Upper school students and faculty alike gave a warm Harker welcome to visiting exchange teacher Michiko Takahashi, who works as a music instructor at Tamagawa Gakuen, Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Japan.
During her Jan. 5-18 visit, Takahashi taught Japanese music and observed classes in the upper school’s performing arts department.
“Michiko told me that she had such a wonderful time. She was very impressed with our students and said they seemed to have a lot of direction for what they wanted to do. She definitely had a very special time getting to know our performing arts students and teachers,” recalled Jennifer Walrod, director of the school’s rich global education program, of which Tamagawa Gakuen plays an integral role.
Tamagawa Gakuen is a K-12 school and university founded in 1929 as an elementary education organization. Later secondary education divisions were added, and in 1947 Tamagawa University received approval for establishment as an “old system” (pre-war) university. As a comprehensive institution (gakuen), they currently provide education from kindergarten to graduate school within a single campus.
Although Takahashi does not speak English, she was made to feel at home at Harker, thanks to the efforts of several Japanese-speaking faculty members who offered to serve as interpreters, joining her for meals and serving as friendly faces around campus.
And, from the moment Susan Nace, upper school music teacher, picked Takahashi up from the San Francisco airport, it was a whirlwind of activity. After a weekend of sightseeing, Takahashi began her time at Harker with a tour of the Saratoga campus, followed by a study of the upper school’s music and acting programs.
Other highlights of her visit included lunch with the administration, time spent teaching Japanese classes, a visit with the college counseling department, observing both musical and Shakespeare performances, and enjoying a farewell party with performing arts teachers.
For many years, the teacher exchange program between Tamagawa and Harker has been an important complement to the school’s successful student exchange program.
Thanks to a unique online poetry forum, grade 7 students in Mark Gelineau’s English class have gone poetically cyber – taking their literary studies to a whole new global, interactive and virtual level.
Using the forum, some 80 students have connected with roughly the same number of peers from the Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) in Kazakhstan to discuss selected poetic works. The poetry exchange program has already generated well over 1,000 posts.
Gelineau created the forum in conjunction with Harker alumna Lauren Gutstein ’06, who currently works at the NIS school in Astana, one of a group of seven existing state funded selective schools for middle and high school aged students spread throughout major cities in Kazakhstan.
The largest of the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan is prosperous and highly literate. Named after the president of the county, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the NIS schools have an international focus.
Through their online postings, students from both Harker and NIS share insights and observations about posted poems up for discussion. Currently, the forum consists of two poems: “Stopping by Woods” by Robert Frost and “Winter” by Kunanbaev Ibragim Abai, a well-known Kazakh poet.
Each poem was given a literature-based question for students to answer, as well as one that was more cultural in nature. Students at both schools used the questions as starting points to initiate their own discussions, now in process.
“This forum is a wonderful example of how well global education can enhance and enrich academic learning,” said Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education. “It directly ties into Mark’s poetry unit and Lauren taught it through her ESL classes as it gave her students an opportunity to communicate with native speakers.”
Before participating in the online discussions Harker and NIS students had studied both poems, which are themed around winter, in their respective classrooms. While the Frost poem contains very peaceful verses, the Abai poem conveys a much darker mood.
According to Gelineau, the Frost piece is a lovely poem about pausing to watch a patch of forest fill with snow. By contrast, he said the Kazakh poet offers up a much bleaker view, where rather than something to be enjoyed in tranquility, winter is to be struggled against.
Using the contrasting poems as springboards for discussion, Harker and NIS students created and posted their own stanzas, seeking to enhance or alter the established moods depicted by the two poets. The students then discussed their newly written works with one another by regularly logging onto the site and keeping conversations running smoothly.
“I love the fact that the poetry forum is a curriculum-based project that integrates a global perspective. It is also interesting for the kids to be able to communicate with peers from a part of the world that we do not learn much about at all,” observed Walrod.
“This project has been an incredible success!” added Gelineau.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Harker hosted two exciting visits from exchange teachers in September, one from Japan and the other from China. Both Yu Sasaki of Japan and Zhang Tao of China came to Harker to absorb the culture and learn new teaching practices.
