The Harker Innovation Team has been selected as one of three semifinalists for their dashboard for the car of the future. It was entered in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize DASH+ contest, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Grand Prize winner is being judged now and a popular vote will be taken into account for the final decision.
DASH+ challenged students to consider increasing energy efficency in the ever-changing automotive landscape. The goal? To design a dashboard that helps drivers maximize fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact by incorporating vehicle information and real-time feedback. HIT’s plan includes a graphic design, a technical plan and a video pitch for their design, the Enviro-HEART – Environment Helping Essential Adaptive Response Technology.
The dashboard panel, a result of extensive research, takes instantaneous feedback and displays the collected and interpreted data in a visually enhanced console. It offers the driver alternative transportation possibilities, information about regenerative braking and visual cues about the vehicle’s overall efficiency. The project was truly a mark of teamwork: “From when we built CARE in December 2009, we developed a good sense of the various talents and skills each team member excelled at so we were each able to contribute in significant ways,” Isaac Madan, Gr. 11, said.
For their efforts, all semifinalist teams will receive Flip video cameras. However, HIT members need your votes to win the grand prize: a VIP trip to Detroit to pitch their ideas to automotive industry representatives and receive valuable mentoring from leaders in advanced vehicle development. On May 11, a DASH+ film crew stopped by the Saratoga campus to film the students at work on their project and interview them for an upcoming promotional video.
Voting will open May 1 and last until May 30. For more information, please visit the contest’s website.
An article at Examiner.com reports that Shreya Indukuri, Gr. 10, gave a presentation at the Tech Titans of Tomorrow: Teens Plugged In 2010 conference, hosted by SDForum in Mountain View. The conference drew students who helped improve the environmental standards of their schools through forward-thinking initiatives.
In her presentation, Indukuri discussed how more efficient energy usage could be leveraged by schools to reduce costs, which could prove quite valuable in a time of budgetary crisis. She used Harker as an example, showing that the school was able to save money by monitoring and controlling energy consumption at the lower school campus.
Indukuri and classmate Daniela Lapidous, Gr. 10, were to present at the Bay Area Schools Environmental Conference on May 1 at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose. Indukuri will also speak on a youth panel for the San Francisco Commonwealth Club on May 4, at the club’s office at 595 Market St. in San Francisco.
On April 13, Namrata Anand, Gr. 12, was presented with a county commendation from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. She was honored for being a national finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. Anand traveled to Washington, D.C., to compete against 39 other students from around the country. The commendation mentioned the coverage of her achievement in the San Jose Mercury News.
To get to the finals, Anand reached conclusions about the Andromeda galaxy that could help scientists locate areas with a high likelihood of containing extraterrestrial life.
The commendation was presented by Ken Yeager, president of the board of supervisors, to R.K. Anand, Namrata’s father. He accepted on his daughter’s behalf, as she was busy rehearsing for the upper school production of “Les Miserables.”
Students, faculty and Harker family members arrived en masse at the Blackford campus on April 26 for the fourth annual Harker Cancer Walk. This year’s event was another success, bringing in $5,500 in one day alone, with donations still being received at Harker News Online press time. The well-attended outing once again raised funds for Camp Okizu, a program that provides fun activities and quality care for young cancer patients. Children at Camp Okizu enjoy outdoor pastimes such as swimming, boating, archery and a ropes course, in addition to social events such as a dance and a barbecue dinner. The money raised at the Cancer Walk will be used to purchase equipment to allow Camp Okizu to provide these services to the children.
Tables sold bracelets, water bottles and baked goods to the attendees, who enjoyed walking, talking, meeting and greeting in the refreshing spring weather.
In the week leading up to the Cancer Walk, special posters were made to be displayed during the event, and people also made flags containing slogans honoring cancer survivors and those who passed away from the illness. These flags were then placed along the walk as the event took place.
“The weather was perfect. The baked goods, divine! T-shirts, bracelets and water bottles made everyone true fashion icons!” said Cindy Ellis, middle school division head, who organized the event with middle school computer science teacher Michael Schmidt. Schmidt began organizing the Cancer Walk in 2007 following the passing of his mother due to cancer in 2006.
