UPDATE: Ten Harker teams were named top five CCS Scholastic Championship Teams for spring 2014. The awards recognize the five varsity teams with the highest collective grade-point average of all teams competing in that spring sport. Harker is in the top five for every sport in which we field a spring team – quite an achievement! Harker took top honors among golf teams (details below). The full press release and list of award recipients is appended to this post. Go Academic Eagles!
Track and Field: The track and field team competed in the league finals on May 17, where freshman phenom Niki Iyer became the new league champion in both the 1600m and 3200m runs! She easily won the 3200m with a time of 11:15.15, and nearly set the league record in the 1600m, missing it by just 0.05. Meanwhile, senior Wei Wei Buchsteiner became the league champion in the high jump, setting a new Harker record of 5’9″ – a foot better than the previous record. At the event, freshman Winnie Li placed fourth in the 100m hurdles, also setting a new Harker record. Senior Arjun Kumar placed third in shot put and fifth in discus, while junior Sriv Irrinki finished in sixth in the 100m and sophomore Alex Dellar came in third in the 800m. At the junior varsity championships, freshman Davis Dunaway won four events while freshman Misha Ivkov placed in the top six in four events en route to the JV boys winning the team championship!
These performances catapulted Harker’s athletes into the CCS preliminaries on May 24. Iyer led the first six laps of her meet en route to finishing second and setting a new Harker record. In her second semifinal, Iyer started off in the lead, then “stretched out the field with a 5:23 first mile,” said Dan Molin, athletic director, whereupon “only three other runners stuck with the young Eagle in the 22 runner field.” After that, Iyer “survived several moves past her in the last 800m before running a personal best 76-second last lap to hold on to her second place run and the third-best time of the night.” Iyer will race in the CCS championships Friday night at San Jose City College, starting shortly after 8 p.m., so come on out and cheer her on!
Swimming: Junior Aaron Huang made the CCS finals after placing 14th in the 200 IM and 12th in the 100 breaststroke. Senior Kimberly Ma placed 14th in the 500 freestyle. Among 1 meter divers, junior Stacey Chao placed 35th out of 51.
Golf: Last Friday, Shrish Dwivedi, grade 11 – who led the Harker team in its first-ever league championship, was co-league MVP and led the team to a best-ever sixth place finish in all of CCS – competed in the Future Collegian World Tour’s (FCWT) National Championship at the PGA National Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. There, he received the prestigious FCWT All-Academic Team and First Team All-FCWT award, becoming the only male to receive both the academic and athletic honors. After three days of competition, Dwivedi brought home a top-three finish trophy in an international field of about 140 players. Congratulations, Shrish and GO EAGLES!
PRESS RELEASE
CENTRAL COAST SECTION ANNOUNCES
2014 SPRING SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS
The Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation is proud to announce the recipients of the 2014 Spring Season Scholastic Championship Team Awards listed below. These awards, instituted by the CCS Board of Managers in 1985, recognize the top five Varsity teams, from each Central Coast Section sport, with the highest collective grade-point-average of all teams competing in that sport during that season of competition.
The student-athletes involved have achieved distinction in the classroom, and at the same time, have committed themselves to participation in interscholastic athletics. Their academic performance is yet another indication that such athletic participation enhances classroom activities.
A team certificate and individual certificates of commendation will be presented to each school of each individual sport.
THE TOP FIVE 2014 SPRING SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS ARE:
Our boys, one of the top eight CCS teams, competed on Tuesday at the CCS Championships in Monterey, where they finished sixth, ahead of league archrival Sacred Heart Prep. This year marks the team’s first-ever appearance in the finals. The entire squad returns next year, so the future of Harker golf is exceptionally bright!
Volleyball
The No. 5-seeded boys headed to Sobrato High on Tuesday for a first-round matchup, where a victory would mean a trip to the quarterfinals at Soquel High on Thursday. Indeed, the boys won their game handily, 25-21, 25-17, 25-18. The win sets up a quarterfinal match today at Soquel High in Santa Cruz at 7 p.m. The boys are now 20-13. Fans are encouraged to trek to Santa Cruz for some coastal air and great volleyball! Tickets to CCS games are $8 for adults and $4 for students.
Lacrosse
The girls’ season came to a close with a victory last Friday as the team avenged an earlier loss to Sacred Heart Prep by blowing them out, 13-7. The girls finished in second place in the league with a 5-3 record.
