The upper school production of “Les Miserables” was a grand spectacle worthy of the musical’s impressive pedigree. Directed by performing arts chair Laura Lang-Ree, the beloved through-sung retelling of the classic Victor Hugo novel was wonderfully brought to life by the massive cast of upper school students, many of them playing multiple roles. During a run of four shows, the students played this most ambitious of musicals to a packed house each time, with more than 300 in attendance at every performance.
A sprawling, epic tale of redemption and romance spanning two decades in 19th century France, “Les Miserables” chronicles the life of ex-convict Jean Valjean (Nirjhar Mundkur, Gr. 11) as he transforms himself from a petty thief into an honest man while revolution begins to foment among the Paris youth.
The elaborate, multi-tiered set, which changed the orientation of the theater to have the stage in the middle of the room and the audience on three sides, was designed and built by middle school performing arts teacher Paul Vallerga, and creatively implemented a rotating floor to show scenes from multiple perspectives. The dramatic lighting by Natti Pierce-Thomson enhanced every scene with the appropriate level of atmosphere.
Upper school music teacher Catherine Snider, utilizing a supplemental computerized orchestration for the first time in the Conservatory, conducted a five-piece band as they provided seamless musical accompaniment to the onstage performances.
Students also provided a tremendous amount of offstage assistance, operating light and sound boards, managing the stage, assisting with wardrobe and performing many other duties to keep the show running on all cylinders.
Harker ‘s middle and upper schools were once again big winners at the Synopsys Science and Technology Championship, pulling in more than 40 awards. Two upper school students, Alex Han, Gr. 12 and Revanth Kosaraju, Gr. 10, walked away with grand prizes for “Best of Championship” in the Biological Sciences category. Both were awarded a trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May.
Also winning in the Biological Sciences category was Josephine Chen, Gr. 11, who received a First Award and a $100 prize for the best technical paper from the Dr. Paul X Callahan Technical Paper Awards.
Kosaraju also won a First Award for Individual Project in the Behavioral/Social category, as did Aditi Joshi (Honorable Mention, Individual Project) and Max Lan (First Award, Individual Project), both Gr. 11.
Han also took home First Awards for Individual Project and Technical Paper in the Biochemistry/Microbiology category, where junior Jason David Young earned an Honorable Mention for Individual Project.
Harker US winners in the Medicine/Health/Gerontology category were Jeanette Chin (Second Award, Technical Paper), Supraja Swamy (Second Award, Technical Paper) and Isaac Madan (Honorable Mentions for Individual Project and Technical Paper), all Gr. 11 and Pranav Sharma, Gr. 9 (Honorable Mention, Individual Project).
A trio of Harker students performed well in the Engineering category, with senior Andrea Lincoln winning Second Awards for Individual Project and Technical Paper, junior Kiran Vodrahalli earning awards from Yale Science and Engineering Association, United States Army and more and sophomore Ashley King walking away with a first place bronze medallion award from the United States Army.
Upper school award winners in other categories were senior Tiffany Chien in Chemistry (First Award, Individual Project), senior Andrew Zhou earning a First Award in the Technical Paper category, senior Kevin Zhang in Earth/Space Sciences (Honorable Mention, Inividual Project) and Paulomi Bhattacharya, Gr. 9, in Environmental Science (First Award, Individual Project).
Harker had nearly 30 award winners at the middle school level. Winners in the Biochemistry/Microbiology category were Christopher Fu (Second Award, Team Project), Brendon Yu (Second Award Team Project), Mercedes Chien (Labcoat Award for Lab Bench Finesse) and Vikram Sundar (First Award, Individual Project), all Gr. 8.
In Environmental Sciences, awards were won by eighth graders Saachi Jain (Second Award, Team Project), Kristine Lin (Second Award, Team Project) and Aditya Batra (Honorable Mention, Individual Project).
Winners in Zoology were Divya Kalidindi (Second Award, Team Project), Namita Ravi (Second Award, Team Project), Pooja Chopra (Honorable Mention, Team Project) and Maneesha Panja (Honorable Mention, Team Project), all Gr. 8, while Anika Ayyar won a Second Award for Individual Project in Botany.
