This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
The Harker School’s global education and performing arts departments were thrilled to warmly welcome more than two dozen students who recently visited from Saint Stephen’s College, a college preparatory independent school located on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Accompanied by three chaperones, the group of 25 performing arts students were at Harker from Sept. 22-26. The group’s packed performing arts itinerary included visits to Harker’s theater, music, choreography and acting classes, as well as a special observation of a rehearsal of the fall play, “Hamlet,” followed by dinner.
According to Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, the visit went extremely well and was part of a larger performing arts tour of the United States that the Australian exchange students and their chaperones were taking.
Especially gratifying to Walrod was the fact that numerous performing arts students at Harker helped out with the visit, accompanying Saint Stephen’s students for breakfast and lunch, escorting them to and from classes, and even joining them for a fun night out shopping and dining at Santana Row.
“We have also hosted two previous summer upper school trips where students visited Saint Stephen’s, attended their weeklong leadership retreat, and stayed in homestays. Plus, their exchange students and teachers always visit our middle and lower schools to read stories and talk about Australian history,” added Walrod.
The Harker School’s global education and performing arts departments were thrilled to warmly welcome more than two dozen students who recently visited from Saint Stephen’s College, a college preparatory independent school located on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Accompanied by three chaperones, the group of 25 performing arts students were at Harker from Sept. 22-26. After spending their first weekend upon arrival checking in at a nearby hotel and going on an all-day tour of San Francisco, they got off to a bright and early start Monday morning at Harker. Their first day here began with an early breakfast in the upper school’s bistro followed by a tour of the campus.
The group’s packed performing arts itinerary included visits to Harker’s theater, music, choreography and acting classes, as well as a special observation of a rehearsal of the fall play, “Hamlet,” followed by dinner.
According to Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education, the visit went extremely well and was part of a larger performing arts tour of the United States that the Australian exchange students and their chaperones were taking.
“They had spent six days in New York City before coming to San Jose for five days, with their tour ending down in Los Angeles. They enjoyed visiting a wide variety of performing arts classes here at Harker, as well as attending regular classes to see how the American educational system works,” she said.
Especially gratifying to Walrod was the fact that numerous performing arts students at Harker helped out with the visit, accompanying Saint Stephen’s students for breakfast and lunch, escorting them to and from classes, and even joining them for a fun night out shopping and dining at Santana Row.
During the past decade, Harker has enjoyed a warm relationship and mutually beneficial exchange program with Saint Stephen’s College. Last year, Ruth Meyer, an upper school history teacher, spent two weeks in Australia at the college as part of that year’s teacher exchange program. Meyer spent most of her time teaching freshman history and junior English to the school’s students, who she said were like Harker students in that, “they are happy, helpful and enjoy school.” English teacher Jennifer Siraganian enjoyed the exchange this past summer (see Harker Quarterly, fall 2012).
“We have also hosted two previous summer upper school trips where students visited Saint Stephen’s, attended their weeklong leadership retreat, and stayed in homestays. Plus their exchange students and teachers always visit our middle and lower schools to read stories and talk about Australian history,” added Walrod.
This article was originally published in the fall 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Harker’s global education program sent upper school English teacher Jennifer Siraganian to Saint Stephen’s College on the Gold Coast of Australia, as part of this year’s teacher exchange with the school.
During her two-week stay, Siraganian lectured to 125 grade 10 students on the subject of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” She also taught Claudius’ famous soliloquy from “Hamlet” to grade 12 students and illustrated the Gunpowder Plot’s influence on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” to grade 11 students.
“After observing over 40 English, writing, ESL and history classes, I noticed that the St. Stephen’s teachers are warm, wonderful and dedicated to their students,” Siraganian said. “The students were so friendly, excited and personable. In addition, the kids were fascinated with California, often asking me if I knew any famous people.”
During her breaks from teaching, Siraganian visited a local wildlife sanctuary with St. Stephen’s teacher Sam Cleary, who visited Harker in the spring, and went with a number of St. Stephen’s teachers to the popular dinner show “Australian Outback Spectacular.”
Personal highlights from the trip included “timing sprinters at the St. Stephen’s Athletic Fair. I sampled Australian delights such as Pavlova and Lamington squares at a real Aussie ‘barbie’ hosted by the English department.”
On Sept. 6, Yu Sasaki, a Japanese representative from Save the Children, visited Harker to talk to the students about her relief work in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March of 2011. “She was thrilled that the Harker kids helped fundraise for the relief efforts,” said Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s global education director.
Sasaki visited several classes throughout the day, including Keiko Irino’s honors Japanese classes and Masako Onakado’s AP Japanese and contemporary Japan classes. “She stayed with us all day long, giving presentations to five classes,” Onakado said, adding that presentations were given in both English and Japanese. “Students asked some good questions, and they said that the presentation was very informative!”
This story was originally published in the spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly.
Nineteen students from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai, China, visited Harker in mid-January for this year’s exchange between the two schools. The visitors stayed with grade 8 families who kept them busy with activities, including visits to the many beautiful and historic sites in the area.
While at Harker, the students spent their days observing and participating in classes, such as Monica Colletti’s drama class and Elizabeth Saltos’ art class. They also made Native American dream catchers with middle school history teacher Keith Hirota and embarked on a scavenger hunt on the middle school campus.
Another highlight of their visit was a trip to Stanford University, where they toured the large campus and got to peruse its bookstore. Later that day, back at Harker, they enjoyed a dance class taught by Gail Palmer.
