Alumnus and San Jose State University baseball player Jason Martin ’07 was recognized at the annual Santa Clara County Hot Stove Banquet on Jan. 27 for his standout performance on the diamond. In late January, Martin was named one of the winners of the Loyd Christopher Award, given each year to a single member of the San Jose State, Stanford and Santa Clara University baseball programs. Martin also earned a $500 scholarship for being nominated to receive the award.
[Update] Harker will host Common Ground speaker Laura Kastner January 26. She will be speaking about how to manage emotion and maintain a close, loving relationship with your child going through teen years. Join the group in the Nichols Hall atrium for the psychologist’s presentation “Navigating the Emotions of Tweens and Teens,” at 7 p.m. Harker parents and staff can attend for free. Light refreshments will be served. Kastner will also be speaking at Woodside Priory and Crystal Springs Uplands.
Wed., Jan. 27, 7 p.m. Woodside Priory School – “Parenting Teens for College and Beyond”
Thurs., Jan. 28, 7 p.m. Crystal Springs Uplands School – “Navigating the Emotions of Teens and Tweens”
See below for complete Common Grounds calendar
Nov 11, 2009
Harker will host Common Ground speakers in November and January. Join us for light refreshments in the Nichols Hall atrium for Harvard professor John Ratey’s presentation, “The Amazing Science of Exercise and the Brain,” next Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7:30, and psychologist Laura Kastner’s presentation, “Navigating the Emotions of Tweens and Teens,” in January. Harker parents and staff can attend for free. Complete information is below. Common Ground is a coalition of Bay Area schools dedicated to strengthening families and communities by sharing ideas and resources through its extensive speaker series.
Tues., Nov. 17, 7 p.m. – Stronger, Faster, Smarter: The Amazing Science of Exercise and the Brain with John Ratey, M.D. Sacred Heart Schools
Thurs., Nov. 19, 9 a.m. (morning session) The Nueva School
Thurs., Nov. 19, 7 p.m. Harker Upper School, Nichols Hall
Tues., Jan. 26, 7 p.m. – The Tween/Teen Years: Two Important Topics with Dr. Laura Kastner. Dr. Kastner will discuss ways to handle the emotions of tweens and teens, and how to stay connected after your child goes to college. Harker Upper School, Nichols Hall
Wed., Jan. 27, 7 p.m. Woodside Priory School
Thurs., Jan. 28, 7 p.m. Crystal Springs Uplands School
Tues., March 16, 7 p.m. – Loving without Spoiling: When to be Unpopular with Your Kids with Nancy Samalin, M.S. The Nueva School
Wed., March 17, 7 p.m. Saint Andrew’s School
Thurs., March 18, 9 a.m. (morning session) Foley Center at St. Joseph’s School of the Sacred Heart
Tues., April 20, 7 p.m. – One night only: The Power of Mindful Parenting with Daniel Siegel, M.D. Woodside High School
Howard Nichols
October 10, 1940 – December 31, 2008
Leader and visionary of The Harker School, Howard Nichols, passed away Dec. 31, 2008.
A crowd of approximately 750 gathered Jan. 16, 2009 to formally say goodbye to Harker’s longtime leader and and visionary, Howard Nichols, who died Dec. 31, 2008. The event was held in Nichols Hall, a building recently completed and dedicated to Howard and his wife, Diana, in August.
Nichols battled esophageal cancer for years, and as 2008 was coming to a close, he and his family made the transition into hospice care at Howard and Diana’s home in Carmel. Howard and Diana discussed the memorial, and chose the music, musicians and speakers together, allowing Diana, his family and the Harker community the unique and special gift of knowing – and carrying out – Howard’s wishes as our final tribute to him.
To open the memorial, the Nichols family – Diana, daughters Stephanie and Elizabeth, Diana’s son, Greg, their spouses and Howard’s grandchildren, and Diana’s sister, Marie, and her family – was escorted into Nichols Hall by upper and middle school student body officers serving as the color guard. They presented the flags of the state of California, the U.S. and Harker in acknowledgment of Nichols’ military past at the Palo Alto Military Academy.
For the music, Diana Nichols called on friend and performing arts chair Laura Lang-Ree to gather alumni from the early graduating classes to sing with her. Lang-Ree was joined by Siobhan Stevenson ’07, Maheen Kaleem ’03 and Neil Bhalerao ’04, as well as pianist Catherine Snider, upper school vocal group Downbeat, and a string ensemble of upper school students.
In his opening remarks, Chris Nikoloff, head of school, reminded us that we were all loved by Nichols as much as we loved him. Sylvia Harp read the poetry of Robinson Jeffers, a favorite of Nichols’. Teacher John Near gave the main address, and made us laugh even as we cried. Lon Allan, Kelly Espinosa and Pat Walsh each told stories of how Nichols had touched their lives in very special ways. During the open remembrances segment of the program, audience members shared stories and heartfelt memories. Through it all, the recurring theme was Nichols’ indefatigable kindness, generosity and faith in people. Employees who needed a little extra help, students who marveled at his approachability, colleagues who played ball with him – all felt themselves an important part of the Harker family Nichols created, and all have better lives today for having been touched by Howard Nichols.
