It was fun and games galore during the Kiddie Carnival on the Bucknall campus, held on the very last day of school before the students broke for summer. Students played carnival games, rode a slide, enjoyed snow cones and bounced around in an air-filled castle to their heart’s content. Have a great summer!
2009_06 LS Kiddie Carnival – Images by The Harker School
It all started with author/photographer Rick Smolan’s visit as part of the Harker Speaker Series. That visit spurred the founding of the MS Blue Planet Group and culminated with the visit of Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water.
Eighth grade science teacher Lorna Claerbout and many of her students went to hear Smolan speak. “Smolan’s talk opened my eyes to the need for clean water worldwide,” said group member Emily Wang, Gr.8.
Varun Gudapti, Gr. 8, added “he gave me the knowledge to make others aware of the impact of water.” Classmate Sondra Costa suggested the group could raise money to support one of Smolan’s “water heroes,” Scott Harrison, whose charity charity: water uses 100 percent of donations to build wells to get potable water to people in need.
Thus was born the Blue Planet Group. “About 45 people showed up to our first meeting,” said Lori Berenberg, Gr. 8. “Since then, we have focused on getting organized into committees that have their own focus in educating and fundraising to achieve our goal of funding a well,” she said. The group managed to raise $5,000, enough for the building of a new well in Africa, and doubling their original goal of $2,500.
Harrison heard about the Harker effort and offered to visit while on a visit at the end of May to speak at Apple, Google and Twitter. Harrison came first to the MS campus, then to the US campus to address student assemblies.
Just before the assembly began, Harrison tweeted, “about to talk to kids in San Jose about water. I used to hate first period!” After the assemblies he tweeted about “awesome kids at Harker.” In fact, he was so impressed with the original educational posters created by the Blue Planet Group that he took a photo of one and put it on posted a tweet of it, noted Claerbout.
Harrison’s impact was felt immediately and Berenberg posted comments to the club’s forum right after the visit: ”Well, the big day has come and gone. Scott Harrison gave his speech, and personally, I think it was a great success. I know a lot of my friends who weren’t really into it before are now so excited to help and realize that the clean water crisis is a real issue. That is really what we were trying to achieve here and we got it! I’m so proud of everyone because if it weren’t for each and every one of us, he wouldn’t have come and we would be nowhere near where we are today.”
Students have used a variety of efforts to educate and raise funds, including a school meeting presentation, a bake sale, a photo booth, and a water-themed school dance. “We decided it would be great if we could make it water-themed so people … understand what they are donating to if they gave money to the Blue Planet Group,” said Berenberg.
“The middle school students have been passionately working on the issue since Smolan’s presentation, so it was a fantastic way for the students to not only wrap up their current fundraising project, but help them continue their momentum when they start at our upper school next year. A partnership between middle and high school students has been proposed and is the works for next year,” said Claerbout.
In addition to the student club, water is the focus of a number of class projects. Angela Neff, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology at the Middle School and computer science teacher, noted her Population Studies classes have been “focusing their research on the international water crisis all year as a part of our Global 20/20 program sponsored by NAIS,” she said, further noting, “Tim (Culbertson’s) (computer science) classes are doing infectious diseases which are deeply exacerbated by water: too much, too little, or too dirty.”
Finally, Spanish teacher Susan Moling said her Unit 5 in Spanish class is all about conservation. “My students just made some amazing mini-posters about conservation including water, culminating in video public service announcements created in Spanish. I think the cross-curricular application is wonderful and gives the kids a real sense of pride knowing that everyone is working on such a critical issue,” she said.
For next year, Jennifer Abraham, global education director, is working with interested eighth grade teachers on a water project in collaboration with the Bayn Garden School in Saudi Arabia. Locally the focus will be to learn more about our own watershed and water issues here in California.
Tags: Featured Story, Global Education, Outreach, topoutreachGlobal Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) reached unprecedented levels with its efforts during its week-long focus from April 6-10 on United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2, Universal Primary Education. After raising over $14,000 in its fight against poverty in the fall, GEO concentrated its efforts on activism this spring. Over 200 students signed a petition created by GEO supporting Education for All, an act that aims to bolster the U.S.’s involvement in the international effort to provide all children with a quality basic education. A group of students – GEO president David Kastelman, Gr. 12 and members Shefali Netke, Gr. 11, Ariel Fishman, Gr. 11 and Katie Forsberg, Gr. 10 – met with U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren to present her with the petition.
