This summer at Harker featured some exciting first-time offerings for students, both local and from around the globe.
At the youngest level, history was made with the addition of a new preschool summer program. Meanwhile, the popular English Language Institute (ELI) launched an optional summer VIP tour, which was a huge hit with international students at both the lower and upper schools.
Each summer Harker opens its doors to the public, extending its offerings to local students. Noteworthy this year was skyrocketing attendance for all of Harker’s summer programs, particularly at the lower school’s Camp+ and upper school’s Summer Institute (SI).
In addition to the new preschool, ELI, Camp+ and SI, Harker also offered a large and varied summer sports camp, as well as a swim school.
“Once again, we enjoyed a successful summer … and were thrilled to be able to offer exciting new programming!” enthused Kelly Espinosa, longtime director of Harker’s summer programs.
Below is a look back at Harker Summer 2014:
Harker Preschool Launches New Summer Program
This year marked the first time Harker Preschool, which opened last fall, has operated a summer camp at its Union Avenue campus. The preschool now joins the larger Harker community’s long-running tradition of offering programs after the regular school year ends.
The preschool’s successful inaugural summer camp featured two sessions, which began with a fun beach theme and ended with an action-packed wilderness motif. Session one, called “Down by the Shore,” ran from June 23-July 18 with 55 enthusiastic “beachgoers” filling the preschool’s sunny cottages, play yards and specialty classrooms (STEM, music and movement, and art.) Session two ran from July 21-Aug. 8 with the theme “Little Cabin in the Woods.” For the second session, children happily grabbed their backpacks and headed off to the (imaginary) forest.
Highlights of the first session included water play on “Splash Days,” as well as explorations of both sand and water. Four-year-old camper Luca Chan especially enjoyed the many ocean-themed books introduced and discussed during group times.
Classmate Miley Liu, also 4, said she liked “making a beach in a box,” an activity in which students filled plastic containers with sand, shells and other items you would see at a beach.
Meanwhile, in music and movement class, students made drums that sounded like the ocean, explained teacher Mara Beckerman. Then, in her aftercare class, they explored surfing to the upbeat music of “Wipe Out.”
In art class the children enjoyed sea foam watercolor painting, sand sculpture, sea life printmaking, lobster claw still life and shell weaving, among other activities. “We also discussed where pearls come from and what they look like at a bead-making table,” recalled art instructor Alexandria Kerekez.
The first summer session was filled with surf, sand and sun as the children “soaked in” all there was to see and do around this well-loved theme, noted Andrea Hart, director of Harker Preschool. “Together we explored sea life and play through sand and water, singing silly songs and reading stories about friends who live and play on the salty shore. All were inspired by our new pet hermit crab. There were also some excellent sandcastles that the children made themselves by manually grinding rocks into sand!” she enthused.
During the second session Hart recalled that the children had a great time meeting new forest animal friends, building with logs, digging in the dirt, pitching tents, creating with found objects, exploring common outdoorsy tools, and enjoying everything nature had to offer. “It was all the fun of a camping adventure without the worries of bears or mosquito bites!” she said.
Summer Camp+ Enjoyed Record-Breaking Attendance
Harker’s Summer Camp+ filled up at record speed, attracting some 774 (K-6) campers to the lower school campus. This year’s program had a fun-filled afternoon circus theme, called “Under the Big Top.”
Once again, Camp+ provided morning learning experiences followed by age-appropriate afternoon electives. Grade 5 Harker student and Camp+ enthusiast Jack Hayashi said his favorite thing about the program was playing ball hockey and going to the archery range. He also liked that there was plenty of time for simply “clowning around.”
Meanwhile, first-time Camp+ participant Rhiannon Sikand, a grade 3 Harker student, said she enjoyed the camp’s climbing wall and had a lot of fun going on a field trip to the Oakland Zoo. “I liked seeing all the animals … especially the turtles,” she said.
Camp+ students in grades 1-6 had the option of enrolling in one of two academic morning programs: Core Focus or Learning Opportunities in Literature (LOL). Core Focus was a more traditional learning environment with language arts, math and academic electives for each grade level. LOL featured academic courses designed around literary subject matter; this year, LOL focused on the work of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.
