William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” the 2012 fall play put on by the Harker Conservatory Oct. 25-27, offered a refreshing take on the revered, centuries-old tale of the rotten happenings in the state of Denmark.
Featuring no fewer than five capable actors and actresses in the title role – Jai Ahuja, grade 10, Cecilia Lang-Ree, Rahul Nalamasu, Hannah Prutton, all grade 12, and Namrata Vakkalagadda, grade 11 – director Jeffrey Draper’s take on one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays uniquely depicted Prince Hamlet’s various and often conflicting mental and emotional states; the transitions as each actor handed the role off the next were interesting and seamless.
Other characters were portrayed by multiple players: Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, was played by Shazdeh Hussain, grade 11, and Cristina Jerney, grade 12; sophomore Jeton Gutierrez-Bujaru and junior Ian Richardson were Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle and murderer of his father; and Ishanya Anthapur, grade 10, and Apurva Tandon, grade 12, portrayed Ophelia, Hamlet’s would-be lover.
The guileful Polonius, royal counselor and Ophelia’s father, was played by junior Damon Aitken, who brilliantly put across the character’s stately yet playful attitude. In the role of Horatio, Claudia Tischler, grade 11, was more than effective as Hamlet’s best friend and confidant, and the brash, vengeful Laertes was expertly portrayed by Vishal Vaidya, grade 10.
The Saturday matinee show featured an understudy cast that was very warmly received by the afternoon audience. Maya Nandakumar, grade 10, Rachel Renteria, grade 9, Simran Singh, grade 10 and Gurutam Thockchom, grade 9, were stirring as Hamlet, while Aashika Balaji, grade 9, and Madi Lang-Ree, grade 10, had convincing turns as Gertrude. Claudius was well-played by freshmen Dhanush Madabus and MC Smitherman, and Shannon O’Shea and Cordelia Larsen, both grade 9, deftly handled the challenging role of Ophelia. Grade 9 students Rishabh Chandra and Janet Lee were both strong as Polonius and Horatio, respectively.
Paul Vallerga’s set design made clever use of a large video monitor that changed with each setting. Natti Pierce-Thomson’s evocative lighting was also a key feature, such as the scenes in which Hamlet speaks with his father’s ghost (played by Justin Gerard, grade 12, also cast as the player king, messenger and priest, and by Kaushik Sankar, grade 9, at the understudy show), drenched with red light and intensified by the reverb and bass that boomed throughout the Blackford Theater when the specter spoke.
Eschewing the usual period garb, costume designer Caela Fujii placed the characters in modern attire more befitting a gangster movie, evidence of the transcendent power of the play’s themes of betrayal, revenge and moral conflict. The climactic sword fight sequence was well-choreographed by Kit Wilder, managing director of San Jose’s City Lights Theater.
John Hunter, named one of Time magazine’s top 12 education activists, and whose talk on TED was voted 2011’s “Most Influential,” spoke at Harker in early October as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series.
Hunter, who is also an award-winning teacher, discussed his invention of the “World Peace Games,” which he described as a “geopolitical simulation” that is played mostly by students in grade 4 but is suitable for all ages, and focuses on building problem-solving skills by having students address problems occurring in the real world. Students play various roles in the game, such as world leaders, cabinet members and even arms dealers. Some students are even given roles of great power, such as the ability to control the weather or determine if a business venture will succeed. Aside from facilitating, asking questions and signaling the beginning and end of every game session, Hunter never directly intervenes.
Students must use the power they have been given in each role to solve the problems presented to them. Every country in the game must also have its asset value raised by the time it ends. “In other words, everybody has to win for the game to be won,” Hunter said. In addition, he makes Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” required reading for all students participating in the game.
The Common Ground event included a viewing of a documentary film from 2006 that showed Hunter’s students working together to finish the game successfully. In the 34 years that he has been running the game for his students, Hunter said, “They have never failed to save the world. They do it in different ways every time.”
John Hunter, named one of Time magazine’s top 12 education activists, and whose talk on TED was voted 2011’s “Most Influential,” spoke at Harker in early October as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series.
