Kindergartners had a blast showing off their homemade hats during the annual Spring Hat Parade, held on the afternoon of April 16.
“It’s that time of year again!” enthused kindergarten teacher Katie Florio, who reported that the youngsters paraded around campus visiting classrooms and displaying their fabulous creations. Students wound their way through the lower school campus, stopping in various classrooms to model their unique and colorful headwear to the delight of onlookers.
After the parade there was an egg hunt (with eggs hidden on the kindergarten playground), followed by festive homeroom parties.
Midweek Flash Update: Our boys golf team clinched the league title for the second consecutive season yesterday by beating Pinewood 192-207 at Sunnyvale Golf Course. Sophomore Ryan Vaughan earned his second medalist honors with an even par 35 with two birdies and two eagles. Fellow sophomore Avi Khemani carded a 37 by sinking a 5-foot eagle putt on the 478 yard par 5. Also on Monday the team placed second overall in the prestigious Atwater Invitational, edging third-place Bellarmine by one stroke. The boys hope to go undefeated in league vs. Crystal Springs today.
More sports:
Boys tennis defeated rival Sacred Heart Prep 5-2 yesterday on their Senior Day to improve to 15-2 overall. Congratulations to seniors Sohil Singh and John Dobrota on their stellar careers thus far as they get ready for CCS play.
Baseball earned a league win yesterday over Jefferson 8-2. Kedar Gupta, grade 10, had two hits and Varun Haltore, grade 10, pitched for the victory. The boys travel to Jefferson tomorrow as they try to improve upon their 7-10 record.
Softball defeated Fremont Christian 21-0 yesterday to improve to 8-4 overall. Wish them well at Pinewood tomorrow.
April 21, 2015 Quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 12, was awarded a huge honor and will play this summer on the San Francisco 49ers’ home field. Forbes was selected to play in the 41st Annual Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game at Levi’s Stadium on Aug. 1 at 6pm. Over the years, the game has had a slew of participants go on to become collegiate standouts and NFL stars. It represents the very best graduating football players from all 46 Santa Clara County high schools.
Forbes follows in the footsteps of a few Eagles athletes who have competed in the classic. In 2011, three Harker community members participated in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic 37th Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game, which was held at San Jose State University’s Spartan Stadium. Harker coach Karriem Stinson was named head coach of the north squad, while new graduates Rishi Bhatia and Gautam Krishnamurthi were selected for the team.
The first Harker athlete selected to start in the classic was Arman Gupta in 2009. Gupta started at free safety and, according to Stinson, “played more than any other defensive back in the game.”
Golf
The boys remain undefeated and in first place after stretching their run of victories to eight to start the season, with wins last week over King’s Academy and rival Sacred Heart Prep. Senior Shrish Dwivedi celebrated Senior Day in style by leading all scorers against Sacred Heart with a 35! A win this week over either Pinewood or Crystal Springs would award the team their second consecutive league championship.
Tennis
The boys tennis squad won three matches last week, defeating Aragon, Priory and Crystal Springs to improve to 14-2 overall. The team will celebrate seniors John Dobrota and Sohil Singh at Senior Day this Tuesday when they play Sacred Heart Prep at the Santa Clara Tennis Center.
Softball
The Eagles had two key league victories last week, highlighted by a 5-4 come-from-behind win at Castilleja Friday, which kept them in a tie for first place in the league standings. The girls have a busy week ahead as they travel to Palo Alto, Fremont Christian and Pinewood this week to try to improve upon their 7-3 record.
Track and Field
The track and field team competed in the Bearcat Invitational track meet at San Mateo High School last Saturday, setting 16 personal bests. Freshman Grace Koonmen won her heat in the 100m and 200m sprints. Sophomore Davis Dunaway won the frosh-soph 110m hurdles, placed third in the long jump and finished second in the pole vault, setting a new school record with a 10’6″ pole vault. The 400m relay team of juniors Johnathon Keller and Calvin Kocienda, freshman Anthony Contreras and sophomore Lucas Wang placed sixth out of 25 teams, with a season best of 46.50, the best Eagles time in five years. Wang and fellow junior Jonathan Hochberg threw personal bests in the shot put and discus throw.
