This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Lower school P.E. department chair Jim McGovern is a sports guy. If you ask him about his favorite memories, meaningful moments or what famous person he’d like to dine with, he’ll reveal his sports obsession (and for the record, that’s the 1980 gold medal U.S. hockey team/Dwight Clark’s “The Catch”/S.F. Giants 2010 World Series win; playing on a team that beat Alexi Lalas’ indoor soccer team; and Bill Walton). McGovern’s Harker family also includes some real family – teachers Michelle Anderson and Pete Anderson are his sister and brother-in-law. Harker Magazine learned some other fun facts about this San Jose native; though raised in California and Oregon, he now lives less than a mile from where he was born. Read on!
What one piece of advice would you offer anyone who asks? Laugh often – seek out opportunities for it.
What are you obsessed with? Sports movies of all kinds: “Field of Dreams,” “Major League,” “A League of Their Own,” “American Flyers,” “The Winning Season,” “Hoosiers,” “The Endless Summer,” “Rocky,” “Necessary Roughness,” “The Hammer” – I could go on and on.
What helps you persevere when you feel like giving up? The feeling of being so content when the job is done and done well.
What are you doing when you feel most alive? Riding a breaking wave that keeps going and going, while on a bodyboard or a longboard.
For what in your life do you feel most grateful? Not giving up playing soccer and baseball after I was cut from each of those sports in high school. I went on and played for the better part of 32 years after graduating (and am still playing softball).
What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? Ranking pretty high up there is getting my master’s degree in education.
This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Matt “Doc” Harley is a hard figure to miss on the upper school campus. Yes, he’s 6’8”, but it’s his inspirational teaching style in his Honors Biology and Biotechnology classes that has made him a popular teacher and mentor. A Baltimore native, Harley and his family have made Harker their home: His wife, Amy, works at the lower school as a teacher’s aide and handwriting teacher, daughter, Lucy, is in grade 6 and son, Luke, is in grade 2, “and they are both off-the-charts tall.” Harley says his students “challenge me intellectually and reaffirm my faith in humanity,” and his conversation with Harker Magazine illustrates that his passion for science and nature is by no means confined to the classroom.
What are the two things you like to do when you finally have a block of free time? Nature hikes and geocaching with my kids. What makes you feel like a kid again? Playing with a dog. (Amy has a cat, but I am not-so-patiently waiting to get a dog.)
If you had $100 million in the bank, what would your day look like? The only thing I think would change is that I would be commuting to Harker in a new electric vehicle, or perhaps taking the new all-electric public transportation system that I would fund.
Where in the world are you the happiest? There are several places of natural beauty that I love, but my new happy place is New Zealand, sitting on a hill overlooking the foliage in the foreground, and the bay and ocean in the background.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand? Better understanding and faith in science by the public. This would cause us to finally and fully address climate change, prevent vaccinatable diseases like measles, and slow the spread and impact of Ebola in Africa.
What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? I hope it hasn’t happened yet!
This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Stacie Wallace spends her days as middle school English department chair and grade 8 English teacher. But what shines through most about her is her thoughtfulness and introspection, and her pride in her three alumnae daughters, Rachel ’05, Molly ’07 and Sophi ’09, each of whom has provided a grandchild to dote on! She reflects that, after a “tumultuous and unstable childhood … I’m grateful for the life I was able to create for myself,” and her conversation with Harker Magazine reveals the ways she lives for balance and gratitude each day.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand? Distances between family members. I would wave my wand and POOF!, everyone’s over for dinner at my house.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? Don’t apologize for taking up space on the planet. If you need to apologize for something real, that’s fine, but don’t feel you have to apologize for everything.
What are you obsessed with? Right now, I’m obsessed with NYT Cooking, a Facebook group that shares recipes (from the New York Times and all kinds of others) and supports one another in our efforts to try new things.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten? Advice/caution really: “This too shall pass.” It’s meant to reassure, I think, as in, “It won’t always be this hard.” That was so helpful when I was raising three little ones. But as I’ve grown older, I see it’s also a gentle warning to appreciate things in my life, because they won’t always be there, or be the same.
Where in the world are you the happiest? In my sister’s kitchen having a cup of coffee and talking and laughing. I never laugh as much as I do when we’re together.
If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? Ha! I would wake up ready to write that novel and get going full bore on it.
This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Schenelle Henry is a native New Yorker, raised in New York City. This Harker Preschool lead teacher made the move west to Harker in 2017, and lives with her husband, Leo, and daughter, Bella Grace, in downtown San Jose. Henry jokes that free time is a “rare commodity” with a toddler, so she cherishes both time spent with her family, and alone time when she can binge-watch shows stored up on her DVR – “the simple pleasures in life.” She shared some other musings with Harker Magazine.
When did you first really feel like an adult?
When I started taking accountability for my actions. Life happens, the good and the bad, but I always try to consider what I could have done differently or can do in the future to make a situation or relationship better.
What one piece of advice you would offer anyone who asks? Don’t just be yourself, be your best self.
Brag about something.
I’m great at organizing. I used to have an interior organizing business.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand?
I would want high-quality education and equal access to educational resources for all students – regardless of race, national origin or ZIP code, among other things.
What are you doing when you feel most alive? Singing or dancing like no one is watching. Literally, because I’m usually at home when this all goes down!
