Emily Wang, Gr. 9, received a gold medal for her outstanding writing through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, an 87-year-old national program that recognizes outstanding creative teenagers and offers scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors.
She will be honored June 9, 2010, at a gala celebration at Carnegie Hall in New York City and may have her writing exhibited in Manhattan at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery June 9-25.
Wang joins some well-known figures in winning this award, including Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Redford, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, John Lithgow and Bernard Malamud. Almost 900 students from 298 schools across California submitted 2,051 pieces of writing for judging including essays, poems, articles, stories and dramatic scripts. Of California’s 160 student winners, 22 were awarded Gold Keys, the highest award, and of those, six were awarded national Gold Medals. Wang is one of the six gold medalists.
The California Writing Awards are sponsored and organized by the California Writing Project (CWP), a network of 17 university-based projects across California, and California Writes, CWP’s outreach arm to families and communities.
Since the program was founded in 1923, more than 13 million talented junior high and high school youth (grades 7-12) have participated in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and 9 million have been recognized and shared in $25 million in cash awards and college scholarships. In addition to awarding annual scholarships to top portfolio award recipients, the Alliance collaborates with colleges across the country that make an additional $3.9 million in financial aid available to national award recipients.
World Journal, Jan. 14: In the Chinese-language newspaper, Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists Namrata Anand, Vishesh Jain, Kevin Zhang and Andrew Zhou, all Gr. 12, are featured in a story on their achievements.
Gentry Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2010 edition: A story titled “Chic & Unique” previews this year’s Harker Fashion Show and briefly summarizes its history. On the same page, a sidebar includes a short piece on the Harker Speaker Series.
Japanese students had a chance to work with the community and promote Harker’s Japanese program late February, when 14 students’ calligraphy works were displayed in the New Year calligraphy exhibition hosted by Komochi Home in San Francisco’s Japan Town.
In addition to learning grammar and language in class, Japanese students also receive a taste of Japanese culture through writing haikus, listening to pop songs, and celebrating Japanese holidays such as setsubun, said Japanese teacher Masako Onakado. With brush and ink students practiced Japanese calligraphy, both formal block style as well as cursive styles. “I was impressed that the students were not afraid of trying new styles that look completely different from what they are used to seeing,” Onakado said.
Students’ works were displayed in the annual calligraphy exhibition along with works from other students in Kinmon Gakuen and San Mateo Nippon Gakuen, local Bay Area Japanese schools.
Harker’s wrestling and boys varsity soccer teams earned Central Coast Section Interscholastic Federation scholastic championships this spring. Wrestling had a cumulative GPA of 3.61, while the soccer team earned a 3.65. Girls soccer was a strong runner up at 3.79, only 3/100ths of a point from the top. The awards began in 1985 and, since the inception of the high school in 1998, Harker has won numerous times.
Presenting free talks on timely topics by prominent speakers, the Harker Speaker Series (HSS) continues to make a mark on the local cultural environment, stimulating staff, students and their families to engage in the issues of our age.
From astronomer Seth Shostak and wrestler Kyle Maynard to foreign correspondent Dahr Jamail, activist and author Rick Smolan, and, the most recent visitor, travel writer Rick Steves, the HSS has sought to involve the broader community.
Paul Woodruff (Katherine, Gr. 9; Helen, Gr. 6) “very much enjoyed the SETI Institute [Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence] talk,” by Shostak. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more humorous, somewhat technical, discussion before. I am not sure if I laughed more or learned more.” Joining enlightenment and entertainment can be useful approach, said John Jerney (Cristina, Gr. 9; John Nicolas, Gr. 6), who, with his wife, Helena, has helped bring in four of the five speakers through an extensive network of friends and acquaintances.
Having a diverse audience can spur useful discussion, Jerney noted. “Having parents and students attend together makes the experience that much richer because it stimulates dialogue outside of school and deepens the learning by making it a shared experience.
“The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, especially when people find out that every speaker offers his or her time and commitment without any cost to the school,” said Jerney. “Following the model of the Commonwealth Club of California, we have never offered an honorarium, ensuring that all speakers who join our series do so because of a passion to share a message and engage students and parents with their experiences.”
