In one of the most enjoyable opening-of-school events, new parents gathered at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club to meet each other and the administrators who will guide their children’s growth. Hosted for the second year by Sally Anderson, alumni parent and trustee, the event drew over 150 parents of students in all grades.
While enjoying the food, wine and ambiance of the country club, guests were treated to video clips of students’ accomplishments in recent years, including news clips of winners of Intel and J8 awards, top athletes, and classroom and extracurricular activities like Destination Imagination teamwork and Jump Rope 4 Heart activities. Alumna Casey Near ’06 spoke feelingly on what her time at Harker has meant to her, both while at Harker and as a college student.
Harker administrators attending included Chris Nikoloff, head of school, JoeRosenthal, executive director of advancement, Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs and Nan Nielsen, admission director.
Ramya Rangan, Gr. 10, recently earned a bronze medal at the 2009 China Girls Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO), held Aug. 12 – 16 in the city of Xiamen. Rangan was one of seven medalists on the U.S. team, four of whom were from high schools in Silicon Valley. The girls received a warm welcome upon their return home, and were interviewed by both ABC News and KTSF (Chinese).
A total of 51 teams from China, the U.S., Russia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore were present at the Olympiad. The U.S. team comprised finalists in the U.S. Mathematical Olympiad held earlier this year.
Aside from the math competition, an aerobics competition was held to promote togetherness among the CGMO competitors. Rangan and her teammates also did some sightseeing during their stay, going on a shopping excursion in Xiamen and visiting the Ocean Park Hong Kong theme park.
Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, thanked US math teacher Misael Fisico, who coached Rangan and the other Harker math students who competed in the various Olympiads throughout the year. “Your work is very much appreciated,” she said.
Fisico led the team from his native Philippines at the CGMO. “Despite the fact that I was the leader of the Philippine group, the U.S. team and the Philippine team bonded together on several occasions,” he said.
The Harker English Language Institute (ELI) once again welcomed dozens of overseas students to strengthen their English skills to help prepare them for the nation’s top boarding schools.
The ELI program hosted students from Ukraine, Taiwan, Japan, China and South Korea. Students spent several weeks learning grammar, speech and conversational skills through a series of classes offered at Harker’s Saratoga campus. Two of these students, Dora Liu from Shanghai and Eisuke Tosu from Tokyo, are preparing to enter Stevenson School in Pebble Beach in the fall, as a freshman and sophomore respectively.
Liu enjoyed the program, saying her English was “never better.” Because she seldom speaks English at home, ELI gave her the chance to speak the language conversationally while further building upon her skills.
Tosu, who had been visiting California prior to attending ELI, enjoyed the atmosphere of the Harker campus, calling it a “very good environment to study.” While attending school in Japan, his exposure to the English language was limited outside of everyday English classes.
ELI students study grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension, but also spend much of their time composing different types of essays.
“That helps a lot,” Liu said, as boarding schools often require essays as part of their entrance procedures.
The program also helped immerse students in the language by encouraging them to speak English outside the classroom, thereby strengthening their skills in everyday situations. In addition, the new ELI Conversation Buddy program grouped ELI students with current Harker students so they could discuss various topics.
The students also got to have a little fun. Field trips included the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Zoo and the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose.
It’s the value of the program itself, however, that students will take home with them.
“This program is very helpful, and my first week it was a little bit hard for me,” Tosu said. “I think if I can study hard here, when I go to boarding school it will be very helpful. I’m really making an effort now.”
San Francisco Bay Guardian – Aug. 14, 2009 Enid Davis, library director, K – Gr. 12, was featured in the Street Threads: Look of the Day photo feature, taken while she was on Union Street in San Francisco.
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. Today's Look: Enid the Librarian, Fillmore and Union
Tokyo U.S. Embassy Blog – Aug. 13, 2009 – Tokyo Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission James P. Zumwalt wrote a blog entry about Japan Bowl winners Roslyn Li, Sara Wang, both Gr. 12, and Kevin Wang ’09. An error in the blog states that Wang will be attending Princeton in the fall. Wang will in fact be going to Dartmouth.
Los Altos Town Crier/losaltosonline.com – Aug. 12, 2009 Arjun Chandra, Gr. 12, was featured in this article for his work this summer at UC Davis as one of 40 students statewide participating in the UC Davis Young Scholars Program.
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal – May 15, 2009 Valley Life noted the Harker Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) won top honors at the national competition, bringing home $5,000 and a trophy. See the full story at Harker News Online.
