Learning how to make Native American dream catchers was one of many exciting activities students from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai, China, enjoyed during their visit to Harker in mid-January.
While patiently working on her dream catcher, WFLMS student Liza Xiao looked up for a moment to exclaim, “I’m having an awesome time visiting Harker! And my buddy is really sweet. The teachers are all kind and the classes are fun.”
Xiao was one of 18 students visiting from Harker’s sister school in China. The students learned all about the dream catchers (a generations-old part of Native American culture) before making their own to take home as cherished souvenirs. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect sleeping individuals from negative dreams, while letting positive ones through.
This year, there was an emphasis on deepening the Chinese students’ understanding of Native American culture, according to Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education.
Harker’s unique partnership with the school in the People’s Republic of China began in 2003 and is the first of its kind. The visiting students were accompanied by several chaperones (all teachers at WFLMS). They were welcomed to Harker and introduced at a morning meeting at the middle school before embarking on a tour of Stanford, including a visit to university’s museum to see the Native American collection.
Harker’s middle school students and their WFLMS buddies had been corresponding since the fall. Come spring, a contingent of Harker students will head to China as part of the reciprocal exchange program, which is an annual highlight of the middle school experience for many grade 7 and 8 students.
“This year, the students participated in a wide range of activities where they had the opportunity to deepen their understanding of American culture and the surrounding area. They learned all about football and tailgating, watched American movies, created their own lunch of ‘California cuisine,’ and participated in a walking tour of San Jose,” reported Walrod.
While here, the exchange students observed and attended several middle school classes, including history, art, drama and dance. They also enjoyed a scavenger hunt on the middle school campus and a field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The WFLMS students’ visit ended with a fun farewell party – and a promise to see their buddies again in the spring!
The Harker School is known for its unique student and teacher exchange programs with educational institutions around the world. But Harker’s rich global education doesn’t stop in between such visits. Throughout the school year, middle school students keep connected virtually with their foreign pals via interactive video conferences and online forums.
In grade 6, video conferences between students and their same-age buddies from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Tamagawa Academy K-12 & University, help build excitement for future visits. And in grades 7 and 8, two separate online forums fuel dynamic conversations between Harker students and their peers in both Kazakhstan and China. Below HNO takes a look at how Harker keeps globally connected through video conferencing in grade 6 and online forums in the older middle school grades:
Grade 6 Video Conferences
In mid-December, grade 6 students enjoyed connecting with their buddies from Tamagawa Academy during a series of interactive, game show-style videoconferences, held on the middle school campus.
“After emailing each other this past semester in their computer science class, students came face-to-face with their email buddies in a Family Feud-style game show!” reported Jennifer Walrod, director of Harker’s global education program.
“Questions (ranging from discovering favorite desserts to best after-school activities) were generated by students with a focus on interests of middle school students,” said Walrod, explaining that half of the grade 6 students participated in the conferences, with the remaining half slated for next semester.
“Designing an educational yet fun game was a very interesting task. I also had fun at the video conference talking to the Tamagawa students and playing Family Feud,” said grade 6 student Sejal Krishnan.
The video conferences set the stage for the grade 6 trip to Japan in the spring.
Grade 7 Online Poetry Forum
Last year grade 7 students in Mark Gelineau’s English class launched an online poetry forum with a school in Kazakhstan. Using the forum, Harker seventh graders connected with peers from the Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) in Kazakhstan to discuss selected poetic works.
Gelineau created the forum in conjunction with Harker alumna Lauren Gutstein, who works at the NIS school in Astana, one of seven state-funded selective schools for middle and high school age students spread throughout major cities in Kazakhstan.
Through their online postings, students from both Harker and NIS share insights and observations about posted poems. Using the forum, more than 100 students recently read and discussed both an American and a Kazakh poem about winter.
Grade 8 Online World Issues Forum
Where we live and how it affects our perspective on global issues was the topic of a recent grade 8 World Issues Forum with the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai. Other topics covered have included personal choices and the global ecosystem; global perspectives; issues preventing access to the global community; and leadership in today’s society.
“This is not new as we’ve been doing it for numerous years. However, it has really strengthened over the past couple years and the forum now gets hundreds of posts throughout the semester,” Walrod said.
In fact, the middle school’s annual trip to China was originally based around the grade 8 computer science class’ global issues forum. Last year the trip also incorporated the grade 7 historical component of learning about ancient China. Including seventh graders on the China trip was such a success that it will be repeated again this year.
“I really enjoyed participating in the forum with the students from WFLMS. By talking to them, I learned totally different perspectives on some things that I had never even heard before. I also learned a lot about the cultures of China. Now, I have left the class with a greater knowledge of the world than I had before,” said Megan Huynh, grade 8.
