Harker will host a performance by the renowned improvisational group Baby Wants Candy (BWC) on Sat., Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Blackford Theater. Joining BWC for this show will be none other than Harker’s own performing arts students, who will attend a special workshop hosted by BWC on Feb. 3 and 4.
Based out of New York City and Chicago, Baby Wants Candy has received rave reviews from The New York Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Huffington Post and more for its hilarious, creative and entirely improvised shows. During a typical Baby Wants Candy performance, the audience will shout the title of a never-before-performed musical. From there, the BWC players improvise an hour-long show, complete with musical accompaniment and dance numbers choreographed on the spot. With more than 1,850 such shows performed everywhere from New York to London to Singapore, Baby Wants Candy has established itself as a hotbed of talent, with its members going on to become cast members of “Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock,” “MadTV” and more.
Baby Wants Candy cast members attended Harker’s performance of “Pippin” at the 2011 Fringe festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. “They were so impressed they invited the students to a special workshop at the University of Edinburgh, then offered to bring their show to Harker,” said Laura Lang-Ree, Harker’s performing arts director. “This show is ‘likely to sell out, so get your tickts, fast!”
The performance will be held at Harker’s Blackford Theater at 3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose. Tickets are $15, Students $10, and can be purchased online at http://bit.ly/wGkUGg. The show is expected to sell out but a few tickets may still be available at the door. For more information, please contact communications@harker.org.
Middle school Performing Arts Lead Teacher Monica Colletti held the first ever Junior Thespian Troupe induction on Jan. 17. Eleven students were inducted into the theater honor society, which Colletti says, “represents commitment to the fantastic theater and performing arts program we have here at Harker.”
The Junior Thespian troupe is a part of the International Thespian Society, the world’s largest honor society for middle and high school theater students. Induction into the Junior Thespian program recognizes hard work and achievement within the dramatic arts.
Students interested in becoming a member of the troupe record their activities, like taking elective classes, performing in a play, working backstage on a show, or participating in summer camps or theater festivals, and are given points based on their participation. Added Colletti, “I hope that all students who love theater will want to be a member of this honor society.”
Grade 5 mathematics teacher Pat Walsh arranged to spend the day at Menlo School in Atherton, observing the the grade 6-8 math classes. In addition to seeing some “excellent teachers,” as Walsh said, and getting inspiration for some ideas he nows plans to implement in his own classroom, Walsh spent a period with his former student – now a teacher herself at Menlo School – Jennifer Gray Glasser, who attended Harker through grade 6, Walsh estimated. Not only was Glasser his student, but her mother, Peggy Gray, was an administrator at Harker for a few years back in the ’80s, Walsh said.
The class Walsh sat in on was of grade 7 students, who he described as “captivated.” He went on to say, “It almost brought tears to my eyes watching my former student lead her kids through a beautifully designed lesson.” He also noted that Glasser will be taking over next year as Menlo’s middle school director.
The Gerald Clayton Trio played to the largest Harker Concert Series audience yet on Jan. 20, a fine night for an indoor show, given the rainy weather. Middle school music teacher Dave Hart introduced Clayton, 27, a three-time Grammy award nominee who has worked with greats such Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash and Clark Terry. Joining him on drums was Justin Brown, a graduate of the Dave Brubeck Institute and Juilliard, attending both on full scholarships. On bass was Matt Brewer, a professional performer since the age of 12 and a highly in-demand sideman, according to Clayton.
Appearing the very portrait of concentration, Clayton put hand to keys, performing a dissonant improvisation before segueing nicely into a slow and soft rendition of the standard “It Could Happen to You.” Brown used his brushes to great effect, adding an ethereal touch to his steady, nuanced technique. Both he and Brewer contributed the first of many tasteful solos that evening, while Clayton’s increasingly dexterous playing brought the song to an exciting finish.
Clayton followed up with “Major Hope,” an original composition that began with rapid staccato chords in shifting times, gradually swelling into an upbeat display of musicianship, featuring Clayton’s fluid improvisational skills and Brown’s exacting touch.
Clearly fond of standards, Clayton tossed the much-loved ballad “Blame it on My Youth” into his set, adding his own unique flourishes and syncopations. At one point, Clayton intimated to the audience that the band didn’t know what to play next. “Maybe that’s the genius of youth,” he remarked. “No plans.”
The trio’s version of “Body and Soul” was much appreciated by Bill and Cathy Fraser, both of them first-time attendees of the Harker Concert Series.
“It was beyond my expectations,” Bill Fraser, a longtime jazz listener, said of the show. “Particularly the couple of ballads they played …. It’s just rare when a jazz trio settles down in that mood and gets it.”
Roger Kim ’07, who studied music at the University of California, Berkeley, was also impressed with the show. “I see a lot of jazz, and this definitely was a unique experience,” he said, mentioning that the Clayton concert was among the best he’d seen.