San Jose Mercury News – May 1, 2009 Harker Japanese students were mentioned as the winners of the National Japan Bowl. Harker swept all three top positions and the top team traveled to Japan as part of their award (see full article in Harker News, May, 2009, page 1, read about the trip in Harker News Online)
NAIS.org – May 2009 The Ogre Awards were written about by founder Enid Davis, library director, K – Gr. 12, and the article was published on the National Assocation of Independent Schools’ Web site with an update.
Image Magazine – May 2009 The annual fashion show was featured in a full-page article showing many photos of students and parents.
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal – March 27, 2009 The Valley Life section has a front page feature with three great photos featuring Harker students, volunteers, faculty and staff at the annual Harker fashion show, titled Freeze Frame.
This year, English Language Institute (ELI) students had the opportunity to bolster their conversation skills by enrolling in the Conversation Buddy program. Running from mid-July until early August, the Conversation Buddy course had Harker Upper School students facilitate small group discussions with the ELI students about various topics, including personal beliefs, moral quandaries and cultural differences.
“It is my hope that these discussions will help the ELI students find a belief they feel strongly about that they can then write about,” said Jennifer Abraham, global education director, who led the program from July 20 until its conclusion.
One Harker student helper, Sean Morgan, Gr. 12, said the program offered the opportunity for him to spend part of the summer doing something that helped others. “I thought it would be good to try to use my knowledge of the language to help people learn English,” he said. “The students are eager to learn.”
Fellow senior Mark Roh enjoyed the chance to meet some students from different cultures, calling the Conversation Buddy program “a good opportunity to meet some international students and help them learn English.”
Student helpers also found it interesting to hear about the ELI students’ perspectives on cultural differences. “I was interested in the different styles of teaching between Asia and here,” Morgan said. One student he spoke with noted that it was considered rude to ask someone lots of questions in the student’s home country, which had an effect on how students were taught.
Abraham said that in addition to helping students build their skills in using everyday English, the Conversation Buddy program can also provide a break from the rigorous academic environment of the ELI program, due to its emphasis on learning to speak naturally and comfortably.
“I think after a long day of really intense studying, it’s just nice to take a deep breath and relax a little bit,” she said.
This summer, several Harker teachers headed back to campus to participate in Harker’s Tech Grant program, which helps teachers learn new skills that will help them be more effective and well-rounded in the classroom.
Each project has the teachers learn or utilize a piece of technology that will bring a new dimension to their teaching methods. Gr. 1 language arts teacher Cindy Proctor, for example, developed a method for course management using software called OpenClassroom. “I used OpenClassroom to create interactive forums and online assignments for Language Arts and Social Studies,” Proctor said. “While in the past there was not a system that was simple or safe enough to implement, OpenClassroom will give my young students new access to a wide range of activities and information in a safe, legal manner.”
OpenClassroom allows Proctor to provide links to materials such as PowerPoint presentations, online videos and educational games. “OpenClassroom allows me to make several resources available to my students that they can access independently,” she said. “I’ll also be able to assess my students’ understanding of the material through the use of online forums, quizzes and assignments.”
Gr. 5 math teacher Pat Walsh created an area on Athena, Harker’s online learning management system, that contains a series of Web links that teachers may find especially useful. “All of the other teachers will also be able to post new links that they have found to be successful,” Walsh said. “Having them all posted on one site will make it easy for teachers to find and use the appropriate resource. “
In addition, Walsh created another page where students can post relevant educational links and have their classmates evaluate them.
MS science teacher Scott Kley-Contini became more familiar with the eBeam tool, which allows teachers to create interactive whiteboard presentations using a stylus and a projector. “The eBeam is a wonderful tool for giving PowerPoint presentations, which was my original use of the tool, however it is capable of so much more,” he said. “I wanted to create lessons where students could come to the board and interact with material.”
Kley-Contini practiced with the eBeam tool by making lessons that he will put to use in the 2009-10 school year. He also created a series of eBeam tutorial videos with help from MS Spanish teacher Julie Pinzás and Angela Neff,assistant director of instructional technology. With these, he plans to conduct eBeam training sessions for the MS science department.
MS English teacher Stacie Newman learned how to use an LCD projector for classroom demonstrations on how to edit papers and search the Internet. She also sought to increase her skills in using Athena, so that more of her course materials such as handouts, instructions and marked up drafts can be accessed by students online.
