The girls golf team made history last week as it finished fourth in CCS, the best finish ever for a Harker girls golf team. The team narrowly missed out on a NorCal regional berth by 13 strokes. The top finisher for the Eagles was Katherine Zhu, grade 12, who tied for seventh and was one stroke away from a NorCal individual berth. Congratulations on a great year!
Cross Country
The cross country team will be sending five runners to CCS after a great showing at the league finals. Anna Weirich, grade 9, took sixth place in the WBAL and will be joined at CCS by Lilia Gonzales, grade 11; Ryan Adolf, grade 11; Arya Maheshwari, grade 9; and Aditya Singhvi, grade 9. CCS will be held at Toro Park in Salinas on Saturday.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team begins CCS today as players travel to Stevenson High in Monterey. In addition, league champ Sachi Bajaj, grade 9, and the doubles team of Gina Partridge and Rachel Broweleit, both grade 10, qualified for the individual and doubles playoffs, respectively, to be played Nov. 14 and 15.
Football
After a record-breaking season, the football team made history again as it will host a playoff game this Saturday at 7 p.m. vs. Sonoma Valley High School. This is the first playoff football game ever at Davis Field as the Eagles earned the No. 3 seed in the NCS Division 4 brackets. Come and support your Eagles this weekend!
Every year, student news publications from CSPA-member schools are selected to be Crown Finalists after a “head-to-head comparison,” the CSPA website states. Criteria considered in judging include design, writing, photography and coverage. Every Crown Finalist will be awarded either a Gold Crown or Silver Crown at the CSPA ceremonies, to be held in New York City in March.
In-depth news/feature story: “Behind the Statistics: Student Stories of Survival in Silicon Valley,” by Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12, Kshithija Mulam ‘17 and Meilam Steimle ‘17
First-person experience: “Stripping ‘Quiet’ of Its Negative Connotations,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Cultural feature: “Top Binge-Worthy Shows to Watch During Spring Break,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Photo story: “At the Pools,” by Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12
Photography/Portfolio of work: Ashley Jiang, grade 12
Informational graphics/Portfolio of work: Kaitlin Hsu, grade 12
Single-subject news or feature package, double-truck: “Science of Sleep,” by Sahana Srinivasan, grade 12
Grade 8 students embarked on the annual class trip to the Washington, D.C., area in late October, hitting many historic cities and sites throughout the week.
Their trip began in earnest on Sunday, Oct. 22 with a visit to the first permanent English colony on the American continent, Jamestown. “Students spent about two hours exploring and learning about life in the re-created colonists’ fort, Powhatan Village, as well as the three ships (Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery) that sailed from England to Virginia in 1607,” said Keith Hirota, middle school history chair and one of the chaperones on the trip. Later that day, the group visited Colonial Williamsburg to eat at the King Arms Tavern, established in 1722, which served the elite citizenry of Virginia during the colonial period. They then took a tour of Colonial Williamsburg. “We concluded our evening with an African-American slave interpretive program through song and dance,” Hirota said. “Students and teachers participated in several African spiritual dances as well as individual students who led the group with their own individual dance moves.”
The next day, at Pamplin Park, the students gained insight into daily life during the Civil War, visiting a reconstructed period kitchen, as well as livestock and tobacco barns. “Students learned, but were not sold on eating, the Confederate army’s ‘Johnny cake’ – corn meal poured over grease from fried salted pork,” Hirota reported. Their next stop was the National Museum of the Marine Corps, which dazzled the students with its many exhibits dedicated to the history and future of the U.S. Marine Corps. That evening, the students heard from two Harker alumni currently living in Washington, D.C., Margaret Krackler ’13 and Sean Knudsen ’14. Krackler chronicled her studies at Georgetown University Medical School, while Knudsen talked about his experiences as a political science and economics major at George Washington University.
Tuesday started with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where students learned about some of the many famous soldiers and political leaders interred there, and viewed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which included a flyover from four F-15 fighter jets. Other stops that day included the Capitol Building, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. The students also had the chance to meet Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents California’s 17th district. He spoke to the students on a number of current issues and answered their questions. “Congressman Khanna was thoroughly impressed with not only the number, but quality of student questions,” Hirota said.
