Harker athletes had the unique opportunity to meet two Olympic gold medalist swimmers on Friday, when three-time gold medalist Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines and silver and gold medalist Cullen Jones spoke to students at the Singh Aquatic Center at the upper school campus just before a USA Swimming Foundation event held at Nichols Hall.
Gaines, who won three gold medals at the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles and now works in television as a swimming commentator, shared his story of perseverance and determination. He began swimming competitively at age 17 after being denied spots on his high school football, baseball, basketball, golf and tennis teams.
“I am living proof it’s never too late to achieve your dreams,” he said, reminding students that setbacks are a part of the journey, such as when he broke a world record in 1980, only to find out the next day that the United States would be boycotting that year’s Olympic games.
Undaunted, he pressed on, practicing rigorously six days a week, winning SEC and NCAA titles and qualifying for the 1984 games, where at age 25 he became the third-oldest Olympic swimmer to date to win a gold medal.
After Gaines spoke, Jones took his turn to speak to the students about his experience at the 2012 games in London, touching on his experience staying at the Olympic Village and his daily regimen, which consisted of a near-constant cycle of training and nutritional intake.
Aside from winning the silver and gold, highlights of the London games for Cullen also included meeting athletes such as NBA stars Dwyane Wade and LeBron James as well as tennis legend Serena Williams.
The transition to middle school was made easier for both new and returning Harker students entering grade 6, thanks to a middle school preview event held on the middle school campus on August 24.
Both the newcomers and returnees and their families benefited from the day-long preview which afforded grade 6-8 participants the opportunity to reconnect with friends, meet new students and parents, and become familiar with the middle school campus. The jam-packed day had two tracks – one with an emphasis on information for parents and the other offering fun activities for students.
Lana Morrison, middle school dean of students, explained that an important component of the preview is a “special event with our annual ‘buddy bash’ for new students and their Harker buddies. It’s an opportunity for current students to help new students transition into Harker.”
While the buddy bash was underway a new parent social and breakfast with current parents occurred. The breakfast gave new parents the chance to meet with current parents and get many questions answered.
Shortly after the buddy bash program all returning grade six students and their families arrived. While the students went off to hear the dean’s orientation and partake in grade level activities in the multipurpose room, their parents headed for an informal meeting in the gym.
The meeting for parents was led by Cindy Ellis, middle school head, who shared important information about adolescence and the middle school experience, followed by a casual question and answer reception.
Seventh and eighth graders also had a laptop orientation in the library and students received their much anticipated computers and cases (grade 6 students received their laptops later in August). All students then met in the amp for “house and spirit” activities. The exciting day ended with student council members giving campus tours to both students and parents.
Harker has introduced its first school-run shuttle, which will serve those on the Peninsula; 25 students are riding it so far. There has been a parent-run shuttle from Fremont for some years which the Peninsula shuttle will complement, solving, for some families, the knotty issue of driving to drop students, then returning to their home area for work.
The shuttle makes one stop in Portola Valley, one in Los Altos, then heads to the middle school where upper school students transfer to a waiting bus that takes them to their campus, while the shuttle itself continues on to the lower school.
Cost is quite reasonable at $25 per student per week, with discounts for families of three or more riders. Aside from cutting down on pollution and traffic, and saving parents’ time, Pip Sanders (Zoe, grade 4), said, “Running the shuttle expands Harker’s outreach and accessibility to families who live some distance from Harker.”
“I would love to see our ridership increase!” said Heather Perrotta, Harker transportation manager. “Not only does it decrease traffic on our campuses, it gives a sense of bonding to the students. They are able to get to know other students from their neighborhood that they may otherwise not have known. It can also be an opportunity to get some last minute studying done before class.”
Harker is open to expanding the service to other areas, too. “We are hoping that the success of this route will lead to others, and we will be exploring those possibilities over the course of this year using the same market testing methods we did for this one,” said Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs.
The parent-organized Fremont shuttle has been running for more than 15 years, said Monica Kumar (Gaurav, grade 11; Maya, grade 7), who organizes the shuttle. That bus has had between six and 11 riders this year. “My son is now a junior and he took the shuttle from kindergarten until tenth grade,” when he started driving himself, she said. “My daughter is still taking the shuttle.
“The shuttle saves time for busy parents and makes sure kids get to school safely and on time!” said Kumar. “Of course, it is a greener option as well, as opposed to all the parents driving on their own.”
Cost for the Fremont shuttle, operated by Durham Transportation, is based on a flat fee by the bus company so the current cost depends on the number of riders per day. “The more kids, the less cost per child!” she said.
The Fremont shuttle does return students to Fremont, but the numbers are dropping on the return leg. “The number of kids taking the return bus are much smaller,” noted Kumar. “Each year I keep thinking it will be the last year for (the return service) but we keep going!”
After an informative middle school orientation meeting held on the morning of Aug. 27, parents headed to the multipurpose room where they mingled with one another, enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and learned about the various volunteer opportunities at Harker.