On the final day of their visit, the students were treated to a farewell breakfast, where students from both Harker and WFLMS gave special performances. The Harker students will visit their WFLMS friends in China in late March.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
Rina Sakuraba and Maki Shibata, two upper school students from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Tamagawa Gakuen, spent a month at the upper school experiencing the life of Harker students firsthand.
The students had a schedule of classes and activities for each week of their stay. Shibata enjoyed psychology class and listening to the Harker orchestra during rehearsal, while Sakuraba had fun participating in Masako Onakado’s Contemporary Japanese class and sitting in on Cantilena’s class sessions to listen to the talented singers.
The students also had a great time at the Winter Ball and went on a trip to Santa Cruz on a day off, where they had fun on the rides at the famous beach boardwalk. Middle school Japanese students were also paid a visit by the two students, who gave presentations on Japanese cultural topics such as origami, kabuki and Japanese hot springs (known as onsen).
Prior to heading back to Japan, Sakuraba and Shibata said they found Harker students to be very friendly and hoped to strengthen their newfound friendships in the future.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
A group of 27 grade 7 students and four chaperones traveled to Japan in December to see the country’s many cultural wonders and visit their friends at Tamagawa Gakuen in Tokyo.
The contingent spent the first stage of their trip traveling through Kyoto, Japan’s former capital city, viewing the famous Golden Pavilion, as well as visiting the Gion district, well-known as a center of geisha culture in Japan. There, they also painted fans using their own unique designs.
Next, they boarded a bullet train bound for Hiroshima, where they visited Miyajima Island and its famous Itsukushima Shrine. “Although it was low tide, it was too muddy for the kids to walk up to the torii gate, but they were able to take many photos of this UNESCO World Heritage site,” said Jennifer Walrod, global education director. The students then revisited Kyoto to tour Nijo castle, the stronghold of the shogun during the Tokugawa era.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, the students were greeted by a teacher from Tamagawa and escorted to their hotel. The next morning, they were greeted with excitement by their friends at Tamagawa, who treated them to a special welcome ceremony. Over the next few days, the students attended classes with their Tamagawa buddies and visited various sites around Tokyo, sampling the many different foods and treats.
This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly
Kouya Asahi, music teacher at Tamagawa Gakuen, spent two weeks in January teaching students at all three Harker campuses. Middle school music teacher Dave Hart visited Tamagawa in October to teach their students and came away excited at the prospect of having Asahi bring his unique vision to Harker’s orchestras. In addition to teaching Harker’s students Asahi was also treated to a performance of the musical “West Side Story” at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts.
The Harker upper school received a special visit in March from 25 Tamagawa Gakuen high school students, who stopped by while visiting the United States on a tour of American colleges. Led by Fumito Kurematsu, head of Tamagawa’s international exchange program, the students met with Harker’s college counselors, observed and participated in classes and enjoyed lunch on campus before continuing on with their trip.
Still in awe over their recent trip to China, the fifteen grade 8 participants have settled back into school – but with a new shared bond from an exciting, uplifting adventure.
The annual trip to China is a highlight and culmination of the middle school experience for these students, and something they look forward to for many years.
After arriving at the Pudong International Airport on March 29, the students were welcomed by their Chines buddies from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS), who presented them with bouquets of flowers. From there they hopped on a bus for the short drive into the city to meet their host families.
The next morning, upon arriving at WFLMS, the Harker students were warmly greeted by the school’s teachers and students. The day began with a welcome ceremony, broadcast to the entire school, followed by a fun scavenger hunt.
The group also attended a special art class where they learned about theater masks and had the opportunity to sketch and paint masks of their own. Additionally, they attended a “wushu” class, a form of martial arts and popular Chinese sport.
After giving PowerPoint presentations on American culture to their Chinese peers, the Harker students headed off to the cafeteria to make dumpling – almost as fun as eating them! The day ended with a spectacular show called “ERA Intersection of Time,” featuring a dramatic combination of circus-like acts, acrobats and dance set to music with special effects.
Soon after, the students were excited to set out for their first field trip, to Zhujiazhou, which is a beautiful canal town outside of Shanghai. There, they walked along the canals and narrow cobblestone streets, stopping occasionally to visit museums, a Buddhist temple, and a garden filled with rock structures which invited climbing.
“At one point we stopped our wandering so the kids could purchase live fish and turtles to release into the water as a symbol of good luck and character,” recalled Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s global education director, who accompanied the students on the trip.
From there, they enjoyed sightseeing and shopping, with many students trying their hand at bargaining, and several walking away with incredible deals. The final activity of the outing was a beautiful boat ride through the canals, or what Walrod referred to as the “Venice of Shanghai.”
That evening was bittersweet as both Harker and WFLMS students gave touching goodbye speeches and performances, preparing to depart for the next phase of the trip to Beijing. The Harker students’ first adventure in Beijing consisted of a rickshaw tour of the Hutong, or ancient alleyways that once covered the city.
Next on the itinerary was a visit to the Great Wall of China. Taking a ski lift to the top of the mountain, they entered onto the wall. Many photos were taken of the renowned structure, and the students were thrilled to take a toboggan ride back down the side of the mountain.
The contingent returned to Beijing the next day and visited Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 protests and ensuing military action. They next headed to the Forbidden City, where they were guided through several of its 980 palatial buildings.
After enjoying lunch, they went to the Silk Street, a shopping center where they could continue to improve their haggling skills with its many vendors. From there they traveled to a final outing, Summer Palace, China’s largest imperial garden, and rode a dragon boat to the palace’s pavilion.
The students arrived back home on April 7, feeling both bonded and eager to share their trip experiences with friends and family.