Fishman was inspired by the trip. “I thought she was very friendly and helpful in letting us know what we could do to ensure provisions for worldwide primary education in the Foreign Relations Act,” she said. “Representative Lofgren also loved that we were high school students taking an active interest in a cause and I would encourage other students who are passionate about various issues to meet with her in order to find out what they can do to change things. She made me feel like we, a couple of high school students, really did have the power to change the world.”
“When we asked Representative Lofgren about steps Congress can take to promote universal access to education, she suggested the ongoing task of rewriting America’s Foreign Assistance Act,” said Kastelman. “The act hasn’t been reformed in decades, and it essentially governs America’s international aid, and there has been talk of incorporating the MDG’s into the act,” he explained. “She also said that if we got her another petition on this matter of reforming the Assistance act, she could hand deliver it to Howard Berman, the representative heading efforts to rewrite the act.”
A new petition was promptly constructed and was put up for signing on May 4. Over 100 Harker students had added their signatures before it was presented to Lofgren two weeks later.
Tags: Global Education, Outreach, topgeKeeping with Harker tradition, senior athletes were recognized at the last home games for each sport. Congratulations to all of our senior athletes. For softball, they were Sarah Christiano, Shelby Drabman, Deniz Ilgen, Samantha Lowe, Candace Silva-Martin and Andrea Thomas; cheerleaders were Noel Duan and Samantha Ipser. Senior boys volleyball players were Matthew Gehm and Daniel Tien; baseball players were Barrett Glasauer, David Kastelman, Kevin Laymoun, Taylor Martin, Jeff Mandell, Sean Mandell and Evan Maynard. Lacrosse players were Alyssa Boyle, Jia Jun Chia, Courtney Dellar, Pratusha Erraballi, Michelle Lin, Clara Lyashevsky, Prachi Sharma, and Priya Thumma; Borys Aptekar, Brian Chao and Harry Schwartz were the tennis players. Female swimmers were Kaytee Comee, Dominique Dabija andJenna Glasa; Sabrina Paseman was our diver; the male swimmer was Andrew Chin. Golfers were Sean Doherty, Kyle Hall, Aaron Lin and Paul Paik; track and field females were Carolyn Kuo, Diana Lai, Elena Madan, Susan Wang, Amanda Wong and Christine Yu. Males for track and field were Eugene Dao, Ryan Tam and Kevin Xu. Thank you to all of our seniors for representing our school, and best of luck to you as you move on to college!
Tags: SportsEach spring, campuses hold art shows to give students a venue for the works they have completed throughout the year. In addition, the US campus holds a special show for those in AP art classes. Here are a sampling of the many impressive pieces from the shows for your full color enjoyment!
LS Art Show
2009-04 LS art work – Images by Harker School
MS Art Show
2009-04 MS art show – Images by Harker School
US Art Exhibition reception
2009-04 US art exchibition reception – Images by Harker School
US AP Art Exhibition Reception
2009-04 US AP art show reception – Images by Harker School
Alyssa Donovan, Gr. 12, has her research paper, “Whaling in the International Whaling Commission: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Organization’s Failures,” selected for potential publication in The Concord Review, over the next year. The Review will notify Donovan a month before publication if selected. Donovan wrote the paper for Ramsey Westgate’s International Issues and Public Policy class, and it was presented earlier this spring at the Harker Research Symposium.
The paper deals with Donovan’s perception of the need to transform the IWC’s “bureaucratic and power structure to allow for enforcement of laws, re-evaluate its policy-making strategies to fairly and accurately portray both current scientific data as well as the nation-states affected, and …extend the reach of both its enforcement and political policy to non-state as well as state actors.” Concord Review founder Will Fitzhugh thanked Donovan for what he called a very good paper.
Donovan worked with several faculty members on the piece, including librarians Lauri Vaughan and Sue Smith. Smith noted the acceptance is a historic moment in Harker history and Anita Chetty, science department chair and organizer of the Harker Research Symposium said, “This is an incredible achievement,” and suggested the paper be made available for teaching purposes.
