The much-anticipated Night on the Town, Harker’s 11th annual gala fundraiser, was a smash success on Feb. 28 at the San Jose Marriott.
A live auction got the show started and climaxed in a $15,000 bid for a trip to Los Angeles to see the finale of “American Idol.” After the auction, a montage of video and live performances showcased several of Harker’s performing arts ensembles and reminded the audience of the evening’s purpose: to raise funds for the construction of a theater and gym complex on the upper school campus. Highlights of the live performances were charming mother/son and father/daughter dances, a lip sync by middle school teachers and students, and a rock band showing off the talents of both upper school student and adult musicians (sharp-eyed attendees may have spotted Chris Nikoloff, head of school, behind the drum set).
After the show and dinner, some guests returned to the casino games in the lobby while others danced the night away to tunes spun by a DJ.
Come June, the upper school campus will be filled with students in grades 6-12 who are participating in Harker’s Summer Institute (SI), a unique program open to both Harker students and those from other schools.
The Summer Institute has 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. Last year’s participants were introduced to specialty classes including backyard games, volleyball boot camp and cooking. These classes will be available again this year, along with other rotating options such as art, jewelry making, magic, improv, dance, tech, junior lifeguard, chess and circus arts. There also will be off-campus field trips every couple of weeks to various sites such as The Tech Museum and Capitola.
Keith Hirota will reprise his role as SI middle school director and Evan Barth, upper school dean of studies, has enthusiastically taken on the role of SI principal for the upper school students.
Barth – who joined Harker in fall 2000 and has taught mathematics, coached soccer and volleyball, been a class dean and served on the Honor Council – said he is looking forward to working with SI’s older students this summer. In his present capacity as the dean of studies, he meets with each incoming student to create an academic plan for high school.
Hirota noted the success of last year’s program, which totaled some 920 middle and upper school students. An average of 80-85 students per week attended the afternoon activities.
Both Hirota and Barth agreed that the variety of choices and flexibility of the SI program allows students to design their own perfect schedule, taking into consideration individual academic needs and personal interests.
Registration is filling up fast for Summer Camp+, which this year will feature a fun circus theme called “Under the Big Top.” The popular K-6 camp will include a wide variety of circus-related activities, guests and special events.
Held on the lower school campus, Summer Camp+ provides morning learning experiences followed by age-appropriate afternoon electives. Students in grades 1-6 will have the option of enrolling in two different academic morning programs called Core Focus and 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 a literary theme.
This year LOL will focus on the work of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. Both programs feature the same afternoon options, including arts and crafts, circus arts, dance, water play, wall climbing, archery and array of other field sports. The Summer Camp+ program traditionally kicks off with Color Clash, a fun event held in the Bucknall 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 silly hats. The kickoff is just the start of a session full of friendly competition around the color groups.
“It’s a great way to build team spirit and the kids just love it,” said longtime camp counselor Troy Townzen, ’08. “Color Clash costumes and activities create some of the best camp memories!”
The program offers something for everyone, according to Joe Chung, program director of Summer Camp+ and elementary computer science teacher. On-site happenings often include a patriotic games bash, a water carnival, a sleepover for older campers, a presentation for parents and a birthday celebration for camp mascot “Ray.”
Campers also partake in numerous field trips, including bowling, miniature golf, the Oakland Zoo and Coyote Point. Last year enrollment for camps and other summer programs skyrocketed to a record-breaking 2,740 participants across all campuses, according to Harker’s summer programs office.
“We were thrilled and delighted at the incredible turnout for Harker summer last year … and are already seeing a jump in enrollment for this year!” enthused Kelly Espinosa, longtime director of summer programs. 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.
This article prepared from a DECA press release by Shannon Hong, grade 10, director of public relations for Harker DECA
In early February more than 100 students from Harker’s DECA chapter traveled to the Marriott Hotel in Anaheim to attend the California State Career Development Conference (CDC). The three-day event featured workshops with renowned speakers, tough competition and experiences for a lifetime. Harker performed admirably with 26 finalists in the top eight; of those, 16 advanced to the top four, qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). In addition, Harker will send eight students to ICDC to participate either in The Stock Market game or the Virtual Business Challenge.
