Monisha Dilip, Gr. 12, received the 2009 National Young Women of Distinction Award in late February, given every year to the top ten Girl Scouts in the country. A Gold Award Girl Scout, Dilip received the high honor for her extraordinary leadership and commitment to service. For her community action project, she established a free learning center for the visually impaired in Chennai, India.
The center is the first of its kind in India. Dilip discovered that less than five percent of reading materials are in an accessible format and that visually impaired people are the most persecuted in poor countries. At the learning center, visually impaired people can use assistive technologies to browse the Internet, access educational and informational materials and keep in touch with friends and family. Girl Scouts of the USA said that Dilip’s “compassion for children with disabilities was the motivation for the Indian Disability Center.”
[Update II] The final total the US Girls Soccer Team raised for the American Cancer Society at their Kicks Against Cancer fundraiser held on January 13, 2010 is $3,787!
Jan. 22, 2010:
The varsity girls and boys soccer teams raised a total of approximately $2,500 for the American Red Cross last week with their special Kicks Against Cancer fundraiser, which culminated with the teams’ respective games against Pinewood School and Crystal Springs Uplands School. Raised through a variety of means, the money will go toward breast cancer prevention.
Organizers leveraged a number of different methods to raise the amount, including selling tickets to the games, raffling prizes from local merchants and selling commemorative ribbons that were displayed during the game.
Faculty and staff also pledged to donate $150 for every goal scored by Harker, and each game featured a halftime penalty kick contest in which participants paid a dollar for a chance to score a goal against each team’s goalkeeper.
At the upper school assembly on Jan. 19, Chris Collins, assistant to the director of athletics, received a special commemorative soccer ball to honor her hard work in ensuring that Kicks Against Cancer was a success.
Jan. 7, 2010:
A number of organizations at Harker have run anti-cancer fundraisers over the years, and now an athletic team is joining the effort. The upper school varsity girls and boys soccer squads are currently raising funds for their “Kicks Against Cancer” games on Jan. 13 at Davis Field. The girls varsity soccer team will play Pinewood School at 4:30 p.m., and the boys will play Crystal Springs Uplands School at 6:30 p.m.
The admission charge of $10 will include a pink T-shirt (while supplies last) commemorating the event. Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 each. Prizes will include, among other things, a signed jersey and ball from the San Jose Earthquakes, a bowling party, gift cards and Harker apparel. Attendees can also purchase a commemorative ribbon with an optional personal message, which will be displayed on Davis Field on the day of the event. All proceeds raised from the event will go toward breast cancer research and prevention.
All items will be available for purchase at the games, or during lunchtime in the days leading up to the event, at the Edge on the Saratoga campus. Items can be purchased with cash. Purchases of $10 or more can be charged to a student account. Donations can be sent on The Harker School’s Saratoga campus to Troy Thiele, girls varsity soccer coach and upper school math teacher. Coach Thiele can be contacted at troyt@harker.org. Checks should be made payable to The Harker School.
In keeping with the giving spirit of the holiday season, Harker students from all three campuses participated in service projects to spread cheer to the surrounding communities.
The lower school toy drive collected more than 700 toys, which were delivered to the children of less fortunate families, so that they could also partake in the joy of the holiday season. Beryl Banks, community involvement coordinator at Sacred Heart Community Services, appeared at the lower school campus in December to thank the students for the donations they had made.
One lower school parent, Deepali Halepete, shared the story of how he and his daughter, Mahika, Gr. 2, helped raise $1,400 for underprivileged families by selling paintings that were created in Halepete’s art workshops. The money was used to purchase art supplies and a playhouse for the Georgia Travis Center, a shelter run by InnVision that assists single mothers and their children.
Meanwhile, middle school students were busy with their own holiday community service project, a coat drive that ran from Dec. 7 through Dec. 18. The students gathered more than 300 coats, which were donated to the InnVision organization to ensure that financially troubled or homeless people in San Jose could fend off the cold of winter.
