Announcement: Graduation Ceremony Time Change
To all planning to attend the Gr. 12 graduation ceremony on May 22, please be aware that the time has changed from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. This event is not open to the public.
Tags: Featured StorySchool Record Broken in Golf; Tennis Starts Strong
Spring sports are ramping up and we’re already seeing great developments!
Boys Golf
The team opened the season with a 216-223 victory March 8 against Pinewood. Ram Seeni, Gr. 11, led the way with a 40 and Maverick McNealy, Gr. 9, had 41, while seniors Yash Khandwala, Jeremy Whang, James Feng and Vinay Kumar scored 43, 45, 47 and 47, respectively. On March 9 the boys lost to a tough Sacred Heart squad 200-190 as McNealy shot a 36. McNealy continued his success March 15 when he shot the all-time Harker best score of 3-under par, 33, against Menlo. The team also nearly beat heavily favored Menlo, losing 194-195. In addition to McNealy, low scores were shot by Kyle Roter, Gr. 9, with a 37, Feng with 39, Khandwala with 40 and Whang with 44.
Boys Tennis
Boys tennis opened the season strongly, making history March 4 by defeating perennial state power Sacred Heart Prep for the first time! The singles lineup of Karthik Dhore, Gr. 11, Adarsh Ranganathan, Gr. 11 and Derek Tzeng, Gr. 10, all won at the top three spots. Ranganathan won an emotionally draining match 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 over an excellent ball striker. The #2 doubles team of Nikhil Parthasarathy, Gr. 11 and Justin Yang, Gr. 9, won in three sets. Akum Gill, Gr. 12 and Revanth Kosaraju, Gr. 10, teamed together and captured #3 doubles in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. The boys also traveled to a tournament in Fresno March 6, where Dhore went 5-0, validating him as one of the top players in California. On March 9, the boys lost to a very strong Menlo School team but rebounded nicely in a 5-2 victory over Priory March 11. At that match, Ranganathan beat the #1 seed 7-5, 6-1; Chris Chang, Gr. 9, at #2 singles was successful by a score of 4-6, 6-1 (10-5). Number three seed Parthasarathy won in straight sets, 7-6 (0), 6-3. The doubles team of Tim Weng, Gr. 11 and Sachin Jain, Gr. 10, won 7-5, 6-1 at #1; #3 doubles, Nikhil Panu, Gr. 9, and Simar Mangat, Gr. 9, won 7-5, 6-2. The #2 doubles team of Gill and Kosaraju lost 5-7, 2-6. On March 16, both JV and varsity tennis defeated King’s Academy. Varsity is now 5-1 and JV is 4-1.
Baseball
The boys almost pulled one out at Willow Glen March 6 but lost 4-3. Greg Plauck, Gr. 12, pitched five innings, striking out 10 batters. Stefan Eckhardt, Gr. 12, pitched five strong innings to earn the 7-4 victory over Fremont High March 11. Kevin Cali, Gr. 12, had two hits and Noah Levy, Gr. 10, had two RBI. The team lost a close one to Dougherty Valley 2-1 on March 13. Plauck pitched seven innings and struck out six batters, while Eckhardt had a hit and an RBI. The boys are now 3-4-1.
Girls Lacrosse
Girls lacrosse played their best game ever March 5, even though they lost 8-3 against a tough Pioneer High squad. Michelle Douglas, Gr. 9, scored two goals and Kelly Chen, Gr. 12, scored one. The girls also lost to St. Francis March 10 as goals were scored by Julia Shim, Gr. 12 and Douglas. They lost to Santa Catalina 2-15 on March 11 with goals by Douglas and Chen. The girls lost to Saratoga and Castilleja this week but are showing tremendous improvement. Monisha Appalaraju, Gr. 11, scored eight goals in the two games.
