[Update] Several collaborative works featuring alumni and current students performing together have been added to the lineup for the second annual Conservatory Classic, “An Evening with Past, Present and Future Harker Stars,” Jan. 2. Alumni performing include Kartik Venkatraman ‘09, Stephanie Kim ’08, Siobhan Stevenson ’07 and many others. “There are only 200 tickets available so reserve yours quickly,” noted Chris Florio, orchestra director. “Our alumni would love to see you there.” To reserve tickets email Florio at chrisf@harker.org.
12/10/09
The second annual Conservatory Classic, “An Evening with Past, Present and Future Harker Stars,” will be on Saturday evening, Jan. 2. Last year’s Classic helped raise money for the Orchestra’s trip to the National Orchestra Cup at Lincoln Center in New York where the group won the Forte Award. This year, the program will include vocalists and musical theater alumni, said Chris Florio, orchestra director. “The concert will feature alumni, current students and even some middle school musicians. That’s why we themed it past, present and future,” he said.
Audrey Kwong ’07, who is doing much of the work to make the event happen, added, “There will be a Guys Gig number from alumni and current students, a string octet, an alumni jazz combo and solos from current students.”
The event will be held in Nichols Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and will benefit Harker’s performing arts program, but “more importantly we want to raise awareness about the arts and our plans for the Phase IV campaign,” that will bring a new performing arts center to Harker, he said. E-mail chrisf@harker.org for more information.
In November, Harker seventh graders made a special “make-up” trip to Japan that was originally scheduled to take place last May, but which was canceled due to fears caused by the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic. “The kids waited nearly 500 days from the time they first applied for this trip in fifth grade to actually going in seventh grade!” said Jennifer Abraham, director of global education.
Chaperones during the trip were Abraham, middle school teacher Vandana Kadam, lower school teachers Eric Leonard, Mary Holaday and Grace Wallace and upper school teacher Adam Nelson.
Upon their arrival in Tokyo, the group stayed in a hotel, and the next morning went to Harker’s sister school, Tamagawa Gakuen, where they received a warm welcome. “We were greeted by a group of cheering kids, happy to see their Harker buddies after nearly a year apart, and their families,” Abraham reported. “Our kids did a great job with their Japanese speeches at the welcome.”
Since the group arrived in Japan during a three-day weekend, they went sightseeing around Tokyo, climbed the Tokyo tower, went shopping and visited Mt. Fuji. “Tuesday was our one and only day at the school,” Abraham said. Morning was spent in classes, and in the afternoon the kids took a tour of the beautiful, wooded, 130-acre Tamagawa campus. Kids collected Japanese maple leaves, which they used to make imprints onto special paper they made into cards. They also attended a calligraphy class where the students wrote their names and other symbols.
“Wednesday we all met up again at the Yokohama Arena to spend the day together sightseeing at the Yokohama Museum and Sankei-en Japanese garden,” recalled Abraham. The students got the chance to see a Japanese green tea ceremony. That evening, the students spent time with their host families and chaperones at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. The next day, they had the wonderful opportunity to witness Tamagawa’s 80th anniversary celebration at the Yokohama Arena. Performances were by students in Tamgawa’s first through graduate grade levels. Advancement director Joe Rosenthal and his wife, Blanca, traveled from the U.S. to witness this special occasion. The spectacular show was watched by more than 12,000 people.
Thursday night – through many tears from Harker kids, their Tamagawa buddies and the host families – the students said their good-byes. Friday, the group set off by bullet train to Kyoto. “The weather was beautiful, trees bright yellow,” Abraham said. “We visited Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), where we were met by a man who had attended Tamagawa from grades K-12. He had close ties to the GP so gave us a special tour not available to regular tourists.”
