Written for Harker News [Online] by Ramya Rangan, grade 11, WiSTEM Publicity Officer
This January many Harker upper school students found a new way to help the global community by raising funds to improve female education in sub-Saharan Africa.
Harker’s WiSTEM (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) led a weeklong effort the first week of the new year to raise awareness about the disparity between female and male education rates in the developing world.
Throughout the week, WiSTEM members emphasized that giving a girl an education leads to better health and lifestyles for her entire family. Since female education rates are the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, the club raised funds for CAMFED, an organization that transfers donations to Africa to send children to school.
To accomplish their goal WiSTEM members sold goods at almost every opportunity, including after school and at lunch. Unlike previous years, the goods were personalized by the club to match the week’s theme. Wristbands featured the slogan “A Chance to Advance,” and freshly-baked cupcakes were decorated with statistics about girls’ education around the world.
In the end, Harker students proved to be more than willing to support this cause. The club raised about $3,000, enough for CAMFED to “help 10 girls stay in high school in the Samfya district of Zambia. That’s 40 years of education,” said senior Josephine Chen, president of WiSTEM.
WiSTEM’s focus during their week was not just to raise money, however; the club primarily sought to increase awareness on the issue of girls’ education. As Chen explained, “While fundraising enables us to provide an immediate, direct impact on many girls’ lives, becoming educated about the cause can allow each and every one of us to continue to support the cause beyond this one week.”
To spread key statistics about girls’ education, WiSTEM gave an interactive and informative presentation during an assembly. The club also posted fliers and posters around the school.
According to Anita Chetty, science department chair and WiSTEM’s advisor, “WiSTEM used a unique way to deliver its message this year,” setting up a trivia game as a spirit competition to promote science literacy and reinforce information on [WiSTEM’s] posters.
The game was modeled after the High School Science Bowl (often called the Quiz Bowl) competition. Each class assembled a team of 10 or more student who were prepared to answer general science trivia questions and questions specific to girls’ education. With the incentive of spirit points and the need to defend class pride, approximately 50 people joined in the event in some way, either by competing or by supporting their friends.
Chetty said she “was very impressed with the number of students who came out to support WiSTEM and their classes.” Chen agreed, noting she “loved that people actually studied the various facts we posted around school” to prepare for the event. The competition served its purpose to educate the student body about the lack of girls’ education around the world.
WiSTEM members intend to continue to support increased education through the year and the club hopes to include the rest of the school in their efforts. Although the club’s week in January focused on education in the developing world, WiSTEM recognizes that education-related issues plague us locally as well.
Therefore, according to Chen, “WiSTEM is hoping to plan various activities at Scott Lane,” a school that educates underprivileged students in the Bay Area. These activities could include “tutoring, creating educational games or staging a mini-science fair.” As January fades into history, Harker students will continue to increase their impact on education levels around the world, thanks to WiSTEM’s ongoing efforts.
Approximately 130 parents attended the forums, which were held Jan. 19 at the lower school, Jan. 24 at the middle school and Jan. 25 at the upper school. Participating administrators included Christopher Nikoloff, head of school and Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, as well as deans, division heads and counselors from each campus.
Nikoloff opened each event by highlighting where Harker is, has been, and is going with respect to some of the issues raised in the film. By way of background, he referenced the 1981 book “The Hurried Child.” “Over the last 30 years, there have been a lot of hurrying dynamics in our children’s lives,” he said. “Now there is something of a backlash. It’s important not to get caught up in either end of the pendulum swing.”
With that in mind, Harker is continually evaluating its own programs from the perspective of its core values. “Our guiding star is love of learning, or intellectual curiosity,” Nikoloff said. “So when we ask questions … our goal is always deeper learning.” He then outlined some concrete steps Harker has taken over time in accordance with this philosophy, including the following:
Quarterly grading periods were changed to trimesters for K-5 and semesters for grades 6-12 to allow more time between assessments. Characterizing this as “a good start,” Nikoloff observed that there is still room for changes in pedagogy at all levels to decrease reliance on tests and incorporate more kinds of assessments.