Both Core Focus and LOL shared the same afternoon options, including arts and crafts, dance, water play, wall climbing, archery and array of other field sports – and of course, plenty of circus arts!
The Summer Camp+ program kicked off and ended with Color Clash, a fun event held in the lower school’s gymnasium. Groups of campers on yellow, red, green and blue teams participated in an array of silly games cheered on by captains (aka camp counselors) wearing color-coordinated outfits that ran the gamut from superhero costumes to hula skirts and fun hats. This year’s Color Clash finals showcased a video highlighting happenings from previous events.
Other on-site happenings included a water carnival, sleepover for older campers, presentation for parents and a birthday celebration for the camp mascot, “Ray,” according to Joe Chung, program director of Summer Camp+ and Harker’s elementary computer science teacher. Campers also enjoyed numerous field trips.
“I would recommend Camp+ to anyone!” said Hayashi.
The Harker School has offered extensive summer programs for more than 50 years. The Summer Camp+ program is accredited nationally by the American Camping Association.
Summer Institute Offers Variety of Programs for Middle and Upper School Students
Harker’s Summer Institute (SI) was a tremendous success, attracting a total of 1,088 middle and upper school students, an increase of 242 over last summer.
The program, which began in mid-June and ran until mid-August, gave students in grades 6-12 the chance to earn credits, learn new skills and pursue individual interests.
The program was available to both Harker students and others, and offered two tracks – one for middle schoolers and another for high schoolers, explained SI middle school director Keith Hirota and SI principal for the upper school students Evan Barth.
The academic portion of the day consisted of rigorous for-credit courses including 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 was available for students ages 15 and up.
For middle schoolers (grades 6-8), SI’s afternoon activity program included many specialty classes and recreational activities; students in grade 9 were also invited to sign up for the afternoon activities. Specialty classes included backyard games, volleyball boot camp and cooking. Other classes include art, jewelry-making, magic, improv, dance, tech, junior lifeguard, chess and circus arts. There were also off-campus field trips every couple of weeks to places such as Shoreline Aquatics Center and Capitola.
This summer, a group of business-savvy students attending an SI finance class organized and ran a lemonade stand on the upper school campus. The students raised $228, which was divided among three local organizations (Abode Services, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation and the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Foundation) as part of a lesson on charitable giving. The stand was one of two culminating projects for a course called “Finance & Investing for Teens” (F.I.T., for short). For the other culminating project, students successfully designed their own mutual fund.
To run the lemonade stand, students were tasked to come up with a custom flavor, build a business plan, design a marketing strategy and staff the business with start-up money fronted by their instructor.
F.I.T. participant and stand worker Emily Zhou, a grade 7 student at the Challenger School, said that this was her first time attending SI. Previously, she had attended Harker’s Camp+ program, held at the lower school.
Zhou explained that to offset costs, such as cups and ingredients, drinks were sold for $1 for regular flavor and $1.50 for specialty flavors like mango or strawberry. “But we passed out coupons for 25 cents off to attract customers,” she said, noting that refills also went for 25 cents off.
Zhou’s F.I.T. classmate, grade 9 Harker student Eric Tran, said he was surprised at how much money the lemonade stand netted, noting that, “We made $85 in just the first half hour of its opening.” In addition to passing out coupons to help attract customers, Tran said that a lot of marketing was done “word of mouth” and by “putting up signs around campus.”
However, customer Grace Cao, a grade 11 Harker student, said that she simply happened upon the stand on her way to an SI class. Of the lemonade she ordered, she said, “It tasted great!”
New VIP Tour Took Learning on the Road for ELI Participants
This summer 57 upper school students and 42 lower school children came to Harker from countries around the globe to attend the increasingly popular English Language Institute (ELI).
Adding an international flair to summer at Harker, ELI provides overseas students with an opportunity to learn and practice their English skills. Many participants go on to attend top American and international schools.