Do you have any pets?
I have a self-sustaining ecosphere of small shrimp. It’s low maintenance and pretty cool!
This story originally appeared in the summer/spring 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Pauline Paskali teaches three courses at the upper school: regular and AP American Literature, and Genre Studies. Her love of language and literature are evident even in casual conversation, and she’s known not only for imparting that passion to her students, but for her warmth and kindness. But people may not know of her deep love for nature – “[its vastness] always challenges me and inspires me to carry on,” she says – or that she has two pet chickens, Clementine and Guinevere. Raised in Connecticut and Massachusetts, this East Coast transplant tells Harker Magazine a few more fun facts about herself.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten? Let go of what is beyond your control.
What are you good at? I often find myself in the role of backup photographer at weddings and gatherings of friends and family. The distance and intimacy created by my DSLR lens enables me to capture something essential about the people I love.
What do you love most about your life? Most people have to go to work every day, but I still get to go to school. Who doesn’t love being in an environment full of curious and kind people, young and old?
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows? I spent my junior year of high school living with a French family in a country house outside of Rennes. I discovered there my passion for walking and for butter.
Where is the one place in the world that you like to escape to? Whenever I need a reboot, I return to the place I spent my summers as a child, a tiny village in the rugged Pindus Mountains of northern Greece.
What is your most treasured object and why? Recently we discovered a book containing a poem my father had written when he was in his early 20s. No one in my family knew about his writing. Reading his verse brought back to life the young man who long ago reluctantly immigrated to America to assuage the pangs of hunger.
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Walid Fahmy is a busy man at the lower school! He teaches health and P.E., and coaches after-school football, basketball, soccer and baseball, in addition to being a grade 5 homeroom teacher and the Spirit & Service Club coordinator. This Oakland native’s favorite things in the world are his two young sons, Marino and Rocco, but he also gets a lot of satisfaction volunteering for youth programs at his church and escaping to the beach to swim or lay in the sun. He tells Harker Magazine about a few more of his favorite things.
What do you like to do when you finally have a block of free time? Travel, travel, travel! I have been to 15 countries and would like to add to that.
What makes you feel like a kid again? Going to Disneyland with my boys and enjoying the rides, wearing Mickey Mouse ears and eating sugar all day!
What is something one of your parents said that you will never forget? My dad told me, “God gave you two ears, one mouth; so listen twice as much as you talk.”
What is something interesting about you that almost no one knows? I eat raw meat. Completely raw. I season it and never cook it.
What is the best compliment someone can give you? I truly appreciate when someone compliments my loyalty. I feel that loyalty is a strong character trait – evident in the fact that I have been with Harker for 22 years now!
What is your most treasured memory? Delivering my firstborn son. Mine actually were the first hands to touch him. That makes me very happy!
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Ask a middle school student or colleague to sum up Cyrus Merrill in a few words and you might get “laughter,” “enthusiasm,” “energy” or, most likely, “Hawaiian shirts!” It may come as no surprise to learn he was his college’s mascot (a big blue sagehen). Merrillteaches grade 8 U.S. History and coordinates the grades 5-12 Future Problem Solving clubs, and is known for crafting engaging and humorous lessons. He says his 2-year-old daughter helps him remember that simple joys and laughter may be found in seemingly insignificant things. It’s clear from his chat with Harker Magazine that this enthusiasm for life and adventure runs through everything he does and shines on the students lucky enough to be in his classes.
What would constitute a perfect day for you? A day where my students were incredibly enthusiastic and took an idea I gave them to another level. I love the question, “Can I do this other thing instead … and here is why?”
What is an experience you’ve had that few others have experienced? I was once shipwrecked on a freighter off the coast of Madagascar.
For what are you most proud of yourself? I gave up a fellowship to Cambridge and instead somehow found the patience to sit for days on end sculpting rocks in Zimbabwe. I have the sculptures at home to remind me.
What is the best compliment someone can give you? “Thank you … you made me believe and convinced me something was possible.”
What is your most treasured memory? Finding dinosaur bones at age 10 with my geology professor father and his close paleontologist friend (who happened to make his biggest discovery – now on display – that very day).
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2019 issue of Harker Magazine.
Middle school math teacher Margaret Huntley moved to the U.S. eight years ago from her native Australia, leaving behind her parents and six siblings. Though she cites this as the biggest risk she’s ever taken, she has created a happy life here with her also-Australian husband and their 1-year-old daughter. Passionate about the outdoors, she loves cycling in the hills, going to the beach – “anywhere I can be totally by myself in nature.” Read on for more interesting facts Harker Magazine discovered about Huntley!
When did you first really feel like an adult? The first time I filled out a tax return.
What gives you a reason to smile? The little things: a sunrise walk, a picnic lunch, a blossom tree. There are so many reasons to smile if you look for them.
Brag about something. I can still do round-off back handsprings!
If you had $100 million in the bank, what would your day look like? Much like it does right now. I’d still be teaching at Harker. I think I’d fly business class when I travel, though!
What helps you persevere when you feel like giving up? Knowing that even things that seem insurmountable and unachievable are not the end of the world. If something really needs to get done, it will get done; if I don’t get it done, then I guess it wasn’t that important.
What does your inner child want? To cuddle up with a teddy bear.