As always, the 2010 holidays were a time of celebration and giving at Harker, with special events, performances and service projects going into full swing.
During the second week of December, performing arts groups from all three campuses, including Downbeat, the Upper School Orchestra, Dance Fusion and Harmonics, gathered for the annual holiday tour, which was provided fun holiday entertainment to audiences at Saratoga, Blackford and Bucknall.
At the lower school, grades 4 and 5 celebrated with holiday parties, where gifts were exchanged, and each class had a special assembly of its own. Grade 4 students had fun with karaoke, a snowball game and playing “Santa Says.” Grade 5 kids were entertained by a troupe of actors and enjoyed hot chocolate and other treats, as well as a special visit from Santa Claus.
The lower school also celebrated with a pair of December concerts. The grade 1 Holiday Show, directed by Louis Hoffman and choreographed by Gail Palmer, brought the entire first grade class together to sing perennial favorites such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” as well as lesser-known songs such as “Candy Candy,” “Shine Little Candle” and a medley of Hanukkah songs.
Grades 2 and 3 had a concert of their own, also directed and choreographed by Hoffman and Palmer, respectively. During the show, both grades alternated between sharing the stage as a group and singing as individual classes. Songs performed included “Jingle Bells,” “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Over the River and Through the Woods” and the finale, “Jingle Bell Rock.” Several teachers and guest student musicians also appeared at various points throughout the show.
The lower school’s yearly toy drive saw 925 toys delivered to Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose. Donated items included “sports equipment, board games, stuffed animals and all the popular toys of the season,” said Joe Connolly, lower school dean of students. Harker tech support manager Jesse Lara generously gave more than 125 toys from his own personal collection. “I continue to be touched by the incredible generosity of our parents and students,” Connolly said.
Just before the holiday break, Harker kindergartners got to meet Santa Claus (actually Chris Nikoloff, head of school, in full Santa garb) to share their holiday wishes and enjoy breakfast at this year’s Breakfast With Santa event. All the kindergartners had their photos taken to commemorate their meeting with Saint Nikoloff.
Middle school students and advisories conducted several service projects during the season. The Service Club collected and donated more than 250 pounds of canned and dried food items to the Second Harvest Food Bank. The annual used coat drive, also sponsored by the Service Club, donated 175 coats to InnVision, which provides housing and services to homeless and at-risk families.
In addition, 15 advisories brought holiday cheer to more than 120 preschoolers by purchasing and delivering special gifts to the Kidango Child Center in San Jose. Six other advisories worked with faculty and staff from the lower and middle schools to brighten the holidays for more than 100 children, seniors and mentally challenged adults through Family Giving Tree, for which Harker was a host company this year. Gifts donated included toys, games and clothing that were given according to each person’s preferences.
At the upper school, a massive effort was coordinated to generate food donations to the Second Harvest Food Bank, collecting nearly 850 pounds of food items to offer relief to hungry families in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
Upper school advisories made donations to Scott Lane Elementary School, sending two carloads of school supplies, toys and other gifts for elementary school-aged children. They also helped families in need by donating to Sunday Friends, providing everyday items such as binder paper, pencils, diapers and toiletries.
Continuing a yearly holiday tradition, upper school students lent their hands to decoration of the popular Christmas in the Park attraction in downtown San Jose and also carried the massive Elmo float through heavy winds during the San Jose Holiday Parade.
The yearly gingerbread house contest, during which each upper school class, as well as faculty and staff, constructs a gingerbread house, was another annual favorite. The juniors’ gingerbread house was judged the best by voters. In another annual holiday tradition, students painted the windows of Manzanita Hall with colorful, detailed scenes, each based on a different animated character. The seniors’ scene based on the movie “Nightmare Before Christmas” was the winning painting.
The eagerly awaited fashion show 2011 “When I Grow Up … Dream Big!” lived up to its name, with a big, exciting event. Guests were greeted at the Santa Clara Convention Center by middle school student hosts and led to the event foyer, where they could peruse the beautifully decorated tables filled with auction items. Some tried their luck at the gift wheel, while others headed into the ballroom to find their tables and listen to the Harker Jazz Band, directed by Chris Florio, music teacher.