After school on Feb. 5, 103 students took charter buses from Harker to Anaheim, stopping only for refreshments at In-and-Out Burger. The following morning, Harker hosted a chapter breakfast at Denny’s and “Officer Hours,” during which students could get last-minute advice and tips. That afternoon, students took their written examinations and then headed to the opening session. During the opening session, Sandip Nirmel, grade 9, spoke to the crowd, urging them to elect him president of the 64th California DECA Team. Although Nirmel did not win, he did a great job and was recognized by many of his peers as a rising star.
“For me, this year’s state CDC can be summed up in four words: Talk about awesome, possum!” said Nirmel. “Leading up to the conference, I really didn’t know what to expect. The highlight of my conference definitely was speaking to a crowd of around 2,000 people on why they should elect me president. Standing on stage as the audience cheered and my school’s DECA chapter chanted, “Sandip! Sandip! Sandip!” made me smile, and it still makes me smile today, just a week later. As it turned out, standing at my booth for nearly five hours allowed me to meet so many charismatic and friendly people that I had never met before. This is what DECA is really about, in my opinion.”
Next, attendants gathered for their role-play events. After the competition, Harker DECA took the students to Disneyland to relax after a challenging, but rewarding day.
The next day students competing in written events had their time to shine. Afterward, at the Recognition and Mini-Awards Session, Harker was honored for its wonderful performance as a chapter. Harker was the only California school to complete every campaign: Membership, Global Entrepreneurship, Promotional and Community Service. For this achievement, Harker earned six extra stops to the ICDC Thrive Academy. In addition, out of a total of six California teams to qualify for the international conference in the Stock Market Game, Harker sent three.
“This was my first state conference as a freshman,” said Haley Tran, grade 9. “I had so much fun meeting new people and seeing how wonderful and how big California DECA is. I used this conference more of as a learning experience to test out the waters for future year; I can’t wait for the next time.”
Harker DECA president Monica Thukral, grade 12, was named California DECA student of the year. Her passion is one of the main reasons the business and entrepreneurship program is so successful. “Being student of the year was really amazing,” said Thukral. “I got called back to the stage during the awards ceremony and afterwards people came up to me and congratulated me. I’m so grateful to [adviser] Mr. [Juston] Glass, to my officer team, and to a remarkable chapter I’m proud to be a part of.”
“This conference is also my last states conference,” added Thukral. “It was definitely bittersweet. I’m so glad that we were so successful this year as a chapter. I’ve invested a lot of time into DECA with late nights and early mornings. But I’ve really enjoyed all of it, especially working with other students and helping them prepare. I’ll miss it so much. DECA gave me so much in terms of how I’ve grown as a person; I’m definitely more confident and self-assured than I was before. Go Harker DECA!”
The day ended with a conference dance, at which students let loose and had fun after a full day of competing and learning about business.
Throughout the weekend, workshops were held to complement the competition. Topics included communication, manufacturing, technology, start-ups, financial planning and networking. Students found them entertaining and helpful, and came home eager to begin implementing some of the tips in their daily lives.
“In our free time, we went to workshops, which covered topics about everything from understanding relationships between people to healthy business practices. It was really awesome to talk to the business professionals!” said Tong Wu, grade 10.
In addition, protégé events (examinations based on specialized skill sets) included green business, event planning, finance and investing, real estate and emerging leaders. Harker competed and finished top eight in every event. Two students placed among top three; Shannon Hong, grade 10 earned first place in emerging leaders, Mabel Luo, grade 12, took third place in event planning.
The finale was the Grand Awards Ceremony, at which Harker took a record number of wins (see results below) and left as one of the most-respected schools. The International Career Development Conference will be May 2-7. More than 20 Harker students are expected to represent us. Go Eagles!
First Place: Simran Singh, grade 11, Entrepreneurship Written Plan.
Second Place: Julia Fink, grade 12, Apparel and Accessories Marketing; Raymond Xu, grade 9, Principles of Finance; Riya Chandra and Alexis Gauba, both grade 9, Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan; Emily Lin and Allison Sun, both grade 12, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research Event.
