The Eagle Review 2017 Fall by Shanghai American School

FALL 2017

A PUBLICATION OF SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOL

T H AT D AY OUR HISTORY B E CA M E R E A L LY FA S H I O N A B L E

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F S H A N G H A I A M E R I C A N S C H O O L

FALL 201 7

Managing Editor Abigail Torres

Director of Marketing & Communications Kevin Lynch

Editor Kelsey Heeringa

Contributors Shavonne Morgan Cristin Merker

THE EAGLE REVIEW© is published three times a year—fall, winter, and spring — by the Shanghai American School Marketing and Communications Office. Information in the magazine is primarily about the SAS community. We encourage alumni, students, parents, teachers, and administrators to submit articles and photography for consideration to: tellus@saschina.org. All submissions will be edited for style, length, and tone.

Designer Cindy Wang

Pudong Campus: Shanghai Links Executive Community, 1600 Lingbai Road, Sanjiagang, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 201201. Telephone: 6221-1445. Puxi Campus: 258 Jinfeng Road, Huacao Town, Minhang District, Shanghai 201107. Telephone: 6221-1445.

Above: Shanghai American School welcomes a new dragon to the Puxi campus elementary playground. He’s making many new friends. Front cover: SAS alumni from the 1940s try out our new brand. From left: Betty Barr Wang ’49, Teddy Heinrichsohn ’49, Joe Wampler ’51, Anne Romasco ’51, and Marybelle “Mimi” Hollister ’52.

Fall 2017

Proud to be One of Us

Inside SAS

In this issue we collected different perspectives on what makes the experience of Shanghai American School something extraordinary. When you step back from all the opportunities and busyness to reflect, what does it feel like, deep down, to be an Eagle?

A Closer Look

Humans of SAS

Alumni

Only At SAS

News and Updates

Student Voices

Classrooms Without Walls

Legend Hunting

There is a big world beyond our classrooms, and out in nature the learning opportunities for every subject can expand exponentially. In fact, one day, every single elementary class at the Pudong campus was outside.

The long history of this school has many inspirational stories, some mysteries, and a few tall tales. Lately, some of our staff have turned into detectives, uncovering these nuggets of our identity before they get left behind.

Linked into High School

Surviving the Apocalypse

Kicking off high school at SAS involves a whole crew of mentors to cheer and support students on the path into ninth grade. Link Crew makes Freshman Orientation a wild ride.

One team of eighth grade students started the year being asked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How might you, as remnants of human society, design a way to survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic world?â&#x20AC;? After a week of cross-disciplinary teamwork, groups defended their new world to a panel of judges.

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F E AT U R E

PROUD TO BE AN EAGLE: Shanghai American School is not short on stories of our amazing facilities, the varied and life-changing programs we run, or the spectacular events we host, each one as noteworthy as the last. And yet, being part of this community is so much more than the sum of these parts. Being one of us feels like being part of something special, and the experience of being an Eagle is much more than our remarkable list of statistics. We asked five different people, our Head of School, a high school parent, a middle school student, an elementary school teacher, and an alumnus to share their perspective on how they define that SAS essence, what it says about who we are, and how they know SAS is leaving its mark in a profound way on all of us. For more current student perspectives, check out our WeChat series on the Eagles tab of our WeChat account.

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F E AT U R E

PERSPECTIVE #1 BY MARCEL G. GAUTHIER, HEAD OF SCHOOL

When I reflect upon Shangahi American School and what makes it special, the pride of the mission is what comes to my mind. Generated through a year-long community process and approved by the Board in 2011, it is young as far as missions go, but carries a weight that belies its youth. Parents often ask me: “What role does the mission play? How does it inform what we do?” My answer is this: the SAS mission offers a set of ideals that define the kind of learning community we strive to be. Let me share with you what this looks like from my unique viewpoint. On one level, the mission humanizes the education we deliver. It goes without saying that a high quality academic program, grounded in excellence, is fundamental to who we are. However, as an American school, we are committed to educating the whole child. We strive to help each student become aware of who they are as a person and who they might become, challenging them to try new activities and to invest in those they are passionate about. We invite them to empathize with another’s experience and to care about doing good in the world. The mission reminds us that the ultimate goal of education is a successful, thriving human being, not merely a set of grades or test scores. Furthermore, the mission demands that we model what we preach. To instill a lifelong passion for learning, we must as educators be personally committed to such an ethos. Professional growth is ongoing. When I am recruiting potential teachers, I tell them that if they think they already have all the answers and have stopped challenging themselves, then SAS is not the place for them. At SAS we are always seeking to improve, to innovate, to refine, and to find new ways to inspire and support students. This is one reason we invite experts from around the world to compel us to reflect in multiple areas – most recently in learning support, EAL, math, reading and writing, effective collaboration, and curricular enhancement. When we educators model continual learning, we pass that passion on to our students. The mission, however, asks for more than our authenticity. It also invites reflection and inspired action. A commitment to act with integrity and compassion cannot be imposed. By necessity, we have rules and consequences, but to care about what is right does not always happen naturally. The mission compels us not merely to hold students accountable, but to invite them into the discussion and urge them to act on their principles. In the ideal world, we want our students to avoid cheating, for example, not because they might get in trouble, but because it compromises who they are and who they wish to be in the world. In the arena of service, we assume our students travel to support the Jacaranda School in Malawi or do work for Habitat for Humanity because they wish to, not because the gesture might look good on a college application. On the simplest level, the mission keeps us open to opportunity. Why do we offer so many activities for our students? Because we want them to have as large an arena as possible to find their passion, whether it be in the arts, athletics, robotics, student government, service, debate, or a club they create. We like it when our students surprise and challenge us. Often they inspire us. Who would have thought that one of our seniors would start a non-profit to support “left behind children” in Anhui…or that two students could develop an innovative mechanical system to deliver small packages in Shanghai… or that a student would take it upon himself to develop a hydrogen powered mini-bike? We love when our students have the courage to live their dreams, and an expression of courage in pursuit of a dream enriches us all. The fact is, for every single student, there are moments each day where the mission might find expression. Simple moments where a student risks offering an opinion in a discussion of literature, or chooses to challenge a friend who is being mean, or tries out for the fall play or a sport she has never done before, or helps out a new student who seems lost. Opportunities for drive, compassion, integrity, and courage abound. As a community, we are in fact the sum total of the gestures we make relative to each other. The SAS mission reminds us that we can elevate those gestures and thereby elevate ourselves.

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F E AT U R E

PERSPECTIVE #2 BY FELIX FALKENBERG, ’07 ALUMNI, PUXI CAMPUS

By the APAC season of my senior year, my soccer team felt like a brotherhood. Coming together was an expectation that was embedded in us at SAS, and at the core of how our community operated. The tournament was at home, and the school was buzzing for weeks leading up to it — posters, morning announcements counting down the days, people approaching me to say they would be there to watch. I lived in my letterman jacket, sure I was part of something important, feeling such pride in being an Eagle. At the tournament, the crowds were bigger than I could imagine. Students, parents, and teachers all came out. After the games, we applauded the crowd, thanking them for their tremendous support. I spent my downtime recovering and preparing to honor my school by being the best I could, and by the finals it felt like the whole school was in the stands. And we lost. Yet, the crowd responded with a massive cheer for us anyways. That is when I knew that I was part of a huge family, and they were behind us no matter what. When the opportunity arose years later to return to SAS as a soccer coach, I didn’t think twice. I wanted to give back, to carry on those beliefs that were built in me: Stick together no matter what. Play for each other and not for yourself. Be selfless; the team comes first. When I posted on Facebook that I was at APAC in Korea, now coaching the SAS Puxi varsity team in the finals, the response was overwhelming. The whole SAS community, my old teammates, even old rival players chimed in wishing us well. I gave the motivational speech in the huddle before the game, fired up with stories from my days in their shoes. It was a moving moment for me… and when we lost that final game, just as my team had lost, I took heart knowing I’d surely passed along an important belonging that would carry them far beyond the wins and losses in life.

