Santaclarabroncos.com, Jan. 6 – Tanya Schmidt ’07 is the subject of a front-page feature story on the Santa Clara Broncos’ website. The article discusses her outstanding performance both as a star volleyball player and as a student; Schmidt currently holds a 3.96 grade point average.
San Jose Mercury News, Dec. 8, 2010 – Grade 12 student and varsity water polo co-captain Chris Ng is named as an honorable mention in the All-Mercury News teams section.
San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 7, 2010 – Columnist Sal Pizarro mentions Harker’s visit by Lady Catherine Longworth, the former Lord Mayor of Westminster, who invited the Harker upper school orchestra to perform at London’s 2012 New Year’s Day parade.
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal Giving Guide, Nov. 5, 2010 – The magazine places Harker at 11th among the 50 highest-earning nonprofit organizations in Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Nov. 5, 2010 – Nichols Hall is named one of the top 25 LEED-certified spaces in Silicon Valley.
National Latin Exam Newsletter, Fall 2010 – 2010 graduate Margaret Woods, now a freshman at Santa Clara University, is mentioned as a recipient of a 2010 National Latin Exam Scholarship.
SeriousEnergy.com – SeriousEnergy, a company specializing in products and services that reduce energy costs, recently published a case study about Harker on its website. Harker and SeriousEnergy have worked together to achieve many of the school’s energy goals.
Fashion show attendees flipping through the program will see something new this year — group shots of the models taken by Harker student photographers. In the past, a professional company handled the staged shots that identify all of the models in the show. This year, however, Sue Prutton, fashion show liaison, asked journalism teacher Chris Daren if his students would be interested in the job.
The team of photographers was led by Brianna Tran, grade 12. She and Daren coordinated the groups and scheduled the shoots, which were done in front of the library, Nichols Hall and in the quad. “There was always one main camera that was connected to the flash, but we also had side photographers shooting from different angles, or getting closer-up photos of smaller groups of models,” Tran explained.
Following the show’s theme, “When I Grow Up,” was important to Tran and Daren. They decided to group the models by age instead of separating the photos of lower, middle and upper school models as is usually done. As for the general tone of the shots, Prutton gave the students free rein. “We decided that we wanted a more relaxed, classical American look,” said Tran. “We used the photographs on (designer) Tommy Hilfiger as a base for all of our ideas.”
Tran is pleased with the results, and learned a lot from the process: “I’m very excited that I had this opportunity and I’m proud to say that the photos turned out great!”
Including Daren, the photographers who contributed to this project were: Tran, Monisha Appalaraju, Nirjhar Mundkur, Tiffany Chien, Katie Liang, Shreya Nathan, all grade 12; Isha Kawatra, Michelle Lo, Alisha Mayor, Devin Nguyen, Jennie Xu, Laura Yau, grade 11; and Megan Prakash, grade 9.
Senan Ebrahim ’08 and his running mate Bonnie Cao have won the Undergraduate Council elections at Harvard University. Ebrahim was named a Presidential Scholar while at Harker. The pair earned 45 percent of the vote, about 1,400 votes, then took the contest with a majority when third-place votes were re-allocated to the two top tickets. Ebrahim’s tenure as student life committee chair gave him a boost, as much of the contest was about student social life.
Harker had a great time for a great cause Saturday, coming in second place at the third annual Silicon Valley Trivia Challenge, and donating their winnings back to the host, Junior League of San Jose, for their charitable work.
Held Nov. 7 at Club Auto Sport in San Jose, and mentioned in the San Jose Mercury News the next day, this entertaining fundraiser for the Junior League’s worthwhile education-based charitable work featured county tax assessor Larry Stone as judge and NBC news weatherperson Mike Inouye as the affable master of ceremonies. The first two years of the event Harker sent two faculty teams; this year the school sent one faculty team and one alumni team. The faculty team, Harker Eagle Eggheads, was composed of Brian Larsen, upper school performing arts; Lisa Masoni, middle school Latin; Stacie Newman, middle school English; and Anthony Silk, upper school math. The alumni team, Harker’s Lean Green Knowledge Machine, consisted of Christina Yan ’93, Harker’s alumni director; Ramesh Srinivasan ’93; and Ab Belani and Edward Hejtmanek, both ’06 and employed at Somaxis, a start-up in the health, wellness and fitness industry.
