In support of the 2010-11 Bucknall theme of compassion, grade 1 teachers, including Cindy Proctor and Diann Chung, led a contingent of about 15 Harker families and teachers from several grades on the Oct. 2 Humane Society of Silicon Valley Walk ‘n Wag fundraiser.
“Most families and teachers brought their dogs, or borrowed a dog for the event,” said Proctor. “One child was dog-sitting and brought that dog. Some children came without a dog and just enjoyed everyone else’s dogs,” she said.
“I loved doing the walk,” said Lauren Beede, grade 3. “My small dog was very tired at the end, and once we got home she drank LOTS of water. I think my dog liked it, too.” Shannon Li, grade 1, added, “I liked meeting my teachers’ dogs,” while classmate Emily Tan encapsulated the event perfectly: “I liked playing with my friends, and I got to pet a dog, too.”
“I thought the event was a wonderful success,” said Proctor. “It brought together teachers, parents, students and dogs! It was a special opportunity to be able to have the Harker community reach out for a good cause.”
The walk supports the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and the many animals they save and care for every day. The group walked the 1.5 mile route, and later in the year, first graders will be doing a community service project with the Humane Society.
As the weather reached triple digits Sept. 27, the class of 2012 set out to sea for a day of sailing and kayaking in Santa Cruz and Elkhorn Slough. The annual junior class trip offers a chance to enhance team building techniques and allows advisories to bond outside of their weekly Thursday get-togethers.
Students who went sailing at Santa Cruz learned to rig sails, time turns correctly and tried their hand at steering the boat. Noel Witcosky’s favorite moment of the day was when fellow advisee Bradley Araki made a sharp turn and the boat tipped because she forgot to loosen the mast. “At least I know how to flip a sailboat now,” Witcosky said.
For Daniela Lapidous, the afternoon race was the highlight of her trip. Spanish teacher Daniela Rozanes’ advisory enjoyed the friendly competition and their boat finished in 44 minutes. “We turned on the radio, took a lot of pictures, and of course tried to keep up with our real sailor’s, Jeff’s, instruction,” Lapidous said. “I think it was the best class trip I’ve been on.”
Other students went to Elkhorn Slough, where they split into small teams and kayaked among rush and pickleweed. “We rowed through this winding creek and we spotted sea lions, harbor seals, multiple jellyfish, pelicans, sea otters and seagulls!” Laura Yau said.
“All in all, I’d say it was a fun experience, even though it was pretty tiring,” Revanth Kosaraju said. “The fact that all of us were getting tired together and spending a day with each other outside of school was a really good bonding experience.”
Students are once again being treated to Waffle Wednesday this year, a weekly event started by Samuel “Butch” Keller, upper school head, in 2007. Keller started Waffle Wednesday during his first month at Harker to give himself the opportunity to get to know the students. “It was evident to me, because this was the first time in my career that I was not teaching and/or coaching, that there was a disconnect,” Keller said. “After all, I started this profession to be able to interact and have an impact on students.”
Keller usually invites a certain group to each Waffle Wednesday, be it a student club, a sports team, an advisory group, or a randomly selected batch of four students, who are asked to bring friends. So far this year, Keller has met with several groups, including the journalism team that published the early edition of the Winged Post and the boys volleyball and football teams, as well as an advisory group.
“There is never an agenda, so I hope the students come in relaxed and ready to eat a hot breakfast of fresh muffins, waffles, fruit, bacon and eggs,” Keller said.
In September and October, freshmen performing arts apprentices attended a series of required workshops intended to help them get to know one another and familiarize them with technical and behavioral standards expected of students in the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program.
At the first workshop, students introduced themselves to each other and talked about their chosen disciplines. The students also learned about every aspect of the Conservatory’s certificate program, “so that they fully know what to expect during their four years,” said Laura Lang-Ree, K-12 performing arts chair. Students then broke up into four groups and rotated through workshops in dance, singing, acting and instrumental music, with each group led by a Conservatory advisor.
The second workshop taught the students various technical aspects they will be required to learn, such as being part of a support crew, running spotlights and moving and building sets. At the final workshop, called the etiquette workshop, apprentices were shown the standards of good behavior onstage, backstage and in the audience.
Seniors claimed the title as winners Oct. 6 when they beat the class of 2013 and then the faculty in the final dodgeball matches of this year’s upper school tournament. A week prior, juniors defeated the freshmen, placing them in third. Each class will receive points in hopes of winning the spirit award at the end of the year.
On a weekend in late September, Jeffrey Draper, upper school drama teacher, along with upper school English teachers Jason Berry and Pauline Paskali, traveled with a group of 21 students to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the country’s largest regional repertory theater. Draper said the trip gave the students the opportunity to see “the greatest productions of Shakespeare that can be found on this side of the Atlantic.”
Draper said the highlight of the trip was the production of “Hamlet,” Shakespeare’s epic tale of revenge set in Denmark. “The contemporary setting, innovative staging and stellar acting was something we won’t soon forget,” he said.