PERSPECTIVE #3 BY HEATHER LECLAIR, PARENT, PUDONG CAMPUS

As the oldest international school in China, Shanghai American School is considered to be an outstanding, high-performing school. It has a world class facility, it offers a rich and challenging curriculum, and it attracts a diverse student body. The extracurricular activities are plentiful and the athletic and performing arts programs both regularly receive accolades. These are all tangible examples of what makes this school exceptional, but I would argue that these are not the things that make the experience special. When we moved to Shanghai in August 2015 our daughter, Avery, was a rising junior and our son, Caden, was entering seventh grade. While we were excited for the opportunity to live in China, we were apprehensive about moving our daughter in the middle of high school. In fact, we agreed as a family that if the experience didn’t go as expected we would make arrangements for Avery to return to the United States for her senior year. What I saw that year at SAS was that my kids had the chance to become whatever they wanted to be. Avery felt she could join a new sport, become an actor, or learn an instrument. I could see that my kids had the freedom and support to learn more about science or literature, or to try new things surrounding whatever passions they developed. And every move they took to follow their heart at this school was celebrated. As the first year began to wind down, we asked Avery if she wanted to return to Oregon for her senior year. She declined, stating she would really like to graduate from Shanghai American School. In May 2017 Avery graduated from SAS. One of the core values of Shanghai American School is to inspire students to have the courage to live their dreams. Avery’s experience is proof that at SAS this regularly occurs, and, in my opinion, this is what makes Shanghai American School special. 6 | T H E E AG L E R E V I E W

F E AT U R E

PERSPECTIVE #4 BY KATIE PARKHURST, GRADE 3 TEACHER, PUXI CAMPUS

Life as an international educator is like a spectrum of colors. In fact, here at Shanghai American School there are times when it is so bright that our knuckles are white from holding on. The experience of being a teacher in this community is incredible. For starters, we have the absolute right resources at our disposal for educating the future leaders of the world. Day in and day out, I'm so impressed by what we have available for teachers, which turns into limitless opportunities for our students. Our elementary school library alone is enough to drool over! It seems, too, that if we don't have the right resources, we will shine some light on that area. For example, in the two short years that I've been teaching here, a new iHub has opened in the elementary school and high school. This has made some awesome impacts on the way teaching and learning are happening at SAS. At the heart of it all, I feel valued as an educator at this school in so many different ways. From the low student to teacher ratio, to the amount of prep and planning time, to the opportunities for professional development, I feel like I have the support to become the best possible teacher I can be, which translates into a more powerful educational experience for everyone. For the international educators amongst us, by virtue of being here, we are all living representations of part of our mission – it takes courage to move to China and live out our dreams. When I think of the opportunities that working here has afforded me and my family, I not only think Shanghai American School is special, but one of the brightest things in my life.

PERSPECTIVE #5 BY MICHELLE HUANG, GRADE 8, PUDONG CAMPUS

What would an outsider see, after the hustle bustle of the first bell rings, and a grace period settles over the halls? Will it be the colorfully different tops of our heads in classrooms, or the library, with its pleasant clashing of Lego robots along with the classics? I remember as a new third grader I mostly just noticed the oddly colored floor tiles. The stories start, suspended in time, and finish the same way. My story begins in Mr. Ginder’s humanities class. Throughout the year, my love of writing turned from setting my emotional guts on paper into discovering new ways to retell the stories of others. My favorite book report project was on Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Under Mr. Ginder’s guidance, I knew I could let my imagination fly beyond an essay. So I turned to art. I set this story into layers of charcoal on rice paper, while my bedroom floor disappeared under the scenes that had played countless times in my head. “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge,” said Albert Einstein. The best teachers are those that know how to break through the wall that separates a curriculum from a student body, and those that reach out to us as companions. One minute, Mr. Ginder would talk with a student for ages about their salt water fish tanks. Right after, girls would hurry in from their lunch break to bedazzle his computer with stickers. It is not the efficiency of how fast they teach us the curriculum, but how deeply teachers are able to touch our hearts. Those that laugh and guide and seek with us not which path to take, but what materials to gather to build a path for ourselves. That year, where mornings felt like I was coming home, it was the teachers who made us understand that our stories begin here.

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SAS LEGENDS

L EGE ND HUNTIN G BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

nternational schools tend to be short on institutional memory. Large parts of the population are transient and the existence of the school itself is based upon being guests in a host country. Shanghai American School is no different. Living in the moment, we tend to fiercely love the part of history we are currently crafting and forget to learn about the rest. Yet with a founding year like 1912, we are part of a much wider legacy than the here and now.

Six on the back of the photo. She scoured social media for contacts, found pieces of the story, and tried to fill in the gaps. She and her team learned that the Pudong campus started with the intention to be a full K-12 school, a scope that turned out to be a bit ambitious right out of the gate. The next year they scaled back to just an elementary and middle school, sending high school students to the Puxi campus until the Pudong campus could sustainably grow into its full size.

Last year a few staff members started following their curiosity about this layered and dynamic past of ours, pulling off the shelves and into our lives the events and changes and traditions that made us the SAS we are today. Starting with A Story of the Shanghai American School, a history book in our libraries, they looked for the connections between what we did and what we do, between who we were and who we are. They found surprises (like a bootleg campus in an internment camp) and numerous unsung heroes. And in this ever-changing and ever-growing community they found there was a lot to love in the things we left behind. Things that could plant our feet on the ground and remind us that SAS is truly a cultural touchstone of this city. Aside from being important to our sense of identity, the project quickly turned into an exciting, real-life scavenger hunt into the past. For example, SAS didn’t formally honor, or even seem to know, who exactly reestablished the school in the 1980s, or exactly what year that happened. Was it 1983 when we started documenting history again, or before that? For this monumental piece of our story, no one, not the books nor the Heads that followed, seemed to remember. And so the sleuthing began. Next someone noticed that in the halls of the Pudong campus, cap-and-gown graduation photos dated back neatly each year since 2008. Then without explanation, one last candid photo of six girls hung in the line. It was labeled “2000.” Did these six girls somehow graduate from the Pudong campus eight years before the school started graduating seniors? Why? And who are they? Through an unexpected string of moments like this all sorts of SAS Legends were born into our new generation. It was around this time that some people in our community started to resemble undercover detectives. Cristin Merker, former Publications Coordinator, found the names of these Pudong

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THE PUDONG SIX

Yet before this switch the Pudong campus graduated the Pudong Six. (Except if you look at Puxi’s 2000 yearbook, where these Six were deceptively mixed in, one girl refers to how they were really only the Pudong Five-and-a-Half…) The more they uncovered, the more elusive some of these stories became. It was more than the fun of the mystery that kept them going, because by then they knew that community is strengthened by shared language and rituals, and that recognizing those that laid our foundation helps us know, appreciate, and stand proudly in our own moment in time. As for the search for our Founding Family in the 80s? Someone found a new lead. One plaque in a meeting room listing SAS Heads of School named Linnea C. Lauer as Head of School from 1980-1982. A google search led them to a woman living on Bainbridge Island, off the coast of Washington. We wrote, “Did you, by chance, help re-found SAS in 1980?” She responded: “You found me.”