On Saturday, everyone took another bullet train to Hiroshima, and took a ferry out to the Itsukushima shrine, a Shinto landmark. “When the tide is in, the main gate of the shrine appears to be floating on the water,” Abraham recalled. “We arrived when the tide was out so were able to walk right out to the base of the gate.” Later, at the Peace Memorial Museum, the travelers had a moment of silence before entering the museum in honor of those who were killed by the atomic bomb. The museum contained many vivid displays of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. When asked what she thought of the museum, Agata Sorotokin said, “It makes me want to make the world a more peaceful place.”
In the morning of their last day in Japan, the students visited Himeji Castle, situated on top of a high hill. Some last-minute shopping was done before everyone set off for the airport for their flight home.
Harker welcomed international speaker Patrick Kuhse to the Saratoga campus on Dec. 2 for a special talk on ethics, and how good people can be led to make unethical decisions. Kuhse, who appeared courtesy of the Honor Council, is in high demand as a speaker on ethics at businesses and universities across the country, and is an ethics fellow at the University of Florida and Suffolk University.
Kuhse used his own life story as an allegory, interweaving the autobiographical tale with examples of what he called critical thinking errors: entitlement, arrogance, rationalization and so on. A reformed criminal who spent four years in prison for his involvement in illegally benefiting from Oklahoma state funds, Kuhse began his story at Arizona State University. While studying finance, he made many friends who he said were very eager to make money and become wealthy. This “take no prisoners” attitude that he witnessed in his younger years, Kuhse said, has not changed much in the years leading up to today.
“I’m very, very heavily involved in academics. Do you think I’m seeing any shift or change from my generation to yours?” he asked the audience. “Not so much.”
Kuhse later dropped out of college and eventually found work in finance in the early 1980s. His ambition and seemingly limitless drive to succeed made him quite successful, and in the ensuing years he moved all over the country with his family in the pursuit of greater opportunities. Moving to San Diego, he became a financial adviser to professional athletes, traveling frequently to meet with clients. After mentioning to his two sons one day that he would be bringing home the Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl, Kuhse recalled, “my boys were looking at me, like, ‘Daddy, what’s a Super Bowl?’”
His obsession with becoming rich led him to become “emotionally unavailable” to his family. “The definition of wealth for me was money,” he declared. “If I made more money, I could buy them more things.”
By the end of the 1980s, Kuhse’s business was thriving, with offices located throughout the country. “I had the American dream,” he said. It was around this time that he received a call from a friend in Oklahoma, who planned to manage the campaign for a friend who was running for state treasurer. If her friend won, she would have a job in the treasurer’s office. Kuhse’s friend offered to send him money to invest on behalf of the state of Oklahoma, in exchange for kickbacks. Though illegal, the deal had the potential to create opportunities in the future.
“How do you know linguistically you’re sliding into an entitlement mode? When you change your ‘wants’ to ‘needs,’” he cautioned the audience. Changing wants into needs enables people to rationalize their misdeeds, making them seem less harmful than they actually are. “When we start to need something instead of want it, we’re starting to steel our minds and prepare ourselves to do things we wouldn’t otherwise do.”
Kuhse’s friend wound up getting the job at the treasurer’s office, and they began making deals. Nearly two years later, Kuhse was up $6 million. Then a bitter, recently fired employee complained to the FBI about the practices of Kuhse’s associate. The FBI came calling, and Kuhse was even featured in a report on ABC News. Faced with jail time, Kuhse uprooted his family and fled with them to Costa Rica.
“The next day, my boys woke up in a country they’d never heard of, a language they didn’t speak and a school where they didn’t know [anybody],” he said. “Who are the real victims of our unethical behavior? All of our loved ones are impacted by everything we do.”
It turned out that Costa Rica wasn’t far enough. After seven months, armed Interpol agents kicked down Kuhse’s door. He ran out the back. “I thought, ‘Kill me now? I win. You didn’t put me in prison,’” Kuhse recollected with bitter humor. “That’s how messed up I was.”
He remained on the run from authorities for four years. Fed up, Kuhse’s then-wife moved back to San Diego with their two sons. While watching his family depart, Kuhse finally decided to turn himself in. “It was time to stop, time to quit being a victim, time to take accountability,” he said.
