AAS Alumni Newsletter #1

AAS THROUGH THE YEARS / INTERVIEW WITH ELISE STAEVSKA / GARDENING AND COMPOSTING Sam Rissel / Terry Fox Run initiative / Student in the spotlight: Nadejda / Pictures from HS Musicals in the last years /

WELCOME

WELCOME01

AAS Communications Team

H

ello and welcome to our first edition of the AAS Alumni Association newsletter. We are planning for this to be a regular edition, just for the Alumni, of news and articles that we want to share and that we think you’ll be interested in hearing about, and plan to publish at least twice a year.

It sounds a bit cliched but of course, although the team at AAS are willing to put it together, it is only as good as the contributors and we would like a lot of them to be you, our alumni.

So don’t be shy, send in your contributions and ideas, photos and celebrations, informal get togethers and achievements so we can share on the site and in the newsletter and help you to stay connected with each other and us at AAS Jim URQUHART, Director

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AAS ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

CONTENTS

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INTERVIEW WITH ELISE STAEVSKA

16

22

SAM RISSEL ARTICLE

TERRY FOX RUN INITIATIVE

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04

CONTENTS

03

<< AAS THROUGH THE YEARS

12

24

GARDENING & COMPOSTING

STUDENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT: NADYA, GRADE 11

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26

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PICTURES FROM HS MUSICALS IN THE LAST YEARS

27

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04 AAS THROUGH THE YEARS

AAS THROUGH THE YEARS Lynne Godding

S TA R TED IN 1 9 67 THE ANGLO-AMERICAN SCHOOL

was originally

established to provide an education for the children of the British and US embassies. Because this was still during the time of the Communist regime the embassies were small and so the numbers of children were too. Hence the school started with less than 15 pupils in a building in downtown Sofia.

AAS THROUGH THE YEARS 05

SLOWLY, BIT BY BIT, AAS GREW UNTIL - WITH 30 PUPILS -

Slowly, bit by bit, AAS grew until - with 30 pupils - it moved to Knyazhevo and was housed in 2 log cabins and a small villa. The school continued to expand as children

from

other

embassies

were

enrolled and those whose parents were from international businesses were included, and so a third log cabin was added and a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;temporaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; caravan, which was home to grade three. Fairly quickly the school outgrew the site again and at this point the school split into Elementary, which stayed in the little wooden huts at Knyazhevo, and Middle school (grades 6-8) moved

1980

to a floor in the US Marine House near Studentski Grad. It was around this time that Bulgarian students, because of a change in regulations, started to be admitted to AAS.

IN 1998,

both Elementary and Mid-

dle schools were able to come back together again, moving into a shared building with the American College in Mladost.

1990 1983

06 AAS THROUGH THE YEARS Still, this arrangement wasn’t ideal and

AT LAST IN SEPTEMBER 2006,

But we haven’t stopped there! We have purchased some more land, so now the site

AND IN 2012 the footprint

The Anglo-American School was able

is 7 hectares.

to move to it’s own 6 hectare site in

of the school buildings doubled in size with

Pancharevo. At the same time the first

the Middle School and High School moving

High School grade was established and

into the newer building, which included its

BY 2010 AAS had a full High School and

own gym and reception area. Elementary

its first graduating class and was offering

and the secondary schools are connected

an excellent education in a state of the art

by a corridor with the new library in the

building from Pre-K to Grade 12.

middle.

A A S T H R O U G H T H E Y E A R S 07

2015 SAW OUR ROLL REACH ITS HIGHEST EVER AT 508 STUDENTS, a third grade one class was added and, for the first time, we have more High School pupils than Middle School ones!

Which leads us onto even more ambitious ventures. Architectural drawings have already been made for further expansion,

with the adding of a two storey theatre and dedicated art, music and theatre classrooms

for

the

secondary

Soon we will be celebrating

school.

THE 50TH

ANNIVERSARY OF AAS. Who could have foreseen how, from such a small beginning, we could have grown?

