Football In their season opener, JV football beat Yerba Buena 19-8. Freshman Alex Youn reached the end zone on a 17-yard rushing touchdown. Sid Krishnmurthi, grade 11, caught two touchdowns from two different quarterbacks, snagging a 40-yard pass from Jonathan Keller, grade 10, and a 35-yard pass from Keanu Forbes, grade 11. All told, Harker amassed 314 total yards on offense, led by offensive linemen Chirag Aswani, grade 11, Logan Drazovich, grade 10, and Kevin Wang, grade 10. JV plays Irvington High on the road this Thursday.
Tennis
Harker’s girls tennis squad defeated Homestead 5-2, including a sweep of the doubles matches. On the singles side, Sahithya Prakash, grade 12, and Izzy Gross, grade 10, both played excellently, with each playing their best matches to date, according to Dan Molin, athletic director. “The lady tennis Eagles did more than battle against their toughest opponent yet,” wrote Molin. “They showed drastic improvement in serving and volleying skills, as well as knowledge of court positioning and shot selection.” The team hits the road to play Fremont High on Thursday.
Cross Country
Corey Gonzales, grade 11, placed second out of 188 at the Lowell Invitational in San Francisco this past Saturday, staving off two of his competitors down the final straight of his run. Then, in her debut race for Harker, freshman Niki Iyer beat her challengers by 30 seconds on her way to best time by a freshman or sophomore out of all 451 runners. Rahul Sridar, Rahul Balakrisnan, Namitha Villian and Raymond Chang all ran great races as well to start the year. The team’s next challenge will be the Westmoor Invitational two weeks from now. Gonzales will run in the championship division of the Stanford Invitational that same weekend.
Water Polo Boys water polo starts their season this Thursday at Saratoga High School. The boys had their tune-up last weekend at San Benito, winning two games and losing one. Over the weekend, Eric Holt, grade 11, led the team with eight goals. Billy Bloomquist, grade 11, had eight, with Jeremy Binkley, grade 11, Karan Kurber, grade 12, and Alex Thomas, grade 11, netting five, four and two, apiece.
The girls water polo team, meanwhile, played at the Wilcox Tournament, where they went 1-3. Their victory came in thrilling fashion: Delaney Martin, grade 11, scored a triple-overtime goal to give the girls a sudden-death victory against San Lorenzo. League play begins this Thursday at Mountain View.
Volleyball Girls volleyball improved their record to 2-1 on the year after beating Fremont in straight games last Thursday and had their first match of league play last Friday, opening with a 235-273 victory against Mercy-Burlingame. Kristine Lin, grade 12, shot a 34, earning medalist honors. Then, over the weekend, JV competed in the Milpitas Tournament, winning four and losing just one to earn the bronze championship. The teams play three times this next week. Those wishing to take in a game can catch the team at home on Wednesday for a match against Monta Vista.
Don’t forget, Homecoming is Sept. 27 and Davis Field will be the center of the day’s festivities! For all the info, click here! GO EAGLES!
On Sept. 11, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced that 55 Harker seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. This is the second-highest number of semifinalists from Harker since the school began participating during the 2004-05 school year.
The students, listed in alphabetical order by last name, are:
Aditya Batra, Adarsh Battu, Vikas Bhetanabhotla, Kilian Burke, Shivani Chandrashekaran, Allen Chen, Rebecca Chen, Stephanie Chen, Meena Chetty, Zareen Choudhury, Albert Chu, Jennifer Dai, Kevin Duraiswamy, Shenel Ekici-Moling, Christopher Fu, Nikkan Ghosh, Apurva Gorti, Katie Gu, Divyahans Gupta, Helena Huang, Benjamin Huchley, Shazdeh Hussain, Saachi Jain, Gaurav Kumar, Monica Kumaran, Connie Li, Emily Lin, Mabel Luo, Angela Ma, Kimberly Ma, Maya Madhavan, Richard Min, Sreyas Misra, Varun Mohan, Nishaant Murali, Vikram Naidu, Anisha Padwekar, Daniel Pak, Zoe Papakipos, Alexander Pei, Preethi Periyakoil, Megan Prakash, Namita Ravi, Isaac Rothschild, Arthur Shau, Rahul Sridhar, Vikram Sundar, Brian Tuan, Leslie Tzeng, Nihal Uppugunduri, Sachin Vadodaria, Brandon Yang, Albert Zhao, Andrew Zhu and Kevin Zhu.