Before viewing a play, the group attended prologues to gain a greater understanding of the text and how the theater company was producing each play during the season. Students got to meet actors and attended a special workshop put on by one of the company’s actors and its education director.
“This will certainly be an experience that Harker enjoys every summer,” Draper said. Space for the fall 2011 trip will be limited, he added, “and I’d recommend that anyone interested in attending reserve their spots as soon as the trip is announced in the spring.”
In June, a paper co-authored by James Seifert, grade 12, was accepted to the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie. Recognized as the top chemistry journal, Angewandte Chemie accepts fewer than five percent of the papers that are submitted for publication.
The study, titled “Amphiphilic Self-Assembly of an n-Type Nanotube,” which was completed while Seifert worked in the chemistry department at Ohio State University, has been published online (purchase required) and will appear as a cover story in the November hard copy edition of the journal. For the project, Seifert worked with graduate student Hui Shao in preparing compounds that were used to conduct the research. “The work in the paper actually involves three research groups from two universities,” said Dr. Jon Parquette, professor of chemistry at Ohio State. “However, Hui and James made the initial discoveries that were further investigated by these groups.”
Recently, the article was featured by the online chemistry magazine ChemViews.
Softball
Softball continued their undefeated streak with two big victories in late September, boosting their record to an impressive 4-0. In their 12-3 victory over Sacred Heart Prep, Regan Heslop, grade 7, had an excellent day on the mound, throwing 12 strikeouts. She also hit a home run. The offense was helped by Safia Kouja, grade 8; Jordan Thompson, grade 6; and Gillian Wallin, grade 8. The Eagles had a home game against Woodside Priory, winning 10-2. Marita Del Alto, grade 7, pitched a complete game and gave up only two runs. Regan contributed again on offense with another home run. Ankita Sharma and Tong Wu, both grade 7, also turned in hits while Alisa Wakita, grade 7, got on base three times and stole three bases.
Cross Country
The cross country team ran at their third meet of the season at John D. Morgan Park in late September. The race was the longest of the year at just over 1.5 miles. Corey Gonzales, grade 8, posted the fastest time and placed eighth. Gabi Gupta, grade 8, earned the team’s highest place, finishing seventh in her race. Rounding out the places were Mary Najibi, grade 7, finishing tenth, and grade 6 students Meilan Steimle and Stephanie Scaglia finishing at 13 and 14, respectively. For the first time this year, Harker placed as a team, taking fourth in the grade 6 girls race.
The team competed last week in their toughest race of the season at C.T. English. The course, while not the longest, is in the Santa Cruz Mountains and is the hilliest race of the year. This didn’t deter Alex Deller, grade 7, from continuing her tradition of excellence by taking third place. In the grade 8 races, Alyssa Amick finished sixth, Thomas Doyle, grade 8, took eighth and Gonzales placed 11th. Rounding out the Eagles’ top placers was Najibi, who finished 12th. Congratulations to all the runners and good luck in future races!
Football
Junior varsity A continues their undefeated streak, as well, compiling a 5-0 record to date. In late September, they showed solid defense with a 20-0 shutout over Woodside Priory. Last week the streak continued with big wins over Menlo and Valley Christian San Jose. The Menlo game was an offensive shootout, with both teams scoring over 25 points. The Eagles emerged victorious 33-26 and were led by Alex Yuan and Nick Bean, both grade 6. Nick Weisbloom, grade 6, also added impressive rushing. In their game against Valley Christian the Eagles showed that they don’t lack defensive skills, holding the Warriors to only 12 points. The Eagles, on the other hand, scored an impressive 33 points and soundly defeated their opponent. Sandip Nirmel, grade 6, returned an interception for a touchdown and Varun Baldwa, grade 6, had two sacks while putting intense pressure on the Warriors’ offense throughout the game.
Varsity A football posted two big wins in late September, bringing them to 2-2 in league play. The Eagles defeated Crystal Springs 40-27 in an important league away game. At home, the team beat a tough King’s Academy squad 19-12. The offense has been led by quarterback and running back Allan Huang, grade 8. He is supported by Erick Holt and Billy Bloomquest, both grade 8. Srivinay Irrinki, grade 8, has been solid on the line, providing critical support for the rest of the team. Last week, they posted a victory over league opponent Pinewood 35-13. In their second contest of the week the Eagles had an extremely close game with King’s Academy, which ended in a 12-12 tie.
Varsity B football is 3-1-1 after their league win over Menlo School in late September. The score was a nail-biting 9-7. The team’s defense has been key to their success this year, and played a huge part in both of their victories. Last week they posted a big win over league opponent Crystal Springs. Coach Manny Martinez attributed the 26-12 outcome to a solid defensive effort by the Eagles. The team also competed in the West Valley Middle School Tournament, where they went 2-1-1 and took an impressive second place. Their performance was due in large part to excellent play by the offensive line. Vishal Vaidya, grade 8, played especially well in this respect.
