This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
By Marla Holt
It’s not surprising that many Harker graduates go onto successful careers in the performing arts, given the school’s reputation for providing outstanding opportunities for students to shine in music, dance and theater.
Students benefit from top-notch teachers and mentors, they earn certification in Harker’s heralded Conservatory certificate program and, now, they will perform in a world-class facility, the new Rothschild Performing Arts Center.
One thing these talented alumni have in common is the foundational education they received at Harker – a strong work ethic, a commitment to professional respect for all artists and the drive to pursue their dreams. Read on to learn how several graduates of Harker Conservatory’s certificate program are contributing to the performing arts world.
Daniel Cho ’11
Contemporary ballet dancer Daniel Cho just completed his last year with San Francisco’s Alonzo King LINES Ballet training program. His long days were physically strenuous, filled with ballet classes, rehearsals, workshops, courses on topics such as dance anatomy, and preparation for the school’s biannual performances.
Cho also works part time tutoring students in SAT/SSAT/ACT prep. “I love the community aspect of dance, moving my body while connecting with other people,” Cho said. In June, he will move to Cleveland for a yearlong apprenticeship with Verb Ballets, a contemporary ballet company.
“I wanted to have a professional dance career before going to graduate school in fine arts and dance,” Cho said. “My ultimate goal is to teach at the college level.”
Cho has only been formally dancing for about five years. He focused mostly on vocal performance at Harker, dancing in musical theater and dance shows “because it was fun and came naturally to me,” he said.
He had a lead role in “Pippin,” which toured at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. “That experience challenged me to think about whether I wanted to pursue the life of an artist,” he said. A Harker friend convinced him to try a dance class and he was hooked
He took his first ballet class as a sophomore at Swarthmore College, where he majored in dance and education. He caught up to his peers with a year spent refining his classical ballet technique with Coastal City Ballet’s training program in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Harker instilled in me a strong work ethic,” he said. “I also learned the importance of respecting everyone involved in a production. As I’ve done more professional work, I’ve realized these things really matter.”
Audrey Kwong ’07
Artistic operations manager Audrey Kwong helps the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra run smoothly by managing projects such as electronic media and recording activities, tours and special events, and the orchestra’s calendar and performance contracts. She also has regular “concert duty,” coordinating with musicians and stage and house managers before signaling to start a performance to avoid delays that could interfere with the artists’ collective bargaining agreements. “If we run into overtime, it gets very expensive very fast,” said Kwong, who enjoys the logistics of orchestra management.
“I like wearing lots of hats,” Kwong said. “I also couldn’t imagine not being around music every day.” She previously worked in operations for Colorado’s Aspen Music Festival and School and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Kwong, a classically trained violinist, first realized that orchestra management was a career possibility while studying violin performance at the University of Southern California. “I had no idea about nonprofit arts jobs until I took a class in arts administration,” she said.
She went on to earn a Master of Arts Management degree at Carnegie Mellon University. At Harker, Kwong participated in orchestra, choir and theater, and completed a conducting and score study independent project with music teacher Chris Florio, who also encouraged her to solo with the orchestra.
“Harker teaches you to approach the arts from different points of view,” said Kwong, who recalls having to clock tech hours for any theater production she was involved in, for example. “I learned that everyone has an important role to play, and that’s of value in my current job.”
Grace Hudkins ’08
Grace Hudkins never imagined she’d teach theater, let alone teach internationally, even though she’s been active in theater her whole life. At Harker, she was involved in many productions and took every theater class offered. At Mount Holyoke College, she immersed herself in theater – acting, directing and stage managing, as well as joining the executive board of the student theater organization.
“The fact that I was poised to be so involved in college was due to the preparation I received in Harker’s Conservatory program,” Hudkins said. “I had fantastic mentors in Jeff Draper, Susan Nace, Brian Larsen and Laura Lang-Ree.”
After earning a degree in psychology and education from Mount Holyoke, Hudkins planned to teach elementary school and thought theater was in her past. Her father encouraged her to look for international teaching jobs and put her in touch with Chadwick International in Songdo, South Korea. The school hired her as an elementary teaching intern, later offering her the additional role of technical theater intern. A year later, she launched Chadwick’s elementary drama program.
Today, she is the school’s theater operations and production manager, overseeing every production in the school’s two theaters, managing theater tech clubs for more than 80 students and teaching technical theater units in drama classes.
Hudkins calls her career an “incredible journey of professional growth and self discovery,” and credits her experience at Chadwick with cultivating her desire to always teach drama. “The arts put us in touch with our essential humanity,” said Hudkins, who noted that she’s reminded daily that she’s equipping students with empathy, confidence, integrity, resilience and more.
Gabrielle DeMers ’03
As a freelance opera singer, soprano Gabrielle DeMers continually works to book concerts and shows while promoting herself as a specialist in her field. “My career is a series of gigs, so it’s hard to establish a routine,” she said. “I’m constantly adapting as things come my way.”
Her days are spent practicing, rehearsing or performing shows, and perfecting the language skills needed to sing in Russian, German, Latin, Italian and more. DeMers has performed frequently for Baltimore’s Young Victorian Theatre Company, including as Josephine in “H.M.S. Pinafore” and Gianetta in “The Gondoliers.”
She sang the role of Kate Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly” with the former Lyric Opera Baltimore, now known as the Maryland Opera. DeMers is active in community outreach, performing recitals and concerts for schoolchildren and the elderly. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree at USC and a Master of Music at the University of Maryland, where she performed as Tatyana in “Eugene Onegin” and Sandrina in “La Finta Giardiniera.”
“I love the collaborative process of making music with other people,” DeMers said. “It’s satisfying to mold our ideas of what the music should say into a cohesive whole.”
At Harker, DeMers participated in show choir and musical theater, earning Conservatory certification in both music and theater. “I started to get a sense of wanting to be a professional singer while I was in high school,” she said.