“It is indeed exciting and interesting to communicate with people from the other side of the world and the discussions are supposed to be diverse and offering an insight on both sides’ point of view,” agreed Nastya Grebin, also grade 8.
“Adding the online forum discussions to my computer science curriculum has provided a great opportunity for students to combine their technical knowledge to global issues related to the world they live in. The student’s forum discussions have been compulsory to their studies of systems that are the basis for their computer science final project applications,” noted Abigail Jospeh, Harker’s middle school computer science instructor.
It’s that Tamagawa time of year again over at the middle school – when excited grade 6 students first meet their buddies from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Japan.
Come fall, as part of a long-running student exchange program, peers from the Tamagawa K-12 School & University arrive at Harker for a much anticipated weeklong visit.
During their stay here they live in homestays with Harker students and their families, go sightseeing around the Bay Area, and spend time visiting and observing classes at the Blackford campus. This year 23 students from the Tamagawa academy were accompanied by several chaperones for their visit in early October.
Highlights of the Tamagawa visit included: a field trip to a pumpkin farm, a fun scavenger hunt, creating T-shirts, playing Pictionary, participating in art, drama and dances classes, making Halloween desserts at a cooking school, working on a story/origami project and enjoying a bittersweet ice cream farewell party. New this year, Harker students were also given special permission to use Google Translator on their personal electronic devices during their time with their Tamagawa buddies.
“Being a part of the Tamagawa exchange program has shown me the characteristics, culture and interests of Japanese students. I have not only learned new things, but I have made a new friend. A friend who can tell you things you never knew… A friend who you can visit in a foreign country,” recalled Harker student Grace Hajjar of her experience being a Tamagawa buddy.
“My buddy’s name is Kanta Okura,” added another Harker student, Avi Gulati. “We had lots of fun. He brought waterproof UNO cards and we played with them. We went to the Japanese market together and Kanta enjoyed talking to the people who worked there. We bought his favorite food: sushi,” Gulati finished, noting that he looks forward to a lifelong friendship with Kanta.
Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, explained that the popular student exchange program between the Tamagawa and Harker schools is just one example of Harker’s rich global education program, which strives to weave global activities into its students’ daily lives.
“Before you meet your buddy, they are your pen pal. You get to know them and what they like until the day you meet them … and then you take them different places to have fun and get to laugh and enjoy their presence in your life. You gain a new friend you will cherish forever,” said Hajjar.
The Tamagawa School has a stated international focus on allowing students to experience differing cultures via exchange programs. “By giving opportunities for students to communicate with children overseas of the same age, global sensibilities will be fostered among our students,” states the school on its website.
In the spring, Harker students will head over to Japan as part of the reciprocal exchange program. Look for further coverage on that from Harker News Online!
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
This past summer 11 biology Harker history by embarking on an educational first for the school: a trip to Tanzania. Armed with a “world as their classroom” mentality, the group set off for the 10-day groundbreaking trip, called “One Health in Tanzania,” on July 24.
The Tanzanian adventure was the brainchild of upper school science department chair Anita Chetty, who had spent years planning and researching the trip. Head of School Chris Nikoloff joined Chetty in supervising the group of students.
Also serving as chaperones were Dr. Murali Daran and Dr. Alexandra Kamins. Daran (Lea, grade 12; Rohan, grade 10) is a cardiologist and has done extensive medical charitable work in places like the Dominican Republic. Besides serving as the group’s “doctor- on-call,” he inspired the students with a talk on his charitable work. Kamins is a recent graduate from the University of Cambridge whose doctoral work was in Ghana. She has also been on several study programs in Africa; her experiences provided essential support when collaborating on the curriculum with Chetty.
“I designed the trip as though it were a short, college-level type course,” said Chetty, explaining that the trip, while filled with great sights, was not primarily about sightseeing. “The focus was on the educational curriculum … and I was so impressed at how the students rose to that challenge.”
In fact, every aspect of the trip was infused with an opportunity for learning, from game-drives filled with biology lessons to visiting reserves and meeting with health professionals. One highlight was learning firsthand about the current AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. The situation became real to students as they met with health professionals, including a gynecologist and nurse at an AIDS clinic.
Another trip highlight was visiting with the Masai tribe, when the students had the opportunity to personally donate toys to a local village school. It was an eye-opening experience for journalism student Jonathan Dai, grade 10.
“The tribe treated us like family and welcomed us into their homes and daily lives. We played games with their kids, herded goats and cattle, and even played a soccer game against the adult male tribe members,” he recalled.
While visiting with the Masai, students set up an eye clinic, testing tribe members’ eyes and handing out prescription eye glasses they had brought over with them for that purpose.
“One of the most influential moments for me was visiting the Masai. On a walk to and from the lake they tried to teach us some of their native language. For example, they taught us how to count and some basic phrases. Regardless of the fact that neither of us spoke the others’ languages we managed to communicate and bonded really quickly, which was an amazing experience,” recalled Alyssa Amick, grade 11.