A Christmas tree donation drive was also organized at the middle school. Teachers donated trees by leaving them outside their classrooms with their decorations removed. Middle school math teacher Peggy Crisler estimated that “20 to 25” trees were donated in total.
Middle school math teacher Scott Graham’s Gr. 8 advisory decorated wreaths that were later donated to the Saratoga Retirement Home. It was the third consecutive year that the students decorated and donated the wreaths.
Several upper school students helped out with holiday celebrations in downtown San Jose in late November and early December. Over Thanksgiving weekend, a group of students lent their helping hands to the setting up of Christmas in the Park, which ran until December 27 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Students hung decorations and helped prepare the various displays and buildings that have been a part of the popular holiday attraction for 30 years.
On Dec. 6, Harker upper school students once again took part in a community effort at the downtown San Jose Holiday Parade. Assisted by students from Gunderson High School, they hoisted and carried the giant Hello Kitty parade float down San Jose’s historic Santa Clara and Market Streets.
December also saw the Key Club organize their annual Scott Lane donation drive, in which much-needed school supplies were donated to Scott Lane Elementary School to improve the quality of the students’ education. As a token of their gratitude, Scott Lane prepared a special “thank you” video that was shown at the upper school assembly on Jan. 4.
As New Year’s approached, Harker siblings Albert Wu, Gr. 10 and Helen Wu, Gr. 7, held a special performance at the Saratoga Retirement Community on Dec. 30. The duo, Albert on piano and Helen on violin, played pieces from such composers as Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.
Harker junior Allika Walvekar recently assembled a youth commission of local high school students with the help of the Los Altos Hills city council. Walvekar has served as the lone youth commissioner since February and is now joined by a full commission that will eventually consist of 12 students. After applying and interviewing with Walvekar and the community relations committee, nine young Los Altos Hills residents join Walvekar and assume responsibilities as liaisons between the city council and youth residents. There are two remaining vacancies. As detailed by the charter, the new commission will support community service and foster unity and friendship through events and social activities.
The Gr. 5 food drive successfully culminated in the delivery of nearly 300 bags of food and $3,450 to St. Justin’s Community Ministry on the morning of Nov. 20. Goods were delivered personally by students and parents, with additional assistance from Pat Walsh, Gr. 5 math teacher. The group then received a tour of the facility and learned how their donations will be used to help families in need during the holiday season.
Cash has been flowing toward charities supporting vital water projects of late, thanks to some liquid measures promoted by Harker’s Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) club.
Selling water bottles, gaining sponsorship for coffee-eschewing teachers, and topping it all off with a group dunking of campus adults, GEO’s diverse efforts generated sums far beyond initial expectations for charity:water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. The funds will help dig a pair of wells to provide clean water in places where that crucial commodity has hitherto been inaccessible.
GEO members were inspired by the Harker Speaker Series talk by activist Rick Smolan, who expressed enthusiasm for the lengths to which GEO members took his ideas and ran with them,
“One of the things that disturbed me so much as I worked on The Blue Planet Run book was how little attention the world was paying to something so important to every person on the planet. To be able to positively affect the lives of others at such a young age is something I don’t think any of the Harker students will ever forget and I am thrilled to think my lecture touched your students on such a deep level,” Smolan said. “Please extend my congratulations to all the students involved in this amazing effort.”
GEO’s efforts began in October, when students began raising money by selling water bottles and foot bands: rubber bands that students wore around one of their feet to symbolize the distances people in poor areas must walk to obtain dirty and often contaminated water. Teachers also gave up their favorite drinks for a week, and several students carried around jugs of dirty water to remind others of the reality of those less fortunate. The GEO fall week also included an appearance by charity:water representative Lane Wood and a special relay race among all the upper school grade levels that was won by the class of 2011.