Harker’s biggest category was Physics, with a total of 13 winners: seventh graders Archana Podury (IEEE Award from Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers), Corey Gonzales (First Award, Team Project), Madhu Nori (First Award, Team Project), Apoorva Rangan (First Award, Team Project), Allen Huang (Honorable Mention, Individual Project), Hemant Kunda (Second Award, Team Project), Neha Sunil (Second Award, Team Project), Sahana Rangarajan (First Award, Team Project), Vivek Sriram (First Award, Team Project), Rahul Balikrishnan (Second Award, Team Project) and Avinash Nayak (First Award, Team Project) and eighth graders Raymond Xu (First Award, Team Project) and Vikas Bhetanabotla (First Award, Individual Project).
Middle school award winners in the Engineering category were Neil Movva, Gr. 7 (Second Award, Individual Project) and Brian Tuan, Gr. 8 (Honorable Mention from the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering).
Finally, Jennifer Dai, Gr. 8, won a First Award in the Chemistry category.
In addition to the dozens of student awards, upper school science teacher Kate Schafer was named one of two Outstanding High School Teachers. The upper school received a $100 prize from the Wireless Communication Alliance and $1,000 from the Whitney Education Foundation for having the best biological science project. The middle school received an Outstanding School Award from the Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association.
To see the full list of student winners, including all awards won and project titles, visit the middle school and upper school winners pages on the Synopsys Championship website, or download the lists of the middle school winners and upper school winners in PDF format.
Congratulations to all of Harker’s award winners at this year’s Synopsys Science and Technology Championship!
Emily Wang, Gr. 9, received a gold medal for her outstanding writing through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, an 87-year-old national program that recognizes outstanding creative teenagers and offers scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors.
She will be honored June 9, 2010, at a gala celebration at Carnegie Hall in New York City and may have her writing exhibited in Manhattan at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery June 9-25.
Wang joins some well-known figures in winning this award, including Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Redford, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, John Lithgow and Bernard Malamud. Almost 900 students from 298 schools across California submitted 2,051 pieces of writing for judging including essays, poems, articles, stories and dramatic scripts. Of California’s 160 student winners, 22 were awarded Gold Keys, the highest award, and of those, six were awarded national Gold Medals. Wang is one of the six gold medalists.
The California Writing Awards are sponsored and organized by the California Writing Project (CWP), a network of 17 university-based projects across California, and California Writes, CWP’s outreach arm to families and communities.
Since the program was founded in 1923, more than 13 million talented junior high and high school youth (grades 7-12) have participated in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and 9 million have been recognized and shared in $25 million in cash awards and college scholarships. In addition to awarding annual scholarships to top portfolio award recipients, the Alliance collaborates with colleges across the country that make an additional $3.9 million in financial aid available to national award recipients.
Presenting free talks on timely topics by prominent speakers, the Harker Speaker Series (HSS) continues to make a mark on the local cultural environment, stimulating staff, students and their families to engage in the issues of our age.
From astronomer Seth Shostak and wrestler Kyle Maynard to foreign correspondent Dahr Jamail, activist and author Rick Smolan, and, the most recent visitor, travel writer Rick Steves, the HSS has sought to involve the broader community.
Paul Woodruff (Katherine, Gr. 9; Helen, Gr. 6) “very much enjoyed the SETI Institute [Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence] talk,” by Shostak. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more humorous, somewhat technical, discussion before. I am not sure if I laughed more or learned more.” Joining enlightenment and entertainment can be useful approach, said John Jerney (Cristina, Gr. 9; John Nicolas, Gr. 6), who, with his wife, Helena, has helped bring in four of the five speakers through an extensive network of friends and acquaintances.
Having a diverse audience can spur useful discussion, Jerney noted. “Having parents and students attend together makes the experience that much richer because it stimulates dialogue outside of school and deepens the learning by making it a shared experience.
“The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, especially when people find out that every speaker offers his or her time and commitment without any cost to the school,” said Jerney. “Following the model of the Commonwealth Club of California, we have never offered an honorarium, ensuring that all speakers who join our series do so because of a passion to share a message and engage students and parents with their experiences.”
Maynard, a highly motivated paraplegic and the only speaker Jerney did not help arrange for, was an exception. He came to Harker at a request from the administration and spent the entire day with students before speaking that evening, and was paid for his appearance. The series features two to four speakers per year, and may grow.