SAS LEGENDS

She then proceeded to mail us some of her personal keepsakes from that era, artifacts of our history that had nearly slipped through the cracks. For Linnea, reestablishing SAS was a labor of love and she was delighted to be recognized. Sometimes your roots have been right there waiting all along. Over the past months SAS has started compiling its best Legends to share with the community in celebration of the dynamic, sometimes unruly, and always passionate history that we are part of. Our Legends seem to deserve more than a night for Founders’ Week, they deserve to be part of our mindset, our traditions, our heart and our pride, our lexicon. Speaking of, do you know about the Bust of Juno? Or Unk Cheney…? This year, we are going to keep telling these stories as we write our own next chapter in the book of legends. What do you think is legendary about SAS? Write to us: legends@saschina.org

FO R M E R CA M P U S TO U R Above: The first Pudong campus at Huaxia Cultural Center. We found a former SAS janitor who brought some of us back here to look around. It is now a hotel and retreat center. Below Left: The SAS water tower was one of the architectural signatures of the SAS campus from 1923-49. While it still only stands 70 feet high, it has managed to change the skyline of Shanghai. Says Tang Yu’en, architect of the nearby Shanghai Library, “I designed the sharp tower top for Shanghai Library to show respect for historical buildings in this neighborhood. It’s kind of a symbolic echo of the water tower of the Shanghai American School.” Photo credit: Wang Shu Below Right: Our eighth campus (of 11) was on Jidi Lu – a pit stop (temporary) campus while we were building our current campus in Puxi.

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SAS LEGENDS

THE FIRST FAMILY BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

n December 2016, a girl wearing an SAS shirt was walking near the long escalator that runs through central Hong Kong when she saw an older woman point to her shirt and ask, “Is that Shanghai American School?”

The girl confirmed it was, and the woman declared, “I founded that school!” The woman was not kidding.

S M A L L W O R L D, PA R T 1 In the late 1970s, before coming to Shanghai, the Lauer family was living in Taichung, Taiwan, and husband Tom

In March of 1980, the woman – Linnea Lauer – arrived in Shanghai with her three children, Kirsten, Nathan, and Matthew, along with her husband Tom. Tom was an economic advisor who had a challenging assignment: he was in Shanghai to help reopen the U.S. Consulate after a 30-year absence. The State Department gave Linnea what could be considered an even more challenging task: she was asked to restart Shanghai American School. Shanghai would soon be filled with children of Consulate employees and associates, so the ability to provide a strong international education locally was paramount. Starting a school in a country that had been closed to Westerners for a few decades was no easy feat. Linnea had to complete paperwork for the State Department, compose an official statement on the purpose of the school, find and customize a curriculum that could work for students of all ages, buy and ship school supplies, and establish a physical school setting. That’s a lot for one person, but by September 1980, Linnea was prepared. 30 years after it had closed its doors on Heng Shan Road, Shanghai American School had officially been re-founded a mere 349 meters away at the U.S. Consulate grounds on Huai Hai Road. As you walk across the beautiful, modern, and expansive grounds of our current campuses, it’s hard to imagine how the school looked in the fall of 1980. There were seven children – three of whom were Lauers – crammed into a gardening shed that had been expanded and then divided into two classrooms, one for the two middle school girls and the other room for the five elementary school children. Kirsten, then in 6th grade, specifically remembers her “classroom” being so cold in the winter that they had to keep their tea on the radiator in order to keep it warm. Nathan remembers his own hardships: he was first student to be suspended. Apparently, when your mother is your teacher, principal, and Head of School, you should watch your language. Despite the family’s fond memories and love for SAS, living in Shanghai in 1980 was not easy. They were rarely allowed to leave Consulate grounds, and when they did, the kids attracted more attention than they were comfortable with. As some of the first Westerners allowed in the country in three decades, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Lauer family gathered crowds no matter where they went. Linnea recalls one time they went to a flower market and when she glanced out the window of

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was busily learning Chinese. “There was a fellow student in my husband’s class by the name of Richard Mueller,” Linnea writes. “Sound familiar?” Mueller was the Head of School at SAS from 2013-2016.

S M A L L W O R L D, PA R T 2 The Lauers were just one of the missing links we discovered recently. When we were speaking with Nathan Lauer, he spoke of his mother living on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and said, “There’s another woman living on Bainbridge Island who used to run SAS. I’ve even been to her house for dinner.” And that’s how we found Julie Ann Dakin, who led SAS in its final year on the Consulate grounds in 1989.

SAS LEGENDS

LEGEND the second floor, she saw a crowd of over 400 people gathered below, simply waiting to catch a glimpse of them. Another time, Nathan was going down the street to get bread from the baker. A large mob surrounded him and he was robbed. He was not even 10 years old. Of course, the challenges of everyday life in China in the early 1980s had an upside, too. “We loved going to school!’ said Nathan. “It was the only thing we had to do.” While there were moments of tension, Linnea describes re-founding SAS as a “labor of love.” One that has lasted for almost four decades. The original seven students still keep in touch on social media. Kirsten’s closest friend from the class, Sue Hess, provided the first known picture of the school after its re-founding. And in spite of intense moments, and occasional boredom due to lack of entertainment options, Linnea says that, “Shanghai is always a place we will love.” In fact, their youngest son, Matthew, moved back to Shanghai as an adult and lives here with his family. The Lauer family were only in Shanghai and at SAS long enough to re-establish the school, but their contribution to SAS is humbling in scope. Their legend is one led by the Lauers’ pioneering nature and willingness to sacrifice a “normal” life, as well as Linnea’s dedication to not only re-open Shanghai American School, but ensure it began to deliver an education worthy of its legacy.

All photos provided by the Lauer family (from top to bottom): Shanghai American School, 1981. Teachers: left, Elizabeth Schroeder, right Linnea Lauer. Students standing, from left to right: Stephanie Borich, Jo-Jo Hess, Anna Lee, Kirsten Lauer, Nathan Lauer, Sue Hess. Kneeling from left to right are Matthew Lauer, Priscilla Dochert, Alan Docherty, Ann Hess. Sports Day: Kirsten Lauer accepts a certificate from Don Anderson, the Consulate General, on the first Sports Day. Flag Raising: After the Consulate closed in 1950, a Chinese worker saved the US flag and kept it for 30 years. He presented it to the Consulate General when the Consulate reopened in 1980. Linnea and her kids are in the center for this ceremony, Kirsten Lauer the young girl in the red dress. First Year: Upon initial reopening of SAS in 1980, this was the entire school for many months. From left: Nathan Lauer, Sue Hess, Kirsten Lauer, Matthew Lauer, Stephanie Borich, and Ann Hess.