First-time ELI student Hui-Hsuan (Maggie) Cheng, a grade 6 student from Taiwan, fondly recalled going on an outing to visit the tide pools. Cheng said that in a lesson prior to the field trip, her teacher had explained the importance of gently handling the tide pool animals.
New to ELI this summer was an optional “Very Interesting Places” (VIP) tour. Available to all ELI students (ages 6-16), the six-day VIP tour took place at the conclusion of the program’s regular five-week academic session. The trip, held in mid-August with 21 participants, took the students to local theme parks, museums, various school campuses and tourist attractions, culminating with an overnight stay in Yosemite National Park.
Destinations were carefully chosen to elevate historical and cultural awareness; allow students to create closer relationships with their peers and teachers; and provide enormous opportunity for continued English language development, according to ELI director Anthony Wood. Additionally, older students interested in attending American boarding schools or universities had the opportunity to visit and meet with staff at some of the area’s best schools.
Highlights of the VIP trip included whale watching in Monterey, a Jelly Belly factory tour, educational visits to UC Berkeley and Stanford University, a Giants (versus Chicago White Sox) game, a scavenger hunt at Huddart Park and a day of fun at Great America theme park.
In Yosemite National Park, ELI students viewed the majestic Yosemite Falls and visited the area’s museum and cultural center, with educational activities led by a park ranger. A short hike to the lower falls provided inspiration for a writing assignment and picture journal.
“A specially designed instructional component made each day’s adventure a learning experience catered to individual proficiency levels. Students wrote, spoke and read about their destinations, learned new vocabulary related to each new site, and had daily challenges involving English interaction in real-life situations. A travel journal was kept to document their learning … and of course all the fun!” recalled Wood.
Sports Camps and Swim School Keep Students Fit and Focused
Harker’s variety of summer sports offerings afforded students the chance to learn a new activity, improve as athletes or simply work on their overall fitness. Led by experienced and caring coaches, students gained new skills in a fun and nurturing environment.
Sport choices this summer included: wrestling, water polo, basketball, soccer, volleyball, football and a TRX (suspension) training program that was introduced last summer. In addition to the sports camps, Harker’s summer swim school offered individual instruction to swimmers of all ages looking to improve on their aquatic abilities.
Highlights of this year’s sports camps included a special guest visit to the wrestling camp by Anthony Robles, who won the 2010-11 NCAA championship in the 125-pound weight class despite being born with just one leg.
Directing this year’s basketball camp was Harker varsity basketball coach Mark Collins, who spent 10 years in Denmark as a professional player, being named an All-Star player five times. He also directed the Golden State Warriors training camp for six years.
The football camp was again led by Harker head football coach Ron Forbes, a 15-year collegiate Division 1 veteran. His career includes successful stints at the University of Florida and Stanford University, coaching more than 60 future NFL draftees.
Meanwhile, Harker’s water polo camp enjoyed two sessions this summer, due to its popularity in the past. “Last year a lot of the parents asked us to do two sessions, so this year we answered,” said water polo coach and camp co-director Allie Lamb, a 15-year veteran of the sport, who ran the camp with coach Ted Ujifusa, head coach of the Harker boys’ water polo team.
Returning to Harker’s lineup of summer sports camps after a successful first year, the TRX training camp offered middle and high school students the chance to learn several new fitness techniques and train for the upcoming school sports season. TRX is a suspension training system developed by Navy SEALs that utilizes the practitioner’s body weight and can be fine-tuned to each user’s needs and specifications. The highly portable training system helps develop strength, endurance and a solid core.
Camp director Karriem Stinson, Harker middle school athletics director and certified TRX group instructor, said that he has seen massive improvement in the students who were new to the camp. “We’ve had some kids that come in here [who] couldn’t even do a plank for 25 seconds, and now I’ve got kids who are doing planks for a minute,” he said. “The kids are responding to what the training’s doing for them.”
Stinson also noted that at least one student reported having been accepted to a varsity sports team, and said that she could not have done so without her TRX training.
