Harker celebrated Earth Day 2016 in a big way on April 22, with activities across many grade levels, highlighting Harker’s schoolwide dedication to sustainability.
At the upper school, Earth Day celebrations began as early as the previous week, as students, faculty and staff engaged in the Green Challenge. Using an app called SJEnvironment, participants made note of and “buzzed” each act of sustainability they performed over a weeklong period. Simple actions such as refilling water bottles, minimizing shower time, turning off lights and appliances, and taking public transit could all be recorded in the app for points that were later tallied. Participants were awarded with prizes from Starbucks, Sports Basement, Summer Winds Nursery, Aqui Restaurant and other businesses.
“Our hope is that through participating in the Green Challenge, everyone learned how many simple actions we can each take every day to help promote sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint,” said upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss, who is also the upper school representative for the Harker Green Committee.
Upper school biology teacher and Green Committee member Kate Schafer added that it “challenged our students to think about their actions and modify those actions and learn about why it’s important to modify those actions.”
The upper school campus was also the location of the final Eagle Buddies event of the year, in which grades 3 and 10 teamed up to make special flags with imprints of leaves and other objects found in nature.
Lower school students celebrated at special Earth Day-themed stations set up by BEST staff. Students in grades 4 and 5 gathered at a table to make crafts from recycled materials, while second graders made potted plants from plastic bottles and string. Kindergartners dressed up as “Earth Jedis” and trekked about the lower school campus picking up trash and recyclables.
The preschool campus was the center of much activity, despite rainy weather consigning it to the indoors. Grade 8 students visited their preschool friends in the Eco Buddies program. In a number of cottages, the middle schoolers set up stations to demonstrate various ecological concepts. One station demonstrated the concept of solar power by having a solar-power operated toy car move around when light was shone on it. At another station, eighth graders used a sock puppet (a stand-in for a worm) to explain Harker’s “wet/dry” waste disposal program: anything that the worm ate would go into the “wet” bin, while anything the worm rejected was headed to the “dry” bin. Other students cobbled together bird houses, made water filters and cut out makeshift helicopters that twirled to the ground when dropped.
“I thought that this was a really cool buddy program, especially since we don’t do very many at middle school,” said Tasha Moorjani, grade 8. “I liked it a lot, for the most part, and my favorite bit was when I realized that the kids were genuinely interested, because it made me really excited to teach them.”
Harker celebrated Earth Day 2016 in a big way on April 22, with activities across many grade levels, highlighting Harker’s schoolwide dedication to sustainability.
At the upper school, Earth Day celebrations began as early as the previous week, as students, faculty and staff engaged in the Green Challenge. Using an app called SJEnvironment, participants made note of and “buzzed” each act of sustainability they performed over a weeklong period. Simple actions such as refilling water bottles, minimizing shower time, turning off lights and appliances, and taking public transit could all be recorded in the app for points that were later tallied. Participants were awarded with prizes from Starbucks, Sports Basement, Summer Winds Nursery, Aqui Restaurant and other businesses.
“Our hope is that through participating in the Green Challenge, everyone learned how many simple actions we can each take every day to help promote sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint,” said upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss, who is also the upper school representative for the Harker Green Committee.
Upper school biology teacher and Green Committee member Kate Schafer added that it “challenged our students to think about their actions and modify those actions and learn about why it’s important to modify those actions.”
The upper school campus was also the location of the final Eagle Buddies event of the year, in which grades 3 and 10 teamed up to make special flags with imprints of leaves and other objects found in nature.
Lower school students celebrated at special Earth Day-themed stations set up by BEST staff. Students in grades 4 and 5 gathered at a table to make crafts from recycled materials, while second graders made potted plants from plastic bottles and string. Kindergartners dressed up as “Earth Jedis” and trekked about the lower school campus picking up trash and recyclables.
The preschool campus was the center of much activity, despite rainy weather consigning it to the indoors. Grade 8 students visited their preschool friends in the Eco Buddies program. In a number of cottages, the middle schoolers set up stations to demonstrate various ecological concepts. One station demonstrated the concept of solar power by having a solar-power operated toy car move around when light was shone on it. At another station, eighth graders used a sock puppet (a stand-in for a worm) to explain Harker’s “wet/dry” waste disposal program: anything that the worm ate would go into the “wet” bin, while anything the worm rejected was headed to the “dry” bin. Other students cobbled together bird houses, made water filters and cut out makeshift helicopters that twirled to the ground when dropped.
“I thought that this was a really cool buddy program, especially since we don’t do very many at middle school,” said Tasha Moorjani, grade 8. “I liked it a lot, for the most part, and my favorite bit was when I realized that the kids were genuinely interested, because it made me really excited to teach them.”
Harker celebrated Earth Day 2016 in a big way on April 22, with activities across many grade levels, highlighting Harker’s schoolwide dedication to sustainability.
At the upper school, Earth Day celebrations began as early as the previous week, as students, faculty and staff engaged in the Green Challenge. Using an app called SJEnvironment, participants made note of and “buzzed” each act of sustainability they performed over a weeklong period. Simple actions such as refilling water bottles, minimizing shower time, turning off lights and appliances, and taking public transit could all be recorded in the app for points that were later tallied. Participants were awarded with prizes from Starbucks, Sports Basement, Summer Winds Nursery, Aqui Restaurant and other businesses.
