This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
From the moment donors set foot on the recently acquired Union Avenue property, they knew they had made the right choice in supporting the historic purchase of the new campus, helping to ensure Harker’s future for generations to come.
“It already feels like home,” was an oft-repeated sentiment among the select groups of donors who enjoyed two recent separate viewings of the site – home to Harker’s soon-to-be-launched preschool and future location of its lower school.
Before much construction got under way, the advancement department treated the campaign supporters to “sneak peeks” of the beautiful new campus, as a way to say “thank you” and celebrate their giving to the capital campaign, which helped fund the purchase.
The first campus tour, held Feb. 7, was for major, visionary benefactors, while the second, on Feb. 25, was attended by donors who had given to Phase IV of the capital campaign.
After enjoying lunch and a campus update on plans for the space, donors took a tour through the buildings, roamed the grounds and had an opportunity to have all their questions answered. The tour included many interesting and heartwarming sites, including a state-of-the-art cafeteria, hand-painted tiles and assorted play structures. Left behind in the art room on an old chalkboard was a quote from B.B. King which read, “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
John Keller (Devin, grade 5; Haley, grade 7; Johnathon, grade 9; Michael ’07), a major benefactor to the capital campaign, said that for him giving is all about the students. “At the end of the day, it goes back to the kids. And our kids are the most important thing we have,” he said.
Calling the Union property a “knock-out,” he added that “looking into the future this could be my favorite campus.”
Donor Jeff Rothschild said that even though his son, Isaac, is a junior who will soon graduate from Harker, he believes funding the new campus is an opportunity to “pay it forward.” Rothschild, a new member of the Board of Fellows, said he feels fortunate for his son to be enjoying the upper school campus facilities that others helped fund and is now thrilled to be a part of “this wonderful new opportunity” to do the same with the Union property.
Following the special donor tours, early March saw two more sneak peeks, one for Harker faculty and staff and the other for Harker families. Finally, about 100 attendees enjoyed the popular annual alumni Easter egg hunt, which was held on the morning of March 23 on the new Union campus.
During that event the sounds of laughing children filled the air, even as several buildings and some of the grounds were in various states of remodeling, serving as a reminder that this beautiful new site is quickly becoming an important part of the Harker community.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The 2013 Harker Golf Classic and Wine Tasting provided a fantastic day for golf enthusiasts and wine drinkers alike, who gathered first at the beautiful Stanford University Golf Course, then at the hilltop home of Susan and Scott McNealy (Maverick, grade 12; Dakota, grade 9; Colt, grade 8; Scout, grade 6) for the after-party.
It was a beautiful, sunny Monday in early March and golfers enjoyed a variety of links-related activities, including a putting contest, hole in one contests (the prizes of a Smart car and a Mustang were, alas, unclaimed) and a longest drive contest for bragging rights.
Held as a benefit event for Harker’s general endowment fund, the Golf Classic opened at 10 a.m. with attendees warming up at the driving range. Later, after the putting contest, foursomes headed out for the shotgun start of the tournament, teeing off at 12:30 p.m.
Maverick McNealy, who next year will be playing for Stanford University, was paired up with upcoming grade 8 golfing sensation Ryan Vaughan, and the students joined presenting sponsors Gary and Pooja Gauba (Alexis, grade 8; Ashley, grade 4; Ariana, K) on team number 1. McNealy shot a 70 and Vaughan a 74.
The golf course, opened in 1930, is located in the foothills above the Stanford University campus and is consistently rated one of the finest in the world. Golf greats Tom Watson and Tiger Woods both played the course extensively while students at Stanford. In 2009 Stanford was rated the nation’s third best college course by golf coaches.
Following the scramble, participants headed out to the wine tasting at the McNealy’s. Ryan Moreland ’98, who owns Corvalle Winery, and Yannick Rousseau from Y Rousseau Wines poured and talked about their wines, which were accompanied by oven-fired homemade pizza and many other delicious dishes.