Hockey enthusiast and rising Harker eighth grader Andrew Skrobak found TRX helpful as well. “I don’t get knocked off the puck as easily,” he said.
Ellie Olsen, who is entering grade 7 at Campbell Christian, credited TRX with helping prepare her for soccer competition. “It strengthens my legs a lot more,” she said, noting that the she also found the exercises fun.
In mid-June, 19 students and three teachers set off on a five-day backpacking adventure in Yosemite National Park. The annual summer Middle School Backpacking Trip required students to carry their own supplies, as well as make their own food, teaching them independence and resilience.
With California as their classroom, science teachers Ben Morgensen and Daniel Sommer, and math teacher Margaret Huntley, accompanied students on the trip, which began with setting up an overnight camp at the Crane Flat Campground.
“The backpacking trip was incredible! We hiked to and camped at the truly amazing May Lake, with a pristine lake, snow-capped peaks and view out across Yosemite. We did a day hike to Mt. Hoffmann (10,856 ft.) then hiked to Murphy Creek and camped there for a night before hiking out and driving home. We had beautiful weather and a great mix of first-time and returning hikers, some sleeping in a tent for the first time and others taking on real leadership roles,” recalled Huntley.
After leaving the Crane Flat Campground, the group drove along Tioga Road to the May Lake Trailhead. “On the way, as we steadily rose from the lush conifers of Crane Flat to the barren alpine landscape of Yosemite’s High Country, we watched the land unfold in front of us, with towering peaks jutting sharply into the deep blue sky and babbling brooks merrily cascading down deep gorges,” reminisced rising grade 9 student Andy Semenza.
Once the group arrived at the trailhead, it was a short hike up to May Lake through the alpine landscape, made more difficult by the heavy loads they carried. Upon their arrival at the lake beneath Mt. Hoffmann, they proceeded to set up camp and cook dinner.
“The need to purify all water with iodine instilled a greater appreciation for nature inside of us,” Semenza said. “Once we had finished our repast, we scrambled up a rock outcropping near the lake to watch a spectacular sunset and thunderstorm unfold over the great valley of Tuolumne Meadows and lightning strike the highest peaks of the region.”
The next morning, the students made their incredible climb up Mt. Hoffmann. Then, after a grueling descent into Murphy Creek, many of them successfully fished for trout in the lake. That night, some of the group opted to forgo the shelter of a tent and spent the night in sleeping bags on the granite.
“Throughout that week, we learned many lessons only possible outside the confines of the classroom walls – from the crippling effects of altitude to the feeding practices of ospreys. However, we also had to cope with more psychological issues, like managing a good pace for a group or dealing with tent mates,” surmised Semenza.
Harker Preschool’s inaugural summer camp recently wrapped up its first session, which featured a fun, beach theme called “Down by the Shore.”
This year marks the first time the preschool, which opened last fall, has operated a summer camp at its Union Ave. campus. The preschool now joins the larger Harker community’s long-running tradition of offering programs after the regular school year ends.
Summer camp at Harker Preschool is held in two sessions, each designed to engage and excite young children through familiar summer themes. The program is staffed by year-round Harker teachers, assistant teachers and aides. Students are grouped by age, with families choosing one or both sessions to match their summer schedules.
Session one ran from June 23-July 18 with 55 enthusiastic beach campers filling the preschool’s sunny cottages, play yards and specialty classrooms (STEM, music and movement, and art.) Session two began on July 21 and will run until Aug. 8 with the theme “Little Cabin in the Woods.” For the second session, children will be grabbing their backpacks and heading off to the (imaginary) forest.
Highlights of the first session included water fun on “Splash Days,” as well as explorations of both sand and water. At one point the youngsters made their letter of the week “S” in honor of the word sand. They also had a great time using sand sensory tables (playing kinetically with both sand and seashells), comparing the texture of starfish to that of sandpaper and creating sand dollars. Campers also learned about erosion and how sand is formed when rocks are rubbed together.
Four-year-old preschool camper Luca Chan, who also attends Harker Preschool during the regular school year, especially enjoyed the many ocean-themed books introduced and discussed during group times.
