This article originally appeared in the winter 2010 Harker Quarterly.
As the school year began, many families were faced with the task of adjusting to Harker life, and they found ample support from Harker faculty and staff to assist with the transition.
Kindergartners Sabrina and Sally Zhu attended a play-based pre- school before joining Harker in the fall. When asked by their mother, Hong Wei, where they would like to go to school, both said Harker “because they can learn more from Harker in many areas.”
They have found the balance between academics and fun to be refreshing. “Harker is fun because you learn, and it’s really even with playing and learning,” Sabrina said.
Andrew Pluzhnikov, another kindergartner, said Harker’s approach to teaching math was different from the method at his pre-school. His teachers, he said, helped him get used to the new method “with numbers and projects about numbers, like making a number line.”
Scott and Mary Hyver, parents of Ben, grade 5 and Emma, grade 3, brought their children to Harker after home-schooling them for a number of years. Prior to the start of the year, she and her children attended a buddy party hosted by Harker, during which her children were paired with buddies and learned more about the school. The buddies have helped new students during the year by helping them find classrooms, answering their questions and providing other general assistance.
Mary Hyver also received advice from other Harker parents, who discussed their routines and shared their experiences in dealing with homework and academic expectations. She was also able to find assistance when encountering bumps in the road. “Making friends and managing homework with after-school sports were particularly difficult,” she said. “The staff communicated regularly with my children and us and worked cooperatively, assisting my children with time management and social interactions on the playground and in the classroom.”
Emma Hyver said the new approach to testing was one of the major changes she had to get used to. “After practicing a couple of times, I am used to tests,” she said. “Similar to tests, changing classes just took practice.”
Support from teachers has been proven helpful for Ben Hyver. “They know that I’m not used to this because I was home-schooled,” he said. Their help has enabled him to become accustomed to student life and make more friends.
New student Kai-Siang Ang, grade 6, had to adjust to Harker’s academic emphasis after transferring from a public school. He found that the orientation on his first day of school helped him get accustomed to the new experience, “because it got me comfortable with the campus and teachers.” He has also had fellow students assist him in using online student resources and attended a party hosted by the McNealy family (Scout, grade 4; Colt, grade 6; Dakota, grade 7; Maverick, grade 10), where he was introduced to other students.
Though he initially found the experience “a little stressful,” he said that has now gotten settled in and is enjoying life as a Harker student. “Here we have a lot more courses I can take and I’m learning more on a daily basis.”
Irene Bashar, grade 6, also had to deal with a new workload and responsibilities after moving on from the lower school. She appreciated that the teachers “explained all the class material clearly so that you can understand it when you get back home,” and that “they try hard not to give you way too much homework” despite the new academic requirements.
Adjustment to a markedly different academic environment is something other parents have noted. “Harker is substantially more dialed in to the specific needs, social and academic, of our child,” said Lisa Chapman, mother of Julia Fink, grade 9, who started Harker in the fall. “There is a lot more accountability with respect to curriculum, status of her progress and her sense of inclusion.”
“Everybody here was really welcoming, and everybody was really helpful,” Fink recalled of her experience upon joining Harker this year. As an example, she mentioned that English teacher Erin Redfern frequently checks up on her progress and makes sure she is not causing herself too much stress.
Chapman said she found it refreshing that Harker faculty and staff were proactive in making sure that experience has been comfortable. “Everyone has been very gracious. Many [teachers and administrative staff] have inquired about how the experience is going thus far,” she said. “We appreciate that.”
Other parents advised Chapman to “get involved early. We attended events over the summer and met families, and converted that into get-togethers with our daughter and other kids. Those kids have become her good friends.”
“Harker can be a big shock to a lot of students from public schools in particular,” said Jeffrey Draper, upper school drama teacher and the dean of the Class of 2014. “As a teacher, it’s really fun to figure out who’s new, and work to have them feel like that’s not going to be a big deal as fast as possible.”
It’s not only academics that require adjustment. Students from other schools also have to deal with being new among students who have been attending Harker together for several years. “When there are so many Harker ‘lifers’ around them … once in a while those students have to fit in socially and find out where they are and acclimate themselves, in addition to their academics,” Draper said. Pairing up new students with those who have been at Harker for much longer, he said, is one way he accomplishes this goal. “There’s a lot of new stuff they have to deal with. Helping with that transition is one of the fun things I get to do.”
In addition to students from other schools, Harker students transitioning to a different campus also have certain responsibilities to learn and adopt. Freshmen moving to the upper school from middle school, for example, “get a lot more freedom … more than they’re used to, and sometimes they don’t know how to use that freedom,” Draper said. “But they figure it out pretty quickly.”