The first place winning team was Mike Armstrong (Annabella, grade 8), Harry Murray, David Nesbitt and Trask Leonard. On the women’s first place team were Patricia Huang, grade 12; Daphne Liang, grade 9; Kristine Lin, grade 11; and Katherine Zhu, grade 7.
The longest drive winners, sponsored by Mass Mutual, were Maverick McNealy and Susan Zhang (Patricia Huang, grade 12; Sonya Huang ‘10). Closest to the pin, sponsored by Shirin’s Events, were Susan McNealy and Gregg Ringold ’07.
Harker sends out a grateful thanks to all presenting sponsors: the Gaubas, Ram and Indira Reddy (Nikhil, grade 10) Christopher and Andrea Umdenstock (Haden, grade 6), Sandeep and Priya Vij (Sarina, grade 12; Sameer, grade 11) and Wayin.com, Scott McNealy’s current major venture.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
With the knowledge that there is nothing like a favorite “blankie” to comfort a suffering child, grade 7 middle school students in Karina Momary’s and Julie Pinzás’ advisories teamed up in early February to create blankets for donation to the South Bay chapter of Project Linus.
A volunteer-driven nonprofit organization giving blankets to children who are seriously ill or living in shelters, Project Linus works to provide a sense of security, warmth and comfort through the donation of handmade, washable blankets lovingly created by volunteer makers, or “blanketeers.”
The blanket creation for Project Linus was the middle school’s community service project for this year. Working in pairs, students produced 12 blankets for donation to the local branch of Project Linus.
To date, Project Linus has delivered more than 4,000,000 security blankets to children around the world and has nearly 400 chapters in the United States. Although the organization originally donated blankets to pediatric cancer patients, recipients now include any child who is seriously ill or traumatized in some way.
“What a great opportunity to be able to use our advisory time to make a collaborative impact on our community to help children in need of comfort,” said Pinzás.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Students at the lower school were greeted with an afternoon of great weather in early March, after a night of rain, for this year’s Jump Rope for Heart event.
By the time the K-5 youngsters got out on the blacktop of the Bucknall campus to celebrate having raised $997 to date for the American Heart Association, the ground was dry and perfect for jumping rope, high jumping onto soft mats, limboing, leaping over makeshift hurdles, crawling through obstacle courses, shooting baskets and other fun activities.
Some teachers got in on the action, too, as each grade level rotated to different stations for various activities, held both outside and inside the school’s gym. Unlike previous times, this year’s event was held during P.E. classes, instead of as a whole school happening.
Students also had the option to take a quick break and enjoy some healthy snacks over by the lunch tables. Nearby was the “Heart Wall,” where they could attach small paper hearts adorned with special messages for loved ones or others in need.
Donations were still rolling in after the activities ended. Earlier, while encouraging his colleagues to attend the event, Jim McGovern, P.E. assistant department chair, had said, “We encourage everyone to be involved in the fun by coming to the gym and watching the students participate in all the activities. If you have never seen kindergartners or first graders jump rope, it will be a special treat!”
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
In February, Rohan Chandra, grade 12, was presented with an award for being a distinguished finalist by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, which annually recognizes and honors young people nationwide who have volunteered to help their communities.
Chandra created earthquake preparedness kits for the senior citizens of his Fremont neighborhood, creating safety guides in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Farsi, Hindi and Mandarin. With the help of dozens of volunteers, Chandra raised more than $12,000 to make the project possible.
The award came with a letter from the office of President Barack Obama, thanking Chandra for his efforts.
In December, Chandra was also named the first-place winner of the Kids Who Give contest for the period ending Sept. 30. The Kids Who Give program, sponsored by Farm Rich, recognizes young citizens who devise solutions to help their local communities. As a quarterly winner, Chandra was awarded $3,500.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
What began as a holiday seasonal community project has evolved into a larger, new schoolwide outreach program called HarKare (Harker Cares).