An activity-packed day awaited the students and chaperones on Oct. 26, as students visited some of Washington, D.C.’s most popular sites, including the Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial and the White House. At the Holocaust Museum, students learned about the rise of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and the children who lived through the Holocaust. At Mount Vernon, the famous 21-room mansion of George and Martha Washington, the students learned a number of fascinating details about the life of the Washingtons, including that they owned more than 8,000 acres of land and that the first president’s false teeth were not, in fact, made of wood.
On their final full day in Washington, D.C., the students walked to the National Mall and were treated to views of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. At the Newseum, they looked at front pages from more than 700 newspapers from around the world and learned about the history of newspapers and magazines in the United States. During a visit to Ford’s Theater, the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, students learned about the conspiracy that led to the death of the 16th president and even saw the Derringer pistol that John Wilkes Booth used in the killing. Students visited other sites throughout the day, including the National Archives, which offered views of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Last week, grade 7 students went on their yearly trek through America’s national parks. After arriving in Phoenix on Oct. 22, the students enjoyed a short hike in scenic Sedona before settling down in Flagstaff for dinner at Northern Arizona University. “It was funny to watch the expressions of the NAU students who were trying to figure out why there were a bunch of middle school students eating in their dining hall,” said middle school dean Alana Butler, one of the chaperones on the trip.
The cold Flagstaff weather greeted the students the next morning, which “showed many of us that layers were important,” Butler reported. After reaching the Grand Canyon, the students participated in a “trust walk,” during which they were blindfolded and led step by step to the edge of the canyon, where they removed the blindfolds to experience the beauty of one of the world’s greatest natural formations.
Students separated into groups, one of which went on a hike, “where they were passed by tourists riding mules in both directions,” said Butler. They later took part in a program on Navajo culture. Other groups enjoyed a Navajo Hoop Man performance. Following their journey through the Grand Canyon, everyone headed to Cameron’s Trading Post, where some students sampled a “Navajo taco,” which consists of “a fry bread with beans, cheese and veggies on top. For non-vegetarians, ground beef is added,” Butler explained.
Tuesday started with a short drive to Monument Valley, where the students climbed up Skull Rock and learned about the Anasazi people. At Honeymoon Arch, Navajo historian Wally Brown – whose grandfather was a Navajo code talker during World War II – gave a presentation on local Navajo tribes and their customs. After lunch, the group headed to Oljatu Wash Ranch, where members of the Tsosci family taught them more about Navajo culture, including “basket weaving, sand painting, making fry bread, taking care of livestock, grinding corn, rug weaving and dancing,” Butler said. “This was the first time that we visited the Oljatu Wash Ranch, but the Tsosci Family with relatives traveling from three states made this experience unforgettable.”
The Glen Canyon Dam was the first stop on day four. The massive structure, Butler said, has a concrete wall that can fit two football fields in its height. Their next destination was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, a resplendent sight for the students and chaperones, who “walked, ran or jogged up to the top of the sand hill,” Butler said.
On the final day of the trip, the group headed to Bryce Canyon National Park, famous for its tall, thin rock formations, commonly called Hoodoos. Students and chaperones broke off into groups and explored various areas of the park, including Inspiration Point, Mossy Cave and Bryce Point. The day ended with an Italian dinner at Ebenezer’s Dining Hall, where students performed skits and musical numbers and reminisced about their trip.
Last week, grade 6 went on its yearly coastal exploration, visiting Elkhorn Slough at Monterey Bay and Redwood Glen in the Santa Cruz Mountains. To prepare for the ropes courses at Redwood Glen, students spent Oct. 23 at Harker undergoing an important safety training program. The next day, they departed in three groups. At Elkhorn Slough, students went kayaking along the 7-mile stretch of water, viewing wildlife such as otters, jellyfish and sea lions. Their time at Redwood Glen was spent learning about the ecology and geology of the area, and navigating its rope courses through cooperation and teamwork. At night, the students went on an astronomy hike. “All these activities combined with the energy supplied by the students filled the day to overflowing,” said middle school division head Cindy Ellis, who accompanied the students.
The kayaking activity, she later said, “has been the best we have ever encountered at Elkhorn Slough. The perfectly blue skies and the abundant wildlife has amazed even the most seasoned kayak veterans among the faculty.”
The Harker community pulled together last week to help those affected by the fires in the North Bay, and had the surprise help of an alumna working in disaster relief.