Swimming
Last week’s swimming action was filled with improved scores and top finishes! Divya Periyakoil, grade 11, dropped 10 seconds in her 100 Free. Junior Philip Krause dropped 6 seconds in his 100 Free. Freshman Rishi Chopra improved by 5 seconds in both his 50 Free and 50 Back. The team also saw a number of first-place finishes, including sophomore Michael Auld in the 200 Free; junior Grace Guan in the 200 IM and 50 Fly; freshman Adriano Hernandez in the 100 IM; freshman Shikhar Solanki in 50 Free; freshman Taylor Kohlmann in the 50 Free and 100 Back; junior Angela Huang in 100 Free; sophomore Austin Zhang in 50 Back; sophomore Jack Farnham in 100 Backstroke; and Joshua Hung, grade 11, in 100 Breast. Junior Angela Huang qualified for CCS in the 100 Free with a time of 55.66, while freshman Vivian Wang qualified in both of her individual events, the 500 Free (5:07.83) and the 100 Breaststroke (1:09.64). The swimmers host King’s Academy on Wednesday, when they’ll celebrate Senior Day. Thank you to our seniors, Stacy Chao, Sanjana Kaundinya, Delaney Martin, Jackelyn Shen, Leon Chin, Aaron Huang, Craig Neubeiser and Harry Xu.
Baseball
Baseball played well last week, despite losses to Pinewood and Cupertino. Freshman Dominic Cea had two hits in Tuesday’s loss, and freshman Nate Kelly and sophomore Varun Haltore had two hits Thursday. The team will look to improve upon its 6-10 record when they take on Jefferson this week.
Volleyball
The boys volleyball team went 0-3 last week, despite solid play from senior Matt Ho, junior Kurt Schwartz and senior Jeremiah Anderson. They travel to Lynbrook, Homestead and to the Harbor Tournament this weekend.
Lacrosse
The girls team lost to Sequoia and Woodside last week but rebounded to eke out a 12-11 victory over Mercy thanks to four goals each from seniors Leeza Kuo and Hannah Bollar and a whopping 23 saves from sophomore goalie Meilan Steimle. They play Notre Dame on Friday.
Harker students Haris Hosseini and Alexander Young, both grade 8, received certificates of recognition for superior writing ability from the National Council of Teachers of English Promising Young Writers Program. Out of 191 students nominated nationwide, only 45 received this honor; of those recognized, only four students were from California. Each student submitted two pieces of writing, which were read by national judges. Papers were judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style. “It is so exciting that both of our nominees were selected as California winners,” noted Patricia Lai Burrows, middle school English teacher. A complete list of winners is on the NCTE website at http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/pyw/2015. Go Writing Eagles!
In a few short months, students in grades 6-12 will attend Harker’s Summer Institute (SI) on the upper school’s beautiful Saratoga Avenue campus.
A unique program open to both Harker students and those from other schools, SI runs from June 15-Aug. 7; course dates and times vary. Registration opened in January and spots have been filling up quickly.
Students typically enroll in SI to get a jump start on the next school year or to enrich their learning on topics they are passionate about. SI has two tracks: one designed for middle schoolers and another for high school students. Participants generally combine a morning academic program with afternoon activities, allowing them to earn credits and learn new skills, while also enjoying summertime fun.
The academic portion of the day offers rigorous for-credit courses such as algebra, economics and programming, as well as non-credit opportunities for enrichment and growth including creative writing, Web design, debate and robotics. A driver’s education course is available for students ages 15 and up.
For middle school students (grades 6-8), SI’s afternoon activity program includes many specialty classes and recreational activities; students in grade 9 are also invited to sign up for the afternoon activities. Offerings include backyard games, volleyball boot camp, cooking, art, jewelry making, magic, improv, dance, tech, junior lifeguard, chess and circus arts. There also will be off-campus field trips every couple of weeks to sites such as The Tech Museum and Capitola.
Although they are not eligible for the afternoon activity program, students in grades 10-12 may stay on campus to swim, study, shoot hoops, etc.
