Grade 8 students enrolled in advanced Spanish, French, Japanese and Mandarin language courses recently partook in several fun and educational outings to local restaurants. All four outings served up plenty of delicious food, stimulating conversation and authentic cultural atmosphere.
Students taking Spanish with instructors Julie Pinzás and Susan Moling visited Habana Cuba Restaurant. The menu included lightly buttered rice with or without beans, fried bananas, chicken, pork and vegetarian options. Moling noted that the advanced Spanish students had been immersing themselves in Cuban culture prior to the outing.
“I really enjoyed it and so did all of my friends,” recalled student Shaya Zarkesh. “The restaurant’s chandeliers and decorations made for a relaxing, peaceful atmosphere. The staff was very courteous and not at all disruptive, making the restaurant perfect for having a conversation with friends. As for the food itself: in short, it tasted outstanding. I ordered the chicken meal. Before I knew it, my plate was finished and I craved more, despite my full stomach! I would certainly recommend Habana Cuba Restaurant to anyone in San Jose looking for Cuban food.”
Classmate Millie Lin remembered that “a small crowd of hungry teenagers” piled onto the bus to go to the Cuban restaurant. “I was one of the people in that group. The restaurant gave off a rather warm, festive feeling to its diners. Its colorful walls were painted red, yellow, green and blue, and there was lively music playing in the background. I could imagine that I was really in Cuba, with all the colors and sounds around me,” she said.
Carol Parris, who is a French teacher as well as chair of K-8 modern and classical languages, reported that her students had a lovely luncheon at the Left Bank on Santana Row.
“They had a private room surrounded by French murals with cozy round tables dressed in white linen and French flag centerpieces,” she said. “The restaurant also encouraged me to bring my own decorations from the classes’ last celebration for Mardi Gras, where beads abounded and King Cake from New Orleans was devoured.”
She said the meal was delicious, with a choice of three French dishes, dessert and many baskets of French bread. “The students commented on the warm, friendly atmosphere at the restaurant. During the lunch, an awards celebration was held. The students had just learned how to use the superlative of adjectives. Their assessment was an opinion poll where they voted for their classmates in 12 categories, including best in French, best dancer, most generous, etc. Good spirit was shown by all as they applauded the winners in each category,” she said.
Meanwhile, students in Kumi Matsui’s Japanese 2M course headed to Tomi Sushi. “The staff of this restaurant spoke native Japanese and they served authentic Japanese dishes. The students had the opportunity to order dishes only in Japanese. The students benefitted from practicing Japanese outside the classroom while learning Japanese food culture. After lunch, we went to Hakone Gardens to experience a tea ceremony. This was a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn about Japanese culture,” recalled Matsui.
Rounding out the foreign language field trips, middle school Mandarin teacher Virginia Mau took her students to lunch at the Southland Flavor Cafe in Cupertino, followed by a scavenger hunt in which they were randomly divided into three groups. During the hunt, students had to speak entirely in Chinese, including asking for directions, if necessary. The goal was to discover where Mau was waiting for them.
“I personally have been taking students out on this type of trips for over 10 years, but this is the first time ever at Harker!” enthused Mau, who helped launch Harker’s middle school Mandarin program in 2011. “Ten students from my Mandarin 2M classes went on the trip. The kids had a great time, and were very happy and proud to use what they had learned!”
There were lots of smiles during Harker Preschool’s inaugural “Happy Hour” event, held on a spring evening at the beautiful new Union campus. The Preschool Happy Hour served as a unique opportunity to welcome new families into the Harker community, help answer their most pressing questions and introduce them to one another. Adding to the celebratory atmosphere were fun “mocktails” and yummy assorted appetizers.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk set the scene for a memorable field trip enjoyed by grade 6 students in June. On the agenda for the Sixth Grade End-of-Year Boardwalk Blast was a day of fun in the sun!
