Focus 2015 #2

ISSUE 2, 2015

Focus Issue 2, 2015

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02 From the Executive Director

30 Think Different The new club on campus

03 From the Editor

By Kelly Arthur Garrett

04 From the Board of Trustees

32 The Young and the Restless Young Adult fiction is a hit at ASF

News and Events

05 A look at the summer months in and around ASF

Features

18 Earth Week A chance to explore sustainability

Alumni

43 Mauricio Serrano A man designing and living his childhood dream 45 Class Notes and Milestones

By Kelly Arthur Garrett

36 Student Voices A view on Korean reunification

48 Kids’ Corner

By Ana Karla Parra

Institutional Advancement

By Kelly Arthur Garrett

37 A night at the theater

20 Graduation A family celebration

38 Independent and International What makes ASF an independent school?

24 The Class of 2015 26 Happily Ever After?

ASF students venture Into the Woods

By Andrew Livingstone

40 Thank you to those who donated to ASF in 2014-15 42 Meet the new Parent Association Board

volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 1

from the executive director

Dear ASF Community, Welcome to the start of the 2015-16 school year.

One of the most important aspects of the ASF mission, reflected in our mission statement is that we are an international, university-preparatory school. University-preparatory schools focus on a rigorous academic curriculum backed up by a strong athletics program, community service and extracurricular opportunities. Only one percent of U.S. students attend college-preparatory schools, and that figure is of course even lower in Mexico.

The International Baccalaureate curriculum that is a basis of our educational program at ASF is, in my opinion, the best way to produce well-rounded adults. It is academically very advanced, teaching students not just facts, but how to analyze and think for themselves. And the culmination of university preparation at ASF is Commencement, our annual graduation ceremony.

It is very gratifying to see more than 180 students graduate ready to go to top colleges in the U.S., Mexico and around the world. Add to that the fact that many chose to extend themselves academically by sitting International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement exams. You can read all about Commencement in our graduation section starting on page 20.

And it’s not just graduating seniors who demonstrated the comprehensiveness of ASF’s academic program – end of year awards assemblies (page 16) were held to congratulate high-achieving students at all grade levels, while our Stepping Up ceremonies celebrated those who graduated from grade 5 and 8 and have just ‘stepped up’ from Lower to Middle and Middle to Upper School (page 37).

I hope you enjoy these and many more examples of the high academic standard our students are achieving in our latest edition of Focus.

Paul Williams Executive Director

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from the editor

FOCUS

A magazine for the ASF community Vol. XIV | Issue 2 | Mexico City Paul Williams Executive Director Susan Olivo Head of Early Childhood Center Tara Fitzgerald Head of Lower School Robert Lewis Head of Middle School Amy Gallie Head of Upper School Robert Wilson Head of Athletics & Extended Learning

Dear Readers, As you read this, the 2015-16 school year will be just getting underway with students and faculty returning to a campus that has been quiet, but not deserted over the last two months, as maintenance staff take advantage of empty classrooms to give buildings a facelift.

The summer holidays are also a chance for us here at Focus to go over some of the highlights of the end of the past school year. First and foremost, of course, was ASF’s annual Commencement ceremony, in which the class of 2015 graduated and celebrated the end of a chapter of their lives which has seen some spend up to 15 years as ASF students, from the Early Childhood Center right through to the Upper School.

Of course, graduation is not the end of one’s ASF journey, and members of the class of 2015 are now members of our alumni community. I’d like to personally welcome our new alumni and hope you all find Focus is a great way to keep in touch with your alma mater.

One day in the near (or even not-so-near) future we hope you’ll come back to the ASF campus to see how it has changed, just as many groups and individuals have done over the past several months, reliving memories and marveling at the changes. You can read about some of the ASF class reunions and campus visits in the alumni section starting on page 43.

Also this edition, don’t miss a look at this year’s drama production of “Into the Woods,” a great new student-led club in Think Different, an explanation of what makes ASF an independent school and much more.

Editorial Staff Violeta Ayala, Director of Communications Andrew Livingstone, Editor-in-Chief Kelly Arthur Garrett, Editorial Consultant Daniela Graniel, Art Director Álvar Martínez, Photography Alumni Relations María José Martínez martinezmj@asf.edu.mx Parent Association Christina Moguel, President Marissa Russell (’92), Vice President Advertising Sales: 5227-4942 FOCUS es una publicación cuatrimestral editada por The American School Foundation, A.C., Sur 136 #135, Col. Las Américas, México, D.F., C.P. 01120. Editor Responsable: Andrew Livingstone.

Derechos de Autor: Licitud de Título y de Contenido 16220. Reserva de Derecho: 04-2008-111212240200-102.

Distribuido por The American School Foundation, A.C. Sur 136 #135, Col. Las Américas, México, D.F., C.P. 01120. Se prohibe la reproducción total o parcial de los textos de esta revista sin previa autorización escrita de The American School Foundation, A.C.

As always, if you have any comments about Focus, feel free to contact me at livingstonea@asf.edu.mx.

Thanks for reading.

Andrew Livingstone Editor-in-Chief

On the cover: Salutatorian Kunryoung Kim and Valedictorian Leni Peterson.

Photo: Álvar Martínez

volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 3

from the board of trustees

Members of the Foundation of the American School meet once a year.

As chair of the Board of Trustees, I, along with Executive Director Paul Williams and several committee chairs, address the Foundation to review what happened during the previous calendar year. I would like to share with Focus readers some of the highlights of last May’s meeting.

Many of the advances came from the Building and Grounds Committee, led by César Buenrostro. They included advancements carried out in the Fine Arts Center and the Wellness Center to meet requirements for LEED certification as green buildings. This is of the utmost importance, since Board policy mandates that all new ASF buildings be environmentally sustainable.

There were also minor improvements made to the Upper School and Sheila Ahumada administrative wing for better functionality and comfort. Plans to relocate the maintenance workshops were made to provide space for football locker rooms near the Upper School field. New drinking fountains were installed, which allow people to refill water bottles and cut down on plastic waste.

The 2015-16 Board of Trustees Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) Chair Thurston F. Hamer (’81) First Vice Chair John Santa Maria Otazua (’75) Second Vice Chair Joan Danielle Liechty Treasurer Carla Ormsbee Cedeño Secretary Aliki Botton de Elías (’85)

Continuing with the implementation of the Master Building Plan, an architectural firm has been hired for the construction and remodeling of the Lower School and Early Childhood Center.

César Buenrostro Moreno (’85)

The Institutional Advancement Committee, led by Frances Huttanus, who works hand-in-hand with IA head Alejandra Naranjo, reviewed the funds raised in 2014.

Eric A. Flohr

One of the most important efforts for the school in 2014 was carried out by the Board’s Technology Committee, chaired by Tony Rallo. Key accomplishments included achieving universal Internet access through a contract with a specialized vendor, an increase in bandwidth by 110 percent, and the implementation of state-of-the-art SAP business software to replace our antiquated system.

The finance committee, led by Joan Liechty, once again reported that the school is in a healthy financial position. I am happy to say that ASF remains a financially solid institution.

It is also at this annual meeting that Foundation members elect new Trustees.

There were seven posts filled in May. Five of those chosen (Joan Liechty, John Santa Maria, Aliki Botton de Elías, César Buenrostro and Fernando Gutiérrez) were sitting Board members elected for a new term.

Two are new members, and both were formerly ex-officio members. One is Randall Nelson, a Texas-born international business executive whose work has taken him around the globe. He and his wife are proud parents of a grade 6 student.

The other is Eric Flohr, a senior Foreign Service officer for the U.S. State Department currently serving as the management counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Born in Munich to American parents, Eric is married with two children, a daughter at Florida State University and a son attending ASF. I welcome Randall and Eric to the Board, and I welcome the entire ASF community back for a new school year.

Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) Chair of the ASF Board of Trustees 4 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

Sebastián Fernández Cortina

Fernando Franco Bustillas Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa Randall Nelson Antonio Rallo Verdugo Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui Frances Ward de Huttanus

Committees: Executive Rosa Marentes de Pisinger, Chair Buildings and Grounds César Buenrostro Moreno, Chair Finance and Investment Joan Danielle Liechty, Chair Governance Carla Ormsbee Cedeño, Chair Institutional Advancement Frances Ward de Huttanus, Chair Technology Antonio Rallo Verdugo, Chair

News & Events

Early Childhood Center

The Early Childhood Center celebrates family

Spring in the Early Childhood Center is traditionally a time to celebrate family and friendship, and over the several months before the school year ended, ECC students from K1 to pre-first celebrated Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Children’s Day, and the ECC’s very own Family Day on campus.

Parents and close family took part in fun and games with the young students, who also put on special musical shows for guests in the Fine Arts Center, while fathers enjoyed a day at Chapultepec Zoo with their children. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 5

news & events

Athletics & Extended Learning

Top ASF athletes recognized at end-of-year gala

Some 16 teams from ASF’s seven competitive sports were recognized at the annual Athletic Excellence and Sportsmanship Awards Gala in late May. It was a great chance for the school’s best soccer players, American footballers, volleyball, tennis, running, swimming and basketball stars to discard sports uniforms and dress up in front of a packed house in the Fine Arts Center to share memories of the year in sport.

A specially produced video was broadcast across the theater before the time came for team successes at the varsity and junior varsity level to be re-lived, and for outstanding students from each team and sport to be given Player of the Year, Most Improved Player and ASF Player of the Tournament awards.

The gala, put on with help from the ASF Bear Boosters Club, also honored the male and female Senior Athlete of the Year: Juan Thompson and Ana Lucero Villaseñor.

All ASF

ASF goes to La Feria

Hundreds of ASF students left school early on a hot spring day to escape the classroom and enjoy an afternoon of fairground fun.

One of the community’s best-loved annual traditions, “ASF goes to La Feria” took place in late April, with students of all ages joined by parents and staff at the Chapultepec amusement park.

On an especially hot day, students flocked to the log ride, where a watery finish cooled them down. Others took advantage of the short lines to ride the rollercoaster, chair swings, carousel and many more rides.

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Arts

A teacher-artist brings her home life to school

Art teacher Pat Patterson held an exhibition of artwork she has painted over the last three years in the Fine Arts Center Hojel Schumacher Gallery in early April.

The 14 works on display depict still lives and scenes of ordinary everyday life at the Patterson household. In fact, most paintings were of objects placed on tables in the same corner of Pat’s studio, giving meaning to the exhibition’s title, “A corner of one’s

own,” inspired by painter and teacher Robert Henri, as well as author Virginia Woolf’s famous title, “A Room of One’s Own.” Pat said that she worked on different uses of light in the oil and acrylic paintings, which include predominant use of flower arrangements accompanied by other objects representing Mexican folk art she has accumulated in her travels around the country. Other works depict her family practicing piano and Pat herself even appears reflected in a mirror in one piece.

Upper School

Students start up their own businesses

Upper School economics students took learning out of the classroom and textbooks and into the real world with their Economics Fair in April.

The challenge was to come up with a real business plan and execute it at the fair, held on campus. And what can you successfully sell to your peers during a school day? Why, food of course. Sweets, pizzas, drinks and even homemade goodies were sold off at stalls during lunchtime, while economics students revised sales targets and calculated profit and expenditure. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 7

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news & events

Upper School

Art students bring color to campus

Upper School arts students took over the Fine Arts Center galleries in May with a demonstration of some of their best work.

design students decorated the walls with their innovative and eyecatching original art.

The Spring Photo Festival, held in the downstairs lobby, showcased photography students’ digital and 35-mm film shots in both color and black and white. Upstairs in the Hojel Schumacher Gallery, AP 2-D

Meanwhile, other art classes worked on huge graffiti art projects, creating three large murals that impressed visitors over the final weeks of the school year.

