At the end of September, Harker middle school parents attended preview night, where students and teachers offered a glimpse into high school life.
Nan Nielsen, director of admission and financial aid, invited seniors and juniors to speak about their experiences and favorite aspects of Harker. Allika Walvekar, grade 12, talked about Harker’s Conservatory while others offered views on football, foreign languages, mathematics and forensics.
After a warm welcome from Chris Nikoloff, head of school, and Butch Keller, upper school head, parents and friends were invited to visit departments and learn about the various clubs and activities offered at Harker, which range from Global Empowerment and Outreach to the Harker Business Club to Tri-M Music Honor Society.
Afterward, a formal open house gave the public an opportunity to check out the school, and a chance to speak to teachers and students about the Harker experience. The next open houses will be held Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. and Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Football
Congratulations to Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, for being named Mercury News Male Athlete of the Week for his stellar performance in the Eagles’ game against Capuchino High School. The full story can be read here.
Harker suffered its first loss of the year to powerhouse Salesian 56-18. The full story is in the Contra Costa Times. The team is now 1-1 in league and has its next game against league opponent St Elizabeth. St Elizabeth is 0-1 in league after a loss to Berean Christian.
Cross Country
The Eagles traveled to their second league race of the year at Shoreline and both the girls and boys did impressively. Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 10, placed third overall with freshman Claudia Tischler coming in right behind her at fifth. The girls are currently tied for second in league. Not to be outdone, the boys took third in the event. Proteek Biswas, grade 11, placed 10th followed immediately by Adarsh Ranganathan, grade 12. They are currently tied for third in league.
Golf
The girls are on a hot streak right now with two big wins last week against Notre Dame and Menlo. They are currently 5-3 and third in league. Having season lows last week were: Kristine Lin, grade 9; Jessica Son, grade 10; Nina Sabharwal, grade 10; and Patricia Huang, grade 10, who shot an impressive 34 against Menlo. The Eagles face Mercy-Burlingame and Sacred Heart this week.
Tennis
The Eagles lost to a tough Menlo squad last week but responded to the defeat well with wins against Fremont and Pinewood later in the week. This week they lost a close match, 3-4, to Sacred Heart Preparatory. They are currently 9-4 overall and an impressive 5-2 in league and have a big match against highly-ranked Saratoga this week.
Water Polo
The girls had an impressive 10-4 victory over Mountain View last week, avenging an earlier first-round loss. Cynthia Shwe, grade 12, led the team with five goals and was supported by Keri Clifford, grade 10, with four and Niva Bigler, grade 12, with one. Sierra Lincoln, grade 10, was stellar in goal with 10 saves.
The boys had two tough losses last week against Wilcox, currently number one in league, and Saratoga. Chris Ng, grade 12; Rex Chen, grade 12; Ryan Hume, grade 10; Gabe Yanovsky, grade 12; and Karan Das-Grande, grade 10, all had goals against Wilcox. Both the girls and boys travel to Cupertino and Lynbrook this week for league matches.
Volleyball
The girls continue to face tough opponents in one of the most competitive leagues in Northern California. Their overall record remains strong at 13-7 even after tough losses to Menlo, Mercy-Burlingame and Notre Dame. The Eagles aren’t making it easy on anyone, taking Menlo and Notre Dame to five games and Mercy to four. They will look to get out of their current slump in their game against Castilleja this week.
In September and October, three video conferences were held at the Blackford campus for grade 6 students to meet their Tamagawa buddies before their visit to Harker in late October. Each of the students chatted with their buddies about what they would like to do during their stay in the U.S. and about what the Harker students would like to do when they visit Japan in May. Parent Etsuko Tischler (Jonathan, grade 6) was on hand to translate. The students’ and buddies’ families were also present to participate. “The parents really appreciated this as they got to meet the families who would be taking care of their children,” said Jennifer Abraham, director of global education.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2010 Harker Quarterly.
