The Grade 5 girls basketball team defeated St. Matthews yesterday in the semifinal game by a score of 41-14! They have earned a spot in the WBAL championship game taking place today at Pinewood, on Fabian Way, at 5 p.m.. Congratulations to coaches Michelle and Tim Hopkins and to all the girls for their amazing season and good luck today!
Tags: In the News, SportsThe Harker’s School Summer Institute gives students from grades 6-12 the chance to earn credits, learn new skills and follow their passions. Harker students aren’t the only ones with these options; students from other schools are welcome at most of the classes.
This year’s institute will run from June 18 to Aug. 10, and will have a variety of new two-week courses. Also new this year are art classes, including portfolio preparation in drawing, 2-D and 3-D. The for-credit courses include a variety of classes in math, history and technology. Upper school enrichment courses span math, writing, art, history and driver’s education. Middle school enrichment will also be offered, and will include several core subjects as well as classes such as So You Think You Can Cook? and Champion Chess.
Middle school and upper school activities programs will also be offered, and will include access to the libraries, the pools and prepared lunch. The middle school activities program will also feature planned group events like piñata-making, checkers tournaments and an Iron Chef competition.
The wide range of choices and flexible program allow each student to design a schedule around his or her own academic needs and personal interests, giving everyone just the right mix of summer activity and fun.
The Harker School has been offering extensive summer programs for more than 50 years, and is accredited nationally by the American Camping Association.
Tags: Featured StoryHarker’s Sports Conditioning program, which used to be call Eagle Iron, invites students aged 9 -17 to learn how to improve upon all of the fundamental components of sports performance from Ron Forbes, one of the nation’s most successful sports performance specialists. Athletes will be grouped by age, size and skill level. “Conditioning helps players perform more effectively and avoid injury. Students learning to prepare and care for their bodies is a huge part of being successful athletes,” said Kelly Espinosa, director of summer programs.
The key to achieving one’s true potential as an athlete, regardless of sport or skill level, is becoming sound in the fundamental components of sports performance.
The more proficient an athlete is at these components, the greater his or her potential as an athlete. Even athletes who compete at the elite level devote more than 60 percent of their time to continued development of these fundamental components of sports performance.
Harker’s Performance Camp is designed to help young athletes of all athletic skill levels learn and develop the fundamental components of sports performance.
The Harker School has been offering extensive summer programs for more than 50 years, and is accredited nationally by the American Camping Association.
Tags: SportsCongratulations to the girls grade 5 basketball team for their 28-6 victory over Woodland last night! Today they play in the semifinal game against either Sacred Heart 2 or St Matthews in Harker’s Bucknall gym at 5 p.m. Please come out and support the girls!
In addition to the accomplishments of the girls basketball, boys soccer and wrestling teams, we participated in the first ever middle school WBAL golf tournament. Please see the results below.
2012 WBAL Golf Tournament Results Summary
Individual Results:
37 – First place – Ryan Vaughan (Harker)
38 – Second place – Avi Khemani (Harker)
38 – Second place – Katherine Zhu (Harker)
39 – Third place – Tyson Dinsmore (Pinewood)
39 – Thirdplace – Sandip Nirmel (Harker)
Team Results:
41.25 – First place – Harker
42.38 – Second place – Menlo
49.75 – Third place – CSUS
50.00 – Fourth place – Sacred Heart
50.14 – Fifth place – Priory
52.83 – Sixth place – Pinewood
53.75 – Seventh place – Keys
65.5 – Eighth place – GMS
Tags: In the News, SportsIn January, three seniors made their directorial debuts at this year’s Student-Directed Showcase. This year’s directors, Tina Crnko, Sebastian Herscher and Alex Najibi, each chose a play to direct and produce, learning a great deal in the process.