Baseball
The boys won their final year with a triumphant 12-2 blowout of Trinity Christian. Freshman Nic Bean went 3-4 with an RBI, while senior Varun Kamat had two hits and pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts in the final game of his outstanding Harker career. Junior Keanu Forbes, freshman Alex Lam, and sophomore Arthur Wolff Goldstein also had hits to finish out the season.
Softball
The girls wrapped up their season this week as well, losing to Castilleja despite two hits from junior Vivian Isenberg and freshman Marti Sutton.
Swimming
The swim team competed at the league championships last Wednesday and Thursday, where it qualified for all the relays at the CCS Championships after excellent swims from both the boys and the girls.
Junior Aaron Huang is now league champion in both the 200mm IM and the 100m breaststroke. Senior Kimberly Ma is second in the 500m freestyle, behind only a member of the USA national team. She is also third in the 100m breaststroke. Despite an injured foot, sophomore Grace Guan finished sixth in the 100m backstroke and 100m fly. Freshman Jack Farnham competed in his first league championships and dropped his time to finish third in the 100m backstroke and fourth in the 500m freestyle. Senior Manon Audebert finished third in the 100m and 200m freestyle. Sophomore Sandhana Kanna was third in the 100m fly. Freshman Michael Auld finished third in the 100m freestyle and seventh in the 100m fly. Sophomore Angela Huang placed third in the 50m freestyle and, though she does not usually swim it, competed in the 200 IM and finished seventh.
A solid half of Harker’s swimmers and divers will be competing in the CCS Championships, including league finalists Audebert, Auld, Farnham, Guan, Angela Huang, Aaron Huang, Kanna and Ma, as well as freshman Justin Culpepper; sophomores Joshua Hung, Philip Krause and Karen Tu; juniors Stacey Chao, Leon Chin, Delaney Martin, Craig Neubieser, Ryan Palmer and Jackelyn Shen; and senior Kenny Zhang.
The CCS Championships are this Friday and Saturday at the Santa Clara International Swim Center. Come support the team!
Track and Field
The track and field finals are this Saturday at Gunn High School.
This story prepared from information provided by Shannon Hong, grade 10, director of public relations for FPS, and contributed to by Cyrus Merrill, MS FPS Coach.
In late April, more than 40 middle and high school students from Harker’s Future Problem Solving chapter traveled to compete in Laguna Niguel at St. Anne’s School, where they collected seven out of 18 possible top three awards.
The California State FPS Championship is a two-day conference and competition where students dissect potential future problems – in this case, land-transportation issues set in a likely even more densely crowded future urban world – and find creative solutions for these problems. Fourteen Harker teams and two individuals qualified for the event. Of those, six teams collected the aforementioned awards and two teams qualified for the international finals in mid-June, held in Ames, Iowa.
Earning first place in Written Packet Competition and qualifying for internationals in the senior division (grades 10-12) were of Nikhil Dilip, grade 12, and Shannon Hong, Emily Pan and Karen Tu, all grade 10. They all qualified to travel to Iowa for the international event.
Earning first place in the presentation of action plan competition, senior division, and each qualifying to the international event as alternates or part of another team, were Tiara Bhatacharya, Juhi Muthal, Madhu Nori and Sindhu Ravuri, all grade 11. First place in the junior divisions (grades 1-6) was won by Nakul Bajaj, Rakesh Nori, Arun Sundaresan, Jin Tuan and Sriya Prathuri, all grade 6.
Second place honors in the Written Competition were earned by the middle division (grades 7-9) team of Sneha Bhetanabhotla, Neymika Jain, Angela Kim and Evani Radiya-Dixit, all grade 9; and by the junior division team of Christina Bettink, Alyssa Huang, Aditi Khanna and Amla Rashingkar, all grade 6. This team also qualified for the international finals where they will compete with teams from almost every state and from 8 or 9 different countries. Tuan, named above, will also attend and compete at the international event as an individual.
“This year was my first FPS State Bowl. I had so much fun. It was both educational and entertaining. My team and I won second place, which made me a very happy person. I can’t wait to go again next year!” said Rashingkar.
Third Place in the presentation of action plan competition was earned by the senior division team of Dilip, Hong, Pan and Tu. Harker’s middle division team of Trisha Dwivedi, May Gao and Alexis Gauba, all grade 9, also garnered third place.
Kudos also go out to 10th grader Sahana Narayanan who was third place in scenario writing and to 8th grade middle school competitors Jessica Wang, Stephanie Swanson, and Meghana Karinthi who finished in the top 5 in the middle division and who narrowly missed out on qualifying for internationals themselves. Finally, 6th graders Jin Tuan, Arun Sundaresan, Rakesh Nori, Nakul Bajaj and Sriya Prathuri placed first in the presentation of their action plan at the state bowl.