“This is our one big event to present all the parent volunteer options,” explained Jennifer Hargreaves, director of Harker’s middle and upper school volunteer programs, noting that veteran parent volunteers were on hand at each sign-up table to share their experiences and encourage other parents to become involved.
Current volunteer options range from big community events such as the picnic or fashion show to working with clubs like debate or helping with the cancer walk. “There is something for everyone – from leadership and ongoing positions to one-time tasks. This year we were fortunate to have had many parents come and lots of sign-ups,” said Hargreaves.
Any parents who did not have a chance to sign up can email Hargreaves at JenniferH2@harker.org and she will send them a list of available volunteer opportunities. “It’s not too late!” she said.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced this year’s semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Competition, and 46 Harker students are among those listed, all of whom took the exam last year when they were juniors. They are:
Erik Andersen, Paulomi Bhattacharya, Joshua Bollar, Albert Chen, Jenny Chen, Amie Chien, Emily Chu, Ria Desai, Desirazu Rahul, Rebecca Fang, Drew Goldstein, David Grossman, Varun Gudapati, Jacob Hoffman, Samantha Hoffman, Andre Jia, Nayeon Kim, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Joy Li, Victoria Lin, Rebecca Liu, Meera Madhavan, Simar Mangat, Preeya Mehta, Ramakrishnan Menon, Payal Modi, Suchita Nety, Laura Pedrotti, Kyle Roter, Pooja Shah, Pranav Sharma, Wendy Shwe, Sonia Sidhu, Christopher Sund, Indica Sur, Ashvin Swaminathan, Ravi Tadinada, Apurva Tandon, Lunda Tang, Emily Wang, Jacqueline Wang, Lorraine Wong, Wilbur Yang, Robert Yeats, Michelle Zhang and Warren Zhang.
This contest is entered by more the than one million high school juniors nationwide who take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Exam. Students must maintain exceptional academic performance, receive a recommendation from a school administrator, compose an essay and receive SAT scores consistent with their performance on the PSAT to become finalists.
Colin Dickey MS ’91 visited the upper school on Aug. 30 to share insights into his book, “Cranioklepty.” Dickey sat down with students in biology teacher Dan Ajerman’s classroom to discuss the book, which examines the obsession of many individuals to possess the remains of famous persons, such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Joseph Haydn, which grew in the 19th century with the emergence of phrenology (later abandoned as pseudoscience).
He also shared stories about how various peoples regarded and treated their dead, such as the disposal of bodies after the French Revolution and the decision by the city of San Francisco to bury its deceased immediately southward in Colma, which is made up mostly of cemeteries and bears the humorous motto, “It’s Great to Be Alive in Colma!”
For his next project, Dickey has spent time delving into the life of Sarah Winchester, who owned the famous Winchester Mystery House. Winchester’s husband was a son of the man who invented the Winchester rifle, and popular belief holds that the house’s bizarre modifications were made to confuse the ghosts of those killed by the rifle who had come back to haunt her. The legend, Dickey said, is a fabrication invented by a “carnival huckster” who wished to use the house’s allure to turn a profit.
Before school even began, Harker’s newest lower school students in grades 3-5 were made to feel welcome at a couple of buddy parties held in August.
The idea was simple: to introduce the newcomers to their classmates, allowing them to make new friends while gaining insight into what elementary school life at Harker would be like.
Nicole Brink, counselor for this age group onsite at the Bucknall campus, noted there was a pool party for the new grade 4-5 students and their buddies, and an arts and crafts project event for the third graders.
Brink, who supervised the grade 4-5 party, said, “They did a scavenger hunt to learn how to navigate the campus and then we had the pool party where they splashed around and had fun getting to know each other. We ended with some yummy popsicles and popcorn.”
For each group, buddies are specifically trained on how to mentor and help make their new classmates feel welcome.
Additionally, there were other start-of-the-year welcome events affording new and returning students the opportunity to get to know one another, including an elementary school-age barbecue and welcome to kindergarten barbecue held on the playground.
“Yosemite Grasslands,” a short story by Meilan Steimle, grade 8, winner of a statewide Scholastic Gold Key award, has been published in the July-August issue of Stone Soup, a national magazine of children’s artwork and writing. The story was first published in Enlight’ning, Harker’s middle school literary publication.
Harker teams are reporting in and the news is all good!
Football
The Eagles dominated Yerba Buena High School Aug. 31, winning 49-0 on Davis Field. “They worked hard and looked sharp,” said Dan Molin, athletic director.
“They executed very well,” agreed Ron Forbes, head coach. “When we got a big lead the boys didn’t play down — they did well for a young team. I liked that we had seven touchdowns scored by six different players.” Forbes added a shout out to the defensive squad, noting, “Last year, we had 56 points scored against us in each of three games in a row so kudos to the defense and defensive coordinator, Mike Taribassi,” for the shutout. Tonight, they play Andrew Hill High School.