Fellow student Miley Liu, also 4, said she liked “making a beach in a box,” an activity in which students filled plastic containers with sand, shells and other items you would see at a beach. “And we get to take them home!” she said.
Meanwhile, in music and movement class, students made ocean drums that really sounded like the ocean, said teacher Mara Beckerman. Then, in her aftercare class, they explored surfing to the upbeat music of “Wipe Out.”
In art class the children enjoyed activities including sea foam watercolor painting, sand sculpture, sea life printmaking, lobster claw still life and shell weaving. “Along with observing and drafting whale shark characteristics with oil pastels, artists were invited to create collages with seaweed, shells, and images of sea life. We also discussed where pearls come from and what they look like at a pearl bead making table,” recalled art instructor Alexandria Kerekez.
The first summer session was filled with surf, sand and sun as the children “soaked in” all there was to see and do around this well-loved ocean/beach theme, explained Andrea Hart, director of Harker Preschool. “Young children really love to learn by doing; together we explored sea life and play through sand and water, singing silly songs and reading stories about friends who live and play on the salty shore. All were inspired by our new pet hermit crab and overflowed with questions about ocean life. There were some excellent sandcastles made, sometimes even from sand the children made themselves by manually grinding rocks!” she enthused.
Now, with session two under way, the children are trekking into the imaginary woods to discover all the wonders of life in the great outdoors.
“They’ll meet new forest animal friends, build with logs, dig in the dirt, pitch tents, create with found objects, explore common outdoorsy tools and enjoy everything nature has to offer. All the fun of a camping adventure without the worries of bears or mosquito bites!” said Hart.
Harker’s Summer Camp+ is in full swing, with K-6 students enjoying a fun-filled afternoon circus theme called “Under the Big Top.” This summer, the increasingly popular program filled up at record speed, attracting 774 campers.
Held on the lower school campus, Camp+ provides morning learning experiences followed by age-appropriate afternoon electives, with the theme rotating annually.
Rising grade 5 Harker student and Camp+ enthusiast Jack Hayashi said his favorite thing about the program this summer has been playing ball hockey and going to the archery range. He also likes that there’s plenty of time for simply “clowning around.”
Meanwhile, first-time Camp+ participant Rhiannon Sikand, a rising grade 3 student at Harker, said she enjoys the camp’s climbing wall (located on the lower school field) and had a lot of fun going on a field trip to the Oakland Zoo. “I liked seeing all the animals … especially the turtles,” she noted.
Camp+ students in grades 1-6 have the option of enrolling in one of two academic morning programs: Core Focus or Learning Opportunities in Literature (LOL). Core Focus is a more traditional learning environment with language arts, math and academic electives for each grade level. LOL features academic courses designed around literary subject matter. This year LOL is focusing on the work of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.
Both Core Focus and LOL feature the same afternoon options, including arts and crafts, dance, water play, wall climbing, archery and array of other field sports – and of course, plenty of circus arts this year!
Campers are grouped together for activities according to their ages: kindergartners attend KinderCamp, first and second graders are called Owls, third and fourth graders are Condors and fifth and sixth graders are Eagles.
The afternoon activity calendar for the first session of Camp+ (June 23-July 18) was broken up by weekly themes: Lions, Tigers & Bears – Oh, My; All-American Acrobat; High Divers & Sideshow; and Clowning Around. The second session (July 21-Aug. 8) features Favorite Animal Parade, Masquerade Party and Great Escape.
The Summer Camp+ program traditionally kicks off and ends with Color Clash, a fun event held in the lower school’s gymnasium. Groups of campers on yellow, red, green and blue teams participate in an array of silly games cheered on by captains (aka camp counselors) wearing color-coordinated outfits that run the gamut from superheroes to hula skirts and fun hats. This year’s Color Clash finals showcased a video highlighting happenings from previous events.
According to Joe Chung, program director of Summer Camp+ and Harker’s elementary computer science teacher, other on-site happenings often include a water carnival, sleepover for older campers, presentation for parents and a birthday celebration for the camp mascot, “Ray.” Campers also enjoy numerous field trips.
