[Update] Andrew Zhou, 2010 valedictorian and member of the United States Physics Team, arrived in College Park, Md., this morning with the other 19 members of the team to begin training camp. Five of these students will be selected to represent the U.S. at the International Physics Olympiad this summer in Zagreb, Croatia. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has posted a press release on their website detailing the team’s welcome ceremony.
May 3, 2010 Harker has another physics Olympian! Senior Andrew Zhou has qualified as a member of the 2010 U.S. Physics Olympics Team, only one of 20 nationwide. Seven Harker students were semifinalists; Zhou is the only one to be selected for the team and this is his second time around.
Zhou was a team member in 2009, but was not selected for the final five; Harker alumnus (then senior)Anand Natarajan’09was one of the five selected for the 2009 international squad and won a gold medal in 2009.
Zhou will first attend physics camp May 22-31, then find out if he will be one of five selected for the 41st International Physics Olympiad to be held from July 17-25, 2010, in Zagreb, Croatia, where more than 400 student scholars from 90 nations will test their knowledge in physics.
The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 by American Association of Physics Teachers to promote and demonstrate academic excellence. Over the past ten years, every U.S. Physics Team member traveling to the International Physics Olympiad has returned with a medal.
Graduates, friends and family were once again greeted by gorgeous weather and surroundings at the Mountain Winery on May 22 for the upper school’s ninth annual commencement ceremony. The Harker Chamber Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio, officially began the ceremony by welcoming the graduates with “Pomp and Circumstance.” Following the processional, Susan Nace directed the 2010 Graduation Chorus in her arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Following a brief welcome speech by Butch Keller, upper school head, salutatorian Adam Perelman addressed his classmates in a light-hearted speech; Andrew Zhou, who, as valedictorian, traditionally would have spoken, was not able to attend the ceremony because he was attending the U.S. Physics Olympiad team training in Maryland.
“I was so excited when I found out that I had the chance to speak today. And that’s not just because [college counselor] Mr. [Kevin] Lum Lung promised me twenty bucks if I mentioned his name in this speech,” Perelman joked. He went on to list the many accomplishments of the Class of 2010, which included but were not limited to winning consecutive spirit championships and running a marathon to honor John Near, the much-loved 30-year veteran history teacher who passed away last October. “What I’m trying to say is that, we’re kind of a big deal, class of 2010,” Perelman quipped.
The speech got another big laugh when Perelman reflected on how much the class had changed since freshman year. “A lot of you probably remember that back then, I looked a lot more like this!” he exclaimed, donning an afro wig.
Before closing, Perelman thanked the Harker teachers and families who helped him and his classmates become the people they are. He then thanked his fellow graduates “for making high school so unforgettable.”
After much applause, Catherine Snider conducted the 2010 Graduation Chorus, singing the Taylor Hicks hit “Do I Make You Proud,” before the day’s keynote speaker, San Jose Mercury News columnist Scott Herhold, took the podium. In his speech, Herhold made special note of the accomplishments that the graduating seniors had achieved as part of a collaborative effort.
In another yearly tradition, graduate and outgoing National Honor Society president Anjali Menon then passed the Lamp of Knowledge to upcoming senior and new NHS president Ashtyn Ka.
Chris Nikoloff, head of school, then went to the stage to give his customary parting words to the senior class before individually awarding the diplomas to the class of 2010, along with Keller and Naomi Schatz, class dean and psychology teacher. Nikoloff and Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, then said their closing words before the Harker Chamber Orchestra performed the recessional piece, “March Heroique” by Saint-Saens, to bring the ceremonies to an end.
The graduation procedures officially began on May 20 with the Baccalaureate ceremony, during which the graduating class reflected on and celebrated the accomplishments of the senior class and wish them well in their future. It was also a time for the torch to be passed to the juniors, and to welcome them into their new roles as leaders.
During the ceremony the soon-to-be graduates and rising seniors were treated to a pair of special performances. Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace, sang “The Circles of Our Lives” by David Brunner, and following a brief introductory address by Jennifer Gargano, the Harker String Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio, performed “La primavera” (“Spring”) from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concertos.
The Class of 2010’s dean (and upper school psychology teacher) Naomi Schatz gave a rousing speech to the departing graduates. She mentioned some of the ideas for the speech that were running through her head as recently as that morning, including a musical number with science teacher Kate Schafer. “I was going to ‘Hey Soul Sister’ while she accompanied me with an interpretive clog dance,” she joked. Proclaiming that she felt fortunate to have a job that she loves, Schatz advised the students to live their lives passionately. “Find out what it is that makes your heart sing and your soul soar, and by all means make sure to keep that as a major part of your life,” she said.
Schatz concluded her time at the podium by leading sing-a-longs to the songs “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “Forever Young.”
Valedictorian Andrew Zhou then got up to speak to his fellow graduates and to the juniors that would soon be carrying the torch. Zhou, who had been selected as a finalist to be a member of the United States Physics Olympiad Team, would unfortunately not be able to attend the graduation ceremony, as he was in Maryland for training camp during the exercises. Salutatorian Adam Perelman spoke in his stead.