About 1.5 million students are entered into this contest every year by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test as grade 11 students. Approximately 16,000 of these students are named semifinalists, and are required to maintain an exemplary academic record, receive an endorsement from a school official, submit an essay and receive SAT scores consistent with their scores on the PSAT/NMSQT in order to become finalists.
A determined group of grade 7 students marked the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by holding an assembly in its honor at Harker’s middle school.
Although only recently born when the historic event occurred, the students felt connected to it, and wanted to do something meaningful to commemorate it.
More than 500 students, faculty and staff shared a moment of silence during the moving assembly held on the Blackford campus. Presenting were six seventh graders: Aneesha Kumar, Emmy Huchley, Katherine Zhang, Katherine Tian, Akshay Ravoor and Andrew Chang (pictured above).
According to middle school English teacher Patricia Burrows, the half dozen presenters had met for an entire year in preparation for the assembly. The student leaders wanted their peers, who were also quite young at the time of 9/11, to learn about the importance of the day.
Along with history teacher Andy Keller, Burrows served as a teacher facilitator for the student-led assembly. “I was so impressed by the way the student audience responded – they were respectful and during the moment of silence, you could tell that they were holding their breaths in because they wanted so much to honor it,” she recalled.
“The students’ hope was that we can learn why this event occurred and how we may improve as individuals, as a community and as human beings,” added Keller.
Educators worldwide have stressed the importance of teaching about 9/11 in the classroom, especially with those too young to personally recall the day. Construction of a new One World Trade Center, which began years ago, is still underway and expected to be completed later this or early next year, making the event even more relevant.
“It was their determination and persistence that made this assembly happen,” said Burrows. “It was they who met once a month for nearly a school year to talk about what they wanted to do to commemorate the day and educate fellow students about it,” she said, noting what an inspiration the presenters were for the other students, role modeling how to take their ideas and put them into a call for action.
New Class of 2013 alumni Kenny Zhang, Anuj Sharmaand Aneesh Chona were defending national champions in the public debate forum sponsored by the National Forensic League (NFL), which held its first tournament in 1931. Sharma and Chona made history as the first team to repeat a final round appearance in a debate event as a partnership. Although they lost in finals in a close decision, they had gone undefeated through 15 rounds of competition. Zhang won second place in the dramatic interpretation event, marking the highest honor a Harker student has won at a speech national championship. There were some 4,000 people watching the debate live and thousands more watched it stream online. Go Forensic Eagles!
This past summer 11 biology students, three journalism students and four chaperones made Harker history by embarking on an educational first for the school: a trip to Tanzania. Armed with a “world as their classroom” mentality, the group set off for the 10-day groundbreaking trip, called “One Health in Tanzania,” on July 24.
The Tanzanian adventure was the brainchild of upper school science department chair Anita Chetty, who had spent years planning and researching the trip. Head of School Chris Nikoloff joined Chetty in supervising the group of students.
Also serving as chaperones were Dr. Murali Daran and Dr. Alexandra Kamins. Daran (Lea, grade 12; Rohan, grade 10) is a cardiologist and has done extensive medical charitable work in places like the Dominican Republic. Besides serving as the group’s “doctor-on-call,” he inspired the students with a talk on his charitable work. Kamins is a recent graduate from the University of Cambridge whose doctoral work was in Ghana. She has also been on several study programs in Africa; her experiences provided essential support when collaborating on the curriculum with Chetty.
“I designed the trip as though it were a short, college-level type course,” said Chetty, explaining that the trip, while filled with great sights, was not primarily about sightseeing. “The focus was on the educational curriculum … and I was so impressed at how the students rose to that challenge.”