HarKare launched with its first project, making ornaments to accompany classroom Christmas trees donated from the lower, middle and upper school campuses to underprivileged families.
To that end, about 40 Harker parents and children of varying ages took time out on a Sunday in December to gather for the ornament-making event.
“HarKare will create opportunities for kids and whole families to participate in all sorts of community projects going on all year, not just during the holiday season,” enthused Teré Aceves, lower school volunteer program director at Harker.
In February there were two HarKare initiatives running nearly simultaneously: a book exchange on Feb. 8 and a volunteer effort with the organization Sea Scavenger the following day.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The school recently donated hundreds of pairs of pajamas and five boxes of books to this year’s pajama drive, which ran from Jan. 7-18. While the exact final numbers are still being counted, Pallie Zambrano, co-president of the Pajama Program’s Northern and Central California chapter, reported that this year’s drive brings Harker’s total donations to more than 2,000 pairs of pajamas and 2,400 books.
The Bucknall campus pajama and book drive is held during the heart of winter, when needy children especially want to keep warm. This year, Harker students donated a range of books and pajamas (with the tags still on) in sizes ranging from toddler through young adult. The drive was primarily a grade 3 service project, and all elementary school families were invited to participate.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
They call themselves “trash warriors.”
Upper school history teacher Carol Zink discovered the California Adopt-a-Highway program and made Harker aware of it. Now she is joined by fellow faculty, parents and students in the litter roundup. The last trash pickup day took place on Feb. 16.
Over the years, the trash warriors have picked up some interesting finds during their trashathons, including a loaded shotgun shell (turned over to the police), a pair of nearly new high heels, an expensive motorcycle helmet, and a rubber Halloween mask.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Students collected nearly 30 prom dresses for girls who need them. Sheridan Tobin, grade 10, and Shannon Hong, grade 9, took it upon themselves to solicit the donations from fellow students for the Princess Project, which promotes self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school girls who cannot otherwise afford them.
“Collecting the dresses is great, but it’s really about so much more than that. It’s about boosting these girls’ self- confidence and giving them a chance to forget whatever hardships they may be going through and giving them a night that can be all about them,” explained Tobin.
“I think that sometimes we take opportunities that we are given for granted,” added Hong. “There are plenty of girls in San Jose who would be so glad for just one dress out of the many in our closets.”
The Princess Project has served more than 20,000 teens through the dedication of more than 2,000 volunteers. Volunteers sort dresses and organize accessories for girls living in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and San Diego.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Author and Santa Clara University psychology professor Jerrold Shapiro was a guest of the Harker Speaker Series on March 7, to give a presentation titled “What Boys Need.” A family psychologist of more than 40 years, Shapiro has made a name for himself with books such as “The Measure of a Man” and “Becoming a Father,” as well as appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Morning Show on CBS.
After taking a couple of questions from the crowd, Shapiro began the presentation, which described the ways in which boys experience difficulty growing up in comparison to girls, who he argued have received more attention during their developmental years than boys have in recent decades.
Among the data he showed were statistics showing that boys are now twice as likely to be diagnosed with learning disorders, are lagging behind girls in standardized testing and now make up less than 40 percent of the student body.
He then showed how differently boys and girls mature and communicate. Boys’ brains, he said, exhibit “kinetic, disorganized, maddening and sometimes brilliant behaviors that likely are hard-wired.” Five-year-old girls may be more articulate, while boys have better hand-eye coordination. Unsurprisingly, boys are also more given to impulse.
Once they hit middle school, boys find that girls are maturing at a much faster rate, and boys begin to fear that they appear weak. Interestingly, MRIs have shown that girls’ brains at these ages resemble adult brains more closely than those of boys.
Shapiro proposed a number of solutions to address the challenges of raising boys, including more parental involvement in their school lives and increasing the amount of time they spend with their fathers. The latter was of particular importance, Shapiro argued, because boys who are raised by actively involved fathers exhibit more self-control and self-esteem, are better at regulating their emotions and are more empathetic.