On Sept. 6 Sasaki, who lives in Sendai, Japan, visited the upper school campus to talk to students about her work with Save the Children, a leading nonprofit organization devoted to promoting children’s welfare. Sasaki is currently involved in Japan’s post-tsunami relief efforts and used her Harker visit as an opportunity to inform the upper school students about it.
“It was a wonderful experience to discuss our post-tsunami relief efforts with five Japanese classes at Harker. In each class, I got interesting questions from students and was happy to know that they still care about what happens on the other side of the earth. I was also amazed by the charity work some of the students did after the tsunami,” she said.
Zhang Tao (who goes by the name Ruth) visited in mid-September from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai, China. In recent years the WFLMS has added a high school, where Zhang teaches English to sophomores and juniors. During her time at Harker she observed and taught classes on all three campuses, spending the bulk of her time at the middle school. Highlights of her visit included teaching such subjects as Chinese poetry, Mandarin, calligraphy and tai chi.
The teacher exchange program is an example of Harker’s ongoing effort to build progressive academic and cultural partnerships between institutions around the world, providing meaningful experiences for students at all grade levels – preparing them to be true global citizens.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
The Harker School’s global education and performing arts departments were thrilled to warmly welcome more than two dozen students who recently visited from Saint Stephen’s College, a college preparatory independent school located on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Accompanied by three chaperones, the group of 25 performing arts students were at Harker from Sept. 22-26. The group’s packed performing arts itinerary included visits to Harker’s theater, music, choreography and acting classes, as well as a special observation of a rehearsal of the fall play, “Hamlet,” followed by dinner.
According to Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, the visit went extremely well and was part of a larger performing arts tour of the United States that the Australian exchange students and their chaperones were taking.
Especially gratifying to Walrod was the fact that numerous performing arts students at Harker helped out with the visit, accompanying Saint Stephen’s students for breakfast and lunch, escorting them to and from classes, and even joining them for a fun night out shopping and dining at Santana Row.
“We have also hosted two previous summer upper school trips where students visited Saint Stephen’s, attended their weeklong leadership retreat, and stayed in homestays. Plus, their exchange students and teachers always visit our middle and lower schools to read stories and talk about Australian history,” added Walrod.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Excited grade 6 students met their buddies from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo in mid-October. The meeting, between Harker’s 27 middle school students and the Tamagawa K-12 School & University students, was preceded by a get-acquainted video chat.
“The video conferences are fun events held on the Blackford campus where each Harker family is scheduled for 10 minutes to meet their child’s Japanese buddy and family. We have a translator present to assist with communication,” explained Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education.
The video conferences began with Harker students introducing their families and asking questions about what their buddies will want to see, do or eat while they are visiting at the end of October. The Japanese buddies also got to ask questions about their fast-approaching visit.
The Tamagawa students were at Harker for several days before heading off to Yosemite on Oct. 22 after a farewell party hosted on their behalf in the middle school’s multipurpose room. They stayed in homestays with their Harker buddies, sightseeing around the Bay Area, visiting special classes, observing middle school classes, and reading stories and doing origami projects with K-3 kids.
While participating in a special dance class held in the gym, the students said they were having fun getting to know one another and were still excited about an outing they had the day before, which included a visit to a pumpkin patch and haunted house.
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. In the spring, Harker students will head to Japan as part of the reciprocal exchange program.
Harker’s former director of global education, Bill Bost, passed away in June and his friends at Harker are joining with Bost’s dear friend, Mike Kerbyson, in holding a memorial to celebrate his life. The memorial will be Sat., Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. in the Bucknall gym, followed by an informal gathering at Harry’s Hofbrau next to the Saratoga campus at 390 Saratoga Ave at 3:30 p.m. Bost’s children, Tanner and Klara, and their mother, Katrina Church, will be flying in from North Carolina. Bost started at Harker in 1993 as a grade 4 teacher and in 2001 became director of special projects in the advancement department.