Banquet tables, decked out with floral centerpieces, surrounded a cross-shaped runway flanked by three active video screens. Chris Nikoloff, head of school, welcomed guests and introduced the show’s honorary chair, Diana Nichols, with a short video clip. Pictures of Nichols as a child and a voiceover explaining her passion for science provided a sweet introduction to Nichols herself, who took to the runway to thank the guests, sponsors and fashion show committee for their work.
Show organizer Sue Prutton, Harker’s director of volunteers, stood to specially thank all the people behind the scenes, pointing out that, this year, Harker students played an integral roll backstage, in the lobby, as videographers and as live and program photographers.
The show’s theme was creatively laced through the show by director, Laura Lang-Ree, chair of the performing arts department. Before and during fashion segments, video screens showed clips of teachers and staff discussing their dreams and giving advice on finding one’s passion. Along with taped video, live video of the action brought excitement and immediacy to the proceedings; J Gaston, graphic arts teacher, and Adi Parige, grade 12, were on the sides of the room ably handing the live video cameras.
But what about the fashion? Macy’s and Eli Thomas for Men of Santana Row provided most of the clothing, and the Giants Dugout Store even got into the action for a segment dedicated to our own hometown World Series heroes. Models of all ages strutted their stuff with confidence, showing off smooth form from weeks of practice. Varsity Dance Troupe, Downbeat and Dance Fusion wowed the crowd with stunning routines, and Downbeat also provided a vocal backdrop to the final modeling segment.
At the evening show the fun continued after the fashion portion with a live auction, ably led by Harker favorite Damon Casatico. He cajoled, wheedled and prodded guests to raise paddles for tickets to the Grammy and Emmy awards, spectacular vacation trips, a quilt made by our kindergartners, a fly-over with the San Jose Police Department, and much more. Guests relaxed their grip on their paddles after the auction and hit the dance floor, enjoying the terrific cover band, The Cheeseballs.
The excited buzz heard throughout the evening continued as guests filed out, suggesting the event was a success for all who attended, and thus for Harker!
Representatives from the Punahou School in Honolulu, which counts President Barack Obama among its alumni, visited the Harker middle school campus in mid-February to learn how Harker uses technology in the classroom. During their tour, they watched science teacher Raji Swaminathan give a lecture using PowerPoint, saw Concepcion Grande’s Spanish students use Audacity to practice their language skills and observed science teacher Scott Kley-Contini’s students use Google Moderator to hold a confidential question and answer session, as well as use Slide Rocket to give live feedback on a presentation.
Feb. 22, 2011
[Update] The grade 5boys soccer team, coached by Jared Ramsey and Walid Fahmy, had an exciting win over Sacred Heart 2-1, after playing the same team to a 3-3 tie earlier in the season. The team is currently 2-0-2 and is tied for first place in the league!
The grade 7boys soccer team, coached by Nicholas Hahn and David Ramos, dominated Priory 9-0 and currently is in second place in the league with a 2-1 record.
The grade 7 girls basketball team, coached by Loreen Talagtag and Joe Mentillo, played an exciting game against Menlo last week, falling at the end 25-26.
Feb. 16, 2011
The early winter season of grades 4-8 boys basketball and girls soccer has come to a close. What a fantastic season it was, especially for our boys basketball teams!
EARLY WINTER SEASON
Boys Basketball
Our grade 8 varsity A boys basketball team went 6-0 in league and 10-1 overall. They took home the league championship and won the WBAL end-of-season tournament as well, a Harker first! The team was led by co-MVPs Eric Holt and Srivinay Irrinki, Eagle Award winners Vamsi Gadiraju and Avik Wadhwa and Coaches Award winner Arjun Ashok.
Our grade 7-8 varsity B basketball team went 6-1 in league and 8-2 overall. They took second place in the WBAL and fifth place in the WBAL tournament. The team was led by MVP Sidhart Krishnamurthi, grade 8; Eagle Award winner Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 7; and Coaches Award winner Prithvi Gudapati, grade 7.
The grade 6 junior varsity A basketball team went 3-3 in league for a fourth place finish in league and went 3-5 overall. The team was led by MVP Andrew Gu, Eagle Award winner Alex Mo and Coaches Award winner Alex Youn.