Winston Wey ’07, who played with Harker’s jazz band during his high school years, said he had recently rekindled his interest in music and that Clayton’s performance was an inspiration to him. “I’m really impressed with the caliber of performers they get here,” he said.
The Harker public forum debate team has had its winningest year in the history of the program, with a team in the final round of a tournament every weekend it has been out traveling this year. Additionally, Harker has had teams in the top 10 in the nation on www.debaterankings.com in public forum debate for the entire year.
Harker debate began 2012 with a string of impressive performances.
The Barkley Forum at Emory University the weekend of Jan. 28 had 138 entries from all over the country. Frederic Enea and Rohan Bopardikar, both grade 12, were the second seed after preliminary rounds and fellow seniors Aakash Jagadeesh and Akshay Jagadeesh (no relation) were third seed. They met in semifinals after nine rounds of competition. Enea and Bopardikar advanced to the finals as the higher seed and went on to win the tournament.
At the Victory Briefs Tournament at UCLA, Enea and Bopardikar closed out the final round of the tournament with grade 10 students Stephanie Lu and Katherine Paseman, making this the fourth time Harker has won this tournament. Two additional Harker teams made it to the elimination rounds.
At a tournament held at James Logan High School, 132 teams competed. Senior Ishan Taneja and sophomore Jithin Vellian met Aneesh Chona and Anuj Sharma, both grade 11, in the semifinals. Taneja and Vellian advanced to the finals as the higher seed, where they were defeated. Two other Harker teams reached the elimination rounds.
On the East Coast, three young teams advanced to early elimination rounds at the Lexington High School tournament.
Chona and Sharma also won the Myers Park Laird Lewis Invitational in North Carolina, which is one of the top public forum tournaments in the country and included last year’s National Forensics League and Tournament of Champions winners. The duo were one of five Harker teams at the event, with the other four appearing in the elimination rounds. In the Public Forum Challenge, Aakash and Akshay made it to the final round of competition in a challenge-style tournament where 14 teams are invited from throughout the country.
Debate finished 2011 on a high note in two December tournaments; Enea and Bopardikar won the elite Blake Round Robin, while Chona and Sharma reached the semifinals of the Blake Tournament. Three other Harker teams were also in elimination rounds.
Basketball: The Harker School’s boys varsity basketball was busy over winter break, chocking up numerous wins. Early in the break, they defeated Greenfield and Galileo in non-league matchups. The team then went 4-1 at the consolation championship at the Monta Vista Tournament to win it. The team lost to host Monta Vista in an exciting overtime match, and had defeats against Gunderson and Wilcox. The boys had a 7-3 record going into league contests, but then lost to Menlo in front of what Dan Molin, the upper school athletic director, described as, “a packed Blackford gym crowd.” The final score was 52-44, which dropped them to 8-4 overall, 1-1 in league play. “It was a great spirited event as the Knights proved to be a bit stronger this time,” Molin said.
The Harker girls basketball team had a busy break, as well. They competed in the Gunderson Tournament, where they finished sixth, going 2-3 with defeats over Prospect and James Lick, and losses to strong teams from Branham, Oak Grove and Milpitas. Once back from break, the team defeated Capuchino High 53-31 to improve to 7-5 overall. Molin pointed out Daniza Rodriguez, grade 11 (who scored 16 points), Priscilla Auyeung, grade 11 (with 10 points and eight rebounds) and Nithya Vemireddy, grade 10 (with 14 rebounds), for their outstanding performances.
Soccer: The Harker girls soccer team competed in the Garces Tournament in Bakersfield, where they went 1-2 with a win over Arvin and suffered defeats to Taft and Burroughs. Nikita Parulkar, grade 9, was singled out by Molin for her score in the Arvin victory. The team went on to tie Summit Prep with a final score of 1-1. “Apurva Gorti, grade 10, scored for the Eagles, assisted by Julia Fink, grade 10,” Molin said. The girls now have a 3-1-1 league record.
The Harker boys soccer team competed over break, defeating St. Francis-Watsonville with a final score of 4-1 and tying Pioneer High to improve their league record to 2-1-1 overall. After break was over, the boys suffered a defeat to what Molin called “league power” Sacred Heart Prep on Davis Field, making their current league standing 3-2-1 overall.
Wrestling: Freshman wrestler Corey Gonzales continues to impress; Molin reported that he earned his first dual meet victory over Homestead in December in the 106 lb. class, and is now “listed as CCS honorable mention due to his 6-1 overall record.” Molin also noted Darian Edvalson, grade 10, who earned a victory over his Lynbrook opponent recently, along with Vishal Vaidya, grade 9 and Vincent Lin, grade 10, saying they are doing well in their young wrestling careers.
Three Harker middle school students and one former Harker student teamed up recently to win a First Lego League (FLL) robotics competition by employing water electrolysis to demonstrate an innovative way to stop the spread of salmonella in food production.
