Harker hosted a basketball tournament to build awareness of the Hi5 Youth Foundation in the athletic center this past weekend. Organized by Akhila Ramgiri, grade 12, it was the inaugural event for the organization’s U.S. offices. The organization, founded in 2015 and based in India, is dedicated to improving the lives of children through sports – mainly basketball. The event included free throw and 3-point shooting contests, and food and soft drinks were available for purchase. Eight teams from various high schools participated in the event.
“I got involved when the founders of the organization were visiting the Bay Area (where they lived before they moved back to India),” said Ramgiri. “They told me about what they were doing, and because I have played basketball my entire life, the cause appealed to me.”
About 300 people attended the event. “The event was great,” said Ramgiri. “It was the first event that Hi5 USA has had, so it was a great way to kick off! The organization’s motto is ‘children helping children.’” They want the adults in the organization to provide the infrastructure, but they want high school kids like myself to be the driving force in helping the kids in India. So, to mobilize high school kids, we decided to hold this tournament to seek out kids like myself who are passionate about basketball and may want to volunteer or get involved.
“The players and spectators had a lot of fun and it was a great time. This was primarily meant to be an awareness event rather than a fundraiser, however, the money that was raised will be put toward resources such as clothes and basketball shoes for the kids in the Hi5 programs in India.”
Ramgiri has seen the results of the organizations efforts firsthand. “I went to visit the kids for one week during the summer,” she said. “The impact that I saw was incredible. Some of the children have really turned their lives around through basketball. It provides them a means for expression and a way to seek something bigger for themselves and gives them hope that they are more than their family’s income. I would strongly encourage anyone who is passionate about sports or helping children to consider joining the Hi5 USA team or if they had the chance to try to make it out to Mumbai, India, to experience this firsthand.”
Congratulations to Alice Feng, grade 9, and Sriram Bhimaraju, grade 7, on being named finalists in this year’s Broadcom MASTERS competition! They are two of just 30 students who are headed to Washington, D.C. next month for the final stage of this national middle school STEM contest, which had a record 2,537 applicants this year. While in Washington, the top 30 — who will each receive a cash prize of $500 — will demonstrate their knowledge of STEM, as well as their acumen in critical thinking, collaboration and more in a competition for the top prize of $25,000.
Sept. 5, 2018
Five Harker students were recently named to the Top 300 in this year’s Broadcom MASTERS competition, one of the top middle school STEM competitions in the country. This year the competition, organized by the Society for Science & the Public, included more than 5,000 nominees and 2,537 applicants, each evaluated by distinguished members of the scientific community.
Harker students in the Top 300, who entered the contest during the 2017-18 school year, are Harsh Deep, Alice Feng, Shounak Ghosh, and Arely Sun, all grade 9; and Sriram Bhimaraju, grade 7. More information, including project titles, is available at the competition’s website.
Later this month, 30 of the Top 300 MASTERS will be selected as finalists to travel to Washington, D.C., in October for the final portion of the competition. Congratulations and best of luck!
In recognition of Constitution Day, recognized this past Monday, upper school history teacher Julie Wheeler’s AP U.S. history students participated in a video chat discussion on the First Amendment with students from Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.
“My students learned a lot about the First Amendment and how complex the rule of law actually is when you try to explain yourself to an attorney,” Wheeler said. Paul W. Kaufman, an assistant U.S. attorney from Pennsylvania, served as a moderator for the discussion.
The National Constitution Center chose Wheeler’s students to be part of its classroom exchange, in which 26 classes nationwide (comprising about 650 students) were chosen to take part in discussions about the U.S. Constitution. Discussions were student-led and moderated by legal scholars and practicing lawyers.
Harker is pleased to announce its 2018-19 endowment awardees. Each student will receive a grant to help him or her write a research paper on a humanities subject. The scholars, all seniors, work throughout the year to define, research and write on a topic of their choosing, and papers are presented at a reception in the spring.
The two endowments, the John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, established in 2009, and the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, established in 2011, provide funding each year for eight or nine seniors to pursue topics of their choice in depth. Previous papers can be found on the Harker website.
The awardees are:
2019 John Near Scholars: Logan Bhamidipaty, mentored by Byron Stevens and Lauri Vaughan; Prameela Kottapalli, mentored by Mark Janda and Sue Smith; Leon Lu, mentored by Carol Green, Susan Nace and Meredith Cranston; Kelsey Wu, mentored by Kelly Horan and Sue Smith.
2019 Mitra Family Scholars: Nikhil Dharmaraj, mentored by Clifford Hull and Meredith Cranston; Rose Guan, mentored by Ruth Meyer and Meredith Cranston; Haris Hosseini, mentored by Andrea Milius, Josh Martinez and Sue Smith; Constance Horng, mentored by Roxana Pianko, Susan Nace and Lauri Vaughan; Katherine Tian, mentored by Damon Halback, Chris Spenner and Lauri Vaughan.