The grade 5 junior varsity B basketball team went 6-0 in league and 7-1 overall. They took home the league championship and took second place in the WBAL tournament. The team was led by co-MVPs Brando Pakel and Siddhart Chari and Eagle Award winner Eric Andrus.
Our grade 4 junior varsity C basketball team went 6-0 in league and also took home the league championship! The team was led by co-MVPs Jackson Williams and Jarrett Anderson and Eagle Award winner Jason Peetz.
Girls Soccer
Our grade 8 varsity A girls soccer team went 2-5 in league, but their record was not indicative of how good the team actually was. All but one of the losses was by a single goal, which was usually scored just before time expired. The team was led by co-MVPs Alyssa Amick and Savi Joshi, Eagle Award winners Diba Massihpour and Safia Khouja and Coaches Award winner Gabi Gupta.
The grade 7 varsity B soccer team went 2-4 in league with a couple very close losses. The team was led by MVP Alisa Wakita, Eagle Award winner Jessica Liou and Coaches Award winner Naomi Molin.
Our grade 6 junior varsity A soccer team went 2-3-1 in league with huge wins over Castilleja and Crystal Springs. The team was led by MVP Anuva Mittal, Eagle Award winner Lyndsey Mitchell and Coaches Award winner Divya Rajasekharan.
Our grades 4-5 junior varsity B soccer team went 1-3-2 in league with a solid victory over Girls Middle School, 6-1, and a couple of 2-2 ties. The team was led by MVP Alexandra Lu, grade 4; Eagle Award winner Lilia Gonzales, grade 4; and Coaches Award winner Krishna Bheda, grade 5.
Our grades 4-5 intramural soccer team enjoyed their introduction to soccer and look forward to competing in games in the near future. The team was led by MVP Priya Bhanot, Eagle Award winner Rebecca Mak and Coaches Award winner Claudia Opris, all grade 4.
LATE WINTER SEASON
After a highly successful early winter season, the late winter girls basketball and boys soccer seasons have gotten off to a productive start. Many teams have already played quite a few games.
Girls Basketball
The grade 8 girls basketball team is 1-4 in league play, competing against very competitive eighth grade teams in the WBAL. Recently the team enjoyed an exciting victory over Priory, 27-11. Key players are Lehka Chirala, Eugene Gil and Savi Joshi.
The grade 7 girls basketball team is 1-2 after starting the season with an exciting win over Stratford, 32-23. Key players are Sadhika Malladi, Shannon Richardson and Namitha Vellian.
The grade 6 basketball team is 1-3 in league play, after starting the season with a win over Girls Middle School, 35-15. Key players are Joelle Anderson, Jordan Thompson and Lindsey Trinh.
The grade 5 girls basketball team is 2-1 in league play with huge wins over St. Matt’s, 22-2, and Sacred Heart 2, 16-10. Key players are Anika Banga, Megan Huynh, Satchi Thockchom and Akshaya Vemuri.
The grade 4 girls basketball team is 1-2 in league play with a victory over Sacred Heart 2, 18-6. The team is led by Kayla Dominguez, Keili FitzGerald, Jennifer Hayashi and Alexandra Janssen.
Boys Soccer
The grade 8 boys soccer team is 1-2 in league play with an exciting win over King’s Academ, 3-1. Key players are Jeremiah Anderson, Edwin Chen, Thomas Doyle and Nikhil Kishore.
The grade 7 boys soccer team is 2-1 in league play with solid victories over Keys, 3-0, and Priory, 9-0. Key players are Jonathon Keller, Andrew Kirjner, Calvin Kocienda, Michael Quezada and Nathaniel Stearns.
The grade 6 boys soccer team is 2-1 in league play with a 6-0 win over Pinewood and a 4-1 win over Crystal Springs. Key players are Kedar Gupta, Sandip Nirmel, Ryan Vaughan and Nicholas Weisbloom.
The grade 5 boys soccer team is 2-0-2 in league play with a 4-1 win over Sacred Heart 1, a 2-1 win over Sacred Heart 2, a 3-3 tie with Sacred Heart 2 and a 1-1 tie with Pinewood. Key players are Jin Kim and Matthew McCallaCreary, Rohit Shah and Vedant Shah.