Maynard, a highly motivated paraplegic and the only speaker Jerney did not help arrange for, was an exception. He came to Harker at a request from the administration and spent the entire day with students before speaking that evening, and was paid for his appearance. The series features two to four speakers per year, and may grow.
Jerney, who watches speakers’ schedules to try to attract them while they are in the Bay Area for other events, touts the value of listening to experts who “speak passionately about their work, especially when it’s about something you don’t typically encounter, such as Dr. Shostak describing the search for intelligent life on other planets or Dahr Jamail describing his experiences as the sole unembedded American reporter in Iraq at the start of the war,” Jerney said.
Sometimes the payoff has been obvious. Harker’s GEO club, inspired by Smolan’s passionate appeal for attention to the worldwide water crisis, raised more than $10,000 for the nonprofit charity: water.
Head of School Chris Nikoloff noted that upper school and middle school students were “galvanized into action” after
Smolan’s speech. “We certainly hoped that the HSS would spur both thought and action, but we never imagined such a positive response so quickly,” he said.
Pam Dickinson, who heads Harker’s Office of Communication, which helps run the speaker series, says the program is “a perfect fit with our mission – academic excellence through the development of intellectual curiosity. It’s a meaningful way for us to invite the greater community to share in that quest.”
Everyone has a favorite among the visiting luminaries. Rashmi Sharma, Gr. 12, agreed that the HSS has succeeded in “really expanding our perspective in how we think about various different subjects.” She called Maynard’s presentation “inspiring” and said of Steves’ talk, “I don’t think I’ll ever think of traveling the same way again!”
Tina Najibi (Alexander, Gr. 10; Mary, Gr. 6) appreciated PBS star Steves’ advocacy of travel as a political act, noting that she was “quite impressed that he did a special on Iran – not the most likely vacation destination.”
Upper school history department chair Donna Gilbert expressed hope that Steves “inspired students to travel and do so with a sense of global awareness and social responsibility.” The speaker series embodies Harker’s desire to bring the whole community together in interesting, entertaining and meaningful ways.
We’ve got a great line up of offerings this summer to keep your children energized, challenged and engaged!
Many of our own Harker teachers will be joining the staff this summer and we are so excited to have them! In addition to being a fantastic way for your children to explore new interests or spend more time in a chosen area, summer also is an opportunity for teachers to branch out, teach different subjects or grade levels, or have fun with a favorite subject. Our teachers love to have learning adventures right along with our students!
Harker’s K-Gr. 8 Camp: Our Most Popular Program!
At the heart of this camp are top-quality morning academics – which focus on math, science and language arts – paired with a full and varied afternoon recreational program. “This year we have added new curriculum materials to make language arts and math
classes more challenging,” said Kelly Espinosa, Harker’s veteran summer programs director since 1978. “Diann Chung and Patricia Burrows have been working with the school-year division heads to make sure summer materials are appropriate for all levels.”
Gr. 1-4 students receive morning instruction in math and language arts, and then choose two two-week electives. Elective offerings change yearly and vary by grade level, but this year options include Ready, Set, Write; Readers’ Theater; Comic Creators; Kitchen Chemistry; and Just Dance. For those in Gr. 5-8, the four-week sessions allow campers a chance to explore academic topics in depth, such as Zap It, an “electrifying engineering” class taught by Kristen (Nielsen) Morgensen ‘93; Periscope Algebra, taught by Eileen Schick, Gr. 1-5 math department chair and Gr. 4 math teacher; Periscope Pre-Algebra, taught by Diane Plauck, Gr. 4-5 math teacher; and Forensic Science, taught by Ben Morgensen, middle school science teacher.
In KinderCamp, our youngest campers have a separate classroom and play area to help them with the transition to a classroom setting. Incoming Harker kindergartners have the opportunity to get comfortable in the school and learn to love Harker, which really makes a difference when they start school in the fall. Harker kindergarten teachers Grace Wallace, Gerrylouise Robinson and Michelle Anderson will all be working with KinderCampers during the summer. Espinosa is excited that KinderCampers have this opportunity. ”We are really lucky to have all three of these teachers!” she exclaimed.