“Our hope is that through participating in the Green Challenge, everyone learned how many simple actions we can each take every day to help promote sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint,” said upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss, who is also the upper school representative for the Harker Green Committee.
Upper school biology teacher and Green Committee member Kate Schafer added that it “challenged our students to think about their actions and modify those actions and learn about why it’s important to modify those actions.”
The upper school campus was also the location of the final Eagle Buddies event of the year, in which grades 3 and 10 teamed up to make special flags with imprints of leaves and other objects found in nature.
Lower school students celebrated at special Earth Day-themed stations set up by BEST staff. Students in grades 4 and 5 gathered at a table to make crafts from recycled materials, while second graders made potted plants from plastic bottles and string. Kindergartners dressed up as “Earth Jedis” and trekked about the lower school campus picking up trash and recyclables.
The preschool campus was the center of much activity, despite rainy weather consigning it to the indoors. Grade 8 students visited their preschool friends in the Eco Buddies program. In a number of cottages, the middle schoolers set up stations to demonstrate various ecological concepts. One station demonstrated the concept of solar power by having a solar-power operated toy car move around when light was shone on it. At another station, eighth graders used a sock puppet (a stand-in for a worm) to explain Harker’s “wet/dry” waste disposal program: anything that the worm ate would go into the “wet” bin, while anything the worm rejected was headed to the “dry” bin. Other students cobbled together bird houses, made water filters and cut out makeshift helicopters that twirled to the ground when dropped.
“I thought that this was a really cool buddy program, especially since we don’t do very many at middle school,” said Tasha Moorjani, grade 8. “I liked it a lot, for the most part, and my favorite bit was when I realized that the kids were genuinely interested, because it made me really excited to teach them.”
Results from the first round of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO) recently arrived, and the following 10 students qualified to advance to the invitational round: Lawrence Li, grade 12; Misha Ivkov, Andrew Rule, Kai-Siang Ang and David Zhu, all grade 11; Swapnil Garg, Rajiv Movva, Michael Kwan and Joanna Lin, all grade 10; and Rose Guan, grade 9.
The students will participate in the next stage of the competition on March 10.
Since its founding in 2006, NACLO has tested high school students on a variety of linguistics puzzles. The top-scoring students then represent the United States at the International Linguistics Olympiad, to be held this summer in Mysore, India.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2015 Harker Quarterly. Access the full issue, with live links, at Harker’s issuu.com page: http://issuu.com/theharkerschool/docs/harker_quarterly_winter_2015.
In fall 2009, upper school English teacher Pauline Paskali rented a van with the intention of driving to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland with four of her students. Paskali reached out to fellow English faculty member Jason Berry to see if he would go along. “’Of course!’ he said,” recalled Paskali.
Berry ended up driving all the way to Ashland and back. The students came back raving about their time at OSF, Paskali said. The following year, more than 20 students signed up. The most recent trip included 27, which is right around where Paskali would like to keep it.
“At the time, I was teaching Shakespeare,” she said, explaining the impetus for the trip. “And of course every time you teach Shakespeare, having the kids read and act out the lines makes it come alive for them, and helps them to understand what’s going on.”
Paskali thought it would be good for the students to see what Shakespeare’s words would be like when interpreted by professional actors in a professional setting: “I don’t know how much exposure some of our kids have to plays, so I think it gives them an opportunity to connect.”
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival was founded in 1935, but its beginnings go back to the Chautauqua adult education movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first Chautauqua building in Ashland went up in 1893, and was later renovated to seat 1,500. It thrived for the next several years, attracting performers and speakers such as composer John Philip Sousa and politician William Jennings Bryan, according to the OSF website.
The Chautauqua building was replaced by a domed structure in 1917. It was torn down in 1933, about a decade after the Chautauqua movement fell into decline. Noting the similarities between the Chautauqua’s remaining walls and those of Elizabethan theaters, local teacher Angus L. Bowmer proposed holding a three-day festival at the site of the old Chautauqua building to coincide with Ashland’s Fourth of July festivities. The Oregon Shakespearean Festival gave its first show, a production of “Twelfth Night,” on July 2, 1935.
OSF now puts on 11 plays in its three theaters during its season, which runs from February to November. Although the works of Shakespeare are its namesake, the company has expanded to include works of other classic and contemporary playwrights. This most recent season featured the play “Sweat,” written by Lynn Nottage, whom OSF commissioned as part of its American Revolutions series of plays about decisive moments in American history.
“I can easily say that ‘Sweat’ is the best play I have ever seen,” senior Alex Henshall gushed. “Its profoundness and intelligent handling of its subject matter and the questions it raises affected me deeply.”
Kayvon Solaimanpour, grade 11, had a similar reaction. He described “Sweat” as “an amazing play about the struggles in an industrial town, jumping back and forth between 2000 and 2008. It left me thinking for a couple hours after having seen the play.”
In addition to contemporary plays, the students also enjoyed seeing Shakespeare come to life on stage.