A year later he took on the position of grant writer/director of international programs, which later became the global education program; Bost became director of that program in 2004. He also worked for many years as a summer program administrator. Kristin Giammona, elementary division head and long-time friend of Bost’s, said she hopes many will attend the memorial, “so Tanner and Klara can grasp how important and special Bill was to Harker and to his Harker friends.” If you have any photos you would like to include in the memorial’s slide show, please email them to Giammona at kristing@harker.org.
Upon request, Harker’s Advancement Department has established the Bill Bost Scholarship Fund. These funds will benefit the school’s general scholarship endowment fund. Those wishing to contribute to the Bill Bost Scholarship Fund may do so by making their checks payable to the Harker School and write in the memo Bill Bost Scholarship Endowment Fund. For those wishing to use their credit card to make the gift, please call Allison Vaughan, Donor Relations Director at 408-345-9629 or e-mail her at Allisonv@harker.org.
For weeks Nikhil Dharmaraj had been envisioning what it would be like to finally meet his overseas buddy, Momotaro Nakamoto. On Oct. 16 that vision became a reality when he, along with other excited grade 6 students, met their Tamagawa buddies from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, in person, for the very first time.
The much anticipated live meeting between Harker’s 27 middle school students and the Tamagawa K-12 School & University students came on the heels of a previously held video chat. The Tamagawa students were accompanied by three chaperones, and, in the spring, Harker students will head to Japan as part of the reciprocal exchange program.
Dharmaraj has had prior experience serving as a buddy for Harker newcomers, but said this is the first time he has been a buddy to a visiting foreign student. “It’s been a really great opportunity!” he enthused.
The Tamagawa students were at Harker for several days before heading off to Yosemite on Oct. 22 after a farewell party hosted on their behalf in the middle school’s multipurpose room. They stayed in homestays with their Harker buddies, sightseeing around the Bay Area, visiting special classes, observing middle school classes, and reading stories and doing origami projects with K-3 kids.
While participating in a special dance class held in the gym, the students said they were having fun getting to know one another and were still excited about an outing they had the day before, which included a visit to a pumpkin patch and haunted house.
During the dance class, instructor Gail Palmer reminded the Harker students what a great opportunity it is to work with a student from another country before asking them to give the Tamagawa student standing next to them “a big high five!” The Harker students, wearing green shorts and school T-shirts, gladly obliged, high-fiving their Tamagawa buddies who were dressed in sharp looking school uniforms.
“It’s that Tamagawa time of year again!” enthused Jennifer Walrod, director of Harker’s global education progam.
Tamagawa was founded in 1929 as an elementary education organization. Later secondary education divisions were added, and in 1947 Tamagawa University received approval for establishment as an “old system” (pre-war) university. As a comprehensive institution (gakuen), they currently provide education from kindergarten to graduate school within a single campus.
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.
On Sept. 21 and 28, grade 6 students mettheir Tamagawa buddies and families from Harker’s sister school, Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo, Japan, for the first time via two separately held video conferences.
The much anticipated initial meetings for Harker’s 27 middle school students participating in the Tamagawa exchange program served as a prequel to the even more exciting upcoming live meetings slated to occur Oct. 16 when Tamagawa students visit Harker. Then in the spring, Harker students will head to Japan as part of the reciprocal exchange program.
“The video conferences are fun events held on the Blackford campus where each Harker family is scheduled for 10 minutes to meet their child’s Japanese buddy and family. We have a translator present to assist with communication,” explained Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education.
The video conferences began with Harker students introducing their families and asking questions about what their buddies want to see, do, or eat while they are visiting at the end of October. The Japanese buddies also got to ask questions about their fast-approaching visit.
“The students are always so excited for this event! We meet beforehand to discuss what types of questions to ask, the kids brainstorm and write down things. Some students wear various uniforms to show their buddies and even bring in photos of their home, bedroom and family pet to share. The conferences are also a good time for parents to give information about any allergies or special concerns their child may have about traveling to a foreign country. I talk with each family as they leave their video conference,” said Walrod.
Tamagawa Gakuen is a K-12 school and university founded in 1929 as an elementary education organization. Later secondary education divisions were added, and in 1947 Tamagawa University received approval for establishment as an “old system” (pre-war) university. As a comprehensive institution (gakuen), they currently provide education from kindergarten to graduate school within a single campus.