Founded in 1987, The Concord Review is a quarterly academic journal which publishes 10 or 11 papers per issue from around the world. It only publishes about seven percent of submissions and over 10 percent published authors attend Harvard, with many others attending Princeton, Stanford and Oxford
Tags: Featured Story, topacademicsBeautiful weather and a spectacular setting awaited family and friends of the Class of 2009 as they arrived at the newly remodeled Mountain Winery in Saratoga for the upper school’s eighth commencement exercises. Graduation was held on campus last year because of the extensive renovation to the famous music venue, and seniors were eager to be the first class to utilize the beautiful new space.
Music provided by Chris Florio’s chamber orchestra wafted over the amphitheater as guests arrived; then the ensemble played the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance” as the graduating seniors, faculty, administration and Board of Trustees slowly paraded from the Winery’s main building, through the audience and down to their seats, their path lined by Gr. 7 students holding floral garlands. After the 2009 Graduation Chorus sang the “Star-Spangled Banner,” arranged and conducted by Susan Nace, Butch Keller, US head, welcomed the assembly. Vikram Nathan spent his last few moments as a Harker student delivering the valedictory address, and the chorus, this time including seniors who were members of vocal ensembles, returned to sing a poignant version of “You Raise Me Up,” conducted by Catherine Snider.
The keynote address was delivered by attorney Larry W. Sonsini, chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Sonsini gave an overview of the turbulent and boom times of Silicon Valley, and urged the students not to stay fixed in habits; to keep interested in their priorities; and to try to remain optimistic by using unpredictability to their advantage.
Graduate Mohit Bansal, the outgoing president of the National Honor Society, passed the lamp of knowledge to Anjali Menon, Gr. 11 and incoming president, who promised to continue the academic and ethical integrity the seniors had modeled for them. Then it was Head of School Chris Nikoloff’s turn to give his parting words of advice to the seniors.
Nikoloff drew on his experiences as the father of 1- and 3-year-old sons, and based his humorous address on the adventures of a popular children’s literary character. “Be like Curious George,” he said: always have good intentions, keep your curiosity, and let those intensions and curiosity fuel your innovation. “Where we see mundane, George sees wonder. Who has the better vision?” he asked.
Then it was time for the seniors to process up onto the stage one by one, as their beloved class dean Jeff Draper read their names and Nikoloff handed them their diplomas. Several Harker faculty and staff and two trustees had children graduating this year: trustees Linda Emery (Christine) and Huali Chai Stanek (Andrew), executive chef Steve Martin (Taylor), US librarian Sue Smith (Kevin Laymoun), US biology teacher Gary Blickenstaff (son D.J. and niece Emma), US math teacher Gabrielle Stahl (Julian), LS math and science teacher Nina Anand (Ananya), LS P.E. teacher Paula Bither (Kristina), assistant business manager Sharon Paik (Paul) and MS English teacher Stacie Newman (Sophie).
Nikoloff and Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, released doves to symbolize the graduates’ new journey onwards, and the faculty recessed, lining the Winery road and applauding the new graduates as they passed before their teachers for the last time.
Congratulations and best of luck to the Class of 2009!
2009_05 US Graduation Slideshow – Images by Harker School
Baccalaureate, a ceremony with roots in 15th century Oxford, formally began the graduation festivities on the Thursday before the big day. In a warm and sunny quad on the US campus, music was played and speeches were spoken.
Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace, and a string ensemble, directed by Chris Florio, provided beautiful and thoughtful musical selections to set the tone. In her opening remarks, Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, told the junior class it was time to say goodbye to the seniors and prepare to accept their new leadership role. She reminded the audience of juniors, seniors, senior parents and faculty that this was a time when we are “celebrating each and every one of you… as individuals and as a class.”
Math teacher Anthony Silk, selected by the graduates to represent the faculty, delivered a talk he based on a popular NPR radio program, “This American Life.” His theme: The Road Not Taken. His time in the Navy encouraged him to learn how to find small things that can give one a quick lift or encouragement in hard times. His venture into the rat race of software engineering taught him that, “Our lives don’t have one correct route to the cheese…don’t make your life a race.” And he urged the seniors to think about the people who helped them. “None of us get anywhere without someone else,” he remarked, adding that history teacher John Near, a frequent and accomplished Baccalaureate speaker, has been an inspiration to him.