Softball
Softball lost on March 4 to Monte Vista Christian. Ashley Del Alto, Gr. 9, had two hits, including a double. The girls also lost 11-2 to Sacred Heart Cathedral on March 9. Tracey Chan, Gr. 11, had two hits and Sarah Teplitsky, Gr. 12, recorded her first hit and RBI. On March 11, despite a seventh inning rally started by Zaynah Sadiq, Gr. 12, they lost a close game to Harbor 8-6. Alison Rugar, Gr. 9, scored three runs while Del Alto had two hits with a double and pitched five strikeouts. Softball earned their first victory of the season on March 16 by defeating Liberty Baptist 12-8. Rugar pitched 21 strikeouts and scored three runs. Arthi Padmanabhan, Gr. 12, went 2-4 and had three RBI; Del Alto had two RBI, Aileen Wen, Gr. 11, went 2-4, and Kacie Kaneyuki, Gr. 12, had her first hit of the year. The game was tied in the final inning until Harker scored four runs to win.
Volleyball
The boys volleyball team won the Aptos High Tournament March 6, going 6-0 and defeating Archbishop Mitty 28-26, 13-25, 15-13 in the finals. Setter Eugene Huang, Gr. 12, was named MVP of the tournament. On March 11 they defeated Leland in their home opener 3-1, where Jacob Chappell, Gr. 11, had 14 kills. March 12 they beat Valley Christian 3-1 with Chad Gordon, Gr. 12, tallying 17 kills, and on March 13 the boys hosted the fifth annual 12-team Harker Tournament, where they placed second, losing in the finals 25-21, 25-23 to a strong Branham High School team. Gordon and Huang were named all-tournament. The boys are now 11-1.
Swimming
Our girls swim team opened their season March 4 at Notre Dame, where the varsity team won 112-58. JV was also victorious 101-68. In addition to the three relay wins, Katie Siegel, Gr. 10 and Jessica Khojasteh, Gr. 11, each won two individual events (both in CCS qualifying times). Tina Ma, Gr. 12, Lucy Cheng, Gr. 10 and Amie Chien, Gr. 9, also won events. Chien won the first high school event she ever swam (50 free).
Track and Field
Track and field had their first meet March 6 at Willow Glen. Girls varsity placed sixth out of 15 teams. Izzy Connell, Gr. 9, placed third in the 100m, fourth in the 200m, and second in both the 400m and 800m. Thomas Enzminger, Gr. 12, placed seventh in the discus and sixth in the shot.
Harker Sabreur, Gr. 8, Takes Silver at National Qualifier
Regina Chen, Gr. 8, took the silver medal in the Youth-14 women’s sabre event at the Super Youth Circuit tournament held at the San Jose Convention Center in late March. The second place finish earned her national points and qualified her to fence in the Summer National Championships in July in the Y14WS bracket.
Chen stands fourth in the adjusted Bay Cup rankings for Y14WS and also fences in Regional Youth Circuit events. She also earned the gold medal in the Central California Division Senior (adult) Women’s Div 2 and 3 Summer National qualifier in late February, earning an E-10 rating. Ratings start at E and climb to A; Chen was previously unrated (U). She is now qualified to fence as a senior in both Division 2 (C-rated and under) and Division 3 (D-rated and under) WS events. Chen trains at Cardinal Fencing Club on the Stanford University campus.
Artists Provide New Pieces for Ongoing Stanford Hospital Display
Students’ storefront dioramas and ikebana flower arrangements are slated to replace other Harker pieces currently on display at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) at Stanford University.
The change will take place in April, said Eric Hoffman, lower school art department chair K-Gr. 5. Two years ago, Hoffman decided students’ work deserved a public showing. He proposed the idea to his students, asking for suggestions on where they could exhibit.
One student suggested a hospital. Hoffman hopped on the idea and contacted LPCH. After months of planning with Susan Gray, administrative project manager at the hospital, and display specialist Ted Cohen, student works premiered in spring 2009. Sculptural pieces were placed in the hospital lobby on the second floor while paintings, drawings and prints were shown in the outpatient clinic and waiting rooms across the street.