Students are reminded to sleep and eat well, and are coached on how to make smart choices for themselves. The structure of the K-12 program also provides ample preparation for the switch from middle school to upper school. “We just seem to do that well,” Draper said.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
Jenny Ma ’07 graduated with a degree in general biology from the University of California, San Diego, in 2010. She went on to graduate school at the University of Southern California where she hopes to receive her master’s degree in teaching in 2011. She also completed her teaching certification at the University of Michigan. She currently resides in Detroit, where she works as a middle school English and science teacher in the Teach for America program.
Q: When you were at Harker, did you dream of doing what you do now?
A: While I was attending Harker, becoming a teacher and pursuing the field of education never occurred to me. However, my fond memories of my experiences as a student at Harker gave me the strength and courage to stand up and fight for better educational opportunities for all students in this nation. I want to be the Mrs. Anand or Mr. Walsh to the children here in Detroit; I want to be like the teachers who inspired my passion for learning. Editor’s note: Nina Anand and Pat Walsh teach science and math, respectively, at the middle school.
Q: What do you find most exciting about your career or current project?
A: I love being a teacher. Any educator will tell you it’s a difficult job, but there is never a dull moment. What truly excites me about my career choice is that I am blessed with not only the opportunity to touch lives, but also to transform them.
Q: What personal traits make you successful at what you’re doing?
A: Patience is definitely one of the most important traits that make a good teacher. With patience, you aren’t afraid of struggles and challenges in the classroom because you know that you are ultimately helping your students, but you need the time to see that growth. Aside from patience, a teacher needs to have the undying faith and relentless pursuit of student success. I know that each and every one of my students, despite whatever extraneous difficulties he or she may face, is without a doubt capable of succeeding in life. It is that unwavering faith in my students that drives me to give them my 110 percent every day.
Q: What in your life so far took you the longest time to learn?
A: I know it took me most of my life so far to figure out what I wanted to do with it. Part of me wanted to be a pediatrician, another part wanted to run off and be a musician. I just knew that I wanted to give myself to the world and give something back. At the moment, I can proudly say I have officially figured out my career path, and whether it’s to be a teacher or an administrator, I know that I want to stay in education because there is so much left that needs our immediate attention. Not every child is as fortunate as I was to have gone to a school like Harker. The teachers are the ones that make Harker so incredible, and maybe I can bring a piece of Harker to my students all the way out here in Detroit.
Q: What’s on the top of your personal and professional “lists” right now?
A: Currently my first and foremost priority is to be there for my students and inspire a passion and love for learning and reading. I want them to realize that I will never give up on them. More specifically, [our program] wants to increase their literacy levels because that is so important in our modern world.
I also am working towards my M.A. in teaching at USC and will be applying for my Ph.D. or Ed.D. in higher education administration next fall.
Q: Tell us something surprising about yourself.
A: I was born in Sapporo, Japan, and grew up in Northern California. I attended an international high school in Beijing, China, then moved to San Diego for undergraduate studies. I recently moved to Detroit to be part of Teach for America and help end educational inequality. I speak Japanese, Chinese and English fluently and speak conversational Spanish and ASL.
Q: What advice do you have for current Harker students?
A: The one advice I would give current Harker students is to appreciate your teachers. Until you become a teacher yourself, you will never know just how much work your teachers put into your education. More importantly, know that even though your teachers might criticize you for talking out of turn or scold you for not studying, deep down they truly love you and care about you. If they didn’t, they would not be coming in day after day to help you grow as a person. So today tell your teachers: “Thank you for everything,” because ten years down the line, that teacher will be the very reason for your success.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
By Casey Near
Sehba (Zhumkhawala) Ali ’90 is the founder of the highly successful KIPP Heartwood Academy and serves as the chief academic officer for all KIPP Bay Area schools. After graduating from the University of California, Ali earned an M.Ed. from Stanford, where she first joined the KIPP program. She recently wrote an opinion piece for Newsweek about the state of education, and we were able to catch up with her about her early days at Harker and the beginning of her lifelong passion.
Q: When you were at Harker, did you dream of doing what you do now?
A: In fifth grade at Harker, my teacher Ms. [Mary] Tomassello had our class write letters to ourselves about what we wanted to do when we grew up. She mailed these letters back to us when we graduated from college. I have kept my letter in my desk drawer at work since I started KIPP Heartwood seven years ago. In my letter, I wrote about how I dreamed of being a teacher one day. While I never thought as far as starting a school or being a principal, I did want to be a teacher. Even now, I consider myself a teacher first.
Q: What do you find most exciting about your career or current project?
