This article was originally published in the fall 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Harker’s global education program sent upper school English teacher Jennifer Siraganian to Saint Stephen’s College on the Gold Coast of Australia, as part of this year’s teacher exchange with the school.
During her two-week stay, Siraganian lectured to 125 grade 10 students on the subject of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” She also taught Claudius’ famous soliloquy from “Hamlet” to grade 12 students and illustrated the Gunpowder Plot’s influence on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” to grade 11 students.
“After observing over 40 English, writing, ESL and history classes, I noticed that the St. Stephen’s teachers are warm, wonderful and dedicated to their students,” Siraganian said. “The students were so friendly, excited and personable. In addition, the kids were fascinated with California, often asking me if I knew any famous people.”
During her breaks from teaching, Siraganian visited a local wildlife sanctuary with St. Stephen’s teacher Sam Cleary, who visited Harker in the spring, and went with a number of St. Stephen’s teachers to the popular dinner show “Australian Outback Spectacular.”
Personal highlights from the trip included “timing sprinters at the St. Stephen’s Athletic Fair. I sampled Australian delights such as Pavlova and Lamington squares at a real Aussie ‘barbie’ hosted by the English department.”
On Sept. 6, Yu Sasaki, a Japanese representative from Save the Children, visited Harker to talk to the students about her relief work in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March of 2011. “She was thrilled that the Harker kids helped fundraise for the relief efforts,” said Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s global education director.
Sasaki visited several classes throughout the day, including Keiko Irino’s honors Japanese classes and Masako Onakado’s AP Japanese and contemporary Japan classes. “She stayed with us all day long, giving presentations to five classes,” Onakado said, adding that presentations were given in both English and Japanese. “Students asked some good questions, and they said that the presentation was very informative!”
For two weeks in April, Sam Cleary, a teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Australia, visited the upper school to teach and observe classes as part of Harker’s teacher exchange program with the school.
Cleary observed classes in English, history and forensics, and taught a number of English and forensics classes himself.
Harker prides itself on building progressive academic and cultural partnerships between institutions around the world to provide meaningful experiences for students at all grade levels, preparing them to be true global citizens.
As part of Harker’s global education program, upper school students have the opportunity to travel to Switzerland to practice their French and Australia to hone their leadership skills. Harker also hosts several short- and long-term exchange students from various countries including Germany, Australia, Switzerland and Japan. Harker further hosts visiting teachers from China, Japan and Australia.
This article was originally published in the summer 2012 Harker Quarterly.
A dozen and a half grade 6 students 18 students, along with chaperones Jennifer Walrod, global education ddirector, and Dan Hudkins, director of instructional technology, boarded a Tokyo-bound plane in mid-May for the annual trip to Japan. They were greeted, as always, by a tour guide and an English teacher from Harker’s longtime sister school Tamagawa Gakuen.
At a rest stop on their way to their hotel for their first night’s stay, the students sampled Japanese snacks, ice cream and fried chicken. Their first stop on the weeklong trek was Hakone National Park, where they visited the Hakone sekisho (“checkpoint”), an important inspection area for travelers during Japan’s Edo period, and walked along Lake Ashi. A boat ferried the group to the other side of the lake, where a beautiful wooded area awaited them. “We stopped at a small Shinto shrine where the kids wished for good luck before heading back,” Walrod said in one of several emails to the parents she sent during the trip. Afterward, they rode a gondola to the top of a nearby mountain, where they took photos of the breathtaking scenery.
Saturday was special for the Harker students, as they reunited with their buddies from Tamagawa. En route to the school’s campus, the students practiced their Japanese speeches and asked questions about their homestays. “As we drove across the Tamagawa campus we could see all our buddies, families and teachers outside the middle school awaiting our arrival. The kids were so excited!” Walrod said. At their welcome ceremony, the Harker students were treated to a performance by Tamagawa’s handbell ensemble, accompanied by two singers. “Our students did a great job with their Japanese speeches!” exclaimed Walrod.
Two Harker students, Sameep Mangat and Ania Kranz, sang a duet to their Tamagawa friends. During the rest of their time at Tamagawa the students enjoyed a scavenger hunt and a variety of Japanese treats. Afterward, the Harker students went to enjoy the rest of the day with their homestay families. During their first full school day at Tamagawa, the Harker kids accompanied their host buddies to a number of classes, including math, Japanese, science and P.E. Later, they met with Yoshiaki Obara, president of Tamagawa, to share with him their experiences so far during the trip.