While freelancing as a performing artist has its challenges, DeMers ha no regrets. “The best advice I’ve gotten is to ‘create your own opportunities,’” she said. “Get up on stage, perform, try things, make some mistakes because that’s how you learn.”
Kim Wong ’05
Actress Kim Wong has loved Shakespeare ever since attending Shakespeare Camp as an 8-year-old. The Bard was her “gateway drug into acting,” she said. As she’s pursued acting professionally, her experience with performing Shakespeare – combined with being a woman of color – has led to success in a niche market.
“There aren’t a lot of Asian female Shakespearean actresses. As theaters are diversifying casts, that has worked to my advantage,” said Wong, who earned a drama degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Wong’s recent work includes acting in multiple roles in “Henry V” with The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit, a community outreach program that performs 90-minute Shakespeare plays at the theater and at detention facilities, homeless shelters and community centers around New York City.
“We bring theater and Shakespeare in particular to communities that don’t have access to it,” she said. She also has played Helena in “All’s Well That Ends Well,” Cordelia in “King Lear” and Ophelia in “Hamlet at regional theaters around the country.
This summer, Wong will be in “Henry VI” at the National Asian American Theatre Company. While at Harker, Wong agonized over whether pursuing an acting career was practical. She eventually decided that she’d rather take the risk than live to regret that she didn’t.
Her mentors at Harker – particularly Jeff Draper – gave her opportunities to play challenging roles that helped her prepare for the college audition process. “I was cast as Gertrude in ‘Hamlet’ and I really wanted to play Ophelia, but Jeff knew that Gertrude would really push me,” she said. Wong’s experiences at Harker also taught her that the performing arts require “constant and consistent work with passion.”
D.J. Blickenstaff ’09
Actor D.J. Blickenstaff loved both baseball and theater when he entered high school at Harker, but their schedules conflicted. The acting bug had bitten him when he was a member of the Harmonics vocal group in middle school, so he decided to say goodbye to baseball and audition for the spring musical. He hasn’t looked back.
“My passion for acting began at Harker, and has just grown from there,” said Blickenstaff, who performed in many productions, including “Urinetown: The Musical” at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. “Harker’s teachers gave me a strong core on which to build.”
Blickenstaff went on to earn a B.F.A. from USC, where – while performing as Joey in “The Most Happy Fella” – he was approached by a management agency interested in representing him. “They were scoping for talent, and I got lucky,” he said. “I was able to build a really solid team of six different agents working for me in different areas of the industry.”
Blickenstaff’s first jobs included acting in NBC’s “Diversity Scene Showcase,” a one-night event spotlighting up-and-coming talent, and delivering a one-liner on “Sean Saves the World.” He currently has a recurring role on Netflix’s “Dear White People” and recently shot the pilot of a show called “#Fashionvictim,” which – if picked up – would be his first regular role in a series.
He previously appeared in multiple episodes of “Catching a Break” and “Colony” and is the author of a web series about the Hollywood business industry. When he’s not auditioning, Blickenstaff keeps busy with live theater in Los Angeles and as the voiceover announcer for USC’s public events.
“I enjoy pursuing entertainment for social change – letting art be something that drives people to make changes in their lives or the world,” Blickenstaff said. “It’s a beautiful thing to be on a set with so many people who believe in the story we’re telling.”
SIDEBAR
A Life in the Arts
Here are a few examples of the many Harker alumni working in music, dance, theater, and arts administration and education. In some cases they have other full-time jobs, which we’ve noted.
Joe Hospodor ’09
Writer for ClickHole, The Onion, Funny or Die and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Writer/performer, Second City Hollywood
Actor, Livingston Agency
Past writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase” and BuzzFeed Motion
Shanna Polzin ’10
Freelance stage manager and production manager for live events in New York City
Past production stage manager, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Managed scenic elements of 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
Managed 2018 NFL owners dinner during the Super Bowl
Past associate production manager, New York Summer Music Festival
Past stage manager for Olympic figure skating shows
Gail Nakano ’06
Chemist for a manufacturing company
Founding member, Cappella SF
Eight-year member, San Francisco Symphony Chorus
Member, a cappella vocal group Gaude
Past soloist and section leader, San Francisco’s Swedenborgian Church
Jackie Laine ’04
Strategy consultant in media/entertainment
Past TV producer
Vivek Saraswat ’04
Product manager at Docker, an enterprise tech startup in San Francisco
Member of mixed a cappella vocal group Halfway to Midnight, winner of 2016 Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Championship regional competition
Past vocalist and guitar player with rock bands Second Breakfast and Just in Time and acoustic quartet Capo Four
Alexandra Burgess ’04 (Mickey Selbo-Bruns at Harker)
Assistant professor of psychology, Worcester State University
Vocalist, Novi Cantori and Illuminati Ensemble
Michelle Holt ’11
Corporate sales manager at a networking company
Performing in “Carmen” with West Bay Opera and auditioning for Opera San José
Engaged with San Francisco Conservatory of Music for further education
Past section leader and staff singer, Community Church of Vero Beach, Fla.
Past on-staff artist, nonprofit Artists for a Cause
Past section leader and staff singer, University of San Francisco’s St. Ignatius Parish
Marla Holt is a freelance writer based in Minnesota.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
When Scott Pruitt, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, took the stage in September, he had no idea that Daniela Lapidous ’12 was in the audience and was planning to call him out on his climate change denial.
“I couldn’t sit there while he lied (again), so I stood up and yelled and reminded him and his audience that they were betraying young peoples’ futures. ‘If you really cared about the people of Florida, Houston and the Caribbean, why are you not talking about how climate change is making storms worse? You’re talking the talk today, but you’re fighting to dismantle EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas. Pruitt is a puppet for corporate polluters! You’re betraying our futures!’” she screamed until the Secret Service pulled her out of the room.
