The Harker School is hosting its tenth annual math invitational on March 5, 2011, open to all middle school students in grades 6–8. Students are invited to participate as individuals and in teams of four to seven students. Schools that do not have complete teams will be combined with others to create a team.
Registration deadline is Feb. 15 and invitations have already been mailed to many schools in the area. The contest is limited to 14 students per grade, per school; cost is $5 per student. Late registration is $10 per student. Please note students are not provided lunch and chaperones / coaches are responsible for supervising their students during the lunch break (12 noon to 1:30 p.m.). For full information, download the flier!
Wrestling Wrestlers competed in two tournaments in December and posted great results in both. At the Webber Lawson Tournament hosted by Fremont High School, the boys made school history with three champions in a varsity tournament. Seniors Santosh Swaminathan, Jason Mendel and Chris McCallaCreary won their divisions in the 103-, 109- and 171-pound weight classes, respectively. McCallaCreary was awarded one of the two outstanding wrestler awards at the tournament. As a whole, the team placed fourth out of 20 teams, another school record for a varsity tournament.
The next week the team traveled to the Coast Classic hosted by Scotts Valley High School. Once again the varsity team did well with three athletes placing in the top eight. Swaminathan and McCallaCreary placed second while Mendel took sixth. The boys continue their season in January [see related story] with tournaments every weekend including the prestigious Mid Cal tournament hosted by Gilroy High School, which will feature many of the state’s best wrestlers.
Girls Basketball The girls basketball team entered the Del Mar Tournament over the winter break at 6-0. The girls made the finals by defeating Del Mar and Santa Clara, but lost to a tough Leigh High School team in the championship match. Daniza Rodriguez and Priscilla Auyeung, both grade 10, were named to the all-tournament team. The girls finished up December with an impressive 8-1 record and look to play against tough competition in January.
Boys Basketball Varsity boys basketball has been successful in preseason play, including some big tournament finishes. This included the Phoenix Cactus Jam Tournament over the holidays, which featured teams from all over the West Coast. At the Jam, the boys went 2-1 with big victories over Bolsa Grande of Southern California and St. Albert’s, a team from Canada. Unfortunately the team fell to a tough Colony High team from Alaska. At the end of the winter break the boys were 8-2 and opened league play in early January.
Girls Soccer The Eagles traveled to the Garces Tournament, a tough tournament in Bakersfield, over the break and went 0-2-1. Apurva Gorti, grade 9, scored for the Eagles in their tie with West High School. She was assisted by Priya Sahdev, grade 12, on the goal. Indica Sur, grade 10, had 26 saves in goal over the three games at the tournament. The girls have several more games in early January.
Boys Soccer The boys had one game over the winter break, against Pioneer High School. Though playing a man down most of the game, they made the match a close one, losing 2-1. Michael Amick, grade 10, scored the Eagles’ only goal on a penalty kick.
The Harker grade 6 Lego Robotics team advanced to the state championship after taking first place in the First Lego League (FLL) competition held on Dec. 4 in Daly City. Aditya Dhar, Rishab Gargeya, Manan Shah, Kayvon Solaimanpour and Peter Wu took the first place teamwork award in the qualifying tournament and second place research award in the regional tournament. Their project task was to choose a problem based on biomedical engineering, research it and present a solution. The team came up with a solution for the treatment of asthma using nanotechnology. The championship tournament is scheduled for Jan. 29 in Newark, Calif.
On the afternoon of Dec. 21, Harker’s upper school varsity girls soccer team had a friendly match with a team of Harker alumnae at Davis Field. The game, won by the alumnae team with a score of 2-0, was organized by Harker math teacher and soccer coach Troy Thiele and was a good opportunity for current students and alumnae to enjoy mingle and enjoy some friendly competition. Following the game, a special pizza dinner was held where alumnae and current students socialized and shared Harker memories just before the Saratoga campus closed for winter break.
Jeffrey Kwong, grade 11, was named the top cellist in the California American String Teachers Association’s (ASTA) 2010 Solo Competition. Kwong and the other winners for each instrument (violin, viola and guitar) will be featured in a Winner’s Showcase recital on Jan. 30 at California State University, Fullerton, where they will also be awarded with certificates and a cash prize. All winners were recommended to be considered potential finalists for ASTA’s National Solo Competition.
Another student musician, senior guitarist Nikhil Parthasarathy, was recommended as a candidate for national finalist. Finalists will be selected in January, and will travel to Kansas City, Mo., in March to participate in the finals.
Over 500 parents, students and alumni attended Harker’s Jan. 8 screening of “The Race to Nowhere,” a documentary film exploring the physical and emotional toll stress causes on a growing number of American teenagers in high-achievement environments.
