The seventh annual Harker Fashion Show, “Outside the Box,” was held on Feb. 19, offering yet another afternoon and evening of fun, socializing and, of course, stylishly dressed students, faculty, staff and parents from all grade levels traversing the runway. This year’s theme was named for the numerous ways in which Harker stands apart from the pack. Each segment of the show was themed after a different Harker program, including athletics, science, performing arts and robotics, whose models brought onto the runway a very special mechanical guest!
The enthusiastic crowd was also treated to special performances by Dance Fusion, Downbeat and the Varsity Dance Troupe. Jazz Band played pre-dinner music, and guests looking at showcases in the lobby were treated to a small classical ensemble. Watch for a complete story in the coming week, and enjoy photos taken by Harker journalism students now posted.
The 10th annual Harker Invitational debate tournament will take place Fri., March 5 through Sun., March 7 at the Saratoga campus. Semifinalists in the Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum categories will receive qualifying legs for the Tournament of Champions, as will the top six finalists in the Student Congressional Debate categories.
Public Forum debate will be held on Friday and Saturday. Student Congress will be held Sunday. Lincoln-Douglas will take place Friday through Sunday. Double entry is permitted in Public Forum and Student Congress. Students who did not clear to Sunday elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate and wish to compete in Sunday’s Student Congress will be able to re-register on Saturday night.
A limited number of complimentary student housing spaces are available for out-of-state competitors! These spaces fill quickly, and requests must be received no later than Feb. 23. The deadline for requests may end before this date if spaces fill up.
The new upper school library took a major step towards completion when the first of several huge, curved, laminated beams was set in place in early February. Additional beams have been added and pre-formed walls are going up daily. The library is sited at the very center of the Saratoga campus. The new library will be nearly twice the size of the old and have a number of new features, including an eBeam-equipped classroom and expanded study tables with task lighting and electricity ports. These improvements follow a watershed year for all library users, including a streamlined Web design customized to each age and curriculum, and a proxy server to allow for single user log-ins to the extensive collection of databases around the clock. Along with changes in the virtual realm, with the opening of the new upper school library, all three campuses will enjoy wireless learning spaces with ceiling-mounted projector systems.
The Gr. 5 show on Jan. 28-29 presented what many people would consider a nightmare scenario: a world without iPods, laptops, video games or cell phones. In the play, titled “A Kid’s Life,” an electromagnetic attack from space renders everyday technological conveniences unusable. Without the gadgets they once took for granted, the kids must learn how to unlock the power of their imaginations to have fun, in the process learning important lessons about each other, themselves and life in general.
Directed by lower school music teacher Jennifer Cowgill, the production featured the entire Gr. 5 class, with multiple actors often playing the same role. Lower school faculty and staff – including Joe Connolly, dean of students K-Gr. 5, Pat Walsh, Gr. 5 math teacher and Kristin Giammona, Gr. 4-5 division head – made special guest appearances to the delight of those in attendance.
Lower school performing arts teacher Danny Dunn acted as technical director and sound engineer, and her Gr. 5 technical theater students served as the crew during the play. Dunn’s middle school tech club created the elaborate stage props used in the production. Dunn’s husband, Beric, provided sound effects. Other assistance was provided by helpers Caela Fujii, who acted as board operator, Whitney McLelland, a long-time helper who has designed the scenery for many Gr. 5, kindergarten and holiday shows, Marylin Watts, who has designed costumes for Bucknall shows for several years, and Carol Clever, technical theater assistant for Bucknall shows who acted as stage manager during the play.
Senior Priya Bhikha is putting a green spin on Harker’s fashion show. She is working on a line of recycled fashions made of items like duct tape, lollipop wrappers and water bottle labels for wear in the show.
Under construction are a total of nine outfits, six for females and three for males, all designed by Bhikha. She has been interested in design for [quote]some time and took a design course at Santa Clara University to add to her skills. It is particularly challenging to fit the garments to models – selected by Bhikha last fall in order to begin making the custom outfits – due to the non-uniform nature of the materials.