The grades 4-5 intramural soccer team has enjoyed their introduction to soccer this season and look forward to competing in the near future. The team is led by Nirban Bhatia, grade 5; Jarrett Anderson, grade 4; Chris Gong, grade 4; and Krish Kapadia, grade 4.
In mid-January the lower school gym was packed with students, faculty and staff – all in pajamas – ready and excited to donate to a good cause. The reason can be traced back to one young Harker student.
Four years ago, Harker third grader Rishi Narain sat down to watch the “Oprah” show. The show’s guest that day was Genevieve Piturro, founder of the Pajama Program, a nonprofit dedicated to delivering warm sleepwear and nurturing books to children in need. Seeing thousands of pajamas and books donated to children who never had them inspired Narain to bring the program to Harker, where he organized the lower school’s inaugural pajama drive.
Four years later, the event is bigger than ever.
The assembly itself was a raucous affair. In addition to all the lower school students, there were also “big people in the audience,” as Joe Connolly, lower school dean, put it in his introduction to the event. The “big people” were sophomores, who had come as part of the Eagle Buddies program.
Eagle Buddies, still in its first year, was an initiative suggested by Butch Keller, upper school head, in an effort to bridge the campus divide. Third and tenth graders are matched together, and according to Carol Zink, upper school history teacher; the third graders get fun, older role models, “while the sophomores get a chance to lighten up and be kids for a little bit.”
The buddies stay together for three years, until the sophomores graduate and the third graders matriculate into middle school. “It’s been going more smoothly than I could ever imagine,” said Keller. “I couldn’t be more pleased with what we’re accomplishing.”
After Connolly’s introduction, Pallie Zambrano, co-president of the Pajama Program’s Northern and Central California chapter, expressed thanks to the Harker students, reminding them that each donated pair of pajamas would change the life of a child in need.
Next, Keller replaced his suit jacket with a bathrobe and reclined on a rocking chair to read “We Are Going on a Bear Hunt” to the children. All the students got involved during the audience participation part of the reading, with special zeal coming from the sophomores, who may or may not have been coached beforehand.
Finally, the students spent some time reading to themselves and with their buddies. Big Buddy Michaela Kastelman said she enjoyed spending time with her buddy because it brought her back to the experience of being in third grade. Kindergartner Andrew Fox wasn’t too sure of what was going on, but he was very excited to be in his pajamas. “They’re not as tight as my uniform!” he exclaimed.
All in all, the event was a huge success, with Harker students donating 727 pairs of pajamas and 204 books, a school record for the program.
Beginning Japanese students in Harker’s middle school finished their culture projects on Feb. 4, by creating beautiful origami lilies for their mothers, to be given on Valentine’s Day as a token of appreciation and love. The students also made Japanese-style cards and attached them to the flowers with a message written inside entirely in Japanese.
Middle school students taking Advanced Japanese went on a culinary and cultural field trip on Feb. 4 to practice their language skills. The students traveled to the authentic Japanese restaurant Tanto in Sunnyvale, where the Japanese-speaking wait staff was instructed to ignore any student request spoken in English. Japanese teacher Kumi Matsui said the students benefited from practicing Japanese outside the classroom while also being exposed to authentic Japanese cuisine. The students also had the chance to interact with two visiting high school students from the Tamagawa School in Tokyo, Japan, who joined in on the delicious outing.
Winter sports are wrapping up! January Athletes of the Month are sophomore Priscilla Auyeung, basketball, and classmate Michael Amick, soccer.
Wrestling
Wrestler Santosh Swaminathan, grade 12, became Harker’s first-ever league champion this past weekend! Classmate Chris McCallaCreary placed second, losing 4-2 in the finals. Senior Jason Mendel also placed second in his weight, making this the first time Harker has ever had three league finalists. All three have qualified for CCS in two weeks. At the end of January, McCallaCreary won the 160-lb. weight class at Overfelt High School. McCallaCreary defeated both the first- and second-ranked wrestlers in CCS on his way to taking the tournament championship.
