Harker Quarterly Spring 2016

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Grade 5 Musical: Pirates!

‘One Team, One Dream’ Gala Dazzles Crowd

Clubs Offer Something for Everyone

Learn, Explore at Summer Camps

Lower and Middle School Athletic Program Thrives

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Pam DickinsonDirector

William CracraftEditor

Catherine SniderJenn MaragoniCopy Editors

Mark KocinaPhoto Editor

Blue Heron DesignRebecca McCartneyTriple J Design Design

Diamond Quality PrintingPrinting

Stefan Armijo

Debbie Cohen

Zach Jones

Mark Kocina

Chris Nikoloff

Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

Erin Vokey, parent

Contributors

The Harker School is an independent, coed, college-prep school serving preschool through grade 12.

Preschool:4525 Union Ave., San Jose, CA 95124

K-Grade 5: 4300 Bucknall Rd., San Jose, CA 95130

Grades 6-8:3800 Blackford Ave., San Jose, CA 95117

Grades 9-12:500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129

Published four times a year, Harker Quarterly showcases some of the top news, leading pro-grams, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community.

Produced by the Harker Office of Communication500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129 [email protected] · 408.345.9273

NEXT EDITION: JUNE 2016

CoverPhotoHarker’s K-12 performing arts program provides boundless

opportunities for students to perform in plays and musicals,

and choral, dance and instrumental groups. This is a photo of

the production “Pirates: The Musical,” which had the whole

fifth grade on stage in full pirate regalia. This photo of Anna

Bean, “King of the High Cs,” was taken by our staff photog-

rapher, Mark Kocina, who noted, “It was just a blast to shoot

such a colorful and animated production!” Kellie Binney-

Smart, the show’s director, said, “One of the most rewarding

and fun aspects of putting this show together was seeing the

students create interesting backstories of their pirate characters!” See page 32 for a brief review

of the production and read all about the many other performing arts events at Harker!

Subscribe to Harker News and get the latest daily updates. Visit www.harker.news.org.

Find, Friend & Follow Us!Join us for tweets, videos, announcements, photo sharing and more!http://www.facebook.com/harkerschoolhttp://www.youtube.com/harkerschoolhttp://twitter.com/harkerschoolhttp://www.flickr.com/groups/harkerschoolhttp://instagram.com/harkerschool/

Prefer to Read Harker Quarterly Online?You can opt out of receiving Harker Quarterly by mail and just read it online at https://issuu.com/theharkerschool. To be removed from the mailing list, email us at [email protected].

From its early beginnings in

1893 — when Stanford Univer-

sity leaders assisted in its es-

tablishment — to its reputation today

as a leading preparatory school with

graduates attending prestigious uni-

versities worldwide, Harker’s mission

has remained constant: to create an

environment that promotes academic

excellence, inspires intellectual curi-

osity, expects personal accountability

and forever instills a genuine passion

for learning. Whether striving for aca-

demic achievement, raising funds for

global concerns, performing on stage

or scoring a goal, Harker students en-

courage and support one another and

celebrate each other’s efforts and suc-

cesses, at Harker and beyond. Hark-

er is a dynamic, supportive, fun and

nurturing community where kids and

their families make friends for life.

AboutHarker

Intel Finalist: Making a Difference

We’re very proud of Harker senior Jonathan Ma who, as one of only 40 finalists na-

tionwide in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search, attended the national competition

in Washington, D.C., this month. Jonathan’s project, “Genomics-Based Cancer Drug

Response Prediction Through the Adaptive Elastic Net,” has the potential to materially affect drug

treatment for cancer sufferers, allowing medical professionals to identify which drugs will work best

on patients based on their genetic makeup. The other Harker semifinalists this year were seniors

Vineet Kosaraju, Sophia Luo and Sadhika Malladi. All four of these students’ projects were aimed at

making a difference in the lives of others, and we couldn’t be prouder. You can read

more by going to news.harker.org and searching for “Intel.” Congratulations to all!

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HARKER QUARTERLY AWARDSWinner of CASE silver and bronze awards, and two Marcom platinum awards.

Printed on partially recycled paper

3H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY S P R I N G 2 016

departments

inside features

SPRING 2016

6 28

‘One Team, One Dream’ Gala Dazzles Crowd 6

Kid Talk: Preschoolers Speak Out 9

Upper School Clubs Offer Something for Everyone 10

Learn, Explore at Harker Summer Camps 14

Multimedia Longforms Bring Stories to Life 17

Lower and Middle School Athletics Program Thrives 22

Moveable Classrooms Enhance Learning 28

Shanghai Exchange Connects Two Worlds 38

Headlines 4

Eagle Report 18

Business & Entrepreneurship 26

Harker Concert Series 31

Performing Arts 32

Harker Speaker Series 37

Advancement 40

Milestones 42

Speech and Debate 43

Greater Good 44

Alumni News 45

18

14

17

38

22

10

Headlines


By Christopher NikoloffHead of School

I am a reformed academic. And it is springtime. Shortly, I hope to show how these two

statements are related.

First, regarding the academic statement: I believe in students learning academic content

from a teacher who is a subject matter expert and who loves children. I want students to

graduate knowing the difference between compose and comprise, what moves a demand

curve, why we might need to find the derivative of an equation, the structure of DNA, the principle causes of the Great

Depression and how to conjugate verbs in another language.

Nothing warms my heart more than when a student in class asks an extremely nuanced, insightful question like, “Is

synesthesia a physical or psychological phenomenon?”

Yes, I believe in problem-solving and critical thinking, but I believe these

skills rest on a solid foundation of academic knowledge. I believe it is folly

to say that students only need to know how “to think” because they can

Google everything else. Without context and background knowledge about

the Civil War or photosynthesis, how does a student know what to Google

in the first place?

And it is springtime. How is spring related to being an academic? I can explain

with the help of a Zen poem: “In the landscape of spring, there is neither

better nor worse. The flowering branches grow naturally, some long, some short.” Does that clear things up?

Now that it is spring, flowers, trees, everything is starting to bloom. Each blooms at its own pace, some early, some late. Do

we judge the early bloomers, the flowers in full bloom, as superior? The flowers and branches that have yet to fully bloom –

are they inferior?

Back to academics. I came relatively late to academics. In my junior year in high school, I began to work hard because

someone told me I had to go to college and I’d better prepare.

Students and Spring: Both Bloom in their Own Time

Nothing warms my heart more than when a student in class asks an extremely nuanced,

insightful question like, “Is synesthesia a

physical or psychological phenomenon?”

Headlines

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I started to fall in love with poetry and calculus. Who knew? Interestingly enough, the love followed

the hard work – not the other way around. And the work followed the fear of not being prepared for

college. So I owe my being an academic to fear. But that fear quickly turned into love

and no one, not even I, could have predicted it would happen.

When will the students among us bloom? Does everyone have to bloom

by the age of 14? 18? How many blooms does a lifetime get? Students,

like flowers, need good soil, nurturing, sunlight and sometimes a stick

in the ground for structure, but their blooming is unpredictable, even

by the student.

We cannot be judgmental if a student hasn’t bloomed yet.

Neither can we force a blooming when it is not yet time.

Nor should we have preconceived notions about when

or how a blooming will happen. Flowering branches

grow naturally, some long and some short.

I am a reformed academic. And it is

springtime. Who knew exactly how or

when either would happen? We have

ideas about when these things

will happen. But reality has its

own ideas, and they spring forth

wonderfully and unpredictably all

the time. Some long, some short.


One Team, One Dream’ Theme of this Year’s Unique Night on the Town Gala

‘

By Zach Jones and Debbie Cohen

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MORE THAN 300 ATTENDEES came together for the recent Night on the Town gala, held on the evening of Feb. 26 at the United Club at Levi’s Stadium, site of this year’s Super Bowl. The theme “One Team, One Dream” set the stage for a memorable night filled with delicious food, fun casino games, dancing and more.

Harker’s athletics programs were a major focus of the celebration, which raises money for the endowment fund. Throughout the evening, photos of Harker alumni who currently play sports at the collegiate level were shown on dozens of screens around the room. Sponsors were honored by having their names displayed on the room’s screens and on the stadium ribbon board.

“We had quite a Night on the Town, and our students were the winners! In this fitting setting, we showcased our student athletes and the importance of providing our athletes and performing artists with quality facilities so they can thrive,” said Chris Nikoloff, head of school.

“WE HAD QUITE A

NIGHT ON THE TOWN,

AND OUR STUDENTS WERE THE

WINNERS!” – Chris Nikoloff, Head of School

Photos by Mark Kocina

“Harker is like our village and the school looks after not only our children, but also us parents. Our children have access not only to the best academia and superior facilities for study but also are able to pursue their interests in sports, arts, etc.,” said Aarti Awasthi (Mohan, grade 8; Shivani, grade 11).

One of the highlights of the event was an entertaining “chalk talk” video in which Nikoloff played the straight man to chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine’s upbeat, motivational sports coach. Nikoloff stood at a podium delivering a diplomatic, salesman-like speech extolling the virtues of the new buildings, which Irvine translated into an invigorating pep talk.

This year’s silent auction had attendees bidding for prizes such as concert tickets, jewelry, a cruise, Disneyland passes and VIP packages to Harker events including the Harvest Festival and upper school graduation ceremony. Attendees also saw an exhilarating performance by the Harker cheerleaders and captured their



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memories of the night at the photo opportunity area.

“I think education is the silver bullet. Harker offers a top-notch, inspiring education. It benefits the school and our community to be able to offer this education to children and young adults regardless of economic means. Sponsorship money goes directly into the endowment for this purpose and others,” said Lesley Matheson (Lauren

Rossi, grade 1; Lachlan Rossi, grade 4; Leland Rossi, grade 7).

“Thanks to all our sponsors, volunteers and families who contributed to making this Night on the Town a great success. I am grateful for all the benefits that result from our strong culture and tradition of philanthropy. One Team, One Dream!” said Nikoloff.

By Debbie Cohen

Talk!Kid Talk!Kid Talk!Kid


“I have fun playing with Rescue Bots and making fire trucks out of clay.” – Connor Todasco

“I mostly like to play super fighter with my friends. I also like to make pizzas out of playdough.” – Caden Walker

“I love using the easel in art class and climbing way up on the monkey bars!” – Maya Akunuri

“My favorite thing is playing and eating yummy snacks. And doing something fun.” – Kabir Bhatia

“I like everything!” – Daniela Bonomi

“Monkey bars!” – Elsa Wick

“The best thing about school is playing with friends. Oh, and climbing up trees and sliding back down.” – Pasha Heidari

“When I’m outside I like to ride the bikes. Inside, I like to build things. That’s what I like to do at home, too.” – Colin Campbell

“I like to play with building blocks and make stuff. I especially like to build houses.” – Aaron Lau

“I like to make things in art. I like to make anything!” – Navya Maddipudi

“Art is really fun. You can make a lot of stuff for your mom.” – Sophie Shen

“Science projects are really fun to make. In science class we learned all about rainbows.” – Tvisha Singh

“I can’t wait to go outside and play on the monkey bars!” – Julie Hu

“Making a big fire station out of building blocks is really fun.” – Liam Halback

Harker Preschool Students Share

Favorite Ways to Spend the School Day

On a recent visit to the preschool campus, Harker Quarterly caught up with an enthusiastic group of 4-year-olds during recess, who shared what they are most passionate about at school. When asked to name their favorite part of the school day, students cited everything from climbing high on the monkey bars to having yummy snack time to playing superheroes with friends. Enjoy this special feature highlighting how preschoolers say they love to spend the day!

By Debbie Cohen



Each fall upper school students flock to the gymnasium for the Harker Club Fair to see the huge offering of

clubs catering to a wide variety of interests. Although they are not part of Harker’s academic programs, student clubs offer a wealth of opportunities for personal growth.

“Joining a club will give you some life skills that you may not be able to get in other areas,” said clubs coordinator Eric Kallbrier, “like working as a group outside of an academic setting, being organized and developing leadership skills. Clubs give you an opportunity to find out more

By Zach Jones

Build Friendships, Establish Life Skills

tudent



about your personal interests and your personal strengths. I think it’s really important, especially for high schoolers as they develop into adult citizens, to better understand how they can use their talents and interests to serve themselves, each other and their greater community.”

One club dedicated to helping students reach their academic potential is the Tutoring Club, which currently boasts 121 student tutors and assists students in every subject and from all grade levels at Harker. It is unique in its operation, as it forgoes club meetings and functions primarily via email. “Mostly, student tutors meet individually with their tutees and discuss the material the student is struggling with,” said Sanjana Marcé, grade 11, who serves as a club officer along with seniors Sohil Patel and Shivali Minocha. “As officers of the organization, we coordinate the pairing of students with available and capable peer tutors.”

Marcé says tutoring is rewarding because it benefits both the tutors and the students they support. “Through

one-on-one tutoring, you develop a personal interaction with your peers,” she said, “and see yourself directly involved in helping students learn and understand difficult concepts. The club gives student tutors a chance to go beyond simply absorbing material in class, instead giving the opportunity to teach and educate their peers.”

Other clubs are designed to help students further their interest in fun activities or explore new ones. Sophomores Wendy

Wang and Aadi Ghildiyal organized the Harker Anime Club, now in its second year, to give students who love Japanese animation a place to meet and make new friends. “I talked to Aadi, and then we decided the basic direction of the club,” said Wang, who serves as club president. “Then we found [upper school Japanese teacher] Ms. [Keiko] Irino, and told her about the reason we are creating the club, and what we are going to do.” Irino signed on as advisor and the club was founded with 10 members. It has since grown to 40. “I think I need to know more people at Harker who love anime, who love this kind of culture,” Wang said.