Bhikha also created a logo for her line, Rinnovo: Renewal for the Runways. Her goal with the project is to “let people know that there’s more to fashion and that with a little ingenuity and creativity, you can use your passion (fashion) and spin it a ‘green’ way.” Watch the runway at this year’s fashion show, “Outside the Box,” Fri., Feb. 19, for these unique designs. Tickets are on sale now!
The voices of Bel Canto were the star attraction at WinterSong, a special concert held at Nichols Hall on Jan. 22. Directed by Catherine Snider, who also provided piano accompaniment for most of the evening’s soloists, this upper school group sang in a variety of styles, ranging from pop to classical. Several pieces included percussion, such as their performance of Harry Belafonte’s “Turn the World Around,” during which the singers erupted into an amusing chorus of animalistic hoots and hollers while playing drums, sticks and shakers. Piano accompaniment during Bel Canto’s performances was provided by Elodie Nguyen, Gr. 12.
Bel Canto’s performance was highlighted by a stirring rendition of Eric Whitacre’s “Five Hebrew Love Songs,” a series of challenging pieces that the students were thrilled to perform after months of hard practice.
Several solo singers were also heard throughout the show, including Shireen Moshkelani, Gr. 11, singing “When I Have Sung My Songs” by Ernest Charles, Vrinda Goel, Gr. 10, performing Roger Quilter’s “Spring is at the Door,” freshman Nina Sabharwal’s version of the classic “Stormy Weather” and a performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Younger Than Springtime” by junior John Ammatuna, accompanied by Diane Villadsen, also Gr. 11. Foreign language songs were sung by Sebastian Herscher, Gr. 10, performing a German lied, and Alex Najibi, Gr. 10, who sang Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s “La donna e mobile” in its native language.
The concert also featured two appearances by students performing on piano. Sophomore Andrew Lee performed his own four-movement composition, and Lydia Demissachew, Gr. 11, played Johannes Brahms’ “Rhapsody , Op. 70, No. 2.”
Harker Summer Institute, renowned for quality, fast-paced academic programs, has announced classes and registration is open. Many of these upper school elective courses qualify for credit; summer academic classes are equivalent to the courses offered during the academic year and utilize the same text and course materials. Courses are fast-paced and very demanding, and attendance is mandatory to receive credit.
The Institute runs from June 7- Aug. 13 and offerings include mathematics, art, English, forensics and drivers’ ed. Mathematics courses include pre-algebra and geometry classes, as well as advanced programming for those intending to pursue Advanced Placement Computer Science with Data Structures. See prerequisites.
Art classes include graphic arts and beginning and advanced classes in ceramics, drawing and painting; writing and English classes areExpository Writing & Grammar Reviewand Creative Writing Workshop; Enrichment (Forensics Institute) classes include an array of speech and debate classes; drivers’ education class is the state-required course, four days long, which covers all the material needed for students to pass the California Drivers License written test. All instructors are credentialed.
Many classes require prerequisites so review information online or download the Summer Institute brochure (pdf). For more information please contact: Summer Institute Office, E-Mail: SI@harker.org; Phone: 408.553.0524.
The annual fashion show brings out the best in all involved, but three lucky women had a chance to show a new side of themselves. Jeanette Hajjar (Matthew, Gr. 3; Grace, Gr. 2), Tina Najibi (Alexander, Gr. 10; Mary, Gr. 6) and Noela Nakos (Melina, Gr. 6) volunteered as models and were selected for a pre-show makeover for the committee photo shoot in October.
Hair and make-up were done by James Craig Hair Color & Design in Saratoga, supporters of the fashion show since its inception; owner Robert James personally did the hair styling.
“I was very happy with the hairstyle,” said Najibi. “It looks great and is low maintenance. Robert did a wonderful job creating a style that looks good, is within my comfort zone and is easy to take care of. I took my daughter to the shop and she enjoyed the salon so much she couldn’t stop talking about it!”