Bernie Morrissey, MS librarian, also put his time into learning more about Athena, setting out to learn more of Athena’s advanced features, “such as quizzes, questionnaires and sound recording,” he said. “Teachers often come to the other librarians and me when they have a question about Athena. Instead of having to direct them to their campus instructional technologist, I can show them the basics of some of these underutilized parts of Athena.”
In addition, Morrissey also created demonstrations of the Noodlebib note-taking software using a free program called Jing, which allows users to record the onscreen action as they use their computers. Teachers will be able to refer back to these “screencasts,” as they are called, after the initial demonstration.
Meanwhile, on the Saratoga campus, US science department chair Anita Chetty and journalism advisor Chris Daren collaborated to combine their resources into a new workbook for Chetty’s anatomy and physiology class. The class was designed to be similar to a college-level course, and the students keep the completed workbook at the end of the class to use when applying to medical schools.
Over the summer, Chetty familiarized herself with Adobe InDesign and photography concepts, and created templates for the new workbook. She also worked with Daren to engage student photographers and designers, whose work will be used to create the new workbook. For example, contributions from photographers will be used to create an image bank that will contain photos featuring student athletes and performing artists. Chetty’s students will then label the muscles being used in the stills.
These and several other Tech Grant projects will help bolster the teachers’ skill sets for the coming school year. Running for nearly 10 years, the Tech Grant program has proven to be both effective and well-liked by teachers. “It is certainly well-documented how this is a great school for students, but the Tech Grant program also reflects upon the vision Harker has to make this an amazing environment in which to work as well,” said US math teacher Troy Thiele, whose Tech Grant project involved making videos of his lectures that students could refer to in the future. “I could not thank Harker enough for continuing to offer this program. It is very much appreciated!”
In addition to the fashion show, which began in 2004, Harker has had a number of different fundraising events through the decades.
In the 1970s, along with the annual family picnic, the Harker Father’s and Mother’s Clubs sponsored spaghetti dinners, holiday dances, boutiques and candy and bake sales to support the costs of building the sports and recreation center. The spaghetti dinners were completely prepared and served by parents, organized by Marty and Dorothy Scarpace, parents of Marty ’76 and Kristin Giammona ’81, and Earl and Margarita Parsons, parents of Jon ’76. The evening included a raffle with prizes such as a 10-speed bike, a Sony battery-operated TV and signed footballs and basketballs. Live entertainment was provided by then dean of students Dan Gelineau on accordion and former boarding director Jeff Haugaard on banjo. Through the combined efforts of Harker parents, these fundraising projects helped provide students with a first-class facility.
The Harker Academy’s Gala Spring Auction began in April 1984 with elaborate, fun items and adventures that were put up for bid by an auctioneer. Prizes included the opportunity to ride shotgun with the county sheriff for a day, a ride in a 1949 Dodge Coronet Coupe, a private plane ride to The Nut Tree in Vacaville for lunch and a 1986 49’ers football signed by Joe Montana and Bill Walsh. These were just some of the creative items offered during the 1980s at the Harker Academy auctions. With themes like New York, New York (1986) and Jukebox Saturday Night (1987), the staff who worked the events usually dressed for the theme of the evening, and these events brought the entire Harker community together for the cause.
Current picnic coordinator and board member Lynette Stapleton was a parent at Harker when the first Gala Spring Auction was held in 1984. Tony and Becky Morici, parents of David Hare ’82, Tony ’89 and Alexia ’90, made Italian food, and the Harker staff were waiters in the gym. Stapleton laughed, “I remember the Morici kitchen lined with over a dozen pans of pasta.” The Parent Guild assembled hundreds of items, and each classroom made homeroom packages that were themed for both a silent and live auction. “Each year the gala became grander until it finally moved off campus in 1986,” said Kelly Espinosa, summer programs director.
The annual auctions were part of a long tradition of having fun and raising money for the school. Proceeds went to a specific project each year. They included the scholarship fund in 1984, the fine arts program in 1986 and the computer science facility in 1987 and 1988. The auctions were sometimes held as a stand-alone event or coupled with a wine tasting, as in 1985, and they eventually became an important part of the annual family picnic celebrations in 1989.
In 2004, Harker introduced the fashion show as its main fundraiser, featuring students, faculty and staff as its models and incorporating an auction into its festivities. Each year the event features a different theme.