After spending a month in a Costa Rican prison, Kuhse was extradited to the U.S. to serve the rest of his prison term. He called the prison visiting room “the most depressing place on earth. All these little kids want their daddies to go home with them.” He added, “It’s not the inmate that does the time, it’s the family.”
His children were so depressed, Kuhse said, they even told others that he had died. “This is their way of handling it, and this is what happened to me because my vision of wealth was not what my parents taught me. It was money,” he said.
Kuhse earned his college degree while serving his term, and was released in 2001. He got a job as a truck driver and began giving talks as part of his community service obligations. It was during this time that he decided to begin his speaking career. After Kuhse’s community service hours were completed, he received a call from his probation officer, who wanted to know which box to check to indicate the job Kuhse would be taking. The officer got quite a laugh when Kuhse said he planned to become a motivational speaker.
[Update II] Olivia Zhu, Gr. 11, selected by UNICEF USA to participate in the first-ever Children’s Climate Forum (CCF), has finished her work in Copenhagen. Zhu has been blogging about her experiences at www.environmentaleagles.blogspot.com. Here is an excerpt from her last entry, Saturday, Dec. 5:
“Becca mentioned that we had a Q+A session yesterday. Something interesting that I noticed was that the vast majority of questions asked by the youth delegates from all over the world were about the US inaction in the realm of climate change. Why would such a powerful country not change its policies? Why was its president only staying for the beginning? As an American, it was hard for me to hear these questions—precisely because they were the same ones that I was thinking. In fact, Josh even admitted that he was embarrassed that his country hadn’t committed to solid action. ”
[Update 12/02/09] Olivia Zhu, Gr. 11, selected by UNICEF USA to participate in the first-ever Children’s Climate Forum (CCF), is now in Copenhagen, Denmark and reporting on her work there. It may be Europe, but it is not a vacation! Follow her blog at www.environmentaleagles.blogspot.com. Here’s an excerpt from day one:
“Throughout lunch and the plenary sessions of the afternoon, we were able to socialize with and meet many more delegates. I got to talk to Jesús, of Spain, about our shared love of Spanish food. With the group of Chinese delegates, I broke out my stilted Mandarin. Haitian delegate Coralie worked with Fergal, of Ireland, and me on finalizing our subsection of the Urbanization group’s presentation. There were so many amazing people that we met throughout the day and so many different countries represented! I’m so excited to go back tomorrow and meet even more.
“Over lunch, I had an interesting conversation with Daniel of Denmark and Anand of India about the climate policies of our respective countries. We discussed President Obama’s promises and work as well as future directions of the U.S. I think this conversation really highlighted how respectful everyone has been at this conference. Despite differing views, we’re working towards a common goal while cooperating and seeing eye-to-eye after debating a variety of contentious issues.” –Olivia Zhu
Sept. 29, 2009 Olivia Zhu, Gr.11, wants to change the world and before the year is out, she’ll get her chance.
Zhu, Gr. 11, was one of four students selected by UNICEF USA to participate in the first-ever Children’s Climate Forum (CCF), to be held together with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late November and early December.
Organized by UNICEF Denmark, CCF will host teens from 40 nations in hopes of creating “a cadre of young global citizens who understand their role in finding solutions to global concerns, to advance young people’s understanding of global issues, and to provide a platform for them to discuss and advocate on these issues.”
In July, UNICEF USA notified Lauri Vaughan, US librarian, about the CCF competition. She passed the information on to the 32 students who participated in last year’s J8 competition, another UNICEF-sponsored event run parallel to the annual G8 Summit. A team of eight Harker students represented the U.S. in 2007, and in the 2008 competition two Harker teams finished in the top 10 nationally, one as second runner-up.
Two students involved with the 2008 J8 competition also took up the CCF challenge: Carissa Jansen, Gr. 12 and Rohan Bopardikar, Gr. 10, also submitted multi-essay applications despite a tight deadline.
