2012 Global Exchange

T H E A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E O F AT L A N TA I N T E R N AT I O N A L S C H O O L

Global Exchange

AIS Founding Headmaster, Alex Horsley: 1944-2011 ALSO Reunions Class Notes Congratulations, Class of 2012

SUMMER 2012

ATlaNTA INTERNATIONAL School BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2011-2012 DEB SUDBURY, CHAIR Neil Johnson, VICE-CHAIR Kevin O’Halloran, TREASURER

MEMBERS NANCY BAUER WENDY CLARK CHRISTIAN FISCHER Wendy Hayler FADLO KHURI Beth Kytle ‘98 CHRIS LOWE LARRY MOCK DAN REARDON ANDREW WHITNEY LAURA WINCHESTER

Charlie Bostwick VERNA CLEVELAND JIM HARVEY ROLAND JOHN CRISSY KLAUS DENNIS LOCKHART Trish Marcucci Cecile Noziere Benny Varzi EMILY WILLINGHAM ADAIR

EX OFFICIO KEVIN J. GLASS, HEADMASTER ROY PLAUT, JR., CHAIRMAN EMERITUS OLGA GOMEZ PLAUT, TRUSTEE EMERITA MONIQUE SEEFRIED, PH.D., TRUSTEE EMERITA Gerry Hull, Trustee Emeritus

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION HEADMASTER KEVIN GLASS HEAD OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PATRICK HURWORTH Deputy Head of Secondary School/Head of Upper School Jeff Holcomb DEPUTY HEAD OF SECONDARY SCHOOL/ HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL Jennifer Weyburn HEAD OF UPPER PRIMARY SCHOOL ALAIN POIRAUD HEAD OF LOWER PRIMARY SCHOOL DUSTY FRETWELL DEPUTY HEAD OF PRIMARY SCHOOL Chris Thomas HEAD OF CURRICULUM & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Rachel Hovington Director OF DEVELOPMENT STEWART LATHAN DIRECTOR OF ADMISSION, FINANCIAL AID & MARKETING REID MIZELL Head of Operations and Finance Amy Pham AIS Anti-Discrimination Statement Atlanta International School practices

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

a full non-discriminatory policy in all

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Mary Denson

school-administered programs and

SPECIAL EVENTS Manager KATHRYN BANKS

will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or gender preference in

DEVELOPMENT Database Coordinator Kelli Naughton Development Assistant/Alumni Coordinator Maggie Dozier

all of its admissions, educational

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

and employment policies, programs

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS COURTNEY FOWLER

and practices.

Manager, Digital Communications & Design Laura Stidham

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F AT L A N TA I N T E R N AT I O N A L S C H O O L

Global Exchange SUMMER 2012 4 6

Message from the AIS Board Chair and Headmaster Message from the Board of Trustees Alumni Representative

Around AIS

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

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10 12 13 13 14 15 16 18 19

AIS Mourns the Loss of Founding Headmaster, Alex Horsley (1944-2011) Photo Story: AIS Early Learning Center Counselors Abroad Project 3C Update Thanks for Your Support of the Annual Fund News Wrap-Up AIS Sports Report Project Zero Zeroes in on Atlanta Retirements: Scott McDonald, Ron Howard and Shirley Osterloh In Memoriam: Bill Bennett (1952-2011)

Alumni Spotlight 20 Up Close with Graham Belton ‘06 Graham Belton ‘06, Page 20

Staying Connected 22 Alumni Class Notes 26 Reunions

Final Word 28 Class of 2012 30 A Tribute to AIS 31 Honors Assembly 2012 32 Colleges and Universities 35 2012 Legacy Gift Recipient: Catherine Wooster ‘13

EDITOR COURTNEY FOWLER

CONTRIBUTORS Claire Lee Adair ‘14 Gregg Albright Graham Belton ‘06 Nicole Cook

Mary Denson Maggie Dozier Sandy Ferko Kevin Glass Rachel Hovington Lori Jones Shanta Kalyanasundarum Beth Kytle ‘98

Mary McCarney Camilla Nordin Roy and Olga Plaut Alan Preis Laura Stidham Deborah Sudbury Rob Warren Meg Watts

Emily Willingham Adair Navid Yavari DESIGN BY TWEET DESIGN All material, except where specified, copyright Atlanta International School, 2012.

All rights reserved.

Message from the AIS Board Chair and Headmaster

W

hile the 2011-2012 academic year brought our community the sad news of the death of our founding headmaster, Alex Horsley, the year also witnessed the realization of a long-held dream of his and the school’s: to plan for and build an immersion early learning center for three- and four-year-olds.

In honor of Alex’s special place in our history and our hearts, our new Early Learning Center building has been named in Alex’s honor and will open this August (please see following articles).

Deb Sudbury Chair of the Board of Trustees

Kevin Glass Headmaster

Thanks to our dedicated faculty and staff, our academics and college placements continue to reflect the strength of the school and our IB curriculum. While we await the 2012 IB exam results (AIS enjoyed a 96% pass rate on the 2011 IB exams - a remarkable accomplishment), we celebrate the extraordinarily successful year enjoyed by the 72 members of the Class of 2012, who earned an impressive $4.8 million in merit scholarship money and will matriculate at 50 different universities in the U.S. and abroad, with two decisions still pending.

Our students broke records outside of the classroom as well. On the athletic fields, our students advanced to state competitions in Girls Volleyball, Girls Swimming, Ultimate Frisbee, Track & Field and Boys Soccer. Our Girls Ultimate Frisbee Team won the state championship, and our Boys Soccer team finished second in the state.

Likewise, our Mock Trial team won the Atlanta Region and finished second in the state.

Our award-winning theatre department was once again nominated for a bevy of Shuler Hensley awards, with Senior Alec Nash winning the Shuler Hensley for Supporting Actor for his work in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Our students also excelled in such varied activities as the Atlanta Ballet, our Model United Nations team, the World Peace Rose Gardens poetry contest, robotics, international science and math contests, community service activities, student government… and the list goes on. The point is—our students’ interests are as diverse as they are, and they excel through purposeful effort in pursuing their passions and interests.

In addition to another year of strong and stable financial management, this year also saw success in raising financial aid resources for the school through the Georgia State Scholarship Program. In 2010, the school received about $50,000 through the scholarship fund; in 2011, that number increased to over $225,000. And for 2012, we hope to raise over $350,000. As you may recall, the Georgia State Scholarship Program allows taxpayers in the state of Georgia to dedicate a portion of their state tax payments to AIS via the Apogee Georgia School Choice College Fund, with married taxpayers filing jointly being allowed to redirect $2,500 of their state tax dollars to AIS for financial aid. In addition, C-corporations are allowed to direct a much larger portion of their state tax payments to the school. We are grateful for the community effort that has produced such a marked increase in this program.

AIS was also visible in important educational leadership initiatives. In the fall, AIS hosted the prestigious “Harvard Project Zero” conference, which took place at AIS and the Woodruff Arts Center. Having hundreds of educators from all over the world, including all of our teachers and educational administrators, spend a weekend at AIS hearing from educational luminaries such as Howard Gardner and David Perkins

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about the future of education was both motivating and a genuine tribute to our school and its educational leadership.

It was so gratifying to hear individuals of such international educational prominence sharing with others why they believe AIS is on the right path. Similarly, AIS was honored to be the venue for the Global Language Convention in the spring for a second time in four years.

As is typical each year, we say goodbye to some valued members of our Board and school leadership team and are renewed in our enthusiasm for the school by welcoming others. We welcomed Amy Pham, our new Head of Operations and Finance, and her family to the AIS community. Originally from Vietnam, Amy comes to us from a rich background in corporate finance and accounting, having most recently served in a senior leadership capacity with the Alcon division of Novartis. Amy joined us because of Scott McDonald’s decision to retire. We look forward to the smoothest of transitions and wish Scott every conceivable happiness in his retirement.

We also applaud Sue Wooldridge for her exceptional leadership of the Parents Organization this year. Sue and her very able PO leadership team, including new President Dawn Hawkins, focused on community building. We thank them heartily for this effort and their leadership. Nothing seems more important or fitting than this initiative. I think we all know that the key differentiator for AIS is its rich and multi-faceted community and the caring, well-rounded, thoughtful students it produces. Lastly, we thank retiring Board Member Nancy Bauer for her deep and important contributions to AIS. For the last nine years, Nancy has served our Board and school in leadership positions related to marketing the school. We have made tremendous strides in visibility and articulating our brand under Nancy’s leadership. We thank Nancy for all she has done for AIS. We are pleased to welcome four new Board members who will enrich our school and contribute over the years to come: Scott Britton, Chi Colberg, Mike McCarthy and Frank Thomas. While they are likely known to many of you, a few words about each will hopefully demonstrate why we believe they will add depth to the Board and wisdom to the school. Scott, an executive with Merck, has been active at AIS for many years. He and his wife, Tracy, have two children and a niece in the school and have been active in the PO leading Harambee and serving in various other capacities. Scott’s background in marketing and sales will help us move forward in the marketing area. Chi Colberg, a lawyer

by background and longtime former AIS parent, brings a wealth of skills, energy and experience to the Board. Chi has served in many capacities inside the PO, including past president, founding member of the Arts Alliance and Asian Culture Club and various other offices. She also helped found our Math Club and team.

Like her husband, Alan, who is a past Board Chair, Chi is a person of limitless energy and commitment to AIS. Mike McCarthy, an executive at CNN International and the father of two AIS seventh graders, is also a person who has given generously of his expertise and contacts to AIS. For those of you who attended the Spring Benefit, the video shown was the result of effort of Mike and other dedicated AIS parents who work for CNN. Mike has also assisted with the college interview preparation of our AIS seniors. Mike’s wife, Christina Smedley, is a past chair of the Spring Benefit. We look forward to Mike’s energy on the Board. Lastly, we welcome Frank Thomas, an IT executive with Novartis. Frank and his wife, Leslie, have a daughter and a niece at AIS and have served in numerous PO leadership capacities, including leading Harambee. We look forward to utilizing Frank’s IT expertise and are hopeful that his status as a noted disc jockey will add to the Board’s “cool” factor! We welcome them and thank them in advance for the hard work they will dedicate to our school.

This has been a wonderful and successful year for AIS and its students in so many different ways. We thank you for your interest and investment in our school and community. We express, as always, deep gratitude to our school leaders and devoted faculty and staff who give so much to our students, parents and community. But most of all, we should never lose sight of what a special and unique community we have.

Graduation - an annual reminder of the wonderful students produced in this school - always reaffirms that the community is the secret to our success. Having that yearly opportunity to see the strong connections and bonds made between students of such diverse backgrounds gives us all hope for the future and reinforces that AIS is deeply worthy of our continued interest and investment of time and resources.

With warm wishes,

Deb Sudbury Kevin Glass Board Chair Headmaster

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Letter from Board of Trustees Alumni Representative

I

recently stepped back on the AIS campus for the first time since I graduated in 1998. Have you seen AIS lately? Students bustle back and forth to the modern Adair Arts, Science, and Design Technology building, sports teams train at the Sports and Activities Center, the Early Learning Center in the Alex Horsley building is under construction set to open in August 2012. Walking around the campus, I was struck with a question: Is this the same school I attended in the 1990s?!? I have found the answer to be a resounding, “yes!”

For all of the visible changes on campus, so much remains the same: Ms. Ferko’s office still abuzz with students excited for college prospects, the MUN team is still leading the world at THIMUN, my old locker still does not have a lock on it, and most notably the sense of international community among the students, faculty, and parents is still tangible and unparalleled.

