The middle school forensics program traveled to Birmingham, Ala., in June to compete at the National Junior Forensics League National Tournament. The team as a collective brought home the National School of Excellence Award that recognizes the top three speech and debate programs in the country. The team also earned the National Debate School of Excellence Award given to the top six debate programs in the country.
As individuals, the students earned many awards including two national championships. The team of Aditya Dhar and Alexander Lam, who both start grade 9 next year, debated the benefit of drone strikes in Public Forum debate and after nine tough rounds were declared the national champions.
In Congressional debate, the Harker team had the top four students in the event which is a monumental achievement. Winning his second national championship, Lam took first place. Dhar took second, rising freshmen Emaad Raghib was third and Misha Tseitlin was fourth. Rishab Gargeya, who also recently finished grade 8, was also a finalist. Last year at Nationals Dhar won first place and Lam won second place.
In Policy Debate, recent middle school graduates Raymond Xu and Rahul Shukla advanced to the final four in their discussion about transportation infrastructure. Rising eighth grader Megan Huynh and Anika Jain, a freshman next year, advanced to the top 16.
In Lincoln Douglas debate, the students discussed the desirability of an oppressive government over no government. Rising grade 8 students Serena Lu and Sagar Rao advanced to the top sixteen. Lu and Liza Turchinsky, also in grade 8 next year, were recognized as being exceptional speakers and winning the seventh place and fifth place awards in that category. Turchinsky also received second place in the continuation rounds.
Harker also had students who competed in Original Oratory, a 10-minute speech students write themselves that call the audience to action. Jain, Nikhil Dharmaraj, rising grade 8, and Carissa Chen, starting grade 9 in the fall, all advanced to the elimination rounds. Chen advanced to finals and received the fifth place award; she was also recognized for her impromptu speaking skills and advanced to the top 12 in this event.
The students had an amazing performance and the coaches are all very proud of their success. “Thank you for all of your support of middle school forensics throughout the year,” said middle school forensics teacher Karina Momary. “I know our schedule is not the easiest to accommodate but your flexibility and support is what allows the students to participate and excel. A special thank you to Jonathan Brusco. Jonathan gave topic lectures to the Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas debaters before Nationals. His insights helped the boys win the finals!”
This story was submitted by Harker rising junior Cindy Liu.
On July 2, a team of eight Harker rising juniors placed first in the nation in the 9/10 division for the 2013 Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS). The competition took place during the national Technology Student Association (TSA) conference held from June 28 to July 2 in Orlando, Fla. The team members included Andrew Jin, David Lin, Cindy Liu, Steven Wang, Rachel Wu, Stanley Xie, Leo Yu and Andrew Zhang.
TEAMS is an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition challenging students to work collaboratively and apply their math and science knowledge and problem-solving skills in practical, creative ways to solve real world engineering challenges. The 2013 TEAMS theme was “Engineering a Secure Cyberspace.” The first part of the competition, held locally in March, included 80 multiple choice questions and eight short essays on the theme. The team ranked number one in California in the grade 9/10 division and were invited to participate in second part of the competition at the national level. The part II test consisted of three categories: a research essay on cybersecurity, a written problem-solving exam with complex math, physics and computer science scenarios and an extemporaneous debate on one of three topics: social media, work place privacy and cloud computing. All of the students benefited from the knowledge they had accumulated in Harker classes, such as their math courses, AP Physics, AP Computer Science and the debate program.
The TSA is a national organization that supports more than 60 STEM competitions for middle and high school students nationwide. TSA membership includes more than 190,000 students in 2,000 schools spanning 48 states. In addition to the TEAMS competition, students attended ceremonies recognizing TSA development and were able to meet with participants of other TSA projects. All of the participating teams qualified for the national round by placing in the first four places in their states.
After more than a year preparing, Harker received final approval July 18 for its new preschool, which opens Sept. 3.
Located on Union Avenue, Harker Preschool sits on an 8-acre site that has been under renovation since January.
“We’re very excited to add the preschool to our K-12 school community,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school.
The new play-based preschool offers programs for 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds and transitional kindergartners. With a focus on child-centered learning and teacher-guided explorations, the curriculum is rich with music, art, movement and nature. All preschool teachers have college degrees – some with multiple and advanced degrees — and backgrounds working with children.
“We are building a very special place for young children, with kind, passionate and highly qualified teachers giving guidance,” said Andrea Hart, director of the preschool. “We also have a large, thoughtfully developed campus, and the best blend of early childhood education philosophies enabling children to develop and learn while engrossed in rich, hands-on play experiences.”
A Bay Area native, Hart spent 11 years teaching at the Bing Nursery School, the play-based laboratory preschool at Stanford University, spent years teaching in local Montessori preschools and was a student of the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Columbia University.
Applications for admission to the preschool are currently being accepted and interested parents may register online at http://preschool.harker.org or by picking up a registration packet at any of the other three Harker campuses. There will be tours for prospective parents July 18 at 9 a.m., July 21 at 10 a.m. and July 23 at 5:30 p.m. For parents to get the most out of these events, they are encouraged to arrange child care for their little ones.
“We are all so excited about the new preschool,” said Kelly Espinosa, who oversees the school’s summer and preschool programs. “It is a beautiful facility that promises to be a one-of-a-kind experience for young children.”
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly. Read the complete issue at http://bit.ly/10W17nX.
The Board of Fellows, an advisory board to Harker’s Board of Trustees, welcomed six new members during its spring reception held in April.
Current parents Dr. Raju Vegesna and Jeffrey Rothschild joined Harker alumni Ayanna Cage ’89, Ken Hunt ’79, Maheen Kaleem ’03 and John Owens ’85 in becoming part of a dedicated group of current parents, alumni parents and alumni who meet regularly to exchange ideas on strategic planning for the school.
Vegesna, a highly respected Silicon Valley entrepreneur, currently chairs the Raju Vegesna Infotech & Industries Group, a consultancy firm serving the information technology industry. Earlier in his career, he leveraged his technical and business expertise to found two leading technology companies, ServerWorks and ServerEngines. He and his wife, Bala, live in San Jose and are the parents of twins Ramanand and Srivani, grade 5.
Rothschild and his wife, Marieke, are the parents of Isaac, grade 11. Rothschild currently serves as the vice president of technology at Facebook and works as a consulting partner with Accel in Palo Alto. He co-founded Veritas Software, which merged with Symantec in 2004.
Cage is a corporate paralegal with Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto. She brings 14 years of experience as a paralegal, law clerk and licensed attorney in the state of New Jersey, including five years of experience in private practice. She is engaged to be married to John Carey this July.
Hunt, who received a Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2012 Harker Homecoming game, currently serves as the president of Produxs, which designs online marketing platforms for Fortune 500 corporations and sophisticated consumer video sites. With his experience in strategic marketing, he has secured and managed millions of dollars in commercial deals, government contracts, grants and venture capital. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Mary, 13, and Kenneth, 9.
Kaleem has done extensive work in the movement against human trafficking. As one of the leaders of the Georgetown University anti-trafficking group SSTOP (Students Stopping the Trafficking of People), she helped organize a regional student conference on trafficking and is currently completing her studies as a student attorney at the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2010 she received the Community Service Award at Harker’s All-Alumni Day.
Owens is a partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. He graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1996 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that he was a federal prosecutor for more than 11 years, focusing on white-collar fraud and corruption cases. He and his wife, Marjorie, have two daughters, Jaclyn, 8, and Audrey, 4, and live in San Diego.
The Board of Fellows reception was hosted by Dr. Randhir and Shalini Thakur (Chandini, grade 9; Keshav, grade 8; Shivani, grade 3) at their Fremont home.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Diane Main, the upper school’s assistant director of instructional technology, has been named one of the “100 Top Experts in eLearning and Technology Education” by a blog called The .Edu Toolbox.
“I didn’t know about [the honor] until someone congratulated me on Twitter and provided a link!” said an incredulous Main, who was ranked number 94 on the list by the site, a learning and educational resource.
The blog writes: “Diane Main is passionate about students receiving the skills they need to succeed, and so she took up an interest in educational technology. Her website highlights various presentations and handouts that are helpful for Ed Tech-related activities.”
While most of the experts honored by the blog’s list are very active in the field of educational technology through social media such as Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, those listed in the top 10 are extremely well-known “edu-bloggers” and speakers who are also educators themselves.
Main helps organize local educational technology events through professional development activities she helps run. She also presents on the topic at a number of conferences each year. She began working at Harker last summer and currently teaches one class (Digital World) while simultaneously working with faculty at the upper school on their own technology integration and other ideas. She is also an adjunct faculty member at San Diego State University, teaching an online educational technology course.
Before coming to Harker, she worked at the Milpitas Christian School for about 14 years as a teacher in computer technology. A member of Phi Kappa Phi, Main is a Google certified teacher, Google apps certified trainer and SVCUE board president.
She is also the director of the Making Education Relevant and Interactive through Technology (MERIT) program of the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. MERIT is a yearlong professional development experience for teachers, with a two-week summer institute.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
The busy commotion of construction at Harker’s recently acquired third campus on San Jose’s Union Avenue will soon be replaced by an even more exciting noise: the welcome sound of children at play.
Thanks to a dedicated crew of construction workers, architects and landscapers, the Union campus – which formerly served as a children’s shelter – is getting a much-needed facelift. Now the property seems well poised to open its doors as Harker Preschool this coming school year.
Turning the eight-acre property into a preschool, as well as the future permanent home of Harker’s lower school, has been no easy feat. To that end, Mike Bassoni, Harker’s facility manager, has routinely met with a team of professionals who for months have worked tirelessly to turn the school’s vision of creating the perfect environment for young children into a reality. The coveted Union site first opened in 1995 as a state-of-the-art shelter for abused and neglected children, boasting residential cottages surrounding a beautiful play area. However, over time there was a shift away from placing troubled kids into residential facilities, resulting in the shelter becoming nearly empty and underutilized.
Now, Anderson Brulé Architects, Inc. (ABA) is working with Harker to redesign the shelter to meet the needs of a preschool. Crystal Sanderson, a project manager with ABA, reported that the process of converting the property from a residential setting to one intended for educational day use was going remarkably well.
“The shelter was dated, so we are updating it with refreshing finishes to make it more vibrant, as well as accommodating the special needs of a preschool, with areas for napping, playing and restrooms to size,” she said, adding that her firm’s overarching goal is to help Harker transform the Union campus into a fun, safe environment, with day to day functional needs met.
To achieve that goal, existing buildings are being modified to make them more open, turning formerly enclosed housing cottages into classroom space with more natural light and room for children to play.
“Harker was really smart to find a facility that could be reused in this way,” noted Sanderson.
Pamela Anderson-Brulé, a founder and the president of ABA, added that her firm was charged with the task of not only freeing up living areas for classroom space, but for administrative office use as well. The building also had to be up to fire safety code and meet the needs of the disabled in compliance with California’s state law.
Anderson-Brulé said they were able to work largely with what they had without having to “start over,” and without a lot of construction waste. “It’s a perfect second use/second life for these facilities,” she said.
Harker first made breaking news when it became top bidder on the available third campus property. Following a due diligence period, where Harker reviewed areas such as permit, traffic, environmental and title use, the administration successfully closed on the Union property in January.
Ever since opening the upper school in 1998, Harker has planned to own three campuses. Currently Harker owns the upper Saratoga and lower Bucknall campuses, but holds a lease on the middle school Blackford campus until 2025. However, the Blackford lease has long been viewed as a temporary stopgap measure.
The school’s long-term plan is to locate the middle school on the Bucknall campus and move the lower school to the Union campus. Other plans in the works include building a gym and theater complex on the Saratoga campus to replace the gym and theater on the Blackford campus; creating a permanent solution for field use; making improvements on the Union campus in preparation for its K-5 use; and relocating some operations currently at Blackford.
And, while the preschool would initially operate on the Union property, it would later be transitioned to leased or purchased land when the time comes to move the K-5 programs to Union. The preschool will serve ages 3 through (young) 5-year-olds with the capacity to serve up to 120 students.
According to Bassoni, the addition of a new driveway to the site should help alleviate traffic flow concerns. Additionally, he said construction crews are implementing an emergency vehicle access and designated drop-off area.
Voicing his appreciation for all the donors who helped enable Harker to purchase the property, he said the project will finally be complete on “the day I get to see children enjoying and exploring the new facility.”
Indeed, the entire Harker community looks forward to the time when the sight of workers walking around the Union campus clad in yellow vests and hard hats will be replaced by young children laughing and playing.
“Harker is 120 years old … and we intend to continue our history for many more years to come,” Bassoni said.
Look for updates about the new Union campus and preschool in continuous coverage by Harker Quarterly. FAQs about the preschool are also available online at www.harker.org/preschool.
Of all the remarkable milestones Harker students achieve, none is as great or as meaningful as their final rite of passage when they receive their diplomas. The pride was palpable on May 24 at the Mountain Winery as the Class of 2013 collected their diplomas from Chris Nikoloff, head of school.
Ashvin Swaminathan represented his class as valedictorian, and his speech found a perfect balance between honoring the past and becoming ready for the future. He posed the question, “By what means did every one of us manage to triumph over our tribulations?” The answer? “Our parents.” Swaminathan adjured his classmates, “Let us vow to continue to treat our parents as our heroes,” to honor them and make them proud.
He asked his peers to vow to “never compromise on the value system that our teachers have established for us,” adding, “Let us vow to share our leftover resources with those who are not as fortunate as we are.”
The teachers who had led Swaminathan and his classmates on what he called a “beautiful scholastic safari” were on their feet moments after his talk concluded.
Keynote speaker Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, an organization dedicated to volunteerism which has nurtured projects resulting in the gifting of millions of dollars of services.
Mehta’s engaging speech was a rallying cry to fix what is “at the core of all of today’s most pressing challenges: … we have become profoundly disconnected.” He says humans are wired to give and to help each other, and asked, “Will you, Class of 2013, step up to rebuild a culture of trust, empathy and compassion?”
There are three keys to living a life of giving, Mehta said. The first is to give, the second is to receive, and the third is to dance. “Our biggest problem with giving and receiving is that we try and track it. And when we do that, we lose the beat.”
Nikoloff also had an opportunity to offer some words of wisdom to the class, which he did in a light-hearted talk titled “Love like a Labrador,” meaning unconditionally and with joy.
For this year’s spring musical, the Harker Conservatory returned to a familiar favorite, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” directed by Laura Lang-Ree.
Set in pre-statehood Oklahoma in the summer of 1906, the production centers around the love triangle between Laurey Williams (Cecilia Lang-Ree, grade 12), niece of the respected community figure Aunt Eller (Cristina Jerney, grade 12), lovesick cowboy Curly McLain (Ian Richardson, grade 11) and the mysterious and dark farmhand Jud Fry (Justin Gerard, grade 12).
Meanwhile, the flirtatious Ado Annie Carnes, played by junior Shenel Ekici, reaches a crisis of conscience when she realizes her attraction to the Persian merchant Ali Hakim (Rohan Chandra, grade 12), despite her engagement to the good-hearted but fiscally irresponsible Will Parker (Kevin Moss, grade 11).
Drama and comedy naturally ensue, as conflict grows between Curly and Jud over who will win Laurey’s favor, and Ali Hakim tries to undo the situation involving himself and Ado Annie.
The huge upper school cast included several grade 5 students, all of whom gave splendid performances. Musical director Catherine Snider led the “Oklahoma!” band, whose interpretation of the beloved score was both accurate and inspired, providing the perfect backing for the student singers.
In order to ensure the best performance possible by the students, Lang-Ree enlisted the services of dialect coach Kimily Conkle, who instructed the cast in how to effectively convey the time and place of the musical with the right pronunciations and inflections. Fight choreographer Dexter Fidler was also brought in to direct the fight scenes, most notably during the iconic 15-minute dream ballet that closes Act I.