The film also highlights the ironic fact that this unprecedented level of effort has produced a high percentage of students unprepared for college and the 21st century workplace.
Public screenings of the film are the centerpiece of a national social action campaign, initiated by a Bay Area mother whose own family’s experience inspired her to seek out top experts on education and adolescent stress. The film draws significantly on the work of these experts, including Dr. Denise Clark Pope of the Stanford School of Education, who spoke at the Harker upper school several years ago.
Head of School Christopher Nikoloff introduced the film , which screened in both Nichols Hall and the Saratoga gymnasium, noting that it offers an important opportunity for reflection, and with good timing as it comes during Harker’s yearlong accreditation self-study.
“A lot of the issues in the movie … we have been talking about for a long time with parents and teachers,” he said. “Now that they are in the national spotlight,” he added, “it’s a great time to make sure we’re part of the dialogue and do what we need to do to ensure optimal learning and growth at The Harker School — but not cross the line into a ‘Race to Nowhere.’”
Nikoloff encouraged the audience to join him and the many other Harker faculty, administrators and counselors available afterward for further discussion. The Nichols Hall atrium later buzzed for over an hour with dozens of spirited conversations.
Padmaja Indukuri was pleased that seeing the film with her daughter, Laya (grade 8), seemed to open the lines of communication between them. Referencing the difficulty many parents encounter in starting a conversation, she said, “I was asking questions but I didn’t know how she was feeling. She is telling me now, so I understand.”
The discussion is only beginning. Harker parents as well as students in the middle and upper schools can attend special discussions on campus in the next few weeks. Those who missed the Harker screening and would like to see the film can visit the RTN website to find a screening in their area.
Harker wrestlers competed in Cupertino’s Gary Bianchi Memorial Tournament Jan. 8 and came away with two championships. Santosh Swaminathan, grade 12, placed first in the 103 pound class; classmate Chris McCallaCreary defeated a state ranked wrestler from St. Francis to win his championship. Coach Karriem Stinson called McCallaCreary’s victory “the biggest win in the program’s history.” Read more about Harker winter sports!
During the fall semester, students in Kumi Matsui’s middle school advanced Japanese class got to play dress-up for their Supermodel Project. Taking place over two weeks in October, the endeavor let students pretend to be celebrities who were interviewed by other students posing as TV reporters.
Interviews were conducted entirely in Japanese, and the students-as-stars were asked such questions as where they lived, what type of car they owned, and whether they were married or had a significant other. “The students can answer to them as a celebrity, so the answers don’t have to be real. They can live in Hollywood, own a Lamborghini and have Megan Fox as a girlfriend,” Matsui said.
In addition to being great fun for the students, the project functioned as a method to learn and practice how to talk about fashion choices and physical features. Students were required to use at least five verbs in Japanese to describe their wardrobes.
To celebrate Veterans Day, a special assembly was held for grades 4 and 5 during which a film on the history of Veterans Day was shown. It was followed by a brief talk on the life of a soldier by upper school math teacher Anthony Silk, who spent two years in the U.S. Navy flying the electronic warfare plane the EA-6B Prowler.
In his speech, Silk talked about how members of the military, be they in the Navy, Army, Air Force or Marines, all share three things: “a love of the United States, a desire to serve and a willingness to sacrifice.”
Silk’s speech delved into each one of these areas. Because of the love of their country, he said, soldiers feel a duty to ensure that American citizens can continue to enjoy their freedom and way of life. “We want you to have the safety and freedom to choose what you want to do with your life,” he said. “We are very proud of what we do.”
Soldiers’ desire to serve, he said, often takes them to faraway places where they may be separated from loved ones for long periods. This was also a part of his third point, sacrifice. “But sacrifice can mean much more,” he continued. “Being in the military is often very dangerous. People get hurt, some are killed. But while it can be scary, the reason we leave our families for a while, and the reason we take those risks, is because we believe that we are making the world safer.”
Cantilena appeared at the Women’s Choral Exchange at Saratoga High School on Nov. 8, where the group performed a number of songs from its own repertoire, as well as two songs from Ralph Vaughan Williams’ opera “In Windsor Forest” with all of the groups at the event.
Songs sung by Cantilena included the Iroquois soundscape “Watane,” which incorporated percussion and atmospheric sound effects, and “Las Amarillas,” a traditional Mexican song performed entirely in Spanish.
Attendees were very impressed with Cantilena’s performance, particularly “Watane” for its bravely experimental nature. Susan Nace, who directs Cantilena, reported hearing many compliments from parents at other schools, including one parent who asked, “How do you get your girls to sound like that?”