Middle School

The school year ends with a party

Middle School students celebrated the end of a busy but rewarding year with a Field Day on their last day of classes in June.

Faculty and staff organized a field full of fun activities for students, including a motorized surfboard, “sumo” wrestling, zorbing, sports, games and food as students said goodbye to their peers and the ASF campus for the 2014-15 school year.

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Athletics & Extended Learning

When classes finish, the fun learning begins

While most students took a welldeserved break away from ASF for the summer holidays, the campus turned into a fun activities space for those who chose to stay behind and extended their learning, both in the classroom and on the sports fields.

For the first four weeks of summer, Cub Camp and Bear Camp saw students take part in a range of sporting, artistic and educational activities. Outside, campers practiced their soccer skills, while in the gyms others worked on their gymnastics and dance routines, and yet others studied math, coding and reading, or tried their hand at visual and performing arts.

Athletics & Extended Learning

Girls soccer teams celebrate a year of success

The 2014-15 school year was a huge year for girls soccer and left the athletics trophy cabinet bursting with new silverware. The varsity team kept up their impressive run of results in recent years, winning an ASOMEX tournament in Torre贸n, coming in second in the ASOMEX tournament hosted at ASF, and also finishing as runner-up in the Total Gol league. The future for ASF girls soccer

also looks bright, as some up-and-coming players helped the junior varsity team win their Total Gol league and finish third in the Mexican nationals, an outstanding result against tough competition.

They finished third at ASOMEX in Monterrey, also winning the sportsmanship trophy. Meanwhile, the Middle School girls team also travelled to Monterrey for ASOMEX, taking second place. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 11

news & events

Middle School

Students compete for a taste of gold

ASF 2015 might not have the same resonance as Rio 2016, but Middle School students got the chance to emulate real Olympians in April.

What started as a Middle School Student Council idea last year looks now to become an annual tradition, with more than 200 students participating in soccer, flag football, dodgeball,

All ASF

A year of study comes down to exam time

It’s not all fun and games at the end of the school year – there’s the not-so-small matter of end-of-year tests, as well as important exams for Upper School students.

This year’s seniors in particular extended themselves academically, with more than 83 percent of the graduating class taking at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam. In total, Upper School students sat some 459 IB exams in 31 subjects, and around 300 AP exams in 24 disciplines, as well as regular curriculum exams.

To see where members of the class of 2015 are now, check out the central pages of this magazine.

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volleyball and basketball, as well as a range of track and field events during the second MS Olympics.

It was also a great chance for students to mix in new social groups by forming mixed-gender and grade-level teams and competing together and as individuals for the first, second and third-place medals handed out at the closing ceremony.

Middle School

Grade 8 students leave a legacy for future generations

While most students were looking ahead to holidays and beginning to celebrate the last days of class, a group of grade 8 students spent their last Thursday of the school year on campus, leaving their mark on the Middle School.

During the grade 8 lock-in, 73 students and 11 teachers spent the night on campus taking part in a range of fun activities – playing in the swimming pool, video games, outdoor and indoor sports and of course eating junk food – as well as recovering some unused furniture and restoring it to create a student lounge.

Students sanded and painted shelves, chairs and desks, and arranged them in a special area on the third floor of the Middle School. They also purchased some sporting equipment to be used by MS students during break times. It was a great way for those leaving to make the Middle School a bit better for future generations, and something students hope will become a tradition.

Middle School

Students discover the history and culture of North American capitals

The highlight of the school year for grade 8 students about to move into the Upper School is a chance to take civics and social studies learning out into the real world during Capital Cities Week, held in Mexico City and Washington DC. In Mexico City, students visited some of the city’s most famous and infamous sites, including UNAM, Mexico’s largest and oldest university, the memorial to the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, the Tolerance Museum and Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul.

Meanwhile in Washington DC, another group of grade 8 students posed for photos in front of some of the most famous landmarks in the U.S. capital, including the Lincoln Memorial, statues of Martin Luther King Jr. and Franklin Roosevelt and of course, the White House. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 13

Students show off their musical prowess Toward the end of the school year, students at all grade levels put on concerts to show their peers, parents and family some of the skills they’ve picked up and the pieces they’ve learned.

These included the Upper School guitar, handbells and choir concert, the Blue Moon festival, Grade 1 and 2 choral and recorder performances, Middle School choir and dance concerts, the Upper and Middle School bands concert and the Upper School open microphone night.

Most concerts were held at the Fine Arts Center in front of large audiences of appreciative music and performing arts lovers to loud rounds of applause.

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news & events

All ASF

Students reap rewards after a year of hard work

Top academic, artistic and cultural marks and efforts were recognized at all levels over the final weeks of the school year in different awards ceremonies.

Lower School

The Lower and Middle Schools celebrated student achievement and success at their respective ceremonies in May, while high-flying Upper School students and seniors – including the valedictorian and salutatorian, who you can read about starting on page 20 – were congratulated by families and staff for their efforts, both personally and in clubs and groups.

Grade 5 students learn to express themselves

Over three days in May, 188 grade 5 students set up stalls in the sundial garden to share their interest and research with parents, teachers and their peers.

The PYP Exhibition is the last – and one of the most important – pieces of work students produce in the Lower School. This year’s theme was “how we express ourselves,” and students got together to look into forms of expression, with projects about fashion, photography, art, cooking and much more.

The students used skills in communication, research, selfmanagement and independent thinking to move from the mere acquisition of knowledge to demonstrating that they understood more complicated concepts and could take action to apply their skills to make a difference in the world.

Lower School

Students learn about recycling

Grade 4 classes took turns visiting the world’s largest recycler of PET bottles during the week of May 19-22, to coincide with International Recycling Day on May 17.

The recycling plant – run by Coca-Cola Femsa – collects PET plastics and recycles it to produce a range of materials, including other plastic beverage containers. Mexico is the world’s number one per capita consumer of carbonated drinks, and the factory processes a greater volume of PET than any other.

The tour included an educational aspect where students learned about the recycling process at the home as well as in the factory. Students were able to inspect the solar panels that power the factory and see every stage of the laborious recycling process.

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All ASF

Long-serving staff retire

As the 2014 school year ended, ASF held its traditional spring staff party to celebrate the achievements of the year and to say goodbye to departing colleagues.

While many are moving on to other jobs or returning to their home country, 13 employees officially retired. At the “Grease”themed party, Executive Director Paul Williams and Board of Trustees Head Rosa Pisinger thanked them for their decades of service to ASF — several had spent more than 30 years working here.

Those now-retired ASF employees are: Manuel Infante, Federico Anastacio Calixto, Larry Tharp, Sharon Wojciechowski, Fleur Immink, Magdalena Leis, Toni Mankoch, Ángeles Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Georgina Hernández and Germán Carrillo, who left his mark by planting the ASF logo into the Lower School ABC garden, seen in the accompanying photo.

Teachers are students too All ASF

Just days before seniors donned their graduation caps, 16 ASF faculty members did the same as they celebrated earning degrees from State University of New York.

Studying in their spare time here at ASF, the staff members achieved a mix of the Masters of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies and the Certificate in Educational Technologies for International Schools.

Executive Director Paul Williams and Director of Academic Affairs Juan de Jesús Breene congratulated the 16 for their dedication to selfimprovement and the pursuit of greater knowledge, which they said would result in better-quality teaching to the benefit of ASF students.

All ASF

ASF gets into the reading spirit

Students from all grades and reading levels, as well as staff and parents, found something to pass the time at the Used Book Fair held in April.

Tables full of old and new books, both fiction and nonfiction, sat outside the Lower School as people came throughout the day to browse and take something to extend their knowledge, or enjoy at the beach on holiday. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 17

FEATURE

Earth Week 2015 ASF took advantage of last April’s environmental awareness week to give students a chance to explore sustainability with experts and get some hands-on experience with the real-world challenges that we need to face to protect our planet.

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By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

he American School celebrated Earth Week April 2024 by supplementing the normal classroom schedule with an overflowing schedule of extracurricular activities, all of them dedicated to sustainability and environmental awareness.

But maybe “celebrate” isn’t quite the best word for what went on that week.

Sure, the mood was upbeat. The ASF staff and student body know the school has a lot to be proud of when it comes to being a green institution in more than just the marketing term the word has become in some circles. And for sure, some of the earlyweek, get-in-the-mood contests were mostly on the fun side.

For example, the first 100 students who brought re-usable water bottles to school on Monday were rewarded with an Earth Week bracelet, and on Tuesday the advocacy classes competed to see which had the highest percentage of students wearing green shirts.

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But the Earth Week emphasis was more about getting down to some real hands-on experience and focused learning. A good idea of that came Thursday when the school-wide competitions switched from shirts and water bottles to a compelling challenge – no single-use plastic day. Think about what that means – an entire day without PET containers, plastic cutlery, plastic containers like the ones from the cafeteria, straws, Starbucks cups … the list goes on. Instead, everybody was challenged to use only sustainable, reusable products.

Simple, right? After all, we humans had been able to do that for hundreds of thousands of years until recently. How hard could it be? Well, the Earth Week organizers warned, “It will be difficult. Notice every time you need to choose differently. We challenge you!”

Midweek, the Founders’ Garden area was taken over by the Green Fair, a gathering of more than 20 vendors offering sustainable products and services. Students were invited to stop by

between (not instead of) classes. Needless to say, teachers, staff and visitors took advantage of the sellers’ presence as well.

Again, this part of the week was as much about learning as shopping, Students came to the fair with pre-determined, scavenger-hunt-style questions for the vendors, which they answered.

Examples: What is the difference between “natural” and “organic”? What is the difference between food and nutrition? Why is it better to buy local? Why is plastic harmful to the planet?

What really set the most recent Earth Week apart was the selection of workshops that offered students a true roll-up-yoursleeves immersion into the practical challenges of sustainable living in the 21st century. They took place on Thursday and Friday. Most were less than an hour. They were conducted by expert “facilitators” who offered the kind of practical experience combined with background knowledge that would be hard to duplicate in everyday classroom settings.

The workshops were planned and presented in such a way that they commanded attention in advance by addressing questions that any engaged and reasonably aware student would have. In fact, a good way to describe some of the many workshops might be to pose the questions they were designed to answer:

What happens to the animals that were freed by law from working in Mexican circuses? This was the question addressed in the workshop “Ley Aprobada: Animal Well-Being and the Impact of Mexico’s Ban on Circus Animals,” led by the non-profit wildlife protection organization known as Fundación Santuaai.” It consisted of “a conversation on politics, policy, and problem-solving.”

Have you always wanted to make a garden in your house but don’t know how to get started? The workshop titled “Gotta Garden” answered that question by exploring the twin themes of urban farms and healthy eating.

Have you ever seen worms break down your waste?

Most of us, presumably, never have, but the workshop “Composting with Worms” provided a demonstration of how worms break down organic material and showed participants how to build their own compost. Participating as co-facilitator was ASF science teacher José Carlos Alaniz.

How do they get the salt from the ocean to your table? “From Ocean to Table: A Salt Story” consisted of a video followed by a discussion about how marine salt is collected and distributed.

So what should I buy at the supermarket? It’s an ongoing conundrum for those of us who want to eat healthy food whose production doesn’t harm the environment, even though we have the same time and money restrictions as everybody else. That conundrum was addressed in this workshop.

Do you know the animals of Mexico that share your world with you? One of them is the often misunderstood jaguar, the subject of this special workshop, the only one lasting more than an hour. It was presented by the World Wildlife Fund. Its title: “Biology, Conservation and Mexico’s Jaguars.”