“I would recommend Camp+ to anyone!” said Hayashi.
The Harker School has offered extensive summer programs for more than 50 years. The Summer Camp+ program is accredited nationally by the American Camping Association.
Adding an international flair to summer at Harker, students from countries around the globe have come to the lower and upper school campuses to participate in Harker’s increasingly popular English Language Institute (ELI).
ELI provides overseas students with an opportunity to learn and practice their English skills. Many participants go on to attend top American and international schools. This summer, 57 students enrolled for the secondary division and 42 are attending the primary division.
First-time ELI student Hui-Hsuan (Maggie) Cheng, a rising grade 6 student from Taiwan, said that the best thing so far about the program has been “going to visit the tide pools and making new friends.” Cheng recalled that in a lesson prior to the field trip, her teacher had explained the importance of gently handling the tide pool animals.
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.
New to the program this summer is an optional “Very Interesting Places” (VIP) tour. Available to all ELI students (ages 6-16), the six-day VIP tour will take place at the conclusion of the program’s regular five-week academic session. The trip promises to take learning on the road, with California as the classroom. Come mid-August, 21 students will board a classic yellow school bus, setting off for an adventure. After visiting local theme parks, museums, various school campuses and tourist attractions, the trip will culminate with an overnight stay in Yosemite National Park.
According to ELI director Anthony Wood, all destinations have been carefully chosen to elevate historical and cultural awareness; allow students to create closer relationships with their peers and teachers; and provide enormous opportunity for continued English language development.
Additionally, older students interested in attending American boarding schools or universities will have the opportunity to visit and meet with staff at some of the area’s best schools.
Highlights of the VIP trip will include whale watching in Monterey, a Jelly Belly factory tour, educational visits to UC Berkeley and Stanford University, a Giants (versus Chicago White Sox) game, a scavenger hunt at Huddart Park and a day of fun at Great America theme park.
In Yosemite National Park, ELI students will view the majestic Yosemite Falls as well as visit the area’s museum and cultural center, with educational activities led by a park ranger. A short hike to the lower falls will provide inspiration for a writing assignment and picture journal.
“A specially designed instructional component will make each day’s adventure a learning experience catered to individual proficiency levels. Students will write, speak and read about their destinations, learn new vocabulary related to each new site, and have daily challenges involving English interaction in real-life situations. A travel journal will be kept to document their learning … and of course all the fun!” said Wood.
Members of Harker’s varsity and JV dance teams returned today from a four-day dance camp with the United Spirit Association at UC Santa Cruz. Harker received the highest Superior award for choreography, and the team also was honored with the “Hardest Working Team” plaque. Individual awards were given to Emily Pan and Ankita Sharma, both rising juniors, for their drill-down technique. Meanwhile, among the 150 participants, Noel Banerjee, Darby Millard, both rising seniors, and Liana Wang, rising freshman, were recognized as All-American dancers, earning an invitation to perform in London.
While it is always amazing to be awarded for hard work and technique, “the most memorable part of camp was being told by the USA instructors that Harker’s dancers were incredibly polite, dedicated, humble and supportive of both their team members and the other participating schools,” noted Karl Kuehn, dance team coach. “Their passion to learn and grow as dancers fueled the team’s success, and I could not be more proud of this fantastic group of students.” Go Dance Team Eagles!
The second year of Harker’s summer wrestling camp expanded on last summer’s successes and brought together a team of qualified coaches, as well as special guest Anthony Robles, the 2011 NCAA National Champion in the 125-pound weight class.
Among the staff at this year’s camp was legendary local wrestling coach Jay Lawson. A De Anza Hall of Fame inductee and longtime supporter of Harker’s wrestling program, Lawson brought decades of experience to help camp attendees perform at their very best. “Jay has been a mentor of mine since I was in my early 20s. When we first got into the league that Harker is in, he was one of the guys that took me under his wing,” said Harker wrestling coach Karriem Stinson, who co-directed the camp. “He was always positive. He always gave me encouragement and told me, ‘You’re building a great program there, keep going.’”