BETH KYTLE ‘98 Board of Trustees Alumni Representative

As the school turns 26, we now have nearly 1,000 alums across the world. As we grow in numbers, our interaction with AIS is maturing along with the school. This year marked a historic milestone: the first alum of the school now has a child attending AIS! I recently had the privilege to join the AIS Board of Trustees and represent an alumni voice on the school’s governing body. Over 100 alums came back to engage with the alumni theatre production for the school’s 25th anniversary.

As alums, we are an increasingly important constituency to AIS. Re-engage with AIS. Visit the campus when in Atlanta, attend reunions, and keep in touch with classmates and the school.

No matter where you are, please give to the AIS annual fund (participation counts!). The past year, we had 15% of alumni participate in the annual fund; I think we can greatly increase that participation (which doubled from last year). Our giving to AIS ensures that facilities continue to improve, that the school is affordable, that the academics are world-class and that the sense of international kinship continues. Our giving helps AIS continue to be a school of which we are so proud.

Every time I walk through the school to attend board meetings, the sounds, smells and feelings of community still overwhelm me. I am so grateful for the education, friends, spirit of service and sense of community I had at AIS. Reconnect with AIS, and please give back to support the school. By re-engaging with AIS, I am sure you will find, as I have, that the community is still strong… and a bit of your heart has never left.

Sincerely,

Beth Kytle ‘98

Georgia Private School Tax Credit – Act Now In 2011, for the first time, the money allotted by the state of Georgia for the Georgia Private School Tax credit was expended before the end of the calendar year. This year already, over 50% of the money has been spent. If you have not already participated, please consider doing so NOW. It is expected that the $51M will be gone by August.

Last year over 80 members of the AIS community participated in this program, redirecting $250,000 of their tax dollars to financial aid at AIS. This program allows individuals, C-corporations and trusts to designate a portion of their 2012 Georgia state income tax liability to AIS for financial aid.

But you must ACT NOW to receive your dollar-for-dollar Georgia state income tax credit. To learn more about this program, including how to participate, go to www.aischool.org/taxcredit or contact Mary Denson at mdenson@aischool.org.

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Around AIS

AIS Mourns the Loss of Founding Headmaster, Alex Horsley (1944-2011)

By Emily Willingham Adair, AIS Board of Trustees Member Editor’s Note: On November 15, 2011, AIS held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new purpose-designed and built facility for our youngest learners: the AIS Early Learning Center in the Alex Horsley Building.

Mr. Horsley was honored by family, friends, faculty, staff, board members and former students at the event, which was also attended by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.The entire AIS community was deeply saddened by the loss of Mr. Horsley just two short weeks later, on December 1, 2011.

The following obituary was written by EmilyWillingham Adair, AIS Board of Trustees member and parent.

Miles Alexander Horsley died December 1, 2011 at his home in Atlanta after a spirited battle with cancer. A linguist, teacher, headmaster, and international education consultant, Alex was an adventurous, broad-minded visionary whose hard work, persistence, and good humor inspired countless students, teachers, and fellow educators during a 45-year career that spanned six continents. Students remember him as larger than

life, often calling him “the Gentle Giant.” He remained endeared to them because he always put them first, taking a genuine interest in each one.

A frequent chair of accreditation teams for the Council of International Schools (CIS) and champion of the 42-year-old International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), with its international curricular framework that eases the transition of students from one international school to another throughout the world, Alex was a passionate advocate of multilingualism.

He believed that every student deserves to be prepared for life in an increasingly interdependent world. His chapter “Acquiring Languages” for the IBO’s 2011 book, The Changing Face of International Education, was the latest of his many articles and speeches on the subject. He delivered the keynote address at the Global Language Convention (GLC) in Singapore in 2006 and was invited to organize the 2008 GLC in Atlanta as executive Global Exchange

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Around AIS honors degree in French and German. In addition, he holds an MA from Oxford (1975), a postgraduate certificate of education from London University (1974), and a postgraduate degree in education management and curriculum design from University of Hull (1978).

With his young family, Alex traveled to New Zealand, where he took his first teaching post in 1965 at Auckland Grammar School and three years later taught in a parochial school in southern India. He returned to Hull in 1971, where he taught at three local high schools, eventually heading the department of languages at the inner-city David Lister High School.

director of the Center for the Advancement and Study of International Education (CASIE).

Undoubtedly, Alex was proudest of his role as founding headmaster of Atlanta International School (AIS), which he led during its formational first 10 years. The school’s Early Learning Center, scheduled to open in August 2012, is named the Alex Horsley Building in his honor. Alex’s last public appearance was at the November 15th ground-breaking ceremony, where he was celebrated by the AIS community and Atlanta’s Mayor Kasim Reed for his tireless devotion to the school. AIS began in 1985 with 51 students and today thrives with more than 1,000 students from over 70 countries and faculty from 45 countries.

Born January 24, 1944, in Hull, UK, Alex grew up in nearby Hessle. He first traveled abroad at age 13, living with a Swiss family to learn French, and spent more time abroad at age 15 to learn German. These early immersion experiences forged a lifelong love of learning languages, traveling, and exploring new cultures. He studied modern languages at Oxford University’s Worcester College, where he played on the college’s soccer team.

Politically active, he was a member of the Campaign in Oxford University for Nuclear Disarmament (COUND) and the Joint Action Committee against Racial Intolerance (JACARI), Oxford’s anti-apartheid movement. He was graduated in 1965 with a joint 8 Summer 2012

Alex moved with his family to the United States in 1978 to assume the position of head of languages at Baltimore Friends School, which appealed to him because of his Quaker background. He secured his first headmaster position at Friends School Mullica Hill in New Jersey (1981-85). In 1985, he answered a call to head a new international school in Atlanta that was being launched by a small group of inspired parents with no money, building, or students. Atlanta International School began as a 4K to 1st grade school in a small army hut behind a church. It grew rapidly, every year adding grades, until it spanned 4K through 12th grade. Alex shepherded AIS through three locations and building campaigns, and by the time he moved to Beijing in 1996 to become director of International School of Beijing (ISB), he had overseen AIS’s move to its current and final home in a historic Atlanta building. From AIS, Alex and his wife Gillian embarked on a Far East passage. He served first as director of ISB (1996-98) and then as head of the Chinese International School (CIS), Hong Kong (1998-2002). By then well known for his broad experience in international education, he was sought out as a consultant to international schools in Germany, the US, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mongolia. He also led accreditation teams for CIS in schools in France, Venezuela, the US, Indonesia, Belgium, Australia, and Portugal.

Returning to Atlanta, Alex was from 2002 to 2004 executive director of the Atlanta Youth Soccer Association (AYSA) and was instrumental in the building of an inner-city field that has been enjoyed by hundreds of youngsters. From 2004 to 2008 Alex served as executive director of CASIE, a consultancy service to support implementation of IB programs throughout the United States.

From 2009 on, he worked as an educational consultant, continuing to write, speak, and offer support to develop dual-language schools in Africa (Morocco, Gabon, and Kenya), specifically as a consultant to the Aga Khan Academies and Global Education Management Systems (GEMS).

Eulogy Prepared for Alex Horsley Memorial Service, January 14, 2012

By AIS Founders, Roy and Olga Plaut It was an honor to be asked to speak today. Out of respect for Quaker Meeting traditions I will be brief. I am speaking for myself and for Olga.

We have lost one of our dearest friends, more like a brother or son actually, but we can still be objective about how much Alex meant to us, our children, and our community.

We met Alex in 1984 when he came to Atlanta to interview for the job as Headmaster of a school which did not yet exist except in the minds of its founders. He has since said, and indeed written, that he thought these people were “crazy” but that the challenge was more than he could resist. He subsequently learned from us that we thought him even “crazier” to come work at a place with no school, teachers, or students and at half what he was earning at Mullica Hills Friends school.

Crazy or not, he came, and you are sitting at the site which ultimately resulted from that craziness. While thinking about what I wanted to say about Alex today, I decided with Olga to dwell mainly on him as a gentle man who refused to fail at whatever tasks he set for himself, and who grew almost fierce in defending his firm belief in diversity and an anti-elite status for our new school. We have so many favorite anecdotes we tell each year to our newcomer parents and teachers at AIS. Alex served on numerous boards, including those of the Alliance Française, New Era Schools Trust (pioneers of interracial education in South Africa), the Association of French Schools in North America (vice-president, 1991-94), and Friends School of Atlanta (chair, 2004-09). Fluent in French and German, Alex also has oral fluency in Spanish and Chinese and working knowledge of written Italian, Dutch, and Russian.

Alex is survived by his devoted wife of 20 years, Gillian Theunissen Horsley; daughter and son-in-law Natasha and Richard Weston of Haddonfield, NJ; daughter Anita Horsley and her life partner Karen Brack of Eugene, OR; son and daughter-in-law Dylan and Elizabeth Horsley of Falls Creek, PA; stepson Steven Maskell and partner Derrick Brown of New York City; stepdaughter and son-in-law Bronni and Niko Karatassos of Atlanta; sister Valerie Gribbin of Hull, UK; sister and brother-in-law Gilda and Christopher Haskins of Skidby, UK; sister-in-law Alwynne Horsley of Bridgetown, Barbados; brother and sister-in-law Jefferson and Freny Horsley of Taunton, UK; seven grandchildren, Aaron and Jonathan Dye and Chloe Weston of Haddonfield, NJ; Asherah and Alexander Horsley of Falls Creek, PA; and Ignatius and Christian Karatassos of Atlanta; nine nieces and nephews; and his 94-year-old mother-in-law Monica Theunissen and sister-in-law and brother-in-law Marion and Rob Hormeyr, all of Johannesburg, South Africa. Preceding Mr. Horsley in death were his parents Alec and Susan Horsley of Hull, UK, and his oldest brother, Nicholas Horsley.

For example, when faced with an enrollment of only 11 students in July 1985 with opening day just around the corner on September 3rd, we asked Alex if we should back up on the venture. No! We will open as planned with 50 or more students, said Alex, and we did. When subcontractors unhappy with the dishonest contractor who withheld their pay came in with sledge hammers and destroyed the interior of the tiny school building only a month before opening day, Alex told us not to give in, to roll up our sleeves-we would get this done and indeed we opened on September 3rd.

Those are only two examples of how determined Alex was. To us an even more important quality was his focus on the children. Olga wanted to arrange for some press coverage of opening day. Alex refused. He said that day is for the children, no distractions would be allowed. And that said it all about Alex. This school was and as a matter of fact still is for the children first. So much of our AIS legacy can be traced back to Alex and those early years.

I could go on eulogizing this very good man for a long time. I thought I had decided on how I would sum up our feelings about Alex and then we received a note from Alex’s brother, Jefferson, in which he enclosed the talk he had read at Quaker Meeting in Atlanta. Jefferson’s penultimate paragraph expresses our feelings, Olga’s and mine, better than anything I had thought to say. Let me read it to you in closing.

“I shall miss all aspects of his humanity and his love for life. Each one of us will treasure how he touched our own circumstances and made us richer for it. His legacy doesn’t only lie in the newly named Early Day Learning Centre at AIS that bears his name or in the tree that is likely to be planted at Friends School in Atlanta. It lies in our hearts and our minds. It will be an inspiration to us all to carry forward in a positive way his underlying belief in the goodness of mankind.”

Global Exchange

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photo story: AIS Early Learning Center

By Laura Stidham, Manager, Digital Communications & Design and Courtney Fowler, Global Exchange Editor

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The Atlanta International School Early Learning Center in the Alex Horsley Building, named in honor of the school’s founding headmaster, Alex Horsley, will house a full immersion program in French, German and Spanish for threeyear-olds and four-year- olds.

