Several Harker upper school students have gotten politically active by joining the San Jose Youth Advisory Council (YAC), a group of high school students that presents issues raised by local youth to the San Jose City Council and also keeps youths aware of issues that affect them as citizens. “We want to make sure that youth voices are heard as they are not only members of the community but will also be tomorrow’s adults,” said YAC member Aneesh Chona, grade 12. “Ultimately, we strive to increase awareness of the available resources that provide guidance and support to youth and encourage active civic participation.”
Other Harker members of the YAC are Zareen Choudhury, Katie Gu and Connie Li, all grade 11, and Nathan Dalal, Rishabh Jain and Sachin Peddada, all grade 10.
Chona recently started the Youth Against Abuse program, which he says is aimed at curbing domestic violence. “Empirically, studies have shown that those who commit domestic violence will only stop their harmful actions if they are aware of the consequences of those actions, something I became aware of when I was researching for past debate topics,” he said. With this in mind, the Youth Against Abuse program holds essay contests and petitions and plans to create educational videos to raise youth awareness of the effects of domestic violence.
Other activities of the YAC include tutoring children at the Starbird Community Center, publishing the literary magazine Overture and youth awareness magazine 1Voice and hosting community events.
The 13th annual Howard and Diana Nichols Invitational debate tournament took place at the upper school campus Sept. 28-30, bringing in 208 students from 28 schools in California, Arizona and Washington. Because Harker qualified for the Tournament of Champions, Harker students were not permitted to participate in the main tournament, but Harker students did participate in the novice and tournament experience workshops. Nikhil Bopardikar and Anish Velagapudi, both grade 9, were in the top 20 in the novice division.
Harker students were instrumental in ensuring that the tournament and the novice workshop were run smoothly. “Student leaders organized and did the majority of teaching at the workshop. They also oversaw the timely management of the varsity tournament and managed our student workers. Our parents hosted visiting students in their homes, served meals and judged debates,” said Carol Green, chair of Harker’s communication studies department.
One student from Foothill High School commented the tournament was “extremely well run. Not only was the judging pool outstanding, but I really felt like The Harker School cared. The students were all around helping directing us, while there was a help desk and delicious food. Adding on to that, the rooms in which we debated were really nice also.”
Tara Rezvani, grade 12, was recognized at Los Gatos’ Youth Park Citizen Day on Sept. 29 for being chosen as one of Los Gatos’ Youth Citizens of the Year. She joined other recipients of the honor in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the Oct. 1 Los Gatos Town Council meeting, where she had the opportunity to meet Los Gatos mayor Steve Rice.
Los Gatos Youth Park Inc. selects local youths each year based on their service to their communities and status as role models. Among Rezvani’s many accomplishments are organizing a health camp for children, volunteer work at El Camino Hospital and being inducted into the National French Honor Society. Rezvani will also take part in Los Gatos’ holiday tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 30 and blow the whistle to start the Los Gatos Children’s Holiday Parade on Dec. 1.
This article was originally published in the fall 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Members of Harker’s Key Club had a productive spring, collecting clothing, toys and food for the Sacred Heart Community Center and donating animal carrier crates and raising $1,100 for the Silicon Valley Humane Society.
The funds were raised by selling baked goods and root beer floats. Additionally, one student anonymously donated $500 towards the cause.
Kerry Enzensperger, director of the upper school community service and activity program, reported that Key Club participants were thrilled with the results.
The Key Club is part of an international high school organization sponsored by Kiwanis International. Key Club members assist Kiwanis in carrying out its mission to serve the children of the world.
In mid-September, five Harker seniors joined 75 volunteers involved with the California Coastal Cleanup Day by spending several hours picking up litter scattered about Los Gatos Creek between Park and Santa Clara Avenues in downtown San Jose. The coastal cleanup program is the state’s largest volunteer effort and covers all coasts and inland waterways.
“We helped picked up nearly three tons of garbage, including a two-person inflatable raft, sofa, mattress, box springs and a couple of car batteries,” recalled Izzy Connell, whose father helped spearhead the effort, which concluded with a raffle for a bike from REI and time out to enjoy a bagged lunch.
Pictured here are Harker volunteer participants Izzy Connell, Daniel Wang and Ryan Mui.
This article was originally published in the fall 2012 Harker Quarterly.
A dynamic group of Harker moms and their student daughters participated in this year’s Relay for Life event, held in Los Altos on June 9-10 in support of cancer research. Relay for Life is the signature activity of the American Cancer Society and the Harker team “Girls for the Girls” has raised nearly $3,872 towards the cause. Shown here are team members (from left) Sue Prutton and daughter Hannah Prutton, Chris Douglas and daughter Michelle Douglas, Heather Wardenburg and daughter Amy Wardenburg; all daughters are grade 12.
There was something for everyone at the upper school’s recent club fair, where students perused a range of inviting offerings on display at tables staffed by volunteer recruiters.
Held in the gym during a long lunch on Sept. 12, the club fair served as a “one-stop-shop,” allowing students to sign up for a club or clubs that matched their interests. Among this year’s offerings were the Robotics Club, Japanese Club, Tri-Sports Club (fencing, ultimate Frisbee, four square), the Gay Straight Alliance and the Chemistry Club.
There were also clubs promoting community service and activism including such stalwarts as GEO (Global Empowerment and Outreach), HEART (Harker Environmental and Animal Rights Team) and the Key Club, part of an international high school organization sponsored by Kiwanis International.
According to Kerry Enzensperger, director of the upper school’s community service and activity program, “There are no club meetings until after the fair, so it’s really an official start to clubs for the new school year.”
When the San Jose police department reached out for support of its annual National Night Out crime and drug prevention event, The Harker School gladly accepted.