The number of awards and awards ceremonies has been scaled back in favor of more cumulative annual recognitions. Almost every Harker student is among the top 10-15 percent of students nationwide, Nikoloff said, so comparisons must be undertaken with that in mind.
The requirements for summer courses and challenge tests have been increased in an effort to allow truly advanced students to work above grade level while avoiding artificial acceleration. Experience has shown that some accelerated students, particularly in math, do not develop the conceptual foundations they need for continued success.
Recent initiatives to improve the student experience include holding final exams before the holiday vacation so students can enjoy a real break, as well as adjusting the middle school bell schedule to eliminate conflicts between performing arts and athletics.
The upper school wellness program deepens in scope each year, and deals with such topics as sleep, stress, drugs, relationships and preparation for college. In 2010, student input was institutionalized by the creation of the Wellness Board, which includes representatives from each grade as well as Butch Keller, upper school head, along with faculty, counselors and the school nurse.
Advisories were established in grades 6-12 to build community and provide a scheduled opportunity to “take the pulse of the students’ lives and check in with them,” said Nikoloff, who went on to acknowledge an upper school parent’s perception that, yes, “sometimes community hinges on food.”
Teacher meeting time in grades 1-8 formerly spent arriving at consensus citizenship grades is now used to discuss students proactively and collaborate about how to best serve the needs of each.
A new dean of studies position was established last year, in part to help educate upper school students and families about how to choose an appropriate courseload and a balance of activities.
The dean of studies will meet with each grade 8 family this year to help them outline a suitable plan for high school, one customized to accommodate individual interests. Nikoloff recommended Ken Livingston’s book “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything,” as a good read and a tool that helps inform these discussions.
Harker is exploring the possibility of becoming a Challenge Success school, which would formalize its ties with that organization, based in Stanford’s School of Education. Challenge Success schools work closely with such experts as Denise Clark-Pope and Madeline Levine, who have both spoken at Harker, as well as other member schools to explore best practices in support of student well-being and engagement with learning. “They work with you to help you do what you do better,” said Nikoloff. “Our goal is: How can we deepening the learning?”
Harker has been cultivating dialogue among parents, students, faculty and the public in a variety of ways, including through a homework survey, the Common Ground Speaker Series, and the “Race to Nowhere” screening and its ensuing conversation. Other examples of Harker’s expanding community outreach include The Harker Speaker Series, Harker Research Symposium, Harker Arts Series and ongoing parent education programs.
Harker wants above all to hear what its own students have to say about the “Race to Nowhere,” and has scheduled round table discussions to solicit their feedback.
After outlining these initiatives at each event, Nikoloff moved to address some common questions, including about homework. “We are doing a deep homework audit and we do think we can accomplish more with a little bit less,” said Nikoloff. But he also cautioned, “you probably will not feel that tonight. It’s a reflective process that will slowly yield results.”
That sat well with Julie Moncton (Michael, grade 7), who said she appreciated the opportunity for parents to weigh in. “It’s nice to see that change is in the works and yet it won’t be changing so radically that we end up with something that won’t work out,” she said.
Other questions focused on math and language arts grouping and whether it contributes to competition. Nikoloff urged parents to see grouping as part of the process of learning, not as a goal to be achieved. The idea behind grouping is to match each student with “the pace that is within their zone of proximal development,” he said. “That means children are being challenged without being stressed.”
Seeking Balance in Parenting
As Nikoloff opened the discussion to attendees, specific questions naturally evolved into lively parent discussions. Parents in each division raised the twin issues of 1) how to provide opportunities and encouragement for children without exerting unwitting pressure, and 2) how to preserve those opportunities for activities they are truly passionate about, especially when schoolwork encroaches.