The exhibits change at least once a year, so Gray and Cohen recently visited the Bucknall campus to select the dioramas and ikebana flower arrangements to be displayed at the main children’s hospital. They will be on the second floor. The replacement pieces, made by fourth and fifth graders, are currently on display at the Bucknall campus.
“For our students, this validates their art skills and efforts and gives them a sense of purpose knowing that their artwork made somebody else’s life a little brighter,” Hoffman said.
Tags: Outreach, topfineartsAcademic Integrity Expert Meets with Honor Council
Dr. Paul Melendez, director of the ethics program at the University of Arizona, made a special trip to the upper school on March 15 to meet with several students and chat with members of the Honor Council.
While meeting with the Honor Council, Melendez learned just how much academic integrity matters to the student body. “He was definitely surprised that students were so involved with both the disciplinary and integrity-promoting aspects of the process,” said Honor Council member Olivia Zhu, Gr. 11.
The Honor Council used this unique opportunity to seek advice on accomplishing its goals. “He really suggested making honor and integrity a bigger part of daily life and raising it in the students’ awareness, which is exactly what the Honor Council hopes to do,” Zhu said.
During his visit, Melendez also met with the Honor Board to examine their approach to academic honesty, and spoke to the faculty before returning to Arizona.
“I thought his visit was a huge success, as he left us with a lot to think about and really a big pat on the back for the Honor Council’s and Honor Board’s vision,” said Butch Keller, upper school division head.
Tags: Featured StoryIn the News, March 2010
Members of the Harker community often appear and make headlines in local, national and international news stories. This article will be updated throughout the month as new entries come in, so be sure to check back!
The Wall Street Journal, March 20: New York Times op-ed writer Thomas L Friedman mentioned Harker’s Intel Science Talent Search finalist Namrata Anand, Gr. 12, in his March 20 column after attending the Intel awards dinner. Read the full story.
San Jose Mercury News, March 17: Anand is mentioned in another story about Bay Area students who also performed well in the Intel Science Talent Search.
San Jose Mercury News, March 6: Upper school art teacher Pilar Aguero-Esparza’s monotype “Twins” is displayed in an article about the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art’s 2010 Monotype Marathon, which will be on display until March 27. More details are available at www.sjica.org.
Tags: In the NewsHarker Intel Finalist Mentioned in N.Y. Times Column
New York Times op-ed writer Thomas L. Friedman mentioned Harker’s Intel Talent Search finalist Namrata Anand, Gr. 12, in his March 20 column after attending the Intel awards dinner. In his column, he listed all of the 40 Intel finalists and spoke specifically on his discussion with Anand:
“Before the dinner started, each contestant stood by a storyboard explaining their specific project. Namrata Anand, a 17-year-old from The Harker School in California, patiently explained to me her research, which used spectral analysis and other data to expose information about the chemical enrichment history of ‘Andromeda Galaxy.’ I did not understand a word she said, but I sure caught the gleam in her eye.” The column also ran in the San Jose Mercury News.
Tags: In the News, topscienceBounce House and More Make Picnic Sleepover a Rousing Success
Bounce houses, glow-stick tag, pizza and movies! More than 100 students, K-Gr. 5, participated in the family picnic sleepover, a longstanding Harker tradition. Held on a rainy night in the Bucknall gym and library in mid-March, the event drew energetic kids who had signed up at the Harker Family and Alumni Picnic last fall.
The evening, modeled after the summer camp sleepovers, began with pizza, fruit, veggies and soda served by Kelly Espinosa, director of summer programs, and Sarah Leonard, primary division head. After birthday cake provided by the Hirota family for the birthday of Vance, Gr. 2, the students had more fun in the gym.
They got to choose between two bounce houses and summer playtime activities including beach balls, hula hoops, rockets and flying disks. There were also arts and crafts activities in the gym lobby.