Two-Week Program: Project-Based and Thematic
For those needing a shorter option, the two week sessions are structured differently than the four-week sessions.
Campers in Gr. 1-4 will explore the Big Blue Marble of planet Earth this summer, learning about people, places and interesting things from around the world, with different sessions focusing on different continents. Kathleen Ferretti, Gr. 3 math and language arts teacher and Gr. 2-3 department chair, teaches the two-week sessions to Gr. 3 and 4 students each summer. Ferretti noted she enjoys the field trips, the environment and the fun of teaching summer camps because, “it gives me a chance to branch out and do some exciting learning-based activities.”
Kim Sandoval, Gr. 2 teacher, will be teaching Gr. 1 and 2 students during session A and B, and Sejal Mehta, Gr. 1 teacher, will be teaching session C. Gr. 5-8 campers have project-based classes for their two-week sessions and can choose from courses such as debate, rocket science, Web design, robotics and filmmaking classes. Classes include hands-on activities, group projects, field trips and special guests. Michael Schmidt, a middle school computer science teacher teaching the Lego Robotics course, said, “It’s probably the most fun a kid could have with a computer, some Legos and an eagerness to solve problems.”
Another exciting class offered this summer is Science To Go, an outdoor ed class led by Pete Anderson, middle school P.E. coach; Jim McGovern, lower school P.E. coach; and Ben Morgensen. McGovern has taught summer camp for many years. He loves “seeing students let loose and have a lot of fun during their summer!”
Many campers – and parents – love Harker’s summer programs, and come back year after year. Carol Whitman, whose daughter Alyssa, Gr. 3, attends camp, said they’re both fans. “Alyssa is very comfortable at Harker and enjoys the teachers and summer coaches. I like the balance between academics and having fun. Harker has succeeded in balancing academics with play.”
She added, “Alyssa was happy every morning when I dropped her off at camp and when I picked her up in the afternoon. She enjoyed the challenge of math, and creating a diary for language arts. Most of all she really enjoyed seeing her new camp friends every day!”
Claude Cartee, parent of Allison, Gr. 3, said he and his wife enrolled Allison in both four-week programs last year, but took her out for a few days for a quick trip to Disneyland. “She complained that she would rather be at Harker than at
Disneyland,” he laughed. The K-Gr. 8 Harker Summer Camp is held on the Bucknall campus. All staff attends rigorous training, and the camp is accredited by the American Camp Association.
Summer @ Harker: Additional Offerings
In addition to our long-standing and renowned K-Gr. 8 Harker Summer Camp, Harker offers a variety of other quality programs. Read on!
English Language Institute
The English Language Institute (ELI) offers intensive programs for international students aged 6 to 16 interested in improving their English and writing skills. Harker has earned a worldwide reputation for this program, where annual receptions are hosted in Asian cities including Kyoto, Seoul, Taipei and Shanghai. Our own students also get involved in this program each year. Harker students who speak the native language of the ELI students help in the advanced classroom so international students can engage in academic discussions about their writing and language projects.
These Harker students are great role models to our international visitors and provide a real-life peek into teenage life here in the United States. Karen Glovka, lower school Spanish teacher, has been working with Harker’s ELI program since 2005. “It’s such a joy to watch the kids begin to understand and communicate!” Glovka remarked.
Summer Institute
Designed for middle and upper school students, Summer Institute, held at the upper school campus, offers both credit and non-credit courses for students who wish to complete a required class or spend some extra time on a favorite subject. Courses include art, math, science, expository writing, drivers’ education and more. The Harker Forensics Institute offers courses in Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Student Congressional Debate and Individual Events.
Swim School: Instruction and Camps
The Harker Swim School offers all levels of private, semi-private and group lessons for ages three to adult at Harker’s beautiful new Singh Aquatic Center on the upper school campus. Also offered this summer are a variety of aquatic camps: Aquatic Fitness Camp (Gr. 4-8); Water Polo Camp (Gr. 6-12), taught by Harker’s water polo coach Ted Ujifusa (who will also provide swim instruction during the K-Gr. 8 camp); and Competitive Swim Camp (ages 11-18), led by Harker swim coach Bart Wells. “These programs are a great way for Harker kids to get additional instruction and build relationships with varsity coaches here at Harker,” added Espinosa.