Teams were encouraged to dress in costume and bring props, and the clever themes, raffle drawings, tasty food stations, audience participation opportunities, beautiful cars on display and smooth organization by Junior League volunteers all added up to a winning event.
After the first round of 20 questions half the teams were eliminated, and a second round eliminated all but the top few. Both Harker teams had a great time answering questions on history, pop culture, sports, literature and music, with the faculty team ultimately winning second place and the alumni just missing placement in the top three. Harker promptly donated the $1,000 prize money back to the Junior League to support their community work.
For more information about the event, and the Junior League of San Jose, visit http://www.jlsj.org/sanjose/npo.jsp?pg=home, and save the date for next year’s event: Sat., Nov. 5, 2011.
San Jose Mercury News, October 6, 2010 — Gautam Krishnamurthi, grade 12, is recognized in the “Highlight Reel” for his four interceptions against the California School for the Deaf.
San Jose Mercury News, October 13, 2010 — Quarterback Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, is was named one of two “Athletes of the Week” for his four touchdowns against Capuchino and for being a key player in Harker varsity football’s 6-0 start.
Football
Congratulations to Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, for being named Mercury News Male Athlete of the Week for his stellar performance in the Eagles’ game against Capuchino High School. The full story can be read here.
Harker suffered its first loss of the year to powerhouse Salesian 56-18. The full story is in the Contra Costa Times. The team is now 1-1 in league and has its next game against league opponent St Elizabeth. St Elizabeth is 0-1 in league after a loss to Berean Christian.
Cross Country
The Eagles traveled to their second league race of the year at Shoreline and both the girls and boys did impressively. Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 10, placed third overall with freshman Claudia Tischler coming in right behind her at fifth. The girls are currently tied for second in league. Not to be outdone, the boys took third in the event. Proteek Biswas, grade 11, placed 10th followed immediately by Adarsh Ranganathan, grade 12. They are currently tied for third in league.
Golf
The girls are on a hot streak right now with two big wins last week against Notre Dame and Menlo. They are currently 5-3 and third in league. Having season lows last week were: Kristine Lin, grade 9; Jessica Son, grade 10; Nina Sabharwal, grade 10; and Patricia Huang, grade 10, who shot an impressive 34 against Menlo. The Eagles face Mercy-Burlingame and Sacred Heart this week.
Tennis
The Eagles lost to a tough Menlo squad last week but responded to the defeat well with wins against Fremont and Pinewood later in the week. This week they lost a close match, 3-4, to Sacred Heart Preparatory. They are currently 9-4 overall and an impressive 5-2 in league and have a big match against highly-ranked Saratoga this week.
Water Polo
The girls had an impressive 10-4 victory over Mountain View last week, avenging an earlier first-round loss. Cynthia Shwe, grade 12, led the team with five goals and was supported by Keri Clifford, grade 10, with four and Niva Bigler, grade 12, with one. Sierra Lincoln, grade 10, was stellar in goal with 10 saves.
The boys had two tough losses last week against Wilcox, currently number one in league, and Saratoga. Chris Ng, grade 12; Rex Chen, grade 12; Ryan Hume, grade 10; Gabe Yanovsky, grade 12; and Karan Das-Grande, grade 10, all had goals against Wilcox. Both the girls and boys travel to Cupertino and Lynbrook this week for league matches.
Volleyball
The girls continue to face tough opponents in one of the most competitive leagues in Northern California. Their overall record remains strong at 13-7 even after tough losses to Menlo, Mercy-Burlingame and Notre Dame. The Eagles aren’t making it easy on anyone, taking Menlo and Notre Dame to five games and Mercy to four. They will look to get out of their current slump in their game against Castilleja this week.