In fact, every aspect of the trip was infused with an opportunity for learning, from game-drives filled with biology lessons to visiting reserves and meeting with health professionals. One highlight was learning firsthand about the current AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. The situation became real to students as they met with health professionals, including a gynecologist and nurse at an AIDS clinic.
Another trip highlight was visiting with the Maasai tribe, when the students had the opportunity to personally donate toys to a local village school. It was an eye-opening experience for journalism student Jonathan Dai, grade 10.
“The tribe treated us like family and welcomed us into their homes and daily lives. We played games with their kids, herded goats and cattle, and even played a soccer game against the adult male tribe members,” he recalled.
While visiting with the Maasai, students set up an eye clinic, testing tribe members’ eyes and handing out prescription eye glasses they had brought over with them for that purpose.
“One of the most influential moments for me was visiting the Maasai. On a walk to and from the lake they tried to teach us some of their native language. For example, they taught us how to count and some basic phrases. Regardless of the fact that neither of us spoke the others’ languages we managed to communicate and bonded really quickly, which was an amazing experience,” recalled Alyssa Amick, grade 11.
Namrata Vakkalagadda, grade 12, said that a very personal memory for her was learning beading from a village tribe healer. “Even though we had an obvious language barrier, the connection between us was almost immediate. She welcomed my curiosity with open arms and continued to patiently guide my hands and hand me beads, until I created a bracelet which I was able to keep for myself. This memento of mine I think might be one that is dearest to me, because I created it with a member of the Maasai community and it was a connection that was personal between the two of us.”
The Tanzania trip was such a success that plans are already in the works for another one next summer. In addition to giving the gift of sight by providing eyeglasses, Chetty is also collecting money to buy and bring desperately needed textbooks to the Tanzanian public schools.
“There is nothing like learning that is directly experienced, whether educational or philanthropic,” said Chetty.
Ryan Moreland ’98 spent a great deal of time in his parent’s vineyard growing up in St. Helena. Among his favorite memories is sharing a glass of wine with family and friends seated around an old redwood plank table, surrounded by a canopy of trees. It was the good times he had in this spot, he said, that impacted his decision to become a winemaker.
While his family originally planted their vineyard as a hobby, Moreland turned it into a career and has made every single vintage from their vineyard since it first began producing fruit in 2007. He started Corvalle Winery the following year, when he was just 25 years old, after attending college at the University of California, San Diego, and obtaining a degree in environmental chemistry. Success followed soon after, and Corvalle today is a known competitor in the wine market.
“My parents had planted an acre of sauvignon blanc. I immediately was hooked, walking up and down the rows pruning the young vines as they stretched out onto the trellises,” recalled Moreland, who went on to work entry level positions at nearby wineries before deciding to focus solely on developing his own label.
The name Corvalle is derived from Latin, meaning “Soul of the Valley,” and is intended as a tribute to the community of Napa and its legacy of farming.
“I learned so many valuable skills that have helped me both as an entrepreneur and in my professional life. When I look back on my time at Harker, the first thing that comes to mind is my strong belief that, given adequate drive, an individual can accomplish any goal he or she dreams up. This belief is a product of the culture at Harker,” he said.
Moreland also believes in giving back. In addition to generously donating wine to Harker’s advancement events, he also is a supporter of the Danville D’Elegance foundation supporting Alzheimer’s research and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund.
Moreland has recently relocated to attend the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania while simultaneously expanding his business to the East Coast market. Having just begun pre-term events at Wharton, Moreland is enjoying getting to know his fellow classmates.
“I feel genuinely lucky to be able to participate in such an amazing program surrounded by this caliber of staff and fellow students. As one could imagine, my background is a bit unique here,” said Moreland, adding that he is also enjoying sharing his love for wine in his new community and regularly returns to Napa to oversee winemaking activities at Corvalle.
Working on developing sales in both New York and Pennsylvania has proven a much different endeavor than in California due to the states’ specific legal framework regarding wine importation and distribution, but Moreland said he likes the challenge and opportunity to engage with so many eager and curious wine consumers outside of the Bay Area.
Moreland advices other alumni not to be afraid to follow their own interests. “If something sounds enjoyable and gets you excited then take the time to learn more about your passion!” he said.