Held at the Starbird Park in San Jose on Aug. 7, National Night Out was an opportunity to participate with many other neighborhoods across the country in celebration of the nationwide effort sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by the police.
This year marked the 29th anniversary of the program, with more than 37 million people across the country participating.
Mike Bassoni, Harker’s facility manager, reported that the school once again provided 500 hot dogs, chips and condiments for the evening event, which began around 6 p.m. Bassoni and other Harker volunteers were on hand helping to distribute food and drinks as well as provide logistical support.
National Night Out is designed to not only heighten crime and drug prevention awareness but to generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime efforts. It also works to strengthen neighborhood spirit and police/community partnerships while sending a message to criminals that cities are united in fighting back.
According to the San Jose police department participating neighborhoods were asked to turn on outside lights, lock their doors and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police. Moreover, neighborhoods used the event as a launching board to plan further programming such as disaster preparedness, setting neighborhood goals or watches, organizing food or clothing drives and planning to beautify a common area with a cleanup day.
During the National Night Out event itself there were some police officers present, army recruiters, representatives from the San Jose Earthquakes and the Starbird Community Center – and, of course, Bassoni and his Harker crew!
For the last four years, Jaap Bongers, Harker’s upper school art department instructor and chair, has used the summer break as a unique opportunity to personally donate items to needy children in the Republic of Zambia, a landlocked country in Southern Africa.
“I have been going there every summer and one time I even went during the Christmas break,” said Bongers, explaining that, in preparation for the annual sojourn, he uses the school year to collect toys, children’s clothes and children’s books (many of which have been donated by Harker students) for the Zambian children.
Come summer, he fills a big plastic storage box with the donated items which he takes with him to Zambia. There, he donates the toys, books and clothes to the neediest children he encounters.
“I do this while traveling to very remote villages where there are still wonderful ages-old original culture. Initiation rituals, traditional dances by masked actors and healing ceremonies by witch doctors can still be found although it is getting harder and harder to locate them.”
After handing out and emptying the storage box of donated toys, Bongers then re-fills it with ancient traditional artifacts he discovers and buys on his travels. “I note down their use, meaning and age. I have found objects and heard about customs that were not yet known. Once I return to Harker I use this information, the items and the pictures for my Study of Visual Art class,” he said, noting that his house is filling up with an impressive collection of ancient traditional African art.
A particularly interesting find this year was an old food box from the Lozi tribe, which Zambian women use to present food to their husbands. In addition to discovering such treasures, Bongers also enjoyed such cultural experiences as buying an ancient artifact from a witch doctor, watching a traditional masked dance at night in Kaoma, and meeting Makishi dancers near Mongu in the Western Province.
The remote villages that Bongers visits are reminiscent of the hunter-gatherers and migrating tribes who inhabited the country for thousands of years before Zambia was claimed and occupied by the British as protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the 19th century. In 1964, the protectorate gained independence with the new name of Zambia, derived from the Zambezi River which flows through the country.
Zambia’s economy has been traditionally dominated by the copper mining industry, however, during the 1970s, the country began sliding into a poverty from which it has not yet recovered – which is why the donated goods Bongers collects during the school year and hands out in the summer are so appreciated.
Summer at Harker got off to a great start as, in early June, a record-breaking number of educators from around the Bay Area attended the eighth annual Harker Teacher Institute.
More than 175 participants came out for the event held on the upper school campus to learn about technology and different methods to improve classroom curricula. Hosted by Harker’s instructional technology department and sponsored by the Silicon Valley Computer Using Educators (SVCUE), the annual institute has become increasingly popular.
Harker has long held ties with SVCUE, the local affiliate for San Mateo and Santa Clara counties of Computer-Using Educators, Inc. of California (CUE). CUE and SVCUE are committed to networking, resources, and the integration of all forms of technology throughout the curriculum.
This year’s event focused on free or inexpensive classroom technology tools and kicked off with a welcoming address from Dan Hudkins, Harker’s K-12 director of instructional technology. The half-day institute included a continental breakfast, afternoon lunch and three breakout sessions with a number of workshops to choose from. Presenters were primarily Harker teachers from K-12, with one presenter from the local community.
Workshop titles included “NoodleTools: Tools for Student Research,” presented by Kathy Clark, Harker’s lower school librarian, who has used NoodleTools with students in grades 4-5 for the past six years. Clark led a discussion of “NoodleBib,” which assists students in creating properly citated bibliographies.
Another popular workshop was Renee Ramig’s “iPads in Middle School Classrooms.” Session leader Ramig, director of technology at Seven Hills School in Walnut Creek, has been working in educational technology for the past 26 years at a variety of Catholic, public and independent schools. She shared some apps that middle school teachers have successfully used in their classrooms.
Extremely relevant in today’s quickly evolving world of publishing was Hudkins afternoon session, “Where are We Going with eText?” With so many variations of readers and texts from Kindle to Nook to iPad, it can be confusing to navigate as the textbook world begins to move from paper to digital format. Hudkins presented informative background on today’s pitfalls, options and opportunities.
The workshops taught by Clark, Ramig and Hudkins were just a few of many useful options to choose from.
The institute started as a summer session that trained Harker staff to use mathematics software and develop a project-oriented curriculum. In 2008, however, Fred Triefenbach, assistant director of instructional technology and a computer science teacher at the upper school, had the idea that Harker should share this knowledge with the community at large – which led to the creation of the Harker Teacher Institute.
This year’s event was bittersweet for Triefenbach, who is preparing to retire after 12 years of working at Harker. “Over the years, the event has really evolved into a huge success,” he said proudly, adding how gratifying it has been to share his knowledge about technology in education with the wider educational community.