Soccer: Harker Soccer Clinic and Just4Kicks
Harker Summer Soccer Clinics offer soccer players two options to learn techniques, improve skills and have fun while learning from some of the best coaches in the Bay Area. The Harker Summer Soccer Clinic, for students aged 10-16, is led by coach Shaun Tsakiris.
Players are grouped based on a combination of age, playing ability and gender with a different age-appropriate skill targeted each day. They also receive individual player evaluations. This camp offers kids a great chance to work out with and learn from our own varsity coach. Plus, surprise visits by professional athletes and prominent players will also be a part of each week.
Coach Tsakiris has appeared in four consecutive NCAA tournaments, won a national championship in 1997 and earned UCLA’s MVP award in 2000. He played professionally for the Rochester Rhinos in the USL from 2002-06, currently works with top club programs and is Harker’s varsity soccer coach.
The Just4Kicks half- or full-day programs are for younger players aged 5-12 who are grouped by age: K-Gr. 1, Gr. 2-3, Gr. 4-6. Instruction and activities are based on age and ability level, and players who stay until 4 p.m. will enjoy additional soccer-related activities as well as a swim period each day. Coach Tom Vischer, Just4Kicks founder, has been coaching youth soccer players for the past 15 years, ranging in age from 2 1/2 to 18, and has been a coach or trainer at the select club level with numerous teams.
Tennis: Camps and Instruction
Harker partners with Oakwood Tennis Center to provide quality facilities for our tennis programs. Oakwood Tennis Center is on Saratoga Avenue just minutes from our Saratoga campus, and is equipped with five beautiful and well-maintained courts. Run by Craig Pasqua, Harker varsity tennis coach and director of Harker tennis programs, Harker’s Summer Tennis Camp is open to kids aged 6-18.
The camp provides quality instruction from professional coaches for all skill levels in two summer programs. Both include on-court technique instruction with a ball machine, video self-analysis with the instructor and tactical strategy. Tennis Camp for students aged 7-14 is designed for players wishing to improve their tennis knowledge and skill base.
The Harker Oakwood Tennis Training System, for those aged 6-18, offers four- to seven-week sessions for competitive tennis players who want to combine team practice with weekly interclub matches. Players under 19 desiring to compete will learn advanced technical strokes, footwork and sports psychology.
Harker has been providing quality summer programs for over 50 years, and our programs – and facilities – have grown and evolved over the years to meet the needs of our families and the greater community. We’re proud of the reputation we’ve earned for highly-qualified and well-trained staff; outstanding programming; and a very safe and nurturing environment for all. Plan to spend your summer @ Harker!
For more details and to register, visit http:// summer.harker.org or click on the summer ad on the Harker home page! You can also e-mail summerinfo@harker.org or call 408.553.0537.
Instead of kicking back their feet and embracing the week-long idleness that is spring break, a group of middle school students dedicated their time to social justice and organized a Peace2Peace garage sale at Blackford on March 17.
Honoring Liza’s Home in Bangalore, India, Peace2Peace students placed bins around the school and collected lightly-used goods to sell. Liza’s Home houses orphan girls with mental and physical disabilities, and runs solely on donations and money from these young girls’ handmade crafts. The proceeds from the garage sale will go directly to providing these young women with more food and resources.
The fifth annual Harker Research Symposium filled the Nichols Center on the Saratoga Campus on Saturday, April 10. Entitled “Technology for Life”, the event provided a venue for students in grades 6-12 to showcase their year-long research projects. Equally important was the opportunity to share ideas with other students, hear from alumni doing research in a variety of fields, interface with keynote speakers, and discuss practical applications and careers with sponsors.
The day featured breakout sessions where students presented projects ranging from a novel method of typing human blood to understanding the English language through probabilistic modeling. Students who prepared poster presentations were available throughout the day to discuss their exhibits.