The girls basketball team lost their first-ever WBAL league playoff game to Sacred Heart Prep 56-41 in mid-February and now await their CCS seeding. They defeated Crystal Springs and King’s Academy in early February to finish up the regular season with a record-setting 19-3 overall record and second place league finish. In their Jan. 25 Mercy-Burlingame match, a close game was anticipated, but no one expected three overtimes. Mercy-Burlingame made last-second shots to tie at the end of regulation and again to force the second and third overtimes, but our Eagles eventually held off the Crusaders for a 56-53 victory. Rodriguez scored 27 points for the Eagles, and Tanya Rai, grade 12, had 12 rebounds in that game.
Boys basketball had their final home game in mid-February versus a tough Pinewood team, nailing them 61-52. Senior Partha Mahajani scored 15 points, junior Stephen Hughes had 12 and Nikhil Panu, grade 10, scored 10 points. In previous play, the boys defeated Crystal Springs but lost to King’s Academy in early February. Prior to that, the team put up a tough fight against first place Sacred Heart, losing 56-38 (Vik Jain, grade 11, had 10 points) but in late January handled ECP, 44-29.
Cheerleading
In late January, our two senior cheerleaders, Amanda King and Alice Loofbourrow, were recognized for their four years of contributing to Harker athletics. Thanks to both girls!
Soccer
Varsity boys soccer had a fine week in early February defeating Crystal Springs and Pinewood to improve to 5-4-3. Catch their final two home games Wed., Feb. 16 and Fri., Feb. 18 on Davis Field. Ambrish Amaranathan and Isaac Madan were the senior boy soccer players lauded for their years of participation in mid-February prior to their game against KIPP San Jose Collegiate on Davis Field.
Girls soccer lost to ECP and Crystal Springs in early February and face Notre Dame Feb. 15. The team lost to Notre Dame in late January, but three cheers to Alicia Clark, grade 9, who was awarded the game ball by coach Troy Thiele for her improved game. Girls soccer seniors Monisha Appalaraju, Lydia Demissachew, Michelle Holt, Arthi Kumar and Priya Sahdev were thanked for their contributions in mid-February on Davis Field. GO EAGLES!
This January, Harker’s entire grade 5 class – with a little help from a few talented upper school technical theater students and a cadre of adventurous teachers – took part in multiple performances of the musical “Go West,” by John Jacobson and Roger Emerson.
The musical, a fantastical retelling of the Gold Rush billed as “A Musical Celebration of America’s Westward Expansion,” served as a shared meditation on the origins of Northern California. It was further personalized with several added scenes by performing arts teacher Jennifer Cowgill which framed the story’s narrative as a fifth grader’s presentation to his classmates, and by a new scene in which our heroes run into a tribe of Native Americans.
That scene, written by Cowgill, history teacher Jared Ramsey and math teacher Pat Walsh, featured Ramsey and Walsh alongside teachers Shital Ashar, Joe Chung, Joe Connolly, Kristin Giammona, Shelby Guarino, Cathy Le, Katie Molin, Eileen Schick and Tobias Wade as members of the Nisenan Tribe in the Sierra Mountains, who teach the young adventurers and explorers how to use the land.
Cowgill also served as the director and musical director, and with more than 120 students, she created rich crowd scenes that humanized the extensive palate of 1800s American social life, placing crowds of cowboys, belles, reporters, journalists, sailors, doctors, businessmen, moguls, policemen, train conductors, mayors and politicians all side by side, not to mention one or two horses and cows.
The image of so many actors on one stage, sharing the story, is both rare and striking, and as Cowgill could no doubt attest, bringing more than 100 young students together towards a common purpose is no easy feat, even before they are asked to pour their hearts out in song. Yet, as Cowgill said, “They are singing two- and three-part harmonies in a number of songs in the show. This is very impressive for a group of over 100 fifth graders.”
Indeed, all of the entrances, exits and movements of the production were tied to music, and the show began as a pantomime. Not only that, most of the student-actors remained onstage for the majority of the show. “This would be incredibly challenging for even older students to learn, and they have done it, much to my surprise, quite well,” said Cowgill.
Students from the lower, middle and upper schools were eager to pitch in. Teacher Danny Dunn’s grade 5 technical theater class was stage crew, handling props and directing traffic behind the scenes. Dunn’s middle school technical theater class also devised one of the key design features of the show: an abstraction of a locomotive formed by the rhythmic churning of trunks, wool blankets, a rusted hoe, a lantern and more objects ripped from the era that together composed the ultra-theatrical rendition of an early train.