Each day started with a dynamic warm-up routine that incorporates gymnastics maneuvers such as rolls, flips and hand stands. Students would then practice techniques with the camp coaching staff, work on situational wrestling and play games before breaking for lunch. Each coach at the camp taught something new to the campers each day.
“Each coach [has] an opportunity to show what made us successful as wrestlers and even as coaches,” Lawson said. “And what [campers] have to do is to pick and choose what’s going to work for them.”
For wrestling enthusiast Solin Piearcy, a rising junior at Cupertino High School, the variety of new techniques shown at the camp was one of its biggest pluses. “I love how they bring in a lot of different coaches with different techniques and backgrounds,” she said. “We can pick and choose and learn a variety and put some in our arsenal and make it our own style.”
Leigh High School rising senior Ryan Cummings enjoyed the high quality of instruction provided by the staff. “All the staff are nice and it’s a good program,” he said. “I like the atmosphere that the coaches bring to the room. It makes you want to be there.”
The final two days of the camp were highlighted by visits from Anthony Robles, who spoke to the campers and offered instruction and advice on their techniques. Robles got involved with the camp when Stinson contacted him six months earlier. “The wrestling community, we’re very tight-knit,” he said. “So here I am now, just having fun and trying to give back to the sport that’s given me a lot.”
Since winning the NCAA Championship in 2011, Robles, born with only one leg, has focused on his career as a motivational speaker, though he devotes as much time as possible to the sport he loves. “Wrestling is still my number one passion, and I love being around the sport,” he said.
Robles’ motivation to pass on his knowledge comes from the inspiration he received from his coaches early in his wrestling career. “I remember getting started in the sport, my coach showing me moves or people showing me moves that just clicked, that became part of my style,” he recalled. “And so I just love seeing that on these kids’ faces. I show them some of my favorite moves and see it click for them.”
Providing a fun, sweet start to Harker’s Summer Institute (SI) program, a group of business-savvy students attending an SI finance class recently organized and ran a lemonade stand on the upper school campus.
The students raised $228, which was divided among three local organizations (Abode Services, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation and the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Foundation) as part of a lesson on charitable giving. The stand was one of two culminating projects for a course called “Finance & Investing for Teens” (F.I.T., for short). For the other culminating project, students successfully designed their own mutual fund.
The lemonade sale, held in early July during SI’s morning break and lunch hour, attracted customers including SI students and faculty, as well as other Harker staff working on the Saratoga campus. Harker’s SI, which began in mid-June and runs until mid-August, gives students in grades 6-12 the chance to earn credits, learn new skills and follow their passions.
The program is off to great start, with a total of 1,088 middle and upper school students enrolled in the institute (a 242 increase from last summer), according to SI middle school director Keith Hirota and Evan Barth, SI principal for the upper school students.
Available to both Harker students and others, SI offers two tracks –one designed for middle schoolers and another for high school students. Participants typically combine a morning academic program with afternoon activities, allowing them to earn credits and learn new skills, yet still enjoy 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 schoolers (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. Specialty classes include backyard games, volleyball boot camp and cooking. Other classes include art, jewelry-making, magic, improv, dance, tech, junior lifeguard, chess and circus arts. There are also off-campus field trips every couple of weeks to places such as Shoreline Aquatics Center and Capitola.
The lemonade stand is an example of SI’s continued commitment to combine learning with hands-on activities. To run the stand, students in the institute’s F.I.T. class were divided into three teams and tasked to come up with a custom flavor, build a business plan, design a marketing strategy and staff the business.
Start-up money was fronted by their instructor, Jonathan Brusco. “We discussed charitable giving and how to evaluate charities based on a number of factors, including their mission statement, financial efficiency, program effectiveness and transparency. Each student evaluated a specific charity and the group voted for the final selection,” he said.
F.I.T. participant and stand worker Emily Zhou, a rising grade 7 student at the Challenger School, said that this was her first time attending SI. Previously, she had attended Harker’s Camp+ program, held at the lower school.