Jerney, who watches speakers’ schedules to try to attract them while they are in the Bay Area for other events, touts the value of listening to experts who “speak passionately about their work, especially when it’s about something you don’t typically encounter, such as Dr. Shostak describing the search for intelligent life on other planets or Dahr Jamail describing his experiences as the sole unembedded American reporter in Iraq at the start of the war,” Jerney said.
Sometimes the payoff has been obvious. Harker’s GEO club, inspired by Smolan’s passionate appeal for attention to the worldwide water crisis, raised more than $10,000 for the nonprofit charity: water.
Head of School Chris Nikoloff noted that upper school and middle school students were “galvanized into action” after
Smolan’s speech. “We certainly hoped that the HSS would spur both thought and action, but we never imagined such a positive response so quickly,” he said.
Pam Dickinson, who heads Harker’s Office of Communication, which helps run the speaker series, says the program is “a perfect fit with our mission – academic excellence through the development of intellectual curiosity. It’s a meaningful way for us to invite the greater community to share in that quest.”
Everyone has a favorite among the visiting luminaries. Rashmi Sharma, Gr. 12, agreed that the HSS has succeeded in “really expanding our perspective in how we think about various different subjects.” She called Maynard’s presentation “inspiring” and said of Steves’ talk, “I don’t think I’ll ever think of traveling the same way again!”
Tina Najibi (Alexander, Gr. 10; Mary, Gr. 6) appreciated PBS star Steves’ advocacy of travel as a political act, noting that she was “quite impressed that he did a special on Iran – not the most likely vacation destination.”
Upper school history department chair Donna Gilbert expressed hope that Steves “inspired students to travel and do so with a sense of global awareness and social responsibility.” The speaker series embodies Harker’s desire to bring the whole community together in interesting, entertaining and meaningful ways.
We’ve got a great line up of offerings this summer to keep your children energized, challenged and engaged!
Many of our own Harker teachers will be joining the staff this summer and we are so excited to have them! In addition to being a fantastic way for your children to explore new interests or spend more time in a chosen area, summer also is an opportunity for teachers to branch out, teach different subjects or grade levels, or have fun with a favorite subject. Our teachers love to have learning adventures right along with our students!
Harker’s K-Gr. 8 Camp: Our Most Popular Program!
At the heart of this camp are top-quality morning academics – which focus on math, science and language arts – paired with a full and varied afternoon recreational program. “This year we have added new curriculum materials to make language arts and math
classes more challenging,” said Kelly Espinosa, Harker’s veteran summer programs director since 1978. “Diann Chung and Patricia Burrows have been working with the school-year division heads to make sure summer materials are appropriate for all levels.”
Gr. 1-4 students receive morning instruction in math and language arts, and then choose two two-week electives. Elective offerings change yearly and vary by grade level, but this year options include Ready, Set, Write; Readers’ Theater; Comic Creators; Kitchen Chemistry; and Just Dance. For those in Gr. 5-8, the four-week sessions allow campers a chance to explore academic topics in depth, such as Zap It, an “electrifying engineering” class taught by Kristen (Nielsen) Morgensen ‘93; Periscope Algebra, taught by Eileen Schick, Gr. 1-5 math department chair and Gr. 4 math teacher; Periscope Pre-Algebra, taught by Diane Plauck, Gr. 4-5 math teacher; and Forensic Science, taught by Ben Morgensen, middle school science teacher.
In KinderCamp, our youngest campers have a separate classroom and play area to help them with the transition to a classroom setting. Incoming Harker kindergartners have the opportunity to get comfortable in the school and learn to love Harker, which really makes a difference when they start school in the fall. Harker kindergarten teachers Grace Wallace, Gerrylouise Robinson and Michelle Anderson will all be working with KinderCampers during the summer. Espinosa is excited that KinderCampers have this opportunity. ”We are really lucky to have all three of these teachers!” she exclaimed.
Two-Week Program: Project-Based and Thematic
For those needing a shorter option, the two week sessions are structured differently than the four-week sessions.
Campers in Gr. 1-4 will explore the Big Blue Marble of planet Earth this summer, learning about people, places and interesting things from around the world, with different sessions focusing on different continents. Kathleen Ferretti, Gr. 3 math and language arts teacher and Gr. 2-3 department chair, teaches the two-week sessions to Gr. 3 and 4 students each summer. Ferretti noted she enjoys the field trips, the environment and the fun of teaching summer camps because, “it gives me a chance to branch out and do some exciting learning-based activities.”