The girls water polo team picked up two big league wins last week followed by a strong tournament showing. The Eagles defeated Monta Vista 11-9 and Milpitas 12-2 during the week, with wins over Monta Vista, Santa Teresa and Lynbrook at the Lynbrook Tournament over the weekend. This week, the girls host Lynbrook on Tuesday and travel to Cupertino on Thursday before competing in the Watsonville Tournament this weekend.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team dominated in its two wins last week. Early in the week, the Eagles defeated rival Menlo 196-226 with the fab freshman duo of Tina Xu and Sophie Zhang-Murphy tying for medalist honors, each shooting a 38. Later in the week, the girls defeated Notre Dame San Jose 175-235 with Zhang-Murphy shooting a 33 to again lead the way for Harker. This week, the Eagles take on Sacred Heart Prep on Monday and Castilleja on Wednesday.
Girls Volleyball
Last week, the girls volleyball team defeated Los Altos 3-1 to improve to 5-5 on the season. This week, the Eagles travel to Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday and host Notre Dame Belmont on Thursday.
Boys Water Polo
Last week, the boys water polo team fell to Monta Vista 9-13 before defeating Milpitas 19-11. This week, the Eagles host Fremont on Tuesday and travel to Cupertino on Thursday.
Football
The football team traveled to Watsonville last Friday to take on St. Francis, but came away with a 28-10 loss. Jared Anderson, grade 12, kicked a 38-yard field goal and caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Meissner, grade 12, in the loss. This week, the 3-2 Eagles host Lowell of San Francisco at 7 p.m. at Davis Field.
Cross Country
The Harker cross country team competes again on Sept.22 at the Pacific Tigers Invitational in Stockton.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team is back in action this week on Monday against Salinas, followed by a matchup with Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday and Crystal Springs Uplands on Thursday.
Yesterday, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced that 43 Harker seniors – 22 percent of the class of 2019 – were named semifinalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.
This year’s semifinalists are:
Ayush Alag, Nishka Ayyar, Logan Bhamidipaty, Robert Bloomquist, Joshua Broweleit, Timothy Chang, Christie Chen, Pamela Duke, Kai Franz, Lilia Gonzales, Rose Guan, Matthew Hajjar, Haris Hosseini, Amelia Huchley, Krish Kapadia, Jacob Kim, Noah Lincke, Enya Lu, Leon Lu, Joel Manning, Jay Menon, Puneet Nayyar, Cedric Nowatzyk, Rithvik Panchapakesan, Ayush Pancholy, Jerry Peng, Meghna Phalke, Anika Rajamani, Ashwin Rammohan, Akshay Ravoor, Ashwin Reddy, Ruhi Sayana, Keval Shah, Kaushik Shivakumar, Neha Tallapragada, Katherine Tian, Timothy Wang, Alexander Wloka, Connie Xu, Helen Yang, Alexander Young, Alexander Yu and Katherine Zhang.
Semifinalists represent the top 1 percent – about 16,000 – of the 1.6 million students who entered the National Merit Scholarship Program in 2017 after taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Students who are to become finalists will be notified of their advancement in February.
Andrew Semenza ‘18 and Millie Lin ‘18, at the behest of brother Jason Lin, grade 10, performed at a benefit concert on Aug. 19 along with friend Kevin Zhu, a Bay Area native and world-renown violinist. All proceeds went to the Tahirih Justice Center, a national nonprofit committed to serving as many immigrant women and girls fleeing violence as possible.
Jason Lin was the primary organizer of the event. “After debating immigration issues at debate camp, I went to a talk by the Tahirih Justice Center about their work regarding asylum seekers, and was moved by their message,” he said. “Although the TJC has a 99 percent success rate, they can only help one in 10 clients! Like many others at the talk, I was motivated to take action. Since my friend Kevin, a fantastic violinist, was about to come over to the Bay Area, and since Andy Semenza was also available, I decided to organize a benefit concert. My friends helped me get the show on the road.”
Millie Lin also had attended the talk. “We wanted to help the organization and the people it supports, especially at a time when the family separation issue at the U.S.-Mexico border was so critical … so we partnered with the Tahirih Justice Center to organize the concert,” she said.
“Five weeks later, after Jason’s frantic daily communications with Tahirih, volunteers and performers to organize the event, the concert was wonderfully successful. We far surpassed our fundraising goal of $15,000, reaching about $31,000 from numerous small donations. In addition to organizational help from Tahirih, the majority of the effort was truly youth-led, as Jason, performers and volunteers were all around high school age,” Millie added.
Jason noted the success was a group effort. “Spreading word of the concert was a challenge,” he said. “Everyone is constantly being bombarded with news and notifications, so it was difficult to let everyone know. However, the Tahirih Justice Center helped us contact a few local news organizations, and I assembled a small team of volunteers to help advertise. About nine fellow Harker student volunteers sold tickets with me. Some went door to door, some posted notices at farmers markets or libraries, some posted on social media – and with the support of the community, seats quickly sold out.