Third Place: Ankur Karwal and Mehul Khetrapal, both grade 10, Entrepreneurship Innovation Plan; Leo Yu, grade 11, and Sophia Luo, grade 10, Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research Event; Simran Singh and Manthra Panchapakesan, both grade 11, Marketing Communications Team Decision Making Event; Alexander Mo, grade 9, Professional Selling Event.
Fourth Place: Sachin Vadodaria, grade 12, Director of Individual Series Events and Business Finance Individual Series Event; Raymond Xu, grade 9, Principles of Finance.
Fifth Place: Shannon Hong, grade 10, Restaurant and Food Service Management Individual Series Event; Monica Thukral, grade 12, Food Marketing Individual Series Event.
Sixth Place: Arben Gutierrez-Bujari, grade 9, Professional Selling Event; Jonathan Lee, grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations Research Event.
Eighth Place: Mabel Luo, grade 12, Business Services Marketing Individual Series Event; Ria Gandhi, grade 9, Entrepreneurship Participating – Independent.
Harker DECA is an international competitive business organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business and promotes competition to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders.
Applications are now being accepted for Harker’s long-running and highly successful English Language Institute (ELI), held on both the lower and upper school campuses.
ELI provides overseas students with the opportunity to learn and practice their English skills, enabling many participants to go on to attend top American and international schools.
New to the program this year will be a “Very Interesting Places” (VIP) tour. The optional VIP offering, available to all ELI students (ages 6-16), will take place at the conclusion of the program’s regular five-week academic session. The tour will take students around Silicon Valley and the Bay Area to visit theme parks, museums, companies, school campuses and more. It will be capped off with an overnight trip to Yosemite.
“Over the past few summers, I have received interest from ELI participants in having more trips and excursions to enhance their American social and cultural experience,” reported ELI director Anthony Wood.
So, Wood decided to introduce the VIP program, which will allow students to discover California outside the classroom by embarking on strategic visits to boarding schools, university campuses and places of interest such as a Giants game, Point Lobos State Marine Reserve, the Jelly Belly Factory and Six Flags amusement park. The action-packed tour will conclude with an overnight stay in Yosemite.
Wood said that enrollment for the trip is expected to fill up quickly. He also noted that ELI teachers will accompany the students on the tour and provide a specialized curriculum to continue with their language learning.
To help get the word out about ELI, current Harker and alumni families are sponsoring receptions in cities around the world in early spring. The receptions will provide an opportunity for interested families to meet Wood and learn about the benefits and features of the program. In March and April, ELI receptions will take place in Russia, Turkey, China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
Joe Rosenthal, Harker’s executive director of advancement, who directed the school’s former elementary boarding program for 20 years, will be on hand as well. Rosenthal is a frequent guest lecturer to the current ELI program on the topic of studying in the United States.
“The ELI receptions are a wonderful way to get the word out about the quality of our program,” he said.
Each year, Rosenthal travels abroad to meet prospective ELI students. He said he enjoys meeting with alumni and their families, updating them and keeping them connected to the school.
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. Last summer, more than 60 students enrolled for the secondary division and a record-breaking 55 enrolled in the primary division.
“The goal is to keep the program small and offer a very high-quality experience,” explained Wood.
Eagle Update: The boys basketball team defeated Pinewood-Los Altos Hills 51-45 Thursday evening throwing a loop into that schools league title hopes– read the Merc article here!
Feb. 18, 2014
Huge news for the girls soccer and boys basketball teams, as one earned the first league championship in school history and the other earned a spot in the San Jose Mercury News after a dramatic upset.
Soccer:
For the first time in Harker’s history, the girls soccer team is the league champion! Two goals from freshman Joelle Anderson and one apiece from freshman Kailee Gifford and junior Gabi Gupta gave the team a 4-0 shutout victory over Summit Prep to complete the girls’ ascent to the title. Now, after their 12-2-1 season and 8-1-1 league campaign, the girls will play a one-game, winner-take-all playoff against the WBAL Foothill Division’s fourth place team, King’s Academy, for a shot at the league’s final remaining CCS playoff birth. Fans can catch the high-pressure action this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at King’s Academy!
Thursday also will mark senior day for the boys soccer team, which plays at 4 p.m. on Davis Field. Their senior day ceremony will be held just before the game’s start.