Good morning. I’d like to welcome the Board of Trustees, administration, faculty and staff, and the classes of 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 to the Matriculation ceremony. I am honored to have the opportunity to open the new academic year with this Matriculation address, and I am sure you will be relieved to hear that I am continuing the tradition of brevity. Typically I deliver a two-page address at Matriculation; this year I am cutting back to one page of single spaced, size 12 font. At this rate, by the time I retire, I will be delivering one-word addresses, like “love” or “cheesecake.”
I would like to reflect upon the fact that an important group is not present today. The tradition of not inviting parents to Matriculation goes back to the founding of The Harker Upper School over a decade ago. When the school conceived of a Matriculation ceremony, during which the student body binds itself to common values by oath, parents were purposely left out. First, we didn’t have room for them. But secondly, I believe, we wanted you to commit to these values freely, and we wanted your commitment to wholly represent your will and no one else’s.
Now I know that some of you, perhaps many of you, most likely do not feel that you are here freely, but the truth is you are. Each and every one of you has the freedom not to participate. Yes, there would be consequences. We all can imagine Mr. Williamson chasing you over fences and across highways. But the presence of a consequence does not mean that you are not free to act. You are also free not to participate with your heart. Many of our greatest thinkers like Thoreau, Gandhi and King purposely broke laws and by doing so incurred severe consequences to highlight the immorality of the laws. They called this civil disobedience.
However, as excruciating as it is to listen to me, I hope that doing so does not call for civil disobedience. Now that we have established that you have free will, and that you can exercise that will even if the exercise thereof brings consequences, why do we care? I would argue that having free will is an exclusively human attribute. It separates us from the animals. Sure, there are glimpses of free will in the animal kingdom – an eagle choosing to soar above the mountaintops for instance – but most of the time animals respond to instinct.
Humans respond to instinct too, probably much more than we’d like to admit. But we don’t have to. Last year I spoke from this podium about academic integrity. I received some criticism, mostly deserved, for beginning the year on a sour note. But I learned through discussions with students, teachers and administrators that the community did not want to be defined by the poor decisions of a few. Last year saw, among other accomplishments, Paul Melendez of the University of Arizona’s High School Ethics Forum extend an invitation for that event to Harker students, the only out-of-state invitees at the forum. We are also proud to announce that the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education will hold a conference at The Harker School in February of 2011 titled “Honor Codes and Councils: From Nuts and Bolts to a Finely-Tuned System.”
These achievements do not mean that we have solved the problem of cheating in schools. Allan Meltzer, professor of political economy at Carnegie Mellon, said, “Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin.” We could say the same of high level academics and some form of cheating. But this is not to be complacent, and you as a community have chosen action over complacence.
I remember specifically one young lady telling me that students want to be informed of any problem in the community so that they can address it directly. She said that the students care about the community and want to protect it.
Which brings me back to free will and the absence of parents. You are taking an oath today, hopefully of your own accord, to bind yourself to the values of this community. You will carry that oath around with you in the upper school student handbook and planner, or at least two or three of you will. Your signature will be on display at the front of the upper school office. You will have many assignments in your academic career that you simply want to finish. I hope that taking this oath is not one of them.
One of my favorite stories comes from Arthurian legend as interpreted by the mythologist Joseph Campbell. The knights are charged with finding the Holy Grail, which symbolizes spiritual wealth, in the forests surrounding Camelot. The knights learn that they cannot find the Grail as a group; rather, each knight has to enter the woods alone where there is no path and find the Grail for himself. My father-in-law reminds me that as a parent I can do many things for my children, but I cannot live in their shoes. We are taking the oath today as a group, but each of you is beginning a journey that is uniquely of your making. You will enter the woods alone, without parents, friends, teachers, and we hope that you are taking this journey of your own free will. It is by following your path alone that you find the entire world. Thank you.
This semester, Julia Lambertz of Germany is not only attending Harker as a junior, she is playing on the girls volleyball team, too. Julia discovered Harker through the organization international Experience (iE), which coordinates exchanges between high schools.