“Second-language learning is just as much a cognitive problem-solving activity as a linguistic activity. Studies have repeatedly shown that second-language learning increases critical thinking skills, creativity and mental flexibility in young children,” said Kevin Glass, headmaster. “Students who are learning a second language out-score their monolingual peers in the verbal and, surprisingly to some, math sections of standardized tests. Through an International Baccalaureate Primary Years (IB-PYP) full immersion program for three- and four-year-olds in Spanish, French and German, AIS will be able to better prepare students for their entrance into our 50-50 immersion curriculum for grades 5K-5. Thereby, all levels of language acquisition, literacy and learning outcomes will be raised at Atlanta International School.”

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The site is located at 34-38 Peachtree Avenue, just across the street from the school’s Adair Art, Science and Design Center on the main campus. The new Alex Horsley Building, a one-story, residential-scale building, will include eight classrooms with retractable walls, a large multipurpose room, offices, a small warming kitchen and conference facilities. Indoor classroom space will be enhanced by immediate access to a large outdoor play/educational green space to which all classrooms open. The building will be built to EarthCraft specifications. With the opening of the immersion program this fall, AIS will now have entry points to the school at three-years-old, four-years-old and 5K.

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Construction: AIS broke ground on November 15, 2011.

Construction is on schedule for the August, 2012 opening date.

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Going Green: The Early Learning Center is a certified EarthCraft site. EarthCraft focuses on site planning, energy and water efficiency, building durability, and improved occupant health and productivity.

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Play-Based Learning: From birth, play is the way children inquire and learn about the world around them. Play is an important part of a child’s physical, social and emotional development (IBO).

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Class Of 2027: Lily Glass, German Track Daughter of Headmaster, Kevin Glass Lana McDaniel, Spanish Track Granddaughter of AIS founders, Olga and Roy Plaut and daughter of faculty member, Veronica Plaut McDaniel ‘97 Curriculum: The 3K and 4K full immersion program will be an inquiry-based program with three language track options; Spanish, French and German. The 3K program will be the starting point of the IB curriculum which will be offered from 3K to grade 12.

Facilities: • Eight classrooms equipped with the latest in classroom technology • Large multi-purpose room • Meeting space • Large play area

Global Exchange

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COUNSELORS abroad (left) University of Cambridge, Lori Jones (right top) University of Oxford, Nicole Cook (right bottom) Royal College of Music, London, Lori Jones

Text By Nicole Cook Photos by Lori Jones and Nicole Cook, Upper School Counselors Editor’s note: Upper School counselors Nicole Cook and Lori Jones both had the opportunity to visit the U.K. in the past year. While Mrs. Cook participated in an admissions tour, Mrs. Jones explored the U.K. through photography as the recipient of an AIS Travel, Study and Research Grant.

In February, 2012, I traveled on an International Guidance Counselors Tour to the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh. The trip provided fantastic information about admissions in the U.K.!

I spent the first three days touring the University of Oxford.

While we got to see some of the historic sights (and many Harry Potter sights, too), we spent the majority of our time understanding the admission process to the university. After watching an admission interview, participating in workshops on References and Personal Statements, and hearing from admission tutors, I understood the process from a new perspective. I am confident that I will advise my students applying to Oxford even better in the future because of the experience.

After taking a long train north, I spent another three days in Edinburgh, Scotland, seeing the University of Edinburgh. Our time there included tours of the university facilities, a stay in the university dormitory “hotel,” and a trip to the Veterinary School campus. Perhaps the most interesting part of my trip was seeing a dog in surgery at the Vet school. The admissions officers at Edinburgh also did an excellent job of educating counselors regarding admission processes.

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University of Edinburgh, Lori Jones

I felt honored to be included in such a group of counselors touring such prestigious universities, and I had a wonderful trip! At the end of the day, I feel prepared to counsel our students to enter the best universities in the world, and I am grateful to the University of Oxford, the University of Edinburgh, and Atlanta International School for giving me the opportunity.

project 3C UPDATE

By Alan Preis, Instructional Technology Coordinator and Rachel Hovington, Head of Curriculum and Professional Development This has been a very exciting first year for Project 3C, our technology and learning initiative to foster the 21st century skills of creativity, collaboration, and communication for AIS students. The Secondary program formally starts in August with 6th and 7th grade students, who will be required to bring a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with them to school every day. The program expands through 10th grade in August 2013. In preparation this year, AIS provided Secondary faculty members with MacBook Pros, and teachers completed a series of collaborative workshops to learn about the expanded array of multimedia tools that students will soon have access to in class, and 21st century models of teaching and learning, in order to prepare for the start of the program with students next year. We also incorporated sharing of teaching practices in Secondary Faculty meetings, so that teachers could share with their colleagues the wonderful enhancements they have already been able to make to their lessons now they have Macs themselves.

We are expanding Project 3C to Primary School next year, which will have an iPad cart in 5K and laptop carts in grades 1 – 5. Primary teachers will receive similar training in the fall to prepare them for work with students.

We are also planning a number of additional programs next year, including a series of parent workshops on Digital Citizenship and a student tech support group that will help students and teachers as we make the transition to the Mac platform.

This spring, we were very excited to learn that next year’s Georgia Independent Schools Association conference, to be hosted at AIS in November, will use Project 3C as its theme.

Schools from all over the state of Georgia will be participating, and a number of AIS faculty have been invited to present session workshops on the Project 3C theme.

We are looking forward to seeing what our students create, how they collaborate, and how they communicate next year.

For a rationale for the program, pertinent reading about 21st century learning and the nuts and bolts of what it looks like for parents and students check out the Technology and Learning page of our website.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT of the 2011-2012 annual fund

By Mary Denson, Associate Director of Development What a record year this has been for fundraising at AIS! The Annual Fund raised more than $750,000. Parent participation for the Annual Fund and Spring Benefit topped 80%, and the Spring Benefit raised over $250,000.

Quoting our headmaster, Kevin Glass: “Supporting the Annual Fund helps us sustain the high level of teaching and learning that is essential to the goals and mission of AIS.” Your contribution helps make up the difference between what tuition covers and the actual day-to-day cost of running the school.Your donations help hire and maintain our high-quality faculty; give our students the academic program they need to succeed in a globally connected world; help us have the most up-to-date technology; and open the doors for our students to discover and explore their interests, from the arts to athletics.

It takes our entire community—Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, parents, alumni, alumni parents, grandparents and friends—partnering together to have a school that values the benefits of an international education.

This year, as they have done in past years, faculty and staff had 100% participation in the Annual Fund. Parent participation by giving directly to the Annual Fund was up to 69% and alumni participation topped 15%, an increase of 6% over last year.

Many thanks to all who participated in making the 2011-2012 Annual Fund a success.

You can get a head start and make your gift to the 2012-2013 AIS Annual Fund today by: • Making an online donation by visiting www.aischool.org and clicking on the blue “Donate Now” button • Mailing your payment to: AIS Development Office • 2890 N. Fulton Drive • Atlanta, GA 30305 Global Exchange

13

Film Crews return to AIS The fall of 2011 was an exciting time at AIS, as movie stars, cameras, trailers, crew and extras descended on campus for several days to film the major motion picture, Parental Guidance. Starring Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei, the movie tells the story of a grandfather who takes over the parenting of his grandchildren in his daughter’s absence. The comedy is set to debut in theaters in late 2012. The campus was also the site of filming for the movies, The Blind Side (2009) and Dumb and Dumberer (2003).

AIS Artwork Welcomes U.S. Military at Atlanta Airport AIS grade five students and officials from the U.S. military, USO, HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport and Rotary Club of Atlanta gathered in January at a ceremony celebrating the students’ participation in the HartsfieldJackson Airport Military Gateway Youth Art Project. The program was begun in the fall of 2010 to welcome, thank and offer encouragement to the returning and departing men and women of the U.S. military at the world’s busiest a irport. It is a collaboration of the Department of Aviation, FORSCOM, Rotary Club of Atlanta and Valerie Hartman (AIS parent). AIS is the third school invited to exhibit work at the airport. After the ceremony, the AIS student artists toured the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Art Program’s three Youth Art Galleries located throughout the airport’s concourses.

U.S. Diplomat to Cuba Visits AIS Peter Brennan, U.S. State Department Coordinator for Cuban Affairs, paid a visit to AIS last October to speak to Secondary School students and international community leaders about the state of U.S.-Cuban relations. In luncheon remarks, Brennan called the current situation between the U.S. and Cuba “a complex, difficult relationship…we’re at an interesting juncture.”

(Pictured, left to right) Dr. Cedric Suzman, Word Affairs Council EVP; Peter Brennan; Kevin Glass; Charlie Bedford, City of Atlanta Advisory Committee on International Relations; Dr. Wayne Lord, World Affairs Council President

14 Summer 2012

AIS SPORTS report

By Gregg Albright, Athletics Director and Courtney Fowler, Global Exchange Editor

Fall Sports Eagle athletes excelled throughout the state and region during the 2011-2012 school year. Leading the way this fall was the Varsity Girls Volleyball team. After years seniors graduated last year, talk of a transitional “rebuilding year”was in the air, but the girls tossed that notion aside quickly with a combination of youthful abandon and senior leadership, taking the season by storm. The Lady Eagles defeated The Westminster Schools twice, the second time in a region semi-final match, reaching the area finals for the first time ever. The team went into the state tournament as a second seed and advanced all the way to the “Sweet Sixteen,” with their record-setting season ending with a defeat by the number-one team in the state, Blessed Trinity. Junior Helen Recaborde and Senior Alice Morrison were named to the All-Area team.

The fall athletics season also saw success for the JV Girls Volleyball team (7-4), the Middle School Boys Soccer team (undefeated in the regular season) and Middle School Cross Country, with 7th grader Helen-Audrey Williams taking first place in the region final. The newly formed Middle School Ultimate team delivered an excellent first season, going 7-4 and reaching the quarterfinals in the region tournament.

Spring Sports The spring athletic season was highlighted with a wealth of talented performances in both the Upper and Middle School teams. Middle School highlights include the following superb seasons: the Girls Soccer team brought home the championship trophy, winning the final game at home to take the MAAC (Metro Atlanta Athletic Conference) crown. Both Girls and Boys Middle School track and field teams had strong showings this season, setting many AIS records and taking home trophies for 1st place (boys) and 3rd place (girls) at the conference championships. Middle School Boys and Girls Tennis teams earned a second straight year in the playoffs with both teams taking an overall 3rd place in the league. 2012 marked the inaugural year for an AIS Middle School Golf team, taking fourth place in the league championship. We are very proud of all our Middle School student athletes for demonstrating outstanding commitment and skill and for representing AIS in an honorable fashion.

In the Upper School, the Boys Varsity Soccer Team qualified for the GHSA state tournament again this year by winning region 6A outright with an 8-0 league record (12-4-2 overall). They entered the GHSA tournament ranked 3rd in the state, making it all the way to the state championship vs. Aquinas High School.

Congratulations to the team, coaches and parents for an outstanding season!

The Upper School Track Team posted several great performances, with junior Louise Forbes and senior Alice Morrison making it to Sectionals and seniors Alex Thomas and Mustafa Thomas advancing to State.

We’d like to salute our incredibly talented senior class of athletes, who performed at a very high level during their days in the AIS athletics program.

Seniors led the way this year in state appearances in volleyball, swimming, Ultimate, soccer and track and field. Many of these seniors will showcase their talents on the college level, including Derek Hirsch (Wofford Baseball), Giles Geddes (Washington and Lee Soccer), Alex LaPalme (Wake Forest Soccer), James Ratchford (Yale Tennis) and Alice Morrison (University of Toronto Volleyball/Basketball). The AIS Athletics department would like to wish all of our recent scholar-athlete graduates the best of luck in their next endeavors.