Basketball:
More exciting news for Harker sports: For only the third time in 10 years, the boys varsity basketball team defeated rival Sacred Heart Prep 71-65 on the road. Senior Huck Vaughan started in place of injured senior Will Deng and rose to the occasion, scoring a career-high 23 points, shooting 11-16 from the field. Junior Eric Holt anchored the team with a double-double, netting 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The boys’ dramatic upset earned a full report in the San Jose Mercury News, where they were written up as exciting spoilers to Sacred Heart’s title hopes. Vaughan was commended for his “huge game,” and Harker’s coach, Butch Keller, was quoted. The team will ride this wave of momentum into a senior night showdown this Thursday against first place Pinewood.
Wrestling:
Davis Howard has become only the third freshman in Harker’s history to qualify for the CCS Tournament after he and senior Darian Edvalson competed in last week’s league championships and finished sixth in their respective weigh classes, each earning a place in the tournament. Freshman Danny Reidenbach placed fourth in the Junior Varsity Championships.
The global water and pollution crisis was the subject of an informative talk jointly hosted by the upper school’s Clean Tech Club and Venezia Wee, a visiting student from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS), Harker’s sister school in Shanghai, China.
Held at the end of January during a long lunch in the Nichols Hall auditorium, the collaborative effort promoted the use of clean technology and importance of water conservation.
Steven Wang, a grade 11 student and president of the Clean Tech Club, opened the seminar, which attracted nearly two dozen students. He introduced Wee, noting that the WFLMS junior was using her winter break to go on a self-funded, self-organized worldwide tour to bring attention to the global water crisis.
“I’m super excited the two of us connected,” said Wang, adding that Wee contacted him about doing the talk together. Each year the Clean Tech Club chooses a new theme; this year’s theme was “A Solution to Pollution,” Wang explained. During his address, he noted that air pollution was the basis for global warming and stressed that there is an urgent need to develop new technologies to combat air pollution.
“I’m honored to be joining hands with the Clean Tech Club,” said Wee from the podium. She discussed her work as founder of the Global Water Crisis Awareness (GWA) International Movement, of which Harker is now an ambassador.
“In the past I used water like it was nobody’s business. Why? Because I took it for granted,” said Wee, who later learned about the lack of safe drinking water worldwide, including the shocking statistic that a child dies every 21 seconds from a water-related illness. That, and other findings, prompted her to take on the global water crisis as her “personal project.”
She kicked off her talk by showing a powerful video about the international water shortage, citing it as particularly relevant to Harker students currently impacted by California’s drought, which has been declared a statewide emergency.
“We are going to run out of water before we run out of oil,” said Wee, who ended her talk by offering practical water conservation tips.
Back at WFLMS, Wee launched a five-day GWA exhibition about her movement, which works to both increase awareness and raise money to help impoverished schools in countries including Africa, Latin America and Asia improve their water hygiene. She said she used her own scholarship money to help finance her recent speaking tours at schools and other locations all over Asia, the United States and Europe.
“I was thrilled that this took place!” enthused Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, who has encouraged such global student-to-student collaborations.
Eight Harker middle school students have won prestigious Scholastic Art Awards for their outstanding artwork. Two received the coveted Gold and Silver Key Awards, and six others were lauded with honorable mentions. All of the students’ work will be featured in the upper school art exhibit in the spring.
Hannah Eckert, grade 7, won a Gold Key award for her “Corn Plants” drawings, featuring one piece done using contour lines and another sketched in pen and ink. Liana Wang, grade 8, won a Silver Key for her creative ceramic sculpture titled “Abstract Figure.”
“This is very exciting for us and begins a new tradition of recognition in the arts on both a state and national level,” said Elizabeth Saltos, who teachers visual art at the middle school.
Honorable mentions for this year’s Scholastic Art Awards went to: Anthony Contreras, grade 8, for his sculpture “Smoov”; Natalie Luo, grade 8, for her sculpture “Reclining Figure”; Rebecca Mak, grade 7, for her drawing “Reflection”; Nicole Selvaggio, grade 7, for her sculpture “Abstract Figure”; Andrew Semenza, grade 8, for his drawing “Desert Cascade”; and Ally Wang, grade 7, for her drawing “Black And White.”