“We had a terrific day at the Boardwalk. The students really seemed to enjoy themselves, and it gave them a wonderful memory with which to end their first year at the middle school,” recalled grade 6 lead advisor and English teacher Patricia Lai Burrows.
The inaugural event was planned by a committee of grade 6 teachers. “At the beginning of the year, five sixth grade teachers formed a committee to plan a celebratory end-of-year trip for the grade 6 students. Every year, the sixth grade attends a field trip on the Tuesday of the last week of school. In the past, we have visited the Chabot Space Center in Oakland, the Cal Academy of Science, and last year we went to Roaring Camp Railroads. This year, we wanted to plan a trip that we knew the kids would love and remember; this gave birth to the Boardwalk Blast field trip,” explained Lai Burrows.
The students started their day by playing in the sand, waddling ankle deep into the cold ocean water and just having fun together. When the amusement park opened later in the morning, they ventured over for thrilling rides, fun games and yummy food.
“The students rose to the occasion beautifully; they behaved politely, respectfully and gratefully. And, because of the location, there was something for everyone to enjoy,” said Lai Burrows. Upon the students’ return to campus, they united by wrapping up the day – and the year – with a special gratitude circle.
“Even though it lasted for just under five minutes, it gave each person at least one opportunity to share what they appreciated about the day with someone else,” she added, noting that the outing was such a success it will now become an annual tradition.
In other year-end middle school news, back in May, grade 7 students celebrated the coming of summer by having a special on-campus activity day with their advisors. Also in May, eighth graders went on a celebratory field trip to Great America.
Enlight’ning magazine has gone digital. After a print tradition spanning 12 years, the award-winning art and literary journal, published annually at Harker’s middle school, is now available exclusively online.
At the end of May, Enlight’ning moved to an all-digital format, joining a growing trend in publishing. This move should give the magazine a wider readership, as it is now available to anyone with web access. The preview edition is available at http://enlightning.harker.org.
Like its print predecessor, the online publication will showcase artwork, poetry and prose created entirely by middle school students. But the digital format makes it more interactive. For example, the current issue contains songs by numerous student musicians, as well as a video upload about Bollywood. The video, titled “A Glimpse of Bollywood,” was made by grade 7 student Devanshi Mehta.
The online journal had taken its “first baby steps out into the greater world,” explain Enlight’ning editors, adding that by the end of summer the website will be more fully constructed and boast a stronger multimedia experience. There are still a few glitches to be worked out, so the editors advise readers to use Chrome or Safari browsers, not Firefox, for the best user experience. Also, to see the text as it was intended (either from the central scrolling area or from the “category” listings), click on the titles, as clicking on the photos and artwork will enlarge them to full screen.
Current features of the online magazine include a blog and issue archives, as well as category pages for art, poetry, photography, music, prose and video. Faculty advisors for this year’s publication were Sabina Grogan, middle school expository writing instructor, and Bernie Morrissey, middle school librarian.
“Enlight’ning Online can now publish a greater variety of mediums, including more photography, as well as music and film, representing a wider range of the creative work of Harker middle school’s students. We hope some day Enlight’ning may serve as a central hub of arts at the middle school,” wrote magazine editors and rising grade 9 students Praveen Batra, Nastya Grebin and Andrew Semenza.
Grade 6 violinist Jun Lin accompanied the Bay Bells community ensemble in playing “Ghost Riders in the Sky” during their spring concert season. The concert took place in mid-May at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Saratoga. To watch Lin perform, view this video, taken by his mother during the concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLUCLV2MjaI
Also in spring, grade 2 student Nathan Liu attended the 39th Annual CalChess Scholastic Super State Championship at the Santa Clara Convention Center. This is the largest state event with hundreds of players from all over California. Liu won fifth place out of 100 players in the K-3 group. He also helped Harker to win a trophy in a group competition.
