Harker’s online news site, which originally launched in May 2009, has been redesigned to better meet the needs and interests of our readers.
Upgrades include: expanded and redesigned features area; stories by division section; upcoming events box; Harker History section, and a “print story” function.
Using the WordPress publishing platform, Harker’s online news site replaced the monthly print version of The Harker News as of the 2009-10 school year in Harker’s ongoing commitment to green initiatives.
For more information about Harker News Online, contact news@harker.org.
On Jan. 29, Gr. 3 social studies teacher Heidi Gough held Dress for History Day for her students, in which everyone (teachers included, such as Gr. 3 English and study skills teacher Elise Schwartz, pictured) dressed up in outfits representing various peoples from bygone eras. Cowboys, cowgirls, gold miners, Native Americans and more familiar figures from California history were represented in the wide variety of costumes that students wore throughout the day.
Latin student Helena Huang, Gr. 8, was announced the winner of last year’s Ancient Coins for Education (ACE) fall essay contest. Every year Gr. 8 Latin students participate in the ACE program, the goal of which is to encourage learning about the classical world through the use of primary sources. This is achieved not only by providing ancient coins for the students to identify but through essay contests held throughout the year. Huang wrote her essay on the Roman emperor Gallienus, and she noted she is fascinated by “the historical [and] cultural information you can obtain from the designs and inscriptions on each side [of the coins].” As recognition for her achievement, Huang recently received both a coin and a certificate.
The Gr. 5 show on Jan. 28-29 presented what many people would consider a nightmare scenario: a world without iPods, laptops, video games or cell phones. In the play, titled “A Kid’s Life,” an electromagnetic attack from space renders everyday technological conveniences unusable. Without the gadgets they once took for granted, the kids must learn how to unlock the power of their imaginations to have fun, in the process learning important lessons about each other, themselves and life in general.
Directed by lower school music teacher Jennifer Cowgill, the production featured the entire Gr. 5 class, with multiple actors often playing the same role. Lower school faculty and staff – including Joe Connolly, dean of students K-Gr. 5, Pat Walsh, Gr. 5 math teacher and Kristin Giammona, Gr. 4-5 division head – made special guest appearances to the delight of those in attendance.
Lower school performing arts teacher Danny Dunn acted as technical director and sound engineer, and her Gr. 5 technical theater students served as the crew during the play. Dunn’s middle school tech club created the elaborate stage props used in the production. Dunn’s husband, Beric, provided sound effects. Other assistance was provided by helpers Caela Fujii, who acted as board operator, Whitney McLelland, a long-time helper who has designed the scenery for many Gr. 5, kindergarten and holiday shows, Marylin Watts, who has designed costumes for Bucknall shows for several years, and Carol Clever, technical theater assistant for Bucknall shows who acted as stage manager during the play.
Prior to the MLK break, middle school students were invited to post their feelings regarding Martin Luther King, Jr. online. The prompt, “Martin Luther King inspires me to …” garnered over three dozen posts. Students’ advisors encouraged them to post, and they could add their names or do so anonymously. The majority of the responses center on the ideals of hard work, determination and equal rights, all of which were central to King’s teachings. The wall can be viewed online at www.wallwisher.com/wall/harker.
Katherine Paseman, Gr. 8, has been selected as a member of this year’s Organization of American Kodaly Educators’ (OAKE) National Youth Choir. The OAKE National Youth Choir is one of three honor choirs that perform at the annual OAKE national conference. This year’s conference will be held in Dallas, Texas, in March. Those selected must audition via a recording, then a selection committee from OAKE goes through recordings from throughout the nation and selects about 150 members for this special ensemble. Paseman is the only middle school student selected from Crystal Choir to attend this Honor Youth Choir.
For the second year in a row, The Harker School will be co-hosting the annual Silicon Valley Computer-Using Educators (SVCUE) Technology Conference. Taking place Feb. 27 on the Saratoga campus, this year’s conference, “Teach Through Technology,” focuses on integrating technology into curricula with workshops on podcasts, photos, fair use, spreadsheets and Google applications. The conference is open to all educators. Those wishing to attend can register online or pay at the door. Registration deadline is Fri., Feb. 19.
Lower school students were recently given the opportunity to participate in the 2010 National Geographic Bee. Over 40 fourth and fifth graders volunteered and competed during their lunch hours in early January. Ten students were selected for the championship round later in the week with Nikhil Manglik, Gr. 5, edging out classmate Venkat Sankar in the championship. Manglik, the winner last year as well, will take a further test at Harker, which will be submitted to National Geographic for a chance to compete at the state level.
The Mayer daughters, Pumpkin, Gr. 3 and Callie, K, and Nicole Arena, also K, had a chance to dine with Joe Connolly, dean of students, as part of the annual picnic’s “Lunch with Mr. Connolly” package. The Brezoczky family was the second family who won a lunch with Connolly, and Kate, K; Charlotte, Gr. 2; and Emma, Gr. 4, had lunch with him in November.
In addition, lower school mathematics teacher Diane Plauck’s “Holiday Baking and Card Making Picnic Package” won by Jessica Susai, Gr. 4, took place in mid-December. Susai invited three classmates – Aria Coalson, Maya Kumar and Rukhsaar Lakhani – to spend the afternoon at Plauck’s home decorating gingerbread and sugar cookies and designing holiday cards for their families. While carols played, the girls let their creative juices flow and everyone went home with plates of goodies and bellies full of sweets. “What better way to kick off the holiday vacation than with the sweet smell of cookies baking and the sound of children laughing?” said Plauck.
A team of 13 Harker students, advised by upper school math teacher Anthony Silk, were among the top 20 teams in the National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC), organized by the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).
The team’s project was called the Cellular Attachable Rotating Earpiece (CARE), a device that attaches to an electric wheelchair, allowing amputees to speak on their cell phones normally instead of having to speak loudly or yell. A prototype of CARE was tested with Donna Yeager, a good friend of upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss. Yeager visited the Saratoga campus in December to test the device, which is conveniently located on the headrest and includes an earpiece and microphone.
Yeager brought three of the students along with Moss onto the set of her cable access show “On The Move” to discuss their project and the process of its design and implementation. During the competition, the students produced a video detailing the design and construction of the device.