Following the cancellation of the Harker Family & Alumni Picnic in mid-October, the school decided to donate picnic ticket sales receipts to relief efforts in Sonoma County. It was a welcome surprise to find that one of the organizers helping direct donations, Carol Beattie ’65, is a Harker Day School alumna.
Beattie is board vice chair at HealdsburgForever.org, a 14-year-old organization that helps fund various nonprofits in the Healdsburg area, which is assisting the Sonoma County Resilience Fund.
Once the decision was made to donate picnic receipts, the community stepped up the program and mounted a full-on effort to collect needed supplies for the stricken area. Along with $8,500 in picnic receipts, community members chipped in another $1,500 in cash to total about $10,000 in donations that went to the Sonoma County Resilience Fund. The Salvation Army received $2,800 in gift cards and the Redwood Empire Food Bank was the glad recipient of 150 bags and boxes of non-perishable food and pet food.
The donations are all thanks to a concerted effort by a variety of community members including members of Harker’s advancement department who coordinated the efforts.
Students and parents from the lower, middle and upper schools all contributed labor to the effort, with volunteers accepting donations to “stuff the bus” at a drop-off station at the upper school during Friday night’s football game, as well as at the middle and lower schools. In addition, lower school students wrote letters of encouragement to go with the more material contributions.
“I just want to thank everyone at Harker for the amazing job you did,” said Capt. Rio Ray, corps commanding officer, Salvation Army. “You are impacting lives. There are people that have lost everything and now have something because of you. So, thank you, continue to strive to serve others, you are making a difference and making the world a better place. Thank you.”
Redwood Empire Food Bank has served about 85 families a day over the last 12 days and was grateful for the Harker delivery. “Everybody has disasters; sometimes its medical, sometimes is the loss of a job, sometimes it’s just a disruption in your family,” said David Goodman, chief executive officer, Redwood Empire Food Bank. “In this particular case, the Sonoma complex fire has impacted thousands of people who never expected to need food assistance and here they are today. The food that you have given, your generosity, will improve lives and change lives and help people get back on their feet,” he said.
Our preschool STEM specialist, Robyn Stone, posted this blog entry for preschool families. However, the philosophy of risky play rings true for what we hope all of our students will do: try new things, take some risks and discover great strength in themselves. – Brian Yager, head of school
By Robyn Stone
“Look! I did it,” shouted Harker preschooler Sydney Todasco, age 4, as she balanced on a tree stump, arms akimbo, face beaming. She had finally succeeded in hopping from one tree stump to the next –despite uneven spacing between the stumps and difficulty balancing on wobbling ones. In her previous attempt to do this, Sydney slipped and fell. Presenting me with a bloody scrape, she said, “I am brave.” And she was. Her pride in this bravery stemmed from a sense of purpose. After being patched up, Sydney went right back to the tree stump circle. She persevered in her practice to accomplish a goal she set for herself.
On the Farm (Harker Preschool’s installation of small animals and a garden), Harker Preschool students have the opportunity to engage in outdoor experiences like digging in the dirt, hauling logs in wheelbarrows, feeding live animals, tasting plants and hopping on tree stumps. Engaging in these activities heighten a child’s awareness of their five senses – seeing, smelling, touching, tasting and hearing. Outdoors, children are simultaneously doing deep cognitive work – taking in and processing sensory information – and heavy gross motor work – building coordination between large muscle groups.
Outdoor play is vital piece of child development. Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods,” fears that children are increasingly suffering from what he calls “nature deficit disorder.” “Our society is teaching young people to avoid direct experience in nature,” he writes. “Rapidly advancing technologies are blurring the lines between humans, other animals, and machines … as the young spend less and less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically, and this reduces the richness of human experience.”
Too often, children are over-protected for fear of bumps and scratches, and prevented from climbing trees, splashing through streams and building forts. With the rough-cut logs for making structures and the uneven tree stump circle, we have created an opportunity for “risky play” for our preschoolers. Psychology Today (April 7, 2014) describes “risky play” as play that “combines the joy of freedom with just the right measure of fear to produce the exhilarating blend known as thrill.”
Indeed, scientists have studied the evolutionary value of risky play – examining other mammals from rats to sheep. Researchers now understand that risky play is a critical piece of emotional regulation. Young children learn how to regulate fear and anger through self-directed, risky outdoor play. Practicing on the tree stumps – falling down and getting back up – Sydney learned how to manage her feelings.