Kim Sandoval, Gr. 2 teacher, will be teaching Gr. 1 and 2 students during session A and B, and Sejal Mehta, Gr. 1 teacher, will be teaching session C. Gr. 5-8 campers have project-based classes for their two-week sessions and can choose from courses such as debate, rocket science, Web design, robotics and filmmaking classes. Classes include hands-on activities, group projects, field trips and special guests. Michael Schmidt, a middle school computer science teacher teaching the Lego Robotics course, said, “It’s probably the most fun a kid could have with a computer, some Legos and an eagerness to solve problems.”
Another exciting class offered this summer is Science To Go, an outdoor ed class led by Pete Anderson, middle school P.E. coach; Jim McGovern, lower school P.E. coach; and Ben Morgensen. McGovern has taught summer camp for many years. He loves “seeing students let loose and have a lot of fun during their summer!”
Many campers – and parents – love Harker’s summer programs, and come back year after year. Carol Whitman, whose daughter Alyssa, Gr. 3, attends camp, said they’re both fans. “Alyssa is very comfortable at Harker and enjoys the teachers and summer coaches. I like the balance between academics and having fun. Harker has succeeded in balancing academics with play.”
She added, “Alyssa was happy every morning when I dropped her off at camp and when I picked her up in the afternoon. She enjoyed the challenge of math, and creating a diary for language arts. Most of all she really enjoyed seeing her new camp friends every day!”
Claude Cartee, parent of Allison, Gr. 3, said he and his wife enrolled Allison in both four-week programs last year, but took her out for a few days for a quick trip to Disneyland. “She complained that she would rather be at Harker than at
Disneyland,” he laughed. The K-Gr. 8 Harker Summer Camp is held on the Bucknall campus. All staff attends rigorous training, and the camp is accredited by the American Camp Association.
Summer @ Harker: Additional Offerings
In addition to our long-standing and renowned K-Gr. 8 Harker Summer Camp, Harker offers a variety of other quality programs. Read on!
English Language Institute
The English Language Institute (ELI) offers intensive programs for international students aged 6 to 16 interested in improving their English and writing skills. Harker has earned a worldwide reputation for this program, where annual receptions are hosted in Asian cities including Kyoto, Seoul, Taipei and Shanghai. Our own students also get involved in this program each year. Harker students who speak the native language of the ELI students help in the advanced classroom so international students can engage in academic discussions about their writing and language projects.
These Harker students are great role models to our international visitors and provide a real-life peek into teenage life here in the United States. Karen Glovka, lower school Spanish teacher, has been working with Harker’s ELI program since 2005. “It’s such a joy to watch the kids begin to understand and communicate!” Glovka remarked.
Summer Institute
Designed for middle and upper school students, Summer Institute, held at the upper school campus, offers both credit and non-credit courses for students who wish to complete a required class or spend some extra time on a favorite subject. Courses include art, math, science, expository writing, drivers’ education and more. The Harker Forensics Institute offers courses in Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Student Congressional Debate and Individual Events.
Swim School: Instruction and Camps
The Harker Swim School offers all levels of private, semi-private and group lessons for ages three to adult at Harker’s beautiful new Singh Aquatic Center on the upper school campus. Also offered this summer are a variety of aquatic camps: Aquatic Fitness Camp (Gr. 4-8); Water Polo Camp (Gr. 6-12), taught by Harker’s water polo coach Ted Ujifusa (who will also provide swim instruction during the K-Gr. 8 camp); and Competitive Swim Camp (ages 11-18), led by Harker swim coach Bart Wells. “These programs are a great way for Harker kids to get additional instruction and build relationships with varsity coaches here at Harker,” added Espinosa.
Soccer: Harker Soccer Clinic and Just4Kicks
Harker Summer Soccer Clinics offer soccer players two options to learn techniques, improve skills and have fun while learning from some of the best coaches in the Bay Area. The Harker Summer Soccer Clinic, for students aged 10-16, is led by coach Shaun Tsakiris.
Players are grouped based on a combination of age, playing ability and gender with a different age-appropriate skill targeted each day. They also receive individual player evaluations. This camp offers kids a great chance to work out with and learn from our own varsity coach. Plus, surprise visits by professional athletes and prominent players will also be a part of each week.