A: I started a school because I believe that kids from poor neighborhoods are just as smart as the kids I grew up with, and given the opportunity, they will perform just as well. Over 90 percent of our students will be the first in their families to graduate from college. When I started the school, I believed it would take a generation of graduates from our schools graduating from college and coming back to their communities to change the expectations for kids in East San Jose. I was wrong. I am seeing that change in families’ expectations in ONE generation. Younger siblings of our students fully believe that they will do well in school, go to college and graduate from college. It is not a question for them of if they will go to college but where they will go. The rapid change of expectations amongst our families and the growth I see daily in my students inspire me to keep doing this work every day.
Q: What personal traits make you successful at what you’re doing?
A: Many of the traits that make me successful today are those that I learned at Harker and Castilleja. I learned to persevere through difficult challenges, stand up for what I believe, be courageous about thinking out of the box and being a trailblazer, look in the mirror and reflect often, serve my community, and finally, follow my passion.
Q: What in your life so far took you the longest time to learn?
A: I’ve learned so many lessons, and I have so much more to learn. I think what’s been hard for me to digest is failure. I truly believe we learn most from failure, but it’s hard to reconcile that when I fail at something that is important to me.
Q: What’s on the top of your personal and professional “lists” right now?
A: I have been blessed with two wonderful daughters and a loving husband. They are my top priority right now. Family is incredibly important to me. Professionally, I am really committed to training and coaching the school principals I manage so they can lead schools that are excellent and to which I would be proud to send my own kids.
Q: Tell us something surprising about yourself.
A: I don’t think this is surprising to those who know me well, but at the end of my career, my dream is to go back and teach at a KIPP school.
Q: What advice do you have for current Harker students?
A: Follow your passion and give back as much as you can to your community. To me, life is not how much money I make but how much I do to improve the lives of those around me and bring change to the world.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
Usua Amanam ’09 was not thinking about playing Division 1 college football while in middle school at Harker, but he learned a lot back then that is helping him to be successful today. Now he is a scholar athlete at Stanford University competing for time in the running back spot and majoring in energy resources engineering.
One of the most challenging aspects for student athletes at a school like Stanford is managing their time effectively. These students have not only the usual responsibilities of classes, homework and tests but additional practices, workouts, games and travel to manage.
Amanam admits that time management is one of the more challenging aspects of his life right now but says that as an athlete, he gets lots of help from tutors, academic advisors and teammates who want him to be successful. Amanam said, “It took me a while to learn how to balance everything, especially my first year, but it has gotten easier [and now] I couldn’t imagine being at a better place.”
Amanam fondly remembers playing on Harker basketball teams and the friends he made while attending the school. He remarked that some of his best friends, with whom he still stays in touch, are those he met at Harker.
Amanam also had a few pieces of advice for all the budding student athletes out there. He said that it is important to remember that not everything will come easily and that you have to work for every little bit. His dad taught him that you can never be satisfied and that constantly striving to improve is the key to success.
Of his current situation Amanam said, “I’ve been blessed and I really appreciate everyone who helped me get to where I am … it has been a really humbling experience.”
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
Ten parents recently joined Christina Yan, director of alumni relations, to put together care packages for alumni who are away at college. “We had a great time,” said Yan. “Lots of laughing and parents comparing stories of sending warm sweaters to kids in cold climes.” The group put goodies that the students can snack on during exams and a letter with faculty messages into the packages. They finished early and had time to enjoy coffee and conversation before touring the just-opened John Near Resource Center as well as the new library, which opened in September.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
The alumni turf was well-trod at the 60th annual Harker Family & Alumni PIcnic in October. Over 175 people, including more than 80 alumni, came for the food – sausages, veggie burgers and more – and stayed for the company. The alumni area was set back from the blacktop under the shade trees and featured its own food supply and a peaceful lawn.
Joining alumni and their family and friends were faculty and former faculty including Cindy Ellis, Chris Daren, Howard Saltzman and Mena Lynch. Classmates mingled, renewed friendships and met each other’s kids. Alumni director Christina Yan ’93 noted many alumni were at their first picnic since graduating, and she heard at least one alumnus say how much he was looking forward to seeing the group again next year.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
Lifetime trustee and former head of school Diana Nichols has accepted the position of chair of the Harker Board of Trustees. Nichols was instrumental in building Harker into the world-class school it is today in tandem with her husband, the late Howard Nichols (1940-2008). “Diana brings to the position of chair a rich legacy at Harker and a unique perspective to guide the institution into the future,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school. Nichols takes the helm at an exciting time for Harker as it moves into the next phase of the Saratoga campus upgrades, which will include a state-of-the-art performing arts center and new athletic facilities.
Since her retirement from school administration, Nichols has remained a force in developing school resources, especially in promotion of the annual Harker Fashion Show.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
This September upper school art instructor Pilar Aguero-Esparza participated in Zer01’s biennial project, “Out of the Garage.” This project offers artists from all over the country a chance to display their art for the public as it is in the process of being made. The display, which took place in the South Hall of the San Jose Convention Center, was part of a series of events occurring throughout the middle of September to highlight the completed residency projects.