One question hung over all the others: How will colleges ultimately view them? On this as on other points, Nikoloff urged parents not to compare their children with anyone else’s, but to evaluate their activities by whether they are happy and meaningfully engaged. “That will translate into getting into the college that is right for them,” he said.
His message resonated with Trish Tobin (Sheridan, grade 8; Brendan, grade 6; Ryan, grade 2), who said, “I really appreciate how much time this school invests in learning how children learn and what’s best for them as a whole – not just their academic selves.” Parent Jennifer Hargreaves (Sydney, K) agreed. She particularly valued the “variety of perspectives from parents” at the forum, she said, and the fact that “the school is leading the conversation in the best interests of our children.”
Dodging Trouble in the Teen Years
Discussion at the upper school event focused heavily on the specifics of right now, with many parents wanting to know warning signs of stress to watch for in their teens. Among the recommendations offered by Nikoloff and upper school counselors Lori Kohan and Chris Colletti were to find some unscheduled time with children in which to gauge their stress levels, and to take notice of an extreme response to a bad grade.
At school, teachers and advisors make sure to work as a team to solicit one another’s observations if something seems amiss, the counselors said, and parents should always feel free to contact them with concerns as well.
At all three forums, parents were encouraged to communicate their own values, for example by asking kids more questions about the “process” of learning than about their grades.
Alumna Casey Near ’06 offered valuable perspective based on her own experience. The Harker students who thrive are “the ones who really take the Harker message to heart — that it’s about the process, and it’s about the ability to think critically,” she said. “So it’s the parents’ role to make sure that’s the focus – and not that test, that quiz or that homework assignment.”
Alumnus Boris Federov ’05 visited Harker on Feb. 3 to demo txtWeb, a start-up project funded by Intuit that allows users to find information from a wide range of sources by sending text messages to a special phone number. For instance, those who want to look up a Wikipedia entry can text “@wikipedia,” followed by the search term.
The project is also unique in that it allows anyone to create new services for txtWeb by registering a name (such as “@weather” or “@sports”) and creating search terms for it. Students at the event demoed the service with their own phones, and watched Federov demonstrate the ease of making applications for the service. Following the demo, Federov and the students discussed the deployment and usage of txtWeb, particularly in areas of the world where smart phones are less common. The platform, it was said, could potentially be a universal method of retrieving information whose simplicity appeals to developers.
“Before the presentation, I wasn’t sure how useful the txtWeb platform would be in the U.S. or at Harker because many people already have smart phones with a data plan,” said Prag Batra, grade 11, who is president of the Tech Club, which helped organize Federov’s appearance. “After the presentation, I realized that the platform is actually quite useful because text messages are more universal and robust than data.”
Feb. 16, 2011
[Update] Nikhil Parthasarathy and Rohan Mahajan were awarded commendations during the San Jose City Council meeting in mid-February. “The Harker School has a long history of producing high-achieving students,” said Councilman Pete Constant. “Each year since I’ve been representing San José’s Council District 1, it seems I have the chance to recognize such students for their achievements. It’s great to have Rohan and Nikhil carrying on this tradition of excellence and I congratulate The Harker School for being the only school in the nation with two finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search.”
Feb. 9, 2011
San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant has invited Harker Intel Science Talent Search finalists Rohan Mahajan and Nikhil Parthasarathy, both seniors, to attend the San José City Council meeting on Tues., Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Constant will formally recognize and congratulate the budding scientists for their noteworthy achievement. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed will invite the young men to the lectern where he and Constant will present the commendation, and give the recipients a chance to say a few words. Read the full story of their Intel wins and of the record seven semifinalists from Harker this year.
Those planning to attend should arrive 10 minutes early. City Hall is located at 200 E. Santa Clara Street, in downtown San José. The meeting is held in the Council Chambers in the Wing section of City Hall.