Coach Tsakiris has appeared in four consecutive NCAA tournaments, won a national championship in 1997 and earned UCLA’s MVP award in 2000. He played professionally for the Rochester Rhinos in the USL from 2002-06, currently works with top club programs and is Harker’s varsity soccer coach.
The Just4Kicks half- or full-day programs are for younger players aged 5-12 who are grouped by age: K-Gr. 1, Gr. 2-3, Gr. 4-6. Instruction and activities are based on age and ability level, and players who stay until 4 p.m. will enjoy additional soccer-related activities as well as a swim period each day. Coach Tom Vischer, Just4Kicks founder, has been coaching youth soccer players for the past 15 years, ranging in age from 2 1/2 to 18, and has been a coach or trainer at the select club level with numerous teams.
Tennis: Camps and Instruction
Harker partners with Oakwood Tennis Center to provide quality facilities for our tennis programs. Oakwood Tennis Center is on Saratoga Avenue just minutes from our Saratoga campus, and is equipped with five beautiful and well-maintained courts. Run by Craig Pasqua, Harker varsity tennis coach and director of Harker tennis programs, Harker’s Summer Tennis Camp is open to kids aged 6-18.
The camp provides quality instruction from professional coaches for all skill levels in two summer programs. Both include on-court technique instruction with a ball machine, video self-analysis with the instructor and tactical strategy. Tennis Camp for students aged 7-14 is designed for players wishing to improve their tennis knowledge and skill base.
The Harker Oakwood Tennis Training System, for those aged 6-18, offers four- to seven-week sessions for competitive tennis players who want to combine team practice with weekly interclub matches. Players under 19 desiring to compete will learn advanced technical strokes, footwork and sports psychology.
Harker has been providing quality summer programs for over 50 years, and our programs – and facilities – have grown and evolved over the years to meet the needs of our families and the greater community. We’re proud of the reputation we’ve earned for highly-qualified and well-trained staff; outstanding programming; and a very safe and nurturing environment for all. Plan to spend your summer @ Harker!
For more details and to register, visit http:// summer.harker.org or click on the summer ad on the Harker home page! You can also e-mail summerinfo@harker.org or call 408.553.0537.
The fifth annual Harker Research Symposium filled the Nichols Center on the Saratoga Campus on Saturday, April 10. Entitled “Technology for Life”, the event provided a venue for students in grades 6-12 to showcase their year-long research projects. Equally important was the opportunity to share ideas with other students, hear from alumni doing research in a variety of fields, interface with keynote speakers, and discuss practical applications and careers with sponsors.
The day featured breakout sessions where students presented projects ranging from a novel method of typing human blood to understanding the English language through probabilistic modeling. Students who prepared poster presentations were available throughout the day to discuss their exhibits.
The symposium welcomed alumni presenters Jennifer Ong ’07, plus Richard Kwant ’07 and Brian Ma ‘08 via video conference. Currently a junior at the University of California, San Diego, Ong is the new Chief Operations Officer for The Triple Helix, a non-profit whose publications feature writings of undergraduate students worldwide.
Kwant is a junior at Harvard where his work involves the crystallization of proteins to better understand their structure and mechanisms. A bioengineering major at the California Institute of Technology, Ma’s interest in regeneration and cloning led to a summer research project which he presented at the symposium.
Keynote speakers included Dr. William McClure and Dr. Christopher Gilbert. Dr. McClure is a partner in Napa Valley Plastic Surgery, Inc., and a recognized expert in cosmetic surgery and noted humanitarian for his work with children.
Dr. Gilbert is Vice President of Science and Technology at Keystone Dental, Inc. A graduate in materials science from University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Gilbert has melded science and business, holding positions in mergers and acquisitions, consulting, and research.
Corporate sponsors were Covidien Surgical, East Bay Cardiovascular and Thoracic Asssociates, Dr. Ray Engstrom, Ethicon, Hunter Labs, Medtronic Cardiovascular, The Triple Helix, and HSBC.
The Harker Summer Forensics Institute, which begins Aug. 2 and runs through Aug. 13, offers students in grades 9-12 the opportunity to prepare for the 2010-2011 tournament season under the tutelage of top debate instructors. Students will learn important aspects of competitive debate in small lab sessions, where they learn about different debate events and research their topics.