Meanwhile, three upper school students, Araby Martin, Michael Prutton and Christophe Pellissier, all grade 12, pitched in their time to realize the production. Prutton handled responsibilities as the assistant lighting designer and then the light and video operator during the show. Pellissier served as the sound operator, and Martin worked as assistant stage manager.
Even the show’s program owes a debt to student contribution: fifthgrader Kaitlin Hsu, who also took part in the performance, did the illustration for the program’s cover.
As impressive as the show’s production was, Cowgill was keen on noting the importance of the process to the students’ learning experience and personal development, pointing out that the shared artistic journey helped the students to learn skills of bravery and self-expression, methods of collaboration with a team, and lessons in the cultivation of empathy.
“The process of rehearsing for a show allows them to take risks and share creativity, work with others, and develop consideration for the people with whom they interact every day,” Cowgill wrote in her program note – skills that will serve the students well in whatever their futures bring. “By being involved in this, they are beginning to develop life skills that stretch beyond the classroom.”
This article originally appeared in the winter 2010 Harker Quarterly.
There are several national debates rumbling through education today. We are on a “race to nowhere” or other nations will take over the world if our children do not practice more math problems. We need to hold teachers accountable or we need to hold students accountable. We need more school choice or schools of choice need more oversight.
Education is prone to fads, the swoosh of mighty pendulum swings. Because education is in some ways about achieving balance, what Neil Postman called a thermostatic function, debates will always be a part of education. I think some of the current national dialogue on education stems from frustration with some of the built-in blind spots that schools necessarily have. Here are a few.
One, as schools are future-oriented, they miss the present. The entire purpose of schooling is suffused with future. For almost two decades, we sit in classrooms and prepare for the future.
We learn things because we might need them in the future.
I think this is behind some of the angst of the “race to nowhere” movement. Parents sense they are raising a generation of children who are missing out on their present as they prepare for the future. As Eckhart Tolle points out in “The Power of Now,” the future never arrives. It is always Now. Parents recall their childhoods, and they don’t remember missing the present as much.
Two, schools are systems designed to deliver knowledge. Knowledge is wonderful. I love learning. This is what schools are supposed to do, and we cannot fault them for doing so. But knowledge is not wisdom, and sometimes it isn’t even obviously useful. The American education system has a deep suspicion of academic content, following a long tradition of progressive theory going back to Rousseau and Dewey.
Again, this may be behind some of today’s increasing calls for less homework, less breadth and more depth. We all shudder at the thought of youngsters memorizing stuff to pass a test only to forget it and reload for the next test.
Finally, schools teach us to judge. We evaluate and measure everything in schools, even ourselves. We compare ourselves to others. We compare ourselves to ourselves from a different time. Judging is important in life. We sometimes have to judge ourselves or others to grow.
But judging, especially when the metric is quantitative, withers the soul. How do you measure curiosity? Kindness? Insight? A wrong but thoughtful answer? All parents wants their children to do well on the SAT, but no parent wants a child defined by a multiple-choice test.
Most religions attempt to counter these very blind spots that schools propagate: live in the present, see things as they are, do not judge. Children are naturally good at this. William Wordsworth famously captured children’s natural ability to see the beauty of the world and to live in the present:
THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparell’d in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
“Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” lines 1-5
Ironically, most religious traditions attempt to get us to be more childlike (not childish) in our approach to the world, what Zen calls “beginner’s mind.” Children enter schools to learn from adults, but adults would do well to learn from children and not to undo what children already do well.
The “Tao Te Ching” says, “When you have institutions, know where their functions should end.” Schools are wonderful places. But like all institutions, they have blind spots. We cannot fault them for not doing what they are not designed to do. But we can be aware of their limitations and mitigate them as best we can.
We cannot become children again, but we can, as T.S. Eliot describes in his “Four Quartets,” “arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” Sometimes if we are lucky, the most magical education will help us to see something as if for the first time. Sometimes if we are very lucky, that something will not only be the world, but ourselves, too.