In a blog post on Feministing.com, she explained, “I did this because my generation cannot afford to stay silent while he undermines our futures.” She attended this talk with Sunrise Movement, a self-described “army of young people” that aims to elect climate champions and get fossil fuel money out of politics.
Lapidous’ fiery determination was ignited during a presentation at Harker by the Alliance for Climate Education. Lapidous and her friend Shreya Indukuri ’12 then became focused environmental volunteers for Harker. They applied for and received a grant for the school’s gardens, green roof and smart metering systems, all of which combined to save the school about $20,000 annually.
But the pair didn’t stop there, traveling to the White House to meet with Steven Chu, then U.S. Secretary of Energy, to discuss expanding the program nationwide.
“I remember when she and Shreya came to me to ask me to sponsor them as they applied for a grant, which was a no brainer as Daniela was well-organized, well-spoken and very passionate!” said Jeff Sutton, upper school science teacher. “She is an amazing individual who has a strong will and brilliant intellect. She also has my deep respect.”
Sutton was one of Lapidous’ favorite teachers and ardent supporters. “He supported every crazy idea we came up with, including the summit our senior year,” said Lapidous with a laugh. Lapidous and Indukuri co-organized Green Teen Summit, a conference for high school students that featured keynote speaker Bill McKibben, environmental activist and cofounder of 350.org.
Her activism continued into college at Columbia University. In her freshman year, Lapidous co-founded Barnard Columbia Divest, a group that advocated for eliminating the school’s investment in, or divesting from, the fossil fuel industry. A renamed group – Columbia Divest for Climate Justice – continues work to mobilize student power on campus until the board of trustees commits to divestment. (Barnard College made a decision to divest last spring.)
Since graduating from Columbia in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and sustainable development, she has worked hard to effect change and protect Mother Earth through her work with nonprofits, startups and research institutions. She’s a coalition organizer at NY Renews, which comprises 130-plus organizations across New York that are fighting for a just transition to 100 percent renewable energy – with good jobs, protection for workers and investment into the most-impacted communities. She loves her work and encourages students to think beyond their grades.
When Lapidous looks back, she realizes her biggest impact has been speaking for the planet and fighting for environmental change, which doesn’t have anything to do with her GPA. “Try to do what you care about and see where it takes you,” she said. “I was lucky to find my passion but don’t expect to get struck by a bolt of lightning; keep trying new things and remember that passion can build over time.”
Vikki Bowes-Mok is also the executive director of the community nonprofit Compass Collective.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
By Jennifer Maragoni
The competition was fierce but smiles abounded as upper school students and staff, wearing matching T-shirts and colorful accessories, competed for class points in fun contests during Harker’s fall Homecoming rally. Harker spirit was just as palpable at the football game the next day, as students, faculty, staff and alumni filled the bleachers – donning Harker sweatshirts, hats and temporary tattoos – to cheer their Eagles on to victory.
Harker students certainly know how to work hard, and they earn many academic accolades to prove it, but they also know the value of playing hard. From organized activities to spontaneous shows of spirit, Eagle pride soars on Harker’s campuses.
“Harker spirit isn’t just limited to the occasional spirit activities and competitions – it’s really a mindset regarding what you care about in this school,” said ASB president Jimmy Lin, grade 12. “For me, it means supporting all my fellow classmates, whether it’s attending their orchestra concerts or cheering them on at their basketball home games.”
Be it performing at an assembly, competing in a lip-sync contest, dressing up for a holiday or cheering on Harker’s sports teams, Harker students relish the opportunity to have fun and bond with their classmates. Other events, such as holiday toy and food drives, incorporate both spirit and service and unite students – and often the greater Harker community – in a common goal.
“Spirit has changed and evolved much over the years but has always held firm in its goal of uniting the community through self-expression and the celebration of each person’s unique value to the school,” said Eric Kallbrier, assistant to the director of activities and an upper school Spirit Club advisor. “It provides an opportunity for students (and faculty) to unwind, de-stress and reach outward.”
When needed, Harker spirit rises to meet the occasion. For example, in October, the school canceled the annual Harker Family & Alumni Picnic due to poor air quality resulting from the North Bay fires. The Harker community rallied and donated ticket sales, as well as additional money and a busload of supplies, to disaster relief efforts.
“School spirit shows up in how we treat each other and the world around us,” said Head of School Brian Yager. “Service to our own community and to the larger world around us – the last line of our mission statement is that we ‘prepare students to take their place as global citizens’ – is both a goal and a reflection of our collective spirit.”
Beginnings
Harker has always had programs intended to promote school spirit. But the Spirit Club dates back to the mid-1990s, when Harker was a K-8 school. Harker alumnus and then dean of students Dan Gelineau (Palo Alto Military Academy ’65) formed the club with a focus on student activities, explained his son, middle school English teacher Mark Gelineau ’90. These days, Spirit Clubs are active on the lower, middle and upper school campuses.
“[The club] has students taking on roles of leadership as they organize and execute activities for their peers,” said Gelineau. Harker spirit comes naturally to Gelineau; he was spirit commissioner in eighth grade and is now a middle school Spirit Club advisor. “I dig the irony that I’m here as an adult as well,” he added.
Spirit touches on most aspects of student life at Harker, with faculty and staff often getting in on the fun. For example, at a recent assembly, a spoof of the popular TV game show “To Tell the Truth” featured both upper school students and administrators.
“From our student cheering section ‘Flight Zone’ at athletic events to our rallies in the fall and spring to school dances, spirit is connected to many pieces of student life,” Kallbrier said. “At a school as academically challenging as Harker, spirit is an important part of creating a well-balanced community.”
While spirit evolves over time, many events have become beloved traditions. Cookie Day in October, for example, celebrates former longtime Harker president Howard Nichols, who was known for keeping a jar of cookies in his office for passersby to enjoy. On that day, students on all campuses enjoy chocolate chip cookies in honor of Nichols.