Nineteen Chinese students from the World Foreign Language Middle School in Shanghai, China, visited Harker for a week in mid-January as part of an annual exchange program organized by the global education department. The Chinese students were paired with Harker “buddies,” whose families hosted the students for the duration of their stays.
The exchange group was given the full VIP treatment at Harker, where they were able to observe and attend several classes, including dance with Gail Palmer, drama with Monica Colletti and art with Elizabeth Saltos. After getting a taste of Harker’s classes, the visiting students assisted their buddies in leading a Chinese traditional paper-cutting activity for grade 4 and 5 students. While they were here, the Chinese group went on excursions to San Jose, Stanford and San Francisco, where they went souvenir shopping and walked across the Golden Gate Bridge.
“It’s OK to be busy, but not crazy busy!” said Dr. Edward (Ned) Hallowell, a leading expert in the study of human focus. Hallowell gave a riveting talk to an audience of about 300 on the topic, “Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About to Snap,” at Harker’s Nichols Hall as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series in late January.
A leading voice in American psychiatry, Hallowell had simple and practical strategies on how to handle a fast-paced life. He warned that living in a state of chronic brain overload increases toxic stress and can lead to an “F state” (frantic, frenzied, fluttered, forgetful and furious). Hallowell noted it is important to protect and preserve the “C state” (cool, calm, clear, consistent, curious and courteous). Based on brain psychology, when you enter the angry state, your brain becomes primitive. The greatest damage from being too busy is that it prevents people from setting their own temperatures, controlling their own lives, he added.
Hallowell addressed some of the key issues we face today: losing track of time while online; multitasking in today’s wired, Smartphone wielding culture which makes people feel busier than ever; parents fearing their children’s futures will be compromised if their children are not top-tier students, and thus spending large sums on tutoring; social disconnection and anonymity occurring when one doesn’t know neighbors but shares private information online.
Hallowell’s approach, rather than addressing task management, addresses how to focus and nurture our most valuable human assets: time, attention and mental energy. His strategies for handling the fast-paced life include knowing what matters most to you and performing a quantitative time analysis of daily activities to get rid of time leeches; spending time cultivating lilies (things that are worth it), but being wary of too many lilies (then they become leeches)!; spending time at the intersection of three spheres: what you are good at, what you enjoy doing and what adds value. Hallowell says curtail, delegate or eliminate the rest.
Hallowell concluded by saying personal connection predicts success and urged families to find ways to have fun together and create a positively connected environment. If you are busy doing what matters to you, then, busy is bliss!
The Harker School is a member of Common Ground, a coalition of Bay Area schools working together to provide parent education to their communities. The coalition provides opportunities for parents to learn from experts in the fields of education and parenting, to share ideas with other parents, and to support each other’s efforts to enrich our school communities. This report was provided courtesy of Vidya Lakshmi Chari.
Student-Directed Showcase (SDS) is the culmination of four years of hard work tempered by both fun and the passion performers bring to their craft. Each year eager seniors apply to take this course, taught by Laura Lang-Ree, and the lucky few get an unusual glimpse into the world of play direction and production.
Each director must choose the piece to be presented, plan the set, choose the cast, and arrange for all the necessary technical help to make the production a success. This year four seniors, Aditya (Adi) Parige, Mallika Dhaliwal, Allika Walvekar and John Ammatuna, took up their tasks with a will and produced some great theater.
The shows were sold out based on the high standard of production SDS has shown in the past, and the four directors did not disappoint. The shows this year were “Hard Candy” (Walvekar), “The Marvelous Wonderettes” (Ammatuna), “The Dancers” (Dhaliwal), and “All In The Timing” (Parige).
The scope of the work alone was a challenge. “I found it to be rather daunting at first because I realized my duty and the level of intensity needed in my new, demanding role,” said Ammatuna.
“I never realized how many views thereare when looking at a show,” he added. “I had to look at it as a director,musical director, costumer, props manager, choreographer, technician and audience member, but learning to look at the show in so many ways was a great experience because I gained an understanding of how each job in theater functions, how they interact with one another and the amount of work each takes.”