“Our Summer Institute offers a catalog of class choices designed to provide students with quality academic experiences. Whether it’s a ‘for credit’ class needed to round out a school schedule or just an academic interest students would like to pursue, we have it covered. Our professional, caring faculty, enthusiastic activity staff, great facilities and positive environment add up to a well-rounded summer experience,” said Kelly Espinosa, director of Harker’s summer and preschool programs.
Students interested in SI should register early for the best selection. For more information: summerinstitute@harker.org.
The Museums of Los Gatos held an artist reception in mid-April for its annual high school exhibition. Four Harker students were among those selected to show pieces in the exhibition, which runs through May 10. This year’s theme is “Bridges: Facing Challenges.” Kevin Ke, grade 11, won second place in watercolor/drawing category; Sophia Luo, grade 11, won judges recognition for theme; Archana Podury, grade 12, had two drawings selected and Kelly Wang, grade 12, had one drawing selected for the juried exhibition.
This year, the museum received 800 entries from students throughout Santa Clara County. Three jurors – art professors from San Jose State University, Santa Clara University and Mission College –selected 86 works of art for this year’s exhibition.
On April 10, middle and upper school orchestra ensembles gathered at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater for the 2015 Spring Orchestra Concert.
Up first was the Grade 6 Orchestra, directed by Dave Hart, which performed Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5” and the modern folk classic “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar, finishing with the famous “James Bond Theme” by Monty Norman. The Grades 7-8 Orchestra, also directed by Hart, began with the invigorating theme from “Pirates of the Caribbean” and continued with selections by Brahms, Wagner and Tchaikovsky.
The middle school orchestras then joined forces for a crowd-pleasing performance of “Prelude to Carmen” by Georges Bizet.
Chris Florio directed The Harker School Orchestra, which headlined the evening, starting with Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” before performing the entirety of Stravinsky’s “The Firebird.” Two soloists also performed. The first, senior violist Austin Lai, performed Léo Delibes “La Paix,” from the ballet “Coppélia,” while senior violinist Helen Wu, who recently earned a spot on the National Youth Orchestra for the second year in a row, performed the allegro from Samuel Barber’s “Concert for Violin & Orchestra.” The orchestra closed the evening with a spirited version of “Huapango” by renowned Mexican composer José Pablo Moncayo.
This year marked the first time the annual Harker Golf Classic was presented by the Harker Alumni Association. The successful event took place on April 13 at the renowned Stanford University Golf Course, raising funds for Harker’s General Endowment Fund.
The 2015 Harker Golf Classic brought together Harker alumni, parents, alumni parents and their friends, totaling about 80 golfers. The fundraiser was largely spearheaded by alums Jeremy Pomer ’91 and Jeff Rogers ’84. Former Harker faculty member Howard Saltzman and current lower school math teacher Pat Walsh served as honorary marshals for the day, handing out prize ribbons and libations to golfers.
A variety of special awards and prizes, as well as numerous generous sponsors, helped make the event special. Capping off the occasion was a 19th hole reception on the clubhouse patio for golfers, as well as non-golfers, wishing to join in on the fun.
At the end of the day, the winning foursome was announced: Jen Eng, Raymond Hsieh, Herb Repp and Robert Nakamura.
The Stanford golf course, designed in 1930 by renowned golf course architects William Bell and George C. Thomas, is located in the foothills above the Stanford University campus. In 2009, it was rated the nation’s third-best college course by golf coaches.
“It was a great game of golf and, more important, all the participants left with the wonderful knowledge that they had helped raise funds for Harker’s General Endowment, which will benefit future generations of students,” enthused Karri Baker ’84, director of alumni relations.
In mid-April, Harker CareerConnect hosted its annual mentorship banquet at which mentors and students had a chance to meet in a relaxed atmosphere. The mentorship program partners students with a professionals in their field of interest, giving them a chance to learn more about that career pathway. Students then keep in touch throughout the summer, often visiting their mentor’s workplace.
Applications are flowing in for Harker’s world-renowned English Language Institute (ELI), held on both the lower and upper school campuses. The program, which begins on July 6, will bring top-level English instruction to international students.
ELI offers two tracks, with multiple academic levels. The program provides a nurturing environment for students looking to improve their language skills or prepare for admission to American boarding schools and English-speaking international schools. Small classes and experienced teachers help foreign students develop speaking, reading and writing skills to ensure their readiness.