Lower School
With the enthusiasm that young children bring to activities, Harker spirit soars on the lower school campus, with much-anticipated annual activities including a Halloween parade, Valentine’s Day lipsync contest and scavenger hunts.
Spirit and service often go hand in hand at Harker, and at the lower school, the two efforts are directly linked by a combined Spirit and Service Club. In February, students enjoyed the 11th annual Pajama Day, an event that oozed both spirit and service. Led by grade 3, students collected 246 pairs of PJs and more than 500 books for the local chapter of the Pajama Program, which seeks to improve the life of children in shelters. On the final day of the drive, students celebrated by wearing their pajamas to school and reading books at an assembly. In addition, a Character In Action program holds kids accountable for doing the right thing; students who are “caught” making good choices are awarded a ticket to put in a quarterly raffle for prizes.
Holidays are particularly fun at the lower school. At a spirit rally in December, students donned Santa hats, made crafts and competed in holiday-themed games, including Pin the Nose on Rudolph. “My favorite spirit events were the Halloween and Christmas events,” said Summer Adler, grade 5, “because we got to decorate pumpkins on Halloween, and on Christmas we had a really funny Four Corners [trivia game] activity.”
To celebrate the Lunar New Year in February, students enjoyed Chinese food and learned to tie various Chinese knots. For St. Patrick’s Day, students were encouraged to wear green, with prizes awarded to the most “greened out” student in each homeroom. The day included many fun activities, including a hilarious Irish Jig freeze dance.
When asked what her favorite spirit event is, fifth grader Vika Gautham couldn’t narrow it down. “My favorite spirit event is all the spirit events, because Spirit and Service is a really fun activity that I love to go to. It’s a great opportunity to make new friends and plan amazing events that everyone loves.”
Spirit events give students a chance to have fun and show their school spirit, explained Walid Fahmy, lower school P.E. teacher and Spirit and Service Club advisor.
“Overall, I think our Spirit and Service Club is designed to strengthen our Harker community, make the school a better place, share Harker pride and, of course, have fun!” he said.
Middle School
At the middle school, most spirit events are student driven. Students vote on spirit themes, help decide which games to play and set up activities. During Spirit Week in the spring, students are encouraged to dress to match daily themes, such as Pajama Day and Twin Day. The week culminates in a much-anticipated lip-sync contest.
“We believe in giving them ownership,” said Kevin Reduta, a middle school Spirit Club advisor. “It keeps the students invested in the club and gets them excited and engaged for each event.” At the middle school, “houses” compete for points, much like in the “Harry Potter” series. Advisories are grouped into four houses, each of which includes sixth, seventh and eighth graders to level the playing field. The names of the houses – Praestantia, Constantia, Beneficium and Scientia – come from the school seal, meaning excellence, constancy, service and science in Latin.
Spirit commissioner Ayan Nath, grade 8, said his favorite events are those that bring the entire campus together, such as an annual take on the TV show “The Price is Right” and the lip-sync contest. Last year, the Spirit Club introduced a new game called “Famous Faces,” in which students viewed a scene from a movie or TV show, then worked together to name the actor or actress, their character and the movie or show. “We try to get students to have fun as a school and we get students to spend more time with their advisory,” Nath said. “It just feels good making people smile and happy.”
While many activities focus on having fun with classmates, others spread happiness more subtly. In November, middle school students painted “kindness rocks,” inscribed with positive messages such as “Be Happy” and “You are Worth It” to place around the school. Though not organized by the Spirit Club, the project demonstrated that Harker spirit seeps into many aspects of student life. In late March, the club helped organize the annual Cancer Walk, which raises money for Camp Oziku, a summer camp for children with cancer.
Both Nath and fellow spirit commissioner Alysa Su, grade 8, said they hope even more students will join the Spirit Club and get involved in activities.
“Some people might feel unsure or shy about joining because we’re a very outgoing group and not many people know about the behind-the-scenes work for creating Cancer Walk posters, selling snowman grams or creating spirit events,” Su said. “I would love more people to join, because our spirit group is definitely a big family that’s always willing to help, create and inspire others to keep up the Harker spirit!”
Upper School
Like at the middle school, upper school spirit activities involve students competing for spirit points. Freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors battle for class points throughout the year. Muchanticipated events include pumpkin carving and gingerbread house building contests at Halloween and Christmas.
During fall Spirit Week, prior to Homecoming, students compete for points by painting 4-foot-tall eagle statues, performing skits and dressing up for various themes, among other activities. On Friday of that week, students dressed in class colors and costumes march through campus to Davis Field, where the classes compete in games and skits, and where this year the seniors prevailed in the annual scream-off. High-energy performances by the Harker cheer squad and Varsity Dance Troupe add to the excitement.
Whereas fall Spirit Week helps kick off the school year, spring Spirit Week helps keep students energized as the school year winds down.
“Spring Spirit Week has always been my favorite,” Lin said. “Everyone’s in a constant energetic mood throughout the week thanks to the daily spirit events and dress-up themes, and it all culminates in the massive spirit rally that really unites the entire school.”
The upper school Spirit Club comprises three committees. A competitive events committee plans activities in which classes compete for points; an athletic affairs committee promotes spirit around athletic events; and a community events committee encourages community bonding through noncompetitive events, explained Kallbrier.
In addition, other student groups sometimes organize activities. For example, to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Harker’s Chinese National Honor Society held a dragon-building contest. Students created colorful dragons, which they paraded through campus. Earlier in the year, Harker’s DECA chapter partnered with the Spirit Club to organize a dodgeball competition in the new gym. The event gave students a chance to unwind, promoted DECA and raised money through boba sales for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
While many spirit events have become ingrained in Harker culture, new events bring added excitement to campus. In November students organized the first-ever Quadchella festival, a light-hearted event featuring student and faculty musicians and poets. Harker spirit shows up in both expected and unexpected ways, noted Yager.