“Before this journey, I knew little about Shakespeare and wasn’t super interested in his works,” Henshall said. “I had very seldom seen or read any of his works, mostly because I noticed a very real language barrier that hampered my enjoyment of his plays.”
Henshall, who has gone on the weekend trip for four years, saw rsthand how much can change when Shakespeare’s words move from the page to the stage.
“The performances and the ways in which the directors envision their productions of Shakespeare’s timeless plays always entertain me,” Henshall said. “I love asking myself, ‘I wonder what setting the director of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ will use? What will the costumes be like? Will there be a modern interpretation or a classical flair?’”
“The ways in which the plays are presented affects the way in which you engage with them,” Paskali said.
In Paskali’s experience, the sojourn has a lasting effect on attending students. She recalled a moment when, days after the 2009 trip, Melinda Wang ’10 peeked into Paskali’s classroom and exclaimed, “I’m thinking in Shakespeare!”
After their first visit to OSF, students and alumni often return on their own. “People love story, they love performance,” said Paskali, “and they love that it comes alive to them and it speaks to them in a way that maybe a play on the page doesn’t.”
“Because I have an interest in literature, this trip [has allowed] me to experience it with a new perspective and has definitely made me more interested in reading, writing and enjoying literature,” said sophomore Stephanie Swanson, who this year went on her second Harker OSF trip.
An avid reader of Shakespeare, Swanson said she also enjoyed the opportunity to see OSF’s other offerings. “Seeing all of the plays, from ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ to ‘Guys and Dolls,’ getting to meet and understand some of the actors through discussions and workshops, and bonding with all of your fellow Shakespeare aficionados are just a few of the incredible opportunities offered on this trip, despite its short length,” she said.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival also offers an impressive array of educational programs, many of them run by OSF actors, who teach students critical elements of drama through hands-on activities. In an exercise meant to illustrate a concept from the archetypal narrative of “the hero’s journey,” students covered their eyes and allowed their fellow students to be their eyes and ears while walking around the room.
On a previous visit, students acted out a line from the “The Tempest” using movements and sounds, “trying to understand the play through those lenses,” Paskali recalled.
Incidentally, the journey to OSF can also make for a fun road trip. “The bus rides are as fun as you make it. I sat with a bunch of my friends and we played games, told stories and even tried to do a little homework,” said Solaimanpour. “To me, this goes to show that even if you are doing something you love, it is always better to do that same thing with your friends.”
On Wednesday the boys soccer team traveled to Sacred Heart Prep and defeated the Gators 2-1 behind two goals from Jared Anderson, grade 9. This was the first time in at least 10 years that Harker has defeated its league rival on its campus! Congratulations boys and good luck at Crystal Springs Uplands next week.
Commissioner’s Cup
Within the WBAL, there is a little-known competition known as the Commissioner’s Cup, in which a point value is given for all varsity results and tallied up throughout the year. For the first time ever, after the fall season, the Harker girls are in first place. Great job cross country, tennis, volleyball, golf and water polo for giving the Eagles a great start toward the Commissioner’s Cup!
While their fellow students may have been hitting the slopes or sleeping in over the break, Harker’s winter athletes were busy competing and playing very well!
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team stayed busy over the last two weeks as they went 5-2 over that span to improve their season record to 9-3. After victories over Watsonville (66-38), Kirby Prep (80-51) and Greenfield (60-30), the Eagles won their first two games in the Del Mar Dons Holiday Tournament (66-36 over Del Mar and 50-37 over San Mateo), before falling 50-42 in the championship game to Del Campo. Harker then lost a close game to Santa Clara 40-35 on New Year’s Eve. Jordan Thompson, grade 11, could not be stopped as she averaged 29 points a game during the last seven games, including a 41-point performance in the Eagles’ win over Kirby Prep. The girls team will visit the King’s Academy on Friday for its first league game.
Boys Basketball
After a tight 56-50 loss to Monta Vista on Dec. 19, the boys basketball team won three straight games over the winter break. In the loss to the Matadors, Roy Yuan, grade 9, put up 15 points, followed by a 23-point performance in a 79-50 win over More. Yuan stayed hot as he scored 26 points in a 78-41 win over Greenfield, and finished off the break with 15 points to lead Harker past Redwood Christian 65-32. Elijah Edgehill, grade 12, also had an impressive break, averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds in the Eagles’ four games. The boys team is now 8-2 on the season and will travel to the King’s Academy Tuesday to open league play.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team has been playing some great soccer over the last few weeks. On the last day of school before the winter break, the Eagles played to a 3-3 tie at Lynbrook High School. They followed that up with a 2-1 win over Cupertino this past Saturday, and on Monday the Eagles hosted Valley Christian and came away with a huge 3-0 win. The boys team travels to Sacred Heart on Wednesday to open up league play.
Girls Soccer
Just before break, the girls soccer team played to a 1-1 tie against Redwood Christian. The girls team will host Pinewood today at 3:30 p.m. and travel to Crystal Springs Uplands on Thursday.
Wrestling
Come support the Harker Wrestling team this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on the Blackford campus as it opens league action against Los Altos High School.