In late June, middle school math teacher Vandana Kadam traveled to Turkey to participate in the Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad (JBMO). It was the first time the U.S. had been invited to compete in the event, and Kadam acted as an observer on a panel of 25 mathematicians who selected problems for the exam that was administered at the JBMO.
“I was one of only two women on this panel,” Kadam said. “It has been a highly rewarding experience for me.”
The United States team placed fourth out of the 21 countries competing in the Olympiad, with all six members of the team earning medals, including three gold, one silver and two bronze. The team had the second-highest number of gold medals behind Turkey, who had four.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Diane Main, the upper school’s assistant director of instructional technology, has been named one of the “100 Top Experts in eLearning and Technology Education” by a blog called The .Edu Toolbox.
“I didn’t know about [the honor] until someone congratulated me on Twitter and provided a link!” said an incredulous Main, who was ranked number 94 on the list by the site, a learning and educational resource.
The blog writes: “Diane Main is passionate about students receiving the skills they need to succeed, and so she took up an interest in educational technology. Her website highlights various presentations and handouts that are helpful for Ed Tech-related activities.”
While most of the experts honored by the blog’s list are very active in the field of educational technology through social media such as Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, those listed in the top 10 are extremely well-known “edu-bloggers” and speakers who are also educators themselves.
Main helps organize local educational technology events through professional development activities she helps run. She also presents on the topic at a number of conferences each year. She began working at Harker last summer and currently teaches one class (Digital World) while simultaneously working with faculty at the upper school on their own technology integration and other ideas. She is also an adjunct faculty member at San Diego State University, teaching an online educational technology course.
Before coming to Harker, she worked at the Milpitas Christian School for about 14 years as a teacher in computer technology. A member of Phi Kappa Phi, Main is a Google certified teacher, Google apps certified trainer and SVCUE board president.
She is also the director of the Making Education Relevant and Interactive through Technology (MERIT) program of the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. MERIT is a yearlong professional development experience for teachers, with a two-week summer institute.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
This past spring, upper school chemistry instructor Rachel Freed headed off to the annual National Association of Research in Science Teaching conference in Puerto Rico. She was invited to attend the conference with a group from Sonoma State University with whom she had previously worked as a research technician.
Freed and her research team presented a paper detailing their findings on student learning and understanding in chemistry, with a focus on misconceptions. She served as project manager of the study, which was sponsored by FACET Innovations, a Seattle-based educational research and development company dedicated to the improvement of learning and teaching in science from elementary through graduate school – what educators call K-20.
“We designed an online formative assessment system (available free at Diagnoser.com) which gives teachers all of the necessary components to integrate formative assessment into their chemistry curricula. A key aspect is the sets of ’diagnose questions,’ with very specific information on exactly what misconceptions their students have within a given topic,” she explained.
In addition to participating in the research, design and creation of the online system, in the summer of 2011 Freed helped train six pilot teachers on formative assessment and the implementation of the system. She then followed them throughout the year, conducting classroom visits and weekly teleconferences to help them use the program and obtain feedback. The project was done in collaboration with researchers at SRI (Stanford Research International) in Menlo Park and FACET Innovations.
“While I was there I met a handful of colleagues with whom I have established relationships for future collaborations. One in particular shared ideas with me on how to teach oxidation-reduction reactions and the research she is doing with her college students. I have already used some of these ideas with my classes here at Harker, and I hope to contribute to her data in the future from my own classroom experiences,” said Freed.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Middle school librarian Bernie Morrissey gave a presentation at the Computers in Libraries Conference, held the first week after spring break in Washington, D.C. Morrissey spoke to librarians from institutions around the country on the impact the Internet has had for gay and lesbian youth, and how it has revolutionized the “coming out” experience.
“Beginning with simple message boards and chat rooms back in the early 1990s and culminating with the wildly successful ’It Gets Better’ project in 2010, online resources for isolated youth have saved thousands of lives,” reported Morrissey.
The informative session he led at the conference explored the evolution of these resources as a means to help more libraries serve a vulnerable and often silent population.
During his presentation, he encouraged librarians who already knew about the online resources to make sure their colleagues and students were aware of it as well. He also urged those learning about it for the first time to pass the word on.
Before heading off to D.C., Morrissey practiced his talk on a small group of Harker teachers, whose feedback helped him refine and improve his final delivery. “I was very happy to represent Harker at the conference and hope to have many similar opportunities in the future,” he said.
Prior to becoming a middle school librarian at Harker in 2007, Morrissey worked as a high school librarian in Chicago. As a teenager in the 1990s, he personally benefitted from some online resources for gay and lesbian youth, though, he added, “much of today’s technology was still in its infancy.”