Boys Water Polo
The team went 2-1 at the Hollister Tournament Saturday with a 14-3 victory over Harbor, a 10-4 victory over San Lorenzo Valley High School, and a 11-5 loss to Monterey. Ryan Hume, grade 12, led all Harker scorers with 14 goals over the three games; Eric Holt, grade 10, and Karan Das-Grande, grade 12, added four each throughout the day. They participate in the Wilcox Tournament this weekend.
Girls Volleyball
Varsity is 2-1, after a five-set, exciting win over Priory, a victory over Fremont and a tough loss to seventh-seeded Homestead. The key players so far have been Mercedes Chien, grade 11, on defense and Shreya Dixit, grade 10, Divya Kalidindi, grade 11, and Shannon Richardson, grade 9, on offense,” said Theresa “Smitty” Smith, head coach.
JV is 3-0 with crushing defeats of Priory and Fremont and a close win over Homestead. “Key players so far have been Selin Ekici, grade 9, at setter, and Hannah Bollar, grade 10, Tasia Belton, grade 9, and Sheridan Tobin, grade 10, on offense,” Smitty added. Next up, Saratoga High School!
Cross Country
The first competition was against Gunn High School and though full results haven’t been reported, the San Jose Mercury News listed Corey Gonzales, grade 10, as having won the 2.5-mile course in 11:36 in their Highlight Reel column yesterday.
Girls Tennis
The 2012-13 girls tennis team opened their season this week with two victories. In their opener, the team traveled to Milpitas and defeated a strong Milpitas squad 5-2. The team was lead by junior Katia Mironova and sophomore Arden Hu at #1 doubles, who bageled their opponents, 6-0, 6-0. In their second match, the team defeated Fremont 7-0. In their victory, the girls failed to drop a set. Next week, the girls travel to Monterey to defend their championship at the Santa Catalina Invitational Tournament.
Alumni Sports
Tanya Schmidt ’08 is a top 30 finalist for the 2012 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Finalists were selected from 429 nominees from Division I, II and III. Those nominated must have “demonstrated academic and athletics excellence and engaged in community service and leadership opportunities,” according to the NCAA website.
Usua Amanam ’09 has found a new niche on the Stanford University football team, switching from running back to defensive back. Amanam attended middle school at Harker and high school at Bellermine. Read about it in the San Jose Mercury News!
Fencing
Jerrica Liao, grade 7, is now ranked second in the U.S. in women’s foil age 12 and under and is ranked 16th in the U.S. in age 14 and under, following stellar results at the U.S. Fencing National Championships in Anaheim in July.
On July 3, in the Y-14 event with 123 fencers, Liao started out going 3-2 in pools and seeding 56. She won her first elimination bout handily 15-6, then weathered a very tough bout against the 25th seed, winning on time 6-5 (Y14 and older fencers fence to 15 touches or for nine minutes), an exhausting way to win! Then Liao ran into some luck. She would normally have faced the number one seed, but that girl had been eliminated and her path hijacked by the 33rd seed, who lost to the 48th seed — and that’s who Liao (seeded originally 58th) faced in the quarter finals. Liao triumphed 8-3, then hit a hard spot, facing the number four seed, to who she succumbed, finishing in third place, for an outstanding result in a bracket above her age group. This finish upped Liao’s competitive rating from E12 to a B12, putting her among the top fencers in her age bracket.
The next day, July 4, Liao fenced in the Y-12 bracket finishing 18th of 135. She seeded third out of pools, winning all her bouts and being touched only three times while delivering 29 touches, to give her a +26 indicator. She won her first two matches easily, then ran into a toughie in the table of 32: Y-12 fencers fence for best of three five-touch bouts and Liao lost the first bout 2-1, won the second 5-1 and lost the third 2-1 to finish 18th and locking her into the number two spot in the country.
Squash
This summer Sunya Siddiqu, grade 6, played a lot of squash, coming in first and taking two seconds in three August competitions. She is ranked 14th in the U.S. in her bracket, girls under age 11.
In late August, Siddiqu competed in the San Diego Gold tournament in the girls under 11 (GU11) singles category and won all three matches to come in first. With six participants, players compete in boxes: three participants in each box do a round robin, then the top two finishers play for the championship. Siddiqu won her box, then lost to the other top finisher to take second.
In early August, Siddiqu competed in the Decathlon Junior Open Junior Silver. Siddiqu won her boxes in both the GU11 and GU13 events, but lost in the final to take second in both events.
Basketball
Benjamin Soraire and Levi Sutton, both grade 4, played in the Silicon Valley National Junior Basketball summer season and the boys met when their respective teams played each other in the championship game. The Bulldogs (Soraire’s team) and the Ballers (Sutton’s team) set a new record with the championship game going into five overtime periods and, finally, to sudden death play. In a tough struggle for the win, the Ballers sank one for the win. Both boys plan to play for Harker this year. Congratulations to both boys for their efforts this summer!