“I love hearing students support each other in everything from performing arts and sports venues, to poetry readings and student assemblies,” he said. “Spirit is also visible in the student-led projects that serve our mission, and in the work of the staff at every campus, through things as obvious as decorations at holidays to things like kind and supportive comments to students and colleagues that might not be noticed by anybody.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
Ohio native Tobias Wade has a busy Harker life. He teaches U.S. History and World Geography at the lower school, coaches grades 4-5 after-school sports, advises the Bucknall Spirit and Service Club, and directs afternoon activities for Harker’s summer camp. But at heart, he’s a family man, grateful to hang out with his wife, son, brother and brother’s kids. Wade said his 4-year-old son, Talon, “is always making me smile. He is the reason I get up in the morning.” Read on for more about this versatile teacher.
Why do you do what you do?
I think learning is truly magic. Giving kids the tools to discover the world around them is truly a blessing. I enjoy my students’ energy and I feel it keeps me young.
What helps you persevere when you feel like giving up?
Honestly, I think about my wife. She is a three-time cancer survivor. If she can do that, then I cannot give up on anything I try to do.
What are you obsessed with?
I love zombie books and movies.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks?
Enjoy life and don’t sweat the small things; we never know how much time we have on the earth.
What are some things you like to do when you finally have a block of free time?
I like to read and play with my son. I enjoy camping, watching football and cooking. And I’m trying to learn Bonsai.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
Talk to upper school art teacher Pilar Agüero-Esparza for just a few minutes and you’ll be struck by how art flows through her life. She calls it an “honor to witness” students make connections through art, treasures time in her studio – searching for a “state of flow” when she loses track of time – and counts a visit to a gallery as a crucial part of a perfect day. She also says that teaching young people about art informs her own work and keeps her connected to ideas. Read on as this Los Angeles native gives Harker Magazine a glimpse into some other things she values.
What makes you feel like a kid again?
Riding Space Mountain in Disneyland.
What are you obsessed with?
Leather handbags and shoes. Growing up in my parents’ shoe shop immersed me in the wonderful smell and feel of leather. Now, when I purchase another purse or pair of shoes, I tell my husband, “I need them, it’s research!” I treasure my Landis Outsoles Stitcher – an 800-pound piece of shoemaking equipment I got from my dad. I plan on making an art project with it someday.
For what are you most proud of yourself?
I put myself through grad school to get my MFA. When I started, I had a toddler and a part-time job at Harker; when I completed it, I was juggling my full-time job and a first grader. It was a lot of late nights and it took me almost five years to finish. (My daughter is now a Harker junior!)
What is the best compliment someone can give you?
That I am perceptive.
What gives you a reason to smile?
When I see my daughter, Olivia, dance.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
By Brian Yager, delivered at the 2018 graduation ceremony
For the senior class trip to Laguna Beach, I packed two books. I cannot imagine a trip to the seaside without some reading material, and I also picked my books with an eye towards preparing comments for the 2018 graduation ceremony. The first book was “Teacher Man,” by Frank McCourt, the author of “Angela’s Ashes,” a memoir for which McCourt received the Pulitzer Prize. The second book was “What Money Cannot Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” written by Michael Sandel, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University.
Graduation, like other significant moments in our existence, is a time when time itself is especially fluid in our lives. We are immersed in memories and asked to envision the future, looking backward and forward in equal measure, as nostalgia for the past mingles with the excitement and expectation of how the future might unfold. In “Teacher Man,” McCourt shares that we neither can nor should assume too much about the trajectory of our own lives, nor set limits on what might fill them. The book, written after “Angela’s Ashes” thrust McCourt into the international spotlight, is an autobiography covering McCourt’s principal vocation for his entire working life: that of a teacher of high school English in New York City. He did not write “Angela’s Ashes” until he was 66 years old. When asked why he did not pen his seminal novel until nearing the age of retirement, he proclaims, “I was teaching, that’s what took me so long.” McCourt benefited from the wisdom of his years as he experienced the onslaught of fame and opportunity that came with it, noting that despite his surprise at the success of his work, he still considered himself a teacher who had written, rather than as a writer who had taught.
In “What Money Cannot Buy,” Sandel explores the challenges – and the hazards – of attempting to quantify and assign monetary value to moral decisions. He notes that in a world increasingly intent on monetizing value and assessing well-being and success in economic terms, there are some things that money cannot buy, or measure. He shares some thought-provoking findings, some of which are particularly timely for our graduating seniors. These include: the negative long-term impact of paying students for good grades; the moral consequences of allowing families to purchase the right to bypass lines at Disneyland; and the deleterious outcomes associated with compensating Swiss citizens for the inconvenience of having a nuclear waste repository in their neighborhood. This last finding deserves further exploration.
In 1993, Swiss authorities identified the ideal site to store the country’s nuclear waste. The problem was that the site abutted a small village. When polled about their willingness to live with the storage facility next to them, 51 percent of the town’s citizens indicated that they would accept the decision. Wanting a larger proportion of the town’s citizens to approve of the plan, economists also offered to pay each citizen for the imposition. Expecting this added benefit to lead to a greater rate of acceptance, officials were shocked to discover that only 25 percent approved of the idea when paid for their trouble. The added bonus actually decreased the town’s willingness to be a nuclear repository.
Sandel explains that once a monetary incentive was added, what had been seen as a civic duty was turned into a commodity. The villagers were originally motivated to do their part for their country. The monetary incentive that was offered created a market mentality that superseded a moral stance. Money, it turned out, could not only not buy civic action, it undermined it.
In examining the ways we assign value to non-economic components of our lives, Sandel also ventures into a discussion on the concept of return on investment – ROI – and how we might consider the benefits, especially long-term, of both monetary and moral outcomes.