In his speech, Zhou reflected on both the “halcyon” and “tempestuous” times that he and his classmates have had since their freshman years. “And now we stand,” he said. “Fledglings no more, prepared to leave this eagle’s nest to pass the torch on to our successors.”
“Disregard proportion, do not walk in a straight line, transcend that path and explore the diverging roots life,” he said to his fellow college-bound graduates. “Take that underwater basket-weaving class you stumble upon! Join that cow-tipping club that catches your eye!”
He advised the juniors to “think of the path you tread now, the infinite possible detours that lie in your future. Do not define yourself based on who you were, what you did. With such perspective, senior year will be the crowning pinnacle of your high school life, preparing you well for the vicissitudes of college and beyond.”
Two instrumental groups from the lower school, one of which included members from Gr. 6, won silver awards at the Heritage Music Festival. The event took place this past weekend at Foothill Community College.
Heritage festivals are held around the country for various skill levels. At this one, Harker entered non-high school-aged groups for the first time. Louis Hoffman, lower school music director, was pleased with the results. “They did so well,” he said.
Awards were given by three judges based on a standard rather than in competition with other groups, meaning each group had to meet certain expectations, Hoffman explained. Of the approximately 20 groups at the competition, Harker was the only one with elementary school students. The rest featured high schoolers, as well as one junior high group, which made the awards that much more difficult to earn.
About 25 students from Gr. 2-6 were in the jazz ensemble and about 27 from Gr. 2-5 were in the orchestra. Following their performances, a judge spoke to the groups, giving critiques and compliments in a sort of mini clinic, Hoffman said. Each student received a pin to commemorate the results and the school received two plaques to display on campus.
Hoffmann gave credit to Laura Lang-Ree, chair of the performing arts department, and to Chris Florio, upper school orchestra director, for their efforts in building the lower and middle school programs.
“The students’ behavior was so good,” said Hoffman. “They acted wonderfully. I was so proud of them.”
Harker was selected as the best overall national team in the “9th/10th Level” category in this year’s JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) competition. Coached by upper school math teacher Anthony Silk, the team of Gr. 10 students Lucy Cheng, Alexander Hsu, Revanth Kosaraju, Jeffrey Kwong, Ramya Rangan, Pavitra Rengarajan, Katie Siegel and Albert Wu won a $2,500 cash prize and a commemorative trophy. Each member of the team received a medal and certificate for their efforts.
The Harker Gr. 9 time also fared well in the competition, placing eighth in Division 2 among 46 teams. Harker’s four 11th/12th Level teams placed fourth, fifth, 17th and 19th out of the 166 teams competing in Division 2.
More than 10,000 students from 42 states competed in this year’s competition, which tasked students with finding ways to purify water as well as assess current water purification methods. Every year, JETS holds national team and individual competitions to promote engineering and technology careers to today’s youth.
In celebration of Mother’s Day, Pavitra Rengarajan, Gr.1o, recently performed in Mission San Juan Bautista’s annual Mother’s Day music concert. Rengarajan was the featured flautist in Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp.
“Mr. Goodwin, is everything good in Japan?” a student asked English teacher Colin Goodwin as he surveyed posters and Japanese treats. It was a beautiful, sunny day and Bucknall students were welcoming spring with a display from Goodwin’s recent educational exchange.
In celebration of the change of seasons, and inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” Goodwin thought it would be fun for his Gr. 4 class to share American spring traditions with fourth graders in Harker’s sister school Tamagawa Gakuen. With the help of Jennifer Abraham, Harker’s director of global education, Goodwin organized an educational poster exchange. He sent a descriptive essay and posters illustrating the first strawberries of spring, Easter, spring break and the start of baseball season to Tamagawa. In return, he received posters illustrating Japanese spring traditions. “They were fascinated that school starts in April in Japan and that Japanese kids only have several weeks off between fourth and fifth grade,” Goodwin said of his students. He also noted their interest in Girl’s Day (Hina Matsuri) and Children’s Day (Kodomo-no-hi).
The project challenged students to consider what spring symbolizes and introduced global education into Goodwin’s class. The students were impressed by Tamagawa students’ displays and the beautiful packaging of the sweets (wagashi) served at the party.
In an effort to expand the project, Abraham and Goodwin also sent posters to schools in France, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Ethiopia. They have received posters from Institution Sévigné in Compiègne, France.
“Overall, I think this project taught the kids that they have a lot in common with Japanese kids,” Goodwin said. “However, the kids realize that there are some distinct differences between Japanese culture and American culture that help make the world a more interesting place.”
The Nichols Hall auditorium was abuzz Fri., May 7, during the visit of the latest guest of the Harker Speaker Series, Matt Flannery, CEO of Kiva. A ground-breaking organization in the fight against international poverty, Kiva utilizes transactions known as micro-loans (loans of small amounts, typically $25 or more) to enable people in remote, impoverished areas to start their own businesses and have a chance at success.
A graduate of Stanford University and a former computer programmer for TiVo, Flannery shared the story of how he went from “helping people pause live TV” to helping poor people in far-flung countries become entrepreneurs and start new chapters in their lives. To date, the total value of all loans made via Kiva has surpassed $136 million, with a repayment rate of 98.57 percent.