Lambertz has been busy with her volleyball and class schedule (which includes Spanish, psychology, sculpture and U.S. history), plus there have been a number of outings with the family of her host student, Neda Ghaffarian, grade 11. So far, they have toured San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Cruz, with possible plans to visit Los Angeles for Thanksgiving and a vacation at Lake Tahoe during Christmas. Lambertz also visited kindergarten classes to give students a brief lesson on the German language and culture.
Since arriving at Harker, Lambertz has noticed several differences between the lifestyles of students in the U.S. and Germany. “There are no spirit events in my German school and the school is not like a big community there,” she said. In addition, high school students in Germany don’t take finals at the end of the semester. Instead, they take exams at the end of their high school careers that cover the previous 13 years of study. Students also favor biking, walking or public transit instead of driving.
On Sept. 23, 30 members of the Harker community joined the Gauba and Reddy families at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club for a golfing tournament and wine tasting. All proceeds from the event will go to Harker’s general endowment fund, which assists the programs not covered by tuition and fees, including athletics, clubs, performing arts, visual arts, the library and technology.
For an afternoon, faculty, parents and students participated in friendly competition. Denise Broderson, Barbara Young, Dorothy Scarpace and Ingrid Wu won first place in the tournament; Mike Armstrong won Closest to Pin; and Susan McNealy won the Longest Drive. In a putting face-off, Maverick McNealy, grade 10, defeated Christopher Nikoloff, head of school, and won a new wedge.
Afterward, adults took part in a wine tasting. “Watching the sun set was a very nice way to finish off the event,” said Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement.
Two recent Harker graduates attending local schools were recently recognized for their hard work. Alisha Tolani ’06, now at Stanford University, and Tanya Schmidt ’08, now at Santa Clara University, were featured in their schools’ online news publications for their contributions to quality of life and athletics, respectively.
Tolani received the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for distinctive contributions to undergraduate education. This award is given to students who do impressive work with the goal of improving the quality of life for undergraduate students. She earned this accolade in part because of the many activities she is involved in. These include “serving as the ASSU executive co-chair of undergraduate health and wellness, resident assistant at West Florence Moore Hall, research assistant at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and peer counselor at the Bridge,” according to the award. She was also cited for her role in founding Stanford’s coalition to end violence against women. The award thanked Tolani “for making Stanford a safer and more comfortable home for all students.”
Schmidt, a junior, was lauded for her excellent play on the Santa Clara women’s volleyball team. In a recent game the Broncos, 11-7 on the season at press time, defeated Idaho 3-1 and Schmidt was the star player. She posted a season-high 17 kills with an over-500 average. Head coach Jon Wallace had this to say of her performance: “Tanya had a great night. She was unbelievable tonight. She was quick, moving the ball around and competing extremely well.” Currently she is fourth on the team in kills with an impressive 129 and continues to play a big role in the Broncos’ success.
The Harker School has long supported the YWCA of Silicon Valley’s annual luncheon each year hosting a table of Harker students who have a special passion for that year’s topic.
This year some of Harker’s budding historians will hear keynote speaker Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, talk about leaders who have shaped the United States. Goodwin wrote what reportedly is one of President Obama’s favorite books, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.” She won the Pulitzer Prize for “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.”
The 20th annual luncheon will be held Tues., Nov. 16 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Event proceeds will support the programs and services of the YWCA of Silicon Valley. The networking social will begin at 11 a.m., with the luncheon following from noon to 1:30 p.m.
“Our guests have expressed a great deal of excitement around having Goodwin speak,” said Sharon Winston, 2010 event chair, “and the YWCA is delighted to have so many new and returning guests at the luncheon providing support for vital programs and services.” Winston added that this year, more than 1,500 guests are expected.
Each year, more than 40 companies and hundreds of individuals sponsor the YWCA’s luncheon. Past speakers have included Isabelle Allende, Gloria Steinem, Sally Ride, Janet Reno and Mary Lou Retton.
This is a non-ticketed fundraiser; guests attend as an individual or sponsored guest. An appeal will be made during the event, requesting a minimum donation of $150. To reserve a seat, please contact LaDonna Curteman at 408.295.4011, ext. 216 or events@ywca-sv.org. More information can be found at www.ywca-sv.org.