The club meets monthly in Irino’s classroom. At the first meeting of the year, members vote on which anime series they will watch together. Most of the members discovered the club at the Harker Club Fair, and anyone with an interest in Japanese animation is welcome to join. “Our club is just for fun,” Wang said. “For me, I want to make the club into a space for students to relax, to make more friends, to follow their interests.”

Other clubs focus on outdoor activities. One such club is Harker’s Archery Club, which meets twice a week. It was founded last year by students who thought the sport, which is part of the Olympics, was interesting for various reasons. “I started participating in archery for the reason a lot of people tell you not to start archery: I’m really into fantasy and adventure books,” said club treasurer Gwyneth Chen, grade 10, “and I thought characters like Legolas in ‘Lord of the Rings’ and Will in ‘Ranger’s Apprentice’ were cool and exciting.” She began archery in earnest during a lower school Harker summer

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• Tutoring Club

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program and has since become “more appreciative of the elegance and fun in the sport itself,” she added.

The club’s five members meet on Saturdays to shoot at a range in San Jose that is managed by the Black Mountain Bowmen Archery Club. All the basic equipment is provided by the club, as is instruction for beginning shooters. No prior experience with archery is necessary to be a member of the club, although members must sign a health waiver before they are allowed to attend the weekend meetings. The club also meets during the week on the upper school campus to go over safety practices and gear usage as well as work on physical conditioning.

Although the club is small, its members find it a great way to “to get outside, take a break from work, and exercise a few muscles you may not have known you had,” said Chen, who noted that “the club atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed.”

For students interested in politics and current events, Harker’s Junior State of America chapter has long been a primary destination. “The goal of the JSA is to facilitate political discussion,” said club president Kedar Gupta, grade 11. “We achieve this through club events and meetings mainly, which consist largely of open-ended discussions about current events.”

As 2016 is an election year, JSA has been particularly active in the past few months, hosting Pizza and Politics events, where students can watch the presidential debates while discussing the policies and campaigns of the candidates. The club also travels to three conventions each year, at which they convene with representatives from more than 30 Northern California schools. “These are awesome events for meeting new people who share an interest in politics,” said Gupta. In fact, attending a convention in Sacramento is what prompted Gupta to become a member. “I really enjoyed that weekend and all the lively discussions, so I continued to attend JSA events,” he said.

Although JSA is geared toward students interested in politics, Gupta says it allows students to participate in discussions even if they are not sure of their level

of interest. “JSA is friendly toward all members, since it allows them to engage in politics without being too hardcore,” he said. “Debates at conventions are always pretty funny, which is definitely helpful for those who aren’t too familiar with the issues at hand.”

Another large club at Harker is WiSTEM (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The club, which has existed for more than a decade, has been an instrumental part of Harker’s science program, due to its involvement

with the Harker Research Symposium and its efforts to attract guest lecturers, organize women-led activities and encourage women to be mentors to girls interested in STEM.

Current president Anika Mohindra, grade 12, has been involved with WiSTEM since her freshman year. When asked why she joined the club, she said, “I primarily loved being around so many girls as interested

in STEM as I was, especially since I had previously been to math camps where the gender ratio was hugely skewed.”

WiSTEM members deeply value their role in advancing the involvement of women in STEM fields, and in addition to their on-campus efforts, also devote considerable time to community outreach. Each semester, the STEM Buddies program sends WiSTEM members on visits to the preschool, where they engage and guide the preschool students with age-appropriate science experiments.

“Each visit has a different scientific theme,” Mohindra said. “For example, during the chemistry-focused day, WiSTEM members and upper school chemistry teachers put on a chemistry magic show and ran activity stations such as color mixing.”

STUDENT CLUBS

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During WiSTEM’s club week, members raise money for organizations that benefit various causes related to the club’s mission. This year, they raised more than $2,000 for WISER, which will go toward health care and education for young girls in Kenya. “Our donations will provide a safe place for 25 girls to live (including furniture and mosquito nets) and will provide school supplies for 25 girls for a year,” said Mohindra.

Every year, the club devotes a huge amount of time to the Harker Research Symposium, including tasks such as taking inventory, preparing badges and finalizing the schedule. “We also work with all the students giving talks and make sure they have properly prepared and rehearsed their presentations,” said Mohindra. “Of course, we are in charge of publicizing the event on campus and encouraging students to participate and attend.”

Other clubs include the Red Cross Club, which sponsors a blood drive every year, the Programming Club, which organizes the annual Harker Programming Invitational, and the Philosophy Club, which recently organized the Harker Philosophy Conference.

Students who wish to start a club must first fill out a club starter form, which every student receives at the beginning of the year. To complete the form, the club founders

must have a faculty advisor, a committed group of initial members and a mission statement.

Recently, Kallbrier has been devising more ways for students to find and join clubs that interest them. He is currently working on an online list of clubs that contains each club’s contact information and mission statement. Once finished, students will be able to find this list on the Harker website’s student portal. “That’s what I’m most excited about right now,” said Kallbrier.

For now, students can attend the Harker Club Fair, which typically takes place in September. “We have all the clubs go to the gym, they have booths set up, and they get to talk to other students about what their club does,“ said Kallbrier, “and those students can then figure out if that’s a good match for them and sign up on the spot.”

Students can also find a club by looking at the club board in the upper school’s main building, which lists every club and their advisors. Some clubs, such as WiSTEM, also have club weeks during which they stage special events and encourage students to join. “That’s a great time for clubs to promote what they stand for and what they do as an organization,” Kallbrier said.

He added the clubs present an opportunity for students to “better develop themselves and gain an understanding of who they are before they move off into college. Because you never know what you might experience at one of these clubs that can change your future.”

“I think it’s really important, especially for high schoolers, to better understand how they can use their talents and interests to serve themselves, each other and their greater community.” – Eric Kallbrier, clubs coordinator

STUDENT CLUBS

• And More!

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HARKER PRESCHOOL SUMMERFor our youngest learners, Harker Preschool’s summer program features art, music and movement, and STEM activities. The preschool’s beautiful 8-acre campus and caring teachers provide the ideal environment for learning and fun, which will include classroom activities, outdoor play in the preschool’s expansive lawn, garden and farm areas, and special events. Children will experience guided play that teaches complex concepts in a nurturing environment.

To be eligible for this program, children must be 3 years old by Dec. 1, 2016, and under 6 before August 2016. The preschool program is offered in two sessions: a four-week session will be held June 20-July 15 and a three-week session will be held July 18-Aug. 5. Parents may sign up for full days (8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) or half days (8:30 a.m.-noon).

For more information, visit the Harker Summer website at http://summer.harker.org.

SUMMER CAMP PLUSHarker’s Summer Camp Plus, for students in kindergarten through grade 5, combines great learning experiences with great fun. With four exciting morning academics options, students will have more opportunities for fun summer

By Zach JonesLearn, Explore, Create!

Harker’s summer programs will once again be a popular destination for kids looking to enrich their learning, acquire new skills or just have fun. Here’s a look at what’s in store!


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learning than ever before. The four-week program’s Core Focus, for grades 1-5, offers morning sessions in math, writing, coding and more. The brand new two-week Pick Your Passion option gives students the opportunity to take an intensive course in a subject of their choice, such as math, language arts, music and art.

Also new to Summer Camp Plus is Out ‘n’ About, for K-5, which will take students outdoors for activities focusing on character and collaboration. Kids will spend one fun-filled week learning important life lessons both on campus and in the local community.

In the afternoon, campers will have their choice of a vast array of activities, including sports, crafts and games. Following lunch, campers can enjoy group activities such as archery, basketball, wall climbing, dance, music and much more. From 3:30-5 p.m., campers will have a special-interest time to explore activities that interest them. Field trips to Bay Area landmarks are also in store for afternoon campers.

Younger students will have a blast at Harker’s KinderCamp, specially designed and staffed to prepare children to enter kindergarten. Morning sessions include learning opportunities in language arts and math, with an emphasis on hands-on concepts and technology-based instruction methods. Campers will receive individual attention and instruction will be customized to meet each student’s needs.

Please visit the Harker Summer website at http://summer.harker.org for more information, including scheduling and pricing.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SUMMER INSTITUTE: ALL-NEW PROGRAM! Middle school students in grades 6-8 will enjoy an all-new selection of academic opportunities at this year’s Summer Institute. These two-week sessions allow students to create their own schedules to maximize their learning. Available courses include Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, iOS App Design, Python Programming, Creative Writing and more. These courses feature the small class sizes, dedicated faculty and staff, and great facilities that have made Harker one of the nation’s top private schools.

The Summer Institute’s afternoon program gives students a chance to meet with friends, learn new skills and explore new interests. Students will separate into groups and participate in fun, friendly competition led by Harker’s well-trained summer staff.

Included in the afternoon program are sports such as basketball, volleyball and water polo, all taught in a positive environment with caring, highly experienced coaches. These afternoon activities are designed to develop sport-specific skills and teamwork in a fun and supportive setting.

Other course topics include music production, poetry and cooking. Afternoon courses can be taken by themselves or as an addition to the morning academic

courses, making the summer experience highly customizable.

The special one-week Out ‘n’ About program treats students to a

week of team-building, leadership and community service. Participants

will create teams and engage in numerous activities designed

to strengthen team

bonds, build confidence and forge lasting friendships. Teams will devise and execute service projects, play games and practice newfound skills in real-life situations.

UPPER SCHOOL SUMMER INSTITUTEHarker’s upper school Summer Institute is an ideal destination for Bay Area high school students looking for a comprehensive summer education experience. Those who wish to gain school credit for the upcoming academic year may select from many for-credit courses, including algebra, programming and biology. Students who wish to explore new interests or expand their knowledge of a subject have the option of taking one of several enrichment courses, including Creative Writers Workshop, Pre-Calculus Boost, Climate Change and Driver’s Education.

These rigorous courses are taught by Harker’s dedicated and well-qualified teachers. Students will enjoy small class

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sizes and top-notch facilities. Those who wish to enroll in the upper school Summer Institute must be entering grades 9-12 in fall 2016.

For more information about the upper school Summer Institute, including schedules and pricing, visit the Harker Summer website at http://summer.harker.org.

HARKER SUMMER SWIM SCHOOLSwimming is one of summer’s quintessential activities, and the Harker Summer Swim School is a great way for enthusiasts of all levels to learn new skills and refine their current abilities in a positive, non-competitive environment. The swim school accommodates 10 different skill levels, from beginners to advanced swimmers. Half-hour lessons are given daily and are developed to meet each swimmer’s goals. Swimmers ages 5-18 may participate in group or private lessons, while those ages 3-4 must take private lessons.

The Harker Swim School is conducted at the beautiful Singh Aquatic Center on the upper school campus, which contains a 75-by-112.5-foot pool and 13 lanes.

Swimmers in grades 2-8 interested in learning key aspects of competitive swimming have the option of signing up for the junior swim team, where they will build technique, endurance and other skills suitable for competition.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTITUTEHarker’s summer English Language Institute (ELI) has gained a worldwide reputation as a top program for international students looking to improve their English skills as they prepare for American boarding schools or English-speaking international schools. This five-week intensive session is available to all levels of English proficiency. Students are placed in classes according to their individual needs.

For younger students, the elementary program provides an age-appropriate learning environment for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. Students will spend their days at Harker’s lower school campus, building their speaking, listening and writing skills with access to campus facilities such as the library, computer labs and playgrounds. Classes with native speakers are available to advanced students in order to help them build more advanced skills and confidence.

Students ages 12-16 are placed in the secondary program, which contains

beginner/intermediate preparation and advanced preparation

courses. Students in the beginner/intermediate

course work in small groups using a curriculum designed to meet individual needs,

with homework assigned to help them build on concepts taught

in the classroom.

Advanced preparation students will focus on writing, comprehension and oral presentation. Students will take a test to determine their placement into the advanced preparation level. Classes will take place in the mornings from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., with homework time and teacher assistance available from 3:30-5 p.m. Students also will work with native-speaking conversation partners, with whom they will converse about their writing projects. Advanced preparation also includes special instruction to prepare students for American high schools, emphasizing preparation for the SSAT and TOEFL tests, essay writing, vocabulary and speaking fluency.

Secondary students also have the option of adding English to High School (E2H) instruction, which includes individualized resources, personal counseling and performance tracking.


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“The skills we’re teaching [students] about scientific research, they will take with them for a lifetime even if they don’t end up in a lab.” – Anita Chetty, Harker science department chair

Harker Research Symposium Begins Second Decade with ExcitementBy Zach Jones


SAVE THE DATE!The 2016 Harker Research

Symposium is on April 9.

As the Harker Research Symposium enters its second decade, a day of exciting talks, speakers and activities awaits the Harker community!

Throughout the day, Harker students will be giving talks about their own research via breakout sessions held in various rooms at Nichols Hall. Middle school students will be giving poster presentations in the upper school gym, encouraging attendees to inquire about their research.

Exhibitors such as Google, IBM, Lockheed Martin and Nvidia, and the ever-popular chemistry magic show, will dazzle the lunchtime audience.

In addition to the great exhibits and breakout sessions by Harker students, this year’s Harker Research Symposium promises another fascinating array of keynote speakers.

Omer Artun, the first morning keynote speaker, is the CEO and founder of AgilOne, a predictive marketing cloud designed to help retailers use analytical data and marketing campaigns to increase profitability. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co. as a consultant, was VP of strategic marketing at CDW/Micro Warehouse and served as senior director of B2B marketing for Best Buy’s For Business division.