Donations are still being accepted at this time. Checks or cash can be brought to the Blackford campus front office. Checks can be made out to either Camp Okizu or Harker.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2010 Harker Quarterly.
“If you build it…” The oft-quoted line from the movie “Field of Dreams” has been echoing in the halls of The Harker School the last few years. Nichols Hall, which opened to great celebration in the fall of 2008, has proven to be a spectacular home for science classes, competitive research students, music concerts and lecture series. Davis Field and the Singh Aquatic Center have taken the sports department to new levels of athletic achievement. And the buzz continues. Next on the plan: a performing and visual arts center (PVAC).
Harker’s six-phase capital improvements plan is currently completing phase 3, which was the building of the two new sports venues and Nichols Hall. (Previous phases improved the Bucknall campus and built Shah Hall.) Phase 4 is the long-anticipated PVAC, which will transform the 16-acre Saratoga campus yet again.
The groundwork for this next phase began in the fall of 2008 with a series of Head of School Gatherings, casual socials at the homes of Harker parents. At those events, Chris Nikoloff led discussions with interested parents about the future of the school, not only sharing information but gathering feedback about what parents wanted most for their campuses.
In 2009 focus groups were convened to discuss the master site plan in more detail, focusing on the gym and student union (phases 5 and 6). A third focus group narrowed the view on the PVAC. Families, students, alumni, faculty and administrators were invited to complete an online survey, which asked for very detailed opinions about the current performing arts and visual arts facilities, as well as the respondents’ wishes for the future. This information was crucial to the administration and architectural team, and “uncovered all sorts of valuable ideas and highlighted several issues that [David Takamoto, our architect,] has been able to address so that once completed everything works very well from parking, to campus flow to beauty,” said Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, of the survey.
Head of School Gatherings continued in the fall of 2009, when Nikoloff presented parents with a draft of the master site plan, incorporating all the ideas culled from families, alumni and employees from the past year. The next step will be spearheaded by former head of school and current trustee Diana Nichols, who will host a series of meetings in the spring of 2010 to get further input on the developing project and unveil the conceptual design of the master site plan.
All of these gatherings and drawings are leading up to the submission by Takamoto of a conceptual design to the San Jose City Planning Commission. Currently Harker is zoned for residential occupancy; the administration wants to convert that zoning to planned development use, which would maximize the use of buildings on campus and greatly minimize the red tape involved as permits are sought for each new building. Another major benefit of the rezoning is that campus buildings will be permitted to reach 50 feet instead of the current 35, allowing for three-story buildings and a theater with room to install a fly system for moving props and scenery vertically on and off stage.
Other designated areas within the building will include a third floor dedicated to visual arts, allowing for natural lighting and separate rooms for stone carving, painting and ceramics; two theaters – a black box and a full-size space with orchestra pit; costume, prop and set building spaces; music and art classrooms and libraries; practice rooms; gallery space; and dressing rooms and lounge areas.
The visual and performing art staff is understandably excited about the project. Laura Lang-Ree, K-Gr. 12 performing arts chair, points out that, “We are the only high school in a 40-mile radius that does not have a theater. Our lack of facilities is dramatic when contrasted with the level of education we provide and the sheer interest in the program and volume of children that we educate. Both students and teachers deal with this subpar facility issue daily.”
Visual arts chair Jaap Bongers concurs: “Our current space does not allow our students to develop their artistic talents to their fullest extent, partly because they can’t spread out and are working in storage and drying areas. The new building will give us separate spaces for storing completed works, works in progress and active studio space. And a separate gallery will mean we can adequately highlight student and faculty art.
” Mike Bassoni, Harker’s facility manager, who has overseen each of the large construction efforts on all of Harker’s campuses, speaks for many families and teachers who are eager for a space that can match the talents of our students: “The new center will greatly enhance an already well-recognized Harker program. With new, state-of-the- art facilities, the possibilities only become that much greater. We know our programs are great, but a contemporary facility will serve as a picture frame to display that level of perfection for many, many people in the community to enjoy.” Rosenthal wants parents of all grades to “ensure that the legacy of excellence passes to the next generation of Harker students,” and that we “invest in programs that make a difference in the world.”