Zhu is passionate about addressing the threatened planetary environment: “Climate change is controversial. What benefits one nation might not help another,” she says. In her application, she emphasized two interventions: incentivizing investment in sustainable energies such as solar, wind and geothermal power, and modernizing electricity grids worldwide.
If arrangements are made for CCF representatives to meet their diplomatic counterparts, as they were at J8, the San Jose junior may get the chance to pass on her ideas to the leader of the U.S. delegation, Todd Stern, special envoy for climate change who was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this year.
“I’m so excited for Copenhagen,” said Zhu, who is busy trying to keep up with news on climate change in preparation for her journey.
As president of Harker’s Future Problem Solving Club, community service organizer for the National Honor Society’s Harker chapter, and member of the Youth Advisory Council for her district in San Jose, Zhu has worked on big-picture issues before, proposing solutions to education problems in California and suggesting policy changes related to youth empowerment to her local council member.
“When I come back, I hope to share everything I learned at Copenhagen,” said Zhu. “It’s important to get as much information about climate change policy out there as possible, as it has a major impact now and will have an even bigger one on future generations.”
On Nov. 18, Harker hosted a special appearance from Dr. Sridhara Dasu, a scientist with CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Dasu is part of the team working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a massive particle accelerator located on the French-Swiss border that is designed to recreate the conditions that existed less than a billionth of a second after the Big Bang.
Dasu began his talk by bringing the audience up to speed on the development of the field physics, summarizing the discoveries of physicists such as Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg. He also covered the properties and behavior of electrons, protons, photons and other particles that physicists observe. During a slideshow presentation, he explained how these different particles travel through the LHC and how the giant structure captures their movement. One goal of the LHC, he said, was to confirm the existence of a particle known as the Higgs boson, which could help explain the origins of mass in the universe.
One of Dasu’s graduate students, Kyle Knoepfel, also spoke about his work at the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). Though not nearly as large as the LHC, Knoepfel said, the SLAC can still offer indirect assistance to the scientists at CERN, by informing them what not to look for.
Joe Rosenthal, Harker’s executive director of advancement, was one of several individuals and organizations honored by the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Fundraising Professionals (AFP) at this year’s annual National Philanthropy Day awards luncheon on Nov. 19. Held at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara and attended by over 500 guests who represented dozens of Bay Area nonprofits and corporations, Rosenthal was named the Outstanding Professional Fundraiser for 2009.
“Congratulations to Joe for all of his dedication to and hard work on behalf of the school and the children. This is a tremendous honor to him and the school community,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school, after Rosenthal’s selection for this award was announced in June.
Sharon Svensson, president of Essex and Drake Fund Raising Council, which recommended Rosenthal for the award, said, “The National Philanthropy Day (NPD) selection panel was very impressed by Joe. They specifically said, ‘[We] were very impressed by the quality of the nomination and the length and breadth of Joe’s accomplishments.'”
Rosenthal recognized his advancement team, who were all in attendance, for their outstanding work for Harker. Also in attendance were many of Harker’s board of trustees, Nikoloff and many of Harker’s key donors.
Two Harker performing ensembles helped “light up” Santana Row at the “Light Up the Row” event on Nov. 17 from 6-6:30 p.m. Downbeat and Dance Fusion appeared at the eighth annual lighting of the 40-foot tree, decorated with half a million lights. Photos of the event can be viewed at the slideshow below.
Harker’s first Homecoming at Davis Field on Nov. 13 was a fitting spectacle for all in attendance. The event got started at 4 p.m., with the junior varsity football team facing off against Berean Christian High School. Harker came up short in the hard-fought contest, losing 18-9.
Tailgate activities were in full swing by the time the varsity football teams began preparations for the big game. Students, parents, faculty and staff from all campuses enjoyed pizza, sandwiches, homemade snacks and cold drinks before and during the contest. Harker alumni were also in attendance, and could be seen socializing and catching up with friends and teachers at the alumni booth. A large bounce house and an inflatable slide were also set up to provide the younger students with some age-appropriate fun. Music was provided throughout the evening courtesy of the Harker Jazz Band, with Chris Florio directing. Transportation to and from the game went smoothly, due to the convenient and orderly shuttling service between the Saratoga and Blackford campuses.