Brienne Ghafourifar, another morning keynote speaker, is the co-founder of Entefy, a Palo Alto-based startup that Ghafourifar

hopes will one day fundamentally change the way people use technology to interact. Its pre-market release valuation has reached $50 million. At 17, she became the youngest college graduate to raise $1 million in venture funding.

This year’s afternoon keynote will be given by Jeffrey Rothschild (Jackiel, grade 12; Isaac ’14), who spent a decade at Facebook as its VIP of infrastructure engineering. He is now an investor and entrepreneurial mentor, and sits on the board of directors of Primary Data, Interana and Lytmus. Additionally, he is a part of Accel

Partners’ venture development team and is on Vanderbilt University’s Board of Trust. As a philanthropist, he has worked with the Kisii Eye Care Institute, which provides restorative eye surgery to western Kenyans, and the Dairy Farmers of Cherangany, another Kenya-based organization.

Alen Malek ’05, currently a Ph.D. candidate at University of California, Berkeley, will be this year’s alumni keynote speaker. A founding member of Harker’s robotics team, he later attended Stanford University, earning a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in electrical engineering. At Berkeley, he is working on his Ph.D. in computer science, performing research on sequential decision-making.

This event is open to all members of the Harker community and promises to be filled with fun and discovery. For more information, please visit www.harker.org/symposium.

About the Harker Longform: In fall 2015, the Harker Office of Communication launched the Harker

Longform, media-rich stories designed to highlight special moments in the Harker experience. Each longform article includes an in-depth story, with interviews, photos and video, presented to give readers a deeper look into what makes Harker a unique place to learn and thrive. Our first longform article, about Harker’s trip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, can be read at http://wp.me/pOeLQ-6Zw.

The most recent longform story covers the Harker Research Symposium and its 10th anniversary. Please visit http://wp.me/pOeLQ-7mV to read the story.


EagleReport

Girls BasketballThe girls varsity basketball team started the season on fire, winning nine of its first 10 games by an average margin of victory of 31 points. The team finished with an impressive 16-8 regular season record, and third place in the West Bay-Skyline Division.

The Eagles headed into CCS with a No. 10 ranking in the Division 4 tournament, which gave them home court advantage against their first round opponent, Terra Nova. However, injuries and illnesses left the Eagles shorthanded and the team fell to the Tigers 52-44, ending Harker’s season.

Leading the way for the Eagles were Joelle Anderson and Jordan

Thompson, both grade 11. Anderson averaged 14.3 points per game, while Thompson averaged an amazing 27.2 points per game, the best in the CCS and fifth in the state, according to MaxPreps.com. Thompson also became Harker’s all-time leading scorer this season, with her senior year still ahead of her.

Thompson was honored with a WBAL first-team selection, Anderson was named to the second team, and Satchi Thockchom and Selin Sayiner, both grade 10, received honorable mentions. Coach Tomas Thompson has his sights set high for the program’s future. “This was a great year for Harker girls basketball. Next year we return all five starters and, if we continue to work hard, we will contend for the league championship and have goals to advance in CCS,” he said. “This is the start of something special, and we can’t wait to get back to practice to get to the next level.”

Boys BasketballThe Eagles opened the year by winning the James Lick Invitational Tournament, the first tournament championship under coach Butch Keller. Elijah Edgehill, grade 12, was named tournament MVP, averaging 14 points and 14 rebounds a game.

The Eagles finished the season with a 12-12 record, making the playoffs as the No. 11 seed in the CCS Division 4 playoffs. They traveled to San Lorenzo Valley for their first round game, where the very talented Cougars defeated Harker 67-47, ending the team’s season. Edgehill and Roy Yuan, grade 9, led the Eagles offensively as Edgehill averaged 13.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, while Yuan dropped in a team high 15.2 points per game.

The boys basketball team also racked up accolades. Edgehill was named to the WBAL first team, Rohan Desikan, grade 12, received an honorable mention, and the team shined in the classroom, as it won the CCS scholastic championship with a 3.655 team GPA.

“This group worked

By Mark Kocina

Winter Sports Wrap The winter sports season was one for the Harker history books! Harker’s teams set scoring records, broke opponents’ streaks and reached new heights in the playoffs. And the Eagles continue to soar as the spring season gets underway.

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EagleReportreally hard all year, from summer league to the Thanksgiving and winter breaks,” stated Keller. “This was a remarkable team.”

WrestlingAlthough the varsity wrestling team was winless this year, several of its wrestlers had impressive individual seasons. Davis Howard, grade 11, became only the fourth Harker wrestler in school history to reach the league finals.

Howard finished second in league in his weight class and qualified for the CCS tournament, where he went 3-2 and became just the sixth Harker wrestler to reach the second day of the CCS tournament.

Anthony Contreras, grade 10, placed third in league and also qualified for CCS, where he had a solid 1-2 performance. Meanwhile, Daniel Reidenbach, grade 11, placed eighth in league for his weight class, although he didn’t qualify for CCS. Howard, Contreras and Reidenbach were each named to the all-

league team. As a team, the Harker wrestlers were named the CCS scholastic champion with a 3.475 team GPA.

Coach Karriem Stinson said, “I have been working with these

guys since middle school. It’s great to see them grow up.”

Girls SoccerIt was a rebuilding year for a very young varsity girls soccer team. They fielded only one senior, lost multiple starters and played up to a higher division. The Eagles went 0-15-1 on the season, but with a team comprising mostly underclassmen, the future looks bright.

The team always worked hard and stayed positive, and it showed as four Eagles were named to the WBAL all-league team. Lyndsey Mitchell, grade 11, was a first team selection, Anuva Mittal, grade 11, was named to the second team, and Layla Walker, grade 12, and Maile Chung, grade 11, were both honorable mentions.

“Throughout the year, we really grew as a team and became more comfortable with each

other,” said Mitchell. “I’m really excited for next year.”

Boys SoccerThe boys varsity soccer team played well all season, finishing with a 7-9-1 record and fourth place in the WBAL.

The Eagles started the season off on the right foot with a couple of big wins. First, they defeated Valley Christian 3-0 on Davis Field. Two days later, the Eagles made history as they upended Sacred Heart Prep 2-1 on their home field. Jared Anderson, grade 9, scored both goals in Harker’s first win at SHP in nearly 10 years and the Gators’ first home loss in five years!

The Eagles were well represented in the WBAL All-League awards as Oisin Coveney, grade 12, was a first-team selection, Omar Hamade, grade 12, was named to the second team, and Rohit Shah, grade 10, and Anderson were both honorable mentions. The boys soccer team also finished third for the CCS scholastic championship with team GPA of 3.680. “We had a really talented group with lots of raw talent,” stated Hamade. “It was super fun working with everyone on the team. We are all a family.”



EagleReportThe early winter sports season for grades 4-8 has concluded. Nearly 220 lower and middle school students participated in boys basketball and girls soccer.

Our varsity B and JVB1 boys basketball teams were both league and tournament champs!

Here are the teams’ final results:

VB (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball: The varsity B team, coached

by Josh Miller and Rich Amarillas, finished in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and went 9-0 overall. They were league champs of

the south division and tournament champs! Team awards went to Michael Mitchell, grade 7 (MVP), Vance Vu, grade 8 (Eagle) and Vedanth Sundaram, grade 8

(Coaches).

VB2 (Grade 7) Boys Basketball: The varsity B2 team, coached by Jon

Cvitanich, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a

3-4 record. Team awards went to Levi Sutton (MVP), Marcus

Anderson (Eagle) and Anmol Velagapudi (Coaches).

JVA (Grade 6) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity A team, coached by Mike Delfino, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 3-3 record and went 3-4 overall. Team awards went to Rishi Jain (MVP), Anquan Boldin Jr. (Eagle) and Alex Zhang (Coaches).

JVB6 (Grade 6) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity B6 team, coached by Matt Arensberg, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a 3-4 record. Team awards went to Marcus Page (MVP), Josh Tseitlin (Eagle) and Jack Hayashi (Coaches).

MS Intramural Boys Basketball: Team awards went to Tuhin Chatterjee, grade 7 (MVP), Alex Shing, grade 8 (Eagle) and Harrison Chang, grade 6, and Akshay Manglik, grade 7 (Coaches). The team was coached by CJ Cali, Jeff Martarano and Raul Rios.

JVB1(Grade 5) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity B1 team, coached by Dan Pringle and Karriem Stinson, finished in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and went 9-0 overall. They were league champs and tournament champs! Team awards went to Matthew Chen (MVP), Zeke Weng (Eagle), and Michael Pflaging and Armaan Thakker (Coaches).

JVB2 (Grade 5) Boys Basketball: The

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Lower and Middle School Results


EagleReportjunior varsity B2 team, coached by Kristian Tiopo, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 4-3 record. Team awards went to Boulus Ajlouny (MVP), Max Pflaging (Eagle) and Pranav Mullappalli (Coaches).

JVC (Grade 4) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity C team, coached by Jim McGovern, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 4-3 record. Team awards went to Om Tandon (MVP), Rohin Bhagat (Eagle) and Spencer Mak (Coaches).

LS Intramural Boys Basketball: Team awards went to Panav Gogte, grade 4 (MVP), Jack Ledford and Kyle Leung, both grade 4 (Eagle) and Vivek Nayyar, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Ken Allen and Jeff Paull.

VA (Grades 7-8) Girls Soccer: The varsity A team, coached by Brighid Wood, Brittney Moseley and Kelcie Lai, finished in seventh place in the WBAL with a record of 2-5-0. Team awards went to Aria Wong and Hannah Grannis, both grade 7, (MVP), and Dylan Williams, grade 7, and Delaney Logue, grade 8 (Coaches).

JVA (Grade 6) Girls Soccer: The junior varsity A team, coached by Cyrus Merrill and Mandy Schroeder, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a record of 2-3-1. Team awards went to Ashley Barth (MVP), Angela Jia (Eagle) and Diana Kohr (Coaches).

JVB (Grade 5) Girls Soccer: The junior varsity B team, coached by Lisa Lubke and Jared Ramsey, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 2-1-1 and went 2-3-1 overall. Team awards went to Anya Chauhan (MVP), Anika Muddu (Eagle) and Jia Parikh (Coaches).

LS Intramural Girls Soccer: Team awards went to Ananya Sriram, grade 4 (Eagle) and Kinnera Mulam, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Randy Le Gris and Maria Maldonado.

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With hundreds of grade 5-8 students competing on dozens of teams and using

facilities at three campuses, the lower and middle school sports program has become a force to be reckoned with. The program is a finely tuned machine that helps produce well-rounded Harker students, many of whom will move on to the upper school. It balances competitiveness, hard work and learning, all while emphasizing the love for the game.

Theresa “Smitty” Smith has the task of managing 55 lower and middle school teams in 16 sports, as well as coaching the upper school varsity girls volleyball team – for which she recently eclipsed 300 career wins. But it is all in a day’s work, she says. “There are a bazillion kids in the program, there are tons of teams. It’s a huge undertaking. But we have a really good program and I’m proud of that.”

Dedicated coachesGazing around the middle school gym just outside of Smith’s office, one can see the source of her pride in the many championship banners. Since 2008, the middle and lower schools have won 56 league titles. Smith gives the credit for the program’s success to her amazing coaches. “Any extra help that I need, all hands are on board. It’s a great unit of people to work with,” Smith said. “All are willing to jump in and take initiative, and it makes my job easier.” There are plenty of hands to help, too, as Smith has more than 40 devoted coaches and assistants, with about

a 50-50 split between walk-on coaches and Harker employees.

One of those coaches is Raul Rios, who has been working with Harker athletes for a decade. During the fall and winter, Rios can be found with the middle school athletes; in the spring he works with the upper school students. “I coach because I love sports and working with kids,” said Rios, who also heads up the shipping and receiving department at Harker. “It’s very rewarding seeing somebody using

something you taught them and succeeding with it.”

Dan Pringle is another loyal coach, who first began

coaching at Harker in 2000. Pringle is involved with

four different middle school sports and also

assists the upper school’s girls varsity basketball team. One

might think that kind of schedule would take its toll on a coach, but not Pringle. “Every year coaching at Harker, there has been a special

memory of a team, player or season that brings a smile to my face and shows me how lucky I am to be coaching at such a great school,” stated Pringle.

The sound of dozens of basketballs beating against the pavement as three girls teams practiced on the blacktop was almost deafening, but Charlotte Blanc, grade 8, loudly stated, “Coach Pringle is the best basketball coach I’ve ever had. He’s really serious and he’s really funny. He pushes you to work really hard.”

By Mark Kocina

Thriving Athletics Program Keeps Lower and Middle School Students Active

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Thriving Athletics Program Keeps Lower and Middle School Students Active


H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY S P R I N G 2 016 2 3

Hard work on and

off the fieldHard work is a common theme in conversations with Harker athletes, and is clearly something they do not shy away from. When asked for a favorite Harker sports memory, Ryan Tobin, grade 7, said, “We were playing soccer against Menlo last year and it was back and forth all game. The whole team worked their hardest and never gave up and we eventually won.”

So what makes Harker athletes want to work and try so hard? “Our students are unique, because at a very young age they are motivated to be successful in the classroom,” said Brighid Wood, coach and assistant to the middle school athletic directors. “We have been able to extend that focus onto the field and have seen some amazing results.”

Dhruv Saoji, grade 6, thinks the influence sometimes moves in the opposite direction. “Sports help you focus. It lets you clear your mind and then you have a fresh mind when you go back to academics.” Whether it is academics influencing sports or sports influencing academics, Harker students seem to enjoy bringing the same intensity into both arenas.