A small group of parents and faculty are already contributing to the $30-35 million that will be needed to build the PVAC. The architectural and rezoning fees are being paid for by the very generous contributions of a group of current and alumni parents whom Rosenthal calls “seed investors.” These kind donors will be recognized and thanked at this year’s Head of School Reception on April 30.
So will they come “if you build it?” Perhaps a project of this size needs a better tagline than one from a Hollywood film. Virginia Woolf once said that all that women needed to write fiction was money and a room of their own. Artists, too, need financial support and their own space to play, create, dream and exhibit. That space will be coming soon for all to enjoy!
Upper school music teacher Susan Nace is a Grammy winner! Nace, who directs Cantilena and advises Guys’ Gig, is part of the Grammy-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus. The group was given the Best Choral Performance award for their live recording of “Symphony of a Thousand,” part of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major.
Produced under the direction of San Francisco Symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and choral director Ragnar Bohlin, the recording was made during live performances in Davies Symphony Hall in November 2008. Nace will receive a certificate and a pin to wear during performances, and will have an official photo taken with the Grammy statue after it arrives in May. The recording, including the “Adagio” from Symphony No.10, has also won Best Classical Album and Best Engineered Classical Album awards.
Prior to the nomination, Nace was hopeful. “We certainly hoped for a nomination because the concerts were magical,” she said. “After the nominations, I ordered the competition’s recordings. After listening to them, I thought they didn’t have a chance (in my humble opinion),” she added. After winning, the chorus “had a little celebration after rehearsal the following night,” said Nace. “The big celebration will be at the Symphony’s end-of-the-year party in May,” she said. A short video with behind the scenes footage and insights from the recording can be viewed at the San Francisco Symphony website under “A Universe of Sound: Recording Mahler’s Symphony No. 8.”
Enid Davis, who has been Harker’s library director for 17 years, has decided to step down from her current position. Over the years Davis has been responsible for founding many library-related committees and programs including a campus favorite – the lower school Ogre Awards. These awards celebrate learning about folktales via an Academy Awards-like ceremony in which students perform a segment of a fairy tale for their peers.
“During Enid’s directorship at Harker, she created many initiatives that moved our efforts in a forward-thinking manner,” said Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs. Davis stated that her proudest achievement is that she “has created a first-class library department that has grown from one librarian on one campus to five librarians, five clerks and an archivist on three campuses.” Davis will continue to work at the lower school as a part-time librarian for the 2010-11 school year. In this role she will be able to focus on her first love, teaching library classes and encouraging students to develop a love for stories and storytelling. Sue Smith, currently upper school librarian, will be taking Davis’ place as library director and Lauri Vaughan will assume Smith’s role as campus librarian beginning next fall.
Joe Rosenthal, Harker’s executive director of advancement, was one of several individuals and organizations honored by the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Fundraising Professionals at this year’s annual National Philanthropy Day awards luncheon in late November. Held at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara and attended by over 500 guests who represented dozens of Bay Area nonprofits and corporations, Rosenthal was named the Outstanding Professional Fundraiser for 2009.
“Congratulations to Joe for all of his dedication to and hard work on behalf of the school and the children. This is a tremendous honor to him and the school community,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school, after Rosenthal’s selection for this award was announced in June. Sharon Svensson, president of Essex and Drake Fund Raising Council, which recommended Rosenthal for the award, said, “The National Philanthropy Day selection panel was very impressed by Joe. They specifically said they were very impressed by the quality of the nomination and the length and breadth of Joe’s accomplishments.”
Rosenthal recognized his advancement team, who were all in attendance, for their outstanding work for Harker. Also in attendance were many members of Harker’s board of trustees, Nikoloff and many of Harker’s key donors.
Harker’s Board Welcomes New Members, Jennifer Gargano and Marie Clifford Harker has two new members on its board of trustees. A hearty welcome to Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, and Marie Clifford, Harker’s former and longtime business manager. Gargano began at Harker in 1999 and assumed the assistant head role in 2004. Her positions have included middle school head, community service director, Junior Engineering and Technical Society team coach and Honor Council chair; she is now National Honor Society (NHS) advisor. Prior to joining Harker, she taught middle and upper school math in the Chicago area, where she was born and raised.