All the deprivation, exertion and solemn remembrance of others’ difficulty gave way to some celebrating after the unexpectedly large fundraising totals were announced at a special meeting on Davis Field Nov. 9. Students were directed to the Singh Aquatic Center, where they were treated to their reward for raising more than $10,000: witnessing several of the school’s faculty and staff leap into the pool, fully clothed. The intrepid squadron of educators gathered at pool’s edge as a youthful chorus counted down “5…..4…..3….2….1!” At the appointed moment, into the drink they leapt, followed by good-natured frolicking. The Wet Ones: history teachers Julie Wheeler, Dan Hudkins, Ramsay Westgate, language instructors John Hawley, Diana Moss, performing arts teacher Jeffrey Draper, computer scientist Fred Triefenbach, college counselor Kevin Lum Lung, journalism teacher Chris Daren as well as alumni director Christina Yan and athletic director Dan Molin.
A bracing dip might have been just the ticket for another set of educators participating in the water-improvement campaign. Many of those who gave up or cut back on their favorite beverages ended up reducing their caffeine intake. The abstainers included science teachers Matthew Harley, Mala Raghavan, Eric Nelson and Gary Blickenstaff; math teachers Rama Sethia, Tony Silk and Jeannette Fernandez; history teachers Ramsay Westgate, Carol Zink, Julie Wheeler, Dan Hudkins, Donna Gilbert and Nicole Jensen; foreign language teachers Shawn Jahshan and Nicholas Manjoine; Naomi Schatz (psychology), Adam Nelson (debate), Jeff Draper (theater), Susan King (computer science) and Greg Lawson, the assistant head of school for student affairs .
After the week, participating teachers reported the challenge had been refreshing and less daunting than expected. Blickenstaff, well known for his dependence on a cup of joe during lectures, claimed that the prospect of living on half of his coffee dose was tolerable, and that he would give it up again if necessary. Raghavan even called the coffee cutback “fun”, declaring, “I was happy to have made it with just one cup a day for the whole week. I actually slept better.”
Together with the Lug-a-Jug fundraiser, Cups-for-a-Well donations and merchandise sales, the GEO-led effort brought in $10,918, allowing for a contribution of $10,118 after deductions to cover costs. Prospective users of the wells were not alone in benefiting from the project. Said GEO secretary Rashmi Sharma Gr. 12: “Pursuing outreach through GEO has helped me foster my passion about learning about international issues and how I can help solve them by empowering others.”
The lower school’s annual Gr. 5 food drive begins on Mon., Nov. 9, and ends on Fri., Nov. 20. All the food and donations collected from this year’s drive will be delivered to St. Justin’s Church in Santa Clara, where they will be used to make meals and food bags for those in need.
“As we start to prepare for the holidays, I like to see my students take a moment to reflect on the good fortune they have been blessed with while also taking the time and effort to make a concerted effort to improve the lives of others who are less fortunate,” said Gr. 5 math teacher Pat Walsh, in an announcement to parents.
Food donations can be dropped off at the Bucknall campus gym lobby. Cash and check donations are also welcome, and should be delivered to the front office or to Walsh. Please make checks payable to St. Justin’s Community Ministry.
More than a dozen Harker alumni, parents and staff participated on Team Near in the Relay for Life Aug. 15-16, in support of 31-year veteran Harker teacher and mentor John Near, who has metastasized colorectal cancer.
The Harker School and San Jose Gastroenterology (Dr. Huy Trinh, father of Jamie ’05; VyVy ’07; Christine, Gr. 12; and Lindsey, Gr. 5) were corporate sponsors for the team, which was also supported by dozens of other donors. Relay for Life is the signature activity of the American Cancer Society and Team Near has raised nearly $6,500 to date which will go to cancer research. “The luminaria ceremony was particularly touching, as it gave me a moment to think about all those I know who are battling or have battled cancer, particularly my favorite teacher and coach,” said Vickie Duong ’04, a key organizer of the event. Classmate Jessica Liu ’04 noted that the “very cool” John Near T-shirts (see slide show) and sweatshirts seen at the Relay, “awesomely designed by Vickie,” are available at http://mrneartshirts.eventbrite.com.