“He told the kids that this trip was good for them as it made them realize that not everyone spoke English,” Walrod wrote. The students later gave presentations on American culture during an English class, covering topics such as the Fourth of July, music and food. May 15 started with the Harker students being introduced to all of Tamagawa’s middle school students. From there, the students received a tour of some of the Tamagawa facilities, including the planetarium and the Future Sci Tech Lab, where they saw a presentation by a representative from their Plant Factory Research Center and Space Farming Lab, during which they learned of Tamagawa’s involvement with the research of crop production in space.
Later, the students enjoyed lunch with their Tamagawa friends and spent the afternoon in a calligraphy class. The following day was the Harker students’ last day at Tamagawa. In the morning, they were introduced to Tamagawa’s lower school students and visited several classes, where they played games, folded origami, enjoyed activities with hula hoops and more. After a potluck lunch, the students enjoyed a farewell party. “Tamagawa kids sang, played the piano, danced and gave speeches, all performed and organized by the ‘Harker Welcome Committee,’ a student-run group who had organized much of our visit to the school,” Walrod said. Mangat and Kranz again sang to their Tamagawa friends, and Rajiv Movva gave a moving speech.
The Harker visitors each then received a gift bag from their Tamagawa buddies.“As the bus drove away, we passed tons of kids and families lining the sidewalk waving goodbye,” Walrod remembered. “Between the sounds of the kids laughing and sharing their homestay stories with one another, we could hear several kids still sniffling and crying, sad to see such a wonderful experience come to an end.”
Thursday began with a two-hour shinkansen (“bullet train”) ride to Kyoto, where they met with Ms. Sawa, who would act as their guide for the rest of the group’s stay in Japan. They first visited Kiyomizu Temple, a Buddhist temple constructed without the use of any nails. The temple’s veranda offered a wonderful view for taking photos, and the students also paid to receive their fortunes, “and for those of us who got not-so-good fortunes, we were sure to tie the paper fortunes onto a railing provided so we could keep the adverse fortune at the temple,” Walrod said.
At the Jishu shrine, the group found two stones placed approximately 20 feet away from one another. Local legend told that those who could find their way from one stone to the next with their eyes closed would find true love. Those who needed assistance would need a “go between” to help them in finding their mates.
After exploring more of the temple, the next stop was the famed Kinkakuji, also known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The brilliant golden building, situated in a pond, is surrounded by gorgeous trees, with the scenery reflecting off the surface of the water. The students were instructed not to talk. “We walked around the pond and through the trees, stopping to take photos of the natural beauty,” said Walrod.
On their last full day in Japan, the group boarded the shinkansen to Hiroshima. There, they stopped briefly at Hiroshima castle for a quick photo op, then continued on to Miyajima Island. The group enjoyed lunch at a restaurant that specialized in okonomiyaki, a pancake made with egg, pork, soba noodles and other ingredients. “The kids seemed to really enjoy this meal as there were lots of empty plates at the end of lunch,” Walrod said.
With lunch finished, everyone headed to Itsukushima Shrine and its famous torii (“gate”). The gate was covered with scaffolding due to a storm that blew off the top of the structure, but students nevertheless took several photos of the historic site.
The next stop on this very busy day was Peace Memorial Park, where they visited the Atomic Bomb Dome, which marks the spot where the first atomic bomb landed in Japan. The ruins at the site are dedicated to those who died there. Later, students delivered 1,000 paper cranes they had folded earlier this year to the Children’s Memorial, referencing the famous true story told in the book “Sadako and the 1,000 Paper Cranes.” The cranes were hung in an enclosure along with thousands of other similar cranes delivered by kids from all over the world.
Continuing through the park, the group stopped briefly at the Flame of Peace, which has burned since first being lit in 1964. “This flame continues to burn as a symbol of the Japanese anti-nuclear resolve to burn the flame until all nuclear weapons are gone from this earth,” said Walrod.
Finally, at the Peace Memorial Museum, the students learned about the events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and the aftereffects. The museum contained artifacts owned by survivors of the bombing and some of the paper cranes folded by Sadako Sasaki, the titular figure of “Sadako and the 1,000 Paper Cranes.”