The work ethic displayed by Harker students produces an amazing effect in that the student athletes actually grow and evolve in their sports, and as people. “My favorite part of coaching

is getting to see the progression in the kids,” said first year Harker coach Brittney Moseley. “Just seeing how much they’ve grown on and off the field is beneficial and shows that I’ve done my job.” Wood added. “As [the students] grow in our system, we’ve seen some great strides on and off of the field. I feel like the success is found in development of character alongside ability, and that is always our goal.”

The element of funBut the middle school athletic program isn’t only about work ethic and personal growth, it is also about the athletes enjoying themselves. According to Smith, one of the philosophies of the program is “the element of fun.” When asked why he plays sports, Saoji answered just as one would expect a sixth grader to: “It’s time to have fun!” Though a little older, Blanc answered the question similarly: “It’s always so

THRIVING SPORTS PROGRAM

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Here is the impressive selection of sports available to lower and middle school students.

FallVA FootballVB FootballJunior Varsity A FootballJunior Varsity B FootballIntramural FootballVA SoftballJunior Varsity A/Junior Varsity B SoftballIntramural SoftballSwimmingCross CountryGolf Tournament

Early WinterVA Boys BasketballVB Boys BasketballVB2 Boys BasketballJunior Varsity A Boys BasketballJunior Varsity B6 Boys BasketballMiddle School Boys Intramural BasketballJunior Varsity B1 Boys BasketballJunior Varsity B2 Boys BasketballJunior Varsity C Boys BasketballLower School Intramural Boys BasketballVA Girls SoccerJunior Varsity A Girls SoccerJunior Varsity B Girls SoccerLower School Intramural Girls Soccer

Late WinterVA Girls BasketballVB Girls BasketballVB2 Girls BasketballJunior Varsity A Girls BasketballJunior Varsity B Girls BasketballJunior Varsity C Girls BasketballMiddle School Intramural Girls BasketballLower School Intramural Girls BasketballVA Boys SoccerVB Boys SoccerJunior Varsity A Boys SoccerJunior Varsity B Boys SoccerLower School Intramural Boys SoccerWrestling

SpringTrackTennisWater PoloVarsity A BaseballJunior Varsity A BaseballJunior Varsity B BaseballLower School Intramural BaseballVA Girls VolleyballVB Girls VolleyballVB2 Girls VolleyballJunior Varsity A Girls VolleyballJunior Varsity B6 Girls VolleyballJunior Varsity B1 Girls VolleyballJunior Varsity B2 Girls VolleyballLower School Intramural Girls VolleyballVA Boys VolleyballJunior Varsity A Boys VolleyballGolf Tournament

much fun. Even if your teammates aren’t your friends regularly at school, you connect as a team.”

“Last year we won the championship and all had an amazing time,” said basketball player Ashley Barth, grade 6. “We bonded as a team and became really close friends!”

Pringle hopes his coaching style encompasses all these qualities. “I want all my student athletes to gain confidence and self esteem while learning how to work as a team, and build lifelong relationships while having fun.”

Preparing for

high schoolThe results of the middle school sports experience are evident at the upper school campus. Jared Anderson, grade 9, is one of the stars of the boys varsity soccer team this year and a product of the Harker sports program. “The middle school sports program prepared me for high school sports because it led me to understand the competitiveness of high school sports without too

much pressure being placed on me,” Anderson noted.

Joelle Anderson, grade 11, who has been lighting up the scoreboard this year for the girls varsity basketball team, partially credits her success to her Harker middle school coaches. “They help you develop your skills. Those skills come in to effect when you play at a higher level,” she said.

“As [the students] grow in our system, we’ve seen some great strides on and off of the field. I feel like the success is found in development of character alongside ability, and that is always our goal.” —Brighid Wood, coach and assistant to middle school athletic directors



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In addition to the sport-specific preparation the Harker athletes receive in middle school, the variety of sporting opportunities also serves students well at the next level.

This year, Rachel Cheng, grade 11, earned a West Bay Athletic League first team honor in volleyball, but she might not have discovered her talent if not for the breadth of sports offered at the middle school. “I delved into a number of sports when I was in middle school,” she said. “I ran cross country, track and field, played soccer and played volleyball,” recalled Cheng. “I experimented with all these different kinds of sports, so I could easily find which ones I was good at, and which ones were my passion.”

Giving young student athletes choices and opportunities is all part of the pathway that Harker’s sports community has built over the years. Academics have always been prevalent at Harker, but appealing to students with a high interest in athletics has become a focus in recent years. “When we initially

started the upper school one grade at a time, a lot of our students and parents were hesitant to go [there]. Our better athletes went to the Mittys and Bellarmines and St. Francises,” remembered Smith. “Within the last five years, the retention rate on those top athletes has exploded.” This retention rate has shown great results as the upper school just came off one of its best fall seasons in Harker history, with five teams making the postseason. This success may not have been possible without the groundwork that Smith and her coaches create in their athletes at the lower and middle school levels.

On any given day, on any given Harker campus, a sixth grader could be scoring his first-ever basket, or an eighth grader kicking her final goal before heading to the upper school. But whether their teams are playing in a championship or working on drills, the Harker playing field is always filled with joy.

“You can’t make everyone happy, but I think we make a lot of people happy,” stated Smith with a slight grin.


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Business & Entrepreneurship

By William Cracraft

Harker DECA Excels at State ConferenceAlmost 90 students traveled to San Diego in early March to compete with more than 2,000 other California DECA members at the State Career Development Conference. Harker garnered six first place wins, a pair of second place wins, a quartet of third place wins and more than a dozen additional top 10 awards.

During the four days there, students competed, attended workshops, took protégé exams and went to Belmont Park for a little fun and relaxation.

A highlight of the trip was Harker’s chapter advisor, Juston Glass, passing on his 2015 Advisor of the Year award to the 2016 recipient.

Two days were dedicated to written events and role-play competitions. At the mini awards, 36 Harker students

were recognized for achievements in their respective competitions.

At the grand awards ceremony on the final day of the conference,

Harker DECA earned an astounding 26 top 10 wins. Additionally, 15 teams qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC), which will be held in Nashville, Tenn., in April.

Overall, this conference was a huge success for Harker DECA, not only in terms of competitions, but also in terms of experience. Students had a lot of fun in the SoCal sun and achieved competitive excellence. Harker DECA proved once again to be a top competitor in the most competitive state in the nation. DECA members are looking forward to ICDC!

DECA Astounds with Record-Breaking Wins at Annual ConferenceHarker DECA chapter members garnered 19 top three wins at the 2016 Silicon Valley Career Development Conference in early January and 42 teams received mini awards. In addition to the excellent competitive results, three members were elected to the Silicon Valley District Action Team for the 2016-17 year: Alisa Su, grade 10, as vice president of public relations; Erin Liu, grade 9, as vice president of fashion; and Haley Tran, grade 11, as

executive vice president.

Students were jazzed by the results and support they received from fellow students.

“The energy when a Harker DECA member won was unprecedented, and all the other students in the room were shocked by the amount of energy our chapter brought,” noted Vanessa Tyagi, grade 10, director of communications for Harker DECA.

“The support for each competitor was unbelievable,” added Alexander Mo, grade 11, director of written events. “I really think that Harker DECA impressed schools not only with our competitive results, but also our bond as a chapter.”

Changes within the chapter have improved results. “We’ve had the best competitive results this year since the inception of the business and entrepreneurship department,” said Sophia Luo, grade 12, Harker DECA CEO. “Thanks to our newly formed officer mentorship program, many of our members worked one-on-one with experienced officers and achieved competitive excellence. I’m so proud of everyone, mentors and mentees alike.”

Winning gave participants a huge charge. “The feeling when I heard my name being called up on to the stage was amazing,” noted Ashna Chandra, grade 10, Harker DECA director of membership. “All the late nights and hard work were definitely worth it. Just thinking about being on stage and receiving the trophy gives me chills, it was such a surreal experience.”

Not all the successes were from beating competitors; some came from just participating. “I had a really good time at SVCDC this year,” said Shaan Gagneja, grade 10. “I was a finalist in

DECA Members Expand Skills at Conferences and Help Middle Schoolers Delve into Business

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both events that I competed in, and an overall finalist in my written event. I got to meet new people and expand my social network. This conference was an overall success for Harker DECA, and I can’t wait for the rest of the competitive season.”

DECA Out and About on CampusesDECA is keeping busy back on campus, too. Starting early in the school year, the chapter sponsored an Idea Challenge on the middle school campus to bring DECA to middle schoolers. Middle school teams were assigned an item – in this case, a cardboard box – from which to create a product. Each team then had to promote the product via a video.

In late February, Glass and Logan Drazovich, grade 12, DECA vice president of public relations, went to the middle school campus to announce the winners of the Idea Challenge. Each team was judged on innovation, the value of their new idea, sustainability of the product and the effectiveness of their teamwork and communication.

Later in February, the DECA public relations team went to the middle school to meet with the members of the Stock Market Club. Drazovich led a discussion on the basics of the stock market, and gave the members valuable advice on how to play The Stock Market

Game, an online simulation of the global capital markets. The middle school Stock Market Club members were enthusiastic and eager to learn new tips and tricks on how to further their “investments.”

DECA also connected with the upper school student body at an informal “lunch and learn” gathering hosted by Sanil Rajput, grade 12, DECA director of finance. Rajput talked about the basics of insurance: how it works, the different types of insurance, and why it’s essential. “I believe the lunch and learn went flawlessly,” said Rajput. “Students came in ready to learn and excited and asked many questions throughout. Overall, it was a great experience for everyone.”

The chapter also hosted a showing and discussion of Shark Tank, the popular reality show that encourages entrepreneurship. Alisa Su noted, “It was not only fun to watch the show in a classroom setting, but the discussion was insightful and invigorating. Who

knew you could learn so much about business from a TV show!?”

Finally, DECA pitched top government officials in our area to promote programs like DECA. As part of its public policy-makers outreach, the group contacted Gov. Jerry Brown, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. In emails to each, DECA addressed the importance of career technical education programs in high school, hoping to engage the leaders in a dialogue.

For the full list of winners and additional details for each conference, go to news.harker.org and search “DECA.”

Harker DECA is an international competitive business organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible and experienced leaders.


Business & Entrepreneurship

The 2016 Silicon Valley Career Development Conference “was an overall success for Harker DECA, and I can’t wait for the rest of the competitive season.” — Shaan Gagneja, grade 10, DECA member

Moveable ClassrooMsMoveable ClassrooMsProvide Positive outlets for Middle sChool students’ natural energy

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harker’s middle school students have enthu-siastically welcomed the transformation of several classrooms into contemporary flexible learning spaces. The recent ergonomic make-

overs provide positive in-class outlets for their natural energy – including the ability to stand, swivel, slide and even bounce while learning.

These innovative “moveable classrooms” were designed within the last couple of years to benefit middle schoolers, who often have a hard time sitting still for extended periods of time. The redesign has been a labor of love for three forward-thinking middle school teachers: Patricia Lai Burrows, English; Scott Kley Contini,

computer science; and Thomas Artiss, biology.

Their students, meanwhile, report they find it easier to stay on task and learn in class. Among the most popular items in the moveable

classrooms are swivel chairs, stand-up desks, yoga balls, bouncy bands and podiums that students can use with either a stool or yoga ball.

“At some point in classes, you need to move around,” said Cameron Main, grade 6. He called the new moveable classrooms “relaxing” and said they

help keep him focused, “unlike unmovable furniture.”

Classmate Minali Kapadia agreed. “I love it! I always feel really squirmy in classes and find it hard to pay attention. The chairs make me feel comfort-able. I feel like I’m more relaxed, and that is the reason my grades are significantly better than previous years,” she said.

Burrows said she was inspired to change her room after reading articles about people – both adults and children – spending so much time sitting. She wanted to create an environment that would enable her students to move and wiggle since “that is what their bodies want to do.”

So she brought in a variety of items that would allow students to expend energy in class without disturbing others, including yoga balls for students to use instead of chairs, bouncy bands (resembling giant rubber bands) and bicycle pedals that attach to the front legs of the traditional student desks.

She noted that some of her best classroom discussions now take place as students gather in a circle and sit either on yoga balls or on the floor.

She also said she loves using swivel chairs on wheels because she

By debbie Cohen

“at some point in classes, you need to move around.” - Cameron Main, grade 6


MovEABLE CLASSrooMS


and the students can easily wheel them around for small or large group discussions, or simply move them out of the way for added floor space. Her classroom also contains podiums, which students can opt to use with a chair, stool or simply by standing. “The students seem jazzed about coming to class because it feels a little more like play than work, but at the same time, when they are working, they are doing so with focus and diligence,” she said.

Kley Contini, who in addition to teaching computer science is also the middle school’s director of learning, innovation and design, shared that he has been having much success using flexible space desks with moveable chairs. He said he appreciates that they al-low for individual and group work to occur fluidly.

He first got the idea for the new classroom set-up after present-ing at the Merit Conference at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. “I fell in love with the center’s flexible classrooms. one item that I really liked was a moveable desk on rollers with an adjustable work surface. I was able to redesign the look of the room in minutes and enjoyed watching participants completely change the layout to their own comfort by either moving closer to the presentation, nearer to a window, toward an available outlet or to be closer to colleagues,” he recalled.

“By allowing students to have the mobility and flexibility in their own learning space, I feel that the needs of both the teacher and the students are best met. Students are able to swivel, shake, roll … whatever they need to stay focused without inter-fering with other students. By releasing them from the rigid rows of traditional desks, they have been allowed to relax, find their best zone of focus and contribute to the learning more efficiently,” he said.

