Grades 2 and 3 held their annual Holiday Show on Dec. 13, bringing seasonal cheer to all in attendance at the Bucknall Theater. Directed by Kellie Binney-Smart, the show featured every student from each class celebrating the holidays in song, with performances of classics such as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and “Jingle Bell Rock” interspersed with newer songs, including “Spin a Little Dreidel” by Teresa Jennings and “Alfie the Elf” by Susan Nipp. Students provided amusing narration between songs to help keep the atmosphere light and fun. Great instrumental accompaniment was provided throughout the show by violinist Toni Woodruff and pianist Melissa Lin.
Technical director Danny Dunn, assistant technical director Carol Clever and stage manager Stephanie Woolsey, with much help from Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater students, were indispensable in keeping the show running on all cylinders.
The entire grade 1 class gathered on the stage at the Bucknall Theater for this year’s holiday show, a collection of songs titled “Flakes! A Musical Celebration of Snow, Slush and Snirt,” directed by Kellie Binney-Smart, lower school performing arts teacher.
Dressed in holiday-appropriate attire, the students sang a number of light and fun odes to winter and wintertime fun, such as “Snow is Falling Today,” “Little Snowflake” and “Snirt” (a portmanteau of “snow” and “dirt”). The students were all in their element, whether singing or dancing, as they did during “A Marshmallow World,” with choreography by Stephanie Bayer.
The show was punctuated by some short and amusing skits between song numbers. Much of the success of the show is owed to technical director Danny Dunn and assistant technical director Carol Clever, as well as Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater students.
Sarah Howells ’12, now a freshman at Princeton University, recently won first place in the Churchill Research Paper Competition sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s Churchill Center. “The history department is delighted to congratulate Sarah on winning first prize in the Churchill Research Paper competition,” said Harker history department chair Donna Gilbert.
Howells is the contest’s first winner, and it’s not the only first that she has earned for the paper, titled “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain from 1940-1941.” It was also Howells’ submission to earn a grant from the Mitra Family Endowment, which was established last year by Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 11). Howells went on to become the first Mitra Scholar for her entry.
“I was pretty surprised, since this being the first year of the competition I was not sure what the expectations were,” Howells said. “I would like to thank the Mitra family for supporting humanities research at Harker, Ms. [Donna] Gilbert, Dr. [Ruth] Meyer and Ms. [Susan] Smith for helping me with research and making the Harker history department a strong supporter of independent work, and Ms. [Julie] Wheeler for convincing me to apply for the grant in the first place.”
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Alumni were out in full force at the recent 62nd annual Harker Family & Alumni Picnic, “Paws, Jaws & Claws.” The daylong event, held on Oct. 14 at the middle school, attracted more than 100 alumni who enjoyed catching up at a special area reserved just for them.
For alumni with children, there were plenty of kid-friendly activities on hand to keep youngsters busy while parents chatted. Representatives from classes as far back as 1965 and as recent as 2012 were in attendance, making this year’s picnic alumni section a wonderful success.
“My family and I enjoyed catching up with Harker alumni at the family picnic. The barbecue was great, and I particularly liked the private area reserved for alumni families – a quiet and shaded place to sit, eat, drink and visit. Exceptionally well done!” enthused Karri Sakai Baker ’84. “Our kids enjoyed the games and activities while we visited with old friends. I highly recommend this fun family event to all alumni. We plan to return next year.”
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
A pair of alumni helped bring home the top prize at Anahat, an a cappella competition at the University of California, Berkeley, in mid-November. The University of Southern California’s Asli Baat team, which includes Amar Shukla ’09 and Alex Underwood ’08, won the competition this year. This year there were teams from Case Western and Rutgers, in addition to the University of California, San Diego, University of California, Los Angeles and others, said Carol Underwood, Alex’s mother. “They sing in both Hindi and English, as well as doing some blended songs,” she added. “The event brings together national South Asian a cappella teams from different universities for a great event which is also the week of Diwali, so all the more exciting!” Underwood said that last year, her son did a solo in Hindi and “I’m told it sounded very good,” going on to note, “My culturally confused kids (born in Canada, Hong Kong and China) never look in the mirror and see a tall blond kid but (rather) think they are Indian and Chinese!”