The symposium welcomed alumni presenters Jennifer Ong ’07, plus Richard Kwant ’07 and Brian Ma ‘08 via video conference. Currently a junior at the University of California, San Diego, Ong is the new Chief Operations Officer for The Triple Helix, a non-profit whose publications feature writings of undergraduate students worldwide.
Kwant is a junior at Harvard where his work involves the crystallization of proteins to better understand their structure and mechanisms. A bioengineering major at the California Institute of Technology, Ma’s interest in regeneration and cloning led to a summer research project which he presented at the symposium.
Keynote speakers included Dr. William McClure and Dr. Christopher Gilbert. Dr. McClure is a partner in Napa Valley Plastic Surgery, Inc., and a recognized expert in cosmetic surgery and noted humanitarian for his work with children.
Dr. Gilbert is Vice President of Science and Technology at Keystone Dental, Inc. A graduate in materials science from University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Gilbert has melded science and business, holding positions in mergers and acquisitions, consulting, and research.
Corporate sponsors were Covidien Surgical, East Bay Cardiovascular and Thoracic Asssociates, Dr. Ray Engstrom, Ethicon, Hunter Labs, Medtronic Cardiovascular, The Triple Helix, and HSBC.
The Harker Summer Forensics Institute, which begins Aug. 2 and runs through Aug. 13, offers students in grades 9-12 the opportunity to prepare for the 2010-2011 tournament season under the tutelage of top debate instructors. Students will learn important aspects of competitive debate in small lab sessions, where they learn about different debate events and research their topics.
The institute will focus on three types of debate events. Public forum debate, modeled after the CNN show “Crossfire,” focuses on current events and employs public persuasion as well as the ability to support an argument with evidence. The Lincoln-Douglas debate features individual students debating on ethics and values issues, while policy debate features teams of two students debating each other on political action in the United States.
New to this year’s Forensics Institute is the Forensics Experience, a course that is separated into two weeks, one focusing on student congressional debate and another on individual speech events.
Congressional debate will have students acting as members of the United States Congress as they debate on passing pieces of legislation. The individual speech events portion will allow students to learn more about individual events, making it ideal for students interested in learning more about competitive speech or simply learning basic public speech skills.
Instructors at the Forensics Institute will include Harker debate teacher Carol Green, who directs public forum debate and whose students have won competitions at the Victory Briefs International, the James Logan Invitational, the Public Forum Challenge and the Laird Lewis Invitation in 2010, and the Tournament of Champions in 2009.
Jonathan Peele, another Harker debate teacher, coached seven students to individual state championships, while 34 qualified for the National Forensic League national championship tournament. In 2005, his team at East Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina was named one of just 16 National Schools of Excellence in Debate.
Natalie Sintek’s numerous achievements include being named the 2004 National Catholic Forensic League national dramatic performance champion, the 2004 NFL national champion in humorous interpretation and earning eight world championships as a member of the Western Kentucky University forensics team.
Sean Mumper, currently an AP government teacher at Presentation High School, has coached teams to late rounds of every national debate tournament in the US. His successes as a competitor include local and national successes in policy debate, an appearance in the final round of the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence and being on the top-ranked college debate team in the country.
Doug Dennis, director of forensics at Mountain View’s Saint Francis High School, has been debating and coaching for nearly 25 years. As a coach, his teams have gone to elimination rounds of every major national policy tournament. In 2001, his team won the NCFL national championship and reached the semifinals in 2000 and 2009.
In an effort to expand its presence on the Harker campus, the Harker Cum Laude Society (CLS) distributed its first issue of Reflections to all Cum Laude students, faculty and administration during the Induction Ceremony held March 24.
The CLS student publication showcases students’ works on a wide range of topics, all selected based on teachers’ recognition of academic excellence, and the first issue was dedicated to Cum Laude member and beloved teacher John Near, who passed away last September. Along with Reflections, CLS also began an inaugural lecture series as part of an initiative to become an active voice for change on campus.
An electronic version of the issue can be found on the CLS Web site.