Soham Khan, grade 9, participated in the Music Teachers’ Association of California Composers Today state competition in late May, winning third place in his division. He will perform the piece, titled “Sonata in G Minor,” at the MTAC convention on June 30 in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Shafieen Ibrahim, grade 7, participated in the 2014 Chicago Open Chess Tournament over Memorial Day weekend. He tied for first place in his section, earning $1,000 in prize money. Ibrahim won the No. 1 standing through tie-break points, with some 86 players in his section. In June, he participated in the 2014 North American Youth Chess Championship in New York. The venue rotates each year between the United States, Canada and Mexico, with top players competing from all over the world. While there, he tied for eighth place in his section.
Junior Agata Sorotokin appeared in the National Public Radio show From the Top, which features young musicians from around the country. In her appearance, Sorotokin performs movements from “Musical Toys” by Sofia Gubaidulina. You can hear the whole show – and see her play with her nose! – at http://www.fromthetop.org/content/show-289-seattle-washington
In June, the Fremont Table Tennis Academy completed its 2014 Bay Area Inter-schools League season, during which the Harker team of recent graduate Avinash Nayak and Kaushik Shivakumar, grade 7, won first place in Division I. Team Harker ended the regular season of round-robin competition by placing fourth in their division. In the playoffs, Team Harker defeated Horner, the division leader, in the semifinals with a match score of 3-2. In the final, Harker prevailed over Parkmont, with a match score of 3-2. After being Division I runners-up at the 2013 Bay Area Inter-schools League, Team Harker was happy to get to the top position this year. For the second year in a row, Nayak won all of his singles matches and was named the league MVP. Submitted by Harker parent Narendra Nayak (Avinash ’14).
The students at Harker Preschool used Grandparents’ Day as a special occasion to hold their very first art show. Along with works made in the art studio throughout the school year, grandparents were the first to view a collection of canvas paintings that the preschoolers completed as part of an end-of-the-year art concepts review.
Grandparents’ Day, held each May, is already a long-standing tradition at Harker’s lower school. Now, preschoolers have joined in the tradition, welcoming their grandparents, special adult friends or “adoptive” grandparents-for-the-day to visit the school for a morning of exploration and play, including a captivating stop at the art exhibit.
“Grandparents’ Day was a huge hit! The event served as an opportunity for our fabulous teachers and specialists to showcase their work from this year and the strong bonds that they have developed with the preschoolers,” said Alexandria Kerekez, Harker Preschool’s art specialist.
Kerekez added that near the event’s gallery, which was “filled to the brim with artwork,” there was a table reserved for children to join her in sharing bead-making techniques with their grandparents. Participants also had the opportunity to join the preschool’s music and movement teacher in a song. Meanwhile, the school’s STEM specialist opened up the farm for the children to enjoy delicious edible plants and play with snuggly bunnies.
According to Kerekez, preschoolers of all ages are regularly invited into the art studio to paint, work with clay, hone their pencil skills and learn to observe the world around them while working in a variety of media. The school’s outdoor art area allows for further creative expression, where everyday things such as the sun, water and leaves can become part of a project.
Making ceramics is a favorite art activity for 4-year-old Ameera Ramzan, who, earlier in the year, had worked on making a “pinch pot.” Sounding very much like an art teacher herself, she proudly explained that to create the pot you “first roll the ball … and then you pinch it!”
Back in January and February, Kerekez hung a more informal exhibit in a room just off the preschool lobby called “The Faces of Harker Preschool.” Included in that self-portrait display were works by all of the preschool’s children – from the Pebble, Clover, Acorn and Feather cottages to the transitional kindergarten crew.
That exhibit and the Grandparents’ Day art show were so successful that Kerekez said she hopes to make them annual events.
Amid the festivities leading up to graduation, seniors active in the performing arts have a pre-graduation of sorts: they graduate from the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program, signaling their successful completion of a four-year course in dance, technical theater, theater, vocal or instrumental music, or musical theater.
The evening before their Harker graduation at the Mountain Winery, 23 seniors performed selections from their portfolios to a packed house at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater in San Jose, and received their plaques from the performing arts faculty.