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COMMUNITY

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COMMUNITY

Living the Mission, Living the Dream BY LISA FERGUSON, EARLY CHILDHOOD ART/MUSIC/PE INTEGRATION, PUXI CAMPUS

I am a lifelong learner. Over twenty years ago I took a break from teaching to return to school. After working in education for 10 years I decided to pursue a degree related to my other passion: China. I completed a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies, received a scholarship to attend Nanjing University for advanced Chinese study, then spent a year as an intern at the Canadian Consulate in Shanghai. Since arriving at Shanghai American School in 2000, I continued my pursuit of lifelong learning, always striving to improve my teaching and exploring best practices in several grade levels and positions. At the core of my experience at SAS is the enduring support and encouragement of administrators and teammates to always continue this growth in my journey of professional discovery. As members of the SAS community, the mission statement informs what we do on a daily basis in the classrooms with students, as well as how we collaborate with colleagues and interact with parents. However, it is not often that we have the opportunity to stop and reflect on what the mission means to us personally. The Mission Award for Lifelong Learners afforded me the opportunity to do just that. This past summer, with the award of the first ever Mission Award for Lifelong Learners, I had the good fortune to spend my summer break studying art in Europe. Inspired by previous professional development experiences in the Reggio Emilia International study tour (where I saw, in action, the philosophy which is the foundation of our early childhood program), I wanted to dig deeper into the ways that art is one of the 100 languages of children. My goal with the Mission Award was to discover what style or medium most inspired my own creative life and to find new ways to include more artistic variety and energy into my classroom. Each 10-day workshop was unique and afforded many opportunities for me to exercise my passion for acquiring new knowledge. From the beginnings of mixing colors and adding shadows, to stretching a canvas and painting plein air, I was afforded an in-depth introduction to the visual arts that left me

exhilarated. Alongside other beginners as well as accomplished artists, we pursued our dreams of living a creative life of continued growth. Personally, I discovered that I love painting with oil, working with mono prints, creating stencils, and combining negative and positive space. I was reminded how it felt to be a student, trying to understand what the teacher was asking and seeing anew the different learning styles in play when trying to understand the tasks. Professionally, I continually took notes and made lists of how I could use the materials, techniques, and resources in new ways with all three grades levels that I work with, and beyond. Back at school, I am invigorated to ensure basic knowledge and innovative experience for my students as they begin their art education at SAS.

The Mission Award was made possible by the 2015 Our Edge for Excellence campaign which raised funding to support the first five grants for the award. With this generous support of donors in our community, SAS will offer a summer sabbatical grant for the next four summers for a faculty member to do a deep exploration in a field of his or her interest. This learning is then brought back to benefit our entire community. If you are interested in contributing to the continuation of the Mission Award, please contact Crickett Kasper, our Director of Development at crickett.kasper@ saschina.org. The selection process for the 2018 Mission Award recipient will begin later this fall.

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INSIDE SAS

CLASSROOMS WITHO

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OUT WALLS

INSIDE SAS

BY MALIHA IQBAL, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, PUDONG CAMPUS

If you visited Pudong elementary school on Thursday, May 18, 2017 you would have found a very empty building. Straight off the bus, the children were immersed in outdoor spaces reserved for each grade. It was a day wholly designed for them to explore in nature. Numerous studies in recent years highlight the correlation between student success and a connection to nature. One study conducted in 2000 of schoolchildren in California showed outdoor education improved studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; grades. After studying on an outdoor curriculum basis, students from 11 schools scored higher than students of traditional systems in 72% of assessments in everything from math to science. This approach was tested and tried in my Kindergarten classroom. Just by taking the children out in the morning for 15-20 minutes in the nature reserve and allowing them to explore the outdoors, I noticed the children were more focused and productive when they returned to the classroom. Throughout the year, the children who at first refused to sit on the grass or touch anything outside, began to develop a liking for the outdoors. By the end of the school year, they were happily rolling on the grass, digging in the soil, and even touching mud! So we decided to dedicate one day to teach every elementary subject outside. Every math, literacy, and science lesson was taught in the open air and with natural elements found around the school. Stones served as counting blocks and leaves served as stamps. Teachers of core subjects as well as specials all planned creative and fun lessons to bring every subject into nature. With the ever-changing dynamics of the outdoors, it was an incredibly stimulating and multi-sensory place to play and learn. From scavenger hunts to chalk art, gardening to wall climbing, meditating in the nature reserve to cooking our own lunch outside, every elementary student that day took advantage of discovery in a true classroom without walls. We look forward to making this event into a tradition.

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INSIDE SAS

Linked into High School BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

Freshman year. The small fry on campus. Upperclassmen look so big, so… adult. You’re only fourteen, after all. What if they eat you alive? Senior year. At last, it’s your turn to rule the school. How to begin your year of dominion? Summer break ended early for a group of seniors and juniors at both campuses who were determined to usher the newest class into high school with a whirlwind of support. They are the Link Crew, upperclassmen who rigorously train during their last days of summer in order to give the incoming freshman a clear message about the high school experience ahead: Class of 2021, you are not alone. Link Crew is a very different spin on the kick-off to high school. Six years back, surveys given to high school students were showing that many freshmen began high school with a sense of disconnection. The Link Crew program was the response to this need, but was not invented by Shanghai American School. Schools all over the United States, and increasingly the world, send their staff to learn the scripts and 1 6 | T H E E AG L E R E V I E W

games and skills to pass along to their school’s respective upperclassmen. It is a serious leadership opportunity for the student Link Leaders and it is their personal responsibility to get their crew’s freshman year started off on the right foot. Not surprisingly, it turns out that starting high school with laughter, a few new friends, and some upperclassmen on your team really matters. Student survey results dramatically shifted since the program began and incoming freshman now mostly report feeling supported and connected as their high school career begins. Link Crew at Shanghai American School has been in full swing ever since it started. Each year teachers and counselors spend two days training this team of select junior and senior Link Leaders to fully lead the school’s freshman orientation. On the Puxi campus, the 34 Link Leaders were chosen from over 100 applicants. They were accepted to this role through recommendations, applications, and interviews, and they came from a diversity of personalities, interests, and backgrounds. Ideally, all freshman should be able to see themselves reflected somewhere in the Link Leader team.

INSIDE SAS

During Link Leader training on Puxi campus, gym windows were blacked out, granting the event an air of an important secret society. Michael Branch, a high school English teacher, was on a microphone. Students were on their feet clapping while he rapped, and in another moment he was earnestly compelling the junior and senior leaders to rise up and “own their greatness” by reflecting on what sort of legacy they want to leave at the school. “What do you want freshman to say about you in June?” With this and other tools, the staff coached students with age and authority on their side to encourage, to empathize, and to rally a hurricane of love around this slice of their community now in their charge. Being a Link Leader, a mentor in the lives of their crew, is a powerful and real responsibility, and these upperclassmen leaders buy into that in all the best ways. Orientation day looked a little like this: the freshman were a bit bleary-eyed and slightly taken aback by the level of enthusiasm all around them. The Link Leaders ran activities and games designed to move everyone outside comfort zones and to talk authentically about the high school experience ahead. There were a lot of silly costumes. There was a lot of cheering. And there were a lot of leaders instilling their crews with the belief that there is absolutely a place for them at this school.