Artiss agreed, reporting that his biology classroom has really benefited from the addition of standing desks. He had been think-ing about incorporating the desks ever since his previous job as a department head at a private school in Seattle.

“Back then, we went through a complete redesign in the science department there. We were considering what desks to put into our newly renovated classrooms. At the time, there were stories in the news about desks that were high, had stools instead of fixed chairs and had foot swings, which we ultimate-ly chose,” he said.

“Whoever made fixed chairs and desks has never taught middle school!” he said, add-ing that kids are restless and fidgety as well as really kinetic. “Forcing them to sit in immovable chairs and tiny desks doesn’t make sense. The foot swings also allow students to get rid of excess energy that might go other places. Kids love the foot swings. Students from other classes and other grades come into my classroom at lunch just to sit and try them out. And parents loved them at Back to School Night.”

Not only are the tall stools and option to stand at their desk better for students’ posture, but it

also seems to keep them awake and focused, Artiss pointed out. Students particularly like standing at their

desks while they are working together. “The desks are big – sort of like drafting tables – and students really like their space,” he said.

According to pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom, the ability to sit still for an extended dura-tion is counterintuitive to the middle school student’s normal need for movement. In an article (http://wapo.st/1PQE8E5) in The Washington Post, she reported

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“Whoever made fixed chairs and desks has never taught middle school!”

- thomas artiss, biology teacher

“students are able to swivel, shake, roll … whatever they need to stay focused without interfering with other students.” - scott Kley Contini, computer science teacher

MovEABLE CLASSrooMS

award-Winning design firm visits harker Classroom

Back in the fall, representatives from IDEo, an award-winning global design and consulting firm, visited Burrows’ classroom as part of their research into the various teaching environments of middle school classes both in the United States and abroad. Burrows recalled that during their visit, the IDEo team pointed out that the new chairs in her room had been ones they, in fact, had helped to create.

“It was a complete surprise!” recalled Burrows.

“For this particular project, we are designing something to help students have a more individualized education,” explained Miki Heller, an educational designer at IDEo.

“At this early point, we are visiting schools to learn both what the needs are (from the teachers’ and the students’ perspectives) and to get inspiration by seeing what others are doing well.

“It was such a treat to visit Harker! We saw so many interesting and creative ways that Ms. Burrows and her students are innovating in their classroom. We all left incredibly inspired,” added Heller, whose visit to the middle school was arranged by fellow IDEo colleague rohini venkatraman ’06, a Harker alumna. venkatraman began working as a business designer at IDEo last year.

“I collaborate with teams of designers to help cli-ents solve customer problems in ways that also meet

their business goals,” said venkatraman. “The work has been both fun and challenging, and I am continu-

ally learning from and inspired by the people here. The Harker visit is a great example of what we do at IDEo;

we go into the field to talk to real people and better un-derstand the lives of the target customer. This project was

one focused on the teaching space.”

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that if middle schoolers have to learn by staying in their seats most of the day, their brains will naturally tune out after awhile. “Why do we assume that children don’t need time to move or play once they reach sixth grade?” she questions in the article, noting that “learning doesn’t have to be done in a chair.”

Although moveable classrooms are a deviation from more rigid traditional ones, Kley Contini believes they can be a welcome addition for both students and teachers alike. “I am looking forward to helping more teachers, when they are ready, to move into the flexible learning environ-ment. They just need to roll on over and ask!” he said.

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“it was such a treat to visit harker! We saw so many interesting and creative ways that Ms. Burrows and her students

are innovating in their classroom. We all left incredibly inspired.”

- Miki heller, education designer at ideo

By Zach Jones

Violinist Jessica Lee Showcases Complex, Diverse Works at Harker Concert Series

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violinist Jessica Lee and pianist reiko Uchida teamed up for a crowd-pleasing

night Feb. 19 at this season’s second Harker Concert Series performance, which featured the works of composers from a variety of eras.

As the first piece of the evening began, Lee stood still with her instrument at her side while Uchida marched through the solemn opening chords. A slow uplift gave

way to a weepy melody, accentuated by Lee’s superb vibrato and interpretive clarity. Their interplay soon drifted into a jaunt of arpeggios, tempo changes and volume swells. Lee’s and Uchida’s mastery of tone and technique served them well through these challenging sections, maintaining astonishing accuracy without losing the emotional impact. This was most apparent just past the midway point of the piece, with Lee’s melodies sweeping across the tapestry created by Uchida’s colorful piano work.

Sergei Prokofiev’s “Five Melodies” – “beautiful little jewels,” as Lee called them – began with a plaintive melody and chords that were written in sunny California but sounded more akin to a rainy day. Lee’s animated, dramatic interpretation lent a kind of imagery to Prokofiev’s melodies. The busy second movement brought to mind a busy city street, perhaps the kind the composer encountered while in 1920s Los Angeles. Speaking of busy, the

frantic and anguished third movement called back to a Prokofiev quote Lee cited just before the piece began: “I am as ecstatic about California as it is about me.”

Lee prefaced her performance of Leoš Janácek’s “Sonata for violin and Piano” with a personal anecdote about her visit to the composer’s home in the Czech countryside. The piece, she said, contained “explosive fragments,” a result of Janácek’s interest in speech patterns, the various inflections of which found their way into this particular piece. Certainly, the piece often played out like a heated conversation between various parties, shifting moods, coming in fits and starts. It was unconventional material, rhythmi-cally challenging and thematically complex, but Lee and Uchida were up to the task. The transition from the anxiety-fraught first movement to the more organized, daydream-like Balada: con moto was no trouble at all.

The pleasant, strong melodies of Beethoven’s “Sonata for vio-lin and Piano in Major” welcomed the audience back from the intermission, Lee and Uchida going back and forth with delightful flurries and strolling melodies before drifting into the thought-ful and reflective Adagio. Though Lee’s violin was center stage, Uchida shined in the space provided with her steady rhythms and playful interpretation.

Ever the entertainer, Lee elected to close the evening with Pablo de Sarasate’s “Introduction and Tarantella,” displaying not only the technical ability of both musicians, but also their flair for theatrics, sending a very appreciative crowd smiling into the drizzly evening. But not before stopping in the atrium for an autographed CD.


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PerformingArts by Zach Jones

Grade 5 Sets Sail at Performance of ‘Pirates! The Musical’Adventure on the high seas was in store for audiences of this year’s grade 5 show, “Pirates! The Musical,” directed by Kellie Binney-Smart and performed Jan. 28-29. A cast of 132 took the stage for a series of sea shanties about their swashbuck-ling exploits. In addition to the fifth graders, several faculty members joined in on the fun, including Katie Molin, Shelby Guarino, Jared ramsey, Gerry-louise robinson, Kate Shanahan and Kristin Giam-mona. Songs performed during the show included “A Pirate’s Life for Me,” “Stowaway,” “King of the High C’s” and “The Pirate King.”


For complete versions of these

stories, search the show titles at news.harker.org.

PerformingArts

Upper School Dance Show Joyfully Reminisces About the ’80s and ’90s

A huge cast of 140 dancers paid tribute to the songs and styles of the ’80s and ’90s at the 2016 upper school dance show, “Mixed Tape: Songs to Dance To,” held Jan. 29-30 at the Black-

ford Theater. Separated into two acts – one for each decade – the show featured a total of 21 routines, set to such hits as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Wham!’s “Wake Me Up,” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”


Photo by Andrew Gong, parent

Photo by Maria Gong, parent

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PerformingArts

Four Middle School Instrumentalists Selected for All-State BandsFour Harker middle school students were chosen to be members of statewide en-sembles that performed in February at the California All-State Music Education Confer-ence. French hornist Kai-Ming Ang, clarinetist Jenny Shaw and flutist Anika Tiwari, all grade 8, were selected for the California Band Directors Association’s All-State Junior High School Concert Band. Trumpeter Leland rossi, grade 7, was selected to play with the CBDA’s All-State Junior High School Jazz Band, making him the first Harker student to play for an all-state jazz band. Together, these four students represent the largest group of Harker middle school students ever selected to play for all-state ensembles.

Musicians Impress Audiences at Winter ConcertMiddle and upper school student musi-cians performed this year’s Winter Concert at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater Jan. 15-16, display-ing their many talents in a variety of styles. The concert featured perfor-mances by the Grade 6 Jazz Band, Grade 6 orchestra, Grade 7-8 Jazz Band, the upper school’s Lab Band and The Harker School orchestra.


Harker provides scores of photos from each student performance and from around the school, free to parents! Parents and students can access the Harker galleries via the portal. From your home portal page, just click on the square slide show with the camera icon in the middle to access the thousands of photos we take each year! You can download for free. A credit card number is required, but you will not be charged for downloads. If you would like prints, you can order those, too, for a modest fee. Enjoy!

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PerformingArts


Middle School Dancers Earn High Honors at CompetitionHarker dance students Karina Chen, grade 7, and Chloe Chen, grade 8, recently competed at the Hollywood Connection dance competition in Santa Clara, where they won a first place gold medal for lyrical dance in the 11-13 age group. Karina also earned the chance to receive a Hollywood makeover, while Chloe was put in the running for a special studio scholarship for a week of unlimited classes at the Millennium Dance Complex.

Both students are enrolled in Harker’s middle school dance program as members of the grades 7-8 girls dance group Showstoppers, and Karina was previously a member of Dance Fusion, the coed dance group for grades 4-6.

Congratulations to these two young talents!

Series of One-Act Plays Featured at Student Directed ShowcaseThe Harker Conservatory opened 2016 with its Student Directed Showcase, which took place at the Blackford Theater Jan. 8-9. one of the most rigorous courses in the performing arts program, the Student Directed Showcase puts four seniors each in charge of putting on a one-act play. In addition to directing the play, the students are tasked with handling every stage of its production, from casting to promotion to visual effects.

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Photos provided by Haotian Zhang, parent

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Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

Photos by Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell

PerformingArts


Grade 1 Students Gather to Celebrate the Holiday Season in Songon Dec. 15, just days before the winter break, the grade 1 homeroom students of teachers Imelda Kusuma, Cindy Proctor, Larissa Weaver and rita

Stone gathered on the stage at the Bucknall Theater for the annual grade 1 holiday show, directed by Carena Montany. The students sang seasonal favorites, including “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” as well as newer songs, including “Spin a Little Dreidl” and “A Million Little Snowflakes,” the song for which the show was named.

Grades 2 and 3 Spread Seasonal Cheer at Annual Holiday ShowStudents in grades 2 and 3 celebrated the giving spirit of the holidays at the annual grades 2-3 holiday show, this year titled “The Spirit of the Season,” held Dec. 17 at the Bucknall The-ater. Directed by lower school music teacher Carena Montany, the show featured students singing a variety of holiday-themed songs, including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Feliz Navi-dad” and “o Chanukah, o Chanukah.” Several numbers included special solo performances or instrumentation, such as the maraca and claves played respectively by second graders Sophia Schafer-Wharton and Jackson Powell on “Feliz Navidad.” The upbeat “Gettin’ in the Mood (For Christmas)” featured exciting choreography by Kimberly Teodoro.

Winter Concert Brings Together Lower School MusiciansSeveral lower school performing arts groups united in early December for the 2015 lower school Winter Con-cert, directed by Louis Hoffman, who also conducted the Lower School Jazz Ensemble and Lower School orchestra. other featured groups included the Bucknall Choir, conducted by Kellie Binney-Smart and Carena Montany, the Lower School String Ensemble, conducted by Toni Woodruff, and the Preparatory String Ensemble, also directed by Woodruff.


dennis mcnallydiscusses jack kerouac and the beat generation by Zach Jones

the Harker Speaker Series and an audience of about 80 welcomed author and historian Dennis McNally on Jan. 14. McNally’s biography of Jack Kerouac, “Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and Amer-ica,” was first published in 1979. He then spent much

of the 1980s and ‘90s traveling with the Grateful Dead, publishing “A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead” in 2002. Prior to the appearance, he met and conversed with a group of Harker students who are currently studying Kerouac’s work.

McNally began his talk by sharing how he came to be an authority on Kerouac. “one of the fixed rules of reading history is that to a considerable extent, you learn more about the time the book was written than you necessarily do about its subject,” he said.

Although McNally did not experience the 1960s counterculture up close, he held a fascination with the period and the many cultural changes it brought. Upon arriving at graduate school in the early ‘70s, he quickly became bored with the typical graduate student’s routine of “learn this, regurgitate that and so forth.” He decided to choose his dissertation topic early, and because the ‘60s were too recent, settled on the Beat Generation.

“What came to fascinate me about Kerouac … is that he did something incredibly noble,” said McNally. Having published his first novel

to some critical success in 1951, Kerouac then set out to write something he believed would

never be published. Those writings would later become his seminal 1957 novel “on the road.”

That novel, McNally said, caused an uproar in American culture because it represented a growing challenge to the status quo. “The status quo social life of America in 1957 was fixed and as rigid and as boring as really any time in American history,” McNally observed. Massive disruptions of the previous decades, including the Great Depression and World War II, had led Ameri-cans to treasure this stability.

McNally went on to talk about mid-century America’s obsession with juvenile delinquency and the rise of the Beat Generation. He also explained how it all might not have happened if the New York Times’ book reviewer hadn’t been on vacation at the time of “on the road’s” release.

read the full story on the Harker News website at http://wp.me/poeLQ-7gH.