The service included some video moments: Nichols as he participated in school productions, recited “The Night Before Christmas” to the boarders (an annual holiday tradition), and gave the matriculation address to Harker’s first incoming upper school class. A slide show captured dozens of moments Nichols shared with his immediate and extended Harker family. In the spirit of Harker’s release of doves at each graduation, the program closed with a short film of Diana Nichols releasing a single dove in front of Nichols Hall to help us all say farewell to Howard, beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend, leader and mentor.
Howard Nichols will forever be remembered, respected and revered for the impact of his life’s work in education, for the generous and humble life he led, and for the example he set for us all.
Please visit our Giving page to make a donation in honor of Howard.
Six Harker seniors — Dominque Dabija, Daniel Kim, Elena Madan, Anand Natarajan, Vikram Nathan, and Denzil Sikka — have been named semifinalists in Intel’s Science Talent Search. This represents the highest number of semifinalists a single California school has produced since the contest began.
The students each received $1,000 for this milestone, and are now eligible to win the $100,000 grand prize.
There were only 25 semifinalists in California, out of 300 nationwide. Over 1,600 students submitted entries. Harker winners’ research covered a wide array of subjects, from “Computational Methods for Identifying Functionally Important Residues Involved in Allosteric Communication Pathways” (Dabija’s) to “Novel Quantitative Models of Reaction Kinetics” (Nathan’s). In 2006, Harker’s Yi Sun (’06) went on to the nationals, taking second place and winning $75,000.
Harker students have a long tradition of contributing to worthy causes, but they more than out did themselves during Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) Week in November when proceeds more than quadrupled the original goal.
The fundraising activities, as noted in the San Jose Mercury News Online, administered by members of the campus GEO club, ranged from vows of silence by students to the hilarious but lucrative pig-kissing commitment by faculty members. The result? Enough money was raised not only to supply about 50 pigs to rural farmers to bring them above the poverty level, but, ultimately, enough to build an entire school serving up to 500 children. The final amount was more than $14,000, a stunning result in these hard economic times.
A critical component of the effort was GEO’s efforts to educate students on the conditions in China the group hoped to alleviate by providing pigs to help farmers climb above the poverty level. The GEO week kick-off began the Friday before with a talk by Kim Plewes, international youth coordinator for Free the Children, a Toronto-based organization assisting families around the world to escape poverty by harnessing the energy of North American youths.
Plewes traveled from Toronto in early December to accept the oversized check and thank the students in person for their hard work and generosity. “This is remarkable,” she said in front of an assembly of students. “We have not had a single school in Northern California in the last two, three, four years remotely raise this much this much money in an entire year, and you did it in a single week.”
Along with the vow of silence pledges and pig-kissing contest, student fundraising included a beverage and tote bag sale and, to raise awareness, a millennium development goal scavenger hunt trivia contest on poverty and China.
Funds will go to Gansu province in China where alternative income efforts include providing pigs to farmers and training the farmers on their care. That extra income often allows the children to go to school along with reducing hunger and improving living conditions.
“We are amazed at the week that the GEO club at Harker was able to put together in just three short months,” said Plewes. “We haven’t seen this level of organization and successful execution of such a diverse number of fundraising and awareness raising events from any other group in California.
“On behalf of the entire Free The Children team, I would like to thank the GEO club for all of the effort and creativity that they demonstrated during the amazing week that happened recently. We are blown away by the support and energy from the Harker community for our programming in China. Thank you!”
A dozen Harker students, staff and alumni volunteered at an inaugural fundraising event held by The Wellness Community – Silicon Valley (TWCSV) to honor professional, volunteer and family caregivers. Filmed and broadcast by Comcast Cable, over 300 attended the event that honored 22 caregivers, and raised $38,000 for the organization. Harker students and staff assisted with the silent and oral auctions, distributed honoree gifts, and took photographs at the event. They were: Margaret Krackeler, Daniela Lapidous, Ishika Peravali, Gr. 9; Tracey Chan, Pierre Gerard, Araby Martin, Erica Woolsey, Gr. 10; Mark-Phillip Pebworth, Gr. 11; Emily Carr, Gr. 12; Jessica Liu ’04; and Chris Collins and Pam Dickinson, staff.
“Attendees and committee members alike commented on how responsible, caring and poised our students were,” said Dickinson. Karen Storey, executive director of TWCSV said, “Everything went so smoothly with their help. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
The STAR Caregivers Awards recognize and support the work of individuals and organizations that provide care that makes a difference in the quality of life for cancer patients and their loved ones. TWCSV provides education and support services at no charge to individuals and families facing cancer. For more information about the organization, visit www.svwellness.org.
Historic goundbreaking event held May 30 for Harker’s new Science & Technology Center, athletic field and pool was a school wide celebration that included over 500 parents, faculty, staff, students and alumni. After viewing student-created science and technology displays, taking a virtual tour of the coming facilities and bopping to the Harker Jazz Band, the crowd feasted on barbeque and witnessed the official groundbreaking in front of Dobbins Hall. All attendees went away with a mini-beaker keepsake filled with dirt from the groundbreaking to commemorate the occasion. It was an exciting and proud afternoon for the entire Harker community — many thanks to all who attended!