How can I do my part to reduce energy consumption? It’s a common question, and the workshop “Saving Energy Like and Expert” answered it. The experts in question were from FIDE, the non-profit Mexican energy-saving trust, who helped students learn about how their energy use impacts the planet and how they can reduce consumption of the earth’s resources.

That’s just a small sampling of the workshops and other events on offer last April. It’s enough, however, to make it clear that at ASF, Earth Week is taken seriously.

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graduation | 2015

“Go show them who you are” Humanities teacher James Kitchin leads ASF’s Model United Nations program, so it’s no surprise that he chose Mexico-U.S. relations as his topic for his congratulatory address to the graduates.

But he wasn’t talking about political relations.

He was talking about ASF graduates’ position to act as ambassadors for the kind of cultural understanding that is still often lacking. Some excerpts: “Go show them who you are. Go tell them about the Mexico that you have come to know.

If you do, then change will undoubtedly follow.

Understanding and cooperation will increase. It might take a few years, it might take 10 or 15, but change will follow.

“You can help to accomplish this by just being yourselves. I know you can because you’ve already helped to change me in this way. You broadened my understanding; now go broaden that of others. You helped guide me through a paradigm shift; now go help guide others as well.

“In no way am I advocating for all of you to become political activists. What I am saying is that if you remember where you came from, remember where you’ve been, and stay true to who you are, that change in the way countries interact with each other is bound to happen.

“As graduates of the ASF you have received a U.S. education in Mexico – by definition you are at least bicultural, and some of you are more than that. I honestly cannot think of a group of graduates anywhere on this continent that is more prepared to be the agents of this change than those of you sitting here today.”

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T

A Family

he May 30 graduation ceremony for The American School’s class of 2015 was, as always, an exhilarating blend of celebration and transition. To get a feel for the heightened emotion that reigned under the huge white canopy on Coach Colman Field that sunny Saturday morning, you might think of an outdoor wedding. There, two people share a seminal moment in their lives with family and friends in a rite so rich in significance that tears and smiles compete.

Now multiply that atmosphere by a factor of 90 and you’ll sense what the gathered graduates and their loved ones were feeling as more than 180 young men and women – no longer boys and girls – marched two-by-two down the carpeted path to their future.

The concept of family dominated the proceedings, on more than one level.

Many of the parents who attended the graduation were involved with the school throughout their son’s or daughter’s ASF years. “For me that’s very important,” said ASF Executive Director Paul Williams during his address to the graduates and their guests. “Because within a very interconnected community like ours, family support is essential. It creates the atmosphere in which today’s graduates have been able to thrive.”

There was also the family-like feeling of belonging to the ASF community, especially for students who spent most of their formative years forging bonds with their classmates. “We have here today families who joined our community just in the past year or two, and they’ve been embraced by families that have been here since first grade, who we call old-timers,” Mr. Williams said. “They know what friendship is all about.”

“I see friends sitting on these benches” Leni Peterson, a Stanford-bound IB Diploma student and senior class president, was a popular choice to deliver the valedictorian address. She is much-loved by her peers, and coming from a family deeply involved with quality education, she knows what graduation is all about. She played much of her speech for laughs, exploring how Murphy’s Law – what can go wrong will go wrong – is the bane of students everywhere. One of her examples: “You’re given an open-book exam and forgot your book.

Or you’re given a take-home test and forgot where you live.” But then she turned to the true topic of her talk – the value of community in meeting the challenges of growing up:

Celebration That’s the bittersweet part of a commencement ceremony, the end of some friendships. But in her welcoming address, Board Chair Rosa Marentes de Pisinger reminded the graduates that the bonds that go with an ASF identity don’t end with graduation, but remain for life. The friendships don’t end; they change. “That’s what makes us Bears,” said Ms. Pisinger, herself an ASF graduate with the class of 1987.

The commencement exercises were the culmination of a weeks-long series of events marking the 2015 graduation. One of those events was an awards ceremony in which seniors with outstanding accomplishments were honored.

Another was the capping ceremony, with students receiving their graduation caps from an especially influential or appreciated teacher or other staff member of their choosing. This is an especially meaningful tradition, recognizing one of life’s most significant relationships – teacher and student.

And now for the Class of 2015 comes the next phase.

“You’re beginners again now,” said Head of Upper School Amy Gallie in her address. “And you’ll be beginners again tomorrow and then again and again.”

Ms. Gallie, who helped guide these graduates through the final three years of their ASF education, was delivering the message that the key to life is not how well you handle success but how well you overcome the inevitable failures.

To do that, she pointed out a difference between film and life. In the movies, the outtakes – clips of blown lines presented for laughs – are shown at the end, with the credits. But in the movie of your life, she said, “the bloopers usually happen right in the middle.”

“I have right here 186 reasons, 186 friends beside me, to look forward to seeing a tomorrow. There might be a Murphy’s Law out there trying to sabotage things for everyone, but you will always have these 186 faces to brighten up your morning.

“In my entire life, I have never met a group more outstanding than these students. Really. You have kids lined up to be rocket scientists. You have others that who could turn out to be the president of our nation. Some will invent a new theory in economics, which will revolutionize the way we see the local and international markets. There are poets, mathematicians, doctors, lawyers, and even philosophers in the making.

“But most of all, I see friends sitting on these benches. Some of my classmates have known each other since kindergarten, and have had over 15 years to grow close. Sitting to my left and right are friends that protect one another from Murphy’s Law. If you believe it exists, then don’t worry. You have your friends to lend you a printing account or a calculator at the very last moment.

“There are a lot of people who have helped me get to where I am today, and to aid me with my daily battles against Murphy’s Law. I want to thank ASF, for giving me some of the best years of my life, including one of the greatest lessons: to lose my fear of foolish things like Murphy’s Law. “I want to thank my teachers, who had to deal with my over-participation in class, and who didn’t yell ‘Not her again!’ out loud each time I raised my hand. I want to thank my friends, who believed that my weirdness had an expiration date (which they are still unfortunately awaiting) and who gave me a shoulder to lean on when all seemed to go wrong.”

volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 21

graduation | 2015

“Don’t let a bad situation get you down” Kunryoung Kim, an IB Diploma student who is heading for Korea University in her native country, delivered the Salutatorian address at the Senior Awards ceremony. It was a courageous and inspiring speech that emphasized overcoming adversity and the power of gratitude. Some excerpts: “I have a personal story to tell, a story that only my closest friends know. But I thought it would be worth it to share it with you guys, because it proves that if you are grateful for the opportunities you are given, then you’ll certainly work hard not to lose those opportunities.

“I’ve been in this school for 10 years, since third grade. When I entered high school, my family faced some big economic difficulties, to such an extent that I might have not been able to attend this school anymore. I’m not sure how many of you have been in a situation where you have to leave everything behind, your friends, your memories. But at the time I felt it was hopeless.

“And then thankfully I got a scholarship that allowed me to stay in school. And I certainly took the opportunity. The only way I could show my gratitude and demonstrate that their support was worth it was by doing my best in school.

What else?

“So at any point of your college life or beyond, don’t let a bad situation get you down, because there will be plenty of good things you’ll be thankful for and that will push you to move on.

“Be thankful for what you have and make good use of the opportunities you are given. Be thankful to your teachers who prepared you for college, to the counselors who helped you find your way around, to your parents who gave you the opportunity to attend this great school. And be thankful that you are graduating from ASF, which is not something everyone can experience.

“Yes, it sounds cliché, but honestly being grateful is my the biggest motivation to work hard.”

“This could possibly be a record” During his welcoming address at the class of 2015 graduating ceremonies, Executive Director Paul Williams went out of his way to mention one of the many families that have been an ongoing part of the ASF community over the years, and often over the generations. The García- Moreno family, he said, has had a continuous presence at the school for 28 years. “Based on some personal research,” Mr. Williams said, “this could possibly be a record.”

And the streak isn’t likely to end anytime soon, since the family has grandchildren in the Early Childhood Center.

“This is true staying power,” Mr. Williams said. “Thank you to the GarcíaMoreno family for your commitment to the ASF community.”

Pictured above are some of the family members who attended the 2015 commencement. In the top row from left to right they are: Karla García-Moreno Villarreal (’99), Andrea Garcia-Moreno Villarreal (’05), Paul Williams, Jerónimo García-Moreno Villarreal (’15), Pablo García-Moreno Villarreal (’14), Adriana Villarreal de Garcia-Moreno, Jorge García-Moreno Solana.

Bottom row, left to right: Julia Méndez García-Moreno (in K3), Jorge García-Moreno Villarreal (’01), Fernanda García-Moreno Villarreal (’07) “ASF is a second home for all of us,” Fernanda said. “We all lived amazing experiences growing up and becoming who we are today.”

22 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

“At The American School I was encouraged to think” If the class of 2015 was looking for an inspiring fellow graduate, they had one right there with them in Lilliam Barrios-Poll (’63). It wasn’t just the invocation she delivered at the commencement ceremonies that was inspiring – it was what she has done with her life since coming to Mexico in 1960 at age 12 with her family from Cuba and eventually entering The American School with rudimentary English.

Ms. Barrios-Poll has been the commissioner of employment, personnel, housing, welfare and aging at various times for the city of New York. How good are her people skills? Consider that the mayors she has served under are a conservative Democrat (Ed Koch), a conservative Republican (Rudy Giuliani), a maverick Republican (Michael Bloomberg) and a liberal Democrat (Bill de Blasio). She is currently the deputy mayor for health and human services.

She has also served as a vice president for the United Way, worked in a hospital and in academia, and earlier in life spent time as a nun in a convent in Mexico City.

She was on campus for the graduation of her grand-nephew Andrés Tame and, at the invitation of Institutional Advancement head Alejandra Naranjo, to deliver the invocation. Some of her observations follow.

On her ASF education: “It was the first time I experienced the idea of critical thinking. I was coming in from the traditional method of memorizing, just getting all the facts in your head and spitting them back out. At The American School I was encouraged to think. Not that I didn’t think before, but it was the first time I was actually encouraged to disagree with things. And I haven’t stopped since.

On ASF’s influence: “I had known English sort of, but I had never spoken it every day. For all intents and purposes, I learned English at ASF. … It was the teachers that were inspiring. I had Mrs. Weatherby for science, but she would intersperse existentialism and philosophy. It was the first time I was ever acquainted with such things. They’re a seminal part of what I am.”

On Mayor Koch: “I adored Ed Koch but he was much more conservative than I was; it was an effort to bring him over to my way of thinking.”

On Mayor Giuliani: “I ended up leaving as Giuliani’s commissioner of social services because he was trying to do a lot of punitive things to the poor. His theory was that poor people were poor by choice.”

On Mayor Bloomberg: “He was very different, very hands off. But he was very supportive of me and I was able to make a lot of changes to the portfolio on aging in the city.”

On Bill de Blasio: “De Blasio is the first mayor I’ve worked for who I’ve felt I have an alignment with in terms of social justice. He was a friend to begin with. I’d never worked for anyone younger than me. Now I’m the oldest person at city hall.”

On public service: “I like to think I’m a good bureaucrat, in the good sense of the word. If you honestly try to deal with poverty and all of the bad things in society, you have more scope in government to really influence what happens to help a lot of people than you do in the private sector, or even at a large non-profit.”