The recent video conferences have now set the stage for what should prove to be an exciting student exchange program between the Tamagawa and Harker schools. Through its rich global education program, Harker has long strived to weave global activities into its students’ daily lives.
The Harker School’s global education and performing arts departments were thrilled to warmly welcome more than two dozen students who recently visited from Saint Stephen’s College, a college preparatory independent school located on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Accompanied by three chaperones, the group of 25 performing arts students were at Harker from Sept. 22-26. After spending their first weekend upon arrival checking in at a nearby hotel and going on an all-day tour of San Francisco, they got off to a bright and early start Monday morning at Harker. Their first day here began with an early breakfast in the upper school’s bistro followed by a tour of the campus.
The group’s packed performing arts itinerary included visits to Harker’s theater, music, choreography and acting classes, as well as a special observation of a rehearsal of the fall play, “Hamlet,” followed by dinner.
According to Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, the visit went extremely well and was part of a larger performing arts tour of the United States that the Australian exchange students and their chaperones were taking.
“They had spent six days in New York City before coming to San Jose for five days, with their tour ending down in Los Angeles. They enjoyed visiting a wide variety of performing arts classes here at Harker, as well as attending regular classes to see how the American educational system works,” she said.
Especially gratifying to Walrod was the fact that numerous performing arts students at Harker helped out with the visit, accompanying Saint Stephen’s students for breakfast and lunch, escorting them to and from classes, and even joining them for a fun night out shopping and dining at Santana Row.
During the past decade, Harker has enjoyed a warm relationship and mutually beneficial exchange program with Saint Stephen’s College. Last year, Ruth Meyer, an upper school history teacher, spent two weeks in Australia at the college as part of that year’s teacher exchange program. Meyer spent most of her time teaching freshman history and junior English to the school’s students, who she said were like Harker students in that, “they are happy, helpful and enjoy school.” English teacher Jennifer Siraganian enjoyed the exchange this past summer (see Harker Quarterly, fall 2012).
“We have also hosted two previous summer upper school trips where students visited Saint Stephen’s, attended their weeklong leadership retreat, and stayed in homestays. Plus their exchange students and teachers always visit our middle and lower schools to read stories and talk about Australian history,” added Walrod.
Harker hosted two exciting visits from exchange teachers last month, one from Japan and the other from China. Both Yu Sasaki of Japan and Zhang Tao of China were warmly received and are now missed by students and teachers alike.
On Sept. 6 Sasaki, who lives in Sendai, Japan, visited the upper school campus to talk to students about her work with Save the Children, a leading nonprofit organization devoted to promoting children’s welfare. Sasaki is currently involved in Japan’s post-tsunami relief efforts and used her Harker visit as an opportunity to inform the upper school students about it.
“It was a wonderful experience to discuss our post-tsunami relief efforts with five Japanese classes at Harker. In each class, I got interesting questions from students and was happy to know that they still care about what happens on the other side of the earth. I was also amazed by the charity work some students did after the tsunami,” she said.
Then, from Sept. 8-21, Zhang Tao (who goes by Ruth) visited from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai, China. In recent years the WFLMS has added a high school, where Zhang teaches English to sophomores and juniors. During her time at Harker she observed and taught classes on all three campuses, spending the bulk of her time at the middle school. Highlights of her visit included teaching such subjects as Chinese poetry, Mandarin, calligraphy, and tai chi.
“She was super excited to have been selected for this exchange,” recalled Jennifer Walrod, director of Harker’s global education program. “When I met with her while visiting China last March we spent a lot of time discussing what types of classes she could teach while here.”
In addition to the annual teacher exchange program with Japan and China, Walrod explained that Harker’s partnership with WFLMS has resulted in a student exchange program in the middle school as well. Harker also hosts visiting teachers from Australia.
The teacher exchange program is an example of Harker’s ongoing effort to build progressive academic and cultural partnerships between institutions around the world, providing meaningful experiences for students at all grade levels – preparing them to be true global citizens.