In this lens, it seems fitting to ask the question, what is the ROI from our students’ time at Harker? Certainly, we cannot know this now for our current students, for so much of the impact of their time here will manifest over the course of their entire lives – which we hope will be both long and fruitful. However, we can still explore a little in the abstract, and use history as a guide.
Through the lens of economic benefit, it seems a virtual certainty that collectively our graduates will be wealthier for their time here, and that the return on investment for them as a group will be significant. They will materially benefit in many ways from their days as Eagles. Most noticeably, by successfully graduating from Harker, the Class of 2018 and those following it will have developed the skill sets and the social capital to position themselves well for a future that is very successful in the traditional, economic sense.
However, not all of our graduates will be financially better off from their time at Harker. Not all of them will be able to claim, at the end of their careers some 50 years from now, that Harker was a worthwhile investment from a financial standpoint. At least, we hope that this is the case. For some of them will choose to pursue things in their careers, and outside of them, that will be of far greater personal value to them than can be obtained or even measured in a monetary sense. Each student’s return – the “R” in ROI – is and should be about different things for him or her, as each will have different goals, ambitions and moral compasses. Sandel’s exploration of the power of markets is, at its heart, a referendum on this notion – that value, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder.
For McCourt, who noted that while his life became much more celebrated once he became famous, his life’s real work was to teach, and he did so willingly, gladly and successfully for more than 40 years, despite constant challenges and low pay, and the status of teaching as “the downstairs maid of professions in America.” In fact, he not only recognized this status, he valued it, for it let him know that his career choice was not driven by prestige and money, but by his desire to have a different kind of impact.
There is a related theme to Sandel’s book that provides an additional perspective of value for all of us. He reflects on the fact that economic models examine behaviors in the context that all resources are scarce, and that we make decisions based on optimizing the benefit of resource use over time, constantly weighing whether we should consume something now, or save it for later, but knowing that we cannot do both. Sandel asks the question: what about love? Economic modeling, he notes, “ignores the possibility that our capacity for love (and benevolence) is not depleted with use but enlarged with its practice.”
“Think of a loving couple,” he writes. “If, over a lifetime, they hoarded their love, how well would they fare? Would they do better to treat one another in more calculating fashion, to conserve their love for the times they really need it?”
The answer, of course, is no. Love is not a depletable commodity. Rather, the more love we share, the more love there is. Unlike in the world of physics, in which every particle created must also have an antiparticle, love can grow unbounded, unlimited by the rules of markets or the laws of physics. We ask our graduates to keep this in mind in the years ahead.
As we say farewell to Harker’s graduates of 2018, we do not actually say goodbye. Rather, we recognize this significant transition, and we say hello to them as adults. In the years ahead, we look forward to seeing how they will define and find success, how they will make the world a better place, not because of the compensation for doing so, but in spite of it, and we hope that they will continually experience and contribute to the power of love.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
Harker runs through the veins of middle school English teacher Mark Gelineau ’90. His late mother, Pam, was lower school admission director for years, and his late father, Dan, was not only an alumnus (Palo Alto Military Academy ’65), but went on to be athletic director, dean of students and assistant head of school. Gelineau’s wife, Tiffany, is a familiar face around campus as a substitute nurse. A kind and giving spirit shines through all he does, from co-leading the middle school Spirit Club to volunteering with theater organizations, from publishing a number of fantasy novels to supporting organizations that help fight the exploitation and trafficking of children. This Renaissance man shared some thoughts with Harker Magazine.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks?
Shyness is overrated. I was a super shy kid growing up. I got over it. Control the spotlight and you aren’t embarrassed to be in it.
What is something that you pretend to understand when you really don’t?
Sports. Pretty much all sports. My idea of fantasy football involves dragons and a hobbit. I wish there was an actual Quidditch team I could support.
What is something one of your parents said that you will never forget?
My dad once told me that the most important thing about teaching is that every single student, every child that you come in contact with that day, is the most important person in the world to someone. It took me becoming a father to really understand just how true and profound that was.
Why do you do what you do?
Because I get to talk about stories with brilliant young people. And that’s so awesome.
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows?
I practice historical European martial arts. My specialties are medieval arming sword and shield, medieval pole-axe, and sword and buckler. It’s crazy and I love it.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
Carol Parris is the department chair for the grades 1-8 modern and classical languages department, and – appropriately, given her name – teaches French at the middle school. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she lives in Sunnyvale. A woman of many interests, Parris especially loves travel, and singing in shows and with her vocal ensemble, the Sweet Adelines. She shared some of those interests, and a few surprises, with Harker Magazine.
Describe a great travel experience.
I went to Tahiti with a group of artists to paint watercolor flowers. I didn’t know how to draw or paint, but I wanted to speak French and visit Gauguin’s home.
What is something you would love to do so much that you would be OK with failing at it?
I wrote a novel of women’s fiction with romantic elements. Maybe one day I’ll publish it.
Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
The Dalai Lama. I’d like to bask in his light. And Steph Curry … for the same reason.
For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
I’ll always be grateful that I was home one summer day years ago when [Harker Academy school principal] Alice Williams called, needing a language teacher right way. She said that she had tried to call me a few times, and this was her last attempt. I’ve been at Harker ever since, enjoying the family atmosphere that Howard Nichols talked about so often.
What is a recent accomplishment that you’re proud of?
I think that might be coming up in June. I grew up at a time when girls were rarely celebrated when they turned 13, although boys had a bar mitzvah. For the last two years, I’ve been attending an adult b’nai mitzvah class, and on June 2, I will be one of 11 adults celebrating my bat mitzvah, only just a few years late! Right now, I’m in the role of student with lots of homework to get ready for the big event, so I know what my students go through with their busy schedules.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
While Harker students are known for their academic achievements, they often look for ways to apply their rigorous education to situations that affect the world far beyond their school’s demarcations. To meet this demand, several programs have developed over the last two decades to give students a way to rise to challenges that people deal with in their everyday lives, or to provide possible solutions to problems just over the horizon.