This last activity was a favorite of Misha Tseitlin, Gr. 5. A repeat attendee, Tseitlin liked that more of his friends came this year, and that “they actually let us make these wooden animals that we got to take home!”
After games and dancing in the gym, the kids (and adults) played glow-in-the-dark games, wearing glowing bracelets and necklaces. Kindergartners and first graders then went to the library for a movie and sleep, while the older kids stayed in the gym for their movie.
Hot breakfast was served in the morning, along with doughnuts. The food was the favorite part of the event for kindergartner Ainsley Millard. She loved the Tom and Jerry movie and “eating my favorite pizza, cheese pizza,” she said. “And we got to eat ring pops. And I had bacon and eggs and cereal and doughnuts for breakfast.”
Espinosa started the sleepover so that the school-year kids could have a chance to participate in one of the most popular summer camp activities. A good time was had by all, as noted by Justin Culpepper, Gr. 5, who attended for the third year. “Having glow-stick tag in the gym was fun!” he said. He also loved having doughnut holes for breakfast, and proclaimed the whole event “awesome!”
Many teachers, BEST staff and summer staff volunteer to help with the sleepover. Espinosa recognized the time and effort put in to make the event such a success, and appreciates all the volunteers, some of whom have helped every year.
Teachers who volunteered included Diann Chung, Gr. 1 teacher, K-Gr. 2 department chair and summer academic principal; Kelle Sloan, Gr. 1, 2 and 3; Eric Leonard, Gr. 3 English; Joe Chung, Gr. 4- 5 computer science and summer program director; Tobias Wade, Gr. 4- 5 social studies and summer program director; and Keith Hirota, middle school history and social science and summer swim teacher. Gary Mallare, middle school counselor, also assisted.
Helping to organize as well as run the event were Tristan Perks, summer program director, and Vanessa Bullman, K-Gr. 8 yearbook manager and summer program director. BEST staff volunteers included Arwen Lange, assistant BEST director and summer art teacher; Eric Kallbrier, Hillaray Tiopo, Amanda Crook and Tim Callahan.
In addition, some summer staff were on hand, including Kelsey Chung, Gr. 12 Harker student, plus Cai Balara, Mindy Hsiao, Megan Barrie, Stephanie Janac, Jackie Kolbeck and Anirudh Agarwala. Finally, kitchen staffers Carlos Madrigal, Juan Jimenez and Martha Gonzales came in on Saturday morning to cook breakfast.
Student Publication Wins Highest Honors
The Winged Post and the online Web site, talonwp.com, have won a Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) for its excellence in writing, coverage and content. The Crown Award, the highest recognition given annually by the CSPA, recognizes student print or online media for overall excellence and only 11 schools nationwide received Gold Crown awards for their Web sites. In addition, the Winged Post student newspaper received a Silver Crown for its efforts. Journalism teacher and advisor to the two publications, Chris Daren, traveled to New York with a group of students from the publication staffs to receive the awards at Columbia University.
With guidance and support from Daren, journalism students in both yearbook and newspaper have had opportunities to cover not only schoolwide events, but also interview celebrities and attend performance premieres. In early January, reporters talked to actor Harrison Ford, Senator Diane Feinstein, Mayor Gavin Newsom and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi at the San Francisco premiere of “Extraordinary Measures,” and Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as they promoted their new movie, “Dear John.” In February, the Winged Post spent an afternoon with the cast of “Ovo,” the new Cirque de Soleil touring show, and reviewed the group’s San Jose premiere the following day.
Both Talon and the Winged Post have received a number of silver and gold medal awards from CSPA’s annual critique. Additionally, the Winged Post received the National Scholastic Press Associations Pacemaker award for excellence in 2008.
Tags: Featured Story, topacademics, topliteratureLibrary Project Receives $15,000 Grant from U.S. Bank
The new upper school library recently received $15,000 of additional funding thanks to a generous grant by U.S. Bank, which has been a strong supporter of Harker, making several grants in recent years. The Harker community extends its gratitude to U.S. Bank for supporting this landmark project!