Acts ranged from a Shakespearean monologue, divided into two parts performed toward the beginning and end of the show by Damon Aitken, to a clarinet sonata during which the instrument was slowly dismantled section by section, leaving Daniel Pak with only a mouthpiece. Four dance graduates, Anishka Agarwal, Pooja Chirala, Jennifer Dai and Gaurav Kumar, called upon non-senior friends to accompany them in numbers that incorporated Bollywood, hip-hop, classical and modern grooves. Musical theater students Shenel Ekici, Anna Kendall, Sean Knudsen, Ian Richardson and Namrata Vakkalagadda enacted moments from Broadway shows.
Avinash Nayak and Stephan Pellissier showed off their vocal chops with a jazz standard and Italian aria, respectively, and Callie Ding wowed the crowd with a hauntingly beautiful piece played on a traditional Chinese harp. Pianist Justin Young transported the audience with a devilishly difficult piece by Paganini, adapted by Liszt. The robust instrumental department was rounded out by Krishan Kumar (flute), Nathan Dhablania (violin), Meena Chetty (saxophone), Sahithya Prakash (bassoon), Renu Singh (violin), Andrew Wang (jazz trumpet) and Dennis Moon (cello). The show was stage managed by technical theater graduate Nicky Semenza, and juniors Ishanya Anthapur and Jai Ahuja brought humor and energy to their roles as masters of ceremonies.
Eight more students walk away from Harker this year, each having contributed a unique historical research paper to the growing archive housed in the John Near Research Center.
Harker’s two grant programs, The John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, founded in 2009, and the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, founded in 2012, funded the students’ yearlong efforts. The range of papers for 2013-14 is remarkable. From an analysis of the viability of bitcoins to counter-intelligence efforts against the Black Panthers to the influence of the Roman Republic on the Constitution, each topic was plumbed by a student intrigued by its roots. At the annual reception in late April for Near and Mitra scholars, students and mentors spoke about the long road to complete a research paper and what they discovered about themselves and their topics, along the way.
Four of the papers address societal problems in the U.S. Connie Li, one of the five Near grant recipients, followed her muse to write “Islamic Student Experience in the Classroom after 9/11: A Holistic Analysis of Sociopolitical Influence on the Muslim Student Pysche,” finding that the most commonly used textbooks in U.S. schools use one-sided descriptions of Muslims; while Muslims find themselves discriminated against, there are Muslim voices that rise to protest being victimized and other voices that protest the demonization of Muslims.
The subject matter is of interest to every thinking American as it is one of the great polarizing topics of our time. Her three-plus page bibliography is impressive. “I’ve been devoted to understanding American identities under siege because religion is something so precious to identity, but so difficult to share peacefully, sometimes, that I have learned to measure the achievement of the American ideal of liberty against the progress and protection of religious freedom,” said Li. “My work is about reaching beyond the easy judgments, the sweeping generalizations and the self-defense of hate that is so easy to wrap around ourselves in times of both fear and comfort.”
In researching her topic, Divya Kaladindi selected a topic of great interest, as it is germane to our NSA-surveilled world. Kaladindi scrutinized the FBI’s famed 1960s Counter Intelligence Program (CoIntelPro), a counter-terrorism campaign bent on destroying groups identified as subversive in her paper, titled “Watching and Wiretapping: An Analysis of the Implications of the FBI’s Illegal Counter-Intelligence Programs against the Black Panther Party during the 1960s.” She focused on their penetration and destruction of the Black Panther movement, which included trashing their Chicago headquarters after contriving an excuse to search the premises.
Luckily, the program was exposed and, though the Black Panther Party was destroyed, the FBI came under such scrutiny it was forced to disband CoIntelPro, and regulations were put in place to prevent a similar effort from reoccurring. Kaladindi has successfully encapsulated a piece of political history in such a way that both ends of her chain, the pernicious facets of the FBI and the radicalism of the Black Panthers, stimulate tangential consideration. “I chose this topic mainly because of a strange fascination with the FBI,” she said.