Hunter, who is also an award-winning teacher, discussed his invention of the “World Peace Games,” which he described as a “geopolitical simulation” that is played mostly by students in grade 4 but is suitable for all ages, and focuses on building problem-solving skills by having students address problems occurring in the real world. Students play various roles in the game, such as world leaders, cabinet members and even arms dealers. Some students are even given roles of great power, such as the ability to control the weather or determine if a business venture will succeed. Aside from facilitating, asking questions and signaling the beginning and end of every game session, Hunter never directly intervenes.
Students must use the power they have been given in each role to solve the problems presented to them. Every country in the game must also have its asset value raised by the time it ends. “In other words, everybody has to win for the game to be won,” Hunter said. In addition, he makes Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” required reading for all students participating in the game.
The Common Ground event included a viewing of a documentary film from 2006 that showed Hunter’s students working together to finish the game successfully. In the 34 years that he has been running the game for his students, Hunter said, “They have never failed to save the world. They do it in different ways every time.”
John Hunter, named one of Time magazine’s top 12 education activists, and whose talk on TED was voted 2011’s “Most Influential,” spoke at Harker in early October as part of the Common Ground Speaker Series.
Hunter, who is also an award-winning teacher, discussed his invention of the “World Peace Games,” which he described as a “geopolitical simulation” that is played mostly by students in grade 4 but is suitable for all ages, and focuses on building problem-solving skills by having students address problems occurring in the real world. Students play various roles in the game, such as world leaders, cabinet members and even arms dealers. Some students are even given roles of great power, such as the ability to control the weather or determine if a business venture will succeed. Aside from facilitating, asking questions and signaling the beginning and end of every game session, Hunter never directly intervenes.
Students must use the power they have been given in each role to solve the problems presented to them. Every country in the game must also have its asset value raised by the time it ends. “In other words, everybody has to win for the game to be won,” Hunter said. In addition, he makes Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” required reading for all students participating in the game.
The Common Ground event included a viewing of a documentary film from 2006 that showed Hunter’s students working together to finish the game successfully. In the 34 years that he has been running the game for his students, Hunter said, “They have never failed to save the world. They do it in different ways every time.”
For the past couple months, thanks to a corporate matching gift program from the Cisco Foundation, Harker’s upper school students, faculty and staff have enjoyed seeing digital signs manufactured by Cisco around the Saratoga campus.
In early October, during a recent event thanking Harker parents who work for Cisco for being a part of the company’s employee matching program which made the signage possible, Harker officially expressed its gratitude for all they have donated.
The Oct. 4 evening gathering was held in the lobby of the upper school’s main administration building. About 40 people were in attendance, with Dan Hudkins, Harker’s director of instructional technology, giving a presentation specifically about how the digital signs from the Cisco philanthropic program are being used.
The new signs offer information about upcoming events, lunch menus, sports scores and more. The hardware for the project was made available to Harker through a special Cisco donation program, wherein Cisco employees can have three dollars added to every dollar they donate if the donation is made in Cisco products equal to that value.
Due to the coordinated efforts of Harker parents employed at Cisco, the school has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on Cisco products, including the digital signage, in the last several years. Digital signs are tentatively expected to appear at other Harker campuses by the spring of 2013.
“I think it’s great for the Harker community as well as for allowing students access to not only the Internet but also the new technology,” said alumni parent Haidung Nguyen (Devin Nguyen ’12), who works for Cisco and coordinated Cisco/parent donations for the past five years. Taking over from Nguyen as Cisco program coordinator this year is another dedicated Harker parent, Jatinder Kaur.
“This is what Cisco’s vision is …. Changing how we work, play and learn,” added Randy Huang (Grace, grade 5; Jason, grade 6), who works for Cisco and was involved in the program.
Hudkins credited Cisco with enabling Harker to provide more bandwidth, control and service without having to spend as much money. “Because of the generosity of Harker parents who work at Cisco and the Cisco Foundation, we can do more and we can do it better than we could if we had to it otherwise,” he said.
The Winged Post sophomore reporters Sindhu Ravuri and Jessica Chang contributed to this story.
Harker athletes are deep in their seasons – check out the results!