The trip back to the hotel gave the students time for reflection on the meaning of peace and the fun-filled, memorable journey they had embarked on over the last week.
On May 19, the last day of sightseeing, the group went to scenic Arashiyama, a popular tourist spot located just outside of Kyoto. While hiking up Arashiyama Mountain, the students noticed some of the area’s wildlife. “The kids were excited to spot the first monkeys running up the side of the mountain and in the trees,” Walrod said. “At the top of the mountain, there were dozens of monkeys wandering around.” The kids also got to feed the monkeys in a special “people cage.”
The final stop of the day was at Kyoto’s Nijo Castle, home of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The visitors removed their shoes before entering the castle, which had special floors installed during the Tokugawa period that made noise when walked upon so that assassins could not walk about the castle undetected. “Only highly trained ninjas can walk on these floors silently,” said Walrod. After taking photos and viewing scenes and paintings of life as a shogun, everyone headed back to the airport for the long flight home.
This story was originally published in the spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly.
Nineteen students from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai, China, visited Harker in mid-January for this year’s exchange between the two schools. The visitors stayed with grade 8 families who kept them busy with activities, including visits to the many beautiful and historic sites in the area.
While at Harker, the students spent their days observing and participating in classes, such as Monica Colletti’s drama class and Elizabeth Saltos’ art class. They also made Native American dream catchers with middle school history teacher Keith Hirota and embarked on a scavenger hunt on the middle school campus.
Another highlight of their visit was a trip to Stanford University, where they toured the large campus and got to peruse its bookstore. Later that day, back at Harker, they enjoyed a dance class taught by Gail Palmer.
On the final day of their visit, the students were treated to a farewell breakfast, where students from both Harker and WFLMS gave special performances. The Harker students will visit their WFLMS friends in China in late March.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
Dozens of Harker middle school students participated in an email pen pal exchange with the Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Astana, Kazakhstan, with whom they recently shared a video conference.
The exchange was initiated by Lauren Gutstein ’06, currently teaching English at the Kazakh school. “Lauren was home for a visit, came to meet with our students and gave them cards that her kids made,” said Jennifer Walrod, director of global education. “Our kids, in turn, sent back many cards with her for their buddies. Email exchanges followed.
“We use ePals (a secure emailing site), and I have found that some kids are emailing each other [at least once a week],” Walrod said.
Students noted they don’t really know a lot about this region and commented that Kazakh kids look very similar to Harker kids. As Kazakhstan is sandwiched between Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Europe, Kazakh kids have a variety of ethnic makeups.
Gutstein also noted parallels between the two schools. “These schools are for high-achieving students and they are somewhat experimental,” she said. Nazarbayev is working with many international groups, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, University College London and others, to bring new ideas to what is still a very Soviet system of education.
“Math and science competitions and olympiads are a big deal,” said Gutstein, “and most students have extra classes after school and on Saturdays. National dance and music (like the dombra, a national instrument) are also common extracurriculars. My fellow foreign teachers and I are trying to add to this with activities like creative writing, choir, book club and various drama clubs.”
Walrod hopes the exchange will continue in subsequent years, and was pleased with an inaugural video conference in early February, when the students were able to interact face to face for the first time. It was initiated by the Kazakh students as part of their English Week activities. The students participated in a question and answer session, as well as a fun show-and-tell about current trends, fashions, games and talents, and the conference concluded with an exchange of Russian and Kazakh idioms and slang.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
Rina Sakuraba and Maki Shibata, two upper school students from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Tamagawa Gakuen, spent a month at the upper school experiencing the life of Harker students firsthand.
The students had a schedule of classes and activities for each week of their stay. Shibata enjoyed psychology class and listening to the Harker orchestra during rehearsal, while Sakuraba had fun participating in Masako Onakado’s Contemporary Japanese class and sitting in on Cantilena’s class sessions to listen to the talented singers.
The students also had a great time at the Winter Ball and went on a trip to Santa Cruz on a day off, where they had fun on the rides at the famous beach boardwalk. Middle school Japanese students were also paid a visit by the two students, who gave presentations on Japanese cultural topics such as origami, kabuki and Japanese hot springs (known as onsen).