Global Exchange

15

Project Zero zeroes in on Atlanta

by Claire Lee Adair, ‘14 “All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.”

- Albert Einstein 1

Claire Adair

At the beginning of November 2011, I attended Project Zero’s Educating for Today and Tomorrow, a weekend-long symposium of speakers and workshops on the importance of art in education. Project Zero (PZ) was founded by philosopher Nelson Goodman of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the organization has been an active force for arts in education since 1967. Striving to develop and enhance education across schools, academies and institutes, Project Zero’s mission is to “understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity in the arts, as well as humanistic and scientific disciplines, at the individual and institutional levels.” (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2010) I admit that I hadn’t heard of this conference until a week before it occurred, but Project Zero’s arrival in Atlanta this year, led by Dr. Howard Gardner of “multiple intelligences” fame, sparked much excitement amongst teachers at my school, Atlanta International School (AIS). While the target audience was primarily educators, I was eager to attend. A “press pass” was my key to participating on the first day, and this article is my attempt to capture what I, my teachers, and now my classmates are gaining from Project Zero.

The first day was hosted at the city’s premier visual and performing arts facility, the Woodruff Arts Center, with presenters using galleries in the acclaimed High Museum of Art. The second and third days of the event were held at Atlanta International School.

Educators Shari Tishman and Lois Hetland spoke at the opening plenary session about “Learning to Look, Looking to Learn” and “Project Zero’s Lenses on Contemporary Art,” respectively. Tishman explored what it means to “look for oneself ” in art: each individual observes, comes up with inferences on, and speculates about an artwork

16 Summer 2012

which illuminates truths of his/her own life. Hetland, in keeping with Project Zero’s core concerns, spoke of the metaphoric value of contemporary art: most “modern” artwork, through its very simplicity, can be interpreted many ways. Therefore, through one simplified vision, all areas of interest can be accessed.

Developing a habit of “seeing, thinking, and wondering” was the focus of the first workshop in which I participated. It was called “Artful Thinking in the Museum,” led by Heidi Hinish. Observing Francis Davis Millet’s “The Expansionist,” later known as “The Traveled Man,” Ms. Hinish encouraged us to observe and describe the objects and figures within the painting. After doing this several times, we made inferences about what the painting could mean or symbolize. Imagining what might follow the work’s frozen moment not only led us to further speculation about the potential narrative, but also about the two characters portrayed in the artwork.

I realized that the artist always pours purpose into a work of art. An observer, however, through “looking for oneself ” in that artwork, extracts individual meanings, perhaps different from those intended by the artist. Thus, one person finds a point of understanding within another’s creation.

One of my favorite artists, M. C. Escher, comes to mind as being a clear example of art as a prism of multiple disciplines. I love the fact that his work— ranging from tessellations to tricks of the eye— combines philosophy, math, and beauty into visual feasts. Just as Escher’s pieces express many meanings, all artwork can be understood in myriad ways.

Once art is repeatedly analyzed by many minds, a “globe” of meaning can comprise a single artwork, consisting of and harmonized by a world of observers’ interpretations, yet originated by the maker.

This cycle of distinct and emergent understanding over time but in moments of time occurs within the classroom as well, students being the observers whom teachers strive to set in motion.

to use many of the math processes we’ve learned over time and then apply new strategies to problems beyond.

B 2 cm

C

E 4

D

cm

A

F 12 The illustration shows two circles of radii 4 cm and 2 cm respectively. The distance between the two centres is 8 cm.

Find the length of the common tangent [AB].

Now that many of my teachers are using the PZ-inspired “see, think, wonder” learning pattern in class, I find it can be applied to any subject, as seen in the examples below. After my Spanish class read Como si no hubiera que cruzar el mar by Cecilia Pisos—a novel about personal conflict in immigration—our teacher used the “see, think, wonder” routine to have us cogitate thematic statements and stylistic writing tools that the author used to establish these themes. We first made claims about Pisos’ message and subsequently used step 2—think—to justify our claims. Lastly, we posed a question about how or why the author communicated certain messages. This process led me to realize that once we objectively observe a statement, painting, theory, etc., we ponder its meaning and our response to it. Consequently, we can imagine and wonder about these works’ implications or applications to disparate circumstances and life in general. Inquiry caused by the last step—wondering—leads us into a new process whereby we attempt to apply a previous understanding to a new discovery. Seeing, thinking, and wondering becomes a virtuous cycle, or what the International Baccalaureate (IB) might call “inquisitive learning.”

PZ approaches apply equally to math and science. “A typical IB math question,” my math teacher says, might be the use of our imagination and current knowledge of math theorems to find different ways to solve the same problem, like this one: (taken from our 10th grade Mathematics for the International Student – second edition textbook) This question might look straightforward and simple—or simply quite confusing—but there is more than one way to find the same solution as the diagram shows. We can see that the ratio of line [AC] to [CB] is 4:2 because the ratio of one circle’s radius to the other is 4:2. Having seen this, we know that the 8cm line can be divided by 6 (4+2) to get 1/6 of it. Line [EC] will be 4/6 and [CD] the remaining 2/6. Our teacher then wondered about the implications of these findings to the tangent [AB]. She finally used Pythagoras’ Theorem (a² + b² = c²) to figure out the tangent’s length. Meanwhile, another student in our class imagined a separate segment (as shown in green) in order to make a triangle with the 8cm line as its longest side. He added 2cm to the 4cm radius of the larger circle, making the 6cm line [EF]. This way, he could jump straight to Pythagoras’ theorem: 6² + [FD]² = 8². Questions like these require us

Students exercise freedom when finding their own ways to solve multi-faceted math problems. Similarly, PZ’s focus on art as central to learning allows individuals themselves to control and liberate the flow of their thinking patterns rather than being told what to look for or analyze. Provided sufficient content and nourishment of creativity, students can use their own tools to combat different subject area problems but also to strive in the disciplines most interesting to them. A pattern of “yielding to push to reach to pull,” quoting from the workshop I attended in the afternoon, is thus established. This second workshop, “The Thinking Body: How Movement Informs the Mind,” was led by Mark Borchelt. In it, we learned about the eight habits of mind that form the art studio thinking framework: “develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, and understand art context.” This framework reminded me of the Design Cycle we use in the Middle Years Programme (MYP). In parallel, the BrainDance, developed by Anne Green Gilbert, consists of the eight developmental movement patterns that establish our motor skills and wire our central nervous systems during our first year of life. Just as babies do over an extended period of time, we performed through the BrainDance an incremental set of body movements which included breathing and touch, identifying and centering around our body’s core, and connecting our core to all extremities of the body. Through the BrainDance, we understood how an establishment of mind-body connection is crucial to effective learning.

As was believed by Einstein, art is one of life’s branches “leading an individual towards freedom.” Art has the power to move us emotionally, to give way to spiritual speculation, to prompt us to logical inferences, and to help us “yield to push to reach to pull.” These movement dynamics relate to all realms of the human being—emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical. To learn holistically, we need to have a basis from which we can push off and risk the jump to grasp new discoveries.

We are beginning to see that art is a learning format which connects all areas of study. We think that curriculums based on the connection and interweaving of all that we learn are essential in observing both objectively and from the center of our own contexts. Can we now use the foundation of content we are provided and that of creativity we provide ourselves to make us both observers and artists?

1 “Albert Einstein - Quotes - Quotable Quote.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc., 2011.

Web. 19 Nov. 2011. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/33738

2 “Research Projects.” Harvard Project Zero. Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. http://pzweb.harvard.edu/research/ research.htm

3 Tishman, Shari. “Learning to Look, Looking to Learn.” Project Zero. The Woodruff Arts Center. 4 Nov. 2011. Lecture.

4 Hetland, Lois. “PZ Lenses on Contemporary Art.” Project Zero. The Woodruff Arts Center. 4 Nov. 2011. Lecture.

5 Hinish, Heidi. “Artful Thinking in the Museum.” Project Zero. The Woodruff Arts Center. 4 Nov. 2011. Class presentation.

6 Vollmar, Pamela, et al. Mathematics for the international student - Pre-Diploma SL and HL (MYP 5 Plus) - second edition. Adelaide, Australia: Haese & Harris Publications, 2008. Print.

7 Borchelt, Mark. “The Thinking Body: How Movement Informs the Mind.” Project Zero.

The Woodruff Arts Center. 4 Nov. 2011. Class presentation.

Global Exchange

17

RETIREMENTS

By Camilla Nordin and Meg Watts, AIS Staff and Rob Warren, Group 6 Leader and Theatre Director

Scott McDonald Director Of Finance

Scott came to the school as the Head of Operations and Finance at a time when the school’s financial situation was considerably less secure than it is now. In five short years, Scott literally transformed our finance function, built considerable trust with our bankers and other financial advisors and led the school through a series of transformative financial events to leave us in a more secure financial position than any time in the School’s history. We are extremely grateful to Scott for his steady hand, leadership, wisdom and mostly, his kindness. The school would not be in the position it is in today without Scott!

Ron Howard

IB MYP/DP Music Instructor and Music Performance Program Director Ron has been a Music Educator for 28 years, 10 of which have taken place at AIS. Ron has had a major impact on our Music program, having developed the music curricular and co-curricular programs to what they are today.

Aside from teaching music, he has also worked hard with Tony Locke to develop the 11th grade advisory program and conducted the Orchestra for AIS Theatre productions. He has worked as an online professor, teaching Music Appreciation at University level, been awarded his 25-year Music Educator’s Recognition by the Georgia Music Educators Association, been a key person of contact for AIS Alumni and been a Member and Examiner of the IBO. Outside of school, Ron is a keen trombone player who has toured the Dominican Republic with his band. Ron has been an asset to not only our Music department, but the entire school, and will be dearly missed.

farewell to Sra. Shirley OSTERLOH PS Spanish Assistant

By Mary McCarney, Primary School Faculty To mark Shirley Osterloh’s retirement, some of her colleagues and friends share memories from her 23 years at AIS. “When I first met Shirley she was using English as her spoken language. It was funny to hear her, as a Latino, with an American accent. As soon as she started working with us, she soon dropped the accent! Shirley has been always ready to help anyone who needs her.We will miss her!”

-Luz Forero, PS Spanish teacher “For many years Shirley was in charge of the SNNS ( Spanish for non-native speakers ) program. She also worked with a program called ¡Bravo, bravo! She knew that program very well and did a great job teaching the children. Shirley was also my assistant for many years in Grade 1.We used to say that working together was like a marriage, where you have some good and bad days, but most of all there was always lots of respect for each other. I am happy for her, now that she is retiring, and she can enjoy spending time with her seven grandchildren.”

-Martha Korgi, PS Spanish teacher “Shirley, I have such wonderful memories of the good times we shared when we were working together in 5th grade, especially the Christmas Breakfast and the exchange program with The Lincoln School in Costa Rica in 2002.Thanks to you for being a great colleague. Also a huge thank you for all the nice words and help during this special time in my life. I wish you all the best in the years to come. I will miss you.”

-Stella Salazar, PS Spanish teacher 18 Summer 2012

In Memoriam

FORMER AIS Faculty MembER Bill Bennett (1952-2011)

By Sandy Ferko, Head of Counseling

I met Bill Bennett during pre-planning days at Atlanta International School when he moved to Atlanta – I think in 1990. His room was right next to my office and he wandered in to talk – and that was the start of a lovely friendship.

In the beginning, we talked about his days in South America and Malaysia – he made me jealous when he talked about the price of cleaning help there because I was still trying to get used to working full-time, being a wife and mother, and believing I could do it all. He asked me about the twelve years I’d spent as a fulltime mother and showed interest in the volunteer things I’d done during those years. Our friendship developed over the years as did our professional relationship.