Through her research, she found that, “The FBI was, in fact, just as interesting and scandalous as it appeared to be in popular culture but inherently much more complex. Guidelines, propriety and issues of legality fell to the sidelines as spying, forgery, harassment and psychological warfare reigned in desperate attempts to quash militant groups like the Panthers. This process was extremely demanding, but through it I learned the importance of time management and critical thinking. I’m probably on the FBI’s radar because I’ve visited their site so many times,” she noted.
One of the most original papers yet submitted was that by Monica Thurkal, who examined how curly hair has influenced the treatment of individuals in life and literature in her paper, “Wanton Ringlets: A Tangible Medium for Identity and Power.” Thurkal noted that she has straightened her hair for years, and that effort led her to question the value of conforming in order to fit in professionally, and how hair-straightening can affect a woman’s self-confidence. She addresses the cultural tendency of some ethnicities to straighten hair in order to become more mainstream, and how negative attitudes in literature towards kinky hair promote stereotypes and pigeonhole its wearers.
Wanton Ringlets is a phrase describing Eve from Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” and Thurkal notes it pins Eve with connotation of immorality. In her paper, Thurkal notes a number of legal precedents that appear to punish those with non-straight hair. Her paper is an interesting perspective on an unusual topic. “Through my project, I learned that hair is really a symbol of social oppression,” said Thurkal. “Why do popular teen movies or popular culture associate straight hair with womanhood, and why is straight hair an expectation for professional appearance within the business world? By changing their hair, women experience a troubling rejection of themselves. What was really cool was that I was able to create my own intellectual path within the subject of sociology,” she said.
This subject, though not at the forefront of social recognition, gives pause to those who have never considered the ramifications of hair. Thurkal has taken an uncomfortable reality and written about it thoughtfully and with insight that makes it relevant, no matter who you are.
Finally in the social consciousness collection, Zina Jawadi examines the disability rights movement in her paper, “The Hidden History of the Disability Rights Movement: Improving Access to Education in the Shadow of the Feminist and Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s and 1970s.” Jawadi, a tireless advocate for disability rights, noted that the movement is under-researched, though, promisingly, there has been a thousandfold increase in journal titles on the subject from 1979 to 2011. She notes that 50 years ago, as marginalized populations stood up to be recognized, the atmosphere created by the larger student movements, especially on college campuses, allowed disability rights efforts to be heard both due to entrenched powers being forced to examine their policies on civil and women’s rights and thus hearing about disabled persons’ needs, and because disabled rights workers were able to learn from observing successes of those managing other rights movements.
This is a paper filled with the passion of its writer and it is a must-read for anyone interested in human rights. “Initially, I expected my research to confirm my hypothesis that these social advocates supported each other, thereby strengthening all of the movements,” Jawadi said. “How wrong I was. My research gave me a greater understanding of what was going on behind the scenes,” and Jawadi noted there was often competition for media attention.
Jawadi, who has a significant hearing loss, said that ever since eighth grade, she has worked towards her lifetime goal to change the world of hearing, scientifically and socially.
Her work on the Near paper “helped me crystallize my calling,” she said. “A children’s advocate started a fund in 1973 hoping to provide children with disabilities better access to education. She was disgusted to discover from the U.S. Census Bureau that 750,000 children with disabilities, aged seven to thirteen, were not attending school. These children were hindered from receiving proper education because of their disabilities.”
“My research gave me a deeper perspective on the struggle people with disabilities face and, based on my research, I have developed a three-step plan for my disability rights work. I hope to witness a second disabilities rights movement.”
In a long step from disability rights, the paper “Bit by Bit: An Economic Analysis of Bitcoin’s Viability as a Currency,” by Anisha Padwekar, retails the growth of bitcoins, their advantages and disadvantages. Her paper is a well-researched, well-ordered contemporary analysis including relevant history, and is a great primer for anyone interested in the phenom of bitcoins.