Amazingly, Link Crew did not end back at orientation in August. Throughout the whole school year Link Crews will have potlucks, scavenger hunts, WeChat groups, socials, an ongoing inter-Link Olympics, and academic check-ins. Leaders will decorate lockers of the crew members, be personal guides through the Activities Fair, organize their group to attend SAS sporting events, and lead their own Exploratory sessions in the second semester. Building spirit and staying connected are a year-long commitment, and an ongoing promise in the lives of ‘their’ freshmen. Those who have been through the program intimately know how this kind of mentorship makes a difference in high school. Love of this program as a freshman and an eagerness to give back are the primary driving forces behind the annual flurry of applications to be a leader in later years. And for all the organization and planning, the kids know what is at the heart of the experience: when this year’s freshman were asked about their favorite part of the whole freshman orientation experience, their answer was usually that “the best part is my Link Leader.” For photos and highlights from the Pudong campus Link Crew see our August WeChat story: That Day We Connected The Links.

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A CLOSER LOOK

TOOT YOUR HORN Music is an essential part of our lives, and letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s be honest, middle school music is also a ton of fun! At Shanghai American School our musicians play together, sing together, write together, learn together, make mistakes together, and create together. In middle school we learn to march, we perform in prestigious international festivals like AMIS, and fill the music hall of the middle school with music every day.

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A CLOSER LOOK

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COMMUNITY

BOOMERANG-ERS

t is a big, wide world out there for international educators. Shanghai American School attracts top-notch teachers from around the globe and lately weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve noticed something special happening: some teachers leave SAS and decide, out of everywhere else they might go, to come back. We call them our Boomerang-ers. Their stories are varied, like Kay Saich who moved with her husband Michael to work in India, became certified in Integrated Math, and boomeranged back because they missed SAS and the

vibrant city of Shanghai. Jonathan Chambers was gone less than a year to Macau before he realized how much he missed the community and students. He returned, but to the other side of the river! There are many stories like this within our community, but here is a spotlight interview from a faculty family on each campus.

Introducing the Carozzas, our Pudong Boomerang Family, and the Foley Linzel family, our Puxi Boomerang-ers!

How long were you first here?

Six years.

Four years (and two sons born).

How long were you gone?

We spent the past two years in Virginia Beach.

Back in Ontario for four years.

How long have you been back?

We just arrived back to Shanghai at the end of July!

Just starting our seventh year!

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COMMUNITY

When you left, did you think you might return someday?

We left to take care of a family member in Virginia Beach and didn’t think we would be returning to Shanghai or SAS. We were deeply saddened that it may be the last time that we would see our colleagues, friends, and students, or walk the hallways of the amazing school and community we had known and loved.

We definitely thought we would be settling long-term in rural Canada. However, in a couple years we felt we had less stability with our jobs in Canada. Still, we did not first consider China. However, we loved our jobs at SAS, our boys were born here and did not remember anything about China, and so we found ourselves returning.

What brought you back to SAS?

The community is what lured us back to SAS, but we also appreciate our students, opportunities for professional growth, and we whole-heartedly support the SAS mission! We feel privileged to be able to live and work (not to mention have our children attend this school) in such a dynamic community with innovative professional and personal development. We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues and a diverse student population who enrich our lives daily. In our job search, SAS remained at the very top of our list!

At SAS we have the freedom and support to be the best educators we can be. The students allow us to be so creative, always willing to try new ways to learn. We’ve loved both our times here and have now worked in many different areas of the school, always appreciating the abundant opportunities to challenge ourselves as educators. We also know this to be a great, safe, and kind community for our children to learn and grow.

In what ways did it seem like you were settling back into your old life vs. starting a new one?  It was, in a way, like coming home… seeing familiar, smiling faces, our vibrant city, and the Pudong campus. In other ways, it’s like settling into a new life. Living in Jinqiao is a new experience for our family, and the school has progressed with a new Performance Art Center, other building projects, new and innovative technology, and new staff. What was the biggest change in SAS in the time you were away?  The biggest change at SAS relates to improvement and growth…not just in facilities, but also the structure and ethos of our professional learning communities.  What’s also true is that the SAS mission (which we absolutely love) didn’t change, nor did that refreshing community spirit of this campus. We are so glad to be back!

Carozza flashback, circa 2010

In what ways did it seem like you were settling back into your old life vs. starting a new one?  We moved into the exact apartment we left. Same phone number! James was in the same science department but now teaching biology. The rooms and school were basically the same. It was eerily similar. What was the biggest change in SAS in the time you were away?  The pollution has improved greatly! It seems much more has changed in the past five years [2012-2017] than in the four years we were gone [2007-2011]. Even the pedagogical and curriculum shift in the past four years has been much more significant. Science in the high school has changed curriculum expectations and course options. The learning environment of the science classrooms has also changed, along with the amazing Innovation Institute and Maker Space in the Center for Inquiry & Design.

Foley Linzel flashback, circa 2007

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INSIDE SAS

Helping the Cucumbers Climb BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

“I volunteered us to plant in the garden and found out we’d need to build a trellis, too!” said fifth grade teacher Matt Kopacka at the Pudong campus. Last spring, Mr. Kopacka’s class was learning how to plant and grow a cucumber in science. They quickly learned that, like children, cucumbers need a strong structure to hold onto as they reach for the sun and grow towards maturity. Cucumbers need a trellis. And so, the desire to grow a cucumber grew into a dynamic opportunity for discovery, presentations, competition, and construction. From planning to taste-testing, it took thought and work and care to do it right, and the students took the lead. According to Alfred Olivas, Instructional Coach on our Pudong campus, while many academic organizations teach concepts through textbooks, workbooks and other paper-bound materials, Shanghai American School is among the learning centers that values Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) – which includes interdisciplinary core ideas, science, and engineering practices, as well as crosscutting concepts. “We’ve gone at least three years without paper,” says Mr. Olivas. The projects at SAS start with imagination and thought, and from there become reality through a journey of questions that are asked and investigated by the students. There isn’t a worksheet in sight, but rather an area with science presentation spaces and learning stations. In the area of crosscutting concepts, where synergy is built between subject areas sharing a theme, science met math, which met industrial arts, innovation, and more as the students individually researched, gathered materials, planned, created, questioned, designed, and built. They made prototypes (a new vocabulary word) of what they thought a trellis (another new vocabulary word) might look like, all the while learning the physics behind what it would take to give their plants the support they needed. Once the prototypes were complete, students created presentations to promote their models and the best model was chosen for the actual trellis they would create. Then the building began. The questions and answers and investigations continued in the hands-on construction phase and, by now, the students had quite a pride for their work. Their determination to try and try again grew with every challenge, experiencing what Mr. Olivas called the “success of failure.” This cucumber lesson grew from the minds of fifth graders into the Eagle’s Nest, the garden space of the Pudong elementary campus. Cucumbers would join the mint leaves and tadpoles that other classes have brought to this serene space. The students owned the project, “often going to check on their cucumbers several times a day,” said Mr. Olivas. Their hard work was rewarded not just in the experiential learning that leads to deeper understandings, but also with the 10 plump and juicy cucumbers that they enjoyed with their teacher and classmates.

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INSIDE SAS

Surviving the Apocalypse BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

Some eighth grade students began their year with an unconventional getting-to-know-you interdisciplinary assignment: How might you, as remnants of human society, design a way to survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic world? Survive and Thrive is a project now in its third year on the Puxi campus, which combines four teachers of science and social studies. Originally conceived by grade 8 social studies teacher Matt Zeman, students imagine their existence in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are scarce, structure and order are non-existent, and the future of mankind does indeed hang by a thread. The students are charged with the open statement of “Survive and Thrive” and they begin the race to determine how that will look and how that will be achieved for their society. Students huddle in groups imagining they are the only humans left on earth. For some, the conversation revolves around, “How can we grow more potatoes?” and for others, it sounds like, “Let’s just have anarchy.” Ms. Ruby Hundley, 8th grade science teacher and one of the organizers, says, “It is fun to watch them explore and innovate. It is an insightful time for us around where they are in their understandings, their skill base, and their personalities and behavior.” Over the course of the week, and in the school year to follow, students will talk about and experience different ways to collaborate. They (and their teachers) learn a lot about their current knowledge base and problem-solving abilities. For example, some may learn that forming a group based on friendship instead of complimentary skill sets doesn’t build the best survival team.