From auditioning actors to arranging sets to technical planning, directors gained a wealth of hands-on experience during the class, taught by Laura Lang-Ree, which many apply for but few get to take. “I think that students find interpreting and creating the ‘big picture’ really intriguing,” said Lang-Ree. “So often in their lives they focus solely on one thing very well, be it a subject or a song. But with directing, you have to have vision and be able to work on the smallest details with the big picture always in mind.”
This year’s productions were “Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead,” directed by Herscher, “Voices in Conflict,” directed by Crnko, and “How to Succeed in High School Without Really Trying,” directed by Najibi.
For Crnko, the opportunity to direct in the showcase brought her full circle, and she views it as a way to bring other students into the arts. “I became interested in the performing arts by accident, through Student-Directed Showcase,” she said. “Being offered a spot in an SDS play my freshman year shaped my love for theater and pushed me deep into the Conservatory.”
Apart from the general busywork and day-to-day activity of being a director, students also learn how to be leaders, as well as how “to always keep trying new and different ways to motivate a cast and to create a vision,” Lang-Ree said.
Despite the many challenges directors face, Crnko said the biggest obstacle was herself. “I was taking on a monster of a play,” she said. “As ‘Voices in Conflict’ is a documentary, the pressure of doing justice to these remarkable stories was almost crippling at the start. I was also incredibly afraid of how the show would be received by our community.” She was pleasantly surprised to find out that her project was enthusiastically received. “I found 20 students who were as excited as I was, and their spectacular energy and work ethic brought this powerful play to life.”
“I love the ‘aha’ moments students in SDS get when they learn the method to the madness with directing,” said Lang-Ree. “[When they see] that there really is a process and a way of creating that opens up, rather than inhibits, a show’s growth potential.”
Tags: Featured Story, Performing ArtsHarker tennis coach Craig Pasqua was honored at the 2012 Awards Celebrating Excellence in Service (ACES) dinner in February, held by the Northern California Chapter of the United States Tennis Association. Pasqua, who has spent several years working with at-risk children on Indian reservations, was given the Trailblazer award in the Diversity category.
A graduate of Stanford University and a professional tennis coach since 2000, Pasqua was first approached to work with Native Americans in 1996, when David Gantzer of Standing Tall Tennis asked him to help out with the organization. “Being American Indian, I was able to break down some barriers and go places Dantzer was unable,” said Pasqua, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and also part Modoc. When Dantzer retired in 2006, Pasqua took over the organization and moved it to San Jose, where he has been running it ever since.
Since its inception, Standing Tall has worked with more than 10,000 people in 21 states and 40 reservations, serving about 80 tribal entities. “We have had continuing programs in the Dine, Hopi, White Mountain Apache and Potawatami Nations,” Pasqua noted.
In addition to his work with American Indians, Pasqua has been an active volunteer at other organizations. He has volunteered at the U.S. Open’s Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day since 2009, and serves on the board of the Santa Clara Indian Health Center. He has also been the president of the North American Indian Tennis Association.
Despite his impressive service record, Pasqua was “totally surprised to receive this award!” he exclaimed. “I’m extremely grateful and wish to thank the USTA NorCal Division and Harker for giving me the flexibility to spend some of my time away from the school.” Pasqa runs the Harker summer tennis program, too. Details are available on our summer web page.
Tags: Sports, topathleticsThe upper school’s Quiz Kids team, coached by upper school math teacher Bradley Stoll, won it sifrst round and has its semifinal round coming up. The game will be held Sat., April 21, at the Peninsula TV Studios on the second floor of the Sam Trans building at 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos. To obtain free tickets to the taping of the show, visit http://quizkids.eventbrite.com/. Bay Area Quiz Kids is a contest of knowledge and quick recall played by teams of Bay Area high school students, formatted as a fast, fun and entertaining TV game show.