While most readers are familiar with the term, and understand the protocurrency is digital, few grasp the technology behind it and the value – or the dangers – of the digital currency plan. Padwekar takes what could be a very dry subject and, using historical comparisons, news items on bitcoin and financial market analysis, defines for readers why bitcoins are attractive and yet not quite ready for prime time; she makes the topic not only readable, but interesting. “I wanted to choose a topic that would be a relevant economic question today,” said Padwekar. “Perhaps the most interesting part of my research were the tangents I went on. It was interesting to read about regional alternative currencies. While validating my interest in economics, the project helped me discover my interest in cryptography.”
In her paper, Padwekar notes how entrenched financial organizations, such as national banks, have yet to define bitcoins officially as currency, thus avoiding dealing with the many unresolved issues of money that is a string of numbers and not even nominally backed up by specie. Although Padwekar noted that for various reasons bitcoin will probably fail, interest in the subject remains high as digital currency seems like a predictable step in the development of our digital society. Recommended reading for anyone who would like to be able to contribute to the conversation next time the subject comes up!
Harker News has included Angela Ma’s accomplishments as a ballerina in a number of stories, and Ma has now taken her taken her passion from the stage to the library with her analysis, “The Role of Musicianship in George Balanchine’s Enduring Impact on American Contemporary Ballet.” Ma tracks the seminal choreographer as he learned to dance, play, compose and choreograph in his native Russia. So many talents packed into a single person is daunting, and Ma traces his growth through his other talents to that of the ultimate choreographer, despite Balanchine’s assertion that composing, not choreography, earned the “highest seats in heaven.”
Ma’s closely written analysis goes a long way toward explaining the complex relationship between a composition and how a choreographer translates that into dance. She mentions few specifics, but uses great illustrative anecdotes and quotes tell the story of how Balanchine thought, thus choreographed. Though the paper discusses the technical nature of composition, Ma brings forth the passion Balanchine felt in his four-decade collaboration with Igor Stravinsky and illustrates to readers how the partnership between the two men resulted in Balanchine’s timeless choreography.
“I initially chose this topic because dance has been such an irreplaceable and meaningful part of my life,” said Ma. “I wanted to explore ballet in a new way beyond the studio.” Looking back on the process, Ma noted that her mentors helped her to “learn so much about dance and intellectualism.” Ma illustrates the impact of dance, style and the depth that Balanchine brought to ballet, noting that in “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” he “complements the musical tempo and varying succession of notes with a customized dynamism of movement.”
The only paper that looked outside of the United States for subject matter addressed the similarities and differences between two modern revolutions, those in Poland and Tunisia. As with most revolutions, each government had to wear out its welcome – leaving the population without hope for improvement – before the citizenry pushed back and created such a groundswell of opposition that the governments threw in the towel rather than bring warfare into the picture to repress the revolution. But each kicked off a string of political upheavals in their greater geographical regions and the repercussions from each continue today in both regions.
Maya Madhavan wrote “A comparison of the Causes of the 1989 Collapse of Communism in Poland and the 2010 Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia,” and points out the differences between the populations’ education levels as being one of the determining factors in the instigation of each revolution, while both revolutionary groups shared economic distress. Tunisia’s jobs went to the well-connected and the younger generation saw their college educations going to waste while Poles of all ages suffered reverse after reverse under Communist rule. It goes almost without saying that oppression and corruption flourished in both countries.
Madhavan compared and contrasted the political atmospheres and used an accepted model of revolutions as a template to explain the differences. This paper tells the story of not just these two countries, but of the revolutions that shattered the Soviet Union and revolutions that took place in the Mideast over the last few years. We have not seen the end of conflict in either region, and this paper helps to bring clarity to the reasons these peoples stood tall for freedom.