Derek Kuo, Rajiv Movva and Shaya Zarkesh, and Niko Bhatia, now of Menlo School, all grade 6, are members of the “G3ARZ” robotics team that participated in FLL’s “Food Factor” competition, which had teams devise ways to sanitize food and keep it from spoiling. Their idea provided a solution to the problem of unsanitary blades spreading salmonella while processing chicken. The key component was water electrolysis technology produced by a Minnesota-based company called ActiveIon.
The team contacted the company and presented their solution to its marketing director. Impressed with their ideas, ActiveIon arranged to have some of their products sent to the students. Using these products, they developed a way to sanitize blades between slices to prevent the spread of salmonella. The students even developed a patent for this new process and submitted to the FLL’s Global Innovation Award contest.
G3ARZ went on to win the Food Factor competition at West Valley Middle School in late November in the Project, Robot Game and Core Values categories. They also took the top spot in that event’s robotics contest. They also won first place in Mechanical Design at a Jan. 22 contest at Newark Memorial High School.
G3ARZ have also launched their own website at www.g3arz.com.
In mid-January, The Harker School had its 2012 Winter Concert at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose. The show featured the middle school orchestras and jazz band for the first part of the evening, with the upper school orchestra and jazz band following right after. They were conducted by David Hart, middle school instrumental teacher, and Christopher Florio, upper school instrumental teacher.
The evening began with the Harker Winds, who played “Green Sleeves” and “Auld Lang Syne.” They were followed by the strings, who played “Canon,” and holiday favorite, “Joy to the World.” From there the grade 6 orchestra took the stage, for a performance that included a lively rendition of “The Can-Can,” and they were followed by the chamber ensemble performances. Then it was grades 7 and 8 turn to shine, which they certainly did through various jazz band pieces as well as through the orchestra’s three selections, which included an English folk song suite.
The upper school started off their portion of the evening with their jazz band, which played popular songs such as “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” After a short intermission, the upper school orchestra took the stage. They played four pieces, starting off with “Overture to ‘Candide’” and concluded the evening of performances with “Overture to ‘William Tell.’”
The Harker School’s lower school has two teams of grade 3 students competing in First Lego League (FLL) this year. FLL comes out with a new challenge every September based on a real-world topic involving science, and each challenge has three parts: the Robot Game, the Project and the FLL Core Values (which center around teamwork and gracious professionalism). In September 2011, the Food Factor Challenge was announced, and students at the lower school formed two teams (which can each have up to 10 students), named Robo Creators and Mindstorm Mastermind.
The project these two teams are exploring this year is food safety; they must investigate their food and find one way to improve its safe delivery to them. Recent scares around food safety, including the Listeria contamination in cantaloupes that led to 15 deaths in the U.S., were front and center for the two teams in early October, as they visited the Elkus Farm in Half Moon Bay.
The teams were exposed to organic farming techniques, food safety issues around animals and livestock and possible cross contamination sources in mixed environments. In addition to some serious discussions on food safety the kids had tremendous fun feeding chickens, goats, horses and numerous animals on this trip. As more than two thirds of the U.S. food supply comes from non-local and even international sources, better understanding and insights into these solutions via research from more than 200,000 children in 55 countries around the world in this year’s FLL competition will hopefully prove invaluable to this effort. FLL also hopes the project exposes students to new areas of science and technology, and introduces them to career options they never would have thought about.
Starting with a scrimmage in late October, the Robot Game portion of the challenge really got underway. To participate in the Robot Game, teams must program an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field. The lower school’s two teams were split into two different tournaments so that they don’t compete against each other. On a weekend in mid-November, Mindstorm Masterminds spent a full day at their regional qualifier tournament. According to team coach Jyoti Baid, “they had an amazing time,” and walked away as champions. They’ll now go on to compete at the state level. Part of their qualifying tournament involved a closed-door interview about the robot’s design. Baid says the students “walked in, promptly set up their gear, did a great job with the interview questions and behaved extremely professionally as a team.” By the end of the event, the head judge had announced that Mindstorm Masterminds was at the top of each category. They also ranked in the top four at the tournament for their robot’s design.
The following weekend, Robo Creators competed at St. Lawrence with an equally impressive performance, moving them to the state level competition as well. They had strong performances across all key areas, with the support of team coaches Jijen Vazhaeparambil, Gayatri Moorthy and Merwyn (Merv) Andrade. Andrade said the students had a “great day” competing. The team additionally won top honors from among the 15 teams competing for their innnovative research work on what they call a “Nitro Cabinet” to extend shelf life and prevent contamination of cherries.
Both teams will compete at the state level this month.
Michael Amick, grade 11, a left back soccer player, was invited to the U.S. Men’s National Under-18 (or U18) team camp for a week in early January. The camp was held in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and was coached by American coach and soccer player Richie Williams. Amick plays on the De Anza Force Soccer Club, located in Cupertino. Throughout the year, Williams will lead the 24 players chosen for the camp through tournaments and training camps to get the style of play, training sessions and fitness testing for the U18 into the same structure as the Men’s National Team. Kudos!