“Bernie’s excellence as a librarian is evident in projects like this. Helping kids out with classroom research is one thing. Anticipating personal, potentially life-changing (and lifesaving) information needs is quite another,” said Lauri Vaughan, upper school librarian. “Conference organizers clearly recognized the value of his research and by extension, Bernie is helping not just Harker kids, but teens around the world.”
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly. Award-winning poet and upper school English teacher Alexandra Mattraw Rosenboom recently shared the exciting news that her second poetry book manuscript was a finalist for the prestigious Colorado Review Prize for Poetry. Out of nearly 700 entries, her work placed among the 30 finalists. “I highly respect the publication and press, which has published some of my favorite poets. Some of my university professors had their first poetry books published through this competition, so it was cool to get so close,” said Rosenboom, who this summer will be holding several poetry readings at various locations throughout the Bay Area (see her website at http://alexandramattraw.wordpress.com for details). A third generation Northern Californian, Rosenboom has taught at Harker since 2002. She is a former resident of the Vermont Studio Center and has published several chapbooks. Her poems and reviews have also appeared in many journals, including Seneca Review, Denver Quarterly, VOLT, Word For/Word, Cultural Society, Verse and American Letters & Commentary, among others. Her work has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Middle school history teacher Andrea Milius loves spending her days speaking about events from the past. Last month, however, the inspiring instructor made a little history of her own after being selected as the first Harker faculty member to travel to Turkey on an impressive two-week historic and culturally-based teacher training trip.
Milius heard about “this wonderful opportunity” through a resource she had been working with for professional development called ORIAS (The Office of Resources for International and Area Studies). Sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley, ORIAS provides scholarly resources and professional development for K-12 and community college educators.
Her application to be considered for the trip consisted of a series of essay questions focused on the incorporation of global education and international perspectives into her curriculum, especially with concern to the Middle East and Islam.
The unique travel program was offered through the Middle Eastern Studies Center at Ohio State University, which strives to peacefully bridge gaps dividing people along cultural, ethnic and religious lines.
Aided by a Turkish guide named Serkand, Milius and nine other lucky trip recipients (ranging from teachers, curriculum writers, librarians and even an international lawyer) gained firsthand knowledge of the Middle East, its past and current economic, social and political developments.
The goal of the trip was to enable participants to return to their work in the United States better equipped to promote teaching, learning, research and public awareness of the diverse array of Middle Eastern languages, cultures and peoples.
“The trip achieved its objectives. I feel honored to have participated, and I am so thankful that Harker supported me in this endeavor. I learned so much about Turkish daily life and culture as well as the many intricate details about the actual practice of Islam, even though this was one of my major areas of research in graduate school,” reported Milius.
“Major trip highlights were collaborating and interacting with other instructors, getting fresh and innovative teaching ideas and gaining an understanding of Turkey’s impact on current world affairs,” she added.
During the trip, she visited all of the major historical sites of Istanbul: Ankara and Konya, The Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Sulaimaniya Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the tomb of the poet Rumi at Konya and a boat tour of the Bosphorus, complete with dolphin sightings. Milius and her fellow participants also veered off the tourist path, visiting public and private schools in the country and having informative meetings with Turkey’s ministers of education and finance.
“Andrea is shy to blow her own horn, but this program was extremely competitive. Having lived in Turkey for three years, I can assure you it was a dream trip that few people could do on their own, certainly not within two weeks! It’s nice to see the amazing things our teachers are doing,” enthused middle school Spanish instructor Susan Moling, who informed Harker News Online about Milius’ incredible experience.
One of the best testaments to the lasting influence Harker teachers have on their students is the Outstanding Educator Awards. This year, four Harker teachers were nominated by students of the class of 2011.
In mid-September, the University of Chicago sent Alexandra Rosenboom, an English teacher at the upper school, a letter informing her she’d been named an Outstanding Educator after being nominated by her former student Kristie Sanchez. The University of Chicago sends an email to all freshmen asking them to help the school recognize high school educators who have made a difference.
Sanchez had a difficult time picking just one Harker teacher to nominate. “I had so many inspirational teachers during my time at Harker that I almost refrained from submitting a nomination all together,” she says. “I ultimately chose Mrs. Rosenboom because her 20th Century American Poetry and Poetics class completely transformed my view of poetry as a whole and helped me to discover a poet within myself.”
Stanford University has a similar program in place. Each year, it reaches out to its incoming freshman class asking if there have been any exceptional educators who influenced them. Three Harker class of 2011 graduates now attending Stanford responded enthusiastically.