“I loved the whole experience, from eating pizza with the team to performing outside for the parents; it was a rewarding weekend,” enthused Tu.
“California FPS is really a great community and I love meeting all of the new people, from the cute fifth graders to the seniors. Everybody had amazing ideas for the future; we’re living in an age of innovation, and I’m so excited to see what everyone will do!” said Hong.
In the FPS process, students are given a future scene scenario (or as team members like to call it, “the fuzzy”) and must identify 16 problems, select what they think is the major issue, find multiple solutions, then write an action plan – a detailed explanation of how the solution solves the identified problem. Students are then scored on articulation, relevance to the topic and creativity.
Another component of the competition is the skit, or action plan presentation, in which students come up with an engaging way to depict their plans for the general audience, using regular household items, paper towels, aluminum foil, magazines, construction paper and the like to create costumes and props. Students are then scored based on their ability to describe their plan and how it will work and go into effect, their creativity, their use of props and their presentation as a whole.
At the start of the competition, the teams were separated into rooms for the written portion of the competition, followed by lunch. Next, students participated in a teambuilding activity of creating cars made of dry pasta noodles. The future problem solvers were separated into groups of five with members in two divisions and schools.
In the afternoon, the action plan presentation preparation started. Magazines and paper towels flew around the courtyard as students hastily created monocles, magazine skirts and even the odd Marilyn Monroe outfit. The first round of skit presentation began. Later in the day, the affiliate director announced all skits that made it to finals. Six Harker teams, two in each division, were able to compete in finals. At the end of the day, Harker students were able to let loose and relax by neon bowling.
The next day at the closing ceremony, each team that made it to finals performed white being judged by a panel of FPS board members. The affiliate director then announced all the winners for all categories, making a fun and eventful weekend for the Harker Future Problem Solvers.
About The Harker School FPS
Harker FPS is a student-run chapter of California’s Future Problem Solving program, with more than 20 teams and 15 individual competitors from grades 6 to 12. Harker sends more than 40 students to the annual state bowl competition each April, the most in California. In addition, Harker usually sends one to two teams to the annual international conference, allowing the students to broaden their perspectives through competition with winning teams from all over the world. Students may compete individually or in teams of four or by participating in scenario writing.
The teams are coached by history teacher Cyrus Merrill and upper school librarian Meredith Cranston. “We are especially proud of our program that places a great deal of emphasis on the high school students mentoring and training the middle school students themselves,” noted Merrill. “This has been a big part of our program and it is great to see the high school students as excited as the younger teams when the younger ones they trained and coached do well or succeed. Go Harker FPS!”
Harker’s efforts to fund its planned events center received a huge boost in early May when Chris Nikoloff, head of school, announced the school has received a historic $10 million matching gift challenge by Harker parents Jeff and Marieke Rothschild. The events center will house a theater, gymnasium and all necessary supporting facilities.
Parents, alumni and other friends of Harker can have their gifts matched by making a pledge or donation to the capital campaign prior to the start of the 2014-15 school year. Pledges can be paid in as late as 2016, so families should pledge their donation, now, to qualify for matching funds, but can make the actual payment as late as 2016.
Construction of the new center could begin a full year earlier than expected if the full amount of the pledge is matched, opening the building to students in fall 2016. The additional space will free up athletic and performing arts areas for other uses, including the expansion of the Visual Arts Department and the creation of the Harker Innovation Center, which will house the school’s new Business & Entrepreneurship Department.
For more details, including Harker’s strategic plan and the 2020 Harker Vision Statement, go to http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=274. See, there, also , links to features and benefits of the planned events center. Details about the Matching Gift Challenge can be found in the “Rising To the Challenge” booklet. And to see a virtual tour of the new events center and to hear how the facility will enhance student life at Harker, check out “The Events Center Video,” which features comments about the project from parents, alumni, students and faculty.
For more information or to discuss pledge options, please contact Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, at 408-345-9266 or joer@harker.org.
The California Mathcounts team, including Harker’s Rajiv Movva, grade 8, won the championship at the Mathcounts National Competition held in Orlando, Fla., in early May. The team of four took the title over 55 other teams representing all states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. State Department. Maryland and Virginia took second and third place, respectively. California team member Swapnil Garg of Cupertino Middle School was the individual Mathcounts champion. He will receive a $20,000 college scholarship.