Swim
The combined lower and middle school swim had their first competition of the year at Castilleja in early September. The team did quite well, with 33 students earning medals. Jeremy Binkley, grade 8, took first in both the 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle races in his class. Seventh-graders Justin Su and Peter Wu won their 50 flystroke and 50 backstroke races, respectively. Justin Culpepper, grade 6, and Mason Menaker, grade 5, won separate 5/6th 25 freestyle races while Swetha Tummala, grade 6, took first in girls freestyle. Mason also won the boys 100 freestyle. In the 25 flystroke, Kayvon Solaimanpour, grade 6, took first while Kendall Ka, grade 6, and Swetha won their 25 backstroke races. Rounding out the Eagles’ top finishers were Eddie Shiang, grade 6, and Kai- Sang Ang, grade 6, who both won their 25-breaststroke races.
This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly Students in Harker’s forensics program wrapped up a groundbreaking year with arms full of awards and tournament titles, sweeping high honors around the nation and setting a new bar for the future of Harker’s communication studies department.
The middle school debate team won the 2010 National Junior Forensic League championship in Public Forum Debate in late June, and, for the team’s overall success across events, coach Steve Clemmons, the director of middle school forensics, collected one of five School of Excellence in Debate awards given at the tournament. In 2010 students also received accolades in the Victory Briefs International, the James Logan Invitational, the Public Forum Challenge and the Laird Lewis Invitation.
“We sent the most students in Harker history to the Tournament of Champions and had the top two seeds in Public Forum debate after preliminary rounds at the tournament,” said Carol Green, director of public forum debate, summing up the past year’s accomplishments as groundbreaking. However, while wins are appreciated, the more notable accomplishment in Green’s mind was the sense of team unity.
“Forensics are very much individual sports where students compete to win individual titles in addition to team titles,” Green said. “I am very proud at the work they have done and will continue to do to achieve team success.”
Clemmons shared similar sentiments when looking back on the year’s accomplishments. “The past year was awesome,” Clemmons said. “The students put in so much hard work to accomplish so much personal and competitive growth.”
Summer hardly served as a respite from policy and debate. Coaches continued to teach students at various forensic institutes around the nation, and members of the debate team also attended similar programs.
Green directed, with new communication studies faculty member Greg Achten, the Berkeley Public Forum Institute and also the Forensics Institute on the upper school campus. Additionally, Green and Jonathan Peele, director of congressional debate and individual events, taught at Harvard. Students attended the Harker Forensics Institute and Berkeley Public Forum Institute, but some travelled as far as Florida, Boston and Yale to hone their forensics skills in these intensive programs.
“The students get an opportunity to work with some of the best coaches and professors in the nation,” Green said, describing these summer programs as fun and purposeful. “Students can do intense focus work and get specialized instruction that will add to their skill sets and will also bring new ideas back to the program.”
As we roll into a new school year, the forensics team looks forward to the challenges ahead, and, with Achten joining the upper school staff and Karina Momary, the lower school one, the team is looking for ways to expand and improve.
“The only goal is to get better, and records and awards will always sort themselves out,” Clemmons said.
Green is excited about the year’s prospects. “We have very talented and dedicated students, and I can’t wait to work with them this year,” she said. “We are also blessed to have such a supportive community of parents, faculty, staff and administrators. Without them, our team could never be as large or as successful as we are.”
This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly Harker junior Margaret Krackeler signed up to get a course out of the way and found she liked it.
“The teachers are really fun and I’m there with my friends,” she said during the final week. As a bonus, she was able to enter AP Biology this fall, skipping the otherwise-required year of Honors Biology.
Chris Florio, Summer Institute principal, said that most students enroll in the Institute as a result of academic planning: either to knock off a required course or to get ahead in a subject area of interest. Many classes are in core subjects, but enrichment courses are also offered in art, forensics and even driver’s education.
Honors Geometry teacher Misael Fisico revealed how he captures students’ attention as they face the prospect of fourplus hours of geometry daily. “I know my students are into computers,” he said, “so there are always computer activities in my class, especially for the first two weeks. Then, I let them do the thinking once I’ve bombarded them with the fun stuff!”
Computer science teacher Susan King noted that, while many students take programming to complete academic requirements, “it isn’t all that rare for kids to find out they like it and go on to take the AP course as a result.” Like Fisico, King works hard to make her instruction and classwork relevant and fun.
“I try not to be the sage on the stage,” she said, “but to have the kids be very active – not only programming on their computers, but also writing on the white boards and working in teams of two.”
It’s not all fun and games for sure, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any: King and her teaching assistant, Partha Vora, grade 11, put on a version of “The Dating Game” in the Advanced Programming class to illustrate the operation of data structures.
Data structures can represent many, many data points, explained King, “or just three pieces of information, like Bachelors One, Two and Three.” In the game, “the bachelorette could question the bachelors but she had to use the correct index,” she said. “If she rejected one, she removed that bachelor from the database, using all the appropriate concepts.”
Prag Batra, grade 11, got to the crux of the matter: “It’s kind of frustrating when it’s not working, and you have to spend all this time debugging. But thinking of the idea and trying to come up with the logic is kind of fun,” he said.