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“My buddy often found ways to relate Harker with her

experiences at WFLMS and would often tell me interesting

things about her school.” – Jackie Yang, grade 8

On a brisk afternoon in mid-January, grade 8 students gathered in the middle school’s multipurpose room

to receive special visitors. A group of 20 students from the World Foreign Language Middle School (WFLMS) in Shanghai had arrived for the first part of this year’s ex-change between the two schools, continu-ing a tradition that began in 2003.

The WFLMS students, who are well-versed in English, took turns giving presentations about their daily academic lives: how they use technology to learn, their Halloween and Christmas celebrations and their an-nual science and art festivals. At the end, a Chinese student offered her solo acoustic guitar and vocal cover of Taylor Swift’s “Safe and Sound.” Following enthusiastic applause, the Harker and WFLMS students departed to begin their week together in earnest.

Harker’s exchange with WFLMS began shortly after the Shanghai school’s found-ing. Its then-head of school, Madame Luo Peiming, whose great aunt attended Harker, approached Harker’s then-head of school, Diana Nichols, about creating an exchange between the two schools.

“Just like Harker, it’s an ever-growing school,” said Jennifer Walrod, Harker’s director of global education. “They now have several campuses. They have several different types of programs.”

The two schools agreed to begin the exchange, and true to Luo’s predictions, it was a success. “It was a great fit,” Walrod said. “And so from there, it’s turned into an annual exchange.”

Students from Harker and WFLMS begin interacting months in advance of the visit by participating in discussion forums on technology and global issues, such as the effects of media on society and issues sur-rounding youth and the use of technology.

To qualify to apply for the exchange, the WFLMS students must be deeply involved in the study of English, and participation in the forums is required for those making the trip to Harker. Each year, discussions begin in the fall and last several weeks, lead-ing up to the January visit by the WFLMS students, who spend the week staying with their Harker buddies. A second round of discussions is held toward the end of the school year before the Harker students visit China.

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by Zach Jones

Exchange Program Continues to Bridge CulturesShanghai Shanghai

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“We really put it in the hands of the students to be emailing back and forth,” Walrod said.

The forum discussions present an oppor-tunity for students from both schools to learn about one another before meeting in person.

“I got to learn some things about them that helped me gauge their personality and the activities they enjoyed doing,” said Jackie Yang, grade 8.

Anna Weirich, grade 7, agreed. “It was very interesting to see what [my guest] did differ-ently than what I did in the United States,” she said. “I loved learning about the diverse yet unique culture of the Chinese.”

During their week at Harker, the WFLMS students visit and observe classes with their buddies, embark on field trips to fa-mous California landmarks and bond with their Harker hosts during their homestays.

In the last few years, a tour of the Stanford University campus was added to the ex-change at the request of WFLMS adminis-trators. “A lot of the kids are interested in going to college in the U.S., so now that’s just a standard field trip,” said Walrod.

They also get a big sampling of Sili-con valley culture by visiting The Tech Museum of Innovation in downtown San Jose, as well as various sites around San Francisco and Monterey.

The time the buddies spend together is especially valuable, as students from two different cultures learn about one another. on one occasion, the family of seventh grader Leland rossi read a section of his assigned reading on Chinese history with his WFLMS buddy present. “As we read through the text and discussed it together, we were so lucky to have the perspective of Hu Fei, the eighth grader from China!” enthused rossi’s mother, Lesley Matheson. “It was amazing to hear him bring his view of the history and politics alive. He loved it, too.”

Students also find that the exchange helps the two different cultures find common ground.

“I enjoyed going to school with them, be-cause my buddy often found ways to relate Harker with her experiences at WFLMS and would often tell me interesting things about her school,” said Yang.

Walrod said the students are extraordi-narily good at hosting due to the empa-thy they show for their WFLMS buddies. “They’re really good at putting themselves in their buddies’ shoes,” she said, adding that many students are initially nervous at the prospect of hosting “because it’s not like having someone over to your house for dinner.”

Seeing their buddies have a great time visiting Harker is a big confidence booster. “They really put their heart into this. They really want their buddies to have a good time,” said Walrod.

During the spring semester, Harker middle schoolers visit and stay with their WFLMS

buddies as part of the annual exchange with China. For many Harker students who regularly visit family in China, the exchange program’s trip to Shanghai offers the chance to enjoy their time in the country visiting their WFLMS buddies and spending time as ev-eryday Chinese citizens. oftentimes, Walrod said, spending time among the local citizens is a highlight of the trip for Harker students.

“That has been the regular feedback,” she said. “Everyone just thought they were typical Chinese students, and that’s what they’ll mention to me as one of their best memories.”

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“It was very interesting to see what [my guest] did differently than what I did

in the United States.” – Anna Weirich, grade 7

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Advancement

Save the Date for Grandparents’ Day! once again, Grandparents’ Day will be celebrated at the lower school this spring. on May 6 the special long-standing Harker tradition will give students the chance to invite their grandparents or special adult friends for a memorable visit in their honor.

The theme will be “Hawaii” and will feature an afternoon of entertainment and activities including hula lessons, lei and other craft making, a photo booth, luau food and Hawaiian shave ice. other highlights will be extended book fair hours and a performance by lower school students, featuring ukulele players, grade 1 and 4 singers, and dancing by grades 4-6 Dance Fu-sion members.

“We will also have the clowns that have become a favorite in years past!” noted Mandi Corona, Harker’s event coordinator.

Check Out the Recognition and Thanks Section on the Harker Portal To show appreciation to the parents who have participated in the 2015-16 annual giving campaign, Harker has a recognition and Thanks section on the portal (http://rt.harker.org/). Participation includes gifts of cash, securities and in-kind donations received during Harker’s fiscal year from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.

The list of donors is updated monthly on the website. Parents listed on the site are encouraged to verify their information is correct. For questions or more information, please contact Allison vaughan, director of steward-ship, at [email protected].

Golf Classic Set for April 11!The 2016 Golf Classic, presented by the Harker Alumni Association, will be held at the beautiful Stanford University Golf Course on April 11. Alumni, parents, alumni parents and friends are all welcome to participate. Honorary marshals

Pat Walsh and Howard Saltzman will help make the day fun and memo-rable with refreshments, special awards and prizes. A 19th hole re-ception will follow on the clubhouse patio for golfers and non-golfers who wish to join the fun.

The Stanford University Golf Course was designed in 1930 by renowned golf course architects William Bell and George C. Thomas. Located in the foothills above the Stanford University campus, the golf course is consistently rated one of the fin-est courses in the world. In 2009 Stanford was rated the nation’s third

best college course by golf coaches.

All proceeds benefit the Harker Endow-ment. For more info, please contact Joe rosenthal at [email protected]. Sponsorship opportunities are available on the registration form.

by Debbie Cohen


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Advancement


‘Rising to the Challenge’ Campaign Update Shared at Winter Concert At the middle and upper school instrumental Winter Concert, held at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater in January, Chris Nikoloff, head of school, presented a virtual tour of the enhanced two-building design for Harker’s new athletic and performing arts complex.

“our mission is to bring out the best in our students, in their academics, their extracurricular programs, and in their character. These facilities will have a tremendous positive impact on our ability to do so,” said Nikoloff as he introduced the CAD video.

During the presentation, Nikoloff announced that the ground-breaking ceremony for the complex will be held on May 3.

Although the school is taking a leap of faith by breaking ground before the project is fully funded, Nikoloff reported that Harker should be able to finish construction in fall 2017, provided all of the pledges made so far come in on time.

In addition, the Harker community will need to match the school’s second historic major challenge gift, the “Let’s Make It Happen $7M Inspirational Matching Gift.”

The donors of the challenge gift hope their donation will inspire families who have not yet participated, are new to the school or wish to increase their initial gifts.

“To finish this project,” Nikoloff said, “we must inspire our parents and alumni that the work we are doing here at Harker is worthy of being a part of their legacy in the Silicon valley.”

Advancement

MilestonesMiddle school library as-sistant Renee Ting was awarded a travel grant from the Public Library Asso-ciation. Ting was one of 10 winners nationwide, selected based on essays about be-ing librarians and why they deserved to receive the grant. Ting received a free regis-

tration for the 2016 PLA Conference, held in Denver in April, and $1,000 to help with travel.

Middle school debate teacher Karina Momary was recently profiled in the

2015 edition of Rostrum, the National Speech and Debate Association’s quarterly magazine. In the story, she discusses her teaching method, the annual “Teamsgiving” event and how she got started in speech and debate. Read the whole story at https://issuu.com/speechanddebate/docs/2016_winter_rostrum_web.

In December, middle school soccer coach Brighid Wood worked as a team liaison for USA Soccer as China played the U.S. in the final two games of the World Cup’s Victory Series. She traveled to New Or-

leans for the final game of the series. Wood also has worked for legendary players such as Brandi Chastain, Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy.

Sandra Berkowitz earned a Second Diamond degree of membership in the National Speech & Debate Association’s Honor Society, based on points earned by students she coached. She will be recognized at the 2016 National Speech and Debate Tourna-ment in Salt Lake City in June and in Rostrum, the association’s quarterly magazine.

By Zach Jones

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Annual Giving and Capital Giving: What’s the Difference?With exciting plans underway to begin construction on the up-per school’s new gym and theater buildings, there is much talk about annual and capital giving. Many people are familiar with the terms “annual giving” and “capital giving,” but don’t quite understand how they operate. Below is a look at the main dif-ferences between these two important fundraising programs:

Annual Giving – For TodayThe annual giving campaign raises critical funds each year to support Harker’s everyday operations. They are an investment in Harker’s current people and programs. Dona-tions to the annual giving campaign:

•helpprovidesportsteamswithuniforms,ballsandotherequipment;

•providelighting,soundequipment,musicandmoreforperformances; and

•providemuch,muchmoreforouracademicandextra-curricular activities at every grade level.

Capital Campaign – For The FutureThe capital campaigns are periodic and raise funds to improve Harker’s buildings and facilities. For example, donations to the current capital campaign will:

•raisethewallsandputtheroofsonthe new gym and theater;

•laythewoodfloorinthegym;and•puttheseatsinthetheater.

Capital gifts are an investment in Harker’s future, and can be pledged over a three-year period. These gifts are in ad-dition to a gift made to annual giving.

For more information visit www.harker.org/giving or contact Joe Rosenthal at [email protected] or Melinda Gonzales at [email protected].

Speech & DebateSpeech and Debate Students Qualify for State, Take Top HonorsBy William Cracraft

Upper SchoolThe speech and debate team had a great showing at the state qualifying tournament in late February. Harker students participated in public forum

and speech with students qualifying in both events. Eesha Chona and Sorjo Banerjee, both grade 12, will represent Harker in public forum debate, while

Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 9, qualified in oratorical interpre-tation. Sana Aladin and Divya rajasekharan, both grade 11, qualified as a team in duo interpretation of literature.

The California High School Speech Association will host the state tournament at Mis-sion College in Santa Clara April 15-17.

Middle SchoolAlso in February, more than 60 Harker middle schoolers competed at the Cesar Chavez Memorial Tournament at Cesar Chavez Middle School in Union City. About 400 middle school

students from 19 schools, including 62 from Harker, at-tended and the results were great! In Lincoln-Douglas debate, rishi Jain, grade 6, Montek Kalsi, grade 8, Annie Ma, grade 8, and Aditi vinod, grade 7, were undefeated.

Avi Gulati, grade 8, took first place in congressional debate. Nikki Solanki, grade 8, took first in declamation and third in dramatic interpretation. Gulati and Bryan Wang, grade 8, tied for third in impromptu debate. Arusha Patil, grade 7, took first in original ora-tory, while Gulati took second.

Go, debate Eagles!

The winter issue of Rostrum, a publication of the National Speech and Debate Association, has a great article on Karina Momary, middle school debate coach! Read a bit more and find the URL for the full

article in our Milestones section on page 42.


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A lower school dress drive brought smiles to the faces of at-risk and underprivileged youth at the

Starbird Youth Center in San Jose. The clothes were part of a larger donation of more than 500 gifts collected for clients of the center.

“There were about seven bags of boys and girls party clothing donated,” recalled Teré Aceves, Harker’s director of event fundraising.

The gently used clothing was collected during a holiday cookie-decorating event. About 60 parents heeded the call for such items.

Harker parent Erin Vokey (Miles, grade 1) is the youth activities supervisor at the Starbird Youth Center and is in charge of the center’s day-to-day activities, as well as its literacy programs.

“We are an after-school program that works with at-risk and under-privileged youth. We help them by providing food, homework help and a safe place to go after school. We also do a program called The Good Choices, which is a basic moral guide that teaches them the right choices to make to lead a better life,” she said.

Around the time of the dress drive, the center also had partnered with the Family Giving Tree to distribute gifts to clients and their families, Vokey explained. “We set up a room where children picked out clothing from the dress drive. This is the second year we have had the dresses there and it was a huge success. Fellow Harker parent Julie Carr (Aiden Harshman, grade 1) and her family volunteered to hand out all of the dresses to the youth in our community. It was an extremely heartwarming event,” recalled Vokey.

Another Harker parent, Stephanie Black (Chloe, grade 1), is the program director at the Starbird Youth Center. “Without her none of this would have been possible,” added Vokey.

Carr and her son agreed that it was wonderful to see the joy on the kids’ faces when they got a beautiful dress, jacket or new shirt. “Stephanie, Erin and the entire staff at the center made it so easy for us to come in and volunteer. We are very grateful for the work they do and proud that we got to represent Harker’s philanthropy,” said Carr.

Of his experience volunteering, Carr’s son, Aiden, reported that it was “really cool.” He said that there were lots of games to play with at the center and that he enjoyed seeing the kids get toys. “It made me feel good in my heart.”