Each student on the California team will receive a $2,000 college scholarship and a beautiful trophy. The team members also got a VIP tour of the Magic Kingdom and were grand marshals at the 3 p.m. parade on Saturday, May 10.
“Rajiv has been a terrific mathlete and deserves all the accolades,” said Vandana Kadam, middle school mathematics department chair, who accompanied the team as assistant coach and did much of the heavy lifting preparing the team. The official coach was based in Southern California, while all four team members were in Northern California. “Working with four students from four different schools was a challenge, but their weekly practices at Harker helped with the bonding,” noted Kadam, who has been official coach of past California Mathcounts teams. She coached the California team that won the national Mathcounts championship in 2011.
Daniel Kim ‘09 has been awarded a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans up to $90,000 towards study in medicine at Yale. He is one of 30 winners in a national competition that attracted more than 1,200 applicants.
These awards are of special note because they honor and support young New Americans: immigrants and children of immigrants.
Each year the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship Program recognizes, honors and supports 30 New Americans who seem best positioned to use their graduate training in this country to prepare them to make distinctive contributions to American life.
The son of Korean immigrants, Kim moved to California with his parents when he was 7. His grandfather was a farmer, and his father was the first in his family to get a college education. Growing up in Silicon Valley, Kim admired his father’s meticulous approach to his work as a semiconductor engineer.
Kim entered his undergraduate career at Harvard determined to make a difference in health care. He served as co-president of both Harvard College Red Cross and Team HBV, a group that educates the Asian and Pacific Islander community in Boston about the hepatitis B virus.
As his passion was taking shape, though, Kim took a leave of absence from school to take care of his father who was battling cancer.
Realizing that research was a crucial tool in improving patients’ lives, Kim met his father’s doctor and arranged to work in her laboratory. Though he hadn’t previously done biomedical research, he was soon overseeing a study repurposing the antifungal agent itraconazole as a targeted therapy for skin cancer.
After his father’s health returned, Kim went back to Harvard with renewed ambition. Kim is applying to joint M.D./Ph.D. programs and looking forward to a career as a physician-scientist involved in the fight against cancer. Heartiest congratulations on the award!
China has taken on a new relevance for 20 middle school students, who in early April spent an action-packed week touring and meeting with their buddies at the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS), Harker’s sister school in Shanghai.
The group, comprising six seventh graders and 14 eighth graders, visited many of China’s landmarks and historic sites. Originally based around the grade 8 computer science class’ global issues forum, the annual China trip last year expanded to incorporate the grade 7 historical component of learning about ancient China.
Grade 8 student Nikhil Dharmaraj said his favorite part of the trip was the cultural exchange. “My father has been to Shanghai many times, but after one week of staying there, I knew much more about it than him,” he said. “This trip was different from just traveling. I actually got the opportunity to immerse myself in China.”
Kevin Williamson, upper school dean of students, headed this year’s trip. Accompanying him were middle school faculty member chaperones Scott Kley Contini, assistant director of instructional technology; Margaret Huntley, math teacher; Andy Keller, history teacher; and Andrea Milius, who teaches world studies. Keller, who was already in China serving as an exchange teacher at WFLMS, joined the group in Beijing.
Upon their arrival in China, the students were warmly welcomed at the Pudong International Airport by their pals from WFLMS, Williamson recalled. From there, they hopped on a bus for the short drive into the city to meet their host families. Then, they experienced a full day of school, “WFLMS style,” he said.
The students participated in classes including traditional music, calligraphy, the art of mask-making, and learning how to add and subtract on an abacus. “A few of the boys joined a pick-up basketball game with some of the WFLMS students in the afternoon that many of us watched,” said Williamson.
The students’ time at WFLMS ended with a touching farewell party and dinner. Then the Harker contingent departed for the next phase of the trip: Beijing. Their first adventure in Beijing consisted of a rickshaw tour of the Hutong (ancient alleyways that once covered the city).
The tour of Beijing also included a moving visit to Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 protests and ensuing military action. From there the group headed to the Forbidden City, where they were guided through several of its 980 palatial buildings. Then, during a visit to Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, the students were treated to a tai chi lesson by a local instructor.
Later, during a trip to the ancient water town of Zhujiajiao, the group rode boats through the canal and enjoyed an afternoon of sightseeing. Many students said the bridges and canals reminded them of Venice. Come afternoon, they returned to Shanghai for dumplings followed by a show at the World Circus featuring Chinese acrobats.
Another highlight of the trip was a visit to the Great Wall of China. After taking a ski lift to the top of the mountain, the group entered the wall. Students took many photos of the renowned structure and were thrilled to enjoy a fun toboggan ride back down the mountain.
