Kudos to inspiring young social entrepreneur Suraya Shivji, grade 12, who created an altruistic app to raise money to help African orphans become self-sufficient.
Shivji taught herself to program iPhone gaming apps and get them posted on Apple’s app store. She is now using them, along with a crowd-funding campaign she began this year on her website, Rizikitoto, as a source of revenue for the needy orphans.
The website has generated about $1,300 for the children at a Ugandan orphanage, Bright Futures Home, with money from each app designated for a particular child. The orphanage program is further supported by Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit group that seeks to close the gender gap in technology and engineering.
In mid-December, lower school students completed a service project culminating in presents under the trees of many families who were otherwise unable to afford them. While the massive toy drive was a grade 4 service project, many other lower school families joined them in donating toys, explained Ken Allen, lower school dean of students.
Grade 4 students went the extra mile by not only collecting toys, but also counting and loading them for delivery. At the end of the project, more than 275 toys were delivered to Sacred Heart Community Services in San Jose.
“We wanted to take a minute to thank those of you that have already participated in the fourth-grade toy drive. The items are continuing to come in daily and we are extremely grateful,” Allen said during the drive.
Eight grade 7 students in the advisory of Cindy Ellis, middle school head, are collecting shoes for those in need. The shoe drive, which began on Nov. 17 and will run until Dec. 9, aims to collect gently used shoes for donation to Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty worldwide.
Prior to launching the shoe drive – their first service project of the year – Ellis and her advisory created fliers. “We will be collecting shoes to be processed and delivered to people around the world who don’t have any. Children can’t go to school without shoes and adults can’t go to work barefoot. Disease is rampant where people can’t protect their feet,” she said.
Ellis urged the entire Harker community to look in their closets to “find those gently used shoes that just don’t fit anymore or were never worn. We have collection tubs in the front and back loading zones as well as a collection box in the front office. Soles4Souls is the destination for your shoe stash. All sizes and styles are welcome!” she said.
Founded in 2006, Soles4Souls’ mission is to collect new and used shoes and clothing from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distribute them via both direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) was the real winner of a students versus faculty/staff basketball game held during a long lunch on Nov.12 in the upper school gym.
The Hoops & Scoops charity basketball game was jointly sponsored by the Harker Disability Awareness Group and the Harker DECA chapter. During the game, members of the two student clubs scooped and served up delicious ice cream sundaes to onlookers. One scoop cost $2, while three scoops went for $5.Proceeds from the event, which totaled $405, benefited the MDA.
“We chose to support the MDA because they are DECA’s largest charitable partner,” said Juston Glass, director of Harker’s business and entrepreneurship program. “Students won, 72-59. But the real winner was MDA.”
The MDA is the world’s leading nonprofit health organization sponsoring research into the causes and effective treatments for neuromuscular diseases. MDA research grants currently support more than 250 projects worldwide.
Prior to the event, upper school students, faculty and staff were invited to sign up for basketball teams that were divided by grade levels. With 10 players per grade, freshman played the first quarter, sophomores played the second, juniors played the third and seniors played fourth.
“We wanted an activity that would involve the whole school and have it be interactive and fun. Having a friendly basketball competition seemed like a great way to do that. Being that it was a physical activity, we were able to truly embrace the MDA’s mission of ‘make a muscle; make a difference.’ We hope it to be the start of an annual tradition,” Glass said.
In mid-November, the middle school’s Wildlife SOS club sold handmade greeting cards for $1 each to raise money for Wildlife SOS, an organization that works to protect wildlife in India.
In addition to cards, the group sold a few handmade key chains for 50 cents and $1 each. Although the club did not supply envelopes for the cards, it plans to make them available in the future if there is enough interest.
Wildlife SOS (http://www.wildlifesos.org/) was established in 1995 by a small group of people inspired to start a movement and make lasting change to protect and conserve India’s natural heritage, forests and wildlife wealth.
A group of Harker upper school students signed on to volunteer with The Tutoring Network (TTN), a Stanford-based nonprofit organization that offers free after-school tutoring at local elementary schools.