Alumnae Jamie Trinh ’05, Melissa Chen ’08, Victoria Duong ’04, Tiffany Liou ’08, Jessica Liu ’04, Jacinda Mein ’04, Natasha Sarin ’07, Kavita Shah ’07, Elyse Trinh ’07 and Rachel Yuan ’08 will be participating in a Relay For Life event on August 15 and 16 at Palo Alto High School to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
The team has christened itself “Team Near,” in honor of AP U.S. History teacher John Near, a 30-year veteran of The Harker School and cancer patient who is currently recovering after suffering a bacterial infection in May that required surgery.
It all started with author/photographer Rick Smolan’s visit as part of the Harker Speaker Series. That visit spurred the founding of the MS Blue Planet Group and culminated with the visit of Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water.
Eighth grade science teacher Lorna Claerbout and many of her students went to hear Smolan speak. “Smolan’s talk opened my eyes to the need for clean water worldwide,” said group member Emily Wang, Gr.8.
Varun Gudapti, Gr. 8, added “he gave me the knowledge to make others aware of the impact of water.” Classmate Sondra Costa suggested the group could raise money to support one of Smolan’s “water heroes,” Scott Harrison, whose charity charity: water uses 100 percent of donations to build wells to get potable water to people in need.
Thus was born the Blue Planet Group. “About 45 people showed up to our first meeting,” said Lori Berenberg, Gr. 8. “Since then, we have focused on getting organized into committees that have their own focus in educating and fundraising to achieve our goal of funding a well,” she said. The group managed to raise $5,000, enough for the building of a new well in Africa, and doubling their original goal of $2,500.
Harrison heard about the Harker effort and offered to visit while on a visit at the end of May to speak at Apple, Google and Twitter. Harrison came first to the MS campus, then to the US campus to address student assemblies.
Just before the assembly began, Harrison tweeted, “about to talk to kids in San Jose about water. I used to hate first period!” After the assemblies he tweeted about “awesome kids at Harker.” In fact, he was so impressed with the original educational posters created by the Blue Planet Group that he took a photo of one and put it on posted a tweet of it, noted Claerbout.
Harrison’s impact was felt immediately and Berenberg posted comments to the club’s forum right after the visit: ”Well, the big day has come and gone. Scott Harrison gave his speech, and personally, I think it was a great success. I know a lot of my friends who weren’t really into it before are now so excited to help and realize that the clean water crisis is a real issue. That is really what we were trying to achieve here and we got it! I’m so proud of everyone because if it weren’t for each and every one of us, he wouldn’t have come and we would be nowhere near where we are today.”
Students have used a variety of efforts to educate and raise funds, including a school meeting presentation, a bake sale, a photo booth, and a water-themed school dance. “We decided it would be great if we could make it water-themed so people … understand what they are donating to if they gave money to the Blue Planet Group,” said Berenberg.
“The middle school students have been passionately working on the issue since Smolan’s presentation, so it was a fantastic way for the students to not only wrap up their current fundraising project, but help them continue their momentum when they start at our upper school next year. A partnership between middle and high school students has been proposed and is the works for next year,” said Claerbout.
In addition to the student club, water is the focus of a number of class projects. Angela Neff, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology at the Middle School and computer science teacher, noted her Population Studies classes have been “focusing their research on the international water crisis all year as a part of our Global 20/20 program sponsored by NAIS,” she said, further noting, “Tim (Culbertson’s) (computer science) classes are doing infectious diseases which are deeply exacerbated by water: too much, too little, or too dirty.”
Finally, Spanish teacher Susan Moling said her Unit 5 in Spanish class is all about conservation. “My students just made some amazing mini-posters about conservation including water, culminating in video public service announcements created in Spanish. I think the cross-curricular application is wonderful and gives the kids a real sense of pride knowing that everyone is working on such a critical issue,” she said.
For next year, Jennifer Abraham, global education director, is working with interested eighth grade teachers on a water project in collaboration with the Bayn Garden School in Saudi Arabia. Locally the focus will be to learn more about our own watershed and water issues here in California.