Jason Berry’s family and friends nearly filled WestGate Church yesterday afternoon to say goodbye. Heartfelt memories of his childhood and early years as a teacher were shared; the loss to his family and the community was mourned. A large group, many of whom were alumni, then moved to Harker’s Saratoga campus for a reception.
Family members joined the group shortly after it started, and Chris Nikoloff as well as two of Berry’s colleagues addressed the group very briefly, followed by more memories exchanged, and more tears shed for the life cut short.
Jason Berry’s family and friends nearly filled WestGate Church yesterday afternoon to say goodbye. Heartfelt memories of his childhood and early years as a teacher were shared; the loss to his family and the community was mourned. A large group, many of whom were alumni, then moved to Harker’s Saratoga campus for a reception.
Family members joined the group shortly after it started, and Chris Nikoloff as well as two of Berry’s colleagues addressed the group very briefly, followed by more memories exchanged, and more tears shed for the life cut short.
Jason Berry’s family and friends nearly filled WestGate Church yesterday afternoon to say goodbye. Heartfelt memories of his childhood and early years as a teacher were shared; the loss to his family and the community was mourned. A large group, many of whom were alumni, then moved to Harker’s Saratoga campus for a reception.
Family members joined the group shortly after it started, and Chris Nikoloff as well as two of Berry’s colleagues addressed the group very briefly, followed by more memories exchanged, and more tears shed for the life cut short.
A memorial for Jason Berry, Harker upper school coach and English teacher, will be held this Thursday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. at WestGate Church, 1735 Saratoga Ave., San Jose. Following the ceremony, a reception will be held at 4 p.m. on Harker’s upper school campus, 500 Saratoga Avenue, in the quad.
A shuttle is being arranged for students who wish to attend the memorial and the family is asking for everyone to wear a Harker jersey, club or class T-shirt or jersey of your favorite team. They know Mr. Berry would love casual, spirited dress, and wouldn’t want anything that felt formal or stuffy. To leave a note or read a bit of what others have to say, visit the memorial page created by his wife.
Berry, beloved English teacher and athletics coach, husband of our alumni director, MaryEllis Deacon, and son-in-law of Butch and Jane Keller, upper school division head and mathematics teacher, respectively, died suddenly on Sat., Aug. 24 of apparent heart failure.
Born in New Hampshire and highly regarded as a teacher by his students during his five-year run at Harker, Berry wrote as a critic during his time as a member of the American College Theatre Festival and was honored for Excellence in Teaching by the Clemson University PanHellenic Council.
The Harker Class of 2012 selected him as the faculty speaker for the 2012 Baccalaureate ceremony, during which he said to the soon-to-be graduates, “Be who you want to be, and if that doesn’t agree with you, then find, once again, your center, your inner voice; don’t settle for an imitation of yourself. Bend the rules, but try not to break them.”
During his high school years, Berry was a decorated All-American soccer player, skills he put to use at Harker as a head coach of the girls soccer team, leading the team to record seasons during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.
As a New England native, Berry described himself as a “rabid” follower of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins sports teams.
“Jason’s life reflected his wise counsel, and he was always, authentically, himself,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of The Harker School. “He impacted many with his wisdom, wit and warmth, and will be deeply missed.”
To honor the memory of Jason Berry, and in keeping with his family’s wishes, the Jason Berry Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund has been established at Harker. Having this special endowment fund support scholarships in perpetuity is a wonderful way to pay tribute and have this wonderful teacher’s positive impact be memorialized permanently in the school’s history. Checks can be sent to the advancement office, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 (please include “Jason Berry Memorial Fund” in the check’s note) or made online. To make your gift online,
*Click on “Support Harker” at www.harker.org
*Select “Giving Online & Other Forms” *Select the link for “Online Giving Form” *Enter the amount of your gift and choose the Designation of “Financial Aid”; then click the “Add donation” button
*Complete the information on this second page, noting Jason Berry’s name in the “In Memory Of” section
The family has requested no flowers. Those wishing to send condolences can do so by emailing Lori Villarreal at loriv@harker.org or mailing to her attention at 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129.