When it comes to small loans, Flannery said, “people are better than banks. People are able to take on more risk than banks, so if you are able to aggregate thousands of people who lend 25 dollars each, they can diversify their funding across many different businesses and many different places.”
Those thousands of people are also more able than banks to absorb risk, which has the added benefit of lowering interest rates.
Flannery’s interest in micro-finance began while he was still working at TiVo in the early 2000s, when his then-fiancée, Jessica, took him to a talk by micro-finance guru Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who lent small amounts of money to the working poor in Bangladesh. The loans were paid back, defying the many predictions to the contrary.
Inspired, Matt and Jessica traveled to Africa, which he described as “a place full of entrepreneurs.” There, they encountered many people with great ideas who lacked the capital to realize their dreams. Upon returning to the United States, the two decided to try to generate a stock market in the remote area they had visited.
After generating a business plan, they took the idea to venture capitalists. When the couple were unable to explain how they could make the idea profitable, they were advised to try talking to charity organizations. But when they presented their concept to those groups, they were told, ironically enough, that it more closely resembled a business.
Moreover, due to security concerns and legal restrictions, the plan to send large amounts of money to remote areas was deemed too risky.
With no funding and the possibility of their new venture being illegal, Matt and Jessica decided to pursue the idea on their own as a hobby. “Instead of starting a company, we just did it through our own personal checking account,” Flannery said. After making contact with a pastor in Uganda named Moses, they decided to have him take pictures of the people receiving their loans and post updates on their progress at an Internet café.
The loans went to such people as a goat herder, a restaurateur and a fruit stand owner. Flannery built a software system to invest in the businesses they helped start, and encouraged his friends and family to buy shares.
“It’s probably the best donation you’ll ever make, because maybe you’ll get it back,” Flannery told them. “But it’s probably the worst investment you’ll ever make because there’s no chance of making money here, and you’ll probably lose some of it.”
The investments worked, however, and the loans were eventually paid back. Flannery recalled having conversations with his friends about reading the online updates on the businesses they funded. “We’re really on to something,” he remembered telling himself, “because I’ve turned my group of lazy friends into people that really care about something.”
In October 2005, Flannery left his job with TiVo to devote all of his time to the newly founded non-profit Kiva.
“The idea of person-to-person lending on the Internet was a new concept and we were at the very beginning of that,” he said.
When Dr. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, interest in micro-finance reached new heights. Kiva was soon being covered by CNN, CNBC, the New York Times and the Oprah Winfrey Show. By 2007, funded primarily by donations, Kiva had lent more than $10 million.
Recently, the micro-finance world has been experimenting with sending loans via cellular phones, which helps alleviate labor costs. Currently, the process is much more manual, with loan officers going out into the field and setting up loans in person, resulting in more overhead. Kiva itself has begun lending more to students, a type of fund the group can take on because its capital is more flexible. That is necessary since student loans can take an especially long time to pay back. The organization has also recently funded more green ventures, such as loans for solar panels instead of kerosene lamps or charcoal stoves.
Before closing his talk and opening the floor for questions, Flannery explained that Kiva was able to grow in part because its founders pursued the idea not as a business but as something they loved to do.
“We kind of gave up on Kiva as a business idea, and started thinking about it as just something we love to do,” he said. “And because of that, I think we really enabled it to succeed and to grow, because we didn’t put pressure on it to be a career, or put pressure on it to be really successful.”
Last month, Future Problem Solvers (FPS) had 54 students qualify for the Future Problem Solving Program of California’s state tournament. They went on to earn high honors in all divisions at the San Diego event.
Harker teams swept the board, winning first, second and third places in most divisions. Of those who received honors, three teams and four individuals will be representing Harker in the international finals June 10-13 in Wisconsin.
Harker had the record for the largest delegation from one school at the state finals.
The FPS program aims to challenge students to come up with creative problem solving. The students develop critical thinking skills by using imagination and classroom skills to solve problems in today’s world.
In San Diego, students were asked to solve an aquaculture food-distribution crisis. In a two-hour span, students wrote a 15-page document outlining the challenges, the underlying problem and different solutions. Harker students proposed various ideas, from a dynamic change in school curriculum to a complex international antitrust agency.
Teacher Cyrus Merrill, head advisor of FPS, would like to thank the assistant coaches, computer science teacher Susan King and communication studies teacher Steve Clemmons for being an instrumental part of the students’ success.
Merrill would also like to personally recognize the senior team, who have placed first in presentation of their action plan throughout their high school career. Merrill thanks the team for setting an example for others in leadership and creative thinking. “They have qualified for internationals every year since seventh grade,” Merrill said. “They will be sorely missed.”
Albert Chu, Gr. 8, was one of eight California winners in the Promising Young Writers Program, which recognizes talent and emphasizes the importance of writing skills. Initially, 12 eighth-grade students submitted a theme piece of writing as well as writing samples. Harker nominated Chu and classmate Anika Ayyar to represent the school in the competition. Chu’s work was judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style. He earned a Certificate of Recognition for Superior Performance in Writing, and Ayyar received a Certificate of Participation.