For her residency, Aguero- Esparza collaborated with fellow artist Dio Mendoza, a professor at California State Monterey, to learn “the entire process of designing and fabricating the traditional Mexican sandal – el huarache.” While their project was on display at the convention center, upper school students taking AP Studio Art took a field trip to view all the art exhibits. For the “Out of the Garage” exhibition Aguero-Esparza and Mendoza presented their new line of footwear at a fashion show at Works Gallery in San Jose.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
Glance around the Saratoga campus and you will notice significant upgrades — a 3,803-square-foot library, a 40-car parking lot with two adjoining sport courts, and a 1,600-square-foot deck off Shah Hall. But the renovations don’t stop there, according to Mike Bassoni, Harker’s facility manager.
Beginning last year and continuing through the summer, all three campuses have received cosmetic and technological upgrades.
At the middle school campus, new modular air conditioning units were installed in all academic classrooms, and landscape planters now line the asphalt outside of building P. The dark red trim of all Blackford buildings has been painted dark forest green, “to give the campus a fresher, more modern look and tie the campus into the school colors,” Bassoni said.
The lower school campus now has synthetic turf in the kindergarten playground and a new, more efficient filtration system for the pool. To accommodate the expanding instrumental music program, Harker has installed a 960-square-foot modular building.
In addition to the new library, outfitted with eBeam technology, expanded study tables and enhanced wireless connectivity, there are several other expansions and upgrades at the upper school campus. More photovoltaic cells were installed on the roof of Nichols Hall, pushing the total output of the system to 20 kilowatts. Inside Nichols Hall, there is an extensive indoor plant collection to “enhance the quiet environment of the Nichols Hall atrium,” explained Bassoni. On the other side of campus, a new 2,000-square-foot sun deck extends out of the Shah Hall patio, offering more seating and outdoor lounging areas for students.
The addition of new parking spaces near the main office allows for more spaces for students, faculty and visitors. For studying between classes, students now have access to indoor charging stations around campus to provide additional electric circuits. “One of these sites has lockers so that laptops can be left unattended while charging,” Bassoni said, referring to the charging stations in Main Hall.
All in all, Harker aims to maintain state-of-the-art facilities to enhance the learning environment and address the community’s needs.
This story first appeared in the Winter edition of the Harker Quarterly.
The official opening of the John Near Resource Center took place in early November, attended by a score or more family, students, staff, alumni and friends.
The center, located in Shah Hall, adjacent to Near’s former classroom, reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009. His legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history and, now, the John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund.
The Near endowment, the first of its kind at Harker, funds robust online research databases for students and provides grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects of their choice. The first three recipients of John Near Scholar Grants have already received their funding and are listed in a display alongside photos of Near and a plaque commemorating both his contribution to Harker and his philosophy for the fund’s use.
As only interest from the endowment will be spent, and none has yet accumulated, the center, the first grant recipients and initial databases were funded by special contributions from the Class of 2010 (with 100 percent participation!), a John Near Fun Run, a benefit poker game and special contributions from alumni.
Those attending the reception included history department faculty members, administrators, advancement office staff, longtime employees, John’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of Harker’s office of communication, and daughter Casey Near ’06. Key members of the John Near Resource Center planning committee were also present, including Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs; Donna Gilbert, history department chair; Susan Smith, head librarian; Mike Bassoni, facility manager; and Sarah Covey ’91, a former student of Near’s and interior designer who donated her expertise to the project. All were instrumental in making the room come to life.
Once the gathering was underway, Dickinson acknowledged John’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, who established the endowment fund in their son’s honor – and based on John’s own wishes – just months before he passed away. She also recognized the special role so many played in achieving the final outcome. “We all agreed this space needed to be inspirational, warm and comfortable,” she said. “Each person involved just intuitively knew the right thing to do and did it. It’s an amazing space, and John would have loved both the space and the process.”
The room features media and periodical libraries that will each expand over time, a flat screen and DVD/VHS player, a collaborative work table, comfortable sofa seating and bookcases of Near’s books from his personal library. Poster- sized, framed black and white photos decorate the walls – from singer Billie Holiday to President John F. Kennedy – each representing iconic facets of American history and culture that had resonated with Near.
Gilbert noted that the room has already been used by both students and teachers in various ways and has become a bit of a sanctuary for teachers to enjoy a few moments away from the bustle of the hallways. Each year the room will also host a reception for the John Near grant scholars when they receive their awards, but from day to day, Near’s scholarly soul, represented by the photos and books he loved, fills the room, providing a lasting memory of one of Harker’s finest teachers.