Prior to heading back to Japan, Sakuraba and Shibata said they found Harker students to be very friendly and hoped to strengthen their newfound friendships in the future.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
A group of 27 grade 7 students and four chaperones traveled to Japan in December to see the country’s many cultural wonders and visit their friends at Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo.
The contingent spent the first stage of their trip traveling through Kyoto, Japan’s former capital city, viewing the famous Golden Pavilion, as well as visiting the Gion district, well-known as a center of geisha culture in Japan. There, they also painted fans using their own unique designs.
Next, they boarded a bullet train bound for Hiroshima, where they visited Miyajima Island and its famous Itsukushima Shrine. “Although it was low tide, it was too muddy for the kids to walk up to the torii gate, but they were able to take many photos of this UNESCO World Heritage site,” said Jennifer Walrod, global education director. The students then revisited Kyoto to tour Nijo castle, the stronghold of the shogun during the Tokugawa era.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, the students were greeted by a teacher from Tamagawa and escorted to their hotel. The next morning, they were greeted with excitement by their friends at Tamagawa, who treated them to a special welcome ceremony. Over the next few days, the students attended classes with their Tamagawa buddies and visited various sites around Tokyo, sampling the many different foods and treats.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
Kouya Asahi, music teacher at Tamagawa Gakuen, spent two weeks in January teaching students at all three Harker campuses. Middle school music teacher Dave Hart visited Tamagawa in October to teach their students and came away excited at the prospect of having Asahi bring his unique vision to Harker’s orchestras. In addition to teaching Harker’s students Asahi was also treated to a performance of the musical “West Side Story” at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts.
This article was originally published in the summer 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Middle School Japanese Students Exchange Notes with Tamagawa Pen Pals Kumi Matsui’s Japanese students spent part of this semester exchanging notes with their pen pals from Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo. The purpose of the activity was to help Matsui’s students strengthen their skill with the language and learn more about Japanese culture, as well as to further develop their relationships with their Tamagawa friends. Students were required to write to their pen pals in Japanese, and although the activity officially concluded in March, when Tamagawa’s school year ended, the students are free to continue writing to their overseas friends.
Upper School Global Journalism Project Continues The Winged Post, the upper school student newspaper, continued its Global Journalism Project, an ongoing collaboration with international high school newspapers that began during the 2010-11 school year. Two recent editions of the paper, which hit stands in March and April, featured stories from students at Saint Stephen’s College in Australia and the Taipei American School in Taiwan. Topics discussed included the ways in which different countries approach teenage independence laws and recent efforts by schools to tackle environmental issues.
Middle School Math Teacher Visits China on Exchange Visit In April, Vandana Kadam, middle school mathematics chair, went on an exchange trip to Shanghai to visit and instruct at the World Foreign Language Middle School.
Kadam both observed and taught, including four sections of grade 6 classes. She also taught to students in grades 7-10. “The students have been extremely receptive and that curiosity I see in them makes it fun for me to teach,” said Kadam in an email from China. Her classes included a mix of Chinese students fairly proficient in English and those newer to English. She also had a Chinese co-teacher to translate her lessons if needed.
The language barrier, however, was mostly a non-issue. “[The Chinese students] were comfortable interacting with me as I used some manipulatives and played games with them,” said Kadam.
Australian Exchange Teacher Visits Harker For two weeks in April, Sam Cleary, a teacher at St. Stephen’s College in Australia, visited Harker to teach and observe classes as part of Harker’s eacher exchange with the school. Cleary observed classes in English, history and forensics, and taught a number of English and forensics classes himself.
Grade 4 Students Exchange Posters with Tamagawa Buddies
This semester, grade 4 English teacher Colin Goodwin’s students made posters to exchange with their buddies at Tamagawa Gakuen. Each student was asked to name his or her favorite season and a favorite seasonal tradition and make an artistic rendering of it. Seasonal traditions featured on the posters include Christmas, the Fourth of July and Halloween.
“I started the poster exchange about three years ago so that students at Harker and Tamagawa could learn about each other’s seasonal traditions,” Goodwin said. “It began as an exchange about spring traditions to tie into ‘The Secret Garden,’ a novel that has spring as one of the dominant themes.” In the last two years, the activity has expanded to include some of Harker’s other sister schools.