“Seeing the entire community come together for the concert and the enthusiasm of the group of volunteers in selling tickets and ushering guests made the whole effort worth it for me. It was immensely fulfilling to see our efforts come together for the concert. Thanks to the avid support of the community, the event was a huge success! None of this would have been possible without the volunteers, the performers or the community,” said Jason.
“Personally,” said Millie, “due to the great results and warm support, this event reinvigorated my belief in our local community’s potential to reach out and help others. As a bystander to much of the organizational process, I watched the wonderful enthusiasm of Jason and his fellow volunteers and friends in putting this all together, and I’m especially hopeful for the potential for those younger than me to accomplish great and good things in the future.”
Seventh grader and pianist Nathan T. Liu visited Germany last month to perform at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival. SRIMF is a major event for the area, attracting students from 30 countries to study and perform, according to the festival’s website. Liu, who was performing for the second time at the festival’s invitation, seized the opportunity to learn from top musicians from around the world and also visited the Sing und Musikschule, a music school situated in a castle that has become one of Sulzbach-Rosenberg’s most famous landmarks.
The Harker School announced this week the passing of Diana Nichols, board chair and former longtime school leader, who died Sept. 2, 2018 of pancreatic cancer. She was 76. Her obituary ran in the Monterey Herald and the Mercury News.
Marie Clifford, Nichols’ sister and fellow board member, said, “She died in her beloved Carmel home overlooking the Pacific, surrounded by nature. She died peacefully, with her son at her side, exactly where she wanted to be. In death, as in life, she did it her way.”
Nichols’ husband, Howard Nichols, head of the school for many years, passed away in 2008. “We are saddened today to lose the other half of this legendary team,” said Head of School Brian Yager in his message to the community. “However, Howard and Diana’s contributions to the development of The Harker School over a combined span of 45 years have left an indelible mark on the course of the school’s history. We will always be grateful.”
“Diana told me to tell the greater Harker community that she loved you all and that she was eternally grateful for your support in helping build an exemplary educational institution,” added Clifford. “She had many plans for Harker, but she felt it was now up to the next generation.”
Nichols’ wishes were for donations to be made to her favorite charity, The Harker School. Questions regarding donations can be directed to Joe Rosenthal at joe.rosenthal@harker.org.
A memorial to honor Diana Nichols will be held Saturday, Oct. 6 from 12-2 p.m. in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center on Harker’s upper school campus at 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose. Please RSVP to Nicole Hall at nicole.hall@harker.org.
For those unable to attend, messages for the family, or memories that can be shared at the memorial, can be sent to communications@harker.org or mailed to 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129; regular deliveries will be made to her family.
The girls volleyball team picked up two big wins last week, defeating Carmel 3-2 and Westmont 3-1. In the win over Carmel, Michelle Ning, grade 10, led the way with 10 kills, with Ashley Jazbec, grade 11, adding nine kills. This week, the 5-3 Eagles host Los Altos on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Girls Golf
Last week, the girls golf team finished third in the Helen Lengfeld Memorial Tournament, its best finish ever at the event, before defeating Notre Dame Belmont and Sacred Heart Prep 190-319-270, respectively. This week, the Eagles face off with Notre Dame San Jose on Tuesday and Menlo on Wednesday.
Girls Tennis
At the California Girls Tennis Classic in Clovis over the weekend, the girls tennis team went 4-1, losing its only match to a top East Bay team by a third tiebreaker, becoming champions of the Division II Second Flight. The girls take to the courts again on Sept. 17 against Salinas High.
Football
The football team picked up its third win in a row as it defeated Marina High 26-2 on Friday. Marcus Tymous, grade 12, and Anthony Meissner, grade 12, each rushed for a touchdown, while Jared Anderson, grade 12, recovered a fumble for a score and Meissner connected with Anderson for a 34-yard touchdown. The Eagles travel to Watsonville to take on St. Francis this Friday.
Cross Country
The cross country team traveled to Golden Gate Park over the weekend to compete at the Lowell Invitational. Anna Weirich, grade 10, finished 11th in a field of some of the best runners from throughout the state. Ryan Adolf, grade 12, led the Eagles, improving his time on the course by 20 seconds. The Eagles race again on Sept. 22 at the Pacific Tigers Invitational at the Elkhorn Golf Club in Stockton.
Girls Water Polo
Last week, the girls water polo team opened its season with two losses. In a 10-6 loss to Saratoga, Cas Ruedy, grade 11, led the Eagles with two goals. Later in the week, the girls fell to Santa Clara 10-7 with Abby Wisdom, grade 12, and Alicia Xu, grade 12, each scoring two goals. This week, the Eagles host Monta Vista on Tuesday and travel to Milpitas on Thursday.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team opened its league season last week with a 19-8 win over Saratoga and a 13-10 win over Santa Clara. Then, over the weekend, the Eagles went 1-2 at the Lynbrook Tournament, defeating Lynbrook 14-7 before falling to Mountain View 5-15 and Willow Glen 11-14. This week, the boys host Monta Vista on Tuesday and travel to Milpitas on Thursday.