Congrats to both Shukla and Underwood for their group’s accomplishment!
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Taking on leadership positions after graduating from high school comes naturally to many Harker alumni. It certainly helped pave the way for Senan Ebrahim ’08, Sabena Suri ’08 and Tyler Koteskey ’11.
Senan Ebrahim ’08 Ebrahim recently graduated from Harvard University, where he studied neurobiology and served on the undergraduate council for four years. As a senior he was Harvard’s student body president – a prestigious role he credits Harker with helping him prepare for.
Although he only attended Harker for his junior and senior years, Ebrahim said they proved to be some of his most formative. At Harker, he was named one of two California Presidential Scholars and became involved in leadership activities, including serving as senior class president, vice president of the National Honor Society and Science Bowl team captain.
“This early exposure to taking on leadership responsibilities undoubtedly helped prepare me for my duties as Harvard’s student body president,” said Ebrahim.
As Harvard president, his job was to represent students’ interests to the Harvard administration and provide student services. “What this really means is I went to a lot of meetings and sent a lot of emails,” joked Ebrahim, adding that he and his vice president chose to focus on four main areas: launching a program called Forum for Change, planning campuswide events, improving winter break and creating popular Web apps like UC Taxis, which enabled students to save money by sharing taxi rides.
“I was fortunate to have a great team, so we did a lot of projects in one year, but more than anything, leading Harvard’s student government was an amazing learning experience for me,” recalled Ebrahim.
He also held leadership roles in other groups, including Responsible Investment at Harvard, Harvard for Pakistan and Launch 2012, an innovative program enabling the Harvard Class of 2012 to connect and collaborate for greater positive social impact post-graduation.
Ebrahim remains a director for Launch 2012 and is currently pursuing a medical anthropology fellowship in India. He advised current Harker students to explore widely both in academics and extracurriculars, especially in high school, because you never know what you might love. “Harker has so many fantastic extracurricular opportunities –from swimming to research to mock trial. There is plenty of time to specialize after college!”
Sabena Suri ’08 Ebrahim’s former Harker classmate, Sabena Suri ’08, attended Harker for 11 years, beginning in grade 2. After graduating, Suri went on to attend the University of Southern California (USC) and applauds Harker for having helped to prepare her for the academic rigors of a university.
“I definitely would have struggled during my first semester of college had I not developed such strong reading, writing and critical thinking skills while at Harker. Harker also gave me the opportunity to enroll in a variety of different courses (through APs and electives) that helped me hone in on my academic interests, so I had a greater sense of what I was interested in studying as soon as I got to college,” said Suri.
More than giving just a solid academic foundation, though, Harker helped Suri realize the importance of giving back to the campus community. “At Harker, students are privileged because they are surrounded by not only the best and brightest, but the most passionate as well. I remember hearing the student speakers at our Monday morning assemblies talking about the steps they were taking to fix a cause they cared deeply about or simply expressing their love of something. These kind of experiences certainly resonated with me during my years at USC.”
While at USC, Suri became very involved with Undergraduate Student Government (USG). In her junior year in student government, she served as the director of public relations for USC’s events-planning branch. As such she oversaw promotions for some of USC’s largest student-run and university-sponsored events, from Barack Obama’s visit to USC to Third Eye Blind’s on-campus performance.
During her senior year, she became overall senior director of communications for USG, serving as the organization’s spokesperson to the press and overseeing a team of 11 to promote USG’s on-campus presence and encourage new members to join.