Each candidate learned that managing people is critical. Parige noted that working with close friends and peers “was probably the most difficult aspect of directing. However, my entire cast was very cooperative with keeping the director-actor relationship completely professional, so conflicts were minimal.”
Dhaliwal agreed working with peers was a challenge, but the upside is the bonding that occurs. “I think casting was really hard, mainly because it’s so difficult to say no to anyone,” she said. “Getting costumes and props together was difficult, but extremely fun. We were very lucky to have a great group this year … gaining a closeness within the cast is very important,” she said.
For Ammatuna, the bond embraced those from all four productions. “Even though the shows were four separate shows, we were all like one big family,” he said.
Naturally, each learned something from the effort. “Patience,” said Parige. “It’s important to stay calm and relaxed and work with someone.”
Dhaliwal noted, “Organization, flexibility, calm and reinvention were all necessary during the production to make it run efficiently.”
Walvekar agreed. “I definitely realized that you have to stay true to your directorial vision, but you also have to be flexible,” she said. “Not everything can happen the way you first envisioned it, so you have to be willing to adapt.”
And there were challenges. “I think dealing with conflicts when trying to schedule rehearsals was definitely the toughest part of the job,” Walvekar said. “Organization was an important part in pulling the production together – I had a cast of 11, and it was tough to find times when we all could meet.”
Like any first pass at a job, the learning process was part of the work. “I would probably start gathering costumes and props a little earlier so they could be integrated into the process early,” said Dhaliwal of her effort.
Walvekar agreed and added, “I would have had a few more group rehearsals, and it would have been nice to have some more group activities.”
Parige looked at the broader picture. “In my next directing venture, I will probably focus a lot more on perfection. While I feel like my show was an amazing final product, you can never stop perfecting anything. But I do not regret any part of it. I would keep the experience exactly the same. It was an amazing learning experience for a future director.
Ammatuna was also happy with how his production went. “I made sure going into the process that I had dreamed up every idea possible to make this show as creative as possible. I was very detailed with every character and dance move. The more detailed a show is, the more professional. I believe I did my best to put on as professional and creative a show as possible.”
His perspective was tempered by his experience. “Student Directed Showcase is a very rare opportunity full of responsibility and fun,” said Ammatuna. “You have to make sure that you are not only into this with your heart but with your head. You have to be the brains, heart and dreams of the show and an extremely strong leader. This is not for the faint-hearted. But, if you are one to want to make the visions in your head come alive, then by all means go for directing. Just make sure you are 110 percent committed before you join.
“Another grueling part of bringing your vision to life was being in charge of making so many decisions,” Ammatuna added. “There are so many decisions to make as a director that you need to be able to say yes and no without regret. You need to learn to follow your heart and vision but not lose sight of what is best for your actors.”
All four students will stay in performing arts when they go off to college next fall. “I have appliedto many schools for either a B.F.A. in musical theater or B.A. in theater,” said Ammatuna. “I want to hone my skills as a singer, dancer, actor, choreographer and director. I have gotten into The American Musical and Dramatic Academy with a scholarship for a B.F.A. in musical theater and Notre Dame de Namur University with a scholarship for a B.A. in theater.”
Dhaliwal plans to stay involved regardless of her major. “I plan to write plays, direct, costume and act, even if I am not a theater or music major,” she said.
Walvekar is on the band wagon, as well. “I plan on minoring in music and continuing to participate in theater productions in college. I also hope to continue to sing in a choir in college,” she added.
Parige, like Ammatuna, is going hard core. “I plan on being a film major and get into filmmaking 24/7. Directing has been my passion since I was nine years old, and it is very unlikely that it will change at all.”
He noted it will be challenging. “As a director,” said Parige, “it is important to remember that it isn’t all about you. There are so many different branches that come together to put on a great show: actors, directors, producers, technicians, musicians, etc. Collaboration is the key.”