On Sept. 23, 30 members of the Harker community joined the Gauba and Reddy families at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club for a golfing tournament and wine tasting. All proceeds from the event will go to Harker’s general endowment fund, which assists the programs not covered by tuition and fees, including athletics, clubs, performing arts, visual arts, the library and technology.
For an afternoon, faculty, parents and students participated in friendly competition. Denise Broderson, Barbara Young, Dorothy Scarpace and Ingrid Wu won first place in the tournament; Mike Armstrong won Closest to Pin; and Susan McNealy won the Longest Drive. In a putting face-off, Maverick McNealy, grade 10, defeated Christopher Nikoloff, head of school, and won a new wedge.
Afterward, adults took part in a wine tasting. “Watching the sun set was a very nice way to finish off the event,” said Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement.
The Harker School has long supported the YWCA of Silicon Valley’s annual luncheon each year hosting a table of Harker students who have a special passion for that year’s topic.
This year some of Harker’s budding historians will hear keynote speaker Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, talk about leaders who have shaped the United States. Goodwin wrote what reportedly is one of President Obama’s favorite books, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.” She won the Pulitzer Prize for “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.”
The 20th annual luncheon will be held Tues., Nov. 16 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Event proceeds will support the programs and services of the YWCA of Silicon Valley. The networking social will begin at 11 a.m., with the luncheon following from noon to 1:30 p.m.
“Our guests have expressed a great deal of excitement around having Goodwin speak,” said Sharon Winston, 2010 event chair, “and the YWCA is delighted to have so many new and returning guests at the luncheon providing support for vital programs and services.” Winston added that this year, more than 1,500 guests are expected.
Each year, more than 40 companies and hundreds of individuals sponsor the YWCA’s luncheon. Past speakers have included Isabelle Allende, Gloria Steinem, Sally Ride, Janet Reno and Mary Lou Retton.
This is a non-ticketed fundraiser; guests attend as an individual or sponsored guest. An appeal will be made during the event, requesting a minimum donation of $150. To reserve a seat, please contact LaDonna Curteman at 408.295.4011, ext. 216 or events@ywca-sv.org. More information can be found at www.ywca-sv.org.
The mission of the YWCA Silicon Valley is to empower women, children and families, and to eliminate racism, hatred and prejudice. They provide programs in the areas of sexual assault intervention and prevention, counseling services, domestic violence, child care, youth programs, family services, and social and racial justice. The YWCA of Silicon Valley serves nearly 18,000 Santa Clara County residents each year, and has provided services in the county for more than 100 years.
The UCLA marching band took to Harker’s Davis Field for pre-game practice this morning. The band, in town for the football game between UCLA and UC Berkeley, ran drills from 9 a.m. to noon, as Harker students and faculty stopped by between classes to watch the fun!
The band’s director, Gordon Henderson, stays in touch with members of Harker’s performing arts and library faculty who are alumni of the UCLA Marching band: Laura Lang Ree, performing arts director; Chris Florio, orchestra director; Dave Hart, middle school music teacher; and Lara Hubel, upper school library clerk. The San Jose Mercury News covered the visit in today’s publication.
In June, a paper co-authored by James Seifert, grade 12, was accepted to the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie. Recognized as the top chemistry journal, Angewandte Chemie accepts fewer than five percent of the papers that are submitted for publication.
The study, titled “Amphiphilic Self-Assembly of an n-Type Nanotube,” which was completed while Seifert worked in the chemistry department at Ohio State University, has been published online (purchase required) and will appear as a cover story in the November hard copy edition of the journal. For the project, Seifert worked with graduate student Hui Shao in preparing compounds that were used to conduct the research. “The work in the paper actually involves three research groups from two universities,” said Dr. Jon Parquette, professor of chemistry at Ohio State. “However, Hui and James made the initial discoveries that were further investigated by these groups.”
Recently, the article was featured by the online chemistry magazine ChemViews.