Meanwhile, she was also heavily involved with Delta Omicron Zeta (DOZ), USC’s coed leadership fraternity. The mission of the fraternity is to develop the skills of on-campus leaders through various programs. Suri served on the executive board of the fraternity as vice president of social programming, planning and budgeting social events that furthered its mission.
“I chose to primarily focus on undergraduate student government and my leadership fraternity, although I was also involved with PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) and SCIA (Southern California Indo Americans),” recalled Suri, who graduated from USC last May having studied public relations with a minor in marketing. She is currently working at advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather’s Los Angeles office in the associates program.
“You’ll make some of your best friends at Harker …. College may be a fresh start, which is exciting, but your roots have been firmly planted in Harker soil, so to speak. Keep in touch with your peers, even if it’s just on Facebook, and check in to see how they are doing every once in a while!” advised Suri, adding that above all else, college should be a time of experimentation and seizing opportunities.
“If you’ve never taken a yoga class, now’s the time. If you’ve always been interested in Russian literature but never thought it would be applicable as an engineering major, take it anyway. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll learn about yourself through simply exploring your interests!”
Tyler Koteskey ’11 Come the beginning of January, Tyler Koteskey ’11 will begin a two-year term with the Central Committee of the Los Angeles County Republican Party.
The swearing-in ceremony on Dec. 15 took to the next level his previous election to an official position within a municipality. Koteskey was elected to the GOP (Grand Old Party) committee during the June 6 primary election. In his new intraparty office role he will help register voters in his assembly district and vote on party platforms and endorsements when all the committee members convene during county meetings.
Koteskey, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), recalled the excitement of seeing his name listed on the first page of the primary ballot for all registered Republicans in his assembly district. Although he is not a city official, in order to get listed on the ballot he collected petition signatures, campaigning by precinct – walking and sending out mailers with other members of his slate.
Becoming involved in politics is not new to Koteskey, who currently serves as the chapter president of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) at UCLA. YAL is a group that focuses on advancing economic and social freedoms as well as a non-interventionist foreign policy. And, just last year, when he began attending UCLA, he organized a record-breaking rally for presidential candidate Ron Paul.
“Running UCLA’s Youth for Ron Paul chapter and volunteering on the campaign offered an educational taste of the good, the bad and the ugly of electoral politics,” he said.
More than 6,600 people attended that event in early April, making it Paul’s largest rally ever. In fact, after booking an initial venue, Koteskey had to find a bigger one. The RSVPs kept pouring in, far beyond what he expected, yet Koteskey continued to accommodate them, watching the numbers swell into the thousands. The rally was ultimately held in Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, with huge lines to get in and plenty of press coverage.
According to Koteskey, only 12 percent of his assembly district is registered Republican – a number that he said indicates big problems with the local party’s status quo. “The GOP is unnecessarily missing out on the next generation of voters and key demographics. For instance, I will be advocating for the county party to adopt a platform rejecting the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial under the National Defense Authorization Act.”
But Koteskey feels well-prepared for the challenges which lie ahead, partly thanks to his education at Harker. “The main reason I had time to get involved in the presidential election and local politics was because Harker prepared me so well academically for UCLA, which gave me the extra time to get involved in politics.” He further credits Harker’s forensics and performing arts departments with giving him the necessary tools to speak confidently in public.
In passing on advice to fellow Harker alums interested in becoming involved in politics, Koteskey related something he learned while attending an activism training seminar. “I was told the following: the world is run by people who show up. If you’re frustrated with your party’s stance on an issue, get involved and change the party. Don’t just sit around and talk about it. That puts you past the vast majority of people right out of the gate.
“While presidential campaigns may be more visible and publicized, there are greater opportunities to make meaningful differences in local congressional, state and municipal races,” he added.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Recipients of the annual Harker Alumni Awards were announced at halftime at Harker’s recent homecoming game. During the Nov. 2 game between Harker and Lynbook High School’s varsity football teams, Chris Nikoloff, head of school, recognized several outstanding individuals.