Launched in 2008, TTN’s goal is to provide meaningful service experiences for high schoolers. For the second year in a row, Harker volunteers have tutored students at the Empire Gardens Elementary School in San Jose.
Called the Harker School-Empire Gardens Partnership, this year’s group comprises a board led by site co-directors Sadhika Malladi, grade 11, and Vienna Wang, grade 10. Joining them as board members are fellow Harker students Edward Sheu, Kristen Ko and Madison Tomihiro, all grade 11, and Allison Kiang, grade 12.
Malladi said she became interested in TTN in eighth grade, when she decided that all of her extra time should be put to good use doing community service. She went on to found the (now discontinued) Blackford Elementary School TTN site and is currently focused on growing the Empire Gardens site. In addition to serving as site co-director, Malladi helps to oversee board operations.
Wang said she began working with TTN because her sister had previously volunteered with the program. When she first joined TTN, she especially enjoyed teaching children math and watching them have fun while learning.
The commitment for the Harker TTN volunteers is two days per week, with the program running until June. The goal of improving the basic math skills of students in grades 2-5. The curriculum covered by tutors is set up by TTN volunteers and school staff.
Grade 2 students recently painted and delivered colorful pumpkins to residents living near the lower school campus in an effort to thank them for being such good neighbors. The pumpkins were created on Oct. 24 and delivered the following week.
The pumpkin painting and delivery is an annual outreach and community service project for Harker’s lower school students. Last year the painting was moved to the art room, where it will remain. Students painted in the art room during their health education classes with members of the BEST staff on hand to assist in the effort, according to lower school art teacher Gerry-louise Robinson.
Robinson said the second graders enjoyed walking around their school’s neighborhood, leaving pumpkins and cards on porches – bringing about both the spirit of Halloween and the spirit of giving.
Two Harker students were featured in the San Jose Mercury News in early October for extracurricular projects they completed with friends from other schools. Leo Yu, grade 12, worked with friends from Leland High School and Monta Vista High School to create a 3-D printed prosthetic hand that can be attached to a human arm and hopefully will be used to improve the life of a child in need. Vineet Kosaraju, grade 11, and a friend at Monta Vista established their own nonprofit called Math and Coding to help students as young as 8 foster their interests in math and programming. Since founding Math and Coding in the spring, the students have traveled around the country to show it to various libraries. In December 2015, another article appeared on Kosajaru’s good works in the Los Altos Town Crier!
Andrew Jin, grade 12, recently donated a beautifully crafted enclosed bulletin board he built himself for his final Eagle Scout project. The bulletin board, about 4 ft x 4 ft., features a solid wood frame, cork posting surface, wood-framed plexiglass doors and a lock, and was completed with funding assistance from Home Depot. It will be hung on the upper school campus, to the right of the main entrance, just outside the office of Kevin Williamson, upper school dean of students. Many thanks to Jin for the effort that went into crafting this beauty, and for his kind contribution, which will no doubt be of service to thousands of students who will follow him at Harker.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Grade 1 students recently completed their annual community service project for the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. The class worked to improve the lives of the shelter’s displaced rabbits, dogs and cats by collecting monetary donations, as well as buying needed supplies and making toys for the animals.
“It was pretty sweet to get Ziploc bags filled with dollar bills and coins. Every bit made a difference. … We also collected over 50 bags of food, toys, rabbit hay, treats, collars, leashes, blankets, sheets and towels. We also raised over $1,250. A new record!” reported Cindy Proctor, a grade 1 homeroom teacher who helped oversee the project.
To learn as much as possible about the Humane Society – an 80-year-old independent, nonprofit animal shelter – the children toured the Silicon Valley facility. Following the fun and informative outing, the students decorated a bulletin board with photos of themselves and their animal friends. They also made pet blankets and toys for donation. Parents played a role as well, as the children were encouraged to earn extra money for the Humane Society by doing small jobs around the house.