Cross Country In the first cross country league meet of the season, Corey Gonzales, grade 10, finished second behind Menlo’s top runner. This week, he got his revenge, finishing first after leading the race from start to finish, beating Menlo’s Matt Myers by five seconds. The finish earned him a notice in the San Jose Mercury’s Highlight Reel section of the paper (page D9 – the link is not yet online) for his first career cross country victory. Tyler Yeats, grade 12, placed 24th. For the girls, Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 12, placed 12th and Claudia Tischler, grade 11, placed 14th in one of their best runs ever. The squads run in the final league meet on Nov. 1.
Water Polo
Girls water polo defeated Monta Vista 9-8 this Thursday in double overtime at the Singh Aquatic Center on their senior day to improve to 18-5 overall and 9-2 in league play. After their victory, the girls are now tied for first place in the league. Keri Clifford, grade 12, scored four goals, and seniors Rachel Yanovsky and Sonia Sidhu, Anna Levine, grade 11, and Anushka Das, grade 10, added the rest of the scoring. The girls finish the regular season this week before continuing on to the league tournament next week.
Boys water polo lost to Lynbrook 13-10 last week, with goals scored by Gilad Nilo, Ryan Hume and Karan Das-Grande, all grade 12, and Eric Holt and Billy Bloomquist, both grade 10.
Volleyball
Girls varsity volleyball defeated King’s Academy last week three games to one behind 15 kills from Shreya Dixit, grade 10. The girls’ record now stands at 18-6 overall and 7-2 in league play. This Thursday, they play ECP at Blackford.
Golf Girls golf competed in the league CCS qualifier Oct. 24, at Poplar Creek in San Mateo placing second as a team overall, just behind Castilleja. Junior Kristine Lin won the entire tournament, shooting a 73, and senior Patricia Huang shot a career best 79 placing fourth overall! Now we wait to see if the team qualified for CCS….stay tuned.
Last week, the girls rebounded from two consecutive losses to Castilleja to beat Mercy 235-277 at Los Lagos Golf Courses. Leading the charge was Huang, earning her second medalist honors of the season with a 36. Also chipping in great scores were Lin with a 37, and Daphne Liang, grade 9, who shot a 49. On their senior day this week, the girls defeated Notre Dame 221-244. The win put the Eagles in second place in the WBAL with a 6-3 record.
Tennis
Girls tennis defeated Notre Dame 6-1 on their senior day last Friday and traveled to Menlo earlier this week for
what could be a league championship showdown.
Football
The boys lost their senior night game to Monta Vista last Friday in front of a large, spirited Harker crowd. Spenser Quash, grade 12, threw a touchdown pass to Kevin Moss, grade 11, for the Eagles’ lone score. The boys travel to Fremont High this Friday.
For weeks Nikhil Dharmaraj had been envisioning what it would be like to finally meet his overseas buddy, Momotaro Nakamoto. On Oct. 16 that vision became a reality when he, along with other excited grade 6 students, met their Tamagawa buddies from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, in person, for the very first time.
The much anticipated live meeting between Harker’s 27 middle school students and the Tamagawa K-12 School & University students came on the heels of a previously held video chat. The Tamagawa students were accompanied by three chaperones, and, in the spring, Harker students will head to Japan as part of the reciprocal exchange program.
Dharmaraj has had prior experience serving as a buddy for Harker newcomers, but said this is the first time he has been a buddy to a visiting foreign student. “It’s been a really great opportunity!” he enthused.
The Tamagawa students were at Harker for several days before heading off to Yosemite on Oct. 22 after a farewell party hosted on their behalf in the middle school’s multipurpose room. They stayed in homestays with their Harker buddies, sightseeing around the Bay Area, visiting special classes, observing middle school classes, and reading stories and doing origami projects with K-3 kids.
While participating in a special dance class held in the gym, the students said they were having fun getting to know one another and were still excited about an outing they had the day before, which included a visit to a pumpkin patch and haunted house.
During the dance class, instructor Gail Palmer reminded the Harker students what a great opportunity it is to work with a student from another country before asking them to give the Tamagawa student standing next to them “a big high five!” The Harker students, wearing green shorts and school T-shirts, gladly obliged, high-fiving their Tamagawa buddies who were dressed in sharp looking school uniforms.
“It’s that Tamagawa time of year again!” enthused Jennifer Walrod, director of Harker’s global education progam.