While in grade school, Gargano enjoyed observing her classmates to see how they learned, and, thus motivated, went on to earn a degree in elementary education with a minor in mathematics followed by a master’s degree in secondary math education.
Gargano considers herself lucky to have landed at Harker. “It is a unique place where the students are incredibly nice and kind to one another and faculty and staff are dedicated above and beyond to the students and the institution,” she said. Outside of Harker, Gargano stays in shape running and volunteering, tutoring at a local charter school with NHS members, serving at her church and volunteering at food banks and other nonprofit organizations.
Marie Clifford joins The Harker School Board of Trustees after serving as the school’s business manager from 1989 until her retirement in 2008. Clifford spent 20 years at Polaroid Corporation, retiring as senior quality control manager for worldwide camera manufacturing. Then-president and head of school Howard and Diana Nichols drew her to the school to help lay out the financial and other business systems. “It was an exciting time,” said Clifford. “I helped through the years when there was explosive growth at Harker. Enrollment went from roughly 800 students to over 1,700 students.” Clifford holds a B.S. degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Northeastern University, and her experience with managing large projects was of immense value to the school.
Clifford has strong ties to the school still, as she has two grandchildren, Michael Clifford, Gr. 12 and his sister Keri, Gr. 9, at Harker. “It is wonderful to continue a close relationship with the school, faculty and administration,” she said. Aside from her interest in Harker, Clifford is active in a number of environmental areas and stays active with yoga and showing her pug dogs. “I hope that my years of experience managing Harker assets will be useful, as the Board takes on the challenge of keeping Harker one of the best independent schools in the country.”
Three spring sports recently said goodbye to seniors whose seasons have come to a close. In mid-April, boys varsity tennis honored Samir Datta, Sanjeev Datta, Akum Gill, Ashish Mittal, Navin Sabharwal, Kevin Saxon and Sumeet Sharma.
At the end of April the swim teams also said goodbye to their seniors. On the boys team, Michael Clifford, Cole Davis, Stefan Schwartz, Jose Costa and Darren Syu will be graduating this year. Meanwhile, the girls bid farewell to Jeanette Chin, Christina Ma and Vivian Wong.
Check back in May when softball, lacrosse, golf and baseball will all be hosting senior nights as well.
In April, members of the Parent Development Council (PDC) were invited to have lunch at the Harker campuses. Parents of lower school children visited the Bucknall campus on April 15 and 16, joining their kids in the lunch line and enjoying their meals together. The following week, Blackford parents sat down to eat with kids at the middle school.
On April 22, PDC parents of upper school students had lunch and mingled in the Nichols Hall rotunda. Afterward, they were given a tour of the upper school art show by art teacher Pilar Aguero-Esparza.
The Saratoga campus received a special Earth Day gift of six western redbud trees from the Modern Woodmen of America. Representatives of the group presented the trees April 22. With the help of the Harker maintenance staff, the trees were planted along the edge of Rosenthal Field.
Founded in 1883, Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal society that provides financial services and other benefits to its members, which number more than 750,000 nationwide.
The kindergarten classes took their audience on a jungle cruise during the 2010 kindergarten show at the Bucknall Theater on April 22. Directed by lower school music teacher Louis Hoffman (who also played the part of Baloo the Bear), the production featured students from each class playing the roles of various wildlife, including elephants, tigers and bears.
Backed by a well-crafted set designed by Whitney McClelland and lighting that provided the ideal safari atmosphere, the students performed and sang songs that fit the event’s theme, such as “Banana Phone” and “Morgan the Monkey.” There were also several songs from Disney’s “The Jungle Book,” including “Elephant March,” “That’s What Friends are For” and “The Bare Necessities.”
A highlight of the show was a special song and dance number featuring the quintessential jungle anthem “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” featuring choreography by lower school dance teacher Gail Palmer.
Technical director Danny Dunn and assistant technical director Ivo Salemink received help from Dunn’s Gr. 5 technical theater students, who all played a key part in running the show.