Harker students initiate and participate in outreach activities all year round. Visit Harker News and search “outreach,” or go to http://news.harker.org/tag/outreach, for all the Greater Good stories!

Parents and Students Participate in Lower School Dress Drive for Kids in Need

“We are very grateful for the work they do and proud that we got to represent Harker’s philanthropy.” – Julie Carr, Harker parent

Photos by Erin Vokey, parent

“It made me feel good in my heart.”- Aiden Harshman, grade 1

GreaterGood By Debbie Cohen



Attendees of this year’s Home for the Holidays event were in for a treat, thanks to a special exhibit featuring current works by artist and architect Matt Gehm ’09.

Held in early January in the upper school’s Nichols Hall atrium, Home for the Holidays featured a collection of digital drawings from Gehm’s series, titled “Between Formalities.”

At least 100 alumni from Harker’s classes of 2012-2015 returned to campus for the afternoon reunion and artist reception, co-sponsored by the Harker alumni office and upper school art

department.

“In these works, Matt utilized data that is generated but left unrealized from the architectural projects he designs. This remnant data that never materializes into an

actual built environment, he repurposes and explores in representations of volume and space in two-dimensional digital drawings,” said Pilar Agüero-Esparza, the upper school art teacher who helped coordinate the exhibit. She also brought Gehm in to speak to her art classes about his work the day after the event.

Gehm recalled his days at Harker, where he took ad-vanced drawing, and said it was interesting now being on the “other side” and that he is enjoying giving back to Harker by serving as a mentor. His architecture firm, Forester Gehm Design, is a multidis-ciplinary design company based in Los Angeles. After graduating from Harker, he received his professional architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 2014.

“It’s a new venture for alumni relations to showcase the works of alumni artists with the upper school art department,” recalled Karri Baker ’84, director of alumni relations. “It was received very well!”

Attendee Sanjana Kaundinya ’15, who currently attends Cornell University, said that she enjoyed the exhibit and refreshments, as well as seeing so many familiar faces at the event. “It’s strange to be back on campus with no obligations!” she added.

Upper school faculty and staff also were invited to join in the fun while welcoming back and reminiscing with the college-age alumni, who were in town during their winter breaks.

Photos provided by MaryEllis Deacon


4 5

AlumniNews

omeHFOR THE HOLIDAYS

omeH“It's strange to be

back on campus with no obligations!"

– Sanjana Kaundinya ’15

By Debbie Cohen


Harker Quarterly recently

caught up with four

alumni, each of

whom say unique scholastic

experiences prompted them to

become teachers themselves.

One is teaching abroad in

Korea, another works at a

Quaker school in Delaware and

two teach locally. While their

teaching paths differ, they

all share the desire to impart

knowledge to the next

generation.

4 6

LAUREN GUTSTEIN '06Teaching English and Drama at a Quaker School in DelawareFor the past two years, Lauren Gutstein ’06 has worked as an upper school English and drama teacher at the Wilmington Friends School in Delaware, a private Quaker school serving preschool through high school students.

“Getting up in front of class can be, in my opinion, quite theatrical, which fits my personality. I also love that teaching requires me to be constantly learning,” said Gutstein of her work at the school, which was founded in 1748 by members of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers).

The school was originally intended for Quakers as well as for underprivileged children, regardless of religion. As Delaware started offering public education, the school moved toward its current college-preparatory program. Today only about 7 percent of the students are Quaker.

Gutstein, who teaches grades 10 to 12, called it “fascinating” to experience high school from “the other side.” Now, she said, she empathizes with her students as they agonize over a paper, audition or college application, remembering how she felt in those moments.

A highlight for Gutstein is directing the upper school’s annual musical. This past fall she worked with her students on the musical “Kiss Me Kate.”

Prior to teaching at the school, Gutstein lived and worked in Kazakhstan, a central Asian country and former Soviet republic, for several years. In addition to teaching English

and literature at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Astana, Gutstein started a drama program. “We actually put on five trilingual (English, Kazakh and Russian) plays. I was working at a fairly new school and

they were doing a lot of experimenting with curriculum and school organization, so one skill I really learned there is flexibility,” she recalled.

“The respect and admiration I had for my teachers at Harker was another factor in choosing teaching as a pro-fession. Harker definitely nurtured my many interests, both academic and extracurricular. Harker also taught me how to balance a million responsibilities at once, which is teach-ing in a nutshell,” said Gutstein.

When asked to give advice for other alumni interested in teaching, Gutstein suggested teaching in wildly different environments. “Between Quaker education, Kazakhstani education, and student teaching in The School District of Philadelphia, I've seen dramatically different educational models and experienced joys and frustrations with each. Also, I learned what minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit feels like, so East Coast winters seem pretty tame!” she said.

ALUmNI-TURNEd-TEAchERS ThRIvE IN NEw mENToR RoLES

Phot

o pr

ovid

ed b

y La

uren

Gut

stei

n '0

6

“GETTING Up IN fRoNT of A cLASS cAN

bE, IN my opINIoN, qUITE ThEATRIcAL,

whIch fITS my pERSoNALITy. I ALSo

LovE ThAT TEAchING REqUIRES mE To bE

coNSTANTLy LEARNING.” – Lauren Gutstein ’06

Alumni

AlumniNews


GRAcE hUdKINS '08Working Abroad in South Korea Grace Hudkins ’08 had never been to Korea before moving there to teach theater to elementary school children attending Chad-wick International (CI). Located in the newly created city of Songdo in Incheon, South Korea, CI is an independent, coed, non-sectarian, preK-12 international school.

Hudkins recalled taking “a huge leap of faith” going to CI. Not only was she unfamiliar with Korea, she was entering into an intern position, so figured she would only stay a year or two. “I had never even eaten Korean food! But when my boss offered me the chance to start a drama program for the elementary school, I couldn't say no!” recalled Hudkins.

“My first year I was an intern in a grade 3 classroom, then for the last two years, I have taught elementary school drama. Next year I am moving into a role as the coordinator of our theater spaces, as well as teaching some middle and upper school drama and theater tech,” said Hudkins, who currently works with students in preschool and kindergarten.

Incheon is known as an exciting area and transportation hub bordering the country’s capital of Seoul. Life in Korea is pretty great, said Hudkins, thanks to “a wonderful built-in community at the school, with expats from all over the world.” During her free time, Hudkins enjoys exploring Seoul, which is about an hour away, and is jam-packed with museums, shopping, culture and restaurants.

Teaching comes naturally to Hudkins, who has always enjoyed being around children. “I started babysitting when I was just 11, and was a camp counselor from the time I was 16. I became

licensed for early childhood education, and my background in theater prepared me to build the elementary school program out here at CI,” she explained.

Hudkins credits Harker’s performing arts programs with spurring her interest in her current work. “It was through the arts that I found community, family and a sense of belonging. Harker’s con-servatory program gave me a really well-rounded understanding of the arts, which launched me into my college student theater group as a director and stage manager in my first year.”

When Hudkins thinks about life after CI, she is not certain if it will always be as a traditional classroom teacher. “I can see doing

educational outreach for a theater company, stage managing for a youth drama program or something completely

different. For the foreseeable future, I am really passionate about international education and I love teaching drama, so I hope to keep doing that even after I leave CI,” she said.

AlumniNews

4 7

Photos provided by Grace H

udkins '08

Teachers


AlumniNewsPh

oto

prov

ided

by

Has

saan

Ebr

ahim

'11

hASSAAN EbRAhIm '11Working with Low-Income Families in East San Jose Hassaan Ebrahim ’11 recently received his undergraduate degree in neuroscience from the University of Southern California but put plans to apply to medical school on hold. Instead he signed up for a two-year stint with Teach For America (TFA), a nonprofit organization promoting educational equity.

After competing an intense training program this past summer, he was placed at Summit Rainier High School in East San Jose as a grade 9 math teacher, becoming one of the thousands of college graduates now serving as TFA teachers nationwide, and one of 340 in the Bay Area. These select individuals, known as "corps members," commit to teaching for at least two years in a public or charter K-12 school in one of 52 low-income communities the organization serves.

“Education is more important than simply allowing someone to earn a steady income. Education opens doors of opportunity, allows one to discover new passions and to live an authentic life,” said Ebrahim. “The fact that such inequity exists in our country is shocking. I am drawn to working towards bringing quality education to those who need it most.”

According to TFA statistics, there is an educational crisis in San Jose, with nearly 40,000 students not proficient in grade-level skills and 2,300 middle and high school students dropping out every year. To combat the problem, back in 2009, a group of committed parents from East San Jose approached Summit Public Schools – a nonprofit organization created to provide high quality public school options to diverse communities – about bringing a Summit charter school to their community.

In 2011, two Summit schools in San Jose were born, Summit Rainier and Summit Tahoma. Summit Rainier is now a thriving high school in East San Jose and ranks among the top 20 public high schools in Santa Clara County.

Ebrahim, who plans to begin medical school after fulfilling his teaching commitment, recommends TFA to any alumni interesting in going into teaching. Corps members do not have to be certified teachers but must attend a training program. Once placed at a school, TFA teachers are considered full-fledged faculty members there.

“I wanted to do something different, not touring the world, but something still purposeful, before going on to medical school,” shared Ebrahim, who, after spending his TFA time working with children, is now considering becoming a pediatrician.

“My time at Harker taught me about the value of making a meaningful impact. I have such gratitude to the teachers I had. And Spanish at Harker really paid off as I now use it to speak with the families of some of my students!” he added.

Alumni Teachers

“my TImE AT hARKER TAUGhT mE

AboUT ThE vALUE of mAKING A

mEANINGfUL ImpAcT. I hAvE SUch

GRATITUdE To ThE TEAchERS I hA

d.”

– Hassaan Ebrahim ’11


AlumniNews

4 9

StayConnectedConnect with alumni through Facebook and LinkedIn as your new social and professional lives ramp up. We’d love to hear from you!

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Harker-Alumni-166447 (or go to LinkedIn and search for Harker alumni)

https://www.facebook.com/HarkerAlumniAssociation(or – you guessed it! – search for Harker Alumni As-sociation while logged in to your Facebook account)

We have partnered with EverTrue, an app that puts Harker’s alumni network right at your fingertips! Discover what your classmates are up to, find jobs and reconnect with old friends. Download the app, available for iPhone and Android, at http://web.evertrue.com/network/harker.

A L U M N ISAVE THE DATES

Stay tuned for more information from your class

agents about these two incredible April events!

SATURDAY, APRIL 9Alumni networking luncheonHarker Research SymposiumSaratoga Campus, Nichols Hall

MONDAY, APRIL 11Harker Annual Golf Tournament & Reception Stanford Golf Course

LEYNA COTRAN '94Sharing Passion for Computer Science with University Students Leyna Cotran ’94 knows a thing or two about racking up frequent flier miles. Prior to recently becoming a full-time computer science instructor at Santa Clara University, she worked there as a part-time adjunct faculty lecturer while completing a Ph.D. in software engineering at the University of California, Irvine. That meant a lot of back and forth travel between Southern California and the Bay Area.

“It was just go, go, go!” recalled Cotran, who along the way also became pregnant with her first child, a daughter now 2 years old.

Prior to working at Santa Clara University, Cotran was the project lead for Navy re-entry systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., one of four major business divisions of

Lockheed Martin, an American global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests.

Although she spent many years working in the private sector, Cotran, who earned her master’s degree in software engineering from Santa Clara University, says she feels at home teaching at her alma mater. One of the first courses she created and taught at the college continues to be part of the school’s master’s curriculum for software engineering.

One of the things Cotranenjoys most about teaching at Santa Clara University is the opportunity to transmit knowledge to a new generation. “The students I teach today are going to be leaders during my child’s future,” said Cotran, who finds she has a fresh perspective on teaching now that she has become a parent.

“Much of my own character was shaped at Harker. Now that I am teaching, it feels like things have come full circle,” she said.


“MUCH OF MY OWN CHARACTER WAS

SHAPED AT HARKER. NOW THAT I

AM TEACHING, IT FEELS LIKE THINGS

HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE.”

– Leyna Cotran ’94


1940Katrine “Trinkie” Watson attended Miss Harker’s School from 1939-40, and participated in its

summer boarding program. Trinkie is now a successful real estate agent serving the luxury Lake

Tahoe market. A San Francisco native, Trinkie spent her first seven years in Woodside and then lived in San Francisco until her move to Lake Tahoe in 1966. She fondly recalled making jam in a class at Miss Harker’s and giving it to her mother when she came to visit.

1985In the summer 2014 Harker Quar-terly, we ran a feature story about Judge John Owens’ appointment to a seat on the U.S. Court of Ap-peals for the 9th Circuit, the na-tion’s largest appeals court.


On Dec. 2, he visited Harker’s lower school where he talked with the third

graders about his life as a judge. And in early March, he spoke to the upper school student body during a morning assembly titled “Honors and Ethics,” sponsored by the Honor Council.

Class agent Loren Due and class committee member Kalei Kelly recently dropped by the alumni re-lations office for an informal lunch and to reminisce over yearbooks.

Photo by Karri Baker

Jon Mays is keeping busy as edi-tor of the San Mateo Daily Journal, where he has worked for many years. The Daily Journal is the leading local news coverage on the Peninsula. To view the paper: www.smdailyjournal.com.