On President Peña Nieto: “When Mayor de Blasio met with President Peña Nieto, all the people that de Blasio brought with him were women. And all that Peña Nieto brought were men, except for Sandra Fuentes (the Mexican consul in New York). Peña Nieto noticed it and said to de Blasio, ‘I see your administration has a lot of women.’ And de Blasio said ’54 percent.’ And Peña Nieto said, ‘I have to do better.’” volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 23

graduation | 2015

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Ana Abad Álvarez Anniela Achar Jakobsmeier Enrique Aguilar Chávez Peon Ana Alanis Amaya Juan Alcocer Olivares Ana Allende Esteve Payton Alley Adriana Alonso Reséndez Karla Álvarez Buzali Sonia Anwar Ahmed Martínez Arturo Arredondo López Monica Ávila Álvarez Beltran Ballesteros Rodríguez Kristina Baudouin Robert Baudouin Raz Guzmán Ander Belausteguigoitia Fierro Santiago Berho Suárez Pablo Berry González Sara Betancourt Buelna Raúl Bitar Simon Erika Bleed Roberto Bosoms Hernández Lorenza Braniff Garza Laguera Tomás Bravo García Jerónimo Buendía Aguilar Inés Caire Iriondo Miguel Calleja Erdmann Sofía Calvo Garza Luis Miguel Casillo Najul María Castañon Topete Gerardo Chávez Valle Ha Cho Yoon Choi Mariana Cosio Sáenz Diego de Arrigunaga Quijano Susana de Eusebio y Martínez Alessandro de Gennaro Ambrosino Diego de Gennaro Ambrosino Jade Deaton Hernández Ricardo Diaque Siebert Andrés Díaz González Morales Tomás Diez Canedo Carrasco Javier Diez Campos Adem Dogu Regina Domínguez Morfin López Pablo Domit del Valle

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Universidad Iberoamericana Gap semester in Europe Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe American University Universidad Iberoamericana Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Wake Forest University Gap Year in Europe at Marangoni, Universidad Iberoamericana Gap semester in Europe, Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe School of Oriental and African Studies, London Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Pepperdine University Hult International Business School University of Colorado, Boulder Boston University Gap year, Olympic campaign Gap year, Commercial Pilot for Interjet Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe The University of Texas, Austin Gap year Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Georgia Institute of Technology Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Baylor University Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Claremont McKenna College University California, Berkeley Gap year in London Undecided Northeastern University Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Undecided Universidad de las Américas, Puebla Gap semester in Europe Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Undecided Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe University of North Texas Universidad Iberoamericana Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe

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School of the Art Institute of Chicago University of Colorado, Boulder IE University, Spain Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Panamericana Gap year CENTRO Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Wheaton College Sarah Lawrence College Georgia Institute of Technology Gap year Hult International Business School, San Francisco Gap year, Engene Lang College Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Undecided IE University, Spain St. Edward's University Universidad Panamericana SAE Institute Universidad Iberoamericana Lindenwood University Northeastern University, Dublin Gap semester in Florence, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Gap year interning Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México University of Rhode Island Wheelock College Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Brigham Young University Universidad de Buenos Aires Universidad Iberoamericana University of California, Berkeley Gap semester in South Korea Universidad Anáhuac México Norte Undecided Northeastern University Universidad Iberoamericana James Madison University Universidad Panamericana Parsons The New School for Design The University of Texas, Austin

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Bum Kim Do Hee Kim Jacqueline Kim Lee Kunryoung Kim Yeo Kim Karin Kisel Bejar Nicole Klein Pérez Beatrice Kretschmer Schmidt Luis Landa Lizarralde Matheus Landulfo Jorge Cora Laudato Jorge Lechuga Alcalá Jacinta Legorreta Córdova Luana León Sambon Andong Li Zhao Daniela Madrazo Vega Javier Madrazo Labardini Nicolás Maraima Noda Ernesto Martin Vázquez Camila Matta Abbud Isabella McCausland Roberta Mendoza Gallego Victoria Merino Aeschbach Andrea Meyer Jinich Cassandra Milesi González Fausto Miranda de Angoitia Andrea Montiel Fernández Daniel Morales Mora Diego Moreno Villar Pamela Moreno Calva María Nájera Méndez Roberto Nicolin Martínez Alejandro Olguín Medina Pau Oliveres Tarragona Juan Orvañanos Alanis Ricardo Paciuc Freyer Keunkab Park Samantha Parker Ramos Rosa Peralta Alarcón Martina Pérez Blanco Leni Peterson Redondo Andrea Rallo del Castillo Macarena Ramos López María Ramos Mota Isabel Raz Guzmán Macedo Dana Rei Cassab Guillermo Rincón Altamirano Marina Rivero Andreu Hinojosa

University of Colorado, Boulder University in South Korea Undecided Korea University University in South Korea University of British Columbia Universidad Anáhuac Norte Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Suffolk University Gap year working, ICOM Italy Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Gap semester in Europe and Africa Universidad Iberoamericana University of Michigan Gap Semester in Paris, university in Mexico Northwestern University Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Centro de Estudios Superiores de San Ángel Universidad Iberoamericana Emmanuel College Northeastern University Gap year in Europe New York University Gap semester in Europe Undecided Universidad Panamericana Gap year interning Universidad Iberoamericana Undecided University of British Columbia Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México University of Chicago Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México University of Colorado, Boulder Gap semester in South Korea Santa Clara University Gap semester in France, Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Panamericana Stanford University Santa Clara University Gap year in Spain, law school Full Sail University Gap year in Europe Gap year in Israel Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Universidad Anáhuac Norte

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H - Honor Society

IB - IB Diploma Programme

Undecided Northern Illinois University Northeastern University Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana or Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Stanford University University of Southern California Gap semester in Africa, St. Edward's University Gap semester in Africa, Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Universidad Iberoamericana Gap year Webster University, Vienna Undecided Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Boston University Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Iberoamericana or Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe ESADE Business School, Barcelona Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México City of Bath College Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Undecided University of California, Davis Tec Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México Universidad de las Américas, Puebla Gap Semester in Barcelona Northeastern University Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Lynn University Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México University of Nevada, Las Vegas Bentley University Undecided Universidad Panamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México College of Charleston Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México

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FEATURE

Happily Ever After?

By Andrew Livingstone

26 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

What happens after the curtain goes down? Does the story end there? What does happily ever after really mean? The themes of Stephen Sondheim’s adaptation of Brothers Grimm fairy tales were poignant ones for the ASF drama students performing Into The Woods this year, as many were about to graduate and face an uncertain future. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 27

T

he large cast stood at the front of the stage, and holding hands they took a final bow in front of a full house. Then the curtain came down.

For some, who have been part of the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center since it opened a few years ago and were about to graduate from ASF, it was the end of a huge chapter of their lives, a time to start thinking about what comes next.

Fittingly, Into the Woods is a play that asks people to think more deeply about some of the most famous fairytales and ask ourselves: What is happily ever after?

Into the Woods Including elements of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, the story is tied together by a story of a baker and his wife and a narrator who interacts with the other characters.

But while the first act ends as the fairytales do – the giant and the wolf defeated, the princesses finding their Prince Charmings – the second act goes beyond the cliché that they all lived happily ever after and imagines the consequences of the resolution to their fairytales. How can we know that Cinderella and Rapunzel were happy with their princes? They barely knew each other! Not to mention what became of the giant’s widowed wife?

Will she want revenge?

28 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

“It’s about facing life,” said producer Rosana Cesarman. “The play starts with ‘I wish.’ Many characters’ first line is ‘I wish.’ It’s about what you wish and how you accomplish those wishes. You have to be careful what you wish for, because sometimes it’s not what you really want.”

like Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood.

“The Baker’s Wife you can meld to be your own character. You can play her how you want,” Lucía added.

And in her years at ASF, Lucía has played many different characters. She said she enjoyed the challenge of her unique role, having previously played the tragic On the Stage Fantine in Les Misérables. “It’s a comFor some of the seniors taking part in Into edy, so we get to explore a whole different the Woods, the theme of “what comes process. Now I know I can play a comedic next?” was a poignant one. character as well as a tragic character.”

Alexa, meanwhile, added Cinderella to the repertoire “When I was in freshman year of iconic characters she has I never thought I would want played at ASF, a list that includes Les Misérables’ to pursue acting as a career.

Eponine and The Sound of …I just did it because I really Music’s Maria.

“I thought that as an acloved it.” tress what would benefit alexa rosengaus (cinderella) me the most was a change –something that was a chalASF Theatre Company members lenge for me,” she said about auditioning Lucía Serrano and Alexa Rosengaus had for the part of Cinderella. both taken part in several ASF producFour years of drama productions has tions. Their ASF story came to an end as firmly implanted a love of the stage in Alexa, they graduated in May, and now they are and she intends to study drama in London. entering the uncertain second act. But “After I did Sound of Music I realized they enter well prepared. this was my destiny and ever since I’ve Lucía had taken part in ASF drama been working hard to pursue this career,” since grade 7 and enjoyed the challenge of she said “This theater has really helped playing the Baker’s Wife – a character that me a lot with that.” unites the different stories in the play.

Nico “Big Bad Wolf” Katzman still has “I love that she is sassy,” Lucía said. one year left at ASF. He had previously “She is the strong one in the relationship.” played small parts in drama productions, She also enjoyed the challenge of be- but he said that the beauty of Into the ing able to play one of the few characters Woods is that each member of its cast all in Into the Woods that is not well known has their moment in the spotlight.

“Theater has changed my life.

It has allowed me to explore feelings and sensations that I hadn’t had before.” nico katzman

(wolf)

“In this play there are really no extras, every character you need at some point,” he said. “I’m the one who makes Little Red Riding Hood to grow up in some way. I help her mature and so I change the life of this character.”

Grade 8 student Pablo Gómez, who played Jack, was a newcomer to theater this year.

“I identify with him [Jack],” he said. “I think he’s a pretty weird person and he feels that he’s older but he’s really still a kid. People relate to the positive points about him.”

General Producer Rosana Cesarman said working with student actors is a refreshing change from working with professionals.

“They’re super enthusiastic and super committed, and don’t have any actors’ vices,” she said.

“There is no such thing as student theater. When you see, what we do, it’s like professional theater in every way.”

Said Emilio, “It’s our original version.

We tried to modernize the stage and the scenery, so we had to create a lot of our own props.”

“The woods is a place where the characters in the play are out of their comfort zone, so it can be anything,” Paty said. “It gave us the opportunity to combine our technical and creative skills.”

Fellow Tech Club member Jerónimo Gómez Robledo worked as a sound designer, creating a list of cues for the sound people, so they knew when to turn on and off the microphones for the actors.

José Fernando Guerrero designed the lighting for the show, breaking it down scene by scene and studying the actors’ movement. He watched several rehearsals and spent a month deciding how to illuminate the most important parts of the stage at the right time, manipulating the attention of the audience across a busy set, and through scenes that involved multiple actors doing different things at the same time.

And on opening night, and the four nights that followed, every aspect of a student production came together perfectly and for two and a half hours, the theater was enthralled to head into the woods.

Behind the Scenes Behind the scenes, a dedicated team of students worked to make sure every aspect of the production was carried out to a professional standard. While Drama Club members worked on a marketing plan – designing posters, programs, advertising and tickets – the Tech Club was there with the actors, rehearsing to make sure everything would run smoothly during the show.

Aside from the scaffolding, almost every piece of the complicated scenery – the “woods” – was made by students.

Stage managers Paty Garza and Emilio Pinedo were in charge of cues and props, making sure everything piece of the complicated puzzle that is a drama production is in its right place at the right time.

And as the “woods” were not literally a forest in the ASF version, Tech Club members had to apply their own spin to the concept.

That means making sure the beanstalk was raised at the right time, the background scenery changed on cue, and that every backstage member of the Tech Club knew their task. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 29

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Th en e we s 30 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

Think Different

on cancer turned out t o forum b e an i ch a ns whi p i r ing a n du p l i fti n

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in ril, Ap st t la en ev

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FEATURE

“

W

hy are a bunch of high school kids giving a forum on cancer?” As rhetorical questions go, it’s an intriguing one. But what made it especially attention-getting last April 29 was that the asker was one of those “high school kids” who organized the forum.