Namrata Vakkalagadda, grade 12, said that a very personal memory for her was learning beading from a village tribe healer. “Even though we had an obvious language barrier, the connection between us was almost immediate. She welcomed my curiosity with open arms and continued to patiently guide my hands and hand me beads, until I created a bracelet which I was able to keep for myself. This memento of mine I think might be one that is dearest to me, because I created it with a member of the Masai community and it was a connection that was personal between the two of us.”
The Tanzania trip was such a success that plans are already in the works for another one next summer. In addition to giving the gift of sight by providing eyeglasses, Chetty is also collecting money to buy and bring desperately needed textbooks to the Tanzanian public schools.
“There is nothing like learning that is directly experienced, whether educational or philanthropic,” said Chetty.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Middle school students embarked on an exciting language immersion trip to Costa Rica in late July. The journey started with ziplining through Costa Rica’s lush rainforest. Later, the students headed to the ACCE language school, where they sat in with the local students and impressed the instructors with their level of Spanish usage.
Among the more eye-opening parts of the trip was the visit to La Carpio, an area outside the Costa Rican capital city of San Jose that houses approximately 34,000 people, mostly poor immigrants from Nicaragua. There, the students helped the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation by painting buildings and helping to promote a health fair to the local population.
Other highlights included a visit to Manuel Antonio National Park, participating in a talent show at a local K-12 private school and a fun scavenger hunt in the city of Grecia, where students were required to speak to the citizens in Spanish to complete their tasks.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Several upper school students traveled to Switzerland in June to meet with their friends at Collège de Gambach, practice their French and explore the country’s beautiful scenery and culture. Their first day at Collège de Gambach consisted of a tour of the campus and a board game with German and French speakers.
One of the group’s favorite stops was the Cailler Chocolate factory, where they learned about the history of chocolate and how it is made. They also sampled a variety of cocoa beans and, as expected, the many varieties of chocolate made by the company.
Later, in Lausanne, the students boarded a steamboat to Vevey, where the food company Nestlé is headquartered. There, they visited the Alimentarium, a cooking museum where the students learned about the history of food preparation, cooking utensils and even table manners. Their final day at Collège de Gambach was spent eating lunch and enjoying time with their Swiss friends.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
This year’s upper school summer adventure to Japan had students visiting many of the country’s famous landmarks and historical sites. During their first couple of days, the students headed to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima to hear an account from a person who survived the first atomic bombing; they later visited Miyajima to enjoy the scenery and wildlife.
After disembarking the bullet train in Kyoto, the students had a great time in the former Japanese capital, spending the night at a temple and attending a morning prayer session. While in Kyoto, they visited a number of famous temples, including the Golden Pavilion, and interacted with the locals in Japanese.
During their visit to Harker’s sister school, Tamagawa Academy in Tokyo, the students met their host buddies for the first time and began their homestays. After a few days of fun and bonding with their Tamagawa buddies, the students said their goodbyes and headed home.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
In August, lower school math teacher Diane Plauck trekked to Australia, where she served as this year’s exchange teacher at St. Stephen’s College, located on the continent’s Gold Coast. Plauck taught math to the school’s grade 6 and 7 students and also participated in the math lab the students attend on Thursdays. Plauck also observed a number of classes being taught at St. Stephen’s, such as music, handwriting and math.
As a guest of the school, Plauck was treated to several fun-filled trips and outings, including a visit to New South Wales to see the Sydney Opera and a flight above Byron Bay in a single- engine microlight airplane.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Naomi Molin, grade 10, spent a month in Australia from mid-June to mid-July on a trip to further explore her interest in the performing arts as well as to see the many fascinating sights the country has to offer. Another bonus was, of course, spending time with her friends at St. Stephen’s College.
Her fun-filled trip included a dance workshop with two members of the London cast of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which was followed by a viewing of the show. She also participated in the St. Stephen’s spirit activities, which included many aspects of Australian aboriginal culture, such as a dance, face painting and throwing boomerangs.
Molin’s host family even took her on a trip to Australia’s world-renowned Great Barrier Reef, where they explored the area’s islands and towns and viewed crocodiles, kangaroos, wallabies and other animals at a wildlife education center.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
From late July to early August, upper school students traveled to Costa Rica to create and present research projects at the University of Georgia’s Costa Rica campus at San Luis. The students spent their time observing local wildlife in the field and doing lab work on their findings. Some of the topics students researched included intra-species bird calls, hermit crab activity and plankton diversity.
The students later presented the results of their research to an appreciative audience at a symposium held at the UGA campus. During breaks from their research, the students went to a science fair being held at a local elementary school, went ziplining over the Costa Rican cloud forest, visited a bat jungle and went rafting.