The elementary division is for ages 6-11 and the secondary division is for ages 12-16. After a full day of instruction, students in both programs interact with Harker’s regular summer participants to make new friends and practice their English with native speakers.
New to the program last year was a week-long “Very Interesting Places” (VIP) tour. This option, available to all ELI students, proved successful and will be offered again this year at the conclusion of ELI’s regular five-week academic session.
During the VIP trip, students follow a specialized course of study to continue developing reading, writing and speaking competency while visiting university campuses, Silicon Valley businesses, places of interest and treasured landmarks. The tour will be capped off with an overnight trip to the scenic California coast.
The VIP tour was born from widespread interest from ELI participants in having more excursions to enhance their American social and cultural experiences, explained ELI director Anthony Wood last year. Wood said that enrollment is again expected to fill up quickly.
Fun outings on this year’s VIP tour will include attending a professional baseball game, whale watching in Monterey, hiking in Big Sur, touring the Jelly Belly factory, attending an outdoor performance in Carmel and going to Great America.
ELI initially began as a year-round boarding school program, which closed in 2001 due to Harker’s upper school expansion. It evolved into the current summer program, which launched in 2004. For the past few summers ELI has steadily grown in attendance, especially in the primary division.
International students come to Harker accompanied by a parent or local guardian and stay in nearby apartments or with area family and friends. At the end of the ELI session, students receive an English proficiency certificate based on academic performance and progress, as well as a comprehensive teacher report and testing evaluation.
For more information about the ELI program: ELI@harker.org.
Middle and upper school debate had a stellar past few weeks, performing well at tournaments in and out of state. In Las Vegas, senior Pranav Reddy was named the national Lincoln-Douglas debate champion for the second straight year by offering a convincing argument for increasing the minimum wage.
At the California Middle School Speech and Debate Tournament in southern California, Maddie Huynh, grade 7, and Anusha Kuppahally, grade 8, were named the policy debate state champions. The team of Julia Biswas, grade 6, and Jai Bahri, grade 7, and the team of Jason Lin and Andy Lee, both grade 6, finished in the semifinals. Kuppahally was named first speaker.
Seventh grader Nakul Bajaj was named the top speaker in public forum, where the team of Clarissa Wang and Cindy Wang, both grade 8, reached the semifinals. Akshay Manglik, grade 6, was a semifinalist in Lincoln-Douglas, and Jason Huang, grade 8, finished third in congressional debate.
In speech events, Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 8, was named state champion in original oratory and impromptu speaking, where Avi Gulati, grade 7, took second and third, respectively. Riya Gupta, grade 8, took fourth in original oratory. Yet another state champion, seventh grader Nikki Solanki, won in in dramatic interpretation, in which Matthew Hajjar, grade 8, took third, Gulati finished fourth and Gupta took fifth. Natalia Feinberg, grade 8, won third place in humorous interpretation. In storytelling, Ashli Jain, grade 8, and Feinberg took fifth and sixth place, respectively.
In late March, 45 debaters from the middle school attended the Cesar Chavez Memorial Tournament in Union City, where Harker performed very well in speech events, finishing first in three events and appearing in the top three multiple times. Avi Gulati took first in original oratory, with Ashli Jain finishing as a finalist. Kelly Shen and Matthew Hajjar, both grade 8, took first and second, respectively, in dramatic interpretation, while sixth grader Arusha Patil took second place in declamation and Natalia Feinberg finished second in humorous interpretation. Jain was also a finalist in the storytelling event.
In debate events, Harker was recognized several times for going undefeated. Kenneth Liou, grade 7, and Krishay Mukhija, grade 6, were undefeated in Public Forum, while Catherine Zhao, grade 7, Akshay Manglik, grade 6, Alexander Young, grade 8, and Sachin Shah, grade 7, went without a single loss in Lincoln-Douglas. Finishing with only one loss in public forum were the teams of Emma Boyce and Sidra Xu, both grade 6, and Nikki Solanki and Naveen Mirapuri, both grade 7. Annie Ma, grade 7, and Suraj Pakala, grade 8, were recognized for losing only once in Lincoln Douglas.