08 AAS INTERVIEW

“The w orld isn ’ t s uch a b ig pla c e after all – you m i g h t even fin d out li v in g close to s o m e of you r old frien ds, so keep in t ou ch” Elise Staevska, shares some memories from her 30 years of working at AAS! Interviewed by: Svetla Stoyanova

AAS INTERVIEW 09

Tell us more about yourself: Where are you from? How long have you been at AAS? I come from Finland but have now lived more than half of my life in Bulgaria.

I started working at the AAS in May 1985.

How did you start working with the school?

My family (me, my husband and two children) had just made a decision to move back to Finland after living four years in Bulgaria when I heard of the School and an opening of the position of Administrative Assistant. I got interested in the international environment and decided to try my luck and sent my CV to the school.

I was soon invited for an interview and here I am! :)

You have been at AAS for a long time.

What is your most precious memory from all these years?

There are so many precious memories but I guess the best ones for any parent are the ones connected with his/her own children â&#x20AC;&#x201C; first day of school, their special performances, graduations etc.

I also loved the Knyazhevo Campus with its Finnish log cabinets. The last one, Kindergarten/Library was built in May 1985 by two Finnish men. The two-storey building was put together in only two weeks as the foundations had been done beforehand. It looked like building a lego.

10 AAS INTERVIEW

Tell us a funny story from your work life, please One summer when the school was closed A SCHOOL

BUS DRIVER DECIDED TO BRING A DONKEY (PANCHO) TO THE SCHOOL YARD – YES – A REAL DONKEY! I was so afraid of Pancho that I had to ask outsiders from the street to escort me to my office from the school gate. There was a stairway outside to my office and since it was very warm I left my door open and started working. Soon I saw Pancho in my office pushing his muzzle on my desk. I was scared to death and run quickly to the next office and closed the door. I WAITED FOR SOMEONE TO COME AND CHASE THE DONKEY AWAY FROM MY OFFICE which ended up being very difficult. Pancho was stubborn and didn’t dare to walk down the stairs.

AAS INTERVIEW 11

Do you remember when you graduated from school?

What did you dream of becoming? Did you accomplish your dream or you found a n o t h e r dream?

Oh, I remember my graduation well and it was a very happy, sunny day, full of the feel of freedom! Yet at the same I was confused as I did not know what I want to do with my life.

Since childhood I had and idea of becoming a teacher but somehow the idea wasn’t strong enough at the time of my graduation and after a gap year I started studying to become a fashion designer. I didn’t see myself as a designer and started thinking more and more of my childhood dream– teacher…

I finished my designer studies and started to learn for a new profession – Kindergarten teacher.

During summer vacations I came to Bulgaria to work as a Representative for a Finnish Tour Operator. I took

care of the Finnish tourists in Sunny Beach and met my Bulgarian husband there. That meeting and my marriage changed my life completely as after living in Finland for a few years we decided to move to Bulgaria. I gave up my home country, family and dream profession as a teacher.

However, I have never been sorry for this as few years later I found another dream job at the AngloAmerican School.

I have truly enjoyed my 30 years here and have learned so much from each of the seven Directors who I have been working with. I also treasure my memories of the many teachers and students I have been privileged to know.

What is your message to the AAS Alumni?

I remember amazingly many of you and send my best wishes to everybody! Get in touch with your old AAS classmates and friends via AAS. It is so easy now with all the social media and Skype. The world isn’t such a big place after all – you might even find out living close to some of your old friends. My daughter for example met her friend from Grade 5 in Hawaii a few years ago.

Be happy and keep in touch!

12 SCHOOL PROJECT: GARDENING & COMPOSTING

WE ARE GROWING OUR OWN VEGETABLES! In 2012 our Pre-School teacher, Mrs. Jessie Martin came up with an idea to create a school garden at the AngloAmerican School of Sofia and grow our own vegetables. The idea was embraced by the school administration and in 2014 we started building the garden. Мore than 42 000 Euro were invested and we partnered with several local organizations for the project. Mrs Casey Angelova, “Our Neighborhood” Association for Sustainable Practices and “Div Roshkov” consulted us about composting, Domani Coffee Company supplied us with coffee grounds for the compost and Revolution tables designed the garden beds.

In 2015 pretty much everyone at school got involved in the gardening project: ES students were planting seeds of strawberries, onions, pumpkins, blackberries, currants, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and peas. Тheir peers inHigh School were busy taking care of the compost.

In June we welcomed a bunch of chickens on campus. Their manure is a great source of nitrogen and carbon for the compost.

Currently the project is running smoothly, classes are engaged in weekly composting and gardening activities, some of the younger students take turns to look after the chickens.

We already collect vegetables and eggs from the chicken coop :) The success of the gardening initiative is very inspiring for everyone involved. We believe that the project is both a great source of learning as well as fun.

IF YOU PLAN TO VISIT AAS SOON, FEEL FREE TO DROP BY THE GARDEN AND SEE WHAT WE HAVE DONE. IF YOU ARE LUCKY, YOU MIGHT EVEN GET TO PICK UP A FRESH TOMATO, CUCUMBER OR SOME BLACKBERRIES.

SCHOOL PROJECT: GARDENING & COMPOSTING 13

T HE C H I C KE N S

IN JUNE 2015 A NEW AND EXCITING PHASE

of the Gardening & Composting project was launched - we welcomed the first baby chicks on campus. We had a spacious and cosy coop built for them, as they play an important role in supporting the composting program.

Chickens consume the garden weeds we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to put into the compost as well as turn the compost piles while they scratch and search for food scraps. Straw and manure collected from the chicken coop are added to our compost piles, providing a great source of nitrogen and carbon. And this is not all - happy chickens give us delicious eggs that students-caretakers are free to take home.

14 SCHOOL PROJECT: GARDENING & COMPOSTING

ZIGGY, FLUFFY, CHEEKAH, PETUNIA, DOGE, FUZZ & MAMA HEN

TO MAKE OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS FEEL MORE AT HOME,

we gave them names. The big chicken family - Ziggy, Fluffy, Cheekah, Petunia, Doge, Fuzz and Mama Hen with 15 little chicks are quite lucky - Elementary classes take turns to care for them. Students ensure that the chickens have enough food and fresh water, that the coop is clean and tidy and all eggs are collected.

It seems that not only the chickens are happy from this interaction - students are delighted with the opportunity too. Says Rowan in Kindergarten “I was really excited to pet a chicken.” His classmate Nieve adds “The chickens were soft and cute”.

SCHOOL PROJECT: GARDENING & COMPOSTING 15

WHAT IS COMPOSTING?

Composting uses the natural process of decomposition of organic waste such as vegetable scraps, leaves, paper towels and even the cardboard of the cafeteria pizza- anything but meat and dairy products - in order to create rich in nutrition soil. Carbon (usually green) and Nitrogen (mostly brown) based matter is piled up one layer on top of the other and it stays in the first bin for about a month.

During that month, mixing up through turning the pile helps speed up the process. After that month, the pile is moved to the second bin, and the first bin re-starts the process with fresh matter.

In another month, the second bin is transferred into the third and final one, while again, the first goes in the second. After about three months in good weather conditions, the pile in the third bin will become really rich soil that plants adore.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

It’s free! It creates rich soil that is especially valuable and very hard to find on the market, basically out of nothing, from things you would otherwise dispose off. Compost is turning waste into gold.

HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO START A COMPOSTING PROJECT AT AAS?

We decided we want to use the best soil available for our garden, but moreover, we wanted to have the entire community feel involved in the project. We could buy compost from special farms, but it’s much more fun when we know that just by putting out banana peel in a special bin, we are benefiting the Gardening initiative and making our plants happy… The elementary students are really excited about it and have learned a lot by being involved in this.

WHAT IS THE MAIN LEARNING YOU GOT FROM THIS PROJECT?

Ultimately, by taking time to take care of the Earth, we take time to take care of ourselves by breathing clean air and connecting with nature by getting your hands dirty. The result is having a beautiful environment as gratification for our efforts.

Also we gradually get into the habit of thinking before we throw something away. This way we only “dispose” of something which can not have any possible alternative use, producing less harmful waste.

CAN EVERYONE COMPOST AT HOME? PLEASE GIVE US SOME TIPS

Yes!!! You will need a ‘composting’ bin which is a normal bin with a lid so that the smell doesn’t spread in your home. Don’t put dairy and meat and it should turn out awesome. Take it outside into 3 bins that you have prepared in advance and mix it with some leaves and paper (the Nitrogen part), turn the piles every now and then, and you will have your black gold in as little as three months.

You can check out these links below that describe our activities in greater detail (in chronological order), as well as more of my personal thoughts on this project and why I am a part of it.

http://galinainib.blogspot.com/2014/12/ gardening-at-aas.html http://galinainib.blogspot.com/2015/03/ gardening-recently.html http://galinainib.blogspot.com/2015/03/ more-gardening.html

1 6 WHERE ARE THE Y NOW?

S AM RI S SEL ( O ’L E A RY ):

WHERE ARE THE Y NOW? 17

ULM IS STORYBOOK CUTE, BUT I DO MISS BULGARIA

1 8 WHERE ARE THE Y NOW?

I’LL CONFESS: WHEN I FIRST LEARNED

that there was a

job opening in Sofia, Bulgaria that fit my teaching qualifications,

I HAD TO DOUBLE-CHECK

ON A MAP that I was sure where it was.

LITTLE DID I KNOW HOW MUCH I’D COME TO LOVE Bulgaria, Sofia and AAS – the places and the people.

WHERE ARE THE Y NOW? 1 9

WHEN I ARRIVED at AAS

in 2008, there were about 325 students in one building. By 2015, we had nearly 500 students in two buildings. How exciting it was to be there for all of that growth! How exciting to get to see so many kids pass through so many doors, and how fortunate I was to get to participate in the lives and educations of the first five graduating classes of AAS. It was so easy to watch classes learn and mature and to help to facilitate and celebrate their ascension to universities around the world – we would hardly have been doing our jobs if we’d not championed your leaving our safe and

bucolic campus to enter the wilds of the “real world” – but was so difficult to decide to take my own leave last year; after all, there would always be more classes to celebrate, and the return of triumphant graduates sharing accomplishments brings joy to any teacher’s heart.

AFTER QUITE A BIT of soul

searching though, it dawned that given the time I had spent encouraging students to go out and try something new, to be IB-Learner-Profile-grade risk-takers, I should probably heed my own advice. I realized too, that just as graduates would carry AAS in their hearts AND SO, HERE I AM IN ULM, and minds, I needed to take Germany, teaching at a small inall that I had gained there as ternational school. a teacher and learn to apply it somewhere else.

20 WHERE ARE THE Y NOW?

Ulm Is Storybook Cute. It’s A Small City On The Danube That, Among Other Things, Is The Birthplace Of Albert Einstein – not a bad place for a TOK teacher to land! The school is across the river in Bavaria, in NeuUlm, which was largely built after WWII, as Ulm

was

rebuilding

following

massive

destruction, so I have traded a commute down Tsarigradisko, with its views of majestic Vitosha, for a bike ride along the Donau, already powerful and imposing here, even

A PHOTO TAKEN ON A COUNTRY ROAD IN BULGARIA OF A MAN RIDING TWO HORSES, CIRCUS-STYLE, STANDING UP WITH A FOOT ON EACH HORSE’S BACK. From The other day my dad emailed me

his grinning mouth dangled a lit cigarette and emblazoned across his chest, in huge white letters on a dark blue t-shirt, was the word swag. Laughing knowingly along with the photo, i experienced a deep wave of nostalgia, and not a littlehomesickness.

this close to its origin in the Black Forest. I LIKE

TO WATCH LEAVES FLOAT PAST AND THINK ABOUT THE JOURNEY TO THE BLACK SEA, LINKING MY FORMER HOME TO MY NEW ONE. Also, it’s kind of cool to say that I commute to Bavaria every day, even though the ride takes under ten minutes. From our apartment in Sofia, we could see the golden domes of Alexander Nevski, while from this one, we see the spires of the Ulmer Munster, a Gothic edifice that lays claim to being the tallest steeple in the world. It’s germany, of course, so things mostly run as expected, and there are very few day-to-day surprises about living here. On the one hand, that’s quite nice, but on the other, well, it’s a bit, um, unremarkable.

THE GREAT THING ABOUT SCHOOLS IS THAT THEY’RE ALWAYS FULL OF KIDS, and

the great thing about kids the world over is that they’re all pretty awesome. It’s true that I hold AAS students in a special place in my heart, but familiarity breeds love, doesn’t it? It didn’t take me long here to recognize that my students from AAS and my students in Ulm would be friends, given the opportunity, nor to be given further opportunity to realize how fortunate I am to get to be a part of the early careers of so many students.

WHERE ARE THE Y NOW? 21 My classes are small here, and I’ve yet to have the moments that build the strong memories that emerge from train rides in Berlin, bus rides to Delphi, hikes up Musala and Vitosha, rock climbs in Karlukovo and at the Black Sea, visits to the Vratsa orphanage and countless discussions in classrooms and hallways, but I know that I’ve been well prepared to develop them due to my time at AAS.

The strangest thing about this move is also

part of the best thing. I

ARRIVED IN SOFIA AS A SINGLE TEACHER, HAPPILY EXPLORING AND TRAVELING SOLO. AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, I LEFT AS A NEWLYWED, HAVING HAD THE JOYFUL SURPRISE OF MEETING AND MARRYING EAMONN O’LEARY, WHO CAME TO AAS AS A GRADE FIVE TEACHER IN 2012.

While it took me no time at all to happily adjust to being married, it has been kind of bizarre to be known here only as Mrs. O’Leary, as most AAS students used both of my names interchangeably, even after a year. A small part of me feels that my identity as Ms. Rissel stayed in Sofia, and I rather like that.

When I was asked to write this piece as an alumni faculty member, I was immediately

It’s wonderful to be not an ex-teacher, nor a former aas educator, but to join your ranks of AAS ALUMNI. I am proud and fortunate to have spent seven years in Sofia, and remain ever grateful for all the truly amazing EXPERIENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT MY TIME THERE AFFORDED ME. I TRUST THAT YOU ARE, TOO.

taken by that phrasing.

Настраве е блогадария!

22 AAS PHILANTROPHY

TERRY F O X R U N

AAS PHILANTROPHY 23

LAST SEPTEMBER AAS JOINED EFFORTS FOR A GOOD CAUSE -

for the second year in a row students, teachers and parents ran to support the Terry Fox Foundation.

The Foundation was established 35 years ago when Terry Fox, a young Canadian, pledged to run his â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marathon of Hopeâ&#x20AC;? to support cancer patients. Unfortunately, his own disease was progressing fast and he could not finalize the run. However the legacy remained.

In 2014 two of our teachers - Mr. and Mrs. Szeryk - started the AAS initiative to support the Foundation by participating in the Annual Terry Fox Run. We are proud to share that it is gaining momentum - more and more people join the run/ walk around the campus, and we have raised a total of 17 000 Leva for the two years.

If you would like to know where some of this money goes you may visit the Terry Fox Research Website here: http://www.terryfox.org/Research/Terry_Fox_Foundation_Funded_Research.html

24 AAS ST UDE NT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

NA DYA, GRA DE 1 1: ASTRONOMY CAN HELP US MAKE LIFE ON EAR TH BE TTER interviewed by: Svetla Stoyanova

How do you like AAS, Nadya?

I like it a lot, as not only everyone is engaged and interested in others, but also the setting and infrastructure is very nice.

The best thing about this school, I think, is that teachers do not think of the class in general, they try to know every single individual, their needs and how they learn. This is a big difference from Bulgarian schools.

What are your favorite subjects?

Math, Physics and Art. But I also like English.

We heard that one of your passions is Astronomy.

How did you come to be interested in it?

My brother used to go to an Astronomy after-school activity. He told me it is really interesting. When I was in 8th or 9th grade, he just signed me up

for a competition and actually did it for me. Then I went to the next round and I had to actually prepare for it. It turned out itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really interesting.

So are you able to practice this hobby at AAS? Together with a teacher, who is the coach of the National Astronomy team, I am planning to start an after school activity for the younger students - 4th and 5th graders.

We plan to show some videos

AAS ST UDE NT IN THE SPOTLIGHT 25 and talk about why Astronomy is interesting and how knowing about space can help us down here on Earth. It is also great that the school has a telescope, so we can show the major galaxies and space objects. The AAS campus is very well situated for star-gazing as it is outside of Sofia and the light pollution is minimal.

Do you have a favorite constellation?

This is difficult, as they are all nice. Maybe for me itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cassiopeia, because it is the first constellation I came to know really well.

Where is the best place and time to watch the stars?

The best place is up in the mountain, because there is no light pollution. In terms of best time - in each part of the year there are unique things you can see.

How can studying Astronomy help us here on Earth?

It can not only give us perspective about the surrounding world - for example - we can prove

some Physics theories, using Astro-physics and Photometry. It can also help us build new technologies on Earth by studying really far distance objects in the sky.

Do you believe that our future is in space?

It might be, if we manage to overcome some of the obstacles that we have encountered.

Is there any astronomer or scientist that you really admire?

I guess Stephen Hawking.

He really revolutionized our way of thinking.

Tell us more about your passion in linguistics?

I mostly do it outside of school. I go to a tutor, who gives us problems and we take turns to explain them to each other.

Most people think linguistics is about knowing a lot of languages, but in fact it is just about thinking logically.It is very much related to the mathematical and scientific way of thinking. mathematical and scientific way of thinking.

26 AAS ST UDE NT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Can you give me an example of a typical linguistic problem?

A very basic problem is to have two words in a language that you do not know, which are related to each other. You also have them translated in a language you know and you need to find the correlation between the words. It is really easy to solve this if you use tables, you figure out what the suffix means in relation to the word.

So does this mean that you know a lot of languages?

You do not really know them, you just find general trends. It’s still difficult to pick up a new language, because of the grammar.

In fact I speak only Bulgarian, English and French.

And do you like writing? I assume languages are quite related to writing?

I actually quite like writing, I am the assistant editor-in-chief of the AAS Literary magazine LUX. I have not had the time to write a lot this year, though, since I am pretty busy with the IB program.

What are your plans for the future?

My plan is to study in the USA, some kind of an engineering major, I have not decided what exactly. I also applied for some European universities as well. I really like Surrey in the UK and MIT and CalTech in the US. What I really want to do is work in NASA as an engineer and design space-shuttles. If this doesn’t work out, I will be happy to work for an airline and design aircrafts.

What are your feelings about graduation?

I am really excited about Graduation, I want to go to University and see what it’s like.

But on the other hand - I really like the atmosphere at AAS, so I will really miss it.

That’s saddening me a bit, I hope I keep my friendships from these years.

WHAT I REALLY WANT TO DO IS WORK IN NASA AS AN ENGINEER AND DESIGN SPACE-SHUTTLES.

PICTURES FROM HS MUSICALS

Grease 2012 >>

Cabaret 2013 >>

27

26 PICTURES FROM HS MUSICALS

Aladin 2014 >>

Hairspray 2015 >>

SHARE & LIKE 27

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