Sometimes Bill would wander in to my office while I was talking with a senior about college – he knew a lot and had a lot to offer to me, back to work after a long time out of the field, and to the kids. I remember one time when a senior said the IB was killing him and he wanted college to be easy. Bill picked up the phone and said, “Hello. I have a senior who wants an easy college where he can party and have fun and not spend a lot of time working”…(a period of quiet followed by…)

“Yeah – that’s right! Oh, Okay, I’ll tell him.” At which point he looked at the student and said, “Go to college and just give them your name when you get there!” The boy and I started giggling and then he looked at Bill and said, “OK, Mr. Bennett, I got the message.”

The kids always knew that Bill was there for them. He organized study groups and sometimes spent weekend afternoons and evenings helping them prepare for big exams. In his younger classes, he not only taught history, but he taught skills that they carried with them through high school and, I’m sure, into college. One of the top students in the Class of 1998 left her IB History notebook in my office – two years’ worth of notes – and she had taken those exactly as he had shown her in

8th grade. But he did so much more than just help academically. He was there to listen and advise and laugh and joke…and teach life lessons. One of the boys in the Class of 1998 was positive that he couldn’t read all the term papers that the students wrote. So in the middle of a ten-page paper, the student added a miscellaneous sentence about an elephant – a sentence that had no connection to the topic. Bill found it, of course – and at the end of the paper, he gave a grade on the paper and another (oral) grade on the student’s lack of faith!

While in Malaysia, Bill took students to the Model United Nations program in The Hague, the world’s largest MUN program. He started the program at Atlanta International – by taking whole grades to the program at Georgia State University and, eventually, signing up AIS to participate in The Hague program. He always asked another faculty member to join him – and in October, 1995, Bill called me into the principal’s office and asked if I might be interested in joining the Model United Nations team and chaperoning the trip to Europe the following January.

Timing couldn’t have been better – I love having big things to look forward to and my niece had just been married – I needed something exciting to anticipate. That was the first of 16 trips to Europe and much time devoted to the Model UN program and the AIS students for whom MUN played a big role. I can’t even begin to count the number of students who worked with Bill during those years – and how many more have joined the program since he left AIS at the turn of the century.

Those trips with Bill were special. We had great time to talk to each other and to the kids. We celebrated their successes and cried with them when they made poor choices and we had to dole out consequences (which thankfully didn’t happen too often – once or twice was plenty enough).

Bill was a fabulous teacher – he had more knowledge in his little finger than most of us have in our whole head. He led great discussions with the kids. He taught them to think. He made them substantiate opinions. He truly raised them to a higher level which many didn’t fully recognize until they got to college. When they visited school after graduation, they always ran to his room to see him – and after he left Atlanta International, they continued to ask for him and remind me to send hugs and best wishes. He had almost 1,000 friends on Facebook – and most were students from all over the world. I’m so glad I started him on Facebook because it got him in touch with many special people and, I’m sure, made his last days a bit more fun.

Bill was a fabulous teacher, a hard-working colleague, and a wonderful friend.

When poor health started to become more than he emotionally wanted to deal with, in the late nineties, my heart went out to him – because I know there was so much he wanted to do and he didn’t always have the energy to do it. The energy it took to be the old Bill wasn’t there – and I know that was difficult for him to admit. But his love for the profession and for students never failed nor did his love for his mother or his interest in his friends. Knowing Bill and working with him and sharing laughs and so many good conversations with our fabulous AIS students was truly a gift to my life, and I will miss him.

Global Exchange

19

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:

with Graham Belton ‘06, United States Peace Corps Volunteer My senior year of college, I was faced with the proverbial fork in the road and chose the one less traveled: I joined the roughly .001% of the US population in the Peace Corps. I was placed in Mali, West Africa, a country I knew nothing about. After reading the brief Wikipedia page I felt no more prepared; I did however learn that Mali was home to Timbuktu, the city on the edge of the desert also known as the middle of nowhere. I was headed for the edge of the desert in nowhere.

As graduation came and went, I had exactly 30 days to get everything I needed to survive two years of rough life in Mali. I got the hand-crank powered shortwave radio, the clothes with all ventilation flaps, and a mosquito net. I was ready for Africa. Little did I know I wasn’t, but the only way to find that out was to get on the airplane headed to Bamako, 20 Summer 2012

Mali. It was the hardest flight I’ve ever taken, not just because I was nervous, but also because it was delayed so that the entire trip took 36 hours and I slept for none of them. To my relief, though, we got to Mali and it wasn’t all desert, and I wasn’t going to be posted in Timbuktu.

As a matter of fact, I wasn’t allowed to go there because of the threat of AL-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, also known as “AQIM.” I got to Mali on July 4th, 2010 in the middle of their rainy season, and everything was deceptively green. I was tested in French and, thanks to 14 years at AIS, I scored well, which meant I would focus all my pre-service training on Bambara language, culture, and technical studies.

The first two months, during training, were the hardest. I lost 30 lbs because of various illnesses, no one understood me (few people actually speak French), and I couldn’t stop sweating.

The temperatures were always above 80 unless it was raining. I couldn’t wait to finish training,

get my own house, and cook my own food. My placement was a rural village off the highway to Guinea. It was right at the foot of the Mandé Cliffs, and I couldn’t have been happier to move into my mud hut with its shiny tin roof.

Work started at a Malian pace; it waited for the end of the harvest and then it waited for one thing after another untill I realized that work was getting done, at the pace they were used to.

It took three months to visit all 13 families and meet most of the 336 villagers; they have big families! I surveyed all the families and took an inventory of the water sources and sanitation facilities. By the time I left for in-service training after three months in village, we had finished the baseline survey and set up a water and sanitation committee to meet twice monthly and apply for funding through Peace Corps.

While work progressed slowly, I looked for other things to fill my countless hours of free time. I found a library in the nearby town and started volunteering during school hours. In a country with 40% literacy and a community with even fewer literate people, the public library was a little underused but still a nice break from the daily farming life. I started coming to the library almost every other day and, by the time school let out, I was entering all the books into a digital registry to replace the notebook they used to lend books. I entered 4,052 books into the Excel spreadsheet and finished just in time for the new school year. So far it’s been a success and made lending and keeping track of books much easier.

Life in Peace Corps is definitely not all work, and honestly it’s hard to find ways to fill my time with anything work related. Instead I have plenty of time to explore the cliffs and their caves, pick copious amounts of mangoes and cashew fruit depending on the season, and read books. I’ve managed to continue running and, despite a brief run-in with malaria, I ran in the Accra International Half Marathon. I was the first non-African with a time of 1:32.

It’s a hard life but worth it. When you’re finishing college and debating whether to jump into the American life or take a trip down the other road, consider the second. I’m a year and a half in and planning out the last months and life after Mali.

I’m applying to graduate schools now.

Global Exchange

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Alumni Class Notes AT L A N TA I N T E R N AT I O N A L S C H O O L

CLASS OF 1993

CLASS OF 1998

Trace Hawkins and his wife, Emily,

Cindy Finkelman Behar gave

are excited that their son, Asher, will be one of the very first three-year-olds to attend AIS’s new Early Learning Center this fall.

Asher will be in the French track.

birth to a daughter, Daniella Finkelman Behar, on July 19, 2011.

CLASS OF 1994 Martina Streidinger Parker’s

son, Patrick, was the first alumni child to enroll at AIS. He just finished his 5K year in the German track.

CLASS OF 1996 Bobbin Singh is the Executive

Director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, which he co-founded after graduating from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.

Barnett Cohen is doing a residency

at Skowhegan Arts this summer and will move to California in the fall to attend California Institute of the Arts.

Tim Howard is married and currently

touring the world, with stops planned for Mexico, England and Africa.

22 Summer 2012

CLASS OF 2000 Peter Joyce is married and living

in London.

CLASS OF 2001

JP Duran was

ordained as a Catholic priest in Rome in December, 2011. He is now the vice-rector of a seminary in Connecticut.

Tali Padan lives and works in

Cophenhagen.

CLASS OF 1999 Ido Alexander practices bankruptcy

law in Florida and was elected secretary of the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida. He has started Law Apps, LLC, a company that makes mobile solutions for the legal world.

Jon Cooper and his

wife, Janine, were excited to welcome Gilbert (Gil) Alexander Cooper into their family.

Gil was born on “Superbowl Sunday,” February 5, 2012.

Mark Novak and his wife, Becca, are now the very proud parents of Oliver Roy Novak, born February 17, 2012 in Santa Cruz, California. Mark will be a professor at Oregon State University this fall.

CLASS OF 1997

of leadership programs and grant funding for the organization, which is in Atlanta.

Jenny Morell Lilly married Tom Lilley on March 3, 2012 in London.

Reed Thodeson

was appointed Director of Operations and Programs for the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of The Council of State Governments. He supervises development

Arielle Garber married Rafi Kohan on May 19, 2012. Sandy Ferko and classmates Lisa Box and Nkechi Olisemeka were in attendance.

Juliette (Monchau) Bommer lives in Geneva, Switzerland and works in the Sales Department of Ralph Lauren, Europe.

When not attending or hearing about weddings, Lisa Box lives in Brooklyn and raises her daughter Annika, who will turn two in August. Her grandmother, Christiane Box, thinks she’s the best kid on the planet!

Gina Bredy is a first-grade teacher in Athens, GA and is completing her Masters in Early Childhood Education at UGA. David Daugherty is interning in the hotel and restaurant industry in Scotland until September, after which he’ll return to Germany to complete his training at Mövenpick Hotel.

After finishing a Ph.D., Lisa Herbrechtsmeier has spent some time working in Germany, Belgium and China and has recently moved to London, where she is working as a lawyer at an international law firm.

Jeremy Hirsch is in the U.S. Air Force

and lives in Las Vegas.

Arthur Leao lives in Atlanta and

works as a Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative for a non-profit immigration law firm, Catholic Charities Atlanta - Immigration Services, where he has helped hundreds of underprivileged immigrant families, refugees, asylees,

victims of violent crimes and domestic abuse obtain various types of legal status here in the U.S. Anne-Constance Mulliez-Nixon

married Jeffrey Nixon last fall, with Tess Panzer in attendance as a bridesmaid.

She lives in Atlanta and is finishing her Masters as a nurse practitioner in Emergency Medicine at Emory University. For the past five years, she has been working as a RN in the Emergency Room at Atlanta Medical Center.

Nic Malta-Bey and Chantal Day

live in South Africa, where Nic works in the restaurant industry and Chantal raises their son, Julien.

Karsten Moran has been living in New York City since 2007, where he works as a freelance photo editor and editorial photographer. He is happy to count Newsweek/The Daily Beast (for photo editing) and The NewYork Times (for photography) among his regular clients.

Corey Pray works for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin, Texas.

CLASS OF 2002 Sarah Rivard ran the Leukemia and

Lymphoma marathon, graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and will join a DC firm as soon as she finishes up work for the Organization of American States (OAS).

CLASS OF 2003 Gregory Braunfeld is living in

Long Island City, Queens, a short walk from his year-old job at FreshDirect.com.

FreshDirect is one of the country’s largest online grocery stores, delivering fresh food overnight to over 60,000 customers a week in the NYC metro area. Gregory is a grocery buyer and the lead buyer for the dairy department. Otherwise, Gregory will be enjoying a NewYork City summer and an August trip to Atlanta and Graceland.

Chris Lowell, who starred on Private

Practice and played a male lead in The Help, is set to make his feature directorial debut with the indie drama, Beside Still Waters.