Tamagawa was founded in 1929 as an elementary education organization. Later secondary education divisions were added, and in 1947 Tamagawa University received approval for establishment as an “old system” (pre-war) university. As a comprehensive institution (gakuen), they currently provide education from kindergarten to graduate school within a single campus.
The popular student exchange program between the Tamagawa and Harker schools is just one example of Harker’s rich global education program, which strives to weave global activities into its students’ daily lives.
Homecoming, a cherished Harker tradition, will take place Nov. 2, as the Eagles take on Lynbrook High at Davis Field on the upper school campus. Aside from the intense competition on the field, there will be plenty of other attractions available to members of the Harker community, including great food, tailgate parties, a bounce house for the kids, performances by talented Harker student groups, the time-honored Eaglets flyby and more!
Spirit activities have already gotten under way, with rallies taking place at the lower and middle school campuses on Oct. 18, where members of the upper school football team appeared to boost the younger students’ excitement for the event. The excitement continues into the week of Oct. 30, with upper school spirit in full swing. Students will be wearing themed attire on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, and sporting their class colors on Nov. 2, the day of the upper school’s raucous Homecoming rally.
The Homecoming pre-game festivities will officially begin at 5:30 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 2, with kickoff at 7 p.m. Alumni are invited to visit the alumni tailgate party, which will start at 6 p.m.
Please visit www.harker.org/homecoming for a full schedule and more details, and we look forward to seeing you on game day!
Anticipation ran high at Harker’s lower school on Oct. 4 when, just before noon, the grade 3 class assembled on the blacktop eagerly watching for the yellow bus from the upper school to appear, heralding the arrival of their sophomore Eagle Buddies.
Holding signs indicative of their homerooms so that their older buddies could find them, the third graders excitedly chanted “Eagle Buddies!” as the bus finally pulled to a stop in front of the Bucknall campus.
Prior to meeting at the lower school, the buddies had corresponded with letters and pictures, but this event marked the first time they met in person. The buddies will follow one another and continue to bond over the course of the next several years in the successful mentoring program.
“They couldn’t wait for the big kids to get off the bus,” noted Elise Robichaud ’84, a grade 3 teacher. “All morning they kept asking ‘is it time yet?’”
Alumna Robichaud, who is also a Harker parent (Jonathan Schwartz, grade 8; Kurt Schwartz, grade 9), noted that she first started working at Harker “fresh out of college” and recalled having taught some of the sophomore buddies when they were younger.
After the buddies united with one another, they listened to welcoming remarks from Ken Allen, the lower school’s dean of students. Then all the students ate lunch together on the main field and were free to play sports or work on craft tables located at the edges of the turf.
Enjoying their hot dog lunch with their new younger buddy, Brooklyn Cicero, sophomores Ankita Pannu and Shannon Su called the Eagle Buddies program a great way to allow younger kids to get to know older students.
“We had a lot of fun looking for Brooklyn when we got off the bus, we were so excited to see each other in real life!” said Su, recalling how Cicero had previously introduced herself and stated her interests in her letter. An excited Cicero agreed, adding that she also enjoyed playing tetherball with her new older friends.
Following closing remarks on the main field, all the buddies said goodbye and the sophomores returned to the upper school campus. Upcoming Eagle Buddies events for these two grades include a pajama day, service project and book drive. They will also continue to correspond via Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day cards.
The Siemens Foundation announced today this year’s semifinalists and regional finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Ten Harker students, four finalists and six semifinalists, were among the students named. Harker students submitted a total of 24 group and individual projects for the contest. One third of the finalists from California are Harker students. They are: Ashvin Swaminathan (individual), Paulomi Bhattacharya (individual), Rohan Chandra (individual), all grade 12, and Zareen Choudhury (group), grade 11. This year’s semifinalists are: Andrew Luo (individual), Kevin Susai (individual) and Ravi Tadinada (group), all grade 12, Anika Gupta (group) and Saachi Jain (group), both grade 11, and Andrew Zhang (group), grade 10. Each of the regional finalists were awarded $1,000.
All of the students spent many hours doing advanced research and analysis for the projects they submitted for the contest, which has thousands of entrants every year.