From their educational time at WFLMS to their many sightseeing adventures, the middle school trip to China left students and chaperones with plenty to reminisce on – and share with friends and family back home.
“I haven’t traveled with friends internationally a lot, so this trip was one to remember. I made bonds with both Harker and WFLMS students. These memories will last me a lifetime,” said Dharmaraj.
Despite a valiant effort, faculty and staff members, ultimately, did not have what it took to beat the grade 8 varsity boys and girls volleyball teams during this year’s staff versus student game, held in early April. The students emerged victorious with a score of 48-33.
Amid a cheering crowd of spectators, the grade 8 girls then grade 8 boys played spectacularly – crushing all hope of a faculty free-dress day. Thanks to their win, the entire middle school student body enjoyed a free-dress day on May 1, while faculty and staff wore the required middle school uniform.
“It was a sad day in Mudville for the teachers and staff, but a happy day in the middle school for students!” said Cindy Ellis, middle school division head. “Congratulations to the Harker varsity volleyball teams. And thanks to great half-time entertainment from High Voltage and Show Stoppers.”
Harker recently instituted a new schoolwide waste program that separates waste into “wet” and “dry” categories. The initiative coincides with a system rolled out by the city of San Jose and Republic Services, which manages waste for commercial users in the area.
Labeled cans have popped up on every campus, along with signs indicating what kinds of waste go in each can. “Wet” waste includes food waste and used paper goods, such as napkins, tissues and paper food trays. “Dry” waste includes drink containers, clean paper and cardboard, and non-compostable food containers.
In addition to compliance with the city of San Jose and Republic Services, this initiative will help “divert as much of our trash toward recycling as possible,” said Diana Moss, upper school Spanish teacher and a member of Harker’s Green Committee. Making this a schoolwide effort will help ensure that students graduating from one campus to the next will be familiar with Harker’s trash procedures, she added.
“This contributes in a significant way to our green efforts,” said Kate Schafer, upper school science teacher and Green Committee member. “First, we’re making it possible for Republic Services to do their job of diverting material from the landfill, but it also gives us the possibility of assessing our production of waste and reducing it in the future through various efforts such as on-site composting, reduction in use of non-recyclable containers, etc.”
The labeled cans were set up during spring break in classrooms and strategic spots on each campus. Green Committee members have been working to get the word out. Lower school students were informed about the rollout during educational assemblies, and on April 22 – celebrated around the world as Earth Day – faculty and staff wore green and blue to show their support of the wet/dry program. Meanwhile, middle school students have taken quizzes about the wet and dry classifications during their advisories. Upper school students were informed of the new procedures at the April 14 morning school meeting with a special video and presentation. A bulletin board display in the lunch area, featuring amusing photos of costumed students, also reminds students of the proper way to dispose of their trash.
Harker recently instituted a new schoolwide waste program that separates waste into “wet” and “dry” categories. The initiative coincides with a system rolled out by the city of San Jose and Republic Services, which manages waste for commercial users in the area.
Labeled cans have popped up on every campus, along with signs indicating what kinds of waste go in each can. “Wet” waste includes food waste and used paper goods, such as napkins, tissues and paper food trays. “Dry” waste includes drink containers, clean paper and cardboard, and non-compostable food containers.
In addition to compliance with the city of San Jose and Republic Services, this initiative will help “divert as much of our trash toward recycling as possible,” said Diana Moss, upper school Spanish teacher and a member of Harker’s Green Committee. Making this a schoolwide effort will help ensure that students graduating from one campus to the next will be familiar with Harker’s trash procedures, she added.
“This contributes in a significant way to our green efforts,” said Kate Schafer, upper school science teacher and Green Committee member. “First, we’re making it possible for Republic Services to do their job of diverting material from the landfill, but it also gives us the possibility of assessing our production of waste and reducing it in the future through various efforts such as on-site composting, reduction in use of non-recyclable containers, etc.”
The labeled cans were set up during spring break in classrooms and strategic spots on each campus. Green Committee members have been working to get the word out. Lower school students were informed about the rollout during educational assemblies, and on April 22 – celebrated around the world as Earth Day – faculty and staff wore green and blue to show their support of the wet/dry program. Meanwhile, middle school students have taken quizzes about the wet and dry classifications during their advisories. Upper school students were informed of the new procedures at the April 14 morning school meeting with a special video and presentation. A bulletin board display in the lunch area, featuring amusing photos of costumed students, also reminds students of the proper way to dispose of their trash.