Anthony Silk, an upper school mathematics teacher, was nominated by two of his former students – Isaac Madan and Gautam Krishnamurthi – for his influence on their high school education.
So, too, was Anita Chetty, an upper school biology teacher nominated by her student Josephine Chen.
Adam Perelman nominated his former mathematics teacher Victor Adler. “I nominated Dr. Adler because he truly cares about all his students, not only as math students but also as people. He always goes the extra mile, from helping us out on tough problems, to getting up early for practice for a synchronized swimming competition, to hosting difficult but important conversations in his classroom, and is at once teacher and friend,” Perelman said.
Sanchez noted, “A hallmark of a great educator is being able to inspire passion. Mrs. Rosenboom was able to do so in me.” Many other Harker teachers have also inspired this kind of passion, and graduating students are able to bring that feeling from high school to their colleges and universities.
Alexandra Mattraw Rosenboom, an award-winning poetess and Harker English teacher, has a Harker-inspired poem included in “Black and White,” the summer 2011 exhibition of New York’s Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition. The show, which opened July 16, is in a huge Civil War-era coffee warehouse, and Rosenboom’s poem, “Inside the Construction: The Brain,” is mounted and displayed at the entrance. “The poem was inspired by notes I took during our February faculty retreat,” said Rosenboom. The guest speaker at the retreat was a neuroscientist who discussed the way we develop thoughts. “Because my poem explores how humans think in black and white before our brain processes things in color, it worked quite well with the show’s theme,” she said. The show will run on weekends until Aug. 21. In addition, Rosenboom has two poems in the latest number of American Letters & Commentary, issue 22. More information on Rosenboom and her poetry can be found at her website.
Excerpt from “Inside the Construction: The Brain” by Alexandra Mattraw Rosenboom:
“… Survival in context as the reason for memory, I mistake your finger for mine. The fire hydrant for fire. Because periphery only believes in movement, city snow ticks us through signaled streets. Power lines thicken tulle fog. Colors appear but we only see in black and white first : The perfidy of an oil blackened road ….”
Pilar Aguero-Esparza, upper school art teacher, has been participating in an artist residency in Zero1’s biennial project, “Out of the Garage,” with fellow artist H. Dio Mendoza. The pair spent time with Aguero-Esparza’s father in his shoe shop in South Central Los Angeles. They then furnished their Zero1 artist’s space in San Jose with similar equipment in order to create huarache sandals – traditional, modern and artistic – and other shoes. The Zero1 space will be open through the weekend as various events put on by all the participating artists take place. Aguero-Esparza and Mendoza presented their new line of huarache footwear at a fashion show on Sept. 18, from 7-9 p.m. at Works Gallery in San Jose. Here is a profile of their work and a video of their journey to becoming shoemakers.
In mid-August, inmates transformed San Mateo Women’s Correctional Center’s kitchen into a bustling culinary scene reminiscent of Iron Chef.
In the timed cooking contest, four teams of former and current inmates, JobTrain students and celebrity chefs whipped up delectable dishes for a panel of judges, including Harker’s very own chef Danae McLaughlin.
To give back to the community and provide skills that can aid offenders after release, chef Elihu Kittell, who runs the kitchen at the jail, started the program in 2006 with chef Adam Weiner. Weiner works for JobTrain, a nonprofit educational and training institution that helps communities break out of poverty, crime and drugs by providing courses, job training and additional assistance for all ages.
McLaughlin, who has competed and received medals from the American Culinary Federation, initially became involved with JobTrain after meeting Weiner at a competition geared towards youth leadership and career development. Impressed by JobTrain’s mission and various programs, McLaughlin and Steve Martin, Harker’s executive chef, judged one of JobTrain’s competitions and then began hiring JobTrain students as interns in the Harker kitchen.
McLaughlin served as a kitchen judge and tasting judge, commenting on the teamwork and also on the salads, salmon, jambalaya and pecan pie placed before her. She also had the opportunity to chat with the inmates about her experiences as a woman in a kitchen and becoming a Certified Executive Chef.
McLaughlin joined a galaxy of public officials including judges Sheriff Greg Munks, Supervisor Adrienne Tissier and Assistant Sheriff Trisha Sanchez, in congratulating everyone for their effort and awarding Team No. 4 – Amilia Otis, Laura Engman and Captain Quinlan – for winning the competition.
“It was really a great feeling that I could actually be a role model for them!” McLaughlin said. “This event gave all these women something to look forward to and something to work towards. In the end, it was the look of accomplishment and empowerment that I saw on all their faces that was the best thing about being involved.”
To view broadcasts of the event, visit KTVU, CBS5 or ABC7.