Fans filled the stands to watch the varsity game between Harker and Berean Christian. Before the game, attendees were treated to an energetic routine by the varsity Dance Troupe, directed by Laura Rae, an enthusiastic performance by the lower school’s junior cheerleaders. The “Eaglets” also performed their traditional “fly by” through the stands. Prior to kick-off, a spectacular rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”was sung by vocal groups from all three campuses and directed by upper school music teacher Catherine Snider.
During halftime, the finals of the upper school tug-of-war contest took place, with the seniors taking first and the juniors coming in second. More halftime entertainment was provided by the varsity cheerleaders, who put on an entertaining and acrobatic display of school spirit. Shortly afterward, the students of the 2009 homecoming court were escorted onto the field, where seniors Kevin Fu (who, as a player, was suited up for the game) and Mahum Jamal were crowned Homecoming King and Queen.
The crowd was thoroughly fired up for the second half, which saw great competitive spirit from both teams. Harker eventually lost the grueling contest 25-13.
Slideshow of Homecoming spirit rally in the afternoon:
Spirit Week, the run-up to Homecoming, opened with a splash on Monday, Nov. 9, when 10 teachers dove into the pool fully clothed. The immersion was a thank you to GEO for raising over $10k for water wells in underdeveloped countries, but the whole campus, many with Earth balloons, was out at Davis Field and Singh Aquatics Center for the event, so a festive air prevailed.
The week culminated on Nov. 13 with a homecoming rally on Davis Field. Each upper school class put on its own skit, often with amusing references to pop culture. The freshmen set out to solve the mysterious “murder” of Hannah Montana, while the sophomores incorporated characters from the TV shows “House” and “24.” Gr. 11 cast themselves as detectives from CSI to rescue their kidnapped star singer. Not to be outdone, the seniors worked “Survivor” into their skit, capped off with a thoroughly entertaining dance number inspired by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Also included was a “Name That Tune” competition, in which teachers and advisors representing each class had to name a tune played by the Harker Jazz Band. It ended with a tie between Gr. 10 and Gr. 12.
The first two rounds of the Tug of War were also held, with the seniors defeating the sophomores and the juniors defeating the freshmen in a do-over, after it was discovered one team had the incorrect number of participants.
The highlight of the day was an immensely entertaining relay race that involved blindfolds, faces stuffed with chocolate pudding, firefighters’ outfits, water balloons mounted on football helmets and classmates being dunked in water. Gr. 12 emerged the winner.
On Thurs., Nov. 12, a Firefighter Relay was held at Rosenthal Field. For this event, a piece of a firefighter’s uniform was placed at a different point on the field. Students from each grade level had to don the firefighter’s pants, then the jacket and finally the helmet. Once the uniform was complete, the student then had to reach other end of the field, where a classmate was waiting to be “rescued” and carried back halfway to the starting point. The class of ’10 won all four rounds of the race to be declared the decisive winners of the day’s event.
Wednesday started off with more people getting wet in the synchronized swimming class competition at the Singh Aquatics Center. Teams from each class pulled out their best moves, joined by teachers (extra points were awarded for each teacher the class could convince to get wet), all to the tunes of Earth, Wind and Fire. In addition the 2009 Xbox 360® Get Up Tour came to the US campus, complete with a half-pipe on a trailer, to deliver a pointed message that tobacco isn’t cool.
Monday afternoon, class eagles were judged by staff and faculty members. The giant plaster raptors are decorated by each class and judged on creativity, spirit and execution. “The themes for the classes were Earth, Wind, Fire and Water,” said Desiree Mitchell, (Lyndsey, Gr. 5), publications manager for the Office of Communication. “The freshman class was my fav. Their creative use of the earth theme, placing the eagle on the globe and each quadrant of the box having a tree painted to reflect each element, was pretty original. The seniors’ eagle, with its creative use of lights to simulate fire, was my second favorite.”
