This semester, Julia Lambertz of Germany is not only attending Harker as a junior, she is playing on the girls volleyball team, too. Julia discovered Harker through the organization international Experience (iE), which coordinates exchanges between high schools.
Lambertz has been busy with her volleyball and class schedule (which includes Spanish, psychology, sculpture and U.S. history), plus there have been a number of outings with the family of her host student, Neda Ghaffarian, grade 11. So far, they have toured San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Cruz, with possible plans to visit Los Angeles for Thanksgiving and a vacation at Lake Tahoe during Christmas. Lambertz also visited kindergarten classes to give students a brief lesson on the German language and culture.
Since arriving at Harker, Lambertz has noticed several differences between the lifestyles of students in the U.S. and Germany. “There are no spirit events in my German school and the school is not like a big community there,” she said. In addition, high school students in Germany don’t take finals at the end of the semester. Instead, they take exams at the end of their high school careers that cover the previous 13 years of study. Students also favor biking, walking or public transit instead of driving.
A camera lost by a student from Tamagawa Gakuen during a trip to Korea was recently recovered thanks to a kind citizen who researched the Harker name.
During a trip to Japan in May, Spencer and Connor Powers met with their Tamagawa buddy Yusei Sakamoto, whose mother took many photos of the Powers’ visit. Later in the summer, Yusei and his mother were vacationing in South Korea, and the camera was unfortunately lost on a bus in Seoul.
Another bus rider, Heywon Chae, discovered the camera and began looking through the photos for clues as to whom it may have belonged. In it, she found the photos of Spencer and Connor wearing their Harker uniforms and did some quick research.
Chae soon found the Harker website and e-mailed Liat Noten at Harker’s Office of Communication, who forwarded the message to Jennifer Abraham, director of global education. After several more e-mails, the camera was finally sent back to its rightful owners in Tokyo, who were eternally grateful to Chae for her kindness and good will.
Abraham was pleased to find that the situation had come to a satisfying conclusion despite the long distances reached to resolve it, saying that it “really personifies the essence of what global education is all about!”
Traveling across international waters, 29 Gr. 6 students visited Harker’s sister school Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo during a weeklong trip to Japan led by English and math teacher Kathleen Ferretti.
After a warm welcome at Kodomono-kuni Park, Harker students got together with Tamagawa students for a morning of activities and puzzles. The groups competed with each other on a scavenger hunt in which Tamagawa teachers with instructions on tasks to complete were stationed around the park’s tunnels, bridges, trees and gardens. Tamagawa students then shared Japanese treats and food for lunch, and Harker students looked forward to starting their home stays.
President Yoshiaki Obara joined the school in welcoming our sixth graders with a student talent showcase, where Natalie Simonian, Gr. 6, had the opportunity to play piano and Andrew Kirjner, Gr. 6, the violin. The event closed with everyone singing the Harker school song.
The students were sad to end their time at Tamagawa, but had to move on to explore other parts of Japan. They took the bullet train to Kyoto and got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji from afar. They visited different temples and shrines, including the Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple famous for its waterfall. They continued to Hiroshima to visit the peace memorial park and museum, then proceeded to Miyajima.
“It is sure to be another memorable day,” Ferretti said in her an update. The days were packed full of activities and Ferretti’s e-mails to Jennifer Abraham, director of global education, highlighted the students’ enthusiasm and curiosity.
Students in Shelby Guarino’s Gr. 5 English class recently became interested in the homework assignments of students around the world. In order to facilitate this curiosity the students volunteered to share their completed homework assignments with Harker’s sister schools. Sample homework assignments were swapped with students from schools in Japan, Australia, Ethiopia, France and Saudi Arabia.
Harker students sent assignments from Valentine’s Day and Halloween that highlighted their work in grammar and vocabulary. In return they received a variety of different homework assignments from all over the world. Students from the Institution Sévigné in France sent articles from their school newspaper including a poem titled “Night Poem,” which the students really enjoyed.
From the students of St. Stephen’s College in Coomera, Australia, our students received a variety of projects based on the novel “Convict Boy.” These assignments included a model convict ship and letters written by the students as if they were convicts trapped on the ship.
The Australian students also sent our students information on a program they participate in to learn about indigenous cultures. Students are treated to a presentation on these cultures by the indigenous people themselves. They are instructed in traditional dances and told tribal stories in an effort to give them a better perspective on the people and their heritage.
This homework exchange was a great opportunity for the students to learn about the education styles of other countries. Guarino stated that she “believe[d] it opened up their minds to start thinking more personally about more countries other than the U.S., Asia and India.” The goal of the program was to give our students a more worldly perspective and Guarino remarked that “interacting with our sister schools through giving and receiving real-life assignments makes [cultural education] all the more real.”
“Mr. Goodwin, is everything good in Japan?” a student asked English teacher Colin Goodwin as he surveyed posters and Japanese treats. It was a beautiful, sunny day and Bucknall students were welcoming spring with a display from Goodwin’s recent educational exchange.
In celebration of the change of seasons, and inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” Goodwin thought it would be fun for his Gr. 4 class to share American spring traditions with fourth graders in Harker’s sister school Tamagawa Gakuen. With the help of Jennifer Abraham, Harker’s director of global education, Goodwin organized an educational poster exchange. He sent a descriptive essay and posters illustrating the first strawberries of spring, Easter, spring break and the start of baseball season to Tamagawa. In return, he received posters illustrating Japanese spring traditions. “They were fascinated that school starts in April in Japan and that Japanese kids only have several weeks off between fourth and fifth grade,” Goodwin said of his students. He also noted their interest in Girl’s Day (Hina Matsuri) and Children’s Day (Kodomo-no-hi).
The project challenged students to consider what spring symbolizes and introduced global education into Goodwin’s class. The students were impressed by Tamagawa students’ displays and the beautiful packaging of the sweets (wagashi) served at the party.
In an effort to expand the project, Abraham and Goodwin also sent posters to schools in France, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Ethiopia. They have received posters from Institution Sévigné in Compiègne, France.
“Overall, I think this project taught the kids that they have a lot in common with Japanese kids,” Goodwin said. “However, the kids realize that there are some distinct differences between Japanese culture and American culture that help make the world a more interesting place.”
Bridging the gap between cultures, visual arts teacher Elizabeth Saltos recently went to one of Harker’s sister schools, Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School SWFLMS), for two weeks to teach and tour the country.
In a reflection written on WFLMS’ website, she said the school was impressive: “It’s no wonder this school is a sister school to Harker. The programs seem parallel in academic quality rigor.”
Outside of classes, Saltos toured the water town Zhujiajiao, visited museums with fellow teachers and attended a tomb sweeping festival, which is a traditional Chinese holiday where families honor ancestors. She was enamored by the architecture and appreciated the downtime she spent in the gardens and parks sketching.