Lowell co-wrote the script and will co-produce the film.

Carla Weeks’ handbag company, Piccadilly Weeks, completed its first wedding commission of eight bridesmaid purses.

CLASS OF 2004 Vicki Rokhlin has been balancing work

with play at a fervent pace since moving to NYC 2.5 years ago. After visiting Jerry Tolochko last year while backpacking Colombia, she landed a new job at a top media firm in NYC and promptly took off three weeks to backpack Thailand with her sisters. Upon coming back from Honduras in April, she moved into her new apartment by Columbus Circle and enjoys runs through Central Park much more often now. Some of the best NYC nights are those when the whole AIS crew reunites, often at Brian McElhaney’s Britanik shows at UCB! Jerry Tolochko (formerly Jerry Tracy) married fellow UGA grad Robin Wertheim Tolochko in the fall of 2009 with many members of the classes of 2004 and 2005 in attendance. In 2010, they quit their jobs in Washington, DC, and moved to Bogotá, Colombia, where they started out teaching English but have since both landed interesting, permanent jobs. Jerry is the Colombia Country Manager for the American communications and research company, Leonie. His main project in Colombia is to implement a counter-recruitment program designed to help prevent children from joining illegal armed groups.

Robin is the director of a mapping lab at the Bogotá-based think tank, CEELAT. They have started a leather export business, Restrepo, and already had a number of AIS visitors: Vicki Rokhlin, Lamya Khoury, and Armand Leblois (all class of 2004), Stephan Leblois ’05 and Ben Leblois ’07. They keep a couch open for welcome visitors!

Sian Miranda Singh O’Faolain

married Brig Walker on September 30, 2011.

CLASS OF 2005 James Brindley is in Tashkent,

Uzbekistan, working as a communications assistant for the UN. He was a journalist and radio announcer in Australia until December, 2010.

Brianna Carbonell worked for the

Atlanta Braves in the Game Entertainment department, a full-time internship from January to November 2011. Afterwards, she moved to Oak Island, North Carolina to assist her father with new business venture (a wine shop in Southport, NC). She will begin a dual-degree program - a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Sport Administration - at Ohio University in Athens, OH, this fall.

Sarah Leff has graduated from the

Parson School of Design in New York City and partnered with friend/fashion designer Jonathan Cohen to start the Jonathan Cohen Collection.

Jake Levinson married Nora Kizer

on March 10, 2012.

CLASS OF 2006 Alexander Akhavan lives in New

York City and works as a legal assistant in mergers and acquisitions at a law firm.

Will Branch lives in Washington, D.C.

and works as a Human Capital analyst for Deloitte Consulting’s Federal Practice.

Gabriel Callol lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she is a part-time student, restaurant critic, bartender/server and “overall beverage expert.”

Aria Curtis, who received her undergraduate degree from Emory University, has graduated from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine, where she studied Documentary Photography and produced photo essays and multimedia pieces on the local Latin Evangelical community. Her work was published in The Portland Phoenix, The Portland Forecaster, and The Common Language Project. She has joined the Pulitzer Center from the Carter Center Americas Program, where she began as an intern and eventually worked as an Assistant Project Coordinator. Aria is excited to Global Exchange

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Alumni Class Notes cont. join the Pulitzer Center in promoting independent and compelling storytelling.

Jackie Hewett lives in Atlanta and

works at a advertising agency in Buckhead called Force Marketing, where she is an account executive.

Whitney Lykins and Arnaud Pages ’08 were married on November

CLASS OF 2008 Aida Curtis, a recent graduate of the University of Georgia, won the 2012 Virginia Rucker Walter Poetry Prize.

Peter Gogarty graduated from

The University of York with a First Class Honours Degree in History.

29, 2011 in Miami. Whitney is the manager for the Jacob Jeffries Band, and Arnaud is a freelance graphic designer.

Ethan Lyle was selected as the Secretary-General for Harvard Model United Nations 2013.

Victor Mathieu graduated with a BA

Allison Lenz graduated with University and College Honors from Carnegie Mellon University in May with a degree in Communication Design and a minor in German Studies. She has moved to Boston.

in Film Production from the University of Southern California’s Cinematic Arts and currently works in the film industry and manages his own film production company, Tombstone Films, LLC. He is developing, producing and directing his own projects, including a horror feature film that is set to be filmed in Asia this coming fall.

Mathieu Van Asten was named a

2011 Deer Run Fellow during his senior year in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. Only eight students per year are chosen to participate in the prestigious program, which was started by former Coca-Cola CEO (and Terry graduate), Doug Ivester.

CLASS OF 2007 Emerence de Potesta is living in

Brussels and working on a self-initiated public art project while pursuing job opportunities in event design.

Evrim Ozelci graduated from Emory University in 2011 with a double major in Political Science and German. After graduation, he worked at Refugee Family Services, teaching English to incoming refugees in the Clarkston area, until March 2012. Evrim is now at the University of Freiburg, Germany in the Global Studies Masters Programme, a two-year social science Masters Programme, conducted jointly by the University of Freiburg, the University of Cape Town, FLACSO Argentina (Buenos Aires), Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi). Its curriculum comprises of sociology, political sciences, anthropology and geography and economics. He will do semesters at each location, including an internship, and hopes to enter the field of foreign correspondence with a focus in visual anthropology and documentary story writing after completing the program.

24 Summer 2012

Ricardo Lopez graduated from

Villanova and will attend the University of Georgia School of Law in the fall.

Yasmin Rosshandler will attend

The John’s Hopkins University for a Masters program.

CLASS OF 2009

Allegra Porter has been studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France this past semester with the Wellesley Program.

She has been traveling all over Europe to the Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Italy. She will go back in September to continue her senior year in Boston, where she will finish her studies in Psychology and French.

Emily Robey-Phillips is studying

international affairs and modern languages (French, Spanish, Russian, German, and Arabic) at Georgia Tech. She is the president of the Georgia Tech chapter of Sigma Iota Rho, the National Honors Society for International Relations, and fences for Yellow Jacket Fencing.

Ciara O’Halloran

is still in South Bend, Indiana, busy studying Engineering and Environmental Science while working for the University of Notre Dame Athletics. She was selected Also pictured: Santi Patino ‘09 in May 2011 to be a University of Notre Dame football manager and was one of only twenty-one students to receive this position. She aided in the day-to-day tasks of the program and specifically worked with the team’s kickers. In December 2011, she was chosen to be in charge of the Men’s Soccer team and will be their head manager until graduation in 2013. Outside of her classes and the manager program, she has been a tutor in the local primary and secondary schools and has enjoyed visits from Santiago Patino and TC Winter. She is looking forward to visiting Anusha Sthanunathan at Michigan in September!

Also pictured: Eve Laurent ‘09 Shelbi Vaughn attends the University

of Pennsylvania and plays an active role on campus as the community service chair for the Caribbean American Students Association and the financial co-chair of UMOJA to represent 25 different groups on campus.

She still keeps in mind the international perspective AIS instilled in her and participated in a summer study abroad program in Alicante, Spain in 2010. She has also pursued an interest in the corporate world and interned at Google in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2011 and will be working for American Express in New York this summer.

CLASS OF 2010 Hortense Badarani was the recipient of the “LSE Economics Examiners Prize 2011,” an award given to the top three students (out of 950) in first-year Economics at the London School of Economics. She is on the school’s track and field team and is treasurer of the

Debate Society, a role in which she has raised over £5,000 pounds in sponsorship money from Bank of America, Clifford Chance and Deutsche Bank. She works as a research assistant for a professor in the International Relations department. Her favorite class this past year was Abstract Mathematics.

Emmaline Campbell will begin classes

in her major, Law, Letters & Society, this fall at the University of Chicago, where she is the campus MUN Chair for committees at their high school and college conference. She will also be the Chief of Staff for a conference for Chicago Public School students. Emmaline serves as the president of a campus organization that focuses on women’s issues and also volunteers with the Chicago Foundation for Women and the Young Women’s Leadership Council. Emmaline was one of six University of Chicago students selected to go to Beijing for a week this summer to work on a school program.

Shannon Harkins is

currently in her final year of the Honours Biomedical Science Program at Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland and will graduate in July 2013. Shannon is president of the Biomedical Society, which recently won Most Improved Society of 2012. Additionally, she was featured as the international student profile in the Queen’s University Prospectus 2012-2013 and was one of five sttudents to be selected among dentists, medics, and biomedical scientists to take part in a paid summer internship at Queen’s Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology.

CLASS OF 2011 Grayling Bauer is interning in New

York City for a company called Word Above The Street. They are launching The Water Tank Project, a huge plan to cover New York City’s water tanks in art by famous artists from around the world.

Oliver Flautt is currently in Belgium racing bikes, having reached Professional 2 level. He completed a June race in 26th place and was the first American to finish.

Shakeem Grohmann a student at Georgia State University, has been selected to participate in the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) Citizen Diplomacy Program for Emerging Leaders.

Grohmann is one of 13 students, ages 17 to 24, who participated in NCIV’s national meeting in February in Washington, D.C. Amy O’Halloran, a student at The

George Washington University, will be representing the U.S. at the Youth G8 and G20 Summit in Washington, D.C. as the press secretary for the U.S. delegation. She also traveled this summer to Jordan to work with the organization Reclaim Childhood, a nonprofit sponsored by the World Bank based in Amman, that seeks to empower Iraqi refugee girls and women through sport and play.

Reclaim Childhood provides sports leagues, clinics and summer camps to Iraqi and Syrian girls ages 8 – 18 and coaching clinics to adult women. The organization is run by young women for young women. After the camp, she will serve as a mentor for Jordanian women who are recent college graduates.

Lindsey Sanborn was featured in The

Johns Hopkins News-Letter publication during her first year at the university. The article’s title was, “Freshman Lindsey Sanborn Fills Passport with More Than Stamps” and highlighted her travels to 36 countries. Lindsey is on the school’s cross country team.

Ana Paula Shelley was named a

Rodriguez Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

thank you, CLASS AGENTS! 1992: Thomas Striedinger 1993: Fasil Muche 1994: Martina Parker 1995: OPEN 1996: OPEN 1997: Fran Burlingham

1998: Beth Kytle 1999: OPEN 2000: Mihkel Allpere 2001: Lisa Box 2002: OPEN 2003: Arvand Khosravi

Only at AIS!

By Sandy Ferko, Head of Counseling How many AIS alums can say that there is a baby in Senegal named after her? Or a cow in Kenya? I’d bet only Sashi Leff ‘07 who spent a great deal of time in those countries while a student at AIS and during her time in undergrad school at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Sashi decided last year, with only a few months of classwork left for her Masters degree from LSE, that she wanted to apply for another Masters, a Masters in Public Health. She applied to seven fabulous public health programs in the US, among them Brown and Tufts, and was accepted at all with scholarship offers, but in a conversation with Francesco Checchi ‘93 at the reunion in London last January, Francesco convinced Sashi to apply to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, one of the best public health programs in the world and the site of Francesco’s Ph.D. studies (he earned that Ph.D. several years ago after a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins). Convinced that she could not gain entrance to such a reknown program, she applied anyway on his advice – and next year Sashi will start her second Masters degree program there with emphasis on public health in developing nations. She will spend part of this summer in Senegal, meeting her namesake!

We also recently introduced – via e-mail – Beth Kytle ‘98, who is back in Atlanta working for Credit Suisse, to Hortense Badarani ‘10, entering her third year at LSE and beginning an internship with Credit Suisse in London in June.

These alumni connections are a bonus to all our alumni – so stay in touch with the school so that we can help make these things happen!

Many thanks to our volunteer class agents for their help in keeping AIS connected with our alums!

