Spring was in the air at the lower school on April 18, as hat-happy kindergartners showed off unique and colorful headwear during the annual Spring Hat Parade and Egg Hunt. On that Friday afternoon, the children proudly wore festive hats they had decorated at home. Marching in a fun parade, the students wound their way through campus, stopping in various classrooms to model their fabulous attire.
St. Patrick’s Day was cause for celebration at the lower school. On the afternoon of March 17, students in grades 4-5 had some Irish fun during their monthly spirit assembly. Celebrating Irish-American culture, the annual event was sponsored by the Spirit/Service Club and held outdoors on the playground, blacktop and fields.
Homeroom teachers had previously encouraged the students to come dressed with as much green spirit as possible, with each classroom electing the student most passionate about St. Patrick’s Day to participate in a contest at the assembly. Students also were instructed to “search the usual places for hidden shamrocks before school and during morning recess.” The fourth and fifth graders had a blast hunting for shamrocks on the playground and in the hallways and lobbies of the gym building before turning them in to their homeroom teachers for additional spirit points.
After the assembly, the students continued to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by enthusiastically participating in a range of themed activities, including dancing the freeze jig, stealing the leprechaun’s gold, jump roping as leaping leprechauns, navigating a four-leaf clover obstacle course, playing a luck of the Irish bingo game and more.
The annual Pajama Day assembly on Jan. 17 was special for the Eagle Buddies of grades 3 and 10, who met at the lower school gym and shared some of their favorite books with one another. It was also a special day for Rishi Narain, grade 10, who started Harker’s pajama program while he was a student at the lower school. The program collects and distributes pajamas, books and other goods to underprivileged children all around the world.
Per Eagle Buddies tradition, Butch Keller, upper school head, donned a robe, took his seat at a rocking chair located on the stage and read a story to the audience. This year’s story, fittingly enough, was “Pajama Day” by Lynn Plourde. After the reading, the third graders and their sophomore buddies chatted and read to each other from the books they had brought. They later headed to the lawn for a special pizza lunch. “It’s good to have a friend that you know you can trust,” said Brooke Baker, grade 3, who added that she looks forward to having more fun with her Eagle Buddies in the upcoming months.
Kevin Kim, grade 10, said being involved in the Eagle Buddies program is “really fun. It’s good to meet little kids and have fun with them.” The Eagle Buddies program was started during the 2010-11 school year as a means of establishing a bond between the students of the lower and upper schools. The program matches up grade 3 students with grade 10 students, who then meet periodically until the sophomores graduate and the third graders move on to the middle school.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Lower, middle and upper school instrumentalists displayed their talents for an evening audience at the Spring Concert, held April 12 at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose. Several groups performed orchestral music from a wide selection of styles and time periods.
The Lower School String Ensemble kicked off the evening with a medley of American songs, and the Lower School Orchestra followed with Beethoven’s famous “Ode to Joy” and “Aragonaise” by Georges Bizet.
The Middle School Orchestra then introduced themselves to the show by teaming up with the Lower School Orchestra for a performance of a segment of Mozart’s Symphony No. 25. Harker Winds, the grade 6 wind ensemble, performed “You Are My Sunshine.”
After a brief intermission the Harker Orchestra took the stage, performing, among other pieces, “The Moldau” from Bedrich Smetana’s “Ma Vlast,” Max Bruch’s “Romanze for Viola and Orchestra,” featuring Nayeon Kim, grade 12, and the final piece of the night, “Huapango” by Jose Pablo Moncayo.
The lower school’s Bucknall Choir and instrumentalists have had a busy month. The entire group held its annual concert on May 10 and the Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble attended the Heritage Festival at Foothill College just a few days later, with the artists garnering kudos both places.
At the annual Bucknall Instrumental and Choir Concert , performances were by the Lower School Choir and all the instrumental students from Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble, Prep String Ensemble, Wind Ensemble and seven first-year group classes, and there were a few nice surprises.
Joe Connolly, dean of students K-5, was master of ceremonies while Tomas Thompson of the P.E. staff was the guest conductor for the Harker school song, which was performed by the complete ensemble at the opening of the program. Tiffany Wong, grade 4, on harp, accompanied the orchestra on “O Mio Babbino Caro,” and Kathleen Ferretti took a break from her day job as the lower school’s math department chair grades 2-3 to play Taiko drums on the grand finale of “I Want Candy.”
Two special pieces were performed that were composed by grade 2 students. “Both students studied with me in learning composition, orchestration and arranging,” said Louis Hoffman, director of instrumental studies K-Grade5. “Paul Kratter wrote for orchestra. His piece is ‘Rondo in A Minor.’ Aditya Andrade wrote a piece for the Jazz Ensemble called ‘Fun with Blues,’” said Hoffman. Kratter s conducted the orchestra for his piece and Andrade the Jazz Ensemble for his.
The boys’ compositions grew from a new program Hoffman started called Young Composers Series. “Any student can submit a composition for performance to be played by any of our ensembles (orchestra, jazz ensemble, string ensemble, choir, etc.,” said Hoffman. “The student is taken through all the steps from composing, orchestration and arranging to preparing a score and parts to performance and conducting.”
At the Heritage Festival, the Orchestra took a gold award and the Jazz Ensemble placed a close second with a silver award. “Only two schools received the gold,” said Hoffman. “Not too shabby. Both groups wowed the adjudicators, who gave high praise to the students for their outstanding performance level and composure.”
Both the young composers whose pieces were performed at the school concert were specially honored: Kratter and Andrade each got a standing ovation and were awarded Maestro trophies at the festival. “This is a high honor and the first time ever in the over 30-year history of the festival that two young composers were honored,” said Hoffman. “Please join me in congratulating our young budding musicians in their wonderful and well-deserved accomplishment.”