Cash has been flowing toward charities supporting vital water projects of late, thanks to some liquid measures promoted by Harker’s Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) club.
Selling water bottles, gaining sponsorship for coffee-eschewing teachers, and topping it all off with a group dunking of campus adults, GEO’s diverse efforts generated sums far beyond initial expectations for charity:water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The funds will help dig a pair of wells to provide clean water in places where that crucial commodity has hitherto been inaccessible.
GEO members were inspired by the Harker Speaker Series talk by activist Rick Smolan, who expressed enthusiasm for the lengths to which GEO members took his ideas and ran with them,
“One of the things that disturbed me so much as I worked on The Blue Planet Run book was how little attention the world was paying to something so important to every person on the planet. To be able to positively affect the lives of others at such a young age is something I don’t think any of the Harker students will ever forget and I am thrilled to think my lecture touched your students on such a deep level,” Smolan said. “Please extend my congratulations to all the students involved in this amazing effort.”
GEO’s efforts began in October, when students began raising money by selling water bottles and foot bands: rubber bands that students wore around one of their feet to symbolize the distances people in poor areas must walk to obtain dirty and often contaminated water. Teachers also gave up their favorite drinks for a week, and several students carried around jugs of dirty water to remind others of the reality of those less fortunate. The GEO fall week also included an appearance by charity:water representative Lane Wood and a special relay race among all the upper school grade levels that was won by the class of 2011.
All the deprivation, exertion and solemn remembrance of others’ difficulty gave way to some celebrating after the unexpectedly large fundraising totals were announced at a special meeting on Davis Field Nov. 9. Students were directed to the Singh Aquatic Center, where they were treated to their reward for raising more than $10,000: witnessing several of the school’s faculty and staff leap into the pool, fully clothed. The intrepid squadron of educators gathered at pool’s edge as a youthful chorus counted down “5…..4…..3….2….1!” At the appointed moment, into the drink they leapt, followed by good-natured frolicking. The Wet Ones: history teachers Julie Wheeler, Dan Hudkins, Ramsay Westgate, language instructors John Hawley, Diana Moss, performing arts teacher Jeffrey Draper, computer scientist Fred Triefenbach, college counselor Kevin Lum Lung, journalism teacher Chris Daren as well as alumni director Christina Yan and athletic director Dan Molin.
A bracing dip might have been just the ticket for another set of educators participating in the water-improvement campaign. Many of those who gave up or cut back on their favorite beverages ended up reducing their caffeine intake. The abstainers included science teachers Matthew Harley, Mala Raghavan, Eric Nelson and Gary Blickenstaff; math teachers Rama Sethia, Tony Silk and Jeannette Fernandez; history teachers Ramsay Westgate, Carol Zink, Julie Wheeler, Dan Hudkins, Donna Gilbert and Nicole Jensen; foreign language teachers Shawn Jahshan and Nicholas Manjoine; Naomi Schatz (psychology), Adam Nelson (debate), Jeff Draper (theater), Susan King (computer science) and Greg Lawson, the assistant head of school for student affairs .
After the week, participating teachers reported the challenge had been refreshing and less daunting than expected. Blickenstaff, well known for his dependence on a cup of joe during lectures, claimed that the prospect of living on half of his coffee dose was tolerable, and that he would give it up again if necessary. Raghavan even called the coffee cutback “fun”, declaring, “I was happy to have made it with just one cup a day for the whole week. I actually slept better.”
Together with the Lug-a-Jug fundraiser, Cups-for-a-Well donations and merchandise sales, the GEO-led effort brought in $10,918, allowing for a contribution of $10,118 after deductions to cover costs. Prospective users of the wells were not alone in benefiting from the project. Said GEO secretary Rashmi Sharma Gr. 12: “Pursuing outreach through GEO has helped me foster my passion about learning about international issues and how I can help solve them by empowering others.”