Zhou explained that to offset such costs as cups and ingredients, drinks were sold for $1 for regular flavor and $1.50 for specialty flavors like mango or strawberry. “But we passed out coupons for 25 cents off to attract customers,” she said, noting that refills also went for 25 cents off.
Zhou’s F.I.T. classmate, rising grade 9 Harker student Eric Tran, said he was surprised at how much money the lemonade stand netted, noting that “We made $85 in just the first half hour of its opening.” In addition to passing out coupons to help attract customers, Tran said that a lot of marketing was done “word of mouth” and by “putting up signs around campus.”
However, customer Grace Cao, a rising grade 11 Harker student, said that she simply happened upon the stand on her way to an SI class. Of the lemonade she ordered, she said, “It tasted great!”
July 23, 2014 UPDATE 2: Congratulations to Vikram Sundar ’14, who earned a gold medal at this year’s International Physics Olympiad in Astana, Kazakhstan! As one of three gold medalists (alongside two silver medalists) on the U.S. team, Sundar was instrumental in helping the U.S. tie for third place overall in the event, in which 86 countries participated.
June 9, 2014 UPDATE: Vikram Sundar ’14, will be one of only five U.S. International Physics Olympiad team members heading to the International Physics Olympiad to be held from July 13 to 21, 2014 in Astana, Kazakhstan! Go Vikram-best of luck in this prestigious event!
May 22, 2014 Four Harker students are among America’s brightest emerging physicists, who will gather at Physics Boot Camp in College Park, Md., later this month, to train and hopefully qualify for the final U.S. Physics Olympiad Team.
Harker students who qualified are Rahul Sridhar, grade 12; Vikram Sundar, grade 12; Andrew Zhang, grade 11; and Kevin Zhu, grade 12. They will be vying for one of the five spots on the team (plus an alternate), who will travel to Astana, Kazakhstan, from July 13-21. There, more than 400 student scholars from 92 nations will test their physics knowledge, competing with the best in the world.
“This must be some kind of record!” said Jason Bardi, director of media services at the American Institute of Physics, which administers the test, runs the boot camp and sponsors the team’s trip to the Olympiad. “It’s tremendous because [Harker] kids are competing with all the huge, powerhouse science magnet public schools on the East Coast, like Stuyvesant and Montgomery Blair, which together have only three members on the team — as well as all the other high schools in the country,” he said.
Over the past 10 years, every U.S. Physics Team member traveling to the international competition has returned with a medal. In 2009, Anand Natarajan ’09 earned a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Mexico. Harker sends a student to the boot camp most years, but has not had four members in recent memory.
The U.S. team is selected from 19 students who have emerged through a rigorous exam taken by 4,277 students. Eleven of the 19 finalists are students are from California; nine of them are from the Bay Area, including Gunn High School, Mission High School, Monta Vista High School, Palo Alto High School and Saratoga High School. The full list is here: http://www.aapt.org/aboutaapt/2014-United-States-Physics-Team-Announced.cfm.
“The competition for a position on the U.S. Physics Team is intense and each student who participated in the 2014 selection process is deserving of recognition,” said Beth Cunningham, executive officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers. “They are the future of America’s success in physics-related fields. AAPT is honored to recognize the exceptional scholars who qualified for the team and to support their further participation in the International Physics Olympiad.”
An integral part of the team experience is the training camp. Most of the students invited to the camp are the top science student in their high school. For many, it is their first chance to meet other students who are truly their peers. The training camp is a crash course in the first two years of university physics. Students learn at a very fast pace. They have an opportunity to hear about cutting edge research from some of the community’s leading physicists. At the end of the training camp, five students will be selected to travel to Kazakhstan for the international competition.
The coaches for the 2014 U.S. Physics Team are Paul Stanley, academic director; Andrew Lin, senior coach; JiaJia Dong and David Fallest, coaches; and Lucy Chen, assistant coach.
The U.S. Physics Team is sponsored by the generous support of private donors and the member societies of the American Institute for Physics.
About AAPT AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists and industrial scientists, with members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.