2004: Carina Box 2005: Brianna Carbonell &

Corley Thomas 2006: Eva Imbsweiler &

Rodrigo Ortiz-Gomez 2007: Cassie Huntley

2008: Megan Doyle &

Caroline Geiger 2009: Ciara O’Halloran 2010: OPEN 2011: Amy O’Halloran 2012: Leah Cumming

The alumni team is looking for class agents for open graduation years. Please let us know if you might be interested so we can tell you more!

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REUNION

Winter 2011/12 Reunion Atlanta Young Alums

In attendance at the reunion: Arsalan Akhavan ’11, Julia Lancaster ’11, Amy O’Halloran ’11, Alix Taylor ’11, Charlie Geddes ’11, Bianca Paggi ’08, Dina Goodman ’10, Dana Furqueron ’10, Caroline Geiger ’08, Lindsey Sanborn ’11, Dixon Adair ’10, Norrene John ’10, Connan Moody ’10, Jonathan Winston ’11, Ana Paula Shelley ’11, Jonathan Olens ’11, Ryan Kristensen ’11, Sam Jactel ’11, Shakeem Grohmann ’11, Elliott Fretwell ’11, Paolo Fornasini ’11, Neema Ebrahim-Zadeh ’11, Manon Audibert ’11, Christopher Koehler ’10, Benedict Herbst ’10, Aurora Juarez ’08, Rebecca Keng ’08, Lauren Olens ’08, Timothy Wilson ’08, Megan Doyle ’08, Matan Katz ’08, Joseph Dixon ’10, Samantha Grayman ’11, Akeil Cange ’11, Mary Doyle ’10, Shelbi Vaughn ‘09, Monique Hasham ’09, Stazi Owen ’11, Nicola Pardy ’10, Tatiana Manidis ’10, Saxon Bartsch ’11.

Winter 2011/12 Reunion London

Winter 2011/12 Reunion New York

(l to r front row) Richard Smith ’09, Quitterie Gounot ’09, Sashi Leff ’07, Cassie Huntley ’07, Nikisha Amin ’10, Floris ten Lohuis ’10, Sandy Ferko, Head of Counseling (l to r back row) Christopher Minnich ’97, Francesco Checchi ’94, Erin Pollak, Alex Pollak ’96, Kevin Glass, Headmaster, Andrew McKaskill ’01 and fiancé, James McCaskill, John Chestnut ‘03 (l to r) Chris Lowell ‘03, Brian McElhaney ‘04, Stacey Lathem ‘04

26 Summer 2012

Winter 2011/12 Reunion Boston

(l to r front row) Friend of AIS, Hibben Silvo ‘04, Megan Lentz ‘01, Willow Hagemeier-Goldstein ‘05, Matthew Kelly ‘05, Friend of AIS (l to r back row) Patrick Hurworth, Head of Secondary School, Claire Duggan ‘06, Nico Hawley-Weld ‘07, Matthew Keeter ‘07, Kevin Glass, Headmaster, Charles Vanijcharoenkarn ‘07, Ethan Lyle ‘08

Winter 2011/12 Reunion New York (l to r) Cecilia Winter ‘11, Ali Douvre ‘11, Sandy Ferko, Emma Imber ‘11

Winter 2011/12 Reunion Washington, D.C. (l to r) Amy O’Halloran ‘11, Arianne Kaldewey ‘11, Eve Laurent ‘09, Friend of AIS

Global Exchange

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congratulations

CLASS of

2012!

The 72 members of the Class of 2012 had an extremely successful year, matriculating at 50 different universities in the U.S. and abroad (two still yet to decide) and earning an impressive $4.8 million in merit scholarship money, not including HOPE scholarship funds. This year’s class also included the third AIS female to have been given and accepted an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

Of the 72 graduates, 27 will attend 13 colleges in the Southeast, including 10 students who will remain in Georgia to take advantage of the HOPE scholarship program. Of the remaining graduates, 31 enrolled in 28 universities North and West, and 11 enrolled in or plan to enroll in schools in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and The Netherlands. Three are taking a gap year. The list of schools to which the students are matriculating appears in following pages.

In keeping with AIS commencement tradition, this year’s graduates are listed with their countries of affiliation:

28 Summer 2012

Grant Manuel Andujar, Puerto Rico, USA

Anissa Shamim Malik, Algeria, France, Pakistan, USA

Camila Apaez Rubio, Mexico

Nadine Marfurt, Switzerland

Saurav Bhandary, Nepal

Jack Parks Margolin, USA

Dillon Charles Bostwick, Republic of Korea, USA

Arthur Rocha Marques, Brazil

Leo Bousset-Harris, Germany, USA

Jason Brian Mitchell, Canada

John Bennett Brownlow, USA

Philip N. Mitchell, Austria, Germany, USA

Laetitia Hélène Geneviève Adélaïde Butler, France, Ireland

Elizaveta Morozova, Austria

Brian Gavin Cassee, The Netherlands

Alexander Hanson Nash, USA

Jessica F. Chang, Taiwan

Inyegumena Nosegbe, Nigeria

Joshua Kriser Cohen, Israel, USA

Constance Marie Noziere, France, USA

Leah Madeleine Cumming, USA

Marcos Z. Nve Nsi, Equatorial Guinea, Spain

Anthony D’Silva, United Kingdom

Kienan Scanlon O’Brien, USA

Tuan Do, Vietnam

Maria Juliana Ortiz, Colombia

Giselle Erin Fernandez, Cuba, USA

Cédric Parages, France

George Kilian Fischer, Brazil, Germany, USA

Shinhee Park, Republic of Korea

Maura Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, Ireland, USA

Amelia Ann Perry, USA

Biddy Fraga Bentata, France, Venezuela

Michael Alexander Pierce, USA

Alejandro García Obregón, Colombia

Eliana Cristina Pimentel, Ecuador, USA

Giles Hardeman Geddes, Australia, USA

Olivia Allene Porter, USA

Caroline Elizabeth Gould, USA

Sydney Nicole Proctor, USA

Anneliese Simmone Hermann, USA

James William Ratchford, USA

Derek Uri Hirsch, USA

Alexander Richard, USA

Macenzi Jazz Holmes-Morton, England, Scotland

Michael Alexander Sandmeier, Bulgaria, Switzerland, USA

Steven Holzapfel, Germany Colin Johnson, Belgium, USA

Alice Jane Morrison, United Kingdom

Soham Khaitan, India

Theresa Mathilde Kathinka Schmidt, Germany, Switzerland, USA

Lara Michelle Khoury, Lebanon, USA

Darius Antoine Scott II, USA

Mikhail Khoury, Lebanon, USA

Madara Simkovica, Latvia

Patrick Florian Kiessling, Germany, Switzerland

Rogier Alexander ten Lohuis, The Netherlands, USA

Simon Christopher Kirk, USA

Alexander Carl Thomas, USA

Kieran Allen Kristensen, USA

Mustafa Thomas, USA

Christina Lilia Lanier, USA

Vanessa Sarah Topp, Germany

Alexandre Davis La Palme, Canada, USA

Daniel Witschi, Switzerland, USA

Quang Thien Le, Vietnam

James Michael Wray, South Africa, United Kingdom

Salome Lezhava, Republic of Georgia

Nicholas Michael Wren, USA

Emerence Rose Agathe Lodise, France, USA

Anna Leigh Zuver, USA

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A Tribute to AIS

By Shanta Kalyanasundaram, Former AIS Faculty At AIS, we have a remarkable multicultural, multi-ethnic, and ever so diverse a community. Our academic program is outstanding and our teachers exceptional. Walk through the hallways and one hears a variety of languages spoken by students from ages four to eighteen. The atmosphere exudes joy and camaraderie, confidence and excitement. Over the years the school has grown some. For one, there are new buildings, more teachers and more students. This year alone, seventy two students graduated from AIS. Is this what makes a great school? These wonderful qualities are just a part of the secret formula that makes AIS so special.

There is one element that pervades this extraordinary school the essence of caring for others – the welcome that comes from the heart when a new student enters a classroom for the first time. It is in knowing that all students who walk through the portals of AIS will succeed in achieving their best. This spirit of caring has remained steadfast from the day AIS opened its doors twenty six years ago. It is a legacy that embraces every student who comes to AIS from near and far. It recognizes the fact that every student comes with a narrative, each one different from the other.

Saurav Bhandary’s story is singular. He came to AIS from Meghauli, a small village in Nepal. Set in the breathtaking beauty of Chitwan National Forest, Meghauli offers its people the splendor of nature and wildlife, but not much else. Meghauli gets about two hours of electricity a day. In addition to this, young men from Meghauli were often taken against their will by militant groups to serve their interests. Going to school in Meghauli became a constant challenge; so, Saurav was sent to Kathmandu, the capital city. There were fewer power cuts there, but a lot more strikes due to political unrest. Schools were often closed for months. Completing high school in Nepal proved to 30 Summer 2012

be extremely difficult and sometimes even dangerous. Saurav was given the opportunity to join AIS to pursue the IB diploma. Armed with nothing but his rich cultural heritage and a gentle philosophy on life, Saurav nervously entered AIS, feeling a little lonely and not knowing what to expect. However, his first words after his very first day at AIS were, “Everybody here is so kind.” These are simple words indeed, but they are a tribute to a school and a community that nurtures a fundamental core of kindness, caring, compassion and generosity. Saurav has thrived in this atmosphere of trust, mutual respect and academic rigor. His counselor recognized his potential and taught him to believe in himself and have faith in the future. His teachers consistently guided and encouraged him to do his best. His peers surrounded him with friendship. The Headmaster observed the progress this young man was making. Saurav blossomed and began to take initiatives. He joined the Track and Field team and started Ping Pong at the school. This was integration at its best. When Saurav graduated on May 25, 2012 he stood there among his peers and friends proud and happy to be a member of our AIS community. But what about going to college like all the others in his group? This story does not end here. Saurav walked in through the doors of this school a stranger, but has emerged surrounded by many friends, well wishers and benefactors. He has hope for a bright and successful future and certain knowledge that he has spent the last two years in a place where dreams do come true. Saurav will be the first in his family to go to college. I firmly believe that when all doors are shut, a window will miraculously open.

Saurav’s incredible journey, which began in a remote village in Nepal, will now continue onto Birmingham Southern and a college education! I know what makes AIS such a special school. It is the extraordinary kindness and support given so generously by so many.

Saurav has Birmingham Southern to enlighten his mind, and an AIS family to warm his heart. On behalf of Saurav, our incredibly composed and serene new son, my family and I say, “thank you, AIS.”

AIS Honors Assembly 2012

“The faculty of AIS believes that the successful completion of any worthwhile endeavor is reward in itself, that there is intrinsic value in each experience which students should perceive as the reward for a job well-done.Therefore, AIS participates in very few outside awards programs but encourages each student to work to accomplish the most that he/she can.”