Bumps and scratches heal, as did Sydney’s leg scrape. According to psychologist and child development expert Wendy Mogel, author of “The Blessing of a Skinned Knee,” there is much to be learned about self-reliance, compassion and ethics, from boo-boos, too. Mogel writes, “I meet many parents who are trying so hard to be perfect parents, to make everything just right for their children, that they’re draining away their pleasure in parenting.” She hopes parents simply let their toddlers splash in puddles without first wrapping them head-to-toe in Gore-Tex or turning the experience into a lesson on aquatic micro-organisms.
When my son was a toddler, we spent our days at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Marin County. In their wonderful outdoor exhibits, we played hide-and-seek in a living tree structure, climbed a giant spider’s web, boarded a wrecked ship and shoveled rocks under a mini Golden Gate Bridge. We spent long mornings digging in the sand with driftwood at Rodeo Beach. We rushed outdoors on rainy days to splash in puddles and rescue worms. Even in a townhouse with a little brick patio, we adopted the whole neighborhood as our backyard. We waded through the salt marsh flats of Mill Valley, discovered crabs, hopped on logs, swung from vines and generally just enjoyed being outdoors together.
Sausalito is a big drive from the South Bay, but I am so happy to share that the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum (CDM) is building a new outdoor exhibit full of risky playopportunities – from climbing trees to splashing in a stream! Opening Oct. 29,Bill’s Backyard: Bridge to Nature, CDM’s new outdoor learning environment, invites children to connect with nature in a welcoming and safe setting. CDM hopes the new space inspires children to spend time outside climbing, building, digging and getting dirty while exploring the natural elements.
Bill’s Backyard aims to provide an innovative solution to the limited opportunities for urban and suburban families to explore nature. It is a bridge to nature that:
gives children a chance to explore nature environments in a safe setting;
inspires families to venture out to explore parks, trails and wilderness areas; and
makes it possible for us all to gain deeper understanding of the world around us.
According to CDM, “Our densely urban environment and fast paced lifestyles make it a challenge for children to get outdoors and play. Yet the costs of alienation from nature – known as nature deficit disorder – are far-reaching. “How the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configurations and conditions of our cities, homes – our daily lives,” notes children-and-nature authority Richard Louv. “Living through drought, solving the challenges of climate change, sustainable energy use – these are issues that are with our communities now and in the future.”
Let your child explore in your neighborhood open spaces or just your own backyard. Or visit CDM’s new Bill’s Backyard exhibit and let your young children experience the thrill of risky outdoor play! To learn more about “nature deficit disorder” and possible cures, read Louv’s book.
Harker’s WiSTEM Club (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) visited with STEM Buddies at Harker Preschool last week, and both the preschoolers and high schoolers had a great time! The program, started in 2014, passes along the joy of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to the schools littlest students using fun, interactive learning.
“It’s amazing to direct and train so many upper school students, who are not only passionate about their individual pursuits of STEM, but also willing to help spread their love and passion for STEM to the preschoolers,” said Constance Horng, grade 11, one of the organizers of this year’s event. “STEM Buddies is an event aimed at engaging youth and the larger Harker community in STEM, and being able to help fulfill this mission by organizing this event is extremely rewarding.”
Co-organizer Morgan Douglas, grade 12, also enjoys planning the event. “I take great interest in accounting for developmental stages while designing activities,” she noted. “I’ve attended STEM Buddies events at both the preschool and the lower school, and have been struck by the huge developmental gap between these two groups; they really are very developmentally distinct. In the past, we’ve found that many activities that lower schoolers have found greatly exciting have been completely inaccessible to preschoolers.”
To design successful activities, the group stayed in close contact with Robyn Stone, STEM specialist at the preschool, who helped them understand the preschoolers’ abilities. They also considered which activities were successful and unsuccessful in previous years.
Beyond the science, the visits are just plain fun. “The most outstanding part of the event was definitely being able to see the smiles of amazement on the preschoolers’ faces when they watched or replicated our demonstrations and experiments,” said Horng. “The preschoolers were interested in learning the scientific concepts behind cool, engaging experiments.”
Douglas also thrived on the feedback. “I was trying to explain molecular cohesion to a group of preschoolers in very simple terms – the bubble stays together because the little parts that it’s made of hold onto each other very tightly,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting my audience to reach a huge enlightening, but was really delighted when one preschooler excitedly repeated the idea back to me in his own words, and then for five minutes ran around outside telling all the adults what he had learned about cohesion.