At Harker, the largest and longest-running of these programs has been Future Problem Solving (FPS), which just last year extended to the lower school. Middle school history teacher Cyrus Merrill became the faculty advisor for the program during the 1998-99 school year, and Harker FPS teams have advanced to the program’s international competition 13 times since 2002.
Since its founding in 1974 by psychologist Ellis Paul Torrance, Future Problem Solving Program International has grown to attract more than a quarter of a million participants each year in grades 4-12. Each year, students receive general topics to research in preparation for the problem scenarios that are later distributed to the participating schools. Typically, the topics involve the use of developing technologies and societal trends. This year’s topics included criminal justice, controlling the spread of infectious disease and the overabundance of toxic waste. The selected topics are approached from many angles, including civil liberties, environmental impact and the effects they have on world economies. “In FPS, we learn to analyze the same issue from 18 different perspectives, which shows us just how complex these global emergencies are,” said Meghana Karinthi, grade 12, who has been involved with FPS since grade 6.
In competition, students are given a scenario and have two hours to devise a number of possible solutions, choosing the one they feel is the best and developing a plan to implement it. It is during this time that the previous research done on the topics becomes crucial, as often the scale of the problems can be daunting. “At first, when I was in sixth and seventh grades, it was really difficult for me to comprehend this magnitude of what we were trying to solve in FPS,” said Karinthi, “but still, I was fascinated, and that fascination has stuck with me ever since.”
Because FPS requires a diverse set of skills, it has attracted students with a wide range of interests. “My sixth grade English teacher recommended me to Mr. Merrill as someone who might be a good fit for the program since I loved writing, so Mr. Merrill came up to me one day at lunch and asked me to join,” said Jessica Wang, grade 12. “A couple of my other friends were also starting FPS, and I figured I might as well try it, and as it turns out, I fell in love with it.”
Often students involved with FPS have discovered that in addition to bolstering their research skills, competing in the program has helped grow their interest in a range of topics, which has some unexpected benefits. “Since FPS covers a wide range of topics, from transportation to technology, researching those different topics in preparation for our problems is a really good way for me to learn more about things that I normally wouldn’t be looking into,” Wang said. “Because of that, I’m able to use that information for my classes too, like when different political trends my team researched were relevant to my history course last year.”
Sasvath Ramachandran, grade 8, admitted that he sometimes viewed the scenarios as far-fetched, but that they have helped him see the world in ways he previously did not. “Essentially, FPS has taught me to observe the world around me and keeps me thinking on my toes about what could improve,” he said.
Although the main goal of FPS is to train students to tackle situations that can often seem grim, the competition’s verbal presentation component – in which teams put together skits describing their solutions, often with hilarious outcomes – is a favorite of students who like to flex their creativity. “During skits, I have the chance to laugh and enjoy moments with my team, while accessing my inner creativity to put on a fun show,” Ramachandran said. Karinthi found that working with others was the greatest reward she received as an FPS competitor. “Whether it’s my actual team that I compete with, the officer team that I work with, or the middle and lower school teams that I mentor, I’ve met some incredible people through FPS who I never would have met otherwise,” she said, noting the value of short but memorable moments she has shared with her teammates. “Random moments, like sharing a bag of popcorn with my teammates while researching the next topic, or reading the string of hilarious text messages in the officers’ group chat about someone’s lost vacuum cleaner, make me realize that these people aren’t just my FPS classmates, they’re my friends.”
Giving presentations is just one of the confidence-building aspects of FPS, which emphasizes teamwork and making the most of each team member’s strengths. Wang found that this process helped her overcome initial reservations about working with people she didn’t know. “When I first joined the program, I was super shy and introverted, and I only knew a few people also in the program, which meant that I had to learn to work with people I’d never spoken to before,” she said. “By working as a part of a four-person team, I slowly became more comfortable with sharing my ideas and building off those of my teammates, and FPS is what really made me realize the value of teamwork.”
eCybermission
FPS is just one example of the opportunities students have to apply their learning to real-world problems. The middle school-based eCybermission science fair, sponsored by the U.S. Army, offers opportunities to delve into challenges affecting local communities and have a direct impact. Harker students have been entering the eCybermission competition since the 2005-06 school year, and four teams have qualified for the national finals in Washington, D.C. Unlike Future Problem Solving, students are free to choose a topic so long as it falls within one of several categories. After identifying a community problem, “students do experiments, they do surveys, they do interviews,” said middle school science teacher Vandana Kadam, who has overseen the program since the first year Harker began participating.
This year’s project – conducted by eighth graders Madelyn Jin, Clarice Wang, Emily Zhou and Gloria Zhu – investigated the causes of the wildfires that ravaged much of Northern California last fall. In the course of their research, they explored the various methods used to fight fires and spoke to a local fire official to gain his insight on how fires are contained. Their science studies at Harker also provided valuable information on “how fire reacts to different chemicals and how fire reacts to water, what makes the fire grow bigger, what extinguishes the fire,” said Wang.
Although eCybermission is a primarily a STEM competition, it is also multidisciplinary in that it makes use of a wide range of skills, such as writing and public speaking, according to Kadam. Previous projects have seen students directly engage with their communities to address potential problems. In 2010, an eCybermission team known as “Dust Busters” investigated water sources in Cupertino that were in close proximity to a quarry, and discovered that dust from the quarry was polluting the drinking water in the area surrounding the source, increasing its mercury levels. To bring attention to this issue, they presented their findings at a city council meeting. The Dust Busters went to the national competition that year.
Community presentations at schools, libraries and community centers are an important aspect of eCybermission, as they bring awareness to issues that residents may not be aware of, in addition to helping students build confidence in summarizing and presenting information on complex topics. “For the students to be able to connect to these people they’re presenting to is very important,” said Kadam. “It’s going outside of their comfort zone in a way.”