-From the AIS Profile Congratulations to the following students recognized at this year’s assembly: Departmental Awards Group 1: First Language Biddy Fraga ‘12 Group 2: Second Language Teresa Schmidt ‘12 Nadine Marfurt ‘12 Group 3: Social Sciences Christina Lanier ‘12, History Mikhail Khoury ‘12, Geography Constance Noziere ‘12, Economics Group 4: Science Constance Noziere ‘12 Alex Thomas ‘12 Christina Lanier ‘12 Group 5: Mathematics Alex Richard ‘12 Group 6: The Arts Camela Apaez ‘12, Art Anneliese Hermann ‘12, Music Alec Nash ‘12, Thespian Giselle Fernandez ‘12, Thespian Josh Cohen ‘12, Thespian Group 8: Technology Iman Khoury ‘14 Jones Day Mock Trial Scholarship Sarah Schmitt ‘13 Governor’s Honors Recognition Sarah Schmitt ‘13 Maggie Baillie Memorial Award Nicolas Terwindt ‘18 Scholar Athlete Awards Nadine Marfurt ‘12 Alexander Thomas ‘12

AIS Coaches’ Awards Alejandro Garcia ‘12 Alice Morrison ‘12 Killian Fischer ‘12 Derek Hirsch ‘12 AIS Service Award Camila Apaez ‘12 State & National Recognition Class of 2012 Valedictorian Jason Mitchell ‘12 Class of 2012 Salutatorian Anneliese Hermann ‘12 National Merit Finalists Alex Richard ‘12 Anneliese Hermann ‘12 Chloe Colberg ‘12 Barnard College Book Award Julia Henry ‘13 Brandeis Book Award Owen Hill ‘13 Bryn Mawr College President’s Book Award Amelia Abe ‘13 Hannah Freedman ‘13 Columbia University Book Award Emily Cohen ‘13 Dartmouth College Book Award Leila Varzi ‘13

Hendrix College Book Award Marin Lucic ‘13 Johns Hopkins Book Award Nichole Smith ‘13 New College Junior Scholars Award Aaron Freedman ’13 Conor Hagan ‘13 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Award Chris Ferandel ’13 Rochester Institute of Technology Awards Brian Cook ’13 Olivia Lodise ‘13 University of Pennsylvania Book Award Brice Williams ‘13 Vanderbilt University Robert Penn Warren Book Award Helen Recaborde ‘13 Wellesley College Book Award Sarah Jactel ‘13

Yale Book Award Alexandra Zdoncyzk ‘13

Journal Cup Alex Thomas ‘12 Emory University Book Award ECIS Awards for Sara Muche ‘13 International Harvard Book Award Understanding Myrtil Mitanga ‘13 Laetitia Butler ’12 Madeleine Howell ’16 Linda Doulkhani (faculty) Global Exchange

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COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES 2009-2012 acceptances *Schools at which 2012 graduates enrolled

UNITED STATES Agnes Scott College American Academy of Dramatic Arts American University American University of Paris Appalachian State University Auburn University Babson College* Bard College Barnard College* Bates College Belmont University Beloit University Bennington College Berklee College of Music Berry College Birmingham-Southern College* Boston College* Boston University Bowdoin College* Bradley University Brandeis University Brigham Young University Brown University Bryn Mawr College* Bucknell University Butler University California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State University, Long Beach California State University, Monterey Bay Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University Chestnut Hill College Claremont McKenna College Clark University Clemson University Colby College Colgate University College of Charleston* College of the Atlantic College of William and Mary 32 Summer 2012

College of Wooster Colorado College Colorado State University Columbia College Columbia University Connecticut College Cornell College Cornell University* Dartmouth College Davidson College Denison University DePaul University* DePauw University Dickinson College Dominican University Drexel University Duke University Earlham College Eckerd College Elmhurst College Elon University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Emerson College* Emmanuel College Emory University* Eugene Lang College: The New School* Flagler Florida A&M University Florida Institute of Technology Florida International University Florida Southern College Florida State University Fordham University Franklin and Marshall College Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Furman University Gainesville State College George Washington University* Georgetown University Georgia College and State University Georgia Gwinnett College

Georgia Institute of Technology* Georgia Perimeter College Georgia Southern University* Georgia State University* Gettysburg College Goucher College Grinnell College Guilford College Hampshire College Harvard University Harvey Mudd College Haverford College Hendrix College High Point University Hillsdale College Hofstra University Howard University Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois State University Indiana State University Indiana University at Bloomington Iowa State University Ithaca College Jacksonville University John Carroll University Johns Hopkins University Kalamazoo College Kennesaw State University Kenyon College Kettering University Knox College Lafayette College Lake Forest Lawrence University Lehigh University Lewis & Clark College Louisiana State University* Loyola University Chicago Loyola University New Orleans Lynn University Macalester College Manhattan Marymounat Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mercer University* Miami University, Oxford Middle Tennessee State University Middlebury College Millsaps College Mount Holyoke College New College of Florida New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music New York School of Interior Design New York University* North Carolina State University Northeastern University* Northwestern University* Oberlin College Occidental College Oglethorpe University Ohio State University Ohio Wesleyan University Oregon State University Oxford College of Emory University* Pace University, New York City Parsons: The New School for Design* Pennsylvania State University, University Park Pitzer College Point Park Pomona College Portland State University Pratt Institute* Presbyterian College Providence College Purdue University Quinnipiac University Reed College Regis University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhodes College Rice University

Rochester Institute of Technology Rollins College Rutgers Saint Louis University Saint Mary’s College Salve Regina University San Francisco State University Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College Savannah College of Art and Design School of the Art Institute of Chicago* School of Visual Arts Sewanee: The University of the South Skidmore College Smith College Southern Methodist University Southern Polytechnic State University Spelman St. John’s College St. John’s University St. Olaf College* Stanford University* Stetson University State University of New York: Stony Brook Swarthmore College* Syracuse University* Temple University Texas A & M University The Art Institute of Atlanta Towson University Trinity College Trinity University Tufts University* Tulane University Union College United States Military Academy United States Naval Academy* University of Alabama

University of Alabama at Birmingham University of Arizona University of California: Berkeley University of California: Davis University of California: Irvine University of California: Los Angeles* University of California: Merced University of California: San Diego University of California: Santa Barbara University of California: Santa Cruz University of Chicago* University of Cincinnati University of Colorado: Boulder University of Delaware University of Denver University of Florida University of Georgia* University of Hawaii: Manoa University of Houston University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign University of Kentucky University of Maryland: College Park University of Massachusetts: Amherst University of Massachusetts: Boston University of Miami University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of Mississippi University of Nebraska: Lincoln University of New Hampshire University of North Carolina: Asheville University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill University of North Carolina: Greensboro Global Exchange

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COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES cont.

University of North Carolina: Wilmington University of Oklahoma University of Oregon* University of the Pacific University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Portland University of Puget Sound University of Richmond University of Rochester University of San Francisco University of South Carolina University of South Florida: Tampa University of Southern California University of Tampa University of Tennessee: Chattanooga University of Tennessee: Knoxville University of Texas: Austin University of Tulsa* University of Vermont* University of Virginia University of Washington* University of Wisconsin: Madison Valdosta State University Vanderbilt University Vassar College Villanova University Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Wake Forest University* Warren Wilson College Wartburg Washington College Washington University in St. Louis Washington and Lee University* Wellesley College* Wells College Wesleyan University Western Carolina University Westminster College Wheaton College 34 Summer 2012

Wittenberg University Wofford College* Worcester Polytechnic Institute Yale University*

University, Ruprechts-Karls Medical School*, Technische Universitat Muenchen, Universiteit Mannheim*, Universitat Karlsruhe

UNIVERSITIES OUTSIDE THE US Australia La Trobe University

Ireland Trinity College Dublin

Belgium Universite Catholique de Louvain Canada British Columbia, Concordia, HEC Montreal, King’s, McGill*, Ottawa*, Toronto*, Universite de Montreal, Universite de Quebec a Montreal, Waterloo, Western Ontario England Academy of Art, Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Central School of Speech and Drama, Coventry, East Anglia, Exeter, Imperial*, LSE, Keele, Kent, Kings, Leeds, LIPA, Loughborough, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Southampton, Surrey*, Sussex, UCL, UWE, York St John’s, York France Sciences Po*, Universite de Versailles Medical School, Universite Paris V-Descartes, Montpelier* Germany Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University, Heidelberg, Hochschule Deggendorf, Jacobs University: Bremen, Karlshochschule International

Israel Technion* Italy Universita Bocconi Netherlands Erasmus, Internationale Hogeschool Fysiotherapie, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen*, University College Utrecht, University of Amsterdam Northern Ireland Queen’s College Belfast Scotland Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, St. Andrews Spain European University Barcelona, University of Seville Switzerland St. Gallen Wales Cardiff, Glamorgan, Swansea

Our MISSION To meet the challenges and opportunities of our interdependent, fast-changing world as responsible citizens, young people require flexible intellectual competence, self-discipline, and a global outlook.To achieve these goals, they need rigorous academic preparation and a passion to become the best they can be.To thrive in and contribute to this world, they must have a solid sense of self and respect for others—as individuals, as members of a group, as citizens of their nations, and as members of the global community. Extraordinary individuals will be called upon to shape the 21st century.The mission of Atlanta International School (AIS) is to develop such individuals.

To fulfill this mission, AIS commits itself to the following goals: • to sustain and grow the exemplary level of teaching and learning that has earned it a worldwide reputation for excellent standards in international and multilingual education within the framework of the International Baccalaureate; • to develop each child fully by helping each one to live our core values: the joy of learning and purposeful effort as well as mutual respect and understanding in a diverse setting; • to maintain an optimal size and composition of faculty and students to maximize the opportunities for learning and shared understanding that are necessary for a healthy community; • to help shape and improve local and global communities through the committed participation of its multilingual students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff.

Our Core Values: What we believe is fundamentally important We believe that encouraging each student to discover the intrinsic joy of learning and purposeful effort will help each one to set and achieve high academic standards. Furthermore, we believe it is vital to nurture mutual respect and understanding among all members of our community. Together we cultivate a spirited sense of hope in human potential. We believe the diversity of our community provides an extraordinary opportunity to enable our students to communicate, create, and collaborate in order to build a peaceful future.

• The joy of learning and purposeful effort: We want our students to experience joy in their intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development. At AIS we will create a safe, stimulating educational environment, promoting the wonder and curiosity that motivate a student to explore learning in and beyond the classroom throughout life. We believe that achievement derives from sustained, purposeful effort and that our potential is best developed by learning to think critically, debate confidently, and push our limits.

Ours is a community that nurtures and celebrates disciplined and myriad intelligences, and we approach teaching with the expectation that every student will be successful.

• Mutual respect and understanding in a diverse community: We believe that every human being is valuable and deserves respect. We further believe that respect springs from understanding and that the best way to understand others is by learning to see the world from other points of view. Since each language reflects the values, history, and way of thinking of those who use it, learning another language is a particularly effective means of understanding and respecting others. We believe that a cohesive community of students, faculty, staff, and parents from many backgrounds—socio-economic, ethnic, racial, linguistic, national, and religious—provides an ideal setting for the development of respect and understanding and helps prepare students to thrive in a diverse, interdependent world.

2012 LEGACY AWARD

By Maggie Dozier

Catherine Wooster ‘13, is this year’s Legacy Scholarship recipient. Her summer program, “Come with Nothing, Go Home Rich,” will take her to three rural villages in Thailand. The program guidelines require that each participant only brings five material objects in addition to a change of clothes. She will be volunteering in each village, living with host families and helping them with their daily chores and tasks.

Catherine said, “This trip of a lifetime would bring me closer to a culture I have come to love as well as provide an opportunity to learn about needs in developing countries.” She has studied six years of Chinese, three years of Indonesian, six years of Spanish and looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the Thai language and culture. One of the more challenging parts of the program will be the distribution of $1,000 by each volunteer among the villages. Catherine believes this aspect will require a great deal maturity, responsibility and leadership. She hopes this trip will allow her to pursue her passion for foreign relations, Far East Studies and international security.

The Senior Legacy Award is made possible each year by the money raised by the graduating senior class. Their fundraising campaign finances their Senior Legacy Gift and the Legacy Scholarship Award. The Legacy scholarship allows one deserving junior to enhance their studies through global travel during the summer before their senior year. Last year’s recipient, Cedric Parages, went to Peru with a group from Projects Abroad.

Global Exchange

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