Graduating senior Daniel Kim had the honor of addressing his class as salutatorian, a word he says he looked up in the dictionary and found to mean the speaker who “salutes” the incoming senior class. He thus directed his remarks to the juniors, telling them that appearances don’t matter, it’s the attitude that counts; to follow one’s passion, saying “what you love is what you are”; and be thankful to those who have paved your way.
As seniors departed for more class activities and juniors left with the understanding of their new role, parents and faculty mingled and talked about the students they were sending off to the next phase of their lives.
Tags: Featured StoryEditor’s note: US drama teacher Jeff Draper received this e-mail in early May from Diane Kitamura, a guest at a hotel where Anthony Chen, Gr. 12, was also staying.
“I am compelled to write this e-mail concerning one of your students, Anthony Chen, who I had the opportunity to meet this past weekend in Los Angeles. When I say opportunity, it truly was by chance that we met under a circumstance where we had to deal with a medical emergency together in the hotel in which we were both staying.
“At approximately 2 a.m., I was walking … back to my room on the ninth floor when a woman in her nightgown came running out of her room screaming for help and to call 911. She was speaking in English and Korean and saying there was something wrong with her husband. She was quite hysterical. I had (an) intern with me who is bilingual in both English and Korean whom I told to assist the woman while I went down stairs to get help, because the door had shut behind the woman so we could not get back into the room to help her husband.
“The woman had tried to call the front desk but there was no answer. I went downstairs to get help and found a security/hotel staff person to get to the room because there was a medical emergency and we could not get into the room to what was wrong with the man.
“Security finally arrived at the scene to open the door. The man was lying on the bed and appeared to be unresponsive and possibly not breathing. Security was on my intern’s cell phone talking to 911 which asked in anyone knew CPR.
“Anthony was staying in the room next door and heard all of the commotion and was watching the situation. When security asked if someone knew CPR, Anthony volunteered since he had just completed the CPR course a month prior. Anthony immediately got on the phone to 911 when he saw the man’s chest and realized he might have had heart surgery because of a large surgical scar down the middle of his chest.
“He reported this to the 911 operator and was told to move the man to the floor and check for breathing. Anthony determined the man was breathing although it was barely detectable.
“I took the woman and had her begin packing items and changing clothes as we waited for the ambulance to arrive. The gentleman woke up and was incoherent and very angry about a situation that occurred earlier in the evening. Anthony, along with my intern who translated for 911, continued to stay with the man until paramedics arrived.
“Paramedics arrived and transported the man to the hospital where he stayed overnight. I met with the man and woman yesterday and they reported that the man had had a mild heart attack and is unable to fly for another two weeks.
“The couple were very grateful for Anthony’s help in this emergency situation. He was calm, cool and collected during the situation and represented The Harker School well. As a former assistant superintendent, I would be very proud of Anthony and I know you must all be proud as well of the tremendous courage and leadership Anthony demonstrated during this situation.”
Turns out Chen took CPR at Harker earlier this year. “The incident has made me appreciate life so much more,” he said. “The pure feeling of having a man’s life literally in your hands is enough to make anyone appreciate everything that this life has given us. I really encourage everyone to take CPR certification classes because at any moment and anytime you may be the only person in the entire place that knows CPR and can save a person’s life.”
Harker plans a small ceremony to honor Chen in late May.
Tags: Featured StoryJohn Near, 30-year veteran faculty member – and much more – of The Harker School, has been moved to intermediate care following an aggressive bacterial infection that required surgery. Near has been battling cancer and has reduced immunity from treatments which allowed the infection to take hold. He checked in to El Camino Hospital Monday and underwent surgery to remove infected tissue in his left leg from hip to knee. Wife Pam Dickinson, Harker’s director of communications, and daughter Casey Near ’06 a student at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., have been with him all along.
Dickinson said, “He has multiple doctors working with him daily – general surgeon, oncologist, orthopedic surgeon, infectious disease doctor – and each, to a person, have found his response and healing to the disease amazing and far above their expectations. I swear it’s the Viking genes.”
At this time, Near cannot have visitors or even flowers. “He’s in a private room in intermediate care now – which is great – so all is going well,” said Dickinson. “Check his Caring Bridge page for the full update, and to post messages. We’ll be posting updates there from now on rather than sending e-mails, and feel free to pass this along to anyone else who might love to check up on him.”
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnnear
Tags: Faculty, Featured Story