepted at Carnegie Hall in New York City last June.
Lin recalled that during the awards ceremony, “Whoopi Goldberg and Meryl Streep gave very inspiring presentations about the importance of art and its impact on society. I will always remember something Meryl Streep said, which was that the gift of writers is to express the things that we all feel, but are unable to put into words.”
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Every spring the graduating class is inducted into the Harker Alumni Association during a special luncheon held in the Nichols Hall atrium. This year’s event, welcoming the Class of 2013, occurred at the end of May.
A highlight of the induction was the unveiling of the senior class gift, a monetary contribution of more than $9,000 to be used towards the installation and maintenance of the water filters and refilling stations located on the upper school campus.
Through class fundraising and their senior donations, the students rallied together to create a surplus of funds which was directed towards purchasing a bench in memory of Sandy Padgett. The bench will be the focal point of an outdoor classroom. A beloved and original member of the upper school faculty and founding director of Harker’s college counseling program, Padgett passed away on April 22.
A donation from the graduating class will also be made to The Sandy Padgett Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund, already established by Harker’s advancement department.
In addition to welcoming seniors as alumni and presenting class gifts, the induction lunch also provided an opportunity to announce the group’s class agents, provide seniors with a gift from the office (a laundry bag complete with instructions on how to use it) and the drafting of senior memories and “shout-outs.”
According to MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations, bringing in the newest alumni class is all part of Harker’s “K through Life” approach. “The seniors are moving on but realizing we are always here for them, whether we visit their college or they come by to have lunch with a favorite teacher,” she said.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Talk of Broadway and the big screen took on a new reality for upper school Conservatory students following a recent “Life in the Arts” workshop with guest speaker Gary King ’87.
This past spring King, an award-winning filmmaker and director, returned to Harker to discuss his unique road to show business with the aspiring performing arts students. He also gave a behind-the-scenes look at his new hit indie film, “How Do You Write a Joe Schermann Song?”
Accompanying him was Broadway and film actress Christina Rose, who plays the lead role in his movie, which was released earlier this year and has received awards at venues such as the Raindance and Phoenix film festivals. King and Rose showed a trailer of the movie and spoke candidly about their experiences working in today’s rapidly changing entertainment industry.
Many of the students found it hard to believe that King, who serves as the director, writer and producer of his films, never studied acting at Harker or anywhere!
“I didn’t study performing arts at Harker, nor did I go to film school in college. I received a master’s in psychology way back in the day. I’m self-taught when it comes to filmmaking,” said King, who was reached for comment following his Harker visit.
Although he had loved cinema from a young age, King never thought to make a career out of it until after spending a few unfulfilling years working in the field of human resources.
“Talking with the students was exciting as it was amazing to see how talented and eager they are to learn and grow within their areas of interest. They surely are taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities Harker offers to them,” he said.
He recalled how Harker gave him a well-rounded education, taught him responsibility and prepared him for the future by giving him the tools to succeed. “It definitely made a difference in my life,” affirmed King, whose work is best known for delivering powerful performances with an emphasis on a strong, visual style.
The duo advised workshop attendees to expect setbacks, but not become defeated by them.
“Coming back to Harker was a complete shock,” mused King, who couldn’t believe how much everything had changed. “I’m glad that one thing which has remained the same is the faculty’s passion for the school and their students,” he said.
The middle school production of the punk-sci-fi musical “Starmites” took audiences on a wildly colorful romp through a young teenager’s imagination on May 10-11 at the Blackford Theater.
Directed by Monica Colletti, this energetic, rock music-driven story centers on Eleanor (Mia Giammona, grade 8), a withdrawn teenager who retreats into the world of the characters in her comic book collection, where she meets the heroic Starmites, who are engaged in a battle with the evil Shak Graa (Emre Ezer, grade 8) to decide the fate of Innerspace. Eleanor and her new friends then set out on a journey to find a powerful musical instrument known as the Cruelty before Shak Graa can obtain it and use it for his own ends.
The set, designed, as always, by Paul Vallerga, also kept the adventurous and raucous spirit of the musical, with its multi-levels and angular shapes. Natti Pierce-Thomson’s lighting design deftly handled the shifting moods of the story.
Two more Harker students were named college-sponsored National Merit scholarship winners on July 15. Rebecca Fang and Joshua Bollar both received a scholarship from the University of Southern California, bringing the total number of this year’s Harker National Merit winners to 11. Congratulations!
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In April and May, nine Harker seniors were named winners of National Merit scholarships in this year’s National Merit Scholarship Contest. Erik Andersen was awarded a corporate-sponsored scholarship from the Lockheed Martin Corporation Foundation. These scholarships offer annual stipends to students, ranging from $500 to $1,000 per year for up to four years of undergraduate education.
Winners of the National Merit $2,500 scholarships are Paulomi Bhattacharya, Ashvin Swaminathan, Emily Wang, Pranav Sharma, Joy Li, Nayeon Kim, Kyle Roter and Wendy Shwe. These students will receive single payments of $2,500, which can be used at an accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
This year’s winners are among 8,300 nationwide, who make up less than one percent of the approximately 1.5 million entries in this year’s contest. Students are selected based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
More winners are set to be named on July 15. Watch this space!
Toward the end of the school year, Harker’s lower and middle school faculty were treated to two delicious meals expertly prepared and served by both parents and students. The breakfast and luncheon events were a token of appreciation for all the teachers’ hard work.
Following a hearty breakfast in the multipurpose room, the middle school teachers enjoyed a moving presentation that thanked them for their dedication. Then, in the afternoon, middle school parents continued the festivities by hosting an elegant luncheon for the teachers.
The lower school also held a teacher appreciation luncheon with a special breakfast served by parents. The Bucknall event took place in the faculty lounge. Later, lower school teachers joined parents for an outdoor lunch held on the school’s front field. Parents thanked teachers for their unconditional dedication to their students. Attendees enjoyed the glorious weather, a wide variety of entrees and desserts and easy conversation.
The lower and middle school appreciation breakfast and luncheon events are a much-beloved annual Harker tradition, caringly organized by class grade level coordinators at each campus.
In May the middle school’s Enlight’ning Club held its annual magazine kick-off celebration. During the well-attended late-afternoon event, talented students featured in the literary arts magazine proudly read and discussed their work.
Created in 2002 as an opportunity for selected students to publish outstanding writing and art, the magazine is produced by the club, which, for years, had met weekly during the school day in the second semester to solicit and evaluate magazine submissions. Last year the club expanded to also meet once a week during the first semester to get a behind-the-scenes look into the process of putting together the magazine.
Enlight’ning is recognized by the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), American Scholastic Press Association and Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) for its exemplary product. In fact, it has placed as a gold medalist by CSPA and a silver medalist by NSPA in previous scholastic literary journal competitions.