“The preschoolers really enjoyed interacting directly with the activities. They are naturally curious, and so were determined to pop the bubbles, to make their own shaving cream artwork, and to create their own waves by rubbing our Chinese spouting bowl. If they saw a WiSTEM member doing it – many of them would want to do it themselves,” she noted.
Music teacher Dave Hart invited Bay Area woodwind ensemble Frequency 49 to his middle school classroom on Thursday to show his students how chamber music is performed by professional musicians. The students, who had been creating chamber music compositions in class, watched as the members of the sextet – pianist Margaret Halbig, French horn player (and Hart’s wife) Leslie Hart, bassoonist Patrick Johnson-Whitty, oboist Adrienne Malley, clarinetist Jeannie Psomas and flautist Katrina Walter – demonstrated the various aspects and techniques of their respective instruments, as well as how the group’s unique configuration allows for flexibility in the sounds they can create. The students were then delighted to hear Frequency 49 perform a rendition of a piece by Francis Poulenc. More info about the group can be found at its website, as well as on Facebook and Instagram!
San Jose city councilman Chappie Jones was on hand yesterday morning to thank Harker’s freshman class effort of trail preservation at the Coyote Open Space Preserve. Jones reminded the team of 200 students and their advisors of the recent natural disasters, referencing the North Bay fires as well as the hurricanes that ravaged the Caribbean, Texas and Florida last month. “We see how important our environment is. We have to protect it,” urged the councilman. “You are part of that protecting our environment.”
Also on hand was Marc Landgraf, external affairs manager of the Open Space Authority of Santa Clara Valley. “You guys are contributing to 50,000 people a year enjoying this preserve and that’s a big deal to us,” he said. “We really appreciate your being here.”
Soon after hearing Jones’ words of encouragement, Harker freshman broke into three teams led by park employees to widen and clear the four-mile Arrowhead Loop Trail and remove invasive, non-native plants from an adjacent meadow. The work was overseen by Dana Litwin, volunteer programs administrator of the Open Space Authority. Litwin garnered the help of a dozen employees and volunteers to train and shepherd the students’ labor. Litwin pointed out that “in one day, the students did what would take our staff hundreds of hours!”
The annual freshman service trip was coordinated by Harker’s upper school Green Committee, led by Spanish teacher Diana Moss. One of the primary goals of the committee, according to Moss, is “to see our students develop a greater appreciation for and deeper connection with the natural habitats that surround us here in the Bay Area. Our hope is that many of them choose to become stewards for the environment who can make a positive difference on the planet at a time when climate change threatens our future.”
The freshman service trip happens annually on PSAT Wednesday, when sophomores and juniors are taking the exam and seniors use the day to work on college applications. Traditionally, freshman advisors join their students in a daylong effort to help the newest members of the upper school enjoy the fulfillment of volunteer work and jumpstart their community service requirement. Students who participated will receive credit for five of the annual required 10 hours of community service.
Seeing an opportunity to mix environmental protection with volunteer work, the Green Committee took on the coordination of this year’s event. Both the Green Committee and the Open Space Authority planned this event to become an annual pilgrimage by Harker freshman.
Freshman Sarah Raymond embraced that mission. “I think that’s really cool for our school to make an impact, to be known as the ones to clean the trail here,” she said.
Classmate Aniket Kriplani agreed, noting that being part of a large team lessens the load. “It makes you feel like you are getting a lot more done. When you look around and you see a lot of people. Work gets done fast,” he said. “If you’re doing this alone, it wouldn’t be as fun.”
The Green Committee also worked with Harker kitchen staff to plan a reduced waste lunch. Trays of lunchmeat and veggies displaced individually wrapped sandwiches to minimize the need for plastic wrap. Students and advisors brought reusable water bottles from home thereby eliminating the consumption of single-use plastic bottles. Even the location, about 20 minutes from Harker’s upper school campus, reduced the emissions of a longer bus trip and kept students efforts close to home where they might return to appreciate their work in the future.
Jones echoed this sentiment. “Nature is part of our DNA as human beings,” said Jones. “Nature is that outlet where you can go and just breathe, relax and just enjoy the outdoors.”