For those interested in seeing the the first round shows, tune into KRON Channel 4 Saturdays at 2 p.m. Below are the upcoming air dates:
March 3 – Hillsdale v. San Leandro
March 10 – Carlmont v. Sacred Heart
March 17 – Crystal Springs v. Bentley
March 24 – San Mateo v. Homestead
March 31 – Harker v. Westmoor
April 7 – Bellarmine v. Gunn
April 14 – Mills v. Sequoia
April 21 – Menlo v. Castro Valley
Boys baseball defeated St. Lawrence yesterday 14-4 in five innings to improve to 1-1. Kevin Cali and Jacob Hoffman, both grade 11, and Noah Levy, grade 12, each hit home runs. Cali also pitched eight strikeouts to earn the victory.
Girls softball defeated Yerba Buena 15-5 behind junior Alison Rugar’s eight strikeouts on the mound. She also hit a grand slam! Other hits were made by Angela Singh, grade 12; Ashley Del Alto (double) and Akarsha Gulukota, grade 11; Laura Thacker (triple), Alana Shamlou and Nithya Vemireddy, grade 10; and Sarah Bean and Safia Khouja , grade 9. The girls are now 2-0 on the season.
Today’s games:
3:30 Varsity Tennis v. King’s Academy @ Oakwood
3:30 JV Tennis @ Blackford
3:30 Baseball v. Lynbrook @ Blackford
4:00 JV Boys Volleyball v. Archbishop Mitty @ Blackford
5:15 Varsity Boys Volleyball v. Archbishop Mitty @ Blackford (home opener)
Also, Boys Golf v. King’s @ Los Lagos
Tags: In the News, SportsRina Sakuraba and Maki Shibata, two upper school students from Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo, spent a month at the Harker upper school, experiencing the life of Harker students firsthand.
Each student had a schedule of classes and activities for each week of their stay. Shibata enjoyed psychology class and listening to the Harker orchestra during practice, while Sakuraba had fun in Masako Onakado’s contemporary Japanese class and sitting in on Cantilena’s class sessions to listen to the talented singers.
The students also had a great time at the Winter Ball and went on a trip to Santa Cruz on a day off, where they had a great time on the rides on the famous beach boardwalk. Middle school Japanese students were also paid a visit by the two students, who gave presentations on Japanese cultural topics such as origami, kabuki and Japanese hot springs (known as onsen).
Prior to heading back to Japan, Sakuraba and Shibata said they found Harker students to be very friendly, and hoped to strengthen their new-found friendships in the future.
Tags: Global EducationHarker athletes have roared out of the gates in spring sports, showing some fantastic results.
Track & Field opened the season at the Willow Glen Invitational, with Isabelle Connell, grade 11, winning first place in both the 200m and 400m field (with times of 26.12s and 60.62s, respectively). Sumit Minocha, also grade 11, stunned the meet with a second place in the 100m dash and a incredible 22.60s first place finish in the 200m dash, which, broke the long-standing meet record. Matt Giammona placed 11th (out of 42) in the discus (105’2”) and 14th in the shot put. Ragini Bhattacharya placed ninth in the two-mile run (12:14.16). As a team, the girls placed eighth out of 21 teams and boys 10th out of 24.
Harker softball defeated Menlo-Atherton in their season opener 10-4 behind junior Alison Rugar’s twelve strikeouts and senior Angela Singh’s three hits.
Boys volleyball won their season opener at SLV 3-1. Andrew Zhu, grade 10, had thirteen kills in the victory. The freshman/sophomore combined team defeated the Bellarmine freshman team 2-0.
Boys golf defeated Pinewood in their opener 189-191. Maverick McNealy, grade 11, and Shrish Dwivedi, grade 9, both shot 34’s at Los Lagos.
Upcoming Home Games:
Thursday, March 8: Tennis vs. Crystal Springs, Softball vs. Monta Vista, Boys volleyball vs. Willow Glen
Friday, March 9: Softball vs. Pinewood, Baseball vs. Woodside Priory, Boys volleyball vs. Harbor at Bucknall.
Tags: In the News, Sports