The fifth-annual Kicks Against Cancer boys and girls varsity soccer games raised more than $5,000 for children who attend Camp Okizu, a camp for cancer patients and their families.
“Camp Okizu provides peer support, respite, mentoring and recreational programs to meet the needs of all members of families affected by childhood cancer. The amount raised this year will help send five children to camp this summer,” reported Dan Molin, upper school athletic director.
The recent games were also a huge success out on the field. “Boys varsity started the double-header with a 6-0 victory over Pinewood. The girls also won by the score of 6-0 v. Summit Prep,” enthused Chris Collins, who works with Molin as an assistant.
The upper school’s Davis Field was the scene of the match off against Summit Preparatory High School and Pinewood High School. Grade 12 students Apurva Gorti and Julia Fink served as Harker’s boys and girls soccer captains, respectively.
The Kicks Against Cancer event got its start four years ago as a collaboration between the Class of 2010 and the varsity soccer coaches. Since then, the event has continued to serve as an opportunity to raise money for Camp Okizu, which runs week-long camp programs in Berry Creek.
This year’s fundraising efforts included a bake sale and T-shirt sale (the $12 T-shirts served as tickets to the games). The soccer teams also used long lunch periods leading up to the games as an opportunity to sell beanies, full-sleeve purple shirts, visors, bracelets and pens. Donations also were accepted during lunch periods.
As in previous years, faculty and staff were invited to pledge money for the number of goals the teams scored. There was even a silly half-time “butts-up” game in which students paid money to try and kick a ball at their favorite teacher’s backside. Game officials also donated their fees to the cause by officiating the games pro-bono.
In addition, the CIF/Central Coast Section website, http://www.cifccs.org/, is featuring the Kicks Against Cancer story and photo!
“The organization and leadership of the fundraiser was all student-driven,” said Molin.
To donate directly to Camp Okizu, visit www.okizu.org.
When grade 8 students in Cyrus Merrill’s history class began an assignment in the fall writing letters to their national representatives in Washington, D.C., they had no idea the effort would yield such tangible results.
In addition to writing their state representatives about reform issues, some students chose the “blanket” approach (as part of their lobbying plan), writing to state, local and national officials, as well as various newspapers.
Thanks to the class’ letter-writing campaign, several members of Congress contacted Harker about meeting with the grade 8 students during their upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.
“That helped allow us to choose who we wanted to meet with while we were in D.C., so all of their lobbying worked,” recalled Merrill.
In addition, Akhil Arun’s letter to the editor was published in the San Jose Mercury News during the government shutdown. Meanwhile, classmate Millie Lin received a call from a representative in state Sen. Jerry Hill’s office in response to her letter, which also expressed concern over the shutdown.
“The letter was a history assignment given when the government shutdown occurred,” explained Lin. “I really enjoyed this assignment. I also sent it to two other senators and a newspaper and got normal responses. My mom picked up the phone, because I was not at home. During the talk, the topic of internships was brought up. They needed someone who could write.”
Based on Lin’s writing (and passionate analysis about the debt crisis and government shutdown), the representative began discussing the possibility of an internship before realizing that Lin was only in middle school. Typically, students interested in public service and federal government are eligible to apply for an internship in a senator’s office as undergraduate college students.
The California State Senate has a legislative body of 40 members, with each member representing approximately 931,000 people. Due to the state’s large population and relatively small legislature, the state Senate has the largest population per representative ratio of any state legislative house.
“Millie Lin really wowed the senator’s staff!” enthused Cindy Ellis, middle school head.
Most recently, the grade 8 students embarked on a new letter-writing campaign to their state representatives as an extension of studying the reform era in the 19th century. The students are making modern appeals and expressing concerns over such topics as mental health, alcohol related topics, and the treatment and protection of women.
“I can understand why Millie enjoys Mr. Merrill’s assignment: These types of assignments inspire the students to be engaged in current affairs that are history in making. They are very creative and thought-provoking. It’s very different from the way I learned history, which was mainly based on memorization,” noted May Chen, Lin’s mother.