Students also learn how problems can arise in the course of developing a project, and how to deal with them in a timely manner. “We encountered a big setback while we were doing our project and we had to reorganize and change the whole project in a short period of time,” Zhou recalled. Accounting for each team member’s schedule was another hurdle, as well as a learning opportunity. “Time management was really difficult, because we had to find times to meet up and work on things as a group and with our advisor,” said Wang.
It also helps students realize the impact they can have on their communities, however small it may be. “There are problems in the community that we can solve in our little ways,” Kadam said. “They feel good that, whatever little they did, the research they have done is helpful to those people in the community.”
TEAMS
At the upper school, students each year participate in an engineering-focused competition called TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science), formerly known as the Junior Engineering Technical Society. Upper school math teacher Anthony Silk has managed the program since 2007, and in the ensuing years, students have performed very well, with key accolades including a 2016 “Best in Nation” designation and a 2015 second place finish at the national level, as well as numerous distinctions at the state level.
TEAMS has two high school divisions – one for grades 9 and 10 and another for grades 11 and 12 – and each TEAMS competition has three components: a thoroughly researched essay on a given scenario, a multiple-choice exam containing 80 questions on various engineering problems, and a design/build stage in which teams use provided materials to complete a design challenge based on the competition theme for that year.
“I think the engineering challenge was a group favorite,” said Mohindra Vani, grade 10, from this year’s team. “It got our adrenaline pumping and it was gratifying to see the result of our labors take the shape of some tangible object because that wasn’t something we really got in the multiple choice or essay sections of the competition.” Of the three components, Silk said, “One of them is simply pure academics, one of them is more research and one of them is more practical, how you visualize the world and can you make engineering connections,” describing the various skills that come into play in the competition. “[The students are] really trying to find ways that we interact with the environment and how we can do better at that.”
As with other competitions, division of duties according to each team member’s strengths is an important element of success in TEAMS competitions. “This is done in a group of eight, and they have to work together,” Silk said. “No one student can say, ‘Well, I’ll do it all and you check my work.’ It has to be, ‘You’re the chemistry lead, you’re the physics lead, etc.’”
Silk also stressed that the competition is almost entirely student-run; he acts only as the facilitator for the multiple-choice portion. “Some schools have TEAMS classes where they meet every week,” he said. “We don’t do any of this. If this is what they want to do, I provide them with the materials, I provide them past exams so they can see how it is, but they have to get together on their own, they have to study on their own, they have to figure out how to work together on their own.”
The scheduling of the TEAMS competition often makes it difficult for juniors and seniors to compete at the national level due to internships and other obligations, but students in grades 9 and 10 have seen success at nationals on several occasions, including the aforementioned placements in 2015 and 2016, as well as another “Best in Nation” win in 2013 and a fourth place national finish last year.
Silk says, however, that what’s important for the students is not to chase accolades, but to enjoy the act of solving problems through engineering. “I think that’s really important for our kids, that they’re doing this purely for the enjoyment of it because they want to do it and they’re going to drive themselves to do it,” he said. “Not because of a grade, not because somebody’s telling them to do it.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2018 issue of Harker Magazine.
“I’m actually still shocked.… When they read out the second place, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be getting anything,” said a smiling Yi Sun ’06, when he was interviewed in 2009 by NBC 11 after winning second place in the Intel Science Talent Search. “I really didn’t think it went that well.”
But obviously, it did go well for Sun, then a senior at Harker, who competed against 1,500 students to win second place in the prestigious competition.
Sun, who was born in Shanghai and moved all over China, then to Canada and a few cities in the U.S. as a child, arrived at Harker in seventh grade. His natural inclination toward complex math topics was evident to every teacher he encountered, including Vandana Kadam, middle school math department chair, who encouraged him to participate in math competitions.
“He is one of three students who I have taught in 20 years that I remember to have had a genuine love for the subject, which was at a level that is unparalleled,” said Kadam. “Apart from his amazing math abilities, the one thing that I fondly remember about Yi is his immense modesty and his maturity at that age.”
His modesty is still intact even after completing his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master of advanced studies in mathematics from the University of Cambridge, and a bachelor’s and master’s in mathematics from Harvard University.
Today Sun is a Simons Fellow in the math department at Columbia University. His research interests are in representation theory and integrable systems and their applications to probability and random matrices.
“These are pretty technical subjects that aren’t going to be that relatable, but basically I spend my time researching, writing papers and teaching,” said Sun. “I like to have a balance between the three and working with freshmen is kinda refreshing.”
Sun’s passion for teaching has been fed over the years at the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program, where he has been an instructor for seven summers.
“I attended this summer program after doing well in math competitions, which are not very fun to watch,” Sun said with a soft laugh. “The first year I went, I thought I was good at math, but then I was surrounded by these super smart people and very difficult problems.”
As a student, in addition to mathematics, he also loved history, art history, French and English, which allowed him to reflect on various subjects from a different angle.
“Sure, he was exceptionally brilliant, but what I remember most was his smile and how much he loved to laugh,” said Kevin Lum Lung, a college counselor at Harker. “And he always greeted everyone with that wonderful smile, treated everyone with respect and was willing to help anyone who asked.”
Although math is clearly Sun’s passion, other interests include trivia (he captained Harker’s Quiz Bowl team to two second place finishes), coffee (he’s been to nearly every coffee shop in New York City) and powerlifting (which he learned from a “large Ukrainian dude who had a silver medal”).
“Yi was a genius, but he also worked very hard. He could’ve easily skipped on doing the mundane homework, but he never did,” said Bradley Stoll, upper school math teacher. “To this day, Yi is the one student by whom all others could be measured, if one were to do that. He’s a legend at Harker … really.”
Vikki Bowes-Mok is also the executive director of the community nonprofit Compass Collective.