They also have to learn to be creative and rely on each other, with teachers calling out things like, “Hey, you can’t ask the librarians for help! It’s the apocalypse! They are dead!” All of this builds to a presentation where each group defends their ideas and their society to a panel of judges, including teachers, administrators, and their peers. The most notable similarity in the presentations is that every group runs out of time while trying to explain their world. These eighth graders in front of a crowd have more they want to say, whether it is about converting the Aquatics Center into a greenhouse, damming the river for aquaculture, enforcing public capital punishments for law enforcement, navigating sanitation management, or pitching ideas for Direct Democracy (because as one student said, “Let’s be honest, no eighth grader is responsible enough to be a leader of society!”). They tell the audience about laws, about job and power structures, and about health care plans. Some show revised maps of the school noting areas now designated for lodging and gardening. Some mention how they will support creative thinking amongst the people while others talk about their plan to rule by fear. They are continually prodded to dig deeper and explore the long-term ramifications of choices, on a logistical and human level. Sam Baum, an eighth grade participant, said this was a fun introduction to the year. “It started us off with this idea that there is infinite freedom for ideas. This helped me learn that there are endless ways to solve a problem. And in that, it seems that ideas can always be improved upon if you keep on learning.”

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INSIDE SAS

f you have a child playing on an SAS sports team, you surely know this feeling: you arrive to a game ready to root on your kid and your school, you scan the field, and even by looking at the uniforms you realize you can’t always tell which team is ours. SAS was in need of a visual identity system that’s more consistent and distinctive – for our sports teams as well as our school overall. Fortunately, that opportunity is now being fulfilled. Shanghai American School is excited to be unrolling our new brand and visual identity this school year, which will stretch from our communications materials to our school signage, from everything we sell in the Eagle Shop to our players on the field. Over the last year, we’ve developed an identity system that more accurately reflects SAS – all while instilling our history and legacy into a clean, professional expression that capitalizes on our forward-thinking energy. You’ll be seeing elements of the identity roll out over the next year, starting with campus signage and sports uniforms. The next time you yell “Go Eagles,” you can be sure you’re looking at the right team.

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NEW

INSIDE SAS

LOOK Here is what people on campus are saying: We’ve been included in the design process and the actual design is connecting to what we want,” says Scott Hossack, Activities Director at the Pudong campus. He enjoys showing our schoolwide pride with a look that represents all SAS, while also identifying our campuses as individuals. “I think the kids are going to like them,” he says. “Oh these are super cool! Totally!” “Whoa….that is so fly!” “Oh my gosh! They are really different! Cool…” “So modern! And so beautiful!” “Look, SAS Puxi and Pudong together—they match and are the same, but different!” “I think we look official, up-to-date.” “We get our own number! And that font looks so good!” “It represents us. It totally says, WE ARE SAS!” “We’re EAGLES!” – Grade 7 and 8 CISSA players

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INSIDE SAS

HUMANS OF SAS Humans of SAS, inspired by the world-renowned project Humans of New York, has the aim to photograph, in daily life, a sampling of people who make up our community. For this part of the series we also talked with subjects about how the mission of SAS relates to their perspective on life.

SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOL INSPIRES IN ALL STUDENTS: A L I F E LO N G PA S S I O N F O R L E A R N I N G

Learning will always be taking place, even beyond school. Sometimes formally, like how I’d like to get more scuba certifications. But we also learn from everyday life. I can become better at football by watching other players. As long as you are someone who takes initiative you will always be learning.

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You can always be learning and improving in life. My mom still takes Chinese classes! I love when I can tell someone something and they say, “Wow! I didn’t know that!” So for me, I like learning when I can use it to help other people.

I like learning new things and am always learning in life. It gives me more skills to provide for myself and also hearing other people’s opinions helps me grow as a person. Right now I’m learning more about planning and preparing.

INSIDE SAS

A C O M M I T M E N T TO ACT W I T H I N T E G R I T Y A N D C O M PA S S I O N

Integrity comes from character and being true to yourself. Once I didn’t know the answers on a Chinese quiz but I didn’t want to cheat and look around the room. I didn’t do well on the quiz, but I felt really proud afterwards for the right reasons.

We should help out other people, no matter who we are. One way I can help younger kids is to show them where the library is. I love that this school has a lot of books. Fantasy is my favorite.

Just be kind. It seems like a lot of issues in the world come from a lack of kindness. And when others aren’t kind, that is the hardest time to be kind in return. Be kind anyway.

THE COURAGE TO LIVE THEIR DREAMS

At the pool when Coach George said to jump, I was scared. I had two noodles, not the noodles for eating, the noodles for floating. I closed my eyes because I needed courage. And then I made such a BIG SPLASH!

Courage is small, like speaking up for what is right, and big, like following your dreams. And courage is terrifying, filled with doubt. For me, courage is about taking initiative and then finding support. You can always get support here.

I think it takes courage just to grow up. I want to succeed in life and make the world better, and I know it will require me to be strong. When I need courage, like for a presentation, I start with some deep breaths.

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ALUMNI

Beauty and BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

inning the Miss Japan contest in 2016 by beating out 2,084 other applicants for the role, is just one in a list of eclectic accomplishments for Honami Iizuka ’ 11. Since graduating SAS, she has also been found at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, working at United Nations University on a project surrounding Nelson Mandela’s legacies, volunteering in Iwate Prefecture following the tsunami, and interning at the United Nations in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women. When you think of beauty queens, this alumna is clearly a much more layered and dynamic leader than you might expect. Her 10 years at Shanghai American School were a big part of fostering that. Her list of highlights from her time at SAS is long. “I remember when my team won the Battle of the Books in fourth grade. I loved International Day, China Alive, performing at the Sydney Opera House with the symphony orchestra, Eaglympics and Relay for Life. I also got to serve as the captain of the varsity soccer team in my senior year.” After graduation, Honami attended the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. It was here that some of her most important SAS experiences really started to play out in her life. “Ever since I attended the Habitat for Humanity trip to Malawi and visited the Jacaranda Foundation, I developed a passion for the field of international development.” Thus, during university, she went on to study International Relations and Politics, writing a thesis and publishing an article on services available to AIDS orphans and on frameworks for human security. After her college graduation, Honami knew she wanted to keep growing, and that she wanted to become a Japanese woman with a voice. She entered the contest to be Miss Japan, hoping for a chance to have the support and platform to make a positive impact. She was crowned Miss Japan “Greenery for Life” and started her reign by learning more about the environment and forestry industry in Japan, attending symposiums and workshops, and speaking with politicians and government officials. She then spent a year spreading awareness about the reality of developing a sustainable and active forestry industry for Japan. She worked with various ministries in the government, met Prime