The mission of the YWCA Silicon Valley is to empower women, children and families, and to eliminate racism, hatred and prejudice. They provide programs in the areas of sexual assault intervention and prevention, counseling services, domestic violence, child care, youth programs, family services, and social and racial justice. The YWCA of Silicon Valley serves nearly 18,000 Santa Clara County residents each year, and has provided services in the county for more than 100 years.
The Harker School Orchestra will be invited to play at the 2012 New Year’s Day parade celebration in London, England, and Lady Catherine Longworth, former lord mayor of the city of Westminister, will be on campus Fri., Oct. 29, to present the invitation.
London’s New Year’s Day parade will be the first official event celebrating both Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee and the city’s Olympic year. The parade’s Festival Concerts, in which Harker’s orchestra will play, are also the first events of London’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
The parade route wends through Piccadilly, Regent Street and Whitehall, through the center of Westminster, ending in the shadows of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. More than half a million spectators are expected to pack London’s streets to watch the spectacular procession.
The invitation will be presented by a delegation of British officials at an assembly including, along with the former lord mayor, Robert Bone, executive director of the London New Year’s Day parade, and Lady Catherine’s husband, John Longworth. The assembly will be entertained by a section of the orchestra and, afterward, the delegation will enjoy a student-led tour of the campus.
Harker is among a number of schools selected from around the U.S. to be invited to perform in the parade and associated venues around London.
Since the start of the year, students ages 10 to 13 have been involved in weekly sessions of the KidLead program, which uses a variety of methods to develop leadership skills in that age group.
For the past several weeks, students in the program have been taking 90-minute classes led by certified instructors who assist them in activities to improve qualities that are grouped into four color-coded modules. Each module has four sections stressing a value, an attitude, a relationship and a decision; for instance, the red module’s sections are ethics, honor, communication and power.
As of the second week of October, the class has been working on the communication piece of the red module. “We do simple brain-wake exercises like ‘untying a human knot,’ and play special versions of charades or Pictionary to help students understand the value of various types of communication,” said Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs and one of Harker’s certified KidLead instructors. “There are dozens of activities, all of which involve teams led by the students themselves, who are given opportunities to organize, direct, communicate and provide feedback to their teammates.”
The activities are overseen, but not led, by specially trained “Koaches” who also observe and guide the group discussions. Students also take home “Leadership Challenges” every week that parents are asked to sign off on in order to foster discussions with their children about the KidLead sessions.
Harker’s KidLead program began when its founder, Dr. Alan Nelson, contacted Christopher Nikoloff, head of school, to discuss the possibility of offering it here. Lawson researched the organization and began talking with Nelson to further explore the opportunity. “The more we talked, the more it seemed like a good fit for Harker, and particularly for Harker’s BEST program,” Lawson recalled. “It was an area that our parents define as important in the educational development of their children, and while Harker offers a good deal of practical leadership experience, this program offers us the chance to provide some developmental practice to support that.”
Harker currently has four certified trainers: Lawson; Joe Connolly, dean of students K-5; Keith Hirota, middle school history teacher; and Catherine Le, grade 5 science teacher. These experts are responsible for training the Koaches who guide the weekly sessions. “We’d like to expand the group, even double it in size to be able to offer multiple modules per quarter,” Lawson said. “This year we’ll inaugurate the program with 45 students involved, and we hope that many of them will see their way through the four-module course.” To accomplish that, the program will need to expand to include more sections. “We will also look forward to bringing Dr. Nelson to Harker on a regular basis to speak with our parents about how they can best nurture the leadership development of their own children,” Lawson added.
Although the program is still new, Lawson believes it has enormous potential: “All you need to do is look at the dozens of community service opportunities, sports teams, performing arts groups, extracurriculars in general, student government, along with all the team academics like Robotics, Future Problem Solvers, etc., to know that these skills have the potential to augment the development of this next generation of Harker leaders.”