All four students will take away a lifetime experience from the shows they produced. “SDS was the most amazing opportunity and I will treasure it forever because it allowed me to grow both as an artist and as a person,” said Dhaliwal.
Alumni gathered in the Windy City in early January for a get-together at Sable Kitchen & Bar, inside downtown Chicago’s Hotel Palomar. Half a dozen alumni from the Chicago area and Christine Yan, director of alumni relations, introduced themselves to each other. Yan brought the group together so she could hear what the alumni office can do to support Chicago alumni and to let those who know each other catch up. The meeting at Sable, well-known for great food and inventive cocktails, was so much fun that Will Redfield ’87 and Mariposa (Widdoes) Brant ’96, both of whom have young families, are planning to organize something for Harker alumni and their families again when the weather warms up. Emily Chow ’08, currently at Northwestern University, came for the fun and took photos, too!
Beloved ragtime pianist Bob Milne was the latest guest of the Harker Speaker Series on Jan. 28, performing for the upper school students, faculty and staff at a special morning assembly at the upper school campus gym. Recognized as a leading performer of ragtime and boogie-woogie music, Milne performs about 300 times per year and was hired by the Library of Congress to create reference recordings of famous ragtime songs.
With his piano situated directly in the center of the gym and the students encircling him, Milne told the story of ragtime both through song and through his own prose. He used the morning’s first piece, “Carrie’s Gone to Kansas City,” to illustrate the key aspect of ragtime, namely the way in which the notes of the melody fall in between the chords. Hearing such songs for the first time, classical pianists of the era described the sound as being in “ragged time,” and commented that the musicians playing it “weren’t very good,” Milne said.
Ragtime, he later told the audience, was born from the American folk tradition, largely based on Irish and Scottish reels and jigs. In turn, many ragtime songs were based on folk songs played on the guitar, mandolin and violin.
Throughout his set, Milne showed the musical evolution of ragtime, from the soft lilt of “Little Enough,” to the upbeat jaunt of “Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider,” a piano roll produced by three pianists, leading Milne to comment how hard it was to reproduce by himself. He also included a great rendition of perhaps the most well-known ragtime piece of all time, Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag.” Milne was also kind enough to have the piano rotated periodically so that the entire audience could see his hands as they danced up and down the keyboard.
Milne, who learns and plays entirely by ear, related during one such break that he was eating breakfast at a restaurant one morning and grabbed a salt shaker without having to look at where it was located on the table. This instinctive knowledge of where things are and how to reach them, he explained, is how he is able to play so accurately the rags’ bouncing left hand chords without looking, and he told the students that they were just as capable of playing by ear as he was.
During a brief question-and-answer session following his performance, Milne said he formally began playing music by starting with the French horn, and was the second chair of the Rochester Philharmonic while still a teenager. He stated, however, that he had been playing the piano by ear since the age of four. He also claimed, astonishingly, that he had never practiced a day in his life, and that he has no plans to start.
“I put my fingers where I hear in my mind,” he said.
Harker students played key roles at the Northern California Junior State of America’s fall convention in November in Santa Clara. Erica Woolsey, grade 12 and co-president of Harker’s JSA chapter, served as convention coordinator, handling the logistics to accommodate more than 700 students visiting through Northern California. Harker JSA co-president Saagar Sarin, grade 11, who serves as this year’s speaker of the assembly for the Northern California JSA, led the first meeting of the new assembly, on which senior Vlad Sepetov is seated. Attendee Daanish Jamal, grade 12, was given a best speaker award for his speech during a debate on the issue of building a mosque near where the World Trade Center once stood.
Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology and Harker’s JSA advisor, was in attendance to take his seat on the national board of trustees of the JSA Foundation, which directs the JSA program and provides support for its activities.
The event was highlighted by an appearance by George Shultz, who served as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan.