The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced this year’s semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Competition, and 46 Harker students are among those listed, all of whom took the exam last year when they were juniors. They are:
Erik Andersen, Paulomi Bhattacharya, Joshua Bollar, Albert Chen, Jenny Chen, Amie Chien, Emily Chu, Ria Desai, Desirazu Rahul, Rebecca Fang, Drew Goldstein, David Grossman, Varun Gudapati, Jacob Hoffman, Samantha Hoffman, Andre Jia, Nayeon Kim, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Joy Li, Victoria Lin, Rebecca Liu, Meera Madhavan, Simar Mangat, Preeya Mehta, Ramakrishnan Menon, Payal Modi, Suchita Nety, Laura Pedrotti, Kyle Roter, Pooja Shah, Pranav Sharma, Wendy Shwe, Sonia Sidhu, Christopher Sund, Indica Sur, Ashvin Swaminathan, Ravi Tadinada, Apurva Tandon, Lunda Tang, Emily Wang, Jacqueline Wang, Lorraine Wong, Wilbur Yang, Robert Yeats, Michelle Zhang and Warren Zhang.
This contest is entered by more the than one million high school juniors nationwide who take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Exam. Students must maintain exceptional academic performance, receive a recommendation from a school administrator, compose an essay and receive SAT scores consistent with their performance on the PSAT to become finalists.
The upper school’s 2012-13 year began in earnest on Aug. 27 when the entire student body and faculty gathered at the upper school campus quad for this year’s matriculation ceremony. Grades 10-12 greeted the faculty with applause as they carried the flag of the class of 2013. Shortly after, the students cheered for the incoming class of 2016 as they took their seats.
Chris Nikoloff, head of school, greeted the students with an opening speech about jam sessions of the musical and non-musical varieties. He reminisced about his days in junior high and high school, playing both improvised and popular music with his friends. “We played music just to play music,” he said. He also enjoyed talking with his friends through the night, “just to talk, and this too was a form of improvisation.”
Both of these, he said, were activities done for their own sake. “Whatever you call them, I wish for you today that you get lost in some activity for its own sake, and not regard the grades, popularity, college admissions or outcomes of any kind,” he said. “If you have a jam session, you just might find something bigger than yourself to love, or you might find that you yourself are more, way more, than you ever imagined.”
Following Nikoloff’s opening remarks, Cantilena, the upper school all-female vocal group directed by Susan Nace, sang a spirited rendition of Stephen Hatfield’s “Run, Children, Run,” complete with improvised passages and raucous audience participation.
Butch Keller, upper school head, then took the stage to deliver his matriculation address, which focused on two lessons he felt were particularly important. The first was the importance of having goals. “There is no achievement without goals,” he said. He then related a story he’d heard about a Harvard graduate with a business degree who met a fisherman one day and offered to help him to start a business that would make him rich, only to realize that the fisherman would do the same things he does every day even after becoming successful.
The second lesson Keller wanted to get across was the importance of being able to react to tense situations in a calm and rational manner. He related a personal anecdote about a time he went golfing with his two sons. At one point, a particularly irate golfer started a confrontation that could have potentially ended in violence. “That wouldn’t have been right. Think of the litigation,” Keller joked. Instead, he and his sons defused the situation by walking away and notifying those in charge of the golf course about the troublemaker, who was escorted off the premises.
“It’s not the situation that’s important,” he said. “It’s your reaction to the situation.”
The final speaker of the ceremony was ASB president Raghav Sehtia, grade 12, who warmly welcomed the class of 2016 and said that the best way to enjoy their years as high school students was to be themselves. Sharing a story about a bike-related accident he’d suffered, he said, “I had decided that I wasn’t going to pretend not to cry because it would make me seem manly or strong. Don’t waste your time trying to be someone you aren’t.”
He also advised the students not to be afraid to get involved and to participate in the many activities available to them, something he learned during his freshman year. “I realized that if I did not go out and participate in those skits and spirit events and try new sports, my high school experience would not be a cherishable one,” he said.
Sehtia concluded by introducing the students to this year’s class officers before inviting ASB vice president Maverick McNealy, grade 12, to the stage for the recitation of the matriculation oath. The class of 2016 then signed the matriculation book while the Harker string quartet performed, directed by Chris Florio.
After the students had returned to their seats, the upperclassmen performed the time-honored “Freshman 101” skit, wherein the students, dressed as various superheroes, offered advice to their new friends through a series of humorous sketches, covering topics such as the dress code, honor code and student clubs.
Harker published an updated website design today, www.harker.org, to better address visitor needs and give it a fresh look. The updated site has more information, more photos and the addition of helpful visual markers to assist in navigating the site.
“The updated look and content better reflects our vibrant community,” said Pam Dickinson, Office of Communication director. “We’ll continue to post fresh information and updates to ensure our website remains as vital as the community it represents.”
Former Harker gridiron and swimming stalwart Cole Davis ’10, along with several of his Stanford University swim teammates, competed in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, held June 25 – July 2 in Omaha, Neb.
Although Davis did not place on the team, the experience was one he will never forget. “Olympic trials were really fun,” said Davis. “I was there for about ten days and only raced for 23 seconds, so most of the time I was a spectator, but it was cool to see such an important meet from a behind the scenes perspective. I was seated 106th going in and only 16 advance. I had a decent race, not my best, but I wasn’t expecting to make it to semi-finals, so it wasn’t a crushing disappointment.” The event had a serious wow factor: along with substantial security by U.S. Army troops, “I’ve never swam in a pool with a jumbotron above my head, cameras on the bottom, and flame throwers on the side,” said Davis.
Prior to heading off to Omaha to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, Davis and his teammates had the unique opportunity to train with former Olympic coach Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas at Harker’s Singh Aquatic Center.
In addition to working with Davis and his teammates over the course of a weekend, Sokolovas offered high-level training tips to Harker’s swimming and water polo coaches. A former professional marathon swimmer, Sokolovas has tested, evaluated and advised many U.S. swimming national and Olympic team athletes and coaches.
The private training sessions for the Stanford swimming teammates was made possible by Davis’ parents, John and Christine Davis, who, back in the fall of 2007, generously donated the funds to build the upper school’s athletic field. Christine Davis said that Cole and his friends had been staying with them since the end of school, leading to “some priceless dinner conversation.”
Following the conclusion of the trials, USA Swimming named the complete roster for the 2012 U.S. Olympic swim team. While female swimmers often peak in their teens, men usually peak in their mid- to upper-20s. So for Davis and his Stanford swimming teammates, all 20 years old, simply qualifying to compete at such a high level is an amazing feat.
The Mitra Family Endowment, established last year, has borne its first fruit. Sarah Howells, grade 12 and the first Mitra Scholar, added her effort to the handcrafted social and historical analyses produced by this year’s John Near Endowment scholars.
Howells chose a classic and controversial character for her subject and found an angle not fully explored in her paper, “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain From 1940-1941,” a look at his public relations efforts as they affected Britain’s morale in early World War II.
In 2011, Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra (Shivani, grade 11) established The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, which matches gifts to the annual giving campaign up to a total of $100,000.
“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra at last year’s reception. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
“I knew I wanted to apply for the Mitra grant because I had enjoyed world history so much in my sophomore year,” said Howells. “So I took out a map of the world and realized I didn’t speak any languages other than English. I thought about Britain; my family was affected on two sides by World War Two, both in Poland and in Britain.”
Howell said narrowing down and firming up her topic was an effort, and working with her mentor, history teacher Ruth Meyer, helped. Too broad at first, her topic choices “quickly narrowed to Churchill’s remarkable unification of the government and retaining the trust of the people during the war,” said Howells.
During her research, Howells, who will attend Princeton in the fall, received a package of resource material from her mentor’s mother, still living in England, who had lived in Coventry during the war.
Howells noted, “The most interesting part of writing the paper was transitioning from the researching to the writing. That was the most difficult task for me, since I had a myriad of great resources but no idea how to put them all together.”
Howells took on a subject usually taken for granted – Churchill’s ability to relate to the “everyman” and to the highest in the land (he often personally briefed King George VI on the war’s progress) – and examined its worth in keeping the spirit of resistance alive in beleaguered England. Her examination of Churchill’s handling of the press and public to maintain a unified, confident home front is a unique view, and her writing, worth the read in itself, conveys the passion that Churchill used to inspire fellow politicians and those in the street. Her division of material shows the way for further research on how Churchill handled groups differently.
Like all good researchers, Howells pointed out the weakness in her own paper, the inability to examine the records of Mass Observation and Home Intelligence, a government bureau that monitored the public pulse, due to their volume and her limited access. Howells noted that lacking the confirming information in those records, it was hard to be sure of widespread public approval of Churchill.
“It’s been such a pleasure to work with Sarah,” said Meyer. “She is so balanced in her approach to research, she’s so steady in everything that she does, so well organized. There was this wonderful moment when she came to me with her outline, all of her sources in place, excellent organization – you so need that as a researcher. I just loved working with Sarah,” she said.
Then she addressed Howells: “I know you’re going to carry on with this, that this is the first seed in a long journey. Research is something that hopefully you’ll carry throughout your whole life; and keep looking deeper and deeper in to these questions you have been forming here and will continue to do so at Princeton.”
“Overall, the process of writing the paper was an exciting and challenging opportunity,” said Howells, “and I’m glad I could get a taste of what real humanities research is like before I head off to college.”
At the reception, Howells gave emphatic thanks to her teachers and mentor, “and the Mitra and Near families for having the guts to put forward such faith in us as students to be able to complete such ambitious projects. I don’t think I could have done this if you hadn’t suggested to me that I was capable of completing such a long senior thesis,” she finished.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Sundari Mitra, noting the scholars’ efforts to “inspire us parents. We are really honored and proud that whatever little we could do, that the school has utilized it in such a tremendous manner, so thank you Mr. Nikoloff, the faculty, everyone. I’m really touched and inspired.”
The $300,000 John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff who passed away in 2009, was made by his parents, James and Patricia Near, to, in John Near’s words, “help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.” Each year, three students receive a grant to pursue an independent historical or social study.
Near scholar Max Isenberg chose a subject Churchill, as a former First Lord of the Admiralty, would have been very interested in: the use of on-station naval power as a worldwide deterrent, something at which the British were old hands.
Isenberg’s paper, “Arleigh Burke’s Submarine-Based Finite Deterrent: Alternative to the Nuclear Triad,” an examination of Admiral Arleigh Burke’s answer to ballooning costs involved with maintaining a three-point nuclear deterrent (aircraft, missiles and submarines, all carrying nuclear devices) was carefully researched and covered the salient points of the argument.
Burke, a hard-charger and destroyer flotilla commander early in WWII, proposed a Cold War all-submarine deterrent but could not sell the system politically. Ultimately, however, Isenberg states that the U.S. is moving towards a submarine-based deterrent as ICBMs and B-52 nuke-carrying aircraft become redundant politically and mechanically, justifying Burke’s proposal.
Isenberg, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania for the Jerome Fisher Management and Technology program in the fall in a dual-degree program for business and engineering, noted, “My favorite part of the entire project was looking at the competing theories of nuclear strategy, and how they had consequences not immediately obvious until later in the Cold War.”
Like Howells, searching out a topic was a significant part of the effort. “The process of narrowing down the topic was incredibly informative,” Isenberg said.
“The most difficult part of the project was finding solid first person sources, especially considering the tight classification of many details from the Cold War,” he added. “That difficulty partly contributed to my eventual focus on nuclear strategy as many of the major players in the development of the Triad and finite deterrence had published works, while a lot of the nitty-gritty details of submarines remain inaccessible.”
Isenberg is appreciative of the grant, thanking teacher and mentor Ramsey Westgate, Susan Smith, library director and history department chair Donna Gilbert for their help. “I don’t think there are very many schools of any sort that offer such a rare opportunity to do history research specifically and then give the leeway to explore the topic in such a thorough manner,” he said. “I would like to thank the Near and the Mitra families for creating this opportunity, this really unique chance for all of us to look at the world in a new way.”
Getting there included old-fashioned library research. “I had the great opportunity to visit the [Ronald] Reagan [Presidential] Library [in Simi Valley, Calif.], Isenberg said. “I got to look at a lot of first person documents – some of Burke’s own writings from the 1950s. This is where I really thank the Near family, for providing the opportunity to go down there.”
The voyage of discovery ranged throughout his subject. “I read that during the Cuban missile crisis, we had around 30 or 40 times as many bombs as the Soviets, so our misinformation definitely caused an overreaction,” Isenberg said. That mistaken belief “most definitely convinced people like [then-Secretary of Defense Robert] McNamara and [President John F.] Kennedy to counter aggressively against Khrushchev’s overtures, who definitely portrayed a very strong Soviet nuclear arsenal when in fact it was very much inferior to the United States’,” said Isenberg.
Scholar Dwight Payne, grade 12, chose a current social topic and, as he was out of town during the reception, delivered his address via video. His work, “Can Charter Schools Close the Achievement Gap?” was mentored by teacher Kelly Horan, who noted Payne “wanted to undertake this huge statistical analysis and we quickly realized that was a dissertation and not a high school research paper. This was a great scope for him and he learned an immense amount from the process. He is quite inspired by all of it.”
Payne’s closely researched paper delved into the arcane world of evaluating charter school results. He located a number of studies which threw light on a portion of the process of evaluation, and allowed limited conclusions to be drawn on the efficacy of the charter schools studied. Payne identified some commonalities within the studies and used them for his next step, interviewing charter school administrators and examining the records of their schools.
The schools examined in this portion of the project had a spectrum of student results and, although Payne found and used common criteria for eliminating or at least accounting for bias, the differences between schools, including stability, age of students (one was high school, the others lower and middle schools), location, teaching methods and teacher evaluation and training methods made drawing firm conclusions problematic. Payne was comfortable, however, generally endorsing charter schools as an option for helping those desirous of helping themselves, feeling that time will only improve the system as learning processes are refined and expanded.
He agreed with Howell and Isenberg that finalizing his topic was a major challenge, “one that lasted nearly the entire research and writing process,” he noted. Other steps were hard, but the payoff is clear to Payne. “I absolutely love the research process,” he said. “I learned so much about the difficulties of social science research (and) the intricacies of education reform in general.”
When it came time to write the paper, “sifting through the breadth of literature was a difficult task,” added Payne, who will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in business administration with a possible second major in either economics or psychology.
Another hurdle was maintaining objectivity. “It was difficult to swallow my own biases going in to the process and accept that most of the literature I read presented inconclusive or conflicting data,” Payne said. “From that knowledge, however, it was rewarding to conduct interviews that examined specific examples of successes or challenges that were illuminating despite an overall conclusion regarding the effectiveness of charter schools in closing the achievement gap. I particularly enjoyed meeting with school leaders and I was very inspired by their dedication. The administrators who I interviewed were incredibly helpful and eager to share their work; I am immensely grateful to them.”
Payne knows he had a rare opportunity. “I’ve learned a lot particularly from my advisor Mrs. Horan, who I would like to wholeheartedly thank for her wisdom and patience as she helped me through this long process. I would also like to thank the entire history department for its commitment to us as young researchers – myself and the other scholars – and the Near and Mitra families for allowing us to pursue this remarkably high-level research in a high school setting.”
Senior Cole Manaster, like Howells and Isenberg, chose a military topic with political ramifications. His effort, “The Changing Dynamic of Unconventional Warfare: The U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam and Their Impact on Modern War,” traced the development of Special Forces first as trainers of villagers in war zones to strengthen them against enemy efforts, then in their roles as covert, uniformed operators behind enemy lines. Manaster documented the status of Special Forces as, following WWII, they grew from a compound of various forces – Army, Navy, Marine and CIA – to the ultimate acceptance of these forces and their integration in the overall military effort.
Today, we are all familiar with the effort to capture the “hearts and minds” of non-combatants in military zones, and Manaster illustrated how that effort grew from early efforts to keep South Vietnamese and other indigenous groups in Vietnam from falling, or being forced, under the influence of North Vietnamese communists, while noting that Special Forces mandate also puts them in the most dangerous situations a soldier is likely to face, i.e., behind enemy lines.
“I was fascinated by this facet of the war – how special forces were used, he said, “so I looked at how they were used in the Vietnam War and somewhat how they have been used since.” Manaster, who will be going to the University of Southern California next year as a business administration major, said he “wanted to be able to use the things I have learned in my history classes and all my classes, “ but noted “the toughest part of writing such an extensive paper was keeping myself on track time-wise,” leading to a great truth of human nature. “I’m not a procrastinator, but when you have a year to do something it isn’t usually the top priority until it’s too late, if that makes sense.”
His topic firm, Manaster found the next step a challenge. “If I could do it all again, I would probably have spent more time solidifying my outline before writing the paper itself. What I had in my outline made the writing process itself immensely easier, but I think I probably could have done even more, looking back on it now.
“In terms of the process, this was very exciting for me,” he continued. “It’s the first yearlong paper I’ve ever written and there is something completely different about that from a normal classroom paper.”
“I was really happy to be Cole’s mentor,” said Carol Zink, history teacher. “I’ve seen his intellectual growth and development over the years and it’s always tremendously rewarding for a teacher to get to see that.”
Zink noted one of the challenges Manaster had in pursuing his research is that is it difficult to find unbiased sources on this topic. “There are a lot of books that are ‘Yay-rah, Green Berets!'” she said, “and then there are other books that say the United States should never have gone into Vietnam in the first place and they (the Green Berets) were the dirty dogs in the deal. It is very difficult to try to walk the middle line and I know that was a struggle for Cole, but I know he persevered.”
Pam Dickinson, John Near’s widow and director of Harker’s Office of Communication, again represented the Near family. “Like last year, I felt very much as though Mr. Near was channeled with the presentations,” Dickinson said. “The research about charter schools and public education, how fabulous is that? And the submarines: John’s father was in the Navy so we talked a lot about that. And Churchill, he loved Churchill. And he would always talk about how in the AP curriculum there is never enough time to examine the Vietnam period. He would be incredibly proud. I’m honored to be here on behalf of his parents and it is a wonderful thing what the Mitras have done. Congratulations – you all have done a wonderful job.”
Manaster echoed the thanks of the other scholars, adding, “All of us have put in a lot of work and it is exciting to see our papers truly come to fruition and to have this at the close of our senior year, as well. I’m very honored to have been a part of this program and it is something I’m going to remember for a long time.”
More than 400 attendees arrived to experience the 2012 Harker Research Symposium on April 28, which featured some of the most fascinating speakers and presentations in the symposium’s six-year history.
Legendary entrepreneur Vinod Khosla was this year’s morning keynote speaker. “We were very fortunate that someone of Mr. Khosla’s stature would take time from a busy schedule and from a beautiful Saturday to come and share his thoughts with our students,” said science department chair and symposium coordinator Anita Chetty. “I think that what he had to say certainly got us all thinking about the present as well as the future.”
Giving a joint presentation were John West and Atul Butte. West, a Harker parent and CEO of genome analysis company Personalis, was joined by Butte via video conference from Boston. West and Butte, chief of the division of systems medicine and associate professor of pediatrics, medicine and by courtesy, computer science at Stanford University, discussed the collaborative project between a team of Stanford scientists led by Butte and West’s former company, Illumina, to sequence the West family’s DNA. This in turn led to an effort to develop software that would make genome sequencing accessible to more people.
This year’s alumni presentation was given by Jacob Bongers ’07, son of Harker art department chair Jaap Bongers and a 2011 graduate from the University of Southern California. Bongers discussed his passion for archaeology and his related field work and research, which led him to being published in the Journal of Archaeological Science while still an undergraduate. “Archaeology has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and since I have a tremendous amount of experience performing field work and conducting research within the scope of archaeology, I felt like I had a lot offer to anyone interested in learning about this fascinating field of study,” Bongers said. “I also wanted to talk about a field of study that, at Harker, may not get as much press as engineering, biology or medical research.”
Attendance remained high for the duration of the event, and the high caliber of this year’s student presentations kept visitors highly interested. “Every classroom was standing-room only,” Chetty said.
One presenter at this year’s symposium, Alex Najibi, grade 12, said attending last year’s symposium provided the spark for his own interest in research. “I’ve always been interested in science and research, but when I went to the symposium last year, not as a presenter, I was really amazed by how many projects the other students were doing,” he said.
Although he was not sure at first that many people would find his presentation on particle physics engaging or accessible enough, he quickly discovered that his audience found the topic quite compelling. “Particle physics isn’t really the most accessible topic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly nearly everyone understood what I was discussing,” he said.
Because of the expected high attendance, the symposium this year was arranged to create better foot traffic, and a tent was set up between Nichols Hall and Dobbins Hall to display the many impressive poster presentations by upper school students. The Dobbins Hall gallery was set aside for middle school student poster presentations.
Exhibitors occupied the atrium at Nichols Hall, demonstrating many scientific and technological advancements and offering a peek into the kinds of careers that are open to students interested in scientific research. This year’s exhibitors were Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, The Triple Helix, East Bay Cardiovascular and Thoracic Associates, Lumoback, Symmetricom, Twincreeks Technologies, Nvidia, Autodesk, Ericsson, Hunter Laboratories and Rector Porsche Audi.
“The industry piece is very important because it allows our students to see the connection between research and career, research and the economy of our valley,” Chetty said. “The exhibitors were so excited about their companies and their products and their research and development. That enthusiasm was really infectious.”
In addition to the student clubs such as WiSTEM (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the chemistry club, who were instrumental organizing this year’s event, Chetty was also thankful for the various departments that came together to make sure the Harker Research Symposium had another successful year.
“The symposium recognizes what our teachers and our students do throughout the year, and it’s a celebration of that work,” she said. “But the actual event also brings together the other departments that make our school run: facilities, technology, Office of Communication, the kitchen, the security, all of those departments come together to run this huge event.”
Harker senior Kathryn (Katie) Siegel was named a 2012 Presidential Scholar this week. Siegel has excelled both academically and in her chosen activities at Harker.
“We are all proud of Katie’s accomplishments and recognition,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school. “Her achievements across so many domains truly reflect the spirit of the Harker mission. Congratulations.”
Each year the U.S. Department of Education names one male and one female Scholar from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In addition, two students are selected from families living abroad, 15 students are chosen at large and 20 are chosen who specialize in visual and performing arts.
Siegel named Susan King, upper school computer science teacher, as her most influential Harker teacher, and King can accompany Siegel to Washington, D.C., where Siegel will receive her Presidential Scholar medallion and King will be honored with a Teacher Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Education.
“Katie Siegel is a delightful, energetic, enthusiastic student,” said King. “Without a hint of conceit or meekness, she is able to clearly communicate a problem, precipitate a discussion, consider options, and thank participants for their suggestions.
“I do know that in her collegiate career, there will be professors who will be grateful and delighted that she crossed their thresholds. Katie’s quintessence – her bountiful energy, tenacity, curiosity, intelligence and temperament – makes her a natural born scientist and scholar.”
Siegel is Harker’s fourth Presidential Scholar, and its first female so honored. In 2006, Samantha Fang ’06, was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, Senan Ebrahim ’08 was named a Presidential Scholar in 2008 and Daniel J. Kim ’09 a Presidential Scholar in 2009.
About 3,000 academic candidates are eligible based on evaluation of their College Board SAT or ACT assessment scores. Students interested in joining the arts portion of the Presidential Scholar program must register for youngARTS, a program by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, which then nominates students as Presidential Scholars.
The Harker School will host the first Green Teen Summit, a student-organized conference for Bay Area high school students interested in environmental activism, on Sat., April 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The half-day conference, held at the upper school campus, will feature inspirational speakers and a wealth of resources to help young people get involved with environmental efforts at school and abroad. Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, will be one of two keynote speakers at the event. Called “the planet’s best green journalist” by Time magazine and “probably the country’s most important environmentalist” by the Boston Globe, McKibben has authored a dozen books on environmental issues, and started 350.org as a grassroots initiative to end the climate crisis. Since 2009, 350.org has organized 15,000 rallies in 189 countries. The conference’s second keynote speaker, Ethan Burke, is co-founder and director of operations for BioTour, a nonprofit organization that travels across the country via school buses modified to run on vegetable oil and solar energy. BioTour has crisscrossed the nation for two-and-a-half years, giving presentations on the environment at more than 150 universities, high schools and other venues. In addition to the speakers, the Green Teen Summit will offer training and resources provided by the Alliance for Climate Education, which organizes high school assemblies on climate-related issues. Students will also be able to enjoy lunch with green business leaders and attend workshops. The Green Teen Summit was organized by Harker students Daniela Lapidous and Shreya Indukuri, both grade 12, who received a grant in 2009 to improve Harker’s energy efficiency. They used the grant money to place insulating film on upper school classroom windows and start an organic garden. Later, they were instrumental in getting smart meters installed at the lower and upper school campuses to monitor and reduce energy usage. The students have received extensive press coverage for their efforts, and appeared at the Clinton Global Initiative last year as part of a keynote panel. This event is open to all high school students and campus green club advisors. A continental breakfast and vegetarian lunch is included in the ticket price. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for adults (plus a nominal ticketing fee) and can be purchased at the Green Teen Summit’s Eventbrite page.