Ken Hunt ’79 received the Distinguished Alumni Award “for his love of learning and his ability to lead, whether in a Fortune 200 or smaller company,” Nikoloff said. Community Service Award winner Tevis Howard ’98 was recognized for his efforts to help the people of Kenya. Additionally, Mark Muller ’75, recipient of the Phyllis Carley Award, was honored for his dedication to and positive impact on the Harker community.
All three alumni award recipients – who were also honored in a special presentation at the alumni reunion – have impressive backgrounds: Hunt serves as president of Produxs, a user experience software design firm. Howard founded KOMAZA, a company working to get families out of poverty in East Africa. Muller works to develop communities in low socioeconomic areas.
Prior to the game, alumni had been warmly welcomed home during a family-friendly tailgate party held at the end zone of Davis Field. More than 75 alumni turned out for the tailgate, where they enjoyed dinner, mingled with former faculty and staff, and enjoyed watching the Eagles play. Former football players and cheerleaders received special T-shirts and were recognized prior to kickoff.
The well-attended tailgate set the stage for the alumni present to later form a gauntlet for the Eagles to run through as they took to the field. Throughout the evening, the special alumni area was filled with Harker graduates, including several who attended Harker’s predecessors, the Palo Alto Military Academy and Harker Academy.
“It was gratifying to have so many alumni out in force to support their alma mater and reminisce with old friends and teachers. Seeing various generations returning to Harker really demonstrated the powerful impact Harker has had on alumni, and the strong feelings they have about ‘K through life,’” said MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
More than 200 former classmates and friends were warmly welcomed back to campus as they reunited for the much anticipated All-Alumni Reunion, held the day after Harker’s homecoming game.
Hosted by the Alumni Association at the upper school in the Nichols Hall atrium on Nov. 3, the jam-packed evening was a lively mix and mingle for adult alumni, with plenty of food, drink, music and fun.
A bartender helped pour wine, provided by Ryan Moreland ’98 from his winery, Corvalle, as members of the Class of ’73 marked the occasion by playing in a reunited band called the PAMA Boys. Alumni danced the night away and admired old Harker memorabilia and archival items which were on display, including a time capsule holding letters written and sealed 10 years ago by the upper school’s inaugural Class of 2002.
Recipients of the Harker Alumni Awards, which had been announced at halftime during Harker’s homecoming game the night before, were also introduced and recognized during the reunion (see accompanying story here).
The successful reunion was the result of months of planning with class agents and the alumni office. Agents were the main promoters, planners, idea givers and catalysts for ensuring a memorable event for their fellow classmates and friends.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Harker’s youngest students are using the holiday season to learn about being thankful, giving back to their local communities, and the joy that comes from helping those less fortunate.
Kicking off the first of their community service projects in late October, the kindergarten students helped care for their lower school campus by picking fallen pomegranates from the school grounds to prevent the fruit from becoming an eyesore and hazard. This campus beautification project began in 2009 and is part of the youngsters’ overall service projects; they also participate in tree planting each year.
The annual kindergarten tree planting at the Bucknall campus is a beloved tradition that began on the Saratoga campus. According to Sarah Leonard, primary division head, tree planting gives the children the opportunity to leave kindergarten with something that “serves as a living memory of their first year at Harker.”
Additionally, every winter, the lower school sponsors a canned food and toy drive, in which kindergartners take part. The importance of giving back and feeding the hungry is a lesson that many kindergarten teachers further tied into curriculum surrounding the holiday season.
The toy drive affords kindergartners the chance to learn, early on, the value of helping to get presents under the trees of many families who would not have otherwise been able to afford them.
In fact, last year’s drive resulted in hundreds of toys being delivered to Sacred Heart Community Services in San Jose. Including Harker’s donation, more than 16,000 toys were donated, then set up and organized like a toy store for parents of children in need to choose from, resulting in a very merry Christmas day.