“What surprised me the most was not their similarities, but their differences,” said Madhavan. “I went into this expecting to see a number of parallels between the two – you could say I overestimated the extent to which I thought history repeats itself. I don’t think I realized just how much the world has changed in the past 20 years, and never really understood the impact that recent technological advantages have had on the dynamics of our world.”
“For a long time,” Duraiswamy said, “my main academic interests have been the founding of America, the Constitution, and the classics, so my topic provided a nice opportunity for me to explore an intersection of these three subjects.”
Duraiswamy noted how Madison fought for not only a bi-cameral legislature, but for two different types of bodies to both represent the people’s stated wishes and to provide a check on those wishes when, motivated by some popular event, they conflicted with sensible progress. While many will have learned of the classical education given to those who could afford it in this country’s formative years, few of us consider what that education meant in terms of framing a document that would withstand challenge after challenge.
This is a paper that opens the door to as many questions as it answer. “The hardest part of the process for me was probably narrowing the focus of my topic,” said Duraiswamy. “In other words, using the greater length of the paper to add depth to my research rather than breadth. Initially, I thought I would explore the Roman influences on the entirety of Madison’s political thought, but after talking to my mentors, I realized that that was not narrow enough.
“If I tried to cover everything, my analysis would not be able to explore the intricacies of his ideas and would not be able to delve into primary sources as much. Instead, it would be better to pick one aspect of Madison’s philosophy and study its classical antecedents. Eventually, I settled upon the idea of the Senate within Madison’s political ideology, but it took me a significant amount of time and effort to get to that point since I had to explore many of his ideas to see which one had the most potential for my topic.”
The thoughtful reader need only reflect on the disarray that occurs in various foreign congresses to see the value in separating those elected as direct representatives of their constituents’ geographical and local political interests, and those that are charged with the task of doing what is right for the nation on a macro level. This was a most enlightening paper and will be relished by anyone interested in ancient and modern history.
Next year’s 2014-15 Near Scholars are Ayush Midha, Karnika Pombra, Apoorva Rangan, Vedant Thyagaraj and Felix Wu; the 2014-15 Mitra Scholars are Aadyot Bhatnagar, Maya Nandakumar, Agata Sorotokin and Stanley Xie.
Since the first grants were made in 2010, 21 original papers have been archived for reference in the John Near Resource Center. All papers are available on the Harker library website. Topics have included “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain From 1940-1941,” “Can Charter Schools Close the Achievement Gap?,” “Arleigh Burke’s Submarine-Based Finite Deterrent: Alternative to the Nuclear Triad,” to name just a few.
Each year, a number of students are selected from applicants to receive the grants and, each year, the completed papers are read, celebrated and archived as part of Harker’s legacy, honoring both donor families for their timeless contribution to both historical research and the intellectual growth of Harker students.
The John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund was established in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff, who passed away in 2009. Donors of the $300,000 endowment are James and Patricia Near, John’s parents, and in John’s own words, the proceeds will be used “to help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.”
The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities was established by Samir and Sundari Mitra.“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
Hanging paper lanterns blew gently in the breeze as the lower school’s gymnasium doors swung open on April 28, kicking off the campus’ much-anticipated art show. The annual exhibition, which began that afternoon with a well-attended reception in the gym’s foyer, ran until May 21. It featured selected academic and after-school works of K-5 students.
Refreshments were served in the main gallery (the gym lobby) as exhibiting students once again demonstrated an impressive range of artistic abilities. Artwork on display included monochromatic pencil drawings, watercolor paintings, collages and ceramics.
There was an interactive feel to this year’s show, which wound its way from the lobby into the gym, up the stairs and all the way to the top-floor classrooms – even extending into the kitchens and art rooms. Parents, faculty members and students slowly meandered through the event, viewing the wonderfully artistic and often whimsical pieces, which were arranged by theme and grade level.