The Harker Family and Alumni Picnic is a tradition stretching back nearly 60 years. Today, it is one of the most popular events for Harker families and other members of the community.
• 1950s
The family picnic began in the 1950s when Palo Alto Military Academy held the annual family picnic in October at the end of the first full month of school. The Father’s Club sponsored the event, and proceeds funded the cost of monthly awards and trophies. Fried chicken was the traditional fare in the early days, and the picnic included a father-son softball game, the mothers’ 50-yard dash, an egg toss and a tug-of-war. The bike drills were a memorable part of the picnic, as each cadet decorated his bicycle for the event.
During this time, Miss Harker’s School had a May Festival and French Fete. The girls performed French songs, danced the Virginia Reel, and participated in a baton-twirling exhibition, followed by an “aquacade” performed in the school swimming pool.
• 1960s – 1970s
In the ’60s the tradition continued at the PAMA parade grounds, and the 1968 program advertises the $2.50 admission fee, adding, “Children under 5 and over 80 will be admitted free!” In the 1970s, the two schools merged and moved to San Jose as Harker Academy. The Father’s Club still planned the event, and in 1975 the picnic proceeds provided a major source of funding for the new swimming pool, which was completed in 1976. The raffle began in 1978, with a family donating a trip to Hawaii for two.
• 1980s
The 1980s brought the picnic to new heights, with rides and live entertainment, and it became the primary fundraiser for the school. During the ’80s, the picnic also began the tradition of having a new theme each year. The picnic featured a circus theme in 1985, a bicentennial theme in 1987, and a harvest theme in both 1988 and 1989.
• 1990s
As the school became The Harker School in the 1990s, the picnic changed as well. The now-famous Grand Auction from the annual black-tie dinner was combined with the picnic, and a silent auction was added. In 1997 and ’98, the picnic took place in the spring instead of the usual fall. Themes included Blast from the Past, The Beach Party and Starship Harker.
• 2000s
Harker’s expansion continued with the addition of two more campuses, and the picnic followed suit. In 2001, Harker celebrated the picnic’s 50th anniversary by donating all the proceeds from the event to the Harker Teacher’s Fund, which helped them offset the rising high cost of Bay Area housing. The 2006 “Picnic Down Under” allowed visitors to pet both a kangaroo and an alligator. A big change for the picnic came in 2007 when the event location changed from the Saratoga Avenue campus to Harker’s new middle school campus on Blackford Avenue, largely to accommodate the capital expansion project underway on the upper school campus. Appropriately themed “Blackford or Bust!” the wagon-wheeled, way out west theme – and the new, spacious location – was a huge hit, and it has remained on that campus ever since.
Staff members of the Talon and Winged Post visited New York City in late June and early July to attend a summer journalism camp by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Accompanied by US journalism advisor and activities director Chris Daren, the students got to take in the many sights and sounds of the City That Never Sleeps, including Central Park, Coney Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Harker journalists also did very well at the camp, winning several awards. The Talon staff earned the top honor in the Achievement in Theme category, while level one and level two layout awards were given to Isha Kawatra, Gr. 10 and Brianna Tran, Gr. 11, respectively. Design awards were received by junior Dawn Queen for Outstanding Headline Package and by the team of Queen and fellow junior Monisha Appalaraju for Outstanding Secondary Module (for example, a sidebar).
In Newspaper Awards, Shreya Nathan, Gr. 11, won for Best Personality Profile, Malika Mehrotra, Gr. 11, for Best Section Design and Mahum Jamal, Gr. 12, for Top All-Around Journalist.
Other highlights of the trip included an interview with Scott Harrison of charity:water, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, attending a production of “Billy Elliot” on Broadway and catching an advance screening of the new CBS show “The Good Wife,” after which the group spotted the show’s star, Julianna Margulies, two rows ahead of them at a production of “Mary Stuart”! Not to mention enjoying the many storied food establishments located throughout the city.
In all, a trip that was just as rewarding academically as it was recreationally!
Recent grads D.J. Blickenstaff, Emma Blickenstaff and Cailin Mackenzie, all ’09, along with Clara Blickenstaff, a rising junior, and Noel Witcosky, a rising sophomore, performed July 24-Aug. 2 in the San Jose Children’s Musical Theater production of “Tommy,” the classic rock opera by The Who. The production received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Harker’s 2009-10 MS drama teacher, Kikau Alvaro, a member of the artistic staff of SJCMT, choreographed an electrifying show.