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Strength Minister Shinzo Abe, and spoke about Japan’s relationship with nature at the G7 Summit in 2016. She broke down gender barriers in a male-dominated field by getting licensed in running a chainsaw and driving a tractor. She even demonstrated the process of felling trees herself! Honami worked more days in her tenure as Miss Japan than any other Miss Japan in history. None of this would surprise Honami’s SAS community. Honami already had a hero moment before even leaving high school. In the bronze medal tournament for APAC soccer in Taejon, Korea, the team needed a penalty kicker to score the winning point. All five designated penalty kickers had already been used and while coaches scrambled for a plan Honami “charged forward without being asked and smashed in the winning goal, much to everyone’s amazement,” recalls Steve Doleman, Activities Director at the Puxi campus. Off the field, teachers would describe her smile and laugh that brought a class to life, a fantastic stage presence when she danced, and her deep desire to connect with others. Now Honami has joined the ranks of Miss Japan and is part of shaping a legacy that is slowly transforming the image of the Japanese woman. The core mission of the contest is to educate and empower young women who will proactively contribute to the society in their own ways and to become the next leaders of Japan. This new era calls for women to respect and love their culture but to not allow timidity to rule the day. Stepping up, accumulating experience, and voicing an opinion are part of the new Japanese beauty, as defined by the Miss Japan contest and by crowned women like Honami herself. Now that her term as Miss Japan is over, Honami shows no sign of slowing down in her love of country nor her passion for development. She’s currently part of a team working to build the Athlete’s Village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. “I have a lot of pride for my job and everyday is very exciting and fulfilling,” she says. What more could we hope for our Eagles?

From Honami: I think beauty is not just an external factor but something that radiates from within. People I find to be beautiful are those who never stop dreaming. When we are young, we are often asked, “What is your dream? What do you want to become when you grow up?” But after getting accepted to our ‘dream school’ and getting an offer from our ‘dream job’ I think we tend to stop dreaming. But even after settling with a dream job, we must not stop there. I think having a dream serves to motivate us. And those who have that motivation, energy, vitality, and passion are those who I find to be beautiful. When we become adults, we become more realistic and it becomes harder to dream and we become hesitant to voice our dreams. But I want to never stop dreaming, and keep living to the fullest until the day I die. “Dreams are a future you live in.” These are the words I live by. I created this quote in grade 7 for an assignment in Mr. Dunn’s English class at SAS. There is a documentary movie coming out for Miss Japan’s 50th anniversary, featuring the journey of my year’s Miss Japans. And much to my surprise, the title of the movie is the Japanese translation of “Dreams are a future you live in.” The motto I live by is becoming the title of a movie I will be featured in - this isn’t something that happens on a daily basis. I am honored and humbled and excited by this all at the same time.

Photos provided by Honami Iizuka Top right picture with Prime Minister Abe. Photo credit Yoshio Saito.

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O N LY AT S A S

O N LY AT S A S In this space we will be highlighting some of the things that make Shanghai American School unique, whether within Shanghai, all of China, or even in the world. In the first piece of our series we introduce our school psychologists: unique within Shanghai and aligning us with best practices among top schools in the world.

Here, There, Everywhere! School Psychologists, Only at SAS BY SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS JEREMY GREENE, PUXI CAMPUS, AND AMBER SCHMIDT, PUDONG CAMPUS

When thinking about the numerous support services Shanghai American School offers, people can usually identify the counselors or learning support staff. There is another key player on this team: our school psychologists. At SAS, we are proud to have this resource available to our students and families, and we are especially proud that this position has existed on our campuses, for all grade levels, for many years. Like all members of our community, the primary focus is the student, and school psychologists first provide support behind the scenes in consultation and collaboration with teachers, counselors, and administrators to create the most supportive learning environment for all types of learners. If educational stakeholders and parents decide that a student has demonstrated learning struggles and not shown improvement through classroom interventions, our school psychologists broaden their reach, supporting students with further assessments. Assessments help gain a clearer picture

Jeremy Greene comes from California (with family roots in Louisiana) where he was a school psychologist with elementary, middle, and high school students. He has a Masters in Education (School Psychology) and is also a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Mr. Greene enjoys talking with students and learning about them via their own individual narrative.

of cognitive, academic, behavioral and/or social-emotional needs of a student. Following the assessment our school psychologists will continue to support the students and their families to create the best possible plan for the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success. Should more intensive mental health support be needed, the school psychologists will work with families to provide in-school support or may provide recommendations for local mental healthcare providers. The role of a mental health professional, in particular school psychologists, is to focus on the behavioral, social-emotional, and educational well-being for all types of students, to ensure each individual the greatest chance of success. The field of psychology serves a significant role in offering support and coping skills to all children, adults, and organizations both professionally and personally and we are proud to offer this to the SAS community. We encourage you to reach out and learn more about how our team is able to support your child and family.

Amber Schmidt is originally from the United States where she gained varied experiences with different individuals and school systems. She has a Masters and Education Specialist degree in School Psychology and is working on her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology. Ms. Schmidt is also a NCSP and enjoys getting to know the students to best support them.

RESOURCES: National Association of School Psychologist (NASP). https://www.nasponline.org National Alliance on Mental Illness. https://www.nami.org/stigma American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/school.aspx

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INSIDE SAS

Take your Parent to School BY EMILY SARGENT-BEASLEY, DEPUTY HEAD OF SCHOOL, PUDONG CAMPUS

This fall Shanghai American School’s Pudong campus redesigned Open House into a new event called Open School. The change brought students and parents into the classrooms together for an afternoon centered around learning and community, shifting the role of parent from audience to co-participant and adding a spirit of celebration. Like many schools, Open Houses at SAS were parent-only events and held in the evening. With students now attending the event, teachers used their voices in a new way to share the classroom experience — infusing the perspective of the student, sharing the actual routines while explaining their significance, and holistically emphasizing priorities of the class to parents and students at the same time.

There is something very powerful in having a visual memory of parent and student occupying the same space at the same time. Later conversations relevant to the course, to the teacher, and to the learning, are now grounded in that moment. This is also true for the teacher. By inviting parents in when students are present, a connection within home is now extended into school. At Shanghai American School, we know that one of the strongest contributors to school strength is the relationship between home and school and we love to share the ways that school is a place of learning, a place to explore passions, to excite school spirit, and to connect everyone together.

We asked a few students and their parents what they thought of the new Open School in Pudong and this is what they said:

Hugh Buckeridge ’19, and his mother Vivienne Buckeridge.

Hugh: This was my parent’s first and only chance to actually witness the dynamics of my actual classes. Conferences are so formal, but here we are doing games and activities with other parents and kids and it is much more fun. She can see a bit of real class, not just what I try to explain. When I say, “this class is small and we are really close,” or “this class is set-up differently and we learn in non-traditional ways,” she can now see and feel what that is like for me. Vivienne: It is great to see the teachers in a more interactive way. And I can see now that these kids have to come to school so focused and ready to learn. It is great to have my son here so he can explain his world to me. When the teacher asked us to annotate something, he could show me how he does that. It would have been a very different experience without him and I am glad he’s here.

Michele Dolgetta ’23, and his mother Antonella Corrado.

Michele: I feel like my mom better understands my classes and what happens in them. I like to show her myself, to give her my perspective on everything about my own day. Each class is different, with different expectations and relationships, and when she is with me she can see why. Antonella: I love the new Open School day with our kids. I feel so much more involved in my child’s experience by having him here with me. Teachers aren’t just explaining the classes they teach, they are interacting more like real teachers. They were teaching, kids were answering, it felt like we were doing class with them for a few minutes. It was so interesting, so… live.