“The art show was a great success. We had many parents and students come by not only to find their own personal pieces, but to also view the wide selection on show. We even had a family who had gone home to get ‘dressed’ up for the event; it was very sweet,” recalled Gerry-louise Robinson, Harker’s lower school art teacher.
“The highlight for me was the vibrancy and color that was in the displays, with first grade work displayed comfortably next to fifth grade work. We also had a wonderful display highlighting the Japanese wood coasters which were made during a visit from Maruko, the Japanese exchange teacher from Tamagawa this year,” she continued.
Back in the winter, Maruko Ishigami, an art teacher from Tamagawa Academy K-12 School & University – Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Japan – helped teach art classes for grades 2-5, showing the second and third graders how to make traditional Japanese wood coasters and instructing the fourth and fifth graders in various painting techniques used in her country.
Grade 2 students Emi Fujimura, Shayla He and Shareen Chahal agreed that the best thing about making the wood coasters with Ishigami was “building it” from scratch, noting that the process reminded them of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Classmate Vivek Nayyar said he especially enjoyed having a “visiting teacher” come to the classroom.
Another highlight of the art show was the collection of winter-themed illustrations, with pictures of trees drawn in black against a sky-blue backdrop, amid delicately falling white snowflakes. Among the various drawings were “Winter Trees,” from the after-school art program, using watercolor and white pencil; “Worm View Winter Trees,” made by students in grade 5 using construction paper and tempura paint; and “Camouflage Winter Scene,” by grade 4 students working with colored pencils.
The colors of many other illustrations took on a decidedly playful theme, such as the charming, colorful penguins clad in scarves called “Chilly Penguins” made by kindergartners. These were made of construction paper collage. Brightly drawn fall pumpkin scenes were also a big hit with various grade levels, including kindergartners, and first and third graders.
Particularly unique to the show was an exhibit called “Perched Owls” from the kindergartners, which comprised glazed ceramic owls sitting in rows perched atop the branches of a tree made out of construction paper. Meanwhile, at a display table nearby, grade 4 students showcased pencil drawings titled “Monochromatic Castles” as well as sculpted versions (made out of ceramic, glaze and mixed media) simply called “Castles.”
According to Anoushka Khatri, grade 4, the best thing about the art show was “the chance it gives you to not only see your work represented, but all your friends’ work, too.”
Nathan Wang, grade 5, agreed. “Everybody has at least one thing in the art show,” he added.
Wang’s classmate, Alex Baeckler, said she had actually made an art piece that was intended to be a surprise for her dad on Father’s Day, but had to let the cat out of the bag when he happened upon it during the art show. “He was still really surprised and happy to see it … and I’m still going to give it to him after the show!” she said, smiling proudly.
“The students really demonstrated their talents and creativity. What amazing students we have!” enthused Robinson.
In early May, Grandparents’ Day events were held at Harker’s lower school and, for the first time, at the new Harker Preschool. On this charming day, grandparents and grandfriends visited the campuses to tour and participate in activities with the special children in their lives.
“Grandparents’ Day, held annually, is already a wonderful and long-standing tradition at Harker’s lower school. Now, preschoolers on the Union campus have joined in on the fun!” enthused Andrea Hart, director of Harker Preschool.
The captivating morning of exploration and play for students and their honored guests served as an opportunity for preschool teachers and specialists to provide a glimpse of all the incredible happenings at Harker Preschool, according to Hart.
“On hand was a variety of displays and interactive activities from the preschool’s talented staff, including the art instructor, music and movement teacher and STEM specialist,” she said.
At the lower school, the event was marked by an elaborate circus theme. During the day, students and their special guests were treated to entertaining demonstrations by an array of circus folks, including hula-hoopers, stilt walkers, jugglers, clowns, balloon artists and face painters. The entertainers walked throughout the lower school campus, interacting with participants.
“Our goal was to entertain and also to create awareness about the abuse of circus animals. We had more than 450 visitors,” reported Teré Aceves, director of preschool-5 volunteer programs and event fundraising.