Pat Walsh, longtime Harker math teacher and former boarding school supervisor, recently caught up with Humberto Armenta, who came to Harker’s boarding school from Monterrey, Mexico, as a fifth grader in 1981-82. Over a lei-surely dinner, Humberto filled Pat in on his work over the past two decades as owner of a successful construction company called REC-SA (Regiomontana de Construcción y Servicios) in Mexico. “Having dinner with him, his daughter

Anna (16) and son Humberto (10) the Friday before the Super Bowl was a blast! My wife, Terry, was

there. She was the dorm house-parent at the time, so she knew

Humberto well, too. My son Kevin [’01] was also at dinner. Humberto was in town to take some clients and his children to the Super Bowl. He has three other children, but they did not make the trip,” recalled Pat, adding that he and Humberto plan to stay in touch.

1988 Joe Tremba is married to Amanda Hubber and living in Valley Vil-lage, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. They are having fun playing with their new, very small puppy named Porkchop.

1993Found at last! The missing Class of 1993 time capsule was lo-cated while excavating to move the oak trees on Rosenthal Field. Facility manager Mike Bassoni and his crew found the long-lost 1993 time capsule. “It’s quite large, currently stored in the alumni closet, and the

ClassNotesAlumni from all classes through 1997 are listed under the years they would have completed grade 8 at The Harker School, Harker Academy, Harker Day School or Palo Alto Military Academy (PAMA). For all classes after the Class of 1997, alumni are listed under the class years they would have graduated from high school, regardless of whether they completed high school studies at Harker. For unlisted classes, we invite you to email [email protected] if you are interested in becoming a class agent or would like to nominate a classmate.

Submitted by Class Agents

1972Stephen [email protected]

1973Alan Stevens [email protected]

1976Joy Aliason [email protected]

Cindy Cottrell [email protected]

1977Mike [email protected]

1978Silvia [email protected]

1979Chip [email protected]

1980Greg [email protected]

Lisa Sharon [email protected]

1981Kristin (Scarpace) [email protected]

1982Tina (Johnson) [email protected]

Pauline (de Vos) [email protected]

Keil [email protected]

1984Karri Baker [email protected]

Jeff [email protected]

Kristin [email protected]

Class Agents

Photo provided by Katrine Watson '40

Photos provided by Pat Walsh


Class of 1993 is consider-ing either a capsule-opening party, or a big 25 year re-

union/capsule-opening bash!” said Karri Baker ’84, director of alumni relations.

1996Jeremy Kerr and his wife, Jen-nifer, had a baby. Please see the Celebrations section for details.

1997In January Will Jarvis was fea-tured in an article in the Napa Valley Register about Jarvis Estate winery, which he runs with his father in the Napa Valley. To view the article: http://bit.ly/1oXw48Y.

2003Amit Saxena got married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.

2004Neil Bhalerao is getting married. Please see the Celebrations section for details.

2005Kristen (Hulberg) Hunsbedt got married last May. “My husband (Mark) and I got married in the Santa Cruz Mountains near our home. I also got my M.A. in coun-selor education in 2014 from San Jose State, and I'm working as a college and career counselor at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville,” she said.

Liat Noten started an abstract art and photography business, using digital photography to create art that she said is full of heart, en-ergy, vibrancy and wonder. “I’m inter-ested in abstract and con-ceptual photog-raphy be-cause it allows me to play and imagine even before I’ve picked up my camera. I’m always on the lookout for new ways to create digitally,” she said. Check out her website at: http://www.artislifeitself.com/.

The Class of 2005 held its reunion on Dec. 22, 2015 at The Old Pro in Palo Alto. Classmates enjoyed catching up over a nice dinner.

2006Amit Mukherjee, a senior as-sociate at New Enterprise As-sociates (NEA), was included on Forbes magazine’s prestigious “30 Under 30” list of of the 2016 young movers and shakers in the venture capital category. Amit has worked at NEA since 2012, overseeing more than

$500 mil-lion of invested capital. A leading source for reliable business news and finan-cial information, Forbes is well known for its annual lists and rankings. The “30 Under 30” list prides itself on predicting the brightest and most ambi-tious young adults to watch in the coming year. Congratula-tions, Amit!

In the winter 2015 issue of Harker Quarterly, we ran a note about Steve Boyle designing and directing a show called “Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection.” Steve is a graduate of Harker’s Conservatory program and has

produced several shows recently. In early March he returned to the upper school to speak with performing arts students about his career and life in the arts.

Rohini Venkatraman began working as a business designer at the award-winning global design and consulting firm IDEO last year. She recently helped arrange a visit to Harker’s middle

51

ClassNotes

1987Michelle [email protected]

1988 Eric [email protected]

Aileen [email protected]

1989Katie [email protected]

1990Jennifer Cady [email protected]

Chris [email protected]

1991Ashley [email protected]

1992Amanda Mathias [email protected]

1993Joy [email protected]

Tala [email protected]

Kelle Sloan [email protected]

1994Leyna Cotran [email protected]

1995Lisa (Bowman) [email protected]

1996Andrea Miles [email protected]

Ann Chu [email protected]

Class Agents

Phot

o by

Mar

k Ko

cina


Phot

o by

Jac

quel

ine

Ram

seye

r Orr

ell

Class of 2005

Photo provided by Liat Noten ‘05

Photo provided by Forbes Magazine


school by IDEO repre-sentatives who were interested in observing classrooms there. For more in-formation

on the IDEO visit to Harker, see page 28 for a feature story on the middle school’s new “moveable classrooms.”

Michael Hammersly, a materials and processing engineer at SpaceX, was the official announcer for the SpaceX launch! Check out the webcast at http://bit.ly/1Ph7CXS. The video was streamed live on Dec. 21. SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. With this mission, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket delivered 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit.

Arvind Ravinutala and Nirav Chitkara stopped by the alumni relations office to say hello

while visiting with former teachers on the upper school campus.

2009Anu Ramachandran was one of two Johns Hopkins University students selected to spend next year pursuing a graduate degree in the United Kingdom after winning the highly competitive Marshall Scholarship. A third-year Hopkins medical student, Anu will study public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She was among 32 U.S. students selected as Marshall Scholars out of 916 applicants this year. Funded by the British government, the prestigious scholarship allows high-achieving scholars to undertake postgraduate studies in the U.K. program of their choice, with the goal of nurturing future leaders and strengthening British-American collaborations.

2010The Class of 2010 held its reunion on the evening of Dec. 26 at BJ's Restaurant in Cupertino. A great time was had by all!

2011Harker Conservatory graduate James Seifert appeared in a Stanford University play. Seifert was also active in speech and debate, sang in the All-National Honor Choir in Washington, D.C., in 2011, and earned the Presi-dent’s Volunteer Service Award from President Obama in 2011. To read an article about him that appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly: http://bit.ly/21E3kTM.

The Class of 2011 held its five-year reunion on Dec. 26 at Tied House in Mountain View. The evening was filled with fun filled memories and delicious food.

2012Govi Dasu started a consultancy (abhigoviconsulting.com) that helps entrepreneurs build Web and mobile applications for their early startup ideas. “It's pretty amazing how Harker has a business department now. At Harker, I didn't really understand the value of the Harker network, but after Stanford, I realize how powerful both schools’ networks are. Harker is actually more powerful because it

ClassNotesPhoto by Stefan Armijo

1997Lindsey Hochrine [email protected]

2002Akhsar [email protected]

Yasmin [email protected]

Isabella [email protected]

2003Julia N. [email protected]

Maheen [email protected]

2004Jacinda A. [email protected]

Jessica C. [email protected]

2005Erika N. [email protected]

2006Meghana [email protected]

Jeffrey [email protected]

Casey [email protected]

2007Cassie [email protected]

Audrey [email protected]

2008Stephanie [email protected]

Senan [email protected]

2009Rachel [email protected]

Stephanie [email protected]

Class Agents

Our alumni love to hear how their classmates are doing, so starting

with this issue of Harker Quarterly, some Class Notes submissions will

be shared on the Harker Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels.

Some news is so much fun, we won’t wait for Harker Quarterly but

will publish it online when we get it, then run it in the Quarterly’s

Class Notes; other times we’ll wait and publish a complete class year’s

notes after the magazine is out. If you prefer not to have your Class

Notes submissions shared in social media, please just drop us a line at

[email protected].

– Karri Sakai Baker ’84, Director of Alumni Relations

Online Channels

Prov

ided

by

Rohi

ni V

enka

tram

an ‘0

6

Photo by Stefan Arm

ijo

Photo by Karri Baker

Photo provided by Govi D

asu '12

Class of 2011

Class of 2010


so tightly knit,” said Govi, who is offering a 5 percent commission on all project referrals. So far, several of his clients have come from the Harker community!

2013Joe Wang is studying real estate finance at New York University and also raising funding for a food curation startup on the

East Coast. Joe recently moved and is now living in Brooklyn. He is in touch with Caro-line Lai, who also attends NYU. Joe stopped by

to visit the alumni relations of-fice and volunteered to become an alumni mentor for seniors in-terested in learning more about NYU and New York.

Lorraine Wong, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined other women representatives from the private research university to talk to local middle school girls about engineering. They

discussed examining DNA from a strawberry that clumped and separated from an extraction process, among other topics.

Maverick McNealy is a regular in Harker Quarterly for his breaking golf news. In January the Stan-ford golfer made a guest appear-ance at a manda-tory upper school spring sports meeting for parents and athletes. He spoke to them about his athletic expe-rience and the lessons he has learned from playing sports.

Molly Wolfe was a White House intern last summer and is now at the London School of Economics for her junior year at Vanderbilt University.

A number of alumni from the Class of 2013 had a great time playing an informal pickup

game during one of Harker’s varsity soccer team’s practices over the holiday break. Joining in the fun were several other alums from the classes of 2012, 2014 and 2015.

2015Corey Gonzales took a gap year to travel around South America by motorcycle. While home for the holidays, Corey returned to Harker to present to an upper school Spanish 4 class. Corey plans to attend Harvard in the fall.

Alumni Celebrations

5 3

ClassNotes

2010Kevin [email protected]

Adrienne [email protected]

2011Rani [email protected]

Hassaan [email protected]

2012Will [email protected]

David [email protected]

2013Kathir Sundarraj [email protected]

Nikhil Panu [email protected]

Nicholas Chuang [email protected]

2014Nithya Vemireddy [email protected]

Adith [email protected]

Connie [email protected]

2015Katy Sanchez [email protected]

Nikhil [email protected]

David Lin [email protected]

Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari [email protected]

Class Agents

Phot

o by

Kar

ri Ba

ker

'84


Photo by Melinda Gonzales

Jeremy Kerr ’96 and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their third child on Nov. 27, which is also Jeremy’s birthday. Jamison weighed 7.4 pounds and was 20 inches long, according to proud grandmother Cindy Ellis, Harker’s middle school head.

Amit Saxena ’03 got married on Dec. 26 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. He and his wife, Kriti, are excited about beginning their new life together.

Neil Bhalerao ’04 will be getting married in June, with a celebration planned in the Bay Area.

Photo provided by Jeremy Kerr '96

Photo by Diana Moss

Please join us in congratulating the following alumni:

LookingAhead

H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 5 4

Sat., April 98 a.m.-5 p.m.

Nichols Hall | Saratoga Campus

SAVE THE DATE!Coming

MS & US Spring Concert April 9

US Musical “Bye, Bye, Birdie” April 14-16

Kindergarten Show April 21-22

In Concert April 29

Bucknall Music Concert May 5

MS Musical “Seussical” May 13-14

Senior Showcase May 13

Bucknall Dance Concert May 27-28

Attractions

ImagineLet’s Make it Happen!

The Performing Arts and Athletics Complex

Groundbreaking | May 3, 2016Upper School Campus

LookingAhead

Harker Quarterly (USPS 023-761) is published four times per year (September, December, March and June) by The Harker School,

Office of Communication, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Jose, CA and at additional

mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Harker Quarterly, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.

5 5H A R K E R Q U A R T E R LY S P R I N G 2 0 1 6

Preschool-12!

Math•Language Arts•Science•Art•and More!

Other Programs• Swim School• English Language Institute (International Students)

Visit our website for more details! [email protected] | San Jose | 408.553.5737

2016 REGISTRATION NOWOPEN

Summer Institute Gr. 9-12For-credit and enrichment courses.

June 13-July 29(Multiple Sessions) K-Gr. 5June 20-Aug. 5(Multiple Sessions)

SummerCampGr. 6-8

June 20-Aug. 5(Multiple Sessions)

SummerInstitutePreschool

Ages 3-5June 20-Aug. 5

(Two Sessions)

Mon., April 11, 2016Stanford University Golf Course

19th Hole Reception to Follow at Clubhousehttp://www.harker.org/about/events/golfclassic

Class of 2016Thurs., May 19 | 5 p.m.The Mountain Winery

Senior Families Only by Reservation

Class of 2016GRADUATION

4 0 8 . 2 4 9 . 2 5 1 0 • w w w . h a r k e r . o r g · S a n J o s e , C a l i f o r n i a

O of C: 12/15 (BHDG/JJJ/RM/DQP) 5,751

This photo is circa 1970, probably grade 4, from Harker Day School’s summer camp, according

to Harker archivist Terry Walsh. Harker has a long history of running summer camps that keep

students academically fresh while still providing tons of great outdoor activities; check out our

current summer camp offerings on page 14. To see how classrooms like the one pictured have changed,

see page 28, “Moveable Classrooms.” One thing that hasn’t changed at Harker is a teacher bending over

students, coaching them as they work. Harker’s teachers and staff members are key to our commitment

to excellence. Read more about teachers in “Milestones” (page 42) or go to www.harker.org and search

“teachers” to read profiles of some of Harker’s finest!

Harker AcademyCirca 1970

Photo courtesy of the Harker A

rchives

Harker Quarterly Spring 2016

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Transcript of Harker Quarterly Spring 2016