In November, kindergarten teacher Katherine Chi hosted a Thanksgiving feast with students and their families during her afternoon homeroom period. Held on Nov. 16, families each brought a favorite dish to share with the class, even including a bowl of macaroni and cheese for youngsters with hard-to-please palettes!
For those who wanted more traditional holiday fixings, there were also plenty of mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes and roasted turkey to choose from. And, to the delight of students, yummy desserts, including homemade pumpkin cookies, were served as well.
However, it wasn’t dessert that made kindergarten student Lindsey Tuckey’s mouth water. The five-year-old said what she is really thankful for is “the healthy stuff.” When asked to elaborate she noted she is especially grateful for having so much food to eat, particularly “broccoli and celery.”
Sitting next to her at a table set with colorful paper plates with turkeys on them was her father, Jeff Tuckey. He said he enjoyed being a part of the in-class celebration, sitting down with the youngsters as they enjoyed their mock Thanksgiving meal.
But it wasn’t all about the food. In addition to enjoying the sumptuous feast, Chi also had her class of 22 students take time out to discuss what they are thankful for. Previously, as part of their language arts curriculum, the kindergartners had created a journal about non-material things they are grateful for. Answers ranged from having clothes to wear and food to eat, to spending time with their family and pets.
From enjoying class holiday-themed celebrations to participating in community service projects and toy and canned food drives, kindergartners used the holiday season to its fullest – by uniting as a class, as well as helping to make the world a better place.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
“Our Home: Music of the United States” gave an evening audience exactly what was printed on the flier and then some on the evening of Nov. 15, as upper school vocal groups, Cantilena, Camerata and Guys’ Gig, in addition to many talented soloists, paid tribute to the music of America, both modern and classic.
The concert, directed by Susan Nace, fittingly opened with all of the evening’s singers joining forces for a spectacular rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The upper school chamber ensemble Camerata then took the stage to perform a trio of joyous and heartfelt odes to America, starting with the famous “America the Beautiful,” and continuing with Oscar Peterson’s “A Hymn to Freedom.” Camerata finished their set with composer Abbie Betinis’ “Journey Home.”
Following Camerata, a slew of capable soloists appeared, singing a wide variety of pieces, from sophomore Shreya Basu’s performance of the traditional “Every Night When the Sun goes In” to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Think of Me,” sung by Caroline Howells, grade 10. Although the concert showcased music from the United States, the show also made room for pieces by noted European composers such as Frederic Chopin, whose “Nocturne” in E-flat major was beautifully performed by pianist Pooja Shah, grade 12. Continuing with the evening’s classical selections were Wendy Shwe, grade 12, playing Beethoven’s “Sonata” in A major on piano and Rebecca Liu, grade 12, singing Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s “O, Del Mio Dolce Ardor.” The solo performances concluded with Nina Sabharwal, grade 12, singing a perfectly misty-eyed version of the jazz standard “Willow Weep for Me” by Ann Ronell.
Guys’ Gig, the all-male a cappella club, then gathered on stage for their first performance of the year. The boys performed an amusing skit in which they attempted to start a song sans a tenor section, at which point they called the freshmen to the stage from the audience to sing “Good Ol’ A Cappella” by Carter and Nevada. With the group now firing on all cylinders, they continued with the classic Motown tune “My Girl” and finished with a raucous version of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Harker’s all-female choral group Cantilena was the last of the groups to perform that evening prior to the finale. The singers were in fine form taking on a diverse selection, which included Brian Holmes’ “I Shall Keep Singing,” the traditional American song “He’s Gone Away” and Stephen Hatfield’s gospel treat “Run Children Run.” Rebecca Liu took the role of conductor on “Sing Me to Heaven” by Daniel Gawthorpe before the group finished their set with their signature piece, “How Can I Keep from Singing,” by Robert Lowry.
The finale again reunited the vocalists for an exhilarating version of Ysaye Barnwell’s “We Are…,” for which the singers received a well-deserved extended ovation.