Crucial to all Harker musical productions is the set design, and longtime designer Paul Vallerga came through with a set that remarkably evoked the plains of the early 1900s. Harker students, as always, did a terrific job as the show’s crew, managing the stage, working the light board, assisting with wardrobe and attending to all the other important tasks required to execute a production of this caliber. Meanwhile, sound engineer Brian Larsen, lighting designer Natti Pierce-Thomson and costume designer Caela Fujii were again indispensable.
This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.
From the moment donors set foot on the recently acquired Union Avenue property, they knew they had made the right choice in supporting the historic purchase of the new campus, helping to ensure Harker’s future for generations to come.
“It already feels like home,” was an oft-repeated sentiment among the select groups of donors who enjoyed two recent separate viewings of the site – home to Harker’s soon-to-be-launched preschool and future location of its lower school.
Before much construction got under way, the advancement department treated the campaign supporters to “sneak peeks” of the beautiful new campus, as a way to say “thank you” and celebrate their giving to the capital campaign, which helped fund the purchase.
The first campus tour, held Feb. 7, was for major, visionary benefactors, while the second, on Feb. 25, was attended by donors who had given to Phase IV of the capital campaign.
After enjoying lunch and a campus update on plans for the space, donors took a tour through the buildings, roamed the grounds and had an opportunity to have all their questions answered. The tour included many interesting and heartwarming sites, including a state-of-the-art cafeteria, hand-painted tiles and assorted play structures. Left behind in the art room on an old chalkboard was a quote from B.B. King which read, “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
John Keller (Devin, grade 5; Haley, grade 7; Johnathon, grade 9; Michael ’07), a major benefactor to the capital campaign, said that for him giving is all about the students. “At the end of the day, it goes back to the kids. And our kids are the most important thing we have,” he said.
Calling the Union property a “knock-out,” he added that “looking into the future this could be my favorite campus.”
Donor Jeff Rothschild said that even though his son, Isaac, is a junior who will soon graduate from Harker, he believes funding the new campus is an opportunity to “pay it forward.” Rothschild, a new member of the Board of Fellows, said he feels fortunate for his son to be enjoying the upper school campus facilities that others helped fund and is now thrilled to be a part of “this wonderful new opportunity” to do the same with the Union property.
Following the special donor tours, early March saw two more sneak peeks, one for Harker faculty and staff and the other for Harker families. Finally, about 100 attendees enjoyed the popular annual alumni Easter egg hunt, which was held on the morning of March 23 on the new Union campus.
During that event the sounds of laughing children filled the air, even as several buildings and some of the grounds were in various states of remodeling, serving as a reminder that this beautiful new site is quickly becoming an important part of the Harker community.
The lights dim and spies climb on the runway to gather in front of a dark screen. A hooded figure flickers to life on a video screen and, with a disguised voice, tells the agents to find the secret to Harker’s success. And the countdown begins …
The homage to “Mission: Impossible” set the tone for this year’s fashion show, Mission: Possible – Dare to Try, Harker’s 10th annual fundraising spectacular. The visionary behind the show was Laura Lang-Ree, performing arts chair K-12, who, with parent chair John Keller and producer Beverly Zeiss, created a plotline that ran throughout the show: could undercover agents find the secret to why Harker students had so much fun, did so well and enjoyed school so much?
Student, parent and staff models took to the runway in clothes from several generous fashion partners, and occasionally a secret agent would pop up to try to infiltrate. Dance Fusion, Varsity Dance Troupe, Downbeat, Showstoppers and High Voltage performed dance numbers throughout the show; and in a spectacular finale, live instrumentalists graced the fashion show for the first time as a chamber ensemble and the Grade 5 Choir joined Downbeat to perform while senior models showed off formal evening wear.
By the time Chris Nikoloff was revealed as the agent in disguise, the audience had enjoyed a live auction, a lobby casino and another phenomenal Harker event.
See the TalonWP website for the student journalists’ writeup of the show.