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COMMUNITY

News and Updates Welcome New Principals

New Language Program

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve welcomed some new leadership this year with Mr. John Muldoon as the new High School Principal on the Puxi campus and Mr. Michael Hibbeln as our new Elementary School Principal on our Pudong campus. Mr. Muldoon comes to us from Belmont Public Schools outside of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is known for creating positive and strong relationships, thinking systematically, and acting strategically for continuous school improvement. He leads collaboratively and builds a school culture that supports the whole student. Mr. Hibbeln joins us from The American School of Milan. He has great leadership experience at the elementary level and passion for student inquiry, personalized learning, and international mindedness. Mr. Hibbeln is experienced in building consensus and in creating a school atmosphere of caring and educational excellence.

We are currently engaged in a strategic effort to develop and improve our language program, including both Chinese and global languages. Working in partnership with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), we are conducting in an extensive review of our program, developing and launching a comprehensive professional development plan for our faculty, and creating a strategic approach to our language program moving forward. We aim to unite our approach to language education with our philosophies on education in general.

In Memoriam: Xiao Jian Xiao Jian joined Shanghai American School in August 2006 and served as Technical Coordinator of the Puxi Performing Arts Center. His impact on our community went far beyond his job description, and he inspired faculty, staff, and students on both campuses. Xiao Jian will be long remembered at SAS for his generosity, compassion, talents, and his unending smile.

Welcome new Directors of College Counseling Mindy Rose and Mark Moody have joined our staff as the new Directors of College Counseling. In addition to overseeing their teams in advising and the application process, they will work across their campuses to educate the community on the current college admission landscape. They provide counsel and perspective on ways school policy and culture might be calibrated to promote meaningful student experiences that sync with successful college preparation as well as monitoring and strengthening relationships between SAS and the universities and colleges to which we send our graduates. You will find Ms. Rose on our Pudong campus and Mr. Moody on our Puxi campus.

Early Release This September we started our Early Release days, a best practice among top-performing schools in the U.S. and abroad. The event is designed to give our staff time to gather across divisions and subjects to really talk about the trajectory of a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education at SAS, from grade to grade and from division to division. Faculty were so excited to be building common purpose and direction around this alignment and grateful to the parents and board for giving them the time as a whole staff to grow and collaborate in this way!

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SAS LEGENDS

KICKIN’ IT OLD SCHOOL BY THE EAGLE REVIEW STAFF

September 17, 1912 is the date that the doors opened for the first time at Shanghai American School. This year, since Founders’ Day landed on a Sunday, we decided the only reasonable thing to do was to turn it into a week-long celebration. Founders’ Week 2017 was an event-filled time that reflected a growing community interest in celebrating moments when the present feels remarkable, and also a deeper curiosity about one of our school’s most unique strengths: our incredible, at times almost unbelievable, history. The week was highlighted by a visit from some of our most cherished alumni – graduates and students of SAS from the 1940s. They’re known as SASA (Shanghai American School Association), and they returned to SAS to share their history and perspective with our students. Teddy Heinrichsohn ’49 had high school students howling with laughter with tales of sneaking off campus as a boarding school teenager. Betty Barr Wang ’49 impressed everyone with the ways she embraced Shanghai as a lifelong home, and the ways her life is a lesson in being the master of one’s own fate. Marybelle “Mimi” Hollister ’52 connect-

ed with students as fellow Third Culture Kids, while Anne Romasco ’51 told of how many of her passions, from human rights activism to hockey and theatre began with her time at our school. Joe Wampler ’51 had stories that ranged from being in Shanghai while Japanese bombs were dropping, to the ways that an SAS diploma once served as an automatic pass to any American university. History, and being part of a bigger story, was positively alive in the room, the students alternately cheering and riveted. Brady Riddle, English teacher on the Pudong campus, said his son came home full of excitement from the assembly. “I saw this as a moment of reflection and reevaluation for our students – their experiences here are more lasting than they may have realized.” Our SASA alumni sang the School Song alongside our choir students, they chatted with middle schoolers in the hallways, had a special visit to the old campus, attended a SAS historical walking tour on Founders’ Day, and joined us at the Legends of SAS event to celebrate the legacies of those before us and the growing legacies of our own time now.

THE EAGLE REVIEW

STUDENT VOICES

STUDENT VOICES We asked students on both campuses, “What is legendary about our time now?” GRADE 9

GRADE 11

We have such a big and well-designed campus.

The people. The people at SAS are so nice.

There’s so much to do in addition to classes.

We have amazing sports teams.

Every layer of the school, including students, is really supportive. There are always people to go to if you need something. You feel like your whole school is behind you.

I’ll always remember Relay for Life, when the whole high school comes together.

Our student body is passionate about what we do. The community is so welcoming, whether to new students or even to new freshmen. We really feel included and that everyone here wants each other to be great.

The variety of courses that make you feel like you can really do anything you want here. Superior. It evolved from B-East with a new style of dance, and that group is legendary on campus. There has been so much construction and development.

There is so much freedom of opportunity. We can always find a way to express what we want to be and do.

We’re competitive. That’s all I can say, we’re so competitive.

Most memorable here is the fact that people are welcoming, generous, open to new things, and understanding of different people.

We are diverse in some cool ways. Lots of people are from Asia, but all over Asia. We have the traditional kinds of diversity, but also within that, we are Asia-diverse.

GRADE 10

GRADE 12

I’m going to remember when some teachers banned bottle flipping. And then how we went and taught the kids at Jacaranda to do it.

TheEleven – it was revolutionary.

We have lots of passions and we aren’t afraid to follow them. And so many of our clubs are centered around helping others.

Dr. Lee. He’s a force of nature.

Flood Day. We all had to move to the 2nd floor and the office workers were rescuing musical instruments. We have the best chocolate muffins. Everyday I feel like I am at the top school in China.

Heckmann. He was a force of nature.

The Innovation Institute and CID Hallway. Plus the fish tank there, where the first fish ate each other. Pudong Rocks. The big hype, the big crowd, it is an event we are all excited about. We are really in to performing arts. We all do different things that we really love, and people totally support everyone who is following their passions.

Legendary? Mr. Ogle. Amazing sports! We have some serious winning streaks. It feels like we are living in a new time, filled with people always working to make this school better and better. It feels like the teachers and administrators are really investing a lot in improving OUR experience. And that feels really cool. 3 4 | T H E E AG L E R E V I E W

This place is legendary for its duality. We have such great innovation and bold moves in education, but we also play hard and do pranks and have fun.

A FINAL LOOK

Here at Shanghai American School, we love that our students are encouraged to know and celebrate who they are, while also being empowered to become anything they dream they can be. Why do you love SAS? We want to know. Email us at: tellus@saschina.org

THE EAGLE REVIEW

Shanghai American School inspires in all students: 上海美国学校激励并培养所有的学生: A lifelong passion for learning 终身学习的热情 A commitment to act with integrity and compassion 诚信与仁爱的信念 The courage to live their dreams. 追求梦想的勇气。

Pudong Campus Shanghai Links Executive Community, 1600 Lingbai Road, Sanjiagang, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China 201201 Tel: 6221-1445

Puxi Campus 258 Jinfeng Road, Huacao Town, Minhang District, Shanghai, China 201107 Tel: 6221-1445 www.saschina.org