Beverly Zeiss, who has produced the fashion show for the last four years and is producing this year’s show, “Outside the Box,” styled their clothes, which are courtesy of Macy’s, another long-time supporter of the fashion show. The “after” photos were taken by this year’s official photographer, Lori Rose.
Nakos noted the best part of the makeover was, “getting an opportunity to spend time with Tina, Jeanette, Christine (Davis, fashion show business chair) and of course, Beverly. They were all fantastic. I was overwhelmed by the amount of attention. It was a lot of fun.”
Nakos noted she did not change her daily look following the makeover, “except my hair. I think Robert did a fantastic job.” She went on to praise the whole fashion show effort. “I love the team spirit that has been so prevalent in every event, meeting and activity,” Nakos said. “Being a new parent at Harker, I felt quickly integrated into the wonderful Harker community.”
In keeping with the giving spirit of the holiday season, Harker students from all three campuses participated in service projects to spread cheer to the surrounding communities.
The lower school toy drive collected more than 700 toys, which were delivered to the children of less fortunate families, so that they could also partake in the joy of the holiday season. Beryl Banks, community involvement coordinator at Sacred Heart Community Services, appeared at the lower school campus in December to thank the students for the donations they had made.
One lower school parent, Deepali Halepete, shared the story of how he and his daughter, Mahika, Gr. 2, helped raise $1,400 for underprivileged families by selling paintings that were created in Halepete’s art workshops. The money was used to purchase art supplies and a playhouse for the Georgia Travis Center, a shelter run by InnVision that assists single mothers and their children.
Meanwhile, middle school students were busy with their own holiday community service project, a coat drive that ran from Dec. 7 through Dec. 18. The students gathered more than 300 coats, which were donated to the InnVision organization to ensure that financially troubled or homeless people in San Jose could fend off the cold of winter.
A Christmas tree donation drive was also organized at the middle school. Teachers donated trees by leaving them outside their classrooms with their decorations removed. Middle school math teacher Peggy Crisler estimated that “20 to 25” trees were donated in total.
Middle school math teacher Scott Graham’s Gr. 8 advisory decorated wreaths that were later donated to the Saratoga Retirement Home. It was the third consecutive year that the students decorated and donated the wreaths.
Several upper school students helped out with holiday celebrations in downtown San Jose in late November and early December. Over Thanksgiving weekend, a group of students lent their helping hands to the setting up of Christmas in the Park, which ran until December 27 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Students hung decorations and helped prepare the various displays and buildings that have been a part of the popular holiday attraction for 30 years.
On Dec. 6, Harker upper school students once again took part in a community effort at the downtown San Jose Holiday Parade. Assisted by students from Gunderson High School, they hoisted and carried the giant Hello Kitty parade float down San Jose’s historic Santa Clara and Market Streets.
December also saw the Key Club organize their annual Scott Lane donation drive, in which much-needed school supplies were donated to Scott Lane Elementary School to improve the quality of the students’ education. As a token of their gratitude, Scott Lane prepared a special “thank you” video that was shown at the upper school assembly on Jan. 4.
As New Year’s approached, Harker siblings Albert Wu, Gr. 10 and Helen Wu, Gr. 7, held a special performance at the Saratoga Retirement Community on Dec. 30. The duo, Albert on piano and Helen on violin, played pieces from such composers as Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.
Harker’s inaugural issue of its Harker Quarterly mailed to families, alumni and friends in mid-December. The Harker Quarterly – which will publish winter, spring and fall – combines current student and alumni news and features, and showcases selected programs, student work, inspiring people, visionary plans and more news of interest to the greater Harker community and beyond. Full color and printed on recycled paper, the quarterly complements Harker’s daily online news source, Harker News Online, which was launched in May 2009.
Since 2001 Harker published its monthly black and white Harker News to keep over 2,000 families, alumni and friends abreast of the latest news. Since moving the main news function online in the spring, the Harker News was retired and the quarterly was launched. For more information, or to receive a copy of the publication, contact communications@harker.org