The institute will focus on three types of debate events. Public forum debate, modeled after the CNN show “Crossfire,” focuses on current events and employs public persuasion as well as the ability to support an argument with evidence. The Lincoln-Douglas debate features individual students debating on ethics and values issues, while policy debate features teams of two students debating each other on political action in the United States.
New to this year’s Forensics Institute is the Forensics Experience, a course that is separated into two weeks, one focusing on student congressional debate and another on individual speech events.
Congressional debate will have students acting as members of the United States Congress as they debate on passing pieces of legislation. The individual speech events portion will allow students to learn more about individual events, making it ideal for students interested in learning more about competitive speech or simply learning basic public speech skills.
Instructors at the Forensics Institute will include Harker debate teacher Carol Green, who directs public forum debate and whose students have won competitions at the Victory Briefs International, the James Logan Invitational, the Public Forum Challenge and the Laird Lewis Invitation in 2010, and the Tournament of Champions in 2009.
Jonathan Peele, another Harker debate teacher, coached seven students to individual state championships, while 34 qualified for the National Forensic League national championship tournament. In 2005, his team at East Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina was named one of just 16 National Schools of Excellence in Debate.
Natalie Sintek’s numerous achievements include being named the 2004 National Catholic Forensic League national dramatic performance champion, the 2004 NFL national champion in humorous interpretation and earning eight world championships as a member of the Western Kentucky University forensics team.
Sean Mumper, currently an AP government teacher at Presentation High School, has coached teams to late rounds of every national debate tournament in the US. His successes as a competitor include local and national successes in policy debate, an appearance in the final round of the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence and being on the top-ranked college debate team in the country.
Doug Dennis, director of forensics at Mountain View’s Saint Francis High School, has been debating and coaching for nearly 25 years. As a coach, his teams have gone to elimination rounds of every major national policy tournament. In 2001, his team won the NCFL national championship and reached the semifinals in 2000 and 2009.
In early April, two score members of the Harker community ran up the hills of San Francisco and along the lush Pacific shoreline in honor of beloved history teacher and basketball coach John Near, who died last September after a four-year battle against cancer.
The group ran in the Golden Gate Headlands Marathon, Half Marathon & Seven-MileRace. Inspired by Near’s emphasis on hard work and passion, seniors Aadithya Prakash and Arthi Padmanabhan and Padmanabhan’s mother, Radhika Padmanabhan, dedicated hours to organizing the event and rallying seniors, faculty and parents to join in the race. Even members of the community who could not run showed up for support and helped pledge and spread the word.
Even though it was Prakash’s first marathon, he ran through San Francisco in under four hours, placing seventh. For some – seniors Stefan Eckhardt, Arjun Mody, Sarah Teplitsky and Padmanabhan – it was their first half marathon, and Eckhardt finished fourth.
Prakash estimated about $7,000 in pledges; cash is still coming in. All the money will go to the John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund established last October by his family.
Near’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of Harker’s Office of Communication, and daughter Casey Near ’06 supported the team every step of the way, adding their pledge to the endowment fund. “You all represented the heart and soul of what Harker is with this event,” Dickinson said, “and John would be so proud.”
To all planning to attend the Gr. 12 graduation ceremony on May 22, please be aware that the time has changed from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. This event is not open to the public.
Dr. Paul Melendez, director of the ethics program at the University of Arizona, made a special trip to the upper school on March 15 to meet with several students and chat with members of the Honor Council.
While meeting with the Honor Council, Melendez learned just how much academic integrity matters to the student body. “He was definitely surprised that students were so involved with both the disciplinary and integrity-promoting aspects of the process,” said Honor Council member Olivia Zhu, Gr. 11.
The Honor Council used this unique opportunity to seek advice on accomplishing its goals. “He really suggested making honor and integrity a bigger part of daily life and raising it in the students’ awareness, which is exactly what the Honor Council hopes to do,” Zhu said.
During his visit, Melendez also met with the Honor Board to examine their approach to academic honesty, and spoke to the faculty before returning to Arizona.
“I thought his visit was a huge success, as he left us with a lot to think about and really a big pat on the back for the Honor Council’s and Honor Board’s vision,” said Butch Keller, upper school division head.