Enrique Goudet had an answer to his own question. He had come back from vacation inspired by tales of doers and problem-solvers and was determined to become one of them.

More important, he saw the need for a facilitator, a provider of both the inspiration and the means to effect change.

“It’s a question of understanding that we really can change the world for the better,” he said. “It depends on us realizing that, yes, we can.”

Thus was born the newest of ASF’s extracurricular clubs, with Enrique a founding member.

It’s called “Think Different.”

That’s not a typical name for a school club.

Then again, it’s not a typical school club. Typical school clubs don’t hold cancer forums.

At the same time, though, the community service ethic that defines so many ASF activities is a big part of what Think Different is all about.

Enrique described his commitment to that ethic. “I was born into a family in which I never lacked anything,” he said.

“That’s why I feel morally responsible for those who don’t have the same luck as I do.”

What sets Think Different apart from other community service-oriented ASF activities is its emphasis on changing thinking and creating awareness. You might even say it is involved in indirect action rather than direct action. What it aims to do is increase awareness – not just about the problems that humanity faces but about the potential we have to solve those problems.

And that, dear Focus reader, is why a bunch of high school kids were giving a forum on cancer.

It was an inspired choice, because cancer is one of those challenges that is easy to be fatalistic about, to feel that there’s little we can do. The three featured speakers at the first Think Different forum made it clear that that’s not the case.

One of them was a former national health secretary, Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg, who (though barely 40 when he spoke to the students, staff, parents and other community members at the Fine Arts Center) has had a full career as a public health and social development official at the federal, state and local levels.

Chertorivski’s rundown of the strides that have been made in cancer detection and treatment made it clear that there is plenty that can be and has been done.

His message hit home as he listed the five areas of focus in dealing with the disease. The first was risk reduction – that

is, the lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and eating healthy that any individual can make to lessen the likelihood of cancer knocking on the door.

Early detection greatly increases the chances of curing the disease in its beginning stages. Finding a cure is the work of science, both public and private.

Many kinds of cancer are much more treatable today than in other eras.

Fourth comes survival, a quest in itself after a cancer diagnosis. The fifth is palliative care, something that has been getting much more attention in this century than the last. It aims to improve the final days or years of life for those with terminal cancer.

The second speaker, Laura Vidales, was a typical mother in every way until her boy Andrés was diagnosed with cancer.

After the shock, she dedicated herself to making her son’s life as full and joyous as possible. Then, after his death, she focused on another cause, creating a foundation called Aquí Nadie Se Rinde (Here No One Gives Up) to help care for children with cancer.

“In every one of their smiles, I see Andrés,” she told the forum audience.

The third speaker was a survivor, Germán de la Rosa, who lost a leg to cancer. Still relatively young, he spoke about meeting the new challenge in his life, which he casually described as, “In life, we all experience unexpected moments.”

Like many others, Germán was determined to continue his participation in athletics. And he did. But what made his story especially inspiring was the extent to which he participated. Running races and competing in triathlons were just the beginning. His achievements included extreme sports that would be beyond the ability of most people in the world, with any number of legs.

At the heart of the forum was the special knowledge that it was conceived and carried out by young people. That fact alone was a cause for optimism and a reason to believe that, yes, we can change the world for the better. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 31

FEATURE

The young and the restless Three much-loved authors of young adult fiction came to the ASF campus with an inspiring message: Anybody can write.

By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

I

f you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know about what inspires adolescent readers can be found in the granddaddy of all modern youth-oriented works of literature – J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” “What really knocks me out,” Salinger’s hero Holden Caulfield informs us, “is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”

Probably not. But it happened at ASF last April, at least for a day. And it wasn’t over the phone. Three favorite authors came to ASF live and in person and made themselves available so students could chat with them – whenever they felt like it.

Not just any authors, mind you, but three much-loved and oftread creators of young adult fiction writing. For those Middle School and Upper School students who knew their works (wellstocked in the Upper School library) it was like an informal visit from three terrific friends.

One of them was Justine Larbalestier, the Australian writer of “novels for young adults and other humans,” as her official website puts it. She’s probably best known for her 2009 best-seller “Liar,” which is (again deferring to her own words) “a psychological thriller set in New York City, told from the point of view of a compulsive liar.”

A month before she arrived at ASF, her latest work was released in the United States (it had been available in Australia and New Zealand since July of 2014). It’s called “Razorhurst,” and it’s about (cue the website) “how in 1932 a gangster’s moll, and a street urchin who can see ghosts, tip the balance in a bloody underworld power struggle.”

With Justine arrived Scott Westerfeld, the prolific author of young adult novels, many of them as multi-book series such as “Uglies” and “Peeps,” with themes like adolescent innovation, thinking for oneself and finding one’s own path, even if that means questioning authority along the way.

Joining Justine and Scott (who are married to each other) was Alaya Dawn Johnson, an American who lives in Mexico City, where she writes and pursues her interest in Meso-American history and anthropology.

She writes speculative fiction, which is a genre best described by blurbs about some of her many works: “The Summer Prince” – a young adult science fiction novel set on the Brazil coast 400 years in the future; “Love is the Drug” – dealing with a global flu pandemic from Washington, DC; and “Moonshine” and its 32 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

sequel “Wicked City” – imagining vampires at the heart of the social struggles of the 1920s.

The authors were invited to the school by a team of students and faculty led by the staff of Repentino., the ASF student literary magazine, and their faculty adviser, head Upper School Librarian Harry Brake. There was a formal talk by the three authors and a question-and-answer session, but the emphasis was on more informal interaction – meet and greet, book signing, casual conversation between authors and students, even live Twitter chats for off-campus aficionados.

“We invited other schools and the public to connect,” Mr. Brake said. “We invited everybody.”

The authors weren’t there to promote their books – at least not directly. They weren’t even there to encourage young people to read; the assumption was that the students attending were already doing that. They were there to encourage young people to write.

“Anybody can write,” Justine said during an interview with Focus on the morning of the event. By that she was referring to more than the usual pep talk that if you work hard, read widely, choose your influences wisely and persevere through rejection, then you can learn to write well and perhaps even get published.

She’s saying, rather, that you can be an author regardless of

your race, gender, socioeconomic status or country of origin.

That may sound self-evident. But tell that to the youngster who’s given a view of the literary world that’s not as diverse as it might be, including in its English-language incarnation.

“The vast majority of the books published in the United States and Australia, the two markets I know most about, are about middle-class white people or rich white people,” Justine said. “Or you walk into a bookshop and look at the faces on the back covers – it’s a wall of white.

“So I have these little kids asking me if somebody like them could write a book. And I’m like, ‘Yes’!”

The limited literary world survives in academe as well, according to the three. Targeted cultural studies departments are now the norm, but the basic surveys – the literature classes everybody has to take – tend to be monotone.

“I went to Columbia, which is notorious for what they call the core curriculum,” Alaya said. “For a year, every single undergraduate student has to read the exact same works. There was one book by Toni Morrison, and that was the only woman and only person of color in the entire year.”

True, there’s more diversity in the ethnic voices between the pages today than a few decades ago, especially in children’s books, as casual browsing at the ASF Lower School library will confirm. There’s been progress.

“But not enough,” Justine insisted.

Justine, Scott and Alaya came to ASF as ambassadors of young adult fiction. They were on friendly turf. The young adult genre – or more accurately, the young adult market category containing numerous genres, from straight coming-of-age stories to epistolary space operas – is big on campus. And everywhere else, for that matter.

That’s because it’s no secret that young adult fiction (YA in the parlance) is enjoying a boom market. It’s also no secret what phenomenon did the most to make that happen.

“I was in school when the first Harry Potter came out, so I’m exactly in that demographic,” Alaya said. “I remember being astonished that the kind of genre I’d loved since I was five years old was suddenly the hottest thing on the planet. It was a very exciting time because not only did I love the Harry Potter books but I was very happy that they were bringing others into my favorite kind of book to read.”

Now it’s her favorite kind of book to write. “I never stopped reading that kind of coming-of-age story,” she says. “And I never stopped wanting to write it.”

In many ways, besides its unimaginable success, the Harry Potter series was atypical. For one thing, Alaya points out, J.K. Rowling blurred the line between the middle-grade category (for younger adolescents) and YA, something publishers would frown upon today. But despite that – or more likely because of it – she got a lot of young people hooked on reading.

“Kids grow up in a world where every couple of years you can’t be cool unless you have this one object,” Scott Westerfeld said. “And there was a time when that one object was a book, Harry Potter. A lot of those kids became very intent readers and very voluminous readers, so reading increased among teenagers.”

And a lot of those teenagers kept reading when they hit their 20s and beyond. Which is one reason, in Scott’s estimate, that as much as 40 percent of YA readers are adults. “Some of it is parents reading what their sons and daughters are reading,” he said. “But mostly it’s people who never stopped reading YA. They’re 23, 25 and older. Reading is a habit. To them, it’s not like they’re reading ‘YA’.” They’re reading books.”

As Justine puts it, “There’s less of a stigma about reading YA than there was.” volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 33

“I never stopped reading coming-of-age stories.

And I never stopped wanting to write them.”

“Little kids ask me if somebody like them could write a book.

And I’m like, yes.”

alaya dawn johnson

justine larbalestier

Of course, that sounds to a lot of people the same as saying, “There’s still a stigma about reading YA.” It’s not much of a stigma, to be sure – just the notion that because it’s for and about young people, it must be the equivalent of the minor leagues, a place you go to hone your skills for the real stuff later on.

The three authors see it as part of their ambassadorial duties to rid the world of such a notion. And they know right where to point.

“There’s that thing in college that kills your reading,” Scott said during the interview in a side room of the Upper School library. “A lot of it is what they make you read. So graduates who have supposedly aged out of YA just stop reading after they get out of college. It used to be that they were lost forever, but now a lot come back to reading via YA.” It’s not that the canon has nothing to offer; Scott has written “adult” novels himself. What he laments is the perception that for reading to have literary merit, it must be a difficult duty rather than an uplifting pleasure.

34 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

“One reason a lot of adults today read YA is because the modern novel doesn’t have a lot in it for them,” Scott said. “There’s this kind of literature with a capital L that has given up on story.

It’s a whole branch that values meta-activities over story, and thinks the two are mutually exclusive. For a lot of people, that takes away the enjoyment of reading books.”

Here’s where the three – and countless other writers of young adult fiction – merge with the protagonists of their works, seeking their own way in defiance of received wisdom. Think of Jonas in Lois Lowry’s “The Giver,” who attempts an impossible escape from the only life he’s known after discovering the deception it’s based on; his salvation comes when a vision in his mind turns real. Or, going back a way for another example from an adult book that appealed, and appeals, to kids of all ages, think of Huck Finn, a different person downriver than he was upriver, deciding to light out for the territories.

So Justine, Scott and Alaya write literature their way, which is not the way of the Columbia core curriculum.

Their way is the young adult way, with strong stories in s p e c u l a t i ve

“Human beings are designed to tell stories.

It’s one of our original technologies.” scott westerfeld

settings that directly touch the inner lives of young people, and of those older people who will allow it.

“Human beings are designed to tell stories; it’s one of our original technologies,” Scott said. “When we go to sleep at night, our brains freak out because we’re not coding anything. So we have to tell ourselves stories to process all the information we absorbed during the day.”

If you want to get a rise out of an author of young adult fiction, all you have to do is suggest that it YA must be easier to write than adult fiction.

Scott, when he stopped laughing, gave one of the main reasons YA is in his opinion harder to write. “You can’t get away with any banging around,” he said. “You can’t spend a couple of chapters in this moody world where you’re exploring your character. You have to get to the reader a lot quicker. You have to cut to the chase.”

To drive home the point, Justine took it farther. “You know what the hardest thing to write is?” she said. “Picture books. Every word has to work.”

Then Alaya took it all the way. “It’s a big lie to say that any kind of writing is easier,” she said. “You take the worst novel imaginable, the laziest, sloppiest thing you’ve ever read, and it was really hard to write for whoever wrote it.”

The modern young adult novel is often traced back to the publication in 1967 of “The Outsiders.” That best-seller was not just for and about adolescents – it was by one. Author S.E. Hinton was in high school when she wrote it.

She opened the way to writing about adolescent life as it really is, including the dark side, rather than as an adult writer thinks it should be.

That edginess is still there, and then some. And the defining tropes remain – the themes tend to involve identity and self-discovery, the protagonists come of age, and the language is direct.

But things are changing.

“What’s interesting now is how much experimentation is going on,” Scott said.

Lengths, once rigidly restricted, are more flexible; there are some pretty thick YA bestsellers out there. There are YA novels told in verse, graphic YA novels, illustrated YA novels. There is a burgeoning variety of YA genres, and many seem to invent their own, such as the aforementioned epistolary space opera – Star Wars via the post office.

As the category grows, the YA community seems to get closer.

“We’re a set of authors who mostly know each other and talk to and about each other a lot,” Scott said. “There’s this whole community that supports reading YA. It’s kind of like science fiction.

You want to read the books, but you also want to talk to other people who read them or write them.”

You can feel that community spirit among authors and readers of YA (hence the first-name informality in this article). Two readers who find they’ve both read a Cormac McCarthy book will discuss their opinions. Two who just read an Alaya Johnson book will share their experience.

“That’s part of the appeal of YA,” Scott said. “When the young readers start to get older, they still have that sense of community, they still are connected by the ideas they read about and that are bubbling all over the world. Plus you get to meet a lot of really cool people.”

volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 35

Student Voices

Korean reunification?

Difficult, but worth discussing

By Ana Karla Parra (’16)

W

ith a newly earned scholarship, 38 students representing 25 different countries flew to South Korea to discuss in a session-divided forum the division of the Korean peninsula.

I had the opportunity to be one of those students. Our different ages, schools and nationalities were important factors in assuring different points of view.

Throughout the sessions, questions such as the following arose: How effective is the UN? What about region-based organizations? Are the policies which have been implemented, such as the Sunshine Policy, working? Is unification needed?

Would it be a win-win situation if it happens? And so on.

Yet I believe that achieving reunification of the Korean peninsula, difficult as it may be, would be ideal. Under what conditions could it happen?

First of all, we must remember that there has never been a peace treaty, so the Korean War has technically never ended.

Reunification is needed to eliminate the demilitarized zone between both countries, unite the families that were split up during the Korean War, but most importantly, to prevent what could end up in a nuclear war.

However, factors such as the younger generations, the July 4 North-South Joint Statement and deciding the political system of a unified Korea make the reunification process difficult.

One of the main strategies the South Korean government uses to encourage its people to look forward to reunification is talking about the benefits of bringing together the families that were split up during the Korean War. Since 1953 Korean families have not been able to contact each other, so the idea of uniting families makes reunification emotionally relevant.

What’s the problem? Younger generations are starting to see reunification as irrelevant and too costly. These generations didn’t experience the Korean War and its consequences. They were not affected directly by the split families, and therefore they lose interest in reunification. Younger generations are the future, and if they believe it is not relevant, then they will not fight for reunification later on.

On the July 4 North-South Joint Statement (1972), both parties agreed on three principles regarding unification. First, unification must be internal and independent. This means no 36 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

country other than North and South Korea must be involved in the process and decision making. The problem today for North Korea is the presence of the United States in South Korea.

In our forum, a student suggested that all superpowers must back off and allow both Koreas to negotiate by themselves. In my opinion, this is not likely to happen. Why? South Korea has allowed the U.S. to fight against communism and “control” its expansion. At the same time South Korea benefits by U.S. financial aid and other assistance. The U.S. will not likely back off because it is not willing to risk another country falling into communism. Therefore, since reunification most likely will not be independent or internal, another solution must be found.

Second, reunification must be peaceful and without war or weapons. Today both countries threaten themselves by testing their military and weapons. South Korea and the U.S. hold annual military exercises and North Korea plays with its nuclear weapons. The “demilitarized zone” between the north and the south is the most heavily armed border between any two countries. That sounds ironic, yet it makes sense because they are technically at war.

The third principle in the 1972 statement is that both countries must promote national unity. I think the problem here is that each country would rather overthrow the other government and rule with their own system. Kim Jong Un will not give up his family-run dictatorship and South Korea won’t abandon its constitutional republic.

Although there are many other relevant factors for analyzing this issue, these three are the most important as we introduce ourselves to the complicated problem of the Korean peninsula. It is a problem involving split families, communism vs. capitalism, nuclear weapons and much more. But above all, in my opinion, it is a problem worth discussing in order to reach a solution.

Ana Karla Parra (’16) is an ASF senior who was selected last year to represent Mexico at United World College, an international boarding school in Costa Rica where 160 students from 80 different countries study an international IB curriculum together. This summer she was granted a scholarship to visit South Korea to take part in the United World College Korea World Peace Leadership Forum at DMZ 2015.

institutional advancement

Into the Woods opens with a fundraiser

F

ine wine and Chinese food greeted a hungry bunch of spectators on April 9 for the opening night gala for the ASF Theatre Company’s production of Into the Woods.

The Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center was packed with parents, staff, students and community members, all proud to be among the first to witness a top quality production put together almost entirely by ASF students.

The China Girl restaurant supported the gala with a food donation. Pepsi and the wine distributor Gifan provided beverages.

The production received a generous donation of 50,000 pesos from Fomento Educacional, a nonprofit organization that works to support bicultural and educational activities, with the goal of strengthening mutual understanding and cultural exchange between citizens of Mexico and the United States.

Fomento Educacional has also previously donated funding toward the building of the Fine Arts Center, where the gala and show took place.

Frank Rosengaus, Ossi Gershoni and Margarita Treviño came to watch Alexa Rosengaus as Cinderella and Lucía Serrano as the baker’s wife.

To read more about the student production of Into the Woods, see our feature on page 28. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 37

institutional advancement

Independent & International The American School Foundation is both. In fact, they are the defining terms for what sets ASF apart.

But what do they really mean?

M

ost people connected with the ASF community understand that The American School Foundation is an independent school. They’re also aware that ASF prides itself on being an international school. But how many know what is meant by “independent” and “international”? Sure, we all have a pretty good idea what those terms are all about in a general sense. But how do they apply specifically to ASF? The answers matter, because being an independent school has defined ASF’s existence from day one. ASF has also always been an international school, though the significance of its internationalism has deepened and expanded in recent decades.

So let’s start with “independent.” Give yourself a little evaluation: Twenty-five words or fewer, what makes ASF an independent school? Begin.

Pencils up. How’d you do?

The key, you probably guessed, is that an independent school is not dependent on government financing or administration. It governs itself and it finances itself.

So there you have it. And in exactly 25 words.

38 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent But of course such definitions are never so simple. Questions arise. For example: What’s the difference between an independent school and a private school?

Sometimes the terms are applied interchangeably, in both Mexico and the United States. But they really shouldn’t be. They’re not the same thing.

“Private school” is a broader category than “independent school.” In one sense, ASF is a private school because, to state the obvious, it’s non-public. That is, it is not government affiliated. But there are categories of private schools that are not independent, and thus have nothing to do with ASF. The most common examples are schools with a religious affiliation, which are dependent on a diocese or parish. They are private but not independent. ASF has no such affiliation, and never has.

There are also proprietary schools owned by for-profit entities. That is not the case with ASF. Nobody owns The American School.

Who runs it then? This is where the idea of self-governance comes in.

ASF is not a corporation or a public entry, but a foundation – hence its name. The members of the foundation (which any ASF

community member who is a U.S. citizen can apply for) elect a 15-member Board of Trustees. That Board holds the school in trust, and makes all the major decisions, acting according to by-laws.

The result is self-governance, and that’s what makes The American School Foundation independent. The advantages for young people in Mexico are multifold, but they all come back to one thing: Independence gives a school the opportunity to define and carry out its own mission.

You’ve probably heard it said that ASF is a “mission-based” or “mission-driven” school.

They may not have used those words back in 1888 when John Davis opened up a room in his Mexico City house for Bessie Files to teach the first class for what would come to be called The American School. But ASF has always operated with a mission, meaning it sees an educational need, has a philosophy for meeting that need, and operates always according to that need.

From the other side, families assess the educational needs of their children and choose an independent school whose mission is compatible. In the case of ASF, this arrangement has worked out quite well for 127 years.

ASF’s mission is codified in a carefully crafted statement that defines the school in part as an “academically rigorous, international, university-preparatory school, which offers students from diverse backgrounds the best of American independent education.”

Suffice it to say that such a mission would not be feasible within the public school system, especially the “best of American independent education” part.

Because ASF is independent, it can recruit students who are well-matched to its mission, define teacher qualifications consistent with that mission, and determine curricula and assessment methodology most conducive to its implementation.

In other words, independence not only allows ASF to have a mission, it gives it the means to carry out that mission.

Do-it-yourself financing

That freedom comes at a price – literally.

With no government money, no corporate-owner money and no parochial money, all truly independent schools must be self-financing.

In ASF’s case, that self-financing comes primarily through tuition, registration fees, donations and fundraising. For the most part, the breakdown is simple – tuition pays for operating costs, while donations pay for capital improvements and financial aid.

ASF operates as a non-profit, so it’s not an exaggeration to say that it doesn’t really “have” any money. What it has is expenses that need to be met – staff payroll, for example – in order to carry out its mission. And it has routes for the revenue (mostly from tuition) to take to pay those expenses. Thus, financially speaking, ASF is a network of conduits, not a reservoir.

That’s the reality, but it’s not always the image.

“Just by having the name American School people associate us with a wealthy institution,” says ASF Executive Director Paul Williams. “But our school is much more like a middle-class family that tries to use resources to the best of our ability.”

It’s true of course, that from the students’ families’ point of view, paying tuition for K-12 education separates independent schools from public schools, which are virtually free. But independent schools have a vested interest in preventing prohibitive costs. That’s especially true at ASF, whose mission statement specifically mentions “students from diverse backgrounds.”

“Contrary to popular belief, independent schools are not necessarily ‘elitist’ except in their academic expectations,” says Alejandra Naranjo, who heads ASF’s Institutional Advancement office. “Our socio-economic diversity is supported by a significant commitment to financial aid.”

As far back as the 1980s, ASF began a financial aid program dedicated to the goal that no qualified student should be denied an ASF education only because his or her family couldn’t afford the tuition

costs. Thus began an endowment fund for financial aid, supported by fundraisers and donations coordinated by Institutional Advancement.

“Today 13 percent of the student body is supported by financial aid,” Ms. Naranjo says. “And we’ve set the ambitious goal of increasing that to 20 percent in the next 12 years.”

Getting along with others

While the freedom to determine your own academic priorities, your own curricula and your own evaluation procedures is important for fulfilling your mission, at some point your academic offering has to dovetail with other institutions. A student can receive a brilliant, enriching education at an independent school, but if other schools or universities don’t recognize it, his or her education can hit a dead end.

ASF meets this challenge by submitting itself to the accrediting body Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and participating actively in such associations as the Association of American Schools in Mexico (ASOMEX), the National Association of Independent Schools and the TriArea Association, which includes American schools in Colombia, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

The accreditation process is rigorous, Compliance with it is demanding. The payoff is that ASF graduates are able to attend the most prestigious universities in Mexico, the United States and the rest of the world.

An independent school’s freedom from government oversight is also an obvious advantage, but in Mexico there can be too much of a good thing.

“There are two paths you can take,” Mr. Williams says “One is not to have any oversight at all, but that results in none of the ASF studies being recognized in Mexico, which means kids can have real problems transitioning out of ASF.” Instead, ASF established agreements with both the Public Education Secretariat (SEP) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In exchange for aligning some of its curriculum to meet certain SEP and UNAM requirements, all ASF studies became recognized and certified through a process called revalidation.

“This allows students to transfer freely within Mexico, and be able to study in institutions of higher education in Mexico and/ or abroad,” Mr. Williams says. “Any independent school should seek some sort of recognition from government authorities.”

The challenges of independence

ASF faces challenges that all independent schools face, plus some of its own. One is sheer size.

“There might be 25 independent schools in all of the United States that are our size,” Mr. Williams says. “Independent schools tend to be smaller than we are.”

Another special challenge for ASF is its commitment to bilingualism, with two

primary languages of instruction – English and Spanish.

Bilingualism is, of course, a no-brainer for The American School. It cannot be otherwise. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to reach the goal of all students being bilingual. Many help by entering bilingual, but some don’t. And a few enter at lower grades speaking neither English nor Spanish. There’s a lot of work to be done in that area.

The main challenge, however, is the ambition of its mission. Just think about how much goes into the blender of an ASF independent education: The core U.S.-based curriculum, SEP requirements, UNAM requirements, accrediting body standards, Advanced Placement offerings, a commitment to special education for those in need of it, a generous extracurricular program through Extended Learning, a full athletics program unheard of in most Mexican schools, a strong emphasis on community service, and a full visual and performing arts department.

The students themselves know darn well how challenging such a full plate can be. But it’s no walk in the park for ASF curriculum planners either.

“Our biggest challenge academically is how to blend all the different program requirements,” Mr. Williams says.

And that list of ingredients doesn’t include the most overarching of all – the International Baccalaureate program.

The IB’s Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes frame the ASF curriculum through grade 10, after which students can choose to follow the IB Diploma program.

At the end of the day, it’s the IB, with its strong emphasis on globally oriented subject matters, that makes ASF an international school. ASF is, in fact, an officially recognized “IB World School.”

That may surprise some people, who assume that ASF’s diverse student body is what makes it “international.” They’re not wrong. Just the fact of being an American school in Mexico makes ASF international.

Factor in the more than three dozen nations represented on campus and the case is stronger.

But, Mr. Williams points out, a school can be international without a diverse student body.

“For example,” he says, “There’s a school in California, the Monterey International School, where there are no nationalities other than American on campus. It’s the curriculum that gives it the basis to be international.”

ASF’s mission statement supports both criteria. It mentions “diverse backgrounds,” but it also encourages students “to become responsible, contributing citizens of the world.”

So is it just the curriculum that makes ASF an international school or is it the multinational student body and teaching staff?

“We have both,” Mr. Williams says. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 39

institutional advancement

Thank you to our 2014–15 Donors and Sponsors for the Annual Fund, for the Major Gifts Campaign and for the Endowment Fund for Financial Aid. Individual, Institutional and Corporate Donors Abarca Trujillo, Miriam Abling, Shaunna Acevedo Smith, Arturo Aceves Navarro, Gilberto Aguilar Cervantes, Enrique Aguilar, Sairi Aguirre, Elisa Aiza, Carlos Alcántara Rojas, Georgina Alemán, Angie Alvarado Mejía, Luis Eugenio Anderson, Muriel Arias-King, Fredo Arsuaga Losada, Braulio Austin, Garrett Ávila, Mónica Ayala Mexicano, Violeta Ballesteros Gutiérrez, Juan Pablo Barnhizer, Leslie Barreto, Luis Miguel y Camille Benavides, Carlos Berentsen, Ivette Blum-Grundyson, Suzanne Boianelli, Gisela Boltman, Irma F. Breene, Juan de Jesús Bross Umann, Benjamin Brown, Autumn Buenrostro Moreno, César Butler, Sean Caballero, Lilia Carrera Pliego, Ma. Eugenia Cielak, Diana Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. Cornwell, Jason Cox, William Crutchfield, Rebecca De Ávila, Adriana De la Vega, Constance De St. Aubin, Mercedes De Uriarte Flores, Horacio María Demesa Rodríguez, Francisco Devon-Sand, Perri Dillon, Rachel Duque, Isabel Elias, Aliki Escandón, Mónica Escobar Rojo, Adriana Espinosa, Maricarmen Esteve Recolons, Jorge Fagoaga, Manuel Fairbank, Laura Felguerez Barra, Manuel Fernández Porter, Héctor Fiore, Jennifer Fomento Educacional A.C. Franco Bustillos, Fernando Fuentes Téllez, Angélica Fukuda, Ryosuke Fundación Espinosa Rugarcía, IBP Fundación Laura A. de Diez Barroso A.C. Furuta, Milano Gallie, Amy García Moreno Villarreal, Karla García Subias, Martín García, Maricela García, Patricia Goldman Sachs Group y Compañía S. de R.L. de C.V. Goldschmied, Adele Goldschmied, Susana González Cimadevilla, Ana María Guajardo González, Lucía Guillén, Nicole Gutiérrez, Fernando Habia, Galia 40 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

Hamer, Thurston Hanes, Twyla Hernández, Marina Hernández, Paulina Heusinger, Kristen Hojel, Phyllis S. Holguín Maillard S.C. Huttanus, Frances Jackson, Beebe Michelle Jessel, Sagra Jiménez Pons, Paola Jocuns, Elaine Justus Villarreal, Mauricio Kamm, Richard Kanarek Shaikov, Isaac Kassam-Adams, Rabiya Keeler, Lisa Kelman, Anna Kenzler, Sadie Kim, Ho Yon Kuga, Takaaki Landeros, Francisco Javier Lavroushin, Natasha Leach, Dan Levin Balcells, Esteban Levine, Steven Henry Liechty, Joan Lipe-Taylor, Molly Marcos Iza, Jesús Martin Johnstone, Patricia McCabe, Robert McCoy Martínez, Horacio Michel Espino, Adrián Moya-Angeler, Antonio Muller, Christopher Nájera, Geralldy Naranjo Modad, Alejandra Nelson, Randall S. Núñez, Silvia Obregón Ramos, Jorge Ochoa Delgado, Marcela Ohara, Benito Olivo, Susan Olson, Amy Olvera Vega, Arturo Ormsbee, Carla Ornelas, Ma. de Lourdes Ortega, Claudia Ortíz, Alejandro Pacheco Lippert, Fernando Antonio Palacio Romero, Félix Martín Parcells, Trent Penela, Elisa Pepsico Internacional México S. de R.L. de C.V. Piccaluga, Ma. Elena Pilliod, Charles Edward Pisinger, Rosa PricewaterhouseCoopers, S.C. Quintanilla, Mauricio Quintero, Ma. del Pilar Ramón, Lorena Revilla, Paulina Rojas Blasquez, Enrique Rojas, Ma. Cecilia Rojo Almazán, Vicente Rojo Macedo, Carlos Ruiz Vargas, Vidal SAI Consultores S.C. Salas, Rocío Salcedo, Jessica Sánchez Cruz, Marisela Sandoval Zahm, María Bernadette Santangelo, Corina Schon, Alan Daniel Segura, Luz Eugenia Seibel, Susan Serrano Puga, Ma. del Socorro

Sikkink, Bret Simón, Verónica Solorio, Ana María Solórzano Bejar Silva, Virginia Sotelo, Karen Televisa, S.A. de C.V. Tolumes, Lorena Trautman, Erin Michelle Vaqueiro Ussel, Álvaro Vega, Jessica Vega, Rosalinda Velasco de la Peña, Pedro Velázquez, Antonio Vinlove, Tara Von Gunten Keller, Roger Wiaktor Rynkiewicz, Adam Williams, Paul Wolf, Brandon Woong Um, Tae Woroszylski, Helen Zamora Castro, Ana Patricia Zamora Etcharren, Rodrigo Group Donations 2B 2C 5D The Class of 2015 The Class of 2021 ASF Drama Club ASF Parent Association Susana Molina owner of “Pinky the Pig” ECC, LS, MS & US through Piggy Bank Drive Institutional and Corporate Sponsors 98 Coast Avenue Alekzander Arte & Material S.A. de C.V. Chocolates Turín, S.A. de C.V. Genomma Lab Internacional Gimsa Construcciones Integrales del Golfo S.A. de C.V. Grupo Corporativo Cever S.A. de C.V. Grupo GEPP SAPI de C.V. Groupe SEB Servicios México Grupo Pozzeidon, S.A. de C.V. Grupo Financiero Banamex, S.A. de C.V. Grupo Financiero Banorte S.A.B. de C.V. Grupo Península Motors S. Der. L. de C.V. Indicium Solutions, S.A. de C.V. Kimberly-Clark De Mexico S.A.B. de C.V. Librerías Gandhi, S.A. de C.V. Lorant Martínez Salas y Compañía Agente de Seguros y de Finanzas S.A. de C.V. Marindustrias S.A. de C.V. Obela PCI de México, S.A. de C.V. Rainmaker Group Seguros Atlas, S.A. JM Smucker de México, S.A. de C.V. Softtek Servicios Corporativos, S.A. de C.V. Starbucks Coffee Company The American British Cowdray Medical Center I.A.P. The Warranty Group de México, S.A. de C.V. Tiendas Extra S.A. de C.V. Toyota Motor Sales de México S. de R.L. de C.V. Transportes Lipu, S.A. de C.V. Univar de México, S.A. de C.V. XtendIt América, S.A. de C.V.

In Kind Donations Actitud es Todo Aeroméxico Amparin S.A. de C.V. Aramark Blue Spa Bosque Real Country Club, S.A. BUNA café rico Casa Herradura Brown-Forman México S.A. de C.V. Chocolates Turín, S.A. de C.V. Citizen Watch Co. Club de Golf Los Tabachines Club de Golf Tres Vidas Acapulco Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. Daniel Farah Davara Abogados, S.C. Design & Cutting, S.A. de C.V. Edward Lugo Estudio Piayet Fabrizio Jewelry Fernández Romero Family Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya, A.C. Fundación Legorreta Hernández, A.C. Gifan Internacional, S. de R.L. de C.V. Grupo Avándaro, S.A. de C.V. Grupo Presidente Intercontinental México Gutiérrez Ormsbee Family Habanero Films iKuk Beatriz iRobot La Cervecería de Colima Let Them Have Cake Marinter, S.A. de C.V. Mayakoba MCM Telecom Mezcal Marca Negra Mezcal Mayalen Mezcal Meteoro Mezcal Tuxca Insecto Morton’s The Steakhouse Nosso Coco Operadora Bajo de la Tintorera S.A. de C.V. Ópticas Devlyn, S.A. de C.V. Restaurant China Girl Sabritas, S.A. de C.V. Sean Aguirre Buckley Servicios Integrales Iñar S. de R.L. de C.V. Sheraton María Isabel SweedAd Tsuru Morales Isla Abogados, S.C. Viñedos La Redonda, SPR de RL In Honor Of Ayala, Violeta Breene, Juan de Jesús Hubp, Patsy Landeros, Javier Naranjo, Alejandra Núñez, Silvia Penela, Elisa Segura, Janet Wilson, Robert Woroszylski, Alex In Memory Of Arakelian Perchemian, Ara Azcárraga, Laura Ehrenreich, David Gerdes, Federico Guerra, Ana Martha McCarthy Callaghan, Joan Rianhard, Davis Rode Viesca, María de Lourdes

institutional advancement

The 2015-16 Parent Association Executive Board from left to right: Molly Trainer (parliamenterian), Martha Sosa (assistant treasurer), Marissa Russell (vice president), María Dolores José (secretary), Christina Moguel (president) and Ana Elena Pérez (treasurer).

Meet the new Parent Association Executive Board for 2015-16

T

he monthly Parent Association meeting held on May 6 was a chance for ASF parents to have their say as to who would represent them on the PA executive board for the next two years as president, associate treasurer and secretary.

Every year an election is held for three of the six executive board positions, with successful candidates serving two-year terms. This year, six candidates made up the final nominees – two for each vacant position – and some 320 parents came to ASF to vote.

After votes were tallied, it was announced that Christina Moguel would be the PA president for 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years, while María Dolores José (better known around ASF as Lola) would be secretary and Martha Sosa would retain her position as assistant treasurer.

The new PA board was officially unveiled at the PA Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on May 27, where those who gave generously

42 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

of their time, talent and treasure this year were treated to a special ceremony. Board member Frances Huttanus personally thanked all volunteers, pointing out that as an independent school, ASF relies on the goodwill of community members since it does not receive any significant government funding. “You are what makes ASF a great place,” Huttanus told them.

Among those recognized was outgoing PA President Adriana Ramos, who has led the ASF Parent Association for the past two years, using her contacts and knowledge of the Mexican arts scene to boost the annual Art Fair.

Also at the breakfast, the PA presented Executive Director Paul Williams with two checks, one for 250,000 pesos, which will go to the ASF Endowment Fund for Financial Aid, and one for 925,000 pesos, which is destined for the Capital Fund and will be used toward future infrastructure projects in the Lower School.

ALUMNI

A shining success Mauricio Serrano (’95) has turned his love of jewelry design into a thriving business

M

auricio Serrano (’95) knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life at an age when most kids don’t know what they want to do during the next lunch break.

“I’ve been in the jewelry business since Middle School,” he says. “I was selling my jewelry to teachers and friends.”

He stayed ahead of the curve as he climbed the ladder. “By the time I graduated from ASF, I was selling my jewelry at Palacio de Hierro,” he says. “When I finished my college degree

I already had a company with more than a hundred points of sale.”

This was clearly a young man who was going places. And as Mauricio matured he didn’t disappoint.

Today the name Mauricio Serrano is synonymous with high-quality and top-selling jewelry designs. He is internationally acclaimed, often honored, widely exhibited and with regular customers from all walks of life – including celebrities such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, Lenny Kravitz and Enrique Iglesias. volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 43

Alumni | profile

It all goes back to ASF Mauricio may have been precocious in his youth, but it would be wrong to get the idea he was some sort of oddball on campus. In just about every way he was a typical ASF student, if there is such a thing.

“I loved my days at ASF,” he says. I enjoyed staying after school with my friends. I played soccer and football.”

His schedule was heavy on the arts – chorus, art, orchestra, photography, cinematography. But he enjoyed social studies and history as well.

“I remember my geography class with Mr. Williams, MUN with Mr. Barney,” he says. “And social studies with Miss Domínguez, where we used to sing and have a great time.”

Mauricio is also aware of the role his ASF education had in helping him become the man he is today. For one thing, he came in as a preschooler speaking only Spanish, but soon became bilingual.

“My parents believed in a multicultural environment,” he says of their choice to enroll him at ASF. “They knew that if I had a second language, I could be more competitive and have more tools to be successful.”

But there was more to it than language. “ASF gave me the confidence needed to approach any situation,” Mauricio says. “I would not be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the education I received.”

Primed for Success After college came a month-long journey through Europe, an industrial engineering degree from Monterrey Tech (ITESM), a course of study at the Gemological Institute of America, and MBA from IPADE and various specialized courses in design, digital marketing, jewelry manufacturing and retailing.

If ever a man was prepared for a successful career in designing and selling jewelry, Mauricio Serrano was him.

Mauricio doesn’t consider himself an artist, though his work is creative and bold enough to be considered art. He doesn’t create jewelry with the aim of winning awards, although he’s won more than his share.

“I am a jewelry designer,” he insists. “What I love to do is create concepts and design marketing strategies for them.”

The inspiration for his designs is all around him. We can all be energized by the cobblestone streets of small Mexican towns, the glow of the moon, the contours of mountains, and the magic of starry nights. Mauricio can turn it all into something beautiful.

He’ll do that creating in unusual ways sometimes, combining, for example, silver with wood or leather But he’s not making art for art’s sake. Mauricio designs jewelry for people to wear. “When I design a piece, I have an image of the person who’s going to wear it,” he says.

He’s all for a contemporary look and soothing that grab attention, but the point of wearing jewelry, he says, is not ostentation or status. It’s selfexpression.

“Jewelry is personal and intimate,” he says. “What you wear is your stamp, your talisman, your jewel. Consider it the most important part of your wardrobe.”

Helping people discover themselves through jewelry has made for a rewarding life for Mauricio. He advises current ASF students to do the same thing – not necessarily by designing jewelry but by giving priority to personal expression, to being who you are.

“Follow your dreams,” he says. “If you don’t like what you’re doing, you don’t need to do it. Change to what makes you happy.”

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Meet María José Martínez (’06) Your ASF Alumni Relations Specialist

María José entered ASF

Thanks for the visit, class of 1975!

Members of the class of ’75 got together in May, and part of their reunion included a tour of the campus. Making the visit were Kent Lewis, Maurice Lampell, Lisa Cobb, Jack Christopherson, Jan Broene, Lisa Cox, Arthur Uriel Muller, Chris Bacon, Teresa Ruiz, and (from the class of 1979) Gloria Noriega.

Thanks for the visit, classes of 1980, 1981, 1982!

A number of ASF graduates from the early 1980s came by for a visit. Among those taking the campus tour were Korina Alvarez (’82), Pamela Ortiz Trombka (’80), John Trombka (’80), Anacecilia Pérez Vargas (’81), Felipe Fuentes (’80), José Alberto Olivo Beamonte (’81), Patricia Hogan (’80) and Sue MacIntosh de Kassem (’80).

in grade 4 after having lived in Boston for four years. After graduating in 2006, she took a year off to decide what she wanted to study and ended up choosing Universita Commericale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy, where she earned a degree in international economics and management.

Living in Milan, María José developed an interest in fashion which led her to take on an internship in the press and communications office at Ralph Lauren Press. Upon completion of this internship came the golden opportunity to be part of the start-up team for the launch of a high-end fashion magazine, L’Officiel Italia. She was general coordinator of the magazine and also in charge of production and social media.

Though she grew very fond of the European way of life and considered Italy a second home, María José decided to come home to Mexico in September of 2013. It wasn’t an easy decision, but she has never regretted it. Instead, she is enthusiastic about being back home – not only in Mexico but also at ASF, where she has taken on a new and exciting adventure.

“ASF has always been a huge and meaningful part of my life,” María José says. It’s also a big part of her family’s life. Her grandfather is an ASF alumnus, and so is her sister.

“As alumni relations specialist, I’m here to help all ASF alumni with any requests that may come up,” she says.

“So please feel absolutely free to contact me or schedule an appointment at any time.” volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 45

Alumni | class notes

’76

’69

The ASF class of 1976 has its 40-year reunion coming up! For information about it, contact Sonia Arakelian: sonishka00@hotmail.com.

’00

Mauricio Argüelles produced, co-wrote and acted in the recently real eased film “Una última y nos vamos,” a family comedy adventure starring Héctor Bonilla.

Classmates Polly Ogden and Diane Richmond got together recently at the ASF campus. Their tour included a look at the Fine Arts Center and leafing through “125,” the special book published to honor the school’s 125th anniversary.

’74

Ramón Solernou visited the ASF campus recently and took in all the campus changes since his time at the school. The photo here shows Ramón and his wife outside the Lower School.

’59

Diana Anhalt, who graduated from ASF with the class of 1959 as Diana Zykofsky, has published a new collection of poetry, with the title “Because There is No Return.” At least half the poems deal with Mexico. “I was spending more time trying to promote my work than writing it, which is why I’d pretty much decided not to put together another collection,” Diana says. “That’s when Passager Books contacted me and asked me to submit a manuscript. How could I refuse?” To find Diana’s book, find Passager Books on your search engine.

’96

Welsh author JJ Marsh has published six well-received books but none of them have been available in Spanish until now. Class of 1996 grad Alma Edith García is the translator of the new release “Aparencias que saludan a un punto de vista,” whose original title is “Appearances Greeting A Point of View.” It is available for download at amazon.com.

46 | volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015

’92

Andrés Burzaco Malo paid a visit to the ASF campus before the summer break. The visit included, as you can see here, a walk along the track around Coach Colman Field with his wife.

’97

Ilan Arditti had been on campus a few times since graduating in 1997, but his latest visit to ASF was the first since a number of new or remodeled buildings had gone up. “It was amazing to come back and find a very different campus,” he said. “We continue to have the best school installations nationwide.”

A media professional, Ilan works for Univision in the United States and has a radio show that airs in Argentina. He also owns the IAP agency in Mexico, that offers services in social media, audio and video production and web design, among others.

“The best memories of my life are inside these hallways, he said during his visit. “Definitely I am who I am and have accomplished what I have thanks to my ASF education. I will always be grateful to all of my teachers.”

Alumni | milestones

Paola Elizaga Moran (’03) and husband Andrés Hurtado gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Martina Hurtado Elizaga, on June 23, 2015 in Panama City.

Paula González (’06) married Gustavo Robles on March 7, 2015 in Rancho San Juan in Mexico City.

The newlyweds have settled in Mexico City.

Monserrat Plascencia (’04) and husband Alejandro Armella gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Sofia Armella Plascencia, on February 21, 2015. Sofia was born in Mexico City at a healthy 3.6 kilos and 52 centimeters tall.

Fernanda Salinas (’06) and husband Ricardo Zavala gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Camila Zavala Salinas, on January 15, 2015 in Miami.

Ashton Winkler-Hughes (’02) and husband Harry Hughes gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Sebastian Winkler Hughes, on March 8, 2015 in Hong Kong.

Alumni | in memoriam

Claude D. Salomon (’47) Ana Marta Guerra (’90) Ana Marta Guerra passed away on April 28, 2015.

Claude D. Salomon, who came to Mexico at age 12 during World War II and graduated from The American School in 1947, passed away on June 8, 2015. After graduation, Mr. Salomon went on to a successful career with Procter & Gamble and other companies in Mexico, the United States, Canada and Europe.

Joan Kryzda A valued member of the ASF community, Joan Kryzda passed away on April 8, 2015. Ms. Kryzda was an ASF employee for 15 years and her husband was a member of the Board of Trustees. Their four children are ASF alumni – Kevin (’74), Kenneth (’76), William (’77), and Maggie (’84).

volume XIV, ISSUE 2, 2015 | 47

Kids’ corner

What’s bugging pre-first students?

ASF’s last ever pre-first class finished the year studying insects and arachnids for their IB Primary Years Program unit of inquiry: “What’s Bugging You.” The trans-disciplinary project involved artistic creation, language and communication skills, as well as the use of technology. After visiting the insectarium at Chapultepec zoo, students chose an insect or arachnid and built a model, made a poster and uploaded a video of themselves explaining the model, which could be viewed through a smartphone or tablet. They then presented these projects to